The premise of many of these books is that whether we like it or not, America is an empire. Whether we like acknowledging it or not is whole other thing.
When many people think of empires, we tend to think of the ancient Romans with their gladiators and colisseums, or the British Empire and some guy in a funny-looking pith helmet tromping through the African jungle: "Dr. Livingston, I presume?" With the word "empire" or "imperialism" comes so much negative baggage; plus, those words are so down-right anti-democratic. If we're controlling the destinies of other countries, how are we allowing them to be democratic and free nations?
Being an imperialist nation, apparently, has been something we've been working at for several decades now. A book by Stephen Kinzer called Overthrow outlines over a dozen instances where the United States has taken control of a country b/c our business or political interests were threatened, resources were slipping out of control, or during the Cold War, we felt the creep of socialism/communism get too close.
When comparing the early 20th Century to today we will talk about how widespread today's American military is across the world: 700 military bases in 60 countries; 1.4 million soldiers. There's an upside to all of this - don't get me wrong! Because of these brave men and women, we're so much safer than we would be without them. I am grateful for theirs and their families' sacrifices.
The question to answer: Is America an empire? Why or why not?
Questions to consider but not necessarily answer - is the course we've taken towards building an empire worth the hatred of the world? Our safety doesn't mean much when terrorists want to kill us at home. Morally, are we doing the right thing by keeping other countries from determining their own destiny? Economically, is the tax money we're spending on our military also the right thing to do? Should the other countries of the world shoulder their own defense expense? Why or why not?
Questions to consider but not necessarily answer - is the course we've taken towards building an empire worth the hatred of the world? Our safety doesn't mean much when terrorists want to kill us at home. Morally, are we doing the right thing by keeping other countries from determining their own destiny? Economically, is the tax money we're spending on our military also the right thing to do? Should the other countries of the world shoulder their own defense expense? Why or why not?
Minimum response - 200 words - due Monday- 10.13.08
Find out how we overthrew Iran in 1953: A Folly of Attacking Iran: Lessons from History - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJRcOF7rEfQ
51 comments:
Yes, I feel that America is an Empire. I think we are an Empire since we feel that were the most powerful country combined to everyone else. It doesn’t help that we don’t even let others countries make up their own minds; we feel that we have to control their every move. We are making American families have to pay taxes for military services, which is ridiculous. And then we wonder why a lot of countries are not particularly close friends with us. Since we pretty much just bully them and control their own country without their permission, which is ridiculous. We make soldiers go out and fight countries which have never really given us a thereat to our country and kill many of people including our own. That only makes the other country irritated with us and wants to have a terrorist attack on us in the United States. And once again then we wonder how come people think we are bullies and try to take over other countries. That is why I feel that The United States of America is an Empire, which is in denial of that. And will only hurt are country more until we have a different mind set or change on building an Empire.
“Empire is not quite right but it seems to be closer than anything we have in common usage, so we employ it.”
- Michael Mandelbaum -
On the United States
This quote reflects my opinion towards the question whether the United States is an empire or not. I think to understand why we still use the term empire with the U.S. we have to look back in history. America freed France from the Germans and helped restore Germany after the Nazi regime had fallen. During the collapse of the Soviet Union and after the Cold War, America was at its height. Times have changed now, however. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 changed the climate in America. Since this day on, America has been driven by fear. Fear of their safety (which is easy to understand), but this fear has crept in the minds of thousands of Americans and will never go away. This fear and anger as an excuse, they see themselves as the country to free the world of all evil which is out there. That’s the problem. I think that America wants to see itself as an empire. In many ways this does employ. America has the strongest Army and its economy once dominated the world. Well, we have experienced the downfall of the economy very recently and people all over the globe felt the same way.
America is still present in the entire world. American pop culture is spread all over the globe. Hollywood movies are shown everywhere and most American stars are known on other continents. America still dominates, but I think it has lost of its power, because of its need to get involved in too many things. Like the global economy, the wars, and the affairs between different countries. Time has changed and nothing is forever.
Yes, I do think that the United States is currently an empire, however, I don’t think that we will be able to title it as one in the future. Some reasoning for that statement is that we are outsourcing many jobs, allowing too many immigrants (illegal or legal), and our taxes aren’t helping the economy, or anything for that matter. I’m sure some taxes are a good thing, but with our high taxes, we should see results on a larger scale, and we should see improvements with our economy now. On to the topic of immigrants, I for one think that some immigrants actually benefit the economy, and help out with some jobs/careers. On the other hand, with so many people crossing the border every day, the wages for the average job are slowly decreasing, because the immigrants will accept jobs with much less salary than the average American. Lastly, I think the main reason that America is going downhill with it’s economy is outsourcing. This is because we are giving other countries our jobs, and letting them take our economy. I think that until the United States fixes these three problems, and many more, we will continue to fall, while we watch other countries economies skyrocketing, and their problems being fixed.
I do not think that America is an empire right now but I feel that if we continue to do what we’re doing then we will eventually become an empire. If we keep building our military forces in different countries, spreading all over the world and extremely outnumber any other countries military then I think we will be classified as an empire. But if we gradually build our military and just stay relaxed then I don’t think we will ever be seen as an empire.
