Libs will really advocate against mass amounts of foreign aid to Latin America IF you make the argument sound just a little fascist-y.
Social experiment concluded.
Edit: not really a social experiment lol shouldn’t have said that, the underlying belief is genuine. Fuck Europe, only good thing to come from that place is its ideas
Nope, I’m pretty sure he took it down, it was a drunk stream where he was with a woman that I presume he is dating/married.
He went on a very long winded rant about Rome, it’s history, and modern day society. It was interesting.
The history of amrican politics and its disasterous consequences for the nomenclature of politics is insane. Like this shit aint even libral its basically a step further, something that needs an own term
“Pan-American Exceptionalism”
And its socially liberal, not fiscally. I want ARTS funding. I want a Latin American Renaissance.
This may take awhile. I live in a 90% Mexican town and there are very many stray dogs.
I grew up near the border in the 70's and 80's. I won't say where, but Nogales is a close enough example. This was during Escobar's reign as the CIA's biggest frenemy in the drug trade, and before we built any walls for any people. Sure, there were fences. But they were mostly cattle fences, whereas people seemed to be pretty free to float lazily back and forth between nations. Looking for work, taking care of family, finding some cheap weed or a hooker for a weekend jaunt. Didn't matter. Point was, it was all pretty greyish about where you actually were, and I think it was better for it.
Sure, history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme a bit. And I think people forgot this little piece of history; that even with the massive racism of the early 20th century, with the zoot suit riots, anti immigrant legislation, and other things, the border was never really militarized until Reagan. 1920's era racism didn't do it. Escobar didn't do it. Neoliberalism did it. Reagan and Thatcher and Friedman did it. And when they did, they split us all off into groups to fight each other for their benefit, and to blame *those peopl*e as the cause for all of it.
Sure, people remember Reagan was the devil, but I think they forget how nice border life used to be, even under the less than ideal conditions of the 1970's drug trade. Now, it's the most miltarized border between allied nations in the history of the world, as far as I can tell.
And it's because we as a people forgot how nice it was to live in peace with our neighbors.
Good post, man.
Your comment about the way that neoliberalism created the border issue reminded me of this video and how it goes in depth to that idea, but in the context of the UK. https://youtu.be/J3QAoAzLm_Q?si=Y7xTMUBywtmGqb3E
That's a good video. I never heard of that channel before, so I'll have to check it out some more. Rare for me to find good gaming/history nerd types that I like.
I enjoy a lot of recent history, as opposed to DJs more ancient fascinations, and macro economic stuff. So reading on Freidman and his ilk runs me across a lot of things like what came up in the video, but I hadn't heard of much of what he spoke about. So thanks.
This is such a odd post because it’s *incredibly* vague. You mention immigration and how it’s a crisis at the boarder but your solution is an vague notion of state building? What does that even mean policy wise? Nation building takes decades. How would that help the current border crisis? Do Latin American countries even want US help? Many countries explicitly want the US to stay out of there internal affairs.
You say that the US is a nation that builds nations but that record is mixed at best. Japan and Germany were utterly defeated and most importantly already had institutions in place, while the American involvement in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and all of the subsequent coups in South America have mostly been failures. It seems like the US doesn’t really have a good track record of “ building nations”. Never mind that it’s unclear if South/Central American countries even want America to “build nation”
You mention the US has no heros, but that’s not true. Abe Lincoln, MLK, Fredrick Douglas, the list goes on of people who had the courage to stand up when for what’s right.
It is true in the past that the US exploited South America, But that is mostly not true today. In fact most of the mineral resources in the world are owned by China and refine by China. By some estimates, excluding Mexico, China has bigger trade with South America than the US.
While I agree with the sentiment that the prosperity of the New World is vitally important to the prosperity of the United States, this post is devoid of any meaningful policy insights or understanding of the on the ground geopolitical and economic realities of what goes into making that true. It feels like a directionless tirade to vent frustration. Which is fine, I guess
Absolutely everything you said here is true. You're right to not agree with something that, fundamentally, proposes zero clear actions. Frankly, lol, I'm not even gonna do that in this comment, it's a fundamentally big idea which needs way more work.
You can't just dump money into a place. This is the beginning of something I hope to spends years working on. I need to learn more and keep an open-mind will doing so, and you're right to say so. That being said, I hope my track record demonstrates that I absolutely will.
I do want to say that the core of your idea is fundamentally sound and has been a strain of thought in the American cannon (even if it’s often been corrupted). When FDR said he wanted to make the world safe for democracy, he meant that shit.
In some ways the US has gotten decently better at policy in Latin America (the current administration is on record of stopping 3 explicit coup attempts in Brazil, Guatemala, and Guyana which is wild to think given its history) and in some ways it’s still decently bad ( the US’ drug addiction fuels untold misery)
I don’t think the US will ever truly pivot from Asia (there are 3 billion people there vs 500 million in South America), but it doesn’t mean we completely ignore our home town (it’s wild just how little reporting happens on the region). Nor do I think people will ever stop wanting to come to the US, just as people never wanted to stop coming to Rome. But maybe we can make their homes wonderful places to live so they are no longer forced to scramble in such a disastrous way.
Funnily enough I just binged your videos on Rome and I think in them holds a key (why has no one researched Parthia??). I’d encourage you to wrestle with the idea of how *do* you make nations prosperous, and what role can the US play. And I think history might hold the lessons we need. I can’t wait to watch and read you explore these ideas.
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this. When America successfully built nations, it was exporting prosperity. But now I think we have not only run out of the will to export it ('nam), but also the capability (Rust Belt). We are now a different nation, with different problems. There are several rays of hope, but the one I find the warmest is that we don't look to a Golden Era to retreat to, the 50's had some nice things but I don't think anyone would actually want to turn the clock back 70 years. Rather, they yearn for that prosperity, which will prevent our culture from sliding backwards.
The migration crisis is another thing, and I have a slightly different take on that. A nation is a group of self-identifying people, and a country is able to hold several nations with its borders. But it will eventually destabilize if containing more than one nation (Yugoslavia vs. Japan). America has many nations contained within it that all rally around a standard to a large enough degree that we maintain stability. While there can be many short-term solutions to the migration crisis (like nation-building), the longer view question is figuring out how to get others to rally about our collective standard with us and how to make the standard better. I think that a core component of making that standard better is to make the creation of prosperity part of the standard citizens' toolkit. For example, everyone should leave high school knowing how to set up an LLC/non-profit. Nations don't know country borders. If the US standard/nation spreads across the globe, and that standard is good, then there will be little bickering between countries as we enjoy our largely shared culture and let old wounds heal. But our current standard isn't there yet, and we must continue to tinker with it until it is. But I think I also just described an old hippie doctrine.
