the illusion continues --- the USA can't protect, feed or represent the world's population
their countries ... their problems fund your own charities On Feb 2, 10:50 pm, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > Losing EgyptbyThe Freemanon Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 12:01am > Egyptians have taken to the streets to demand the ouster of President Hosni > Mubarak, the U.S.-backed leader who came to power after the assassination of > Anwar Sadat nearly 30 years ago. We can be sure that sooner or later someone > will condemn Barack Obama as the president wholost Egypt.Such mutterings, in > my view, would border on delusion. The world is not a chessboard on which the > U.S. government can move the world s people around, expecting them to obey. > And yet the illusion continues. > After generations of backing dictators who flout their people s interests, > the obvious question is, Why do American political leaders repeatedly follow > the same path even though such actions fit Einstein s definition of insanity > : doing the same thing over and over expecting different results? > My answer is that for more than a century, Americans have been inundated with > the Religion of Progressivism, which is based on a belief that governments > hold the keys to happiness and prosperity, and that Really Wise People with > theproper educational and professional credentialsare the Keepers of the > Secret. The Progressives of a century ago held that commerce without the > guiding hand of the wise State ultimately debases all of life, and that the > economy should serve the greater interests of America. This was naturally > extended to foreign affairs. > Today, modern American institutions, from corporations to education to > churches, use such beliefs as core organizing principles, and both liberals > and conservatives fully have embraced this secular faith. The policy elite > sees the United States as a singular organic interest and believes the > interests of everyone else on earth need to be brought into line with the > American agenda.Bribery and ForceMany Americans seem to think that the > arrangement pushed on the rest of the world must be kept together by a > combination of bribery and sheer force. American troops are stationed all > over the globe and presently are fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, > neither of which is going very well. (And no one should be surprised that > occupied people fight back.) > For more than three decades, the United States has used bribery with Egypt. > (It is the second largest recipient of U.S. aid, behind Israel.) Such aid has > not only propped up Mubarak s government, but it also has relieved it of the > need to liberalize the economy because no matter how much wealth it wastes, > the United States is there with its big checkbook. > We shouldn t be surprised that the individuals at the top of Egypt s > governing structure are the main beneficiaries of this bribery, while > ordinary people are forced to live in poverty. Mubarak sinterventionist > economyhas made some moves toward liberalization in recent years, but it has > a long way to go to being free and fully market-oriented. The people > protesting in the streets understand that U.S. financial aid props up the > corruption and oppression. > No, they don t hate us for our freedoms. They hate a U.S. policy that, in the > name of stability, works against freedom. This is where Progressivism has led. -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