Historically the term empire was used to describe a Country that takes over the territory of another country and colonizes and controls it. These imperialists have supreme authority in the country that they take over. While the U.S.(recently) has not typically occupied another country (except during a war). They have frequently behaved as imperialists in other ways. The U.S. has toppled governments and supported one side or another in civil wars around the world by supplying arms, training and support. The U.S. has justified this behavior with the claim that they were spreading democracy and supporting human rights. Other Counties have argued that the U.S. has intervened for their own selfish interest. The U.S. has broken down governments they do not like and then put in one that is more sympathetic to them. Sometimes it has turned out to be a tyrannical dictator that the U.S. has put in place. It is difficult to make the claim that the U.S. intervened because of human rights violations in these cases or were spreading democracy.
Many positives have come from US involvement in other countries. The U.S. has brought stability, progress and prosperity as well when they have intervened. People that were being oppressed were freed, ethnic cleansing was stopped.
Other than occupying and claming territory the U.S. has acted as an empire.
Tessa Dickson, hour2
No I do not think that America is and Empire. I dont think
that we are a empire because we do not want any other's land
and we have not takin anyone land or try ed to take or a other
contry or state that does not already belong to us. I think
people and other countries are sarced of us and so they insult
us. I think they are sacred because how huge are army and
militry force is,and it very itimadating but I dont think that
give's them a reason to call us a empire. We also have a lot
of influence over culture, business. We have influence over
alot of thing in the world. We are just a very powerful nation
and I not think the other nation like that we are so powerful.
Or that they hate that they are weaker than us, and yes
somtime we do get into things that we have no business geting
into but we dont want to take anything over we just think that
we ar being helpful, and somtimes people dont want help and we
give it anyway( example Iraq). Other than that I love this
nation and there is no way we are or could be an Empire.
Yes, I do think America is an empire because we have taken over so many other countries. Even if we did it because we wanted to help other countries in the process, we still go in and then take over their country. I don’t think the course the United States have taken is worth the rest of the world hating the Americans, because we may sometimes need help from other countries and we want allies, but we have alienated ourselves, and made ourselves hated to gain more control. I think that we should allow other countries to choose their own destinies, because otherwise we are just controlling them and essentially being like dictators. The United States always says that we are against dictatorships, yet that’s what we are doing to other countries, so I think that we are being hypocrites. We don’t want other countries to rebel against us, so we shouldn’t prevent them from their own destiny. I think that we should split the military costs with the other countries. We are spending way to much tax money on the military when other countries could be helping. The other countries shouldn’t have to pay all of our military expenses though, because we were the ones who chose to put military bases in all of those places.
In my honest opinion I believe that America right now is, and should be considered a empire. Empire's that we know of like the Roman Empire, Chinese Empires, and such were known becuase of thier dominance over so many other contries across the globe. Saying this, the U.S is also a power house of nations, probably the most powerful, at this time. Another big reason that i believe America is an empire is becuase back in the years where Rome was dominant they attacked anywhere where they felt the need to which made them big, strong, and powerful. This idea could be compared with America becuase we, as of right now, are in Iraq fighting for no reason and went in thier without a real reason and we aren't even pulling out now after 6 years still. My final comments on this are that we control a lot of what happens with other econimies globally and plus all our military bases also. I believe that we are an empire but we will be ending it soon since our economy is slowing down, our country in constant war, and our competitors like China and India begin thier market boom.
An empire is a government that is ruled by an emperor, usually a territory of greater extent than a kingdom. No we are not an empire; we are not as ruthless as ancient Rome or Nazi Germany. They wanted power and more land so they would stop at nothing to get what they want. If you see all the empires were destroyed when there emperors were killed by suicide or by there own man, trying to stop what the leader from destroying man kind. People might say that we are an empire but we are not every battle we went into, we did it to keep our nation safe. We went in the Iraq war because there were terrorist leaders that were planning another attack on the U.S. The government said we know there are weapons of mass destruction. People say there weren’t you really think they will be lying in the open we had to find them underground, you know are missiles are not just in the open they are in a secret place. People say he went in that war form his father, his might have helped him make a decision but we needed to go to that war. We are not an Empire we did it to keep the nation safe, they did it for power and glory, so everyone remembers them.
Is america an empire?
I think the course we’ve taken towards building an empire is not worth the hatred of the world because, allies and friends are always useful in emergency situations, such as a natural disaster... I also think that america is not doing the tight thing by keeping other countries from determining their own destiny because it their decision and not ours to oppose on. I am not saying we shouldn’t advise a country, but we shouldn’t oppose them from doing what they want to.
The tax money that America is spending on their military is, by my opignion not the right thing to do, all the money that america puts in military equipment, or armaments could very easily be but to other, and much better use, such as maybe in our curent situation to help the economy, or help those who don’t have the money to pay for food, the low class people america owns $ 53 Trillion and still skyrocketing because of their army, and military equipment.
At this point i do think america is an empire because we are giving orders to other countries not alowing them to do what they want, america has the number one largest army in the world but also the highest debts to pay off, most of the rest of the world fears us. That is what i call an empire.