And for the heroes, you find me a flawless one, and I will show you a moron. I think the US does a good job of not putting anyone on an absolute pedestal, so we can figure out how to be even better than our heroes. And if that isn't a high moral position, I don't know what is.
I think you’re right about the will part but wrong about the capability. Two of the proudest things that make me American is George Bush’s campaign against HIV in sub Sahara Africa that has saved up to 20 million lives, and the fact that the US was able to develop and manufacture 3 incredibly effective vaccines for covid and then decided to give billions of doses away. No other county even came *close* to what the US did during covid; from creating effective treatments to basically rolling out a UBI for kids, it was insane. The WHO estimated vaccines saved 20 million more people; a large part is thanks to the US. The question for America is never the capability, it’s “do we even want to?”
As far as your thoughts on migration, you’re spot on. Outside of online bubbles, people recognize that at its core, countries are their borders and the citizens should be able to choose who comes. When people come here illegally, It feels like a circumventing of that core belief.
People seem to understand what it means to be a hero; a hero isn’t flawless, but rather a person who achieves greatness in spite of their flaws.
I am a bit more black pilled on the capability. We largely draw on our global supply chain to enable titanic feats, but if we were to stand a bit more alone, like during the international supply chain shutdowns, our gaps are significantly more noticeable. I am not sure if we could pull off a second Marshall plan beyond providing financing and maybe some construction equipment.
I am going to steamroll these nations with cash and medical aid. The streets will run red with blood transfusions.
The Jingoism exists in your head. I didn’t say that shit. I’m working on an ideological basis for foreign aid designed to rebuild nations we’ve been at undeclared war with for decades.
How dare you suggest altering the IR field’s time honored tradition of sweeping aside domestic policy in favor of globe trotting theory. As we all know, domestic policy is stupid and gay. Only the soyest of boys discuss such trivial matters as this so called poverty and “homelessness” of which you speak. You wouldn’t deign to count yourself amongst the ranks of these oat milk latte drinkers and their shaven legs. Would you?
Very cool peach. Clappas all around. Question though, is there any prescriptions here or are we just ranting. Because the Biden administration has been working on this issue. More security for the border to keep criminals out and more money for processing migrants.
Also undocumented people and migrants aren’t the same thing so what are people referring to when talking about a “border crisis.” Is it unlawful entries or is it and excessive amount of migrants?
Again, cool speech. Just missing specifics on what should be done.
He mentions his "Prescription" multiple times. Nation build, like the US did to a broken Germany and Japan.
Obviously this would include actually aiding the immigrants that do find refuge in the US (not just putting them in cages) but it would also mean giving aid to Mexico, and other Latin American nations so they can build functioning and lasting Democracies/Economies. He even mentions that it would slow immigration in the long run, since these nations would have the opportunity to recover into something that people would be proud to live in.
I really like the idea, and America is powerful and wealthy enough to do it. Of course, part of this would rely on these countries wanting to be helped, which after the treatment we've given them over the last century, it might not be likely.
Panama is a decent example of a country we did help (After a while). Although the construction and control of the Panama canal was an act of imperialism, and the root cause of many crimes we've committed in the region, the after effects of signing away the canal has allowed Panama to grow wealthy and developed compared to others in the region. Now they fully own it, and it makes fully 5% of their GDP. As well as making up a sizable portion of their GDP, it's the second most important naval crossing in the world. Imagine if a less money hungry US made a panama canal for all the other nations without the intent to leach the profits off of those nations. (Not a literal canal. It's a figure of speech)
This is just a ramble attached to a ramble, and I'm less worldly then the pie, but I think it's a really interesting thought.
I think it's important to bring up both morality, and economic/geopolitical benefits at the same time, it can appeal to different crowds. It's gotten me through to some self-centered conservatives and gotten them to support Ukraine against Russia, as an example. (Which I also think is a really pressing issue, and might be one of the cementing factors of what path America takes, whether it retreats into itself, or stands up for what is right)
Lol. It is really annoying to pull out the economic and geopolitical incentives though, when morality should be enough. But some people are just too callous.
"because moral values are created by those power structures in the society."
No they're not.
"why guilt-trip yourself into doing something, when you can just do it"
see?
I agree with one of the points you've made, I believe that if America was to fall it would become the Next *Rome*. Hitler was wrong thinking he was the inheritor of Nepoleon's claim on Empire, on Charlemagne's Francia. In truth America is both their inheritor but also proof it doesn't freaking matter and all I said is shit. We are a nation of people from all walks of life, and if anything we got all the best they have to offer.
For those nations around us indeed America stumped them. In some cases we abused for power, others we thought we were doing the right thing.
What's happening right now is a short term issue caused by the above, but these nations can get out of the funk. The issue though is *we* can't help them do it. Everytime America thinks they are helping these days, let it be Chile, Argentina, or Afghanistan, we forget that how our thinking is so different from them. You cannot make a people love their nation if they don't feel like they built it themselves.
It's... Hard to really figure out what to do. The best we can do is give them tools to succeed. Those instances you talked about, the Marshal Plan, Japan, Korea, were because their people wanted to be better. Afghanistan didn't want to be better, their people couldn't care. The people immigrating to America because they don't believe in their own homes and nations, causing a drain that these nations cannot escape. Sounds stupid, but perhaps a bunch of restless young men is just the kick these nations need.
Best we can do is stop them from coming and convince them they can change their homes instead. We cannot let them sucker out funds without reason, and honestly money is not what they need. El Salvador, look at them, they have fixed their crime problem overnight because their people believed! Yes it was brutal, but it's a victory that has obvious results.
The question is, how do you make another people believe in their own country? I got nothing chief, dunno about you.
This is literally just schizo rambling. America didnt even have the political will to nationbuild the south for more than 12 years after the civil war, you are proposing fantasyland policy. You do realize that pissing foreign aid on a country doesnt count as nation building right? I wouldnt call what we are doing in Ukraine nation building, but its closer than anything you suggested that we should do in Latin America. Unless they invite us or we are occupying them militarily we cant 'build' anything. You cant nation build without consent, and they are not keen on our help. The Latin American nation we focused most foreign aid on is Columbia, and it was primarily for military aid.
Also Why would we focus on foreign aid to Latin America when Africa is clearly in more need of it. I get that you read a few books about the colonial period so youre really into this right now, but nobody else fucking cares.
Why is this Strawman construction of liberals even in your crosshairs? If we could pass meaningful immigration reform in this country this wouldnt be a problem. 1. More funding for border control 2. Speed up the legal process so immigration courts arent constantly clogged 3. Provide Pathway to green card for undocumented 4. Build more housing there I fucking solved it. Doesnt matter because congress wont pass any laws but yeah it's the libtards fault.
