Confessions of a Closet Isolationist
I was taught to hate Russians at an early age. Like Pavlov's dog, I learned that 3 beeps over my elementary schools intercom system meant the building was on fire, but a much more alarming continuous beep meant that the Russians had launched their nuclear weapons at us, and that we should proceed to the corridors, brace ourselves against the walls, and bend over and kiss our ass goodbye.
And I was taught that their evil political ideology had to be stopped from spreading into Western Europe, Southern Asia, and the surface of the Moon at all costs. If they had enough warheads to destroy our nation 10 times, we had to have the capability to destroy them 10 times as well. And thus we spent over 40 years building elaborate, expensive weapon systems designed to assure that even if all life in the continental United States was exterminated, we would still have the ability to return the favor to the Russian motherland.
Yet we survived those dangerous times due mainly to the fact neither side really wanted to die in the pursuit of spreading our ideology, or halting the spread of our enemies form of government. The Russians ultimately had the human compassion not to be-head Gary Powers. The Russians have been replaced in our fears by our mutual enemy, the Islamic Cultural Warriors.
I don't trust a nuclear armed Islamic regime to abide by the concept of "Mutually Assured Destruction", any more than they can be trusted to abide by Geneva Convention mandated rules of engagement. They simply have proven they lack the rationality and morality to exercise logical restraint for us to allow them to have control over our survival. Yet we seem to be the only nation other than Israel that feels that Islamist should be denied weapons of mass destruction at all cost. Anyone who believes a rogue nation in search of the power that comes with being a holder of the nuclear flame, can be denied access to Nuclear weapons by negotiation, sanctions, or providing them with Uranium and Reactors, is a near sighted fool. Yet the way that International politics work, we are they bad guy for suggesting they should not be allowed to become an eternal danger to mankind.
Vladimir Putin was one of the few foreign leaders that openly supported Bush's re-election. He realized that we have a common enemy now, and that America had to remain engaged in the war on Islamic culturism since Russia has emerged as a prime target of the religiously inspired violence, thanks to the patriot act and those beautiful blue oceans that Jihadis cant swim. How do we repay him? We criticize his actions against Muslim killers in the Russian province of Chechnya, we harbor Chechen sympathizers and spokesmen, and now we scold him for re-organizing his government in a way he thinks strengthens Russia for defense in the Holy War, because we don't think his plan fully embraces our concept of Democracy.
While the West is focusing on how we are going to avoid surrendering to the persistent Islamic enemies aggression,
China has devoted itself to becoming the primary pole in a multi-polar world.
To consider China a communist regime is to miss the obvious. They have become a prosperous "Capitalist Dictatorship". They have barely begun to tap the full productivity of 2 billion people working together towards a common goal. The Chinese are not looking to spread their political ideology around the globe, they are simply working towards being the strongest economic power in the world. And a quick look at the "Made in China" labels around my house, confirm my fears that we are helping them towards their goals. While I am no expert in international trade, common sense tells me that we are transferring our wealth to them in exchange for disposable trinkets. It has gotten to a point that we are losing the competition for access to global raw materials to them. And while I employed in an industry that cant be outsourced, costs have skyrocketed because of shortages of materials such a cement, steel, and fuel, due to deliveries to American ports being diverted to China to feed their manufacturing boom. And even though their citizens have no direct say in the actions of their government, they mostly seem to be happy living under their chosen form of government. I bet they are happy enough with their way of life to resist any outside attempt to alter it.
When President Bush was in Chile this weekend he was scorned by thousands of protesters. Yet, there were no protests against Chinese "President" Hu Jintao during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting. Hu emerged as the most powerful leader at the conference. In fact he has been in South America for over a week making deals for raw materials and securing control of shipping through the Panama Canal that we built back when we were the most powerful nation in the world. Hu also holds in his hand a leash around a certain nuclear empowered North Korean megalomaniac's neck, yet it is not in his best interest to choke off Kim from the resources he needs to remain in power, because that could mean a United Democratic Korea on his border.
Then it dawned on me why we are more hated around the world than the Russians, Chinese or Islamists. We are as fanatical in our pursuit of the worldwide spread of "Freedom via Democracy", as the learned men of the Islamic cloth are in their pursuit of Gabriel's prophecy. We can no more accept the fact that the Chinese, Russian, North Korean, Iranian, and Cuban people are happy with their chosen form of government than the Mullahs can accept a strip joint or beer store across the street from their Mosque.
You hear the European people whine about the spread of American cultural values all the time.
And they have a valid point. Yet it isn't Jeff B and me that is forcing our culture upon the world, its American corporate board rooms and their political mouthpieces that are looking for non-domestic profits. Its no sweat off my ass if the rest of the world chooses to live under Socialism or Dictatorship. I owe them nothing. Freedom and Democracy can not be forced on a society that is not prepared for it or deserving of it. They must earn it themselves. There are no large pro-democracy demonstrations in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Cuba, or China because the people dont want it bad enough to force a change. In fact they may have correctly observed how Democracy is the most divisive, counter-productive form of government known to man, and honestly prefer their current form over ours. And I feel no responsibility to alter their decision as long as they aint threatening our survival, which the Islamist are.
Americans have a long tradition of Isolationism. We were built on a foundation of self-sufficiency. And while Isolationism's detractors suggest that the first 2 World Wars taught us we had to be engaged in overseas affairs to avoid letting them get out of hand, they also taught us that America is only befriended and respected by nations when they are threatened by involuntary relinquishing control over their country to an invading enemy. I say we withdrawal from the global battlefield and let them have that feeling again. And shedding solely American blood to keep the Islamic Culture from violently spreading to the more easily accessible China, Russia, and Europe has become an unappreciated task we have assigned ourselves. And the South Korean protesters demands that we leave the peninsula's future up to them is starting to become more attractive to me, while land locking our pre-positioned troops and equipment in Europe has proven to be a logistical nightmare when a nation like Austria can successfully block their deployment to our battlefields. Both our NAFTA partners enjoy the fact their defense is guaranteed under our military umbrella, and while they are more than willing to have us share our economic engine with them, they cant be depended on to vote with us at the UN.
Basically the UN is an accurate representation of the corrupt world we live in. And like its predecessor the League of Nations was dissolved when it failed to address Nazism before it spread to Poland and France, the UN is destined for histories "another failed attempt at global peace" trashcan. The United Nations does nothing but promote the extension of conflict duration. It pretends to stifle ideological / cultural differences under the guise of peace-keeping, when its only lasting accomplishment is as an obstacle to final conflict resolution. There are currently 5 nations that have the power to stick a wrench in conflict resolution if their national interests benefit from the conflict. There should really be just 3 seats at the UNSC.
The West, China, and the Ayatollah. Those are the 3 main forces in the world today. Adding more petty self-interest to the list of nations holding veto power just assures the UN will never achieve its mandate as a device to force peaceful global co-existence upon unwilling minds. Mankind is simply not ready for it. To artificially pretend we are is counter-productive.
So I am confessing that displacing Caribou and building up our domestic defense capabilities would give our so-called allies time to contemplate how dangerous the world is without a superpowered policemen around. We can make our own disposable trinkets as well, with non-union labor. While the Monroe Doctrine is still in effect for South America, lets let Europe, Asia, and Africa wallow in their cultural defecations until they can decide who the real bad guy is, before we save their sorry asses again.