I do think America is becoming an empire because we are fighting with other countries for no reason. The war in Iraq has no purpose anymore. This is making other countries dislike America for the simple fact that we pick on other countries for no apparent reason. We are also wasting tax money on the war. If all countries turn against us, this can cause an all out World War 3. This is causing more pain to the economic crisis that is going on right now. We are making ourselves a target for terrorism from other countries. We are trying to control all the other countries and make all of their decisions. This is really unfair to everyone else because I believe everyone should control his or her own countries. This is a free country and it is a democracy government. People should be able to do what they want.
When I think of an empire I think of a superpower. So when I am asked the question do I think America is an empire I believe it is. There are many ways to back this up, but the U.S seems to always overrule other countries in the world. Whether it’s the economy or the military the US is the most powerful country in the world. President Bush claims that we have not become an empire but the way us Americans think of ourselves turns us right into an empire. Its ironic because we have dealt in the past with empires and I don’t think have veer wanted to turn into one, but the way that we are so provoking other countries to be like us and have the same democracy makes us seem to other countries an empire. We have supreme power in governing, imperial power, and sovereignty. We are not just a kingdom but have become more than I kingdom to other countries. The way we put our military into other peoples land, and we wonder why we get attacked by other countries or threatened. Its not just the government making America an empire its also the people who believe they are the best, and what some countries do to us they think is terrible, though we seem to have done some of the same things to them. I think America is oblivious to the fact that slowly we are becoming an empire.
I believe that America is not an empire right now but is more of a superpower. The word empire is not the right word because the main goal of an empire is to expand and enlarge, and the U.S. has no interest in expanding our nation. Even if we were an empire we would be on the decline because our economy is failing along with the stock market and we continue to send jobs overseas in order to try to make everyday products cheaper. We are a superpower who has complete military control compared to other nations. Our army is larger than the next nine strongest armies combined. America was even a stronger nation and was probably an empire after WWII when we defeated the Germans and Japanese, which were also two very powerful nations. On the other hand, we portray ourselves as a democratic nation where other nations see us as a controlling empire. I personally believe if we were an empire we would be called the American Empire like the Romans and British were instead of The United States. The process of building up our “empire” has created hatred from the Middle East and has possibly stopped or broken the building up of empires of other nations.
America’s status as an empire is not a certain fact for many people, especially those who want to believe that America is infallible, and would never manipulate others. Having read a book however, titled “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”, I am certain that America is an empire, and that we have control over countries that most people don’t even know we control. The book is an autobiography of John Perkins, a man who is what he refers to as an “Economic Hitman”. His job is to go to poor, struggling countries, and with a team of contractors, create a plan for developing that country, and bringing it into the modern world. He must sell this idea to the leaders of that country, and make them want to buy in. Being third world countries however, most of them cannot afford the plan, so America offers them loans to be able to, as long as they buy American services to do the development. By doing this, America easily has the country indebted to them and under their thumb, and the money loaned goes back into our market. Recently, the G8 nations have decided to forgive some Third World debt, since the news of America’s dastardly plans to hook these countries have been exposed. On the other hand, usinfo.state.gov denies most of what Perkins says in the book, and gives a list of countries that have been forgiven of debt, even though there are more that are still in America’s grip. A quote on the page says “Under the plan, 18 HIPC countries will be immediately eligible for … debt forgiveness: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The remaining HIPCs will also become eligible as they reach their HIPC Completion Point.” (http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2006/Feb/02-767147.html). I believe that because of this, America is unwilling to give up its grasp on poor nations, and that it is an empire. This fact is not broadcasted to the people, because if anyone knew about our manipulative side, people would instantly be against it, like I was.
America has the tendency to pry into other's business, that cannot be denied. I know that many of the books state that we are an empire whether we like it or not, but maybe they are getting it confused. Is there any possibility that maybe America is just trying to help other countries and not trying to take over them? Maybe America could be look at as a motherly country, not an empire. We see a country going the wrong way so we try to steer them in the right direction. Yes, sometimes we take it a little too far (example: Iraq war) but in the end it was only good intentions. I do think that if we were to look at America is a motherly country, we would be willing to see some of our mistakes and extremes. Maybe the world hates us already, maybe they don't, but either way there seems to be some confusion. We may be thought of as an empire, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Empires thrive no matter what era you choose. At the moment, the United States is an empire to me. I think this because we are the big hub to most things, no matter what other countries may think about us. Also in the past, we have willingly waltzed into other countries and attempted to help them with their problems, and we also feel the need to go into other people’s wars. We are an empire in our own way, meaning that unlike the Roman Empire we aren’t forcing people to become “one of us” or forcing them into religion or anything. We are just slowly creeping into countries for non-conquest reasons like trading etc. A subject that always happens with empires though, is that they eventually fall for one reason of another. I this might have a slim chance of happening to us, but only a slim chance because we are not like the other empires that took over lands so they can rule and claim everything.