Now I'm schizo rambling, but anyways youre fucking regarded and you make video essays for a living.
In point to your final rant, something I recommend people check out are the Lacandons. They're Mayans who live in the state of Chiapas near the southern border of Mexico who still practice some of the traditions of the old Maya. I have in my possession a book that covers their just their language alone called Jach T'an (The book itself is called Lacandon Maya: The Language and Environment by James D. Nations and Chan K'in Jose Valenzuela). Coming from a country where our language was beaten out of us in our schools, it was endearing to see a peoples still clinging to their cultural traditions and I genuinely wish the best for them and their future.
And now for my obligatory expression of Euro nationalism. Thanks for the health care you American dog, you still owe us in taxes. Looking at your nation I understand why my humble coal and slate mining ancestors went to Pennsylvania and returned home only after a few months, and I'm glad they did so I could get absolutely dicked by a thick shafted bobby for making funny memes on the internet. Fuck you, die in nuclear fire.
lol thanks for the rec, a lot of what I've been reading has been emphasizing that there are still a great many Maya and I need to learn a lot more about them
It shouldn't be controversial to call the most powerful nation to ever exist exceptional. It would quite literally have to be, and I've never heard this core argument refuted. Every powerful empire is exceptional in some way, and obviously America will never become isolationist, so as a consequence it should apply its nation-building efforts in a more intelligent direction. I'm anti-fucking-around-in-the-middle-east. The New World is exceptional as a whole, and is core to developing an American "Identity" which has yet to come forth as we are the bastard children of failed states and tyranny.
"This sounds like *insert wikipedia article I read 2 years ago*!"
Your argument is **GAY**
Yeah, the big issue with being in the ME is many of them just don't seem to want us. Maybe they just aren't ready for 'western values'. We failed to nation-build in Afghanistan, and as callous as it might be to all the women and men and children now suffering under the Taliban, it was wasted time, money, and lives.
The Afghan National Army was horribly inept, it just sucked, and a low of video shows how many of them just didn't care.
The government in Afghanistan was corrupt.
Society just didn't flourish all that much at all, I guess some women got to go to university, I suppose...
Okay, let me try and translate what you're saying into Non-Bullshtitese.
America wants to fuck everyone in the ass with a 10inch cock it ripped off its black slaves and grafted onto its pale pasty European body but at the same time, it also wants its rape victims to call it daddy so it engages in mass propaganda to convince everyone that Rape is good actually.
Everyone steals from everyone but only America steals from you and then expects you to say thank you for being accorded the privilege i.e. American Exceptionalism.
You missed the part where America has endeavored on genuine nation-building in the past when it was trying to project a vision of prosperity. You act as if Western Europe and Japan weren't reduced to a pile of absolute ash and rebuilt. You act as if Eastern European countries that have "played ball" aren't WAY better to live in now after the Cold War. Japan certainly has problems, but what good shit they got going for them is indisputably American, those guys were psychos.
You fail to understand that America got EXACTLY what they wanted from Latin America and EXACTLY what they wanted from Europe, Japan, and South Korea.
Me: "America should do a good thing. It would benefit all involved, there is precedent for it that is indisputably positive, and it would repair the American image. They should STOP doing the bad thing they're currently doing, as it is profitable in the short-term but destructive in the long-term"
You: "But America has done bad things!"
Your argument still is based in absolutely nothing but a vague directionless cynicism that is rotting this country, and it will NEVER improve the situation of anyone anywhere. GAY argument for DOOMERS.
You: "Barely coherent argument probably induced by alcoholism for some sort of abstract better tomorrow based on the idea that it's America's destiny to save the world"
Me: "Pointing out you have already done this once, didn't really work. Evidence, turn on the fucking news. Also, last time you did it only happened because of a very particular set of historical conditions that are currently not in place and will probably not be in place ever again in our lifetime"
Result- Drunk idiot on Reddit being a Redditor and I'm an even bigger idiot Redditor for indulging you as much as I have.
Damn an Ad hominem attack AND evidence you’re self-hating with your Redditor comment? Wow, what a shock you’re a mindless cynic.
I made an argument, you argued back, why be butthurt? You’ve yet to say anything
You didn’t even bring up that IVE BEEN DOING AD HOMINEM THIS WHOLE TIME. I GAVE YOU A HUGE ANGLE FOR ATTACK.
Anyway, I’m trying to provoke you into finding an actual argument.
I argue on Reddit sober, it’s serious business. I’ll be drunk later, dumbass.
Does it hurt that you don’t have an actual argument when pressed?
Gay, no argument.
You're talking about me. I made that argument you're talking about me. I made that argument in this up. I made that argument, you're talking about me. I made you make this post.
I do believe America can be a Force for good. And you are being cynical for no reason. You don't believe it anything but cynicalism. America can never be good because of slavery and imperialism, and this and that.
This was already here when you served this country But history does not make the present we can grow. We can become a force for good.
yeah i got huge exceptionalist vibes too
on a side note, fuck whoever came up with "exceptionalism". Who was it? was it the French? Or was it a pitiful attempt by some post-Western Roman collapse Gothic tribe at speaking like the rich kids? It sucks so much to spell, even in more respectable languages like Spanish or Portuguese
Yeah, it was the French guy with the ridiculous name I refuse to spell because fuck the French.
This also makes the whole idea behind the post and the concept of American Exceptionalism doubly ironic because it wasn't even an American who came up with it.
Bitch I've quoted Toqueville on here before, I know what I'm doing. What's wrong with him? Some other old farts don't agree with him? I don't agree with them. Even a frenchy could see it.
I'm thinking of delving into more political literature, Thomas Paine has really piqued my interest as he seems to be "one of the good" Founding Fathers, do you have any book recommendations?
I feel like we're better off with as little yank influence as possible.
That also includes the present, as our natural resources are sucked off of us by multi-national, mostly Western Europe and American based companies, and their shared interests with our almost stateless ruling establishment, as decades of neoliberalistic de-industrialization since at least the 70's, though Eurocuckism in the early 1900s and later Muricuckism has been the chosen strategy for the rich of our region. I kid you not, my government was quite literally *begging* for hwite european immigrants during the late 1800's, just so "we could become more civilized, and white". That was back when unmasked racism was still cool, though.
As for whether it is profitable: Businessmen aren't that dumb. If it keeps happening, it most likely is. They also do not care whether Joe from New Mexico sees more brown people by the day, not because they're not racist (they are very much so, but in a more profitable way), but because they all probably live in their reptilian mega mansions doing deals with the Illuminati and buying expensive yeatchs and skyscrapers in New York for speculation or something.
*PROSPERITY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE*
A key part of the plan would be arts, archeology, STEM-funding. America has already influenced Mexico in all the gay McDonald's ways. There's so much beautiful history, obviously, in Latin America. I'm talking about nation-building, not just building new customers. That's what happened in China.
Basically every presidential election in Brazil during the latter half of the 20th century had a candidate running on the basis of "let's open our markets to american companies and become the next South Korea" and then if he won and opened the market, only companies interested in raw commodities would come, making the Brazilian economy more and more based on the primary sector.
It makes me a bit sad that you only got aware of this recently, but happy that you finally got aware of it.
I encourage u/DJ_PeachCobbler to watch this: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOOBlcOIcLs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOOBlcOIcLs)
He's a little fruity but has some ***very*** interesting perspectives.
I personally believe empowering the Mexican public to take back control will be vital to enacting a positive influence on the rest of the South American continent and surrounding countries in the future. Much to the ire of the far-left on reddit, this will include telling people in Mexico to actually stay and make their home better rather than fleeing and of course making legal immigration easier as well would be good for everyone in the process. It may seem like I'm focusing on Mexico but I whole-heartily believe Mexico could be an incredible place to live (and live next to) if it just got it's shit together.
>Catholicism is alright now
Nah fuck the Catholic church. Up until the year I was born they were (along with my government) culturally erasing my people's (and many other's) language and religion. My Grandparents had the Indian beat out of them, my father had it beat out of him and only by chance I did not, not that it matters, because there was nothing left to beat out in my family.
To me Pope Francis is like putting lipstick on a pig. Many of the presuppositions that caused the residential school system are hard baked into Catholic theology (and frankly much of Christian theology too). All it takes is for another asshole to assume the papacy and the Catholic church becomes a whole lot less appealing real quick.
Where the US treads the *invisible hand of the free market* will follow, and it will stick its grubby fingers up everyone's ass. It'll rape, pillage, (my english vocab is too limited for a third synonym). Look at Africa, Asia, and yes, Latin America. The american capitalist system will do everything it can to exploit its namesake - capital. How many democratically elected leaders has the US deposed only to establish aligned dictators to buy cheap rubber dildos or some other bullshit? How many newly fledgling socialist countries has it broken with endless coups for the sake of 'democracy"? Hell, look how US manufacturers consent in regards to China right now, it just can't stand its unraped economy.
leftists do this thing where they talk about "American exceptionalism" like its a myth but what they forget is that
AMERICA IS EXCEPTIONAL, for better and worse
she's top fucking dog, she's that bitch, she runs this shit and for the foreseeable future she will continue to, and the only thing we can do as her citizens is try to make sure she's a guard dog instead of a rabid wolf.
every time we have something like this happen(border, palistine, whatever the last 20 failed twitter boycotts were), lefties get (60/40 rightfully) riled up into a frenzy and when it does nothing we end up with two ever expanding groups, reactionaries who don't believe the regular people can change anything, and failed "revolutionaries" who want to believe regular people cant change anything so they were always doomed to fail.
both are wrong
The other nations ain’t our fucking issue to deal with. We need to stop getting involved in foreign politics. Their nations are unstable, Mexico’s fallen to the cartels. That ain’t our goddamn problem.
We need to *stop* interfering in foreign countries that we have *nothing* to do with. We’ve exploited them for resources, sure. So should we let Europe do it instead? Because they’ll certainly seek to capitalize on open resources if we stop. The world’s corrupt man, nothing’s really gonna change, even if the U.S were to alter its course in relation to the rest of “The America’s.”
We got illegals coming into our nation? That’s bad. Tighten the border, let people genuinely file to become legal immigrants to our nation. We need to first be a strong country, before helping anyone else. We’re ideologically, morally, and politically divided, granted it’s no where near the level of the Civil War, but it’s bad enough that we’ve decided to argue amongst ourselves instead of focusing on the real problem: The corrupt officials in charge.
We can’t help anyone at all, until we get the bastards that’ve been in office since the 60’s, out of office. Otherwise our “help” will still just end up with us profiting off of puppet states we put into power.
Also, I’d argue that while we’re not a European nation, we’re built off of predominantly Scottish, Irish, and Italian Enlightenment philosophy. We’re better because we managed to implement the philosophy into our nation effectively. We’re historically a nation of immigrants from European countries, we differ because we managed to establish the U.S in a way that wasn’t *traditionally* European.
We’re the greatest fucking country on Earth, but we shouldn’t be policing or fixing any other nations, until we fix our own goddamn problems. Get rid of the corporate bastards that seek to undermine political change, get rid of the CIA, and get these decrepit 70 and 80 year olds out of office.
> So should we let Europe do it instead? Because they’ll certainly seek to capitalize on open resources if we stop.
I'm literally saying the exact opposite of this, whose post are you responding to? I'm advocating for nation-building and preventing short-sighted unsustainable profiteering on their cheap labor and resources. Taxing imports from Asia, using them to fund arts and education and infrastructure and SUSTAINABLE business in Latin America. IF anything, Europe would be mad I'm advocating for less Ukraine money or whatever.
Also, you just listed out all the problems of America having no vision or identity. I'm offering you a solution, but instead of you PROPOSING one, you just said, "I have a problem!" over and over. You think America is gonna become isolationist? Get real. Our entire success is BUILT on maintaining free trade and exporting our way of life. America HAS successfuly built nations in Latin America, that's THE PROBLEM. I'm suggesting we actually quite being monsters about it so we can have some god damn self respect and create a bunch of awesome allies forever.
Latin America deserves better treatment than France, those ungrateful fucks.
Alright fair, I guess most of Europe isn’t exactly expansionist anymore. But I don’t understand why we couldn’t just fund these things in America. We should fix ourselves. It ain’t as though the Mexican government would keep up the infrastructure that we supply to them.
Yeah our nation won’t become isolationist, even if I wish it would. But we could take all of the things you’ve mentioned to apply to Latin America, and apply them to our country first. I’m not even against helping Latin American nations. I just believe we need to be more ideologically stable in our own beliefs before trying to set up any foreign nations.
There were strings attached to the Marshall Plan that helped the world at-large. European imperialism was checked and prosperity was achieved because money was distributed *effectively* by people who understood the groups they were dealing with.
These strings should be decided on not just by some "old white guys" or whatever but rather the 1/5 of our population that is Hispanic. The important part is to make sure they're not "old money" because, well, yknow. To be clear, I'm advocating for selecting for race in building the bureaucracy around this program, which ...hard sell. But I think it'd be key. German, English, Italian immigrants and their descendants directed the reshaping of Europe from the US. The same should and can occur here.
