I understand the good intentions of Roger Cohen - I think most Americans want our country to relate well to the rest of the world and achieve our goals with the support of others using diplomacy and incentives. Indeed, global trade and the success of the international markets have brought the US as well as the rest of the world amazing prosperity.
However, when Roger speaks about the other 6.3 billion people the 2008 election will affect, what does that mean? He gives them such legitimacy but I'm not sure why. Should we aim to please Hugo Chavez, a man who has shut down free speech and free press? Should we listen more to Iran and other Islamic countries, regimes that publicly hang homosexuals, repress women, and have sworn to destroy Israel? Should we join Europe, a continent with a dying population (average birthrate = 1.5), a system of entitlements that is totally unsustainable, and an immigration problem that is spiraling out of control? Maybe we should accept Russia, where an ex-KGB agent rules with an iron fist and does nothing about the AIDS outbreak that is hurting his country. We could go the way of South Africa, a one party state with some of the highest levels of murder and rape in the world.
I don't mean to say that we should always pursue unilateral actions - far from it. We should invite the world to join us in our quest to spread freedom and economic opportunity. We should not bow down to tyrannic governments and religious extremism or nanny state socialism, but encourage them to free their citizens from the chains of oppression and bureaucracy. We need to elect the candidate with a clear vision of America's greatness, one who acknowledges our faults, but one who loves our strengths. The next president must believe that America is a force of good in the world, which it has been for hundreds of years, instead of an apologist for a few failed policies and an appeaser of totalitarianism.
We cannot afford another Jimmy Carter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/opinion/15cohen.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
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2 comments:
"Should we join Europe, a continent with a dying population (average birthrate = 1.5), a system of entitlements that is totally unsustainable, and an immigration problem that is spiraling out of control?"
First, I don't think that US would be allowed to join EU because of its huge budget deficit.
Second, your description of Europe is ridiculous. Where did you get those numbers? I think the US immigration problem is far worse than ours. Europe is more than France, UK and Germany. How many immigrants do you think live in Italy, Poland, Spain etc.?
Third, the unsustainable nannystate is far more succesful than the US economic system right now. The US middle-class is getting smaller and poorer every year. And when the middle-class is gone, US will look like Brazil and lose its economic strength. Turn off Fox news and read about economy instead of listening to the "unsustainable nannystate" propaganda that is proven wrong every year. If the propaganda was right, it would be Europe that stood on the brink of bankruptcy, not the US.
Carl-Johan,
Thanks for your comment, I always appreciate different perspectives. It has been a busy weekend and a busy Monday, but I will try to get back to you as soon as possible with some stats to back up my claims.
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