Let’s take it back to the beginning. In 1756 the men who later formed the political basis for the United States unleashed what was to be later dubbed by our society as terrorist warfare against the so-called tyranny of Britain. Not terrorism like we know today, but more so terrorism of the suburban kind. The way to undermine a political entity is to create unrest with in the public. Even then as our fore-fathers were rebelling against British rule their main goal was to rally enough troops that would stand up and fight for what it was they believed in: a country with the freedoms the British would not enact upon their colonies. And their effort paid off. By 1776 the 13 colonies of former British rule would band together to form a loosely knotted string of allied states against the tyranny of the British, only separated slightly by Whigs and Tories. As we all know by way of American History we won that battle and soon formed our very own country. Two hundred plus years later we would still remain a giant world power with the strength and means to bully just about any country we choose: bring the war to them its easier, safer and more cost effective for hiding the realities of what we are doing there in the first place.
    As the world would soon find out we pressed on and on until the civil war crisis started breaking out in our own back yards. There was no way we could show to the rest of Europe that we were weak and ready to fall apart. Showing weakness when the country you just founded is less than a hundred years old is not the way to go. So we create a diversion- it becomes a war to free the slaves, a wise political maneuver by Abe Lincoln. Foreign countries having a much better understanding about human nature and human rights, and would back out if they saw we were merely trying to avoid economic catastrophe by eliminating a dead practice to further increase the profits provided by a capitalist system. Free trade, competition, and the right for more personal wealth pushed a budding country further ahead than its European counterparts. Coupled by this belief and the slow but inevitable collapse of ideology long since past, the United States would surpass each and every one of them.
    With the history, out of the way let’s move on now to the bits of political turmoil that has brought us to the day and age in which we now live. At the turn of the twentieth century, we had two major fluctuations in western European countries. 1) The rise of the German Empire under Adolph Hitler, and 2) the communist revolution of Russia with Lenin followed by Stalin in 1929 coming into power as dictators. Now we know that in both of these countries at the time of take over, the economy was struggling and the governments were faltering. When a government is faltering, it is easier to aggressively take control from the outside than it would be to establish a new beginning from the inside. When people become desperate because something is not working, they listen to just about anybody. What we learn from these two dictatorships is that things work a hell of a lot better in theory than in practice. With Lenin and Stalin, we learned that even though Marx might have had some good ideas they are not practical. People cannot govern themselves, there needs to be ruler of some kind ready to dish out orders and propaganda when needed. So, Lenin and Stalin became dictators. Hitler on the other hand used a very clever weapon to rally his countrymen- the use of a scapegoat; we all know what happened with that one. Now a scapegoat works because it puts the blame on somebody else. A lot of you might remember in Southern California a few years there was a proposition187 that officials were trying to pass that would require employers, teachers, doctors, and other likewise people to report to the INS whether or not a person was a US citizen. Thus enacting the public’s help as a form of Gestapo. Much like the way Hitler would send out for Jews and Non Aryans to be rounded up and put into work camps as they were first referred to as.
    Fidel Castro set out to take over Cuba and bring back a democracy to his country in 1951. It took him eight years to finally over throw the dictator Batista. Castro wanted to bring back freedom to his country by establishing a social-democratic government that would be financially independent and not need help from anyone. Isn’t it funny how Castro ended up being the same dictator he overthrew? And why do we see it as our American duty to thwart any non-capitalist country that had asked for our help but our arrogance made us reject their plea, so they turn to communism? Sure keep our country safe by taking our wars over there and fighting on their land, destroying their homes and families. I’d love to see a war brought here, maybe we’ll think about it before we decide to have another one. Naw, let’s just continue to bomb the hell out of anything we think is a missile silo and then say, "We didn’t know it was a children’s hospital.". Do you remember the ‘60’s? How about the draft riots for our own Civil War, because brothers didn’t want to be fighting against each other? Do you remember how Americans took land that didn’t belong to them and pushed the original occupants off with diseases that were unheard of to them? Or, taking it globally, how about how the British claim to own several plots of countries around the globe and nobody ever questions it? Apartheid in South Africa existed up until the mid ‘90’s. I thought the British were supposed to be more refined than us thieving Americans. Tell me does this sound stupid or what- Black people over sixteen years old were expected to carry identity passes and mixed marriages were illegal.
    Maybe what I’m saying is that the world is fucked. The selfish attitudes of people today brought on by a pop culture that evidently would rather pretend that everything is okay than actually try to do something about it, needs a readjustment. But with 250 million people in this country and 15% of those people actually caring about what goes on, maybe nothing will change. Maybe it’s our own doomed fate, begetting monster after monster because the profits weren’t good enough. Becoming a contributing part of the decline of western civilization is too easy. Structuring a reform that will benefit from the good ideas is probably too wistful. But whatever the present case scenario is lets do ourselves a favor and not repeat the past.