I think America is indeed an empire. Whether we decide to accept the term, we are. We have the largest military presence in the world right now, larger than many other countries combined. I think the money we use for military could be spent in other places. Look at the economic crisis were in right now! Could this partly be to blame? Not likely… but it is a lot of money that could be put to use else where. We have interjected our beliefs into a lot of foreign affairs whether we were needed or not. I definitely do not think it is worth the hatred of the other countries to become an empire. No one can survive without friends [allies]. And if we keep promoting this tough empire-ish image, we could potentially get a backlash from the world. Many other countries resent the fact that the United States tries to “help” other countries. It would be better for us to let them figure things out on their own. This gives off a greater sense of the United States being an empire. If we were to help countries, we should not pour all of our funds into that country. They should help to finance their own reconstruction and defense. I say this because it would be “mooching” since they could definitely not pay us back with military support for the United States.
In my opinion, America is an empire. This is because to this day we are extending our culture and our “ways” to place all across the world. At the same time, you can say that America isn’t an empire. It all depends on how you look at it. We are no longer taking over countries and putting our government into other countries but we are putting our ideas. A perfect example is Iraqi situation. We are helping them set up a democracy. Even though America did not create democracy we are giving them our ideas on how to run one. Also, all around the world you can find American products and things that are American culture. These products go from movies all the way to food. When I lived in Argentina most if not all of the movies shown were American. In South Africa most of the foods you would find in grocery stores were imported from the US. So if you look at an empire as one country expanding its territory over others by force and taking over that country, then no America is not an empire. But, if you look at an empire by a country expanding by giving other countries or implementing our ideas on other countries, then yes, America is an empire.
Is America an empire? Why or why not? I think America is somewhat of an empire because we are the best country in the world, but we don’t exactly rule it.
America is an Empire because we have the tendency of invading or taking over or going to war with a country that threatens politically, economically or destructively. Take Iraq for example, we invaded their country and went to war, and still are in the war. American troops are controlling Iraq to try and form a government so the Iraqi people can depend and rely on themselves to succeed as a country. Another way the United States of America is an empire is we are the center of the world economically and militarily; we have military bases all around the world, naval ships in almost every sea. So we control the world in a way.
We are not an empire because we have power, but we don’t overpower other countries with force. I think of an empire controls, overpowers and leads other parts of the world into what the lead countries does as a whole. So this is why the United States of America is kind of an empire, but not a complete empire
Kyle DewalD 3rd
I think America is an empire but not to the extent that the British and the Romans were. Being an empire is taking over countries for resources and religion. We did neither of those besides getting oil from iraq. The American troops are all around the world and we have many bases in other countries. Many americans belive we are not an empire but we are acting like one and doing things what empires would do.
Our economy is getting worst everyday by the war in Iraq. We have spent trillions of dollars so far from the war. Wall Street is at its lowest point in 10 years. Many people thing if our market crashes it would cause a World depression because we are in the center of the trading market. Our best hope right now is to get out of Iraq and rebuild our own economy and not someone else’s.
I don’t think that America can be considered an empire just yet. We have done many good things, but we’ve done just as many bad things to cancel out the good. For example, we aid other countries with food, supplies, or soldiers. But on the other hand, we are holding other countries back from building up their own country for the benefit of ours. We talk about being a democratically sound nation, even in our own constitution, but holding other countries back from creating their own democracy doesn’t sound very democratic to me. Some people may think that because our country is big size wise, and we create many goods and perform many services for our citizens and other countries, that we are an empire. But we don’t do enough good in the world to really be considered a true empire. I think we’ve really lost sight of the term now if we consider ourselves an empire currently. With our economy and where it is today, we’ll be lucky to get back to a sense of normalcy within four or so years, and I don’t think we will completely recover for another 50. So is America an empire? Right now, not even close. But if we all contribute and we make great changes, we have strong potential.
I think that America has is an empire because our army is larger than any other army in the world. We are also the richest country in the world. But, I think that if we keep spending money on the war we will go under. Although we are the richest, and most powerful country in the world, we are still trillions of dollars in debt. If we keep spending money, then we will become even more in debt. Judging by how our economy is going right now, we can’t afford to borrow huge amounts of money anymore. I mean obviously the world is not going to come to an end, or an “apocalypse” will occur but we just cant keep spending so much money, and borrowing so much money from other countries.
- Nate Zakaria
The U.S is always thought to be in other peoples business. Looking to aid a country in war or seek other nations for our own safety. Americas government is like a rodent moving all around for things to keep its self alive. We turn to other nations for gas and the manufacturing of mass goods. It isn’t so much that were are controlling other nations we just depend on them so much that when they are at a potential risk, it puts us in the same danger. Without this nation we might loose a primary source of oil, let‘s say. So the big guys up top step in and will aid that country because we depend on it. As far as making destinies for other countries, I fell the government steps into foreign affairs because we want to stop a violence or problem before it reaches home. In Iraq we benefit from oil imported from the middle east. Overseas that’s were rebel groups are trying to corrupt the government, so the U.S feels it’s our duty to solve their problem because if the government fails there we loose imports of foreign oil. Should we be hated is obviously an opinion, but I feel our intentions are not to control other nations just to save our own.
I think that America has over time become an empire. There are many things that the U.S. does today that relate to imperialism. One thing that we do is consume an amazing amount of natural resources. For example, oil. The U.S. consumes almost 80 percent of the world’s oil, and we only have about 1/18 of the world’s population. Consuming all this oil shows a bit of ignorance and a sign of imperialism. Another thing we do is invade too many countries. For example, Iraq. We have been in their country for many years now and we have not done too much to help out. The government says that they want to help them establish a their own government. But this again is a sign of imperialism. We are keeping them from establishing a government on their own. We are interfering with another countries business too much. One last reason that America is becoming an empire is the change in American culture. Our culture is a very selfish one, and is based on the native culture being lost. Americans today tend to be snobbish and self-centered. I think that American culture is one of the main examples of America becoming an empire. Americans tend to think that they are the best and that whatever they do is the right thing to do.
I believe that america is trying to be an empire but we are failing as a country to gain emperialistic values such as working for ourselfs, we give everything to china and we have china make everything for us. our financial problem has become increasingly worse and the current affairs in iraq have been going on and off and i think a new president could majorly effect our current position in the war against terror. so our country wants to be an empire but isnt quite doing everything that en empire would do to be succesful.
I do not think America has become an emprie. When I hear empire I think more about the communist countries and how they rule almost every aspect of someones life and not give every person their individual rights that we have here in America. I believe America is just helping out other countries in order for them to be free and live a good life. Without all of our soldiers in those countries we would be in a lot of danger. The soldiers keep us safe and help other countries gain freedom. Like the Iraq war right now there are tons of soldiers that are over there that are doing there part to keep people safe and protect them from the threat of terrorist and bad people. In order for a country to have freedom you have to monitor these things and get a correct type of government set up to do that. Also another reason why America is not a empire is hear in the states we are blessed with individual rights and treated kindly. We are not force to do anything. The government tries making decisions based on what is best for us and I think empires decisions are just on gaining power. So no I do not think The U.S. is a empire.
“We had a democracy, until America crushed it”~ Some guy from that youtube video link on the blog. No, we don’t let other countries be other themselves! I suppose as Americans, since were are like the “super power” of the world, we feel it’s our duty or maybe our responsibility to make decisions for other countries, when we can’t even make good ones for our own. As for Iraq, we invaded them for what? Because we felt like it..? That’s what I think at least, because we just DIDN’T have enough drama going around as it is, we had to unsettle another country that didn’t need us there in the beginning. We think that because we have a somewhat stable government, and economy, that we should know everything else about the world and what everyone else supposedly needs to be successful. I’m not one hundred percent sure if the U.S.A is exactly an empire. But I think that if we don’t stop while we are ahead, then we will turn into one.
I think that the course we have taken to go towards building an empire is worth all of the trouble because now we have our own freedom and we are not controlled by other countries. I do not think that it is a good thing that we are keeping countries from determining their own destiny, although if you give the people what they want and a better democracy then we will have access to things in their country, and they will be part of the global economics. I think that the taxes we are spending can both benefit and hurt us. I think this because if we keep spending the taxes then it can help us economically when we get the things we need. But if we end up never getting those things then us spending all of the taxes are going to go to waste and it will end up hurting us. I think that the other countries in the world should shoulder their own defense expense. I think this because they should be able to afford their own military to defend their own country so they can fight for things they want and need in their own country.
The definition or an empire states that a group of nations ruled by an emperor or empress. I think the United States is in fact an empire. I think that it is because the nation is kind of like the states and we have an emperor or president in our sake. I think that the money that is going towards the war is the wrong thing to do because billions and billions are going over there every day. And if the war was stopped then the money would stop going over there and could be used to help the economy. The course that we have taken towards building and empire is not worth the hatred of the world. This is because we want to get powerful but our economy is terrible and jobs are leaving the country. Morally, I do not think that we are doing the right thing by keeping countries determining their own destiny. We are not doing the right thing because countries should determine what they want for their country and should defend for them self, unless they ask us to help. I also think that the other countries of the world should shoulder their own defense expensive because if they want to invade ones country they can pay for the expense.
No, I do not think that the United States is an empire, but, I do think that it could become one very easily. If we do not stop trying to control other countries in the world just because they threaten our success then it will turn us into an empire. I do not think it is worth the hatred of the world to be an empire. I think we should give other countries all the rights that we expect from them so that maybe, the countries who are not democratic and do not have freedom could one day learn from the United States and have a different kind of society. I do not think spending tax money on the military is the right thing to do, maybe some of it to help other countries out and do good, but not for war. I think the other countries of the world should shoulder their defense, but some countries are not as able as us and we should be helping them with their country not taking away from them. I think if the United States started to help other countries in good ways rather then trying to become the most successful, then the United States will never become an empire.
Is America an empire?
Yes America is an empire because it seems to feel the need to control other peoples lives. Most of the time it starts with good intentions but things never work out the way they it would have hoped. Why would we have sent so many people to die in Iran if we weren’t as concerned with the rest of the world’s business? Because Iran covers almost all of the questions proposed to us I will start there. I think that this war began with some selfish intentions. Yes we did want to stop Sadam Hussein but he’s gone now and there are still American soldiers dying every day. (I think it has something to do with the oil.) America’s reputation has suffered greatly in the eyes of the world because of this war, and I don’t think it was worth all the effort and money. But also what has that done to American taxpayers, not only has the price of gas gone up, What about all the people who lost family members, and has any of this had a positive effect on America’s reputation? Not really. One thing that really took my by surprise when I was reading was, if all of our armed forces over seas; how are we supposed to protect ourselves at home? I don’t really know the answers to any of these questions I just think they bring up a good point. From the perspective of both an immigrant and a citizen I basically drew from the article, and the questions that America is in fact an empire.
I do not believe that American is an Empire because if we were then, we would have control and own many countries. Although we have the biggest and most powerful army they do not invade other countries without a reason. For example if we wanted to become an empire we would be invading other countries every year ant taking control over them. Another reason we are not an empire is because we are not the worlds leading manufacturer of the world. If we owned all of the world’s production we could set prices on all products and get all the money in the world. We are also not an empire because we don’t have control over the automobile industry. Cars are the modern way of transportation; More than 50% of the world has cars. Other countries have control over the gas and oil industry, and the whole world uses gas or oil. I believe that we are not and Empire.
I think America is an empire. Due to everything that has been going on since the invasion in Iraq, things have changed. After all, America is dominating the world economically, culturally, and militarily. All the things that we did to build up to becoming an empire over time were not worth the hatred of the rest of the countries either. While we think we are doing good things, the rest of the world sees us as a bad country. This makes some countries with terrorists a threat to us because they could attack us at any time. Our countries record for spreading democracy and stability around the world is not very good. An example to this is during the 1980s with Afghanistan. The U.S. armed and supported militants of Islamic background who fought against the Soviet invasion until the Soviet Union withdrew. After that, the U.S. abandoned Afghanistan which was not good because terrorists then hatched and planned the September 11 attacks. America is the world’s only superpower. This means that no country has the capability of providing a counterforce to the imperial impulses of America. With all these issues building up against and in America, it has turned us into an empire.
No, America is not building an empire. An empire infers conquering other countries. In Iraq for example we went there to liberate th Iraqi people from a terrible dictator, and allow democracy to blossom in that part of the world. United States isn't hated by the world they are only hated by the leftist in other parts of the world. We aren't keeping other countries from determining their own destiny. For example, in Afganistan we went to war against the Taliban and Al-quaeda to free some of the most opprssed people in the world. Now without Al-queada and the Taliban the people have for the first time the opportunity to determine their own destiny. In hind sight, I dont believe the war in Iraq was worth fighting. It has become too expensive. America can not afford it and other countries should help. It is in the best interest of the free world to pitch in and help fight enemies to western civilization. The biggest threat being Islamic militants, and the countries that support them. The only way to defeat them is to bring democracy and the principals of freedom and liberty to all. America can't do this alone. We need all of our allies to commit themselves to the struggle.
I believe that America is an empire, but we do not want to call ourselves one. We feel the need to get into other peoples business and control their lives. We have such a bad reputation from the war in Iraq, and we are in a huge un -payable debt. Even if the debt was payable the tax payers would be the ones paying it, not even the government, the people who started the whole thing in the first place. Gas proces have risen tramendiously because of the war, the Americn tax payers have suffered from the governments stupid descision, and so have other countries. Some counties even fear us because we have one of the largest armies! We clearly are an empire, we just dont want to admit all the horrible things that go along with that title.
Is America an empire? Why or why not?
I think that America will eventually feel like an empire if we don’t change it now. If everyone just stands and watches the world destroy itself, then we’re all going to get screwed over. If we continue to send our troops to Iraq, and any other country for that matter, then we’re never going to have any peace or friendships around the world. I think that if we just let countries live their lives and we live ours, then we will be a happier world. Yet, this does not mean that we shouldn’t have friendships around the world. We should continue to trade and share with other countries across the world, not fight them. I think that we’re wasting our money spending it on our military because we keep sending them to war. If we keep egging the other countries on, we’ll eventually break out into another world war. Who knows how many “secret allies” other countries have with each other? We could be digging a hole for ourselves deeper and deeper each day. Our political and economic status is, also, absolutely down the drain right now, but I think that if we work together that we could make the United States a way better country. But then again, there might not be anything that we can do about it; with the lack of oil and other resources, there might be no solution.
Is America an empire? Why or why not? America is not an empire because we chose America to be an independent country, where people can say and do almost anything they want. It is an empire in the way that we can't always do what we want. Even though there is someone in charge and he/she sets rules and regulations, we can still have our own amendments that we are allowed to. Such as freedom of speech. If we were an empire, then we would not have these regulations to live by. For example, if you wrote something against the kind/queen, you could be put to death or in jail for life, but in America you could get punished for your actions but you have to right to do it, so the person in charge cannot physically do anything to you. When we give the government our tax money, we want it to be going to a good cause, but by giving it to the military to continue to keep control if Afghanistan, we would much rather use that money to make peace and send our troops home. Buy building an empire, we might be hated around the world. The most important thing in the world, in my opinion, is peace and without it, we would all live in a hated world.
The world does not all have a hatred for the United States of America. Alot of countries use use the United States of America as an example. Other countries try to be more like us because of our laws, agreements and how we run things in general. The United States of America has expanded to many other areas but it wasn't caused that much cummotion i thought. Yes Queen Liliuokalani was angry when she had to give up her monarchy but the United States of America was very profitable from expanding their territory onto the Hawaniian islands. The United States of America has profitable importation and exportation that helps other counties also. The empire that the the United States of America is has many promblems but many pros to it. Some problems with being an empire if in Iraq and how we are going over there just to get some oil for gass but at the price of americans lives, thisis a major problem wwith being an empire and trying to expand there territory over in to Africa. If the United States of America would not have expanded Alaska too then we would be even lower on resources for the United States of America. In conclusion the United States of America has become a large country and has taken over many other areas but it is profitable and helpful to other countries in many ways.
Is America an empire? Why or why not?
I do not believe America is an empire. We have many things that may convince you that we do like the war but because of the immigrants we are allowing and jobs people are losing unfairly I don’t think we can classify is as an empire. Even though the war is a reason why we seem like an empire it’s also a reason why we’re not because the war has become an unnecessary thing. We aren’t making much progress and our soldiers are wasting their time there now. In an empire they want to expand but America has no want to expand. When I hear empire I think communist. They are trying to control people’s lives not to say that communists are bad they have good intentions but it’s just a little too controlling. America is not trying to control people’s lives. However, they might just be on the way to trying. They only try to control the little things that effect little things, but if they keep it up we’ll have a communist country on our hands. So is America an Empire? No, but we might just be on the way to becoming one if we’re not careful.
The question to answer: Is America an empire? Why or why not? I think America is an Empire Because were the onlu superpower and dominates it culturly. The U.S. Military had bases All in the U.S., Greenland, Iceland, Spain, United Kingdom GErmany, Turkey Saudi Arabia, Uberkstan, Kyrgstan, Taikstan, Afaganistan, Pakastan, Japan, and South Korea. The U.S. bases are everywere bascily. Anthor example that the U.S. is a Empire is because america is spreading stablity and democracy all around the world. were not like Empires in the past were not built on colines abd conquset. AMerica thinks of themselfs as a friend of freedom human rights and demorcacy but really it kinda oposite. And the Are "empire" gets involves with the weaker and smaller empires.
I believe that America has become an empire. But, we aren’t helping the world; we’re ruining it for all of us. Take a look at what we did in Iraq. We thought there were WMA’s (weapons of mass destruction) and all we got was a war, Iraqi citizens that hate us, and doubts about our security on the U.S. Also, in 1953, Iran had their own democracy well ushered and then we come and turned it upside down. Now some countries in the world see us as an evil empire. I do not want to be in a hated place of disorder and misery. If I were to go to an Anti-American country or nation (and not saying I would), I would be beaten down by its people and they might not show me mercy. And now that I think about these points, I couldn’t believe how this country has gone so low in its history. In the 1920’s, it was a glorious place to live. That time had opportunity for immigrants to look to for happiness and love. We had supplements for them and equality for all. Now we are despised b/c we had a poor leader to help.
When looking at the U.S and comparing it to past Empires like the Roman and British, I see where people find our actions to resemble theirs. Looking from the outside our forthright and over-powering ideas can be intimidating and look like we’re building up to be something we’re not. I personally think that the United States is not an empire nor will it ever be. While the U.S does try to spread ideas people aren’t always open to, like democracy, I believe that the intention is good unlike past empires. Democracy is defined as governed by the people, for the people. In most empires, a dictatorship is usually the form of government and therefore we do not fit the criteria that many empires have had because we give citizens the freedom of choice. So while some see us as controlling because of our militia, market, technology and other things, I think that it is all for the happiness and security of our own country and not to rule others.
I think that the word we should be using to describe American is “globalization”.
It’s the American owned companies rather than the government who are globalizing the world. Look at Starbucks or McDonalds who have locations all over the world. These companies not only benefit by giving people jobs, but the owners of the locations aren’t American, but the citizens of that country. The article assigned for homework clearly implied that intervention from the US does not affect that nation positively. I am going to argue that idea. Take Latin American for example, Chile is probably one of the strongest Nation there. Around the late 1960’s, we caused truck drivers to strike, resulting in a total country shut down. This caused public opinion to turn against Allende (democratically elected), allowing Pinochet to take control. This opened the doors for economic growth between the two countries, and both mutually benefited. Now, take Colombia, a country who has struggled against drugs and terrorism within their own country. They recently released three American hostages, who had been held for over 10 years, the ex presidential candidate Irene Betancourt. Though the Venezuelan government publically states that it is 100% anti-American, the citizens of that country are publically stating back, that they want American assistance.
Ani G
Yes, we are an empire. We are an empire because we are surrounded my oceans, have our own language, and have our on governtment to protect our safety and security. It was a good thing that we entered into a war, trying to set up another countries government so it can then run itself. Here we are six years later, still in the war, with not 100% success, and costing us lots of money. This money that we are spending should be put towards our own security and economic benifits. I do think that other countries in the world should participate in creating a democracy in Iraq, so that they will protect there own security back at there home. We dont want terrorsim to spread to our country and any other country in the world. If the United States is in Iraq, whats stoppin gus form going into North Korea to illimanate their threat of nuclear power?
-Veronica Gordon
Blog #4 Is America an empire why or why not?
