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Is the USA an Empire? Empires have been historically associated with having significant reach for the known world, strong economies, exporting of culture, a dominant military with significant presence outside of the sovereign land.
Personally, I think we are. Most Presidents from early in our days used the military to expand our influence in land and sea, and eventually in the modern age, used the military as a last resort if we couldn't coerce a culture to adapt to us. Our culture is consumed worldwide and technologically we're advanced.
What do you think?
May I ask what prompted this question? It sounds like "out of the blue"..
I don't think that such definitions are relevant. The US is what it is, and everyone can choose the word he prefers to describe it.
Let me ask - is the US a failing country? or is it the best country that ever existed? You will find advocates for each of these definitions. One thing is sure - such discussions sell books and many will attempt to make a buck or two out of that.
No if we were a empire we certainly would nopt have left Kuwai or any toehr country but would ahve taken control of teh resources just as Britian did in their time.We would still run geramny and japan for starters and reap the rewards.
May I ask what prompted this question? It sounds like "out of the blue"..
I don't think that such definitions are relevant. The US is what it is, and everyone can choose the word he prefers to describe it.
Let me ask - is the US a failing country? or is it the best country that ever existed? You will find advocates for each of these definitions. One thing is sure - such discussions sell books and many will attempt to make a buck or two out of that.
What goes up must come down and unfortunately I believe the US is on the way down. Loss of freedoms, capitalism to fasciasm, and outsourcing the manufacturing of all our products to the next superpower China.
The term "empire" has been defined as a "large orginization under unified control", by that definition yes, the US is very much an empire. I can see that a lot of people are still saying, "we", meaning them and their government, our government has an agenda tied to that of their corporate masters, they are the ones that benefit from military backed ventures to secure the raw resources we need.
There are any number of books written by CIA types who admit to intervening in foreign elections, starting riots in foreign nations, flooding foreign countries with bogus money to destroy that countries currency, empires are not always going to look the same throughout our history, but the end result usually remains the same. There are ongoing discussions that allude to the fear of the dollar losing it's key currency status, this will be interesting to watch, it will also demonstrate the power of empire to create consensus with the "big stick".
Is the USA an Empire? Empires have been historically associated with having significant reach for the known world, strong economies, exporting of culture, a dominant military with significant presence outside of the sovereign land.
Personally, I think we are. Most Presidents from early in our days used the military to expand our influence in land and sea, and eventually in the modern age, used the military as a last resort if we couldn't coerce a culture to adapt to us. Our culture is consumed worldwide and technologically we're advanced.
What do you think?
I think that much of the reason that our crap is all over the globe is because that's how capitolism works, flood the market (juuuuust enough, but not too much) in little waves and scan the whole world in search of more people to sell stuff to. Make sure there is always some new thing, and constantly streamline the efficiency of production.
While this isn't the sole reason for our spreading, it no doubt plays a part. If you sell someone a computer, you need to sell them the internet that goes with it, then you need a computer repair guy and an outlet to get more computers. Then you need all the stuff that goes with them like printers and paper, then you need a place to get cartriges.... Selling our stuff world wide sucks them into accepting our model. Again, this isn't the sole reason that our ideals are spreading, but no doubt it is part of it. I guess a quick answer to your quesion is: yes. We are an empire.
When I think of an empire I think of a country that exerts control well away from their shores- like when Great Britian ruled India... and Japan other areas. We're pretty much who we are and are within ourselves.
United States is the only country that is both a military and economic superpower. The only country that has blasted twice an enemy country with nuclear bombs (Hiroshima August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki August 9, 1945). Also, the only that went to war against a country that had nothing to do with 911, and got away with it without any repercussions (nobody went to jail > war crimes > no politician). So yes, I believe we are an empire, the world is basically a chess board to us.
Sad isn`t it?
Yes, your post is sad. Because you don't seem to appreciate the fact that the U.S. has liberated millions of people during the last 100 years.
You bring up the nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki... more Japanese (and German) citizens were killed by conventional bombing.
Also, the A-bomb prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths (on both sides) which would have occurred if the plan to invade Japan in Nov., 1945 went ahead as planned.
And the U.S. "got away" with invading Iraq because the cease-fire agreement gave the U.S. legal authority to resume military action against that country if the agreement was broken. Which it was (firing at U.S. planes in the no-fly zone is one example).
America is country that has great world wide influence, but not a empire. A empire is a area of land controlled by a centralized government over that area. The Romans had a empire, as did the Germans during WW2. America is not expansionary into lands already controlled by other governments, and call those areas part America. Just because we have business ties with many countries throughout the world does not mean we own or control those countries. Yes we may try to manipulate those countries through all kinds of infuences does not mean we own those countries. If we were a empire Canada and Mexico would of become Americans a long time ago.
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