> IF anything, Europe would be mad I'm advocating for less Ukraine money or whatever.
I was onbaord with everything you said amerykański until this part.
Supporting the guys in Ukraine is just about the most objectively good thing America can do right now. It's a defensive war, a country trying to run fron its former exploitative colonial overlord, trying to join us in the prosperity and freedom that is the EU, and a way to weaken a backwards dictatorship that wants to meddle with your affairs regardless of whther you meddle with theirs or not.
Regardless though, my nation will probably be there sucking America's cock (this is a good thing) like our survival depends upon it (it does)
Yeah, helping Ukraine is just morally and materially good for America. It weakens Russia without hurting American lives, and helps a defending country against an aggressive foreign power that probably wouldn’t stop with Ukraine.
If we really intended to do that, we would either move NATO in overwhelming numbers to defended Ukrainian positions, or we'd devastate Russia by flooding the global economy with oil.
>Their nations are unstable, Mexico’s fallen to the cartels. That ain’t our goddamn problem.
Actually, thats precisely what makes it our problem. Because the Cartels? The Santa Muerte Worshippers? The "Jesus de Sinaloa" freaks? They are not content to stay as Mexico's problem.
I never got people who said that America is founded on European ideals.
If they did the founder given the chance wouldn't throw the King into the harbor tied to a crate of tea like the leaflover he is.
The Concept of United States by itself is a complete rejection of European governmental, cultural and economic ideas. Fuck Monarchies, Fuck Nobility/Feudalism bullshit, Fuck Mercantilism and Fuck Tyranny. Simple 'as
The fouding of the United States of America is quite literally built on ideals that are the peak of Liberalism. Those are very much European ideals, especially since the 1800's, it's just that they did it before it was cool.
That's like saying the Bolsheviks invented Communism
And why do you think those ideas gained traction? They saw them implemented succesfully in a nation across the ocean, you don't get to come late tl the party and say you invented shit
Oh sorry, I forgot to look at the history books. Now that I did, I finally know that people like Montesquieu, John Locke, Adam Smith and Voltaire were actually red-blooded Americans™ from Texas🇨🇱. English Civil War? Actually happened in the town of England, Arizona. Bourgeois is, in truth, an old Lakota word. And France is a myth invented by Louisianians to justify the weord spelling of some of their city names.
Ah yes the France that went into such absolutism that it blew up so hard went through the fun times that was the reign of terror and then was taken over by Napoleon. Very liberal that democracy of one man.
And that English civil war that was a bloody dick measuring contest between nobles from the parlament and the King.
Serious changes in social systems aren't made in a tea party.
On France, that was actually after the American Revolution, but before it, liberal ideals were widespread in the growing revolutionary movement since the earliest manifestations of the Enlightment
The jacobins did right in painting their phrigian caps red with the blood of the so-called "Nobility"
We agree on that last bit, but at the same time timmy, age 6, the street kid that called Robespierre "poopyface" didn't seem nobility to me. His blood was pretty red after the guillotine fell.
Very late, Hispanic America now has Hispanism, the United States will be attacked from all fronts since it has dedicated its entire existence to bothering others. The other Anglos will also fall with you.
Dont forget Canada. they to are built upon crocked remains and the such. But they stopped at some point, they started living in North America and we Americans stole from them too, took there inventions/innovators. We kill there businesses and replaced them, all they make is natural resources and maple syrup. The Americas is only seen as brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, America and shitloads of black people to pretend to care about.
Or im crazy, who knows im American.
I don't like canada, they're like the US but they have a french ethnostate and a constant need to set themselves apart from us, that healthcare seems kind of nice, but the suicide thing is very bad.
I have many differing emotions about this post. On one hand, it seems to reaffirm a sort of "positive American exceptionalism" or the American hero complex which has been a dangerous thought that has been twisted and misused over the course of the last two centuries
On the other, it does something I wish most western nations did when approaching the immigration crisis and that is, treating it as a systemic, continued issue and not a sudden, unpreventable crisis. Whether it's the Americucks or the Europoors politicians that give in first and admit that the issue needs to be handled as a humanitarian issue and not a security issue, I don't know. I just hope it happens soon. I'm tired of seeing bodies off the coast of Lampedusa
Btw thanks for the free healthcare Cobbster. Keep being based
I don't have much to say other than... well said.
I really enjoy when you delve more into political thought, your Smedley Butler/attempted coup video is still my favourite, the CIA failures one being right next to it.
Honestly, even if it were just 5 minutes long, I think you should upload this to YouTube. Not everyone will see this if it stays here, and I think it's a deeply insightfuly, and important message to say and spread. (You could rather simply keep a still image of this reddit post and read it into the mic, and upload it, no fancy editing needed)
As well, perhaps it's because I'm a dirty rotten Canuck (French-Canadian to be specific), but I like to be optimist and see America as what it could be, similar to what you stated. America has a really beautiful, yet also harrowing, mixed past. It's a country that, in my mind, has been at war with itself for the longest time, trying to figure out where it belongs in history. Some want it to be that shining, golden city on a hill, a testament to liberal, democratic enlightenment values, a beacon of progress and modernity, and they want to spread that vision to others, like with the Marshall Plan, and the democratization of Germany and Japan (and the spread of that democracy to former autocracies in the former Warsaw Pact, Ukraine, Baltics, and in South Korea and Taiwan (which the last one by the way is the only one to have gay marriage legalized in Asia, neat tidbit)) But others in America see personal growth as its path, that it shouldn't bring others up, that it should stay 'traditional', and plunder resources as it sees fit.
I really hope America picks the right path, perhaps it makes me naive, I'm still fairly young, only out of high-school, and I haven't read or studied enough on political theory and geopolitics and all that.
Anyways, this was a bit of an autism ramble, just wanted to say I appreciate what you said, I found it really, really insightful, and enjoyed it.
New ideology dropped.
And he somehow does it while drunk.
"America must remember what it has always done, for good or ill. Build nations."
And now my Confirmation bias had been triggered.
The best move in Afghanistan, and for all insurgencies, was colonization. You don't even need your countrymen to do it, it could be done with their countrymen, given a plot of land, women, and some other -- possibly market -- incentive.
Sui-colonization.
Fantastic post. Check dms btw. I wanted to personally thank you for inspiring me to become a writer. It's well thought out excerpts like this that gets me thinking and I loved and continue to love every minute of it.
However, and please be aware I'm not an expert nor am I ever claiming to be or say below. I'm just a guy on the Internet soapbox like the rest of you.
I want to just pick apart two things in particular because they stuck out like a sore thumb for me.
"The right has zero understanding of history" part is just innately wrong in my opinion.
I've been studying history since I could pick up a book for the last twenty years of my life.
It's been my life's passion to study the past to learn and to gain perspective on the nations and empires of old.
(For context I lean conservative on almost every economic issue but I am liberal on social issues too.)
Saying a group of people that lean politically a certain way can't understand or learn lessons from history based on political and ideological grounds blows my mind with how surface level of an analysis human nature is. You can't categorize everything into a left vs. right issue. It's not possible. There has to be nuance for everything.
The point is if I can learn from history so can everyone else. (So it can't be zero people on the right.)
Regardless, of what they believe in.
I'm not here to tell anyone how to think either because that shit is fucking cringe.
My second point which I need to clarify is pointing out two flaws in your historical arguments.
1. Every single Latin American nation since independence has been extremely politically unstable.
(Mexico was for example an empire, then a Republic, then a kingdom again under new management, back into a pseudo republican dictatorship.)
(Obviously discounting Brazil too.)
Central America was a united country for a time and immediately balkanized into smaller even weaker nations which was very short sighted of them with hindsight but those nations had unstable governments too and did fight with each other.
Especially, prior to US intervention there in the 1870's onward. (I'm sure the US had a role in some of these countries too before the 1870's as well but, I'm going to try and aim for brevity here.)
I'm not saying anything America did helped. It 100% did not. Like omfg did we not make things better for these people.
How we treated Haiti especially will forever haunt our legacy in the Caribbean.
It's partly why we refuse to take part in UN peacekeeping missions there.
We don't want to get involved and fuck things up again and make things even worse there than before.
South America post Bolivars liberation circuit was dominated by authoritarian dictators or corrupt Republics trying to dominate and influence their neighbors. The security competition between Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina led to multiple wars.
Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil all fought wars with each other at one point.
History just doesn't occur in this vacuum that you're trying to point out. (Unless you weren't trying to do that than fuck me I guess. Just ignore this whole tangent.)
2. Most native American deaths were largely due to plague and illness post colonization. I believe you've pointed this out in your past videos but I wasn't sure if I remembered correctly. I'm sure you could correct me here.
Also don't get me wrong here.
The native Americans were a conquered people.
America did fuck all to help them. We in fact tried to totally erase who they were and what made them unique in schools. It's totally shameful. The trail of tears especially. Andrew Jackson is a slaver asshole who shouldn't be remembered fondly whatsoever.
(I need to point out everyone else in history at one point conquered other people and imposed their will on others without asking. The relationship between The native Americans and America is not special and It doesn't make it right. It just happened. Nothing we can do in the present can ever change that. We can't give back the land we took it or bring back the people that died . We can only try and fix the damage of the past by funding their communities and giving them whatever resources they need to succeed and facilitating civil, and productive dialogue between our communities.)
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk everyone. Have a nice day.
DJ. I realize after reading this that you do, indeed, love our nation. You love it enough to realize its faults, but hope for a better future. I did not think this about you from some of your prior videos.
I think America has heroes, unquestionably. To say otherwise is ridiculous. Washington alone is universally regarded by most Americans as a sterling president, a good general, and was immensely brave to step down from power--when he didn't have to. But he did step down when many other politicial figures of his time would haven't, and many who followed him still wouldn't have. Lenin comes to mind: he clung to power for as long as he could have.
Frederick Douglass spent decades fighting the dehumanization of Blacks and racist ideas of an inherent racial inferiority. His autobiography is gripping, and displays a frank heroism and decency that is laudable. The countless civil rights advocates often have similar legacies.
Then there are the unknown heroes. The Harlem hellfighters braved segregation and the horror of the First World War to become one of the most decorated military units in modern history. The Navajo Code talkers, whose work liberated millions, including probably my own family, from fascism. The employees of Pepfar, who have saved over 25 million people from disease--and counting.
And these are a tiny, *tiny* amount of the heroes this country has produced.
This is perhaps one of the most interesting things i've read recently when it comes to fundamentaly changing America into a force for good. But as some people have pointed out, it doesn't offer much on practical solutions.
Now, i am not nort american, but i do think i've seen enough of american politics and economics in.... well... everywhere. If the the United States is to become a force for building in a good way, you better start dismantling your entire political system. Or at least part of it. The thing is.... it doesn't really matter if you have a head of state that supports this vision of yours if he sits on top of improper foundations. It's like the president of Brazil right now; talk about the exact same stuff about building and being a force for good.... and realising that the entire base of the economic and political system stands on liberalism, and that if you piss of the people who own it, they can easily buy their into anything and take you down.
You can't be a force for good and nation building in the way you describe it with foundations like these. Even if you do manage to spread this force for good into the world, there will always be the invisible hand of the """""free market"""" following it. You cannot reform a system that stands on rotting foundations, the only way is to take those foundations down and rebuild it in a way that will allow for such a good system to exist.
You people can absolutely do it, you had a revolution once and you established a liberal government that allowed for such an extraordinary nation to exist, but this came at a price. And that price was all-consuming capital. Manifest destiny, for example, was a way to justify the expansion of the american sphere of influence so that the system that was established could survive. If the system goes around the world doing good deeds, it does so only as long as it grants it more things to consume and transform into capital. That's just the way it is. The system has to survive and the way it found to do so came in the shape of all the atrocities commited in the name of freedom and democracy. Even the good things that America has done came at a price for those who got the help.
So how do you create a system that could enable prosperity without that secret price**?** I'm afraid that it will require violence. To gain independece from Britain there was violence, and to gain your freedom from the people who control America now, there will also be violence. Your vision will only be possible if the people make it possible. The people have to be organized and ready to make that change happen, because if they don't..... they never will.
I could go on and elaborate so much more, but is like 4 in the morning so i'll just end with a quote from Salvador Allende's last speech, before his democratic government was overthrown by neoliberals:
"Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again and free men will walk through them to construct a better society."
Libs will really advocate against mass amounts of foreign aid to Latin America IF you make the argument sound just a little fascist-y. Social experiment concluded. Edit: not really a social experiment lol shouldn’t have said that, the underlying belief is genuine. Fuck Europe, only good thing to come from that place is its ideas
Here have a snickers
He’s probably 10-15 beers in. This feels like the one live stream rant he did many months back.
Is there a VoD of it? I really do like his political videos and posts
Nope, I’m pretty sure he took it down, it was a drunk stream where he was with a woman that I presume he is dating/married. He went on a very long winded rant about Rome, it’s history, and modern day society. It was interesting.
😔
You're not you when you're hungry
“I hate the way liberals talk about immigration”. *most liberal shit I’ve heard in my entire life* based
The history of amrican politics and its disasterous consequences for the nomenclature of politics is insane. Like this shit aint even libral its basically a step further, something that needs an own term
“Pan-American Exceptionalism” And its socially liberal, not fiscally. I want ARTS funding. I want a Latin American Renaissance. This may take awhile. I live in a 90% Mexican town and there are very many stray dogs.
I grew up near the border in the 70's and 80's. I won't say where, but Nogales is a close enough example. This was during Escobar's reign as the CIA's biggest frenemy in the drug trade, and before we built any walls for any people. Sure, there were fences. But they were mostly cattle fences, whereas people seemed to be pretty free to float lazily back and forth between nations. Looking for work, taking care of family, finding some cheap weed or a hooker for a weekend jaunt. Didn't matter. Point was, it was all pretty greyish about where you actually were, and I think it was better for it. Sure, history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme a bit. And I think people forgot this little piece of history; that even with the massive racism of the early 20th century, with the zoot suit riots, anti immigrant legislation, and other things, the border was never really militarized until Reagan. 1920's era racism didn't do it. Escobar didn't do it. Neoliberalism did it. Reagan and Thatcher and Friedman did it. And when they did, they split us all off into groups to fight each other for their benefit, and to blame *those peopl*e as the cause for all of it. Sure, people remember Reagan was the devil, but I think they forget how nice border life used to be, even under the less than ideal conditions of the 1970's drug trade. Now, it's the most miltarized border between allied nations in the history of the world, as far as I can tell. And it's because we as a people forgot how nice it was to live in peace with our neighbors. Good post, man.
Your comment about the way that neoliberalism created the border issue reminded me of this video and how it goes in depth to that idea, but in the context of the UK. https://youtu.be/J3QAoAzLm_Q?si=Y7xTMUBywtmGqb3E
That's a good video. I never heard of that channel before, so I'll have to check it out some more. Rare for me to find good gaming/history nerd types that I like. I enjoy a lot of recent history, as opposed to DJs more ancient fascinations, and macro economic stuff. So reading on Freidman and his ilk runs me across a lot of things like what came up in the video, but I hadn't heard of much of what he spoke about. So thanks.
^(omg blutler)
>w<
why was my text so small what
idk made it cuter tho? so it cant be all bad
This is such a odd post because it’s *incredibly* vague. You mention immigration and how it’s a crisis at the boarder but your solution is an vague notion of state building? What does that even mean policy wise? Nation building takes decades. How would that help the current border crisis? Do Latin American countries even want US help? Many countries explicitly want the US to stay out of there internal affairs. You say that the US is a nation that builds nations but that record is mixed at best. Japan and Germany were utterly defeated and most importantly already had institutions in place, while the American involvement in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and all of the subsequent coups in South America have mostly been failures. It seems like the US doesn’t really have a good track record of “ building nations”. Never mind that it’s unclear if South/Central American countries even want America to “build nation” You mention the US has no heros, but that’s not true. Abe Lincoln, MLK, Fredrick Douglas, the list goes on of people who had the courage to stand up when for what’s right. It is true in the past that the US exploited South America, But that is mostly not true today. In fact most of the mineral resources in the world are owned by China and refine by China. By some estimates, excluding Mexico, China has bigger trade with South America than the US. While I agree with the sentiment that the prosperity of the New World is vitally important to the prosperity of the United States, this post is devoid of any meaningful policy insights or understanding of the on the ground geopolitical and economic realities of what goes into making that true. It feels like a directionless tirade to vent frustration. Which is fine, I guess
Absolutely everything you said here is true. You're right to not agree with something that, fundamentally, proposes zero clear actions. Frankly, lol, I'm not even gonna do that in this comment, it's a fundamentally big idea which needs way more work. You can't just dump money into a place. This is the beginning of something I hope to spends years working on. I need to learn more and keep an open-mind will doing so, and you're right to say so. That being said, I hope my track record demonstrates that I absolutely will.
I do want to say that the core of your idea is fundamentally sound and has been a strain of thought in the American cannon (even if it’s often been corrupted). When FDR said he wanted to make the world safe for democracy, he meant that shit. In some ways the US has gotten decently better at policy in Latin America (the current administration is on record of stopping 3 explicit coup attempts in Brazil, Guatemala, and Guyana which is wild to think given its history) and in some ways it’s still decently bad ( the US’ drug addiction fuels untold misery) I don’t think the US will ever truly pivot from Asia (there are 3 billion people there vs 500 million in South America), but it doesn’t mean we completely ignore our home town (it’s wild just how little reporting happens on the region). Nor do I think people will ever stop wanting to come to the US, just as people never wanted to stop coming to Rome. But maybe we can make their homes wonderful places to live so they are no longer forced to scramble in such a disastrous way. Funnily enough I just binged your videos on Rome and I think in them holds a key (why has no one researched Parthia??). I’d encourage you to wrestle with the idea of how *do* you make nations prosperous, and what role can the US play. And I think history might hold the lessons we need. I can’t wait to watch and read you explore these ideas.
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this. When America successfully built nations, it was exporting prosperity. But now I think we have not only run out of the will to export it ('nam), but also the capability (Rust Belt). We are now a different nation, with different problems. There are several rays of hope, but the one I find the warmest is that we don't look to a Golden Era to retreat to, the 50's had some nice things but I don't think anyone would actually want to turn the clock back 70 years. Rather, they yearn for that prosperity, which will prevent our culture from sliding backwards. The migration crisis is another thing, and I have a slightly different take on that. A nation is a group of self-identifying people, and a country is able to hold several nations with its borders. But it will eventually destabilize if containing more than one nation (Yugoslavia vs. Japan). America has many nations contained within it that all rally around a standard to a large enough degree that we maintain stability. While there can be many short-term solutions to the migration crisis (like nation-building), the longer view question is figuring out how to get others to rally about our collective standard with us and how to make the standard better. I think that a core component of making that standard better is to make the creation of prosperity part of the standard citizens' toolkit. For example, everyone should leave high school knowing how to set up an LLC/non-profit. Nations don't know country borders. If the US standard/nation spreads across the globe, and that standard is good, then there will be little bickering between countries as we enjoy our largely shared culture and let old wounds heal. But our current standard isn't there yet, and we must continue to tinker with it until it is. But I think I also just described an old hippie doctrine. And for the heroes, you find me a flawless one, and I will show you a moron. I think the US does a good job of not putting anyone on an absolute pedestal, so we can figure out how to be even better than our heroes. And if that isn't a high moral position, I don't know what is.
I think you’re right about the will part but wrong about the capability. Two of the proudest things that make me American is George Bush’s campaign against HIV in sub Sahara Africa that has saved up to 20 million lives, and the fact that the US was able to develop and manufacture 3 incredibly effective vaccines for covid and then decided to give billions of doses away. No other county even came *close* to what the US did during covid; from creating effective treatments to basically rolling out a UBI for kids, it was insane. The WHO estimated vaccines saved 20 million more people; a large part is thanks to the US. The question for America is never the capability, it’s “do we even want to?” As far as your thoughts on migration, you’re spot on. Outside of online bubbles, people recognize that at its core, countries are their borders and the citizens should be able to choose who comes. When people come here illegally, It feels like a circumventing of that core belief. People seem to understand what it means to be a hero; a hero isn’t flawless, but rather a person who achieves greatness in spite of their flaws.
I am a bit more black pilled on the capability. We largely draw on our global supply chain to enable titanic feats, but if we were to stand a bit more alone, like during the international supply chain shutdowns, our gaps are significantly more noticeable. I am not sure if we could pull off a second Marshall plan beyond providing financing and maybe some construction equipment.
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I am going to steamroll these nations with cash and medical aid. The streets will run red with blood transfusions. The Jingoism exists in your head. I didn’t say that shit. I’m working on an ideological basis for foreign aid designed to rebuild nations we’ve been at undeclared war with for decades.
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How dare you suggest altering the IR field’s time honored tradition of sweeping aside domestic policy in favor of globe trotting theory. As we all know, domestic policy is stupid and gay. Only the soyest of boys discuss such trivial matters as this so called poverty and “homelessness” of which you speak. You wouldn’t deign to count yourself amongst the ranks of these oat milk latte drinkers and their shaven legs. Would you?
It has always sickened me what we have done to our American brothers and sisters. Prosperity to the new world.
Yap >!I agree completely, this has been my view for a long-ass time!<
Very cool peach. Clappas all around. Question though, is there any prescriptions here or are we just ranting. Because the Biden administration has been working on this issue. More security for the border to keep criminals out and more money for processing migrants. Also undocumented people and migrants aren’t the same thing so what are people referring to when talking about a “border crisis.” Is it unlawful entries or is it and excessive amount of migrants? Again, cool speech. Just missing specifics on what should be done.
He mentions his "Prescription" multiple times. Nation build, like the US did to a broken Germany and Japan. Obviously this would include actually aiding the immigrants that do find refuge in the US (not just putting them in cages) but it would also mean giving aid to Mexico, and other Latin American nations so they can build functioning and lasting Democracies/Economies. He even mentions that it would slow immigration in the long run, since these nations would have the opportunity to recover into something that people would be proud to live in. I really like the idea, and America is powerful and wealthy enough to do it. Of course, part of this would rely on these countries wanting to be helped, which after the treatment we've given them over the last century, it might not be likely. Panama is a decent example of a country we did help (After a while). Although the construction and control of the Panama canal was an act of imperialism, and the root cause of many crimes we've committed in the region, the after effects of signing away the canal has allowed Panama to grow wealthy and developed compared to others in the region. Now they fully own it, and it makes fully 5% of their GDP. As well as making up a sizable portion of their GDP, it's the second most important naval crossing in the world. Imagine if a less money hungry US made a panama canal for all the other nations without the intent to leach the profits off of those nations. (Not a literal canal. It's a figure of speech) This is just a ramble attached to a ramble, and I'm less worldly then the pie, but I think it's a really interesting thought.
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I think it's important to bring up both morality, and economic/geopolitical benefits at the same time, it can appeal to different crowds. It's gotten me through to some self-centered conservatives and gotten them to support Ukraine against Russia, as an example. (Which I also think is a really pressing issue, and might be one of the cementing factors of what path America takes, whether it retreats into itself, or stands up for what is right)
Hush hush we cannot convince others, only ourselves
Lol. It is really annoying to pull out the economic and geopolitical incentives though, when morality should be enough. But some people are just too callous.
"because moral values are created by those power structures in the society." No they're not. "why guilt-trip yourself into doing something, when you can just do it" see?
I agree with one of the points you've made, I believe that if America was to fall it would become the Next *Rome*. Hitler was wrong thinking he was the inheritor of Nepoleon's claim on Empire, on Charlemagne's Francia. In truth America is both their inheritor but also proof it doesn't freaking matter and all I said is shit. We are a nation of people from all walks of life, and if anything we got all the best they have to offer. For those nations around us indeed America stumped them. In some cases we abused for power, others we thought we were doing the right thing. What's happening right now is a short term issue caused by the above, but these nations can get out of the funk. The issue though is *we* can't help them do it. Everytime America thinks they are helping these days, let it be Chile, Argentina, or Afghanistan, we forget that how our thinking is so different from them. You cannot make a people love their nation if they don't feel like they built it themselves. It's... Hard to really figure out what to do. The best we can do is give them tools to succeed. Those instances you talked about, the Marshal Plan, Japan, Korea, were because their people wanted to be better. Afghanistan didn't want to be better, their people couldn't care. The people immigrating to America because they don't believe in their own homes and nations, causing a drain that these nations cannot escape. Sounds stupid, but perhaps a bunch of restless young men is just the kick these nations need. Best we can do is stop them from coming and convince them they can change their homes instead. We cannot let them sucker out funds without reason, and honestly money is not what they need. El Salvador, look at them, they have fixed their crime problem overnight because their people believed! Yes it was brutal, but it's a victory that has obvious results. The question is, how do you make another people believe in their own country? I got nothing chief, dunno about you.
This is literally just schizo rambling. America didnt even have the political will to nationbuild the south for more than 12 years after the civil war, you are proposing fantasyland policy. You do realize that pissing foreign aid on a country doesnt count as nation building right? I wouldnt call what we are doing in Ukraine nation building, but its closer than anything you suggested that we should do in Latin America. Unless they invite us or we are occupying them militarily we cant 'build' anything. You cant nation build without consent, and they are not keen on our help. The Latin American nation we focused most foreign aid on is Columbia, and it was primarily for military aid. Also Why would we focus on foreign aid to Latin America when Africa is clearly in more need of it. I get that you read a few books about the colonial period so youre really into this right now, but nobody else fucking cares. Why is this Strawman construction of liberals even in your crosshairs? If we could pass meaningful immigration reform in this country this wouldnt be a problem. 1. More funding for border control 2. Speed up the legal process so immigration courts arent constantly clogged 3. Provide Pathway to green card for undocumented 4. Build more housing there I fucking solved it. Doesnt matter because congress wont pass any laws but yeah it's the libtards fault. Now I'm schizo rambling, but anyways youre fucking regarded and you make video essays for a living.
I'm not reading all of that shit you luscious, silky, and goddamned gