Howard Zinn: American Empire Is 'Crumbling' »
Posted By populist 1 year, 1 month ago in News"I think the American empire will go the way of other empires and I think it is on its way now."
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populist
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chuck-the-canuck1 year, 1 month ago
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Great nations rise and fall, it's a fact of life. Will America fit the pattern? Someday it will, but if Americans want to speed the process along, all they have to do is vote for McCain.
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Then, the question will be, will it go out with a bang or a whimper. -
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CHAM1 year, 1 month ago
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Good article. All Empires of history have followed the same script, birth in a cause, grow in pride for country and practice morality for human beings, become dominate and start to let corruption inside government, become the haven for the few and the ghetto for the many, start one war too many, go the way all the others have gone.
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But each and every one could have done better. If the people had decided they wanted their country to remain a bastion of good governance and a people of good will.
Or as Chuck said - elect McCain and his sidekick and we can speed up the demise. -
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chevydog1 year, 1 month ago
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Interesting article.
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In one sense we've ceased our empire building. The former Spanish states and one French one have been part of the country for a while. Alaska and Hawaii are now states. We more or less voluntarily relinquished Cuba and the Phillipines.
One could make cases that WWI and WWII were for strategic reasons; the cases for Korea and the 1st Iraq conflict are murkier, but could also be viewed that way. Strategic reasoning was sometimes used to try to justify Vietnam; but few people, then or now, believed it. The stuation for the current Iraq conflict is IMHO strange-- the political opposition frequently alleges that it was based on strategic justificattion; but the Administration denies it, at least sometimes. Strange indeed.
The situation in Iraq has badly damaged the US. IMHO even if a stable democratic government is established there, which I am skeptical of, the damage could take generations to heal.
One thing in the article I found strange. The writer makes the statement that the two main political parties in the US are relatively close. I'm not very familiar with politics elsewhere. But the article's assertion implies that many have a less broad political spectrum than we do. I'm not sure I believe that. -
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Georgia501 year, 1 month ago
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Chuck,
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You agree with the author's premise? Why am I not surprised. An al-jazeera interview with the author, who is questioned in the context of, and responds to, the entire rise and projected fall of the United States through the prism of merely the war in Iraq.
No more phone calls please....we have a doppelganger for Trig. -
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AntiNeoCon1 year, 1 month ago
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It is true, that empires rise and fall especially when they attempt to rule the world like Alexander the Great and others such as George W Bush. Maybe we have outlived our usefulness who knows, but somebody needs to get the world leaders on the same page. America simply cannot afford to be the world police force much longer.
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Harbeas1 year, 1 month ago
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The article makes very valid points. I get upset when I see people say avote for MCain or a vote for Obama will change things. These two parties have been nominated presidents and congressmen ever since this country began. What we are beginning to see is the deteriation of the power, prestige, morality, and at one time the highest standard of living in the world. Why do we think the two major parties can lead us back to our once glory? They are too entrenched in the morass that caused this situation in the first place. If we want change we start with our current government makeup and change it! Elect people who will offer a new way of doing business, not the same old same old. We have the power to change it but we have to act now!
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Natureboy1 year, 1 month ago
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"I get upset when I see people say avote for MCain or a vote for Obama will change things. These two parties have been nominated presidents and congressmen ever since this country began."
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Agree with the first point, disagree with the second. The Republican Party got its start shortly before the civil war, as a third party.
But now both parties are the corporatist party, the divisions between them being largely matters of culture-war pandering. A plague on both their houses.
A vote for Obama or McCain will not change things on a fundamental level. Both want to be at the helm of the status quo. They would never abolish it. Even if they had the power to do so.
Want to vote? Feel free, you won't hurt my feelings. But if you vote, and you want change, for the love of Gaia, don't JUST vote, spend the two minutes in the voting booth and then get your ass back out on the streets and do something that matters in order to create the change you want to see.
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Harbeas1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
The article makes very valid points. I get upset when I see people say avote for MCain or a vote for Obama will change things. These two parties have been nominated presidents and congressmen ever since this country began. What we are beginning to see is the deteriation of the power, prestige, morality, and at one time the highest standard of living in the world. Why do we think the two major parties can lead us back to our once glory? They are too entrenched in the morass that caused this situation in the first place. If we want change we start with our current government makeup and change it! Elect people who will offer a new way of doing business, not the same old same old. We have the power to change it but we have to act now!
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Harbeas1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
The article makes very valid points. I get upset when I see people say avote for MCain or a vote for Obama will change things. These two parties have been nominated presidents and congressmen ever since this country began. What we are beginning to see is the deterioration of the power, prestige, morality, and at one time the highest standard of living in the world. Why do we think the two major parties can lead us back to our once glory? They are too entrenched in the morass that caused this situation in the first place. If we want change we start with our current government makeup and change it! Elect people who will offer a new way of doing business, not the same old same old. We have the power to change it but we have to act now!
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Harbeas1 year, 1 month ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
The article makes very valid points. I get upset when I see people say avote for MCain or a vote for Obama will change things. These two parties have been nominated presidents and congressmen ever since this country began. What we are beginning to see is the deterioration of the power, prestige, morality, and at one time the highest standards of living in the world. Why do we think the two major parties can lead us back to our once glory? They are too entrenched in the morass that caused this situation in the first place. If we want change we start with our current government makeup and change it! Elect people who will offer a new way of doing business, not the same old same old. We have the power to change it but we have to act now!
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