America is not an empire because America runs on democracy not dictatorship, “land of the free home of the brave” is a famous quote land of the free, hmm plus it would be a tyranny because America would invade other countries and try to run there gov’t without there consent, America was built b our forefathers to run on a democracy not a dictatorship, Plus it would not be fair to other countries because America has land “from sea to shinning sea” and other countries might think we r trying to improve the world by making it all a democracy and that’s not the “American dream” the forefathers had in mind when they created the U.S.A based on a democracy plus the U.S would look like hypicrits if he tried to Run other countries governments without there consent. Plus America is not a empire because our country is not a dictatorship, it’s a democracy, people have the vote, the people decide what we do, in a dictatorship the dictator decides everything. So therefore America is not a empire, because we r founded on democracy not dictatorship.
Jake O.
No country in the world wants to be hated by another country, simply because of the growing importance of international trade, and this might cause problems from a main supplier of a type of material. Plus the U.S. is not “hated” by other nations, I think that other nations simply do not want the U.S. to have a stranglehold on economies ALL around the world. This would give the U.S. huge advantages over other nations, by having more land, more resources, and more places to spread a democracy as the system of government. In the lands the U.S. can very easily place military bases, and I think that the U.S. would only spend the money to do that if the nation itself or nations surrounding it is a threat to American safety, because the U.S. simply does not have the extra money to spend on unnecessary Military forces. The U.S. is a democracy, so obviously they would try to spread it, however sometimes by taking over control of a nation it makes people reject the idea of having a democracy and plus, even if they do use a democracy it is mostly likely be because the U.S. enforced it and it is not by people favoring it over another system. Like I said before the U.S. simply does not have the extra money anymore, because of the economy failing, and huge bailouts for companies that are and or were failing. And so the U.S. should defiantly save the money for spending inside the U.S.
Faith P
4th hour
America is not currently an empire. For a very long time our country was on its way to becoming an empire, but at this point this statement is not true. The United States are a very controlling power in the world in that we posses so many different countries and territories, but not enough to be considered a true empire in the ways that Rome was. We are trying to spread democracy, which is very much like the spreading of religion Rome always tried to do. We do not use nearly as much violence as they did, plus the spreading of democracy makes more sense then the spreading of religion because it is getting rid of evil dictators who are killing far more people then we will. The United States are not an empire because we do not occupy nearly as many territories as a true empire and we do not use as much violence and kill as many people.
America is an empire in my opinion.It has developed over so many years,things changed. It has control in alot of things. Building an empire is not worth the hatred of the world. Why would you want everyone to hate one another just because you want to build an empire.Then we have other people from other countries (terrorists) trying to kill and distroy our good things in life.That is not a good sign to anything. We aren't doing the right thing by keeping other countries from determining their own destiny.That is why thay want to kill us because they are mad with us.Yes the tax money we're spending on our military also the right thing to do.People are losing their lives to go and fight for us.So we need to help them out and return a favor. The people fighting didn't decide on having war with another country. Other countries of the world should shoulder their own defense expense because we have our own problems with money.
No, I dont think America is an empire yet. I think we are very close to being an Empire though. I predict we will be in a few years. We need to spend more time building our military up and lower our debts in other countries we will be able to be an Empire. I dont think we will be able to be an empire in such great debt. If we were not in debt and had a strong military we probably would be an empire and it would be easy for us to take over and have power over other countries. Other countries would be under our control but until we have a stronger military and we dont owe so much we will only be on ther verge of ebecoming an empire.
-Ayana Mosley
Is America an empire? Why or why not?
I agree and disagree with the question Is America An Empire. First of all, America is an Empire. I think this because America does try to spread democracy to every country that isn't. I think it's a good thing to do because many countries do not know what to do. I think that is why some countries end up with dictators, or terrible leadership. By spreading democracy, other countries can get a taste of freedom, and a good life. Not as mant limits to living your life. Some countries would like that. Some would also despise that. Some countries do not like America because were in such great debt. When the War ends. i feel that America should spend time on fixing our America and gaining back our trust between other countries. If we keep invading other countries, our country could fall apart and go down hill. That would be a good idea to me. To be an Empire, I think it would be smart to not be hated by some people or countries. Having a better military would also help. It's a very confusing topic to me though because I also think it could benefit some people and countries by having a democracy.
I do think America is becoming an empire because we are fighting with other countries for no reason. The war in Iraq has no purpose anymore. This is making other countries dislike America for the simple fact that we pick on other countries for no apparent reason. .We are a superpower who has complete military control compared to other nations. Our army is larger than the next nine strongest armies combined. America was even a stronger nation and was probably an empire after WWII when we defeated the Germans and Japanese, which were also two very powerful nations. On the other hand, we portray ourselves as a democratic nation where other nations see us as a controlling empire. I personally believe if we were an empire we would be called the American Empire like the Romans and British were instead of The United States. think we’ve really lost sight of the term now if we consider ourselves an empire currently. With our economy and where it is today, we’ll be lucky to get back to a sense of normalcy within four or so years, and I don’t think we will completely recover for another 50. The government tries making decisions based on what is best for us and I think empires decisions are just on gaining power. So no I do not think The U.S. is a empire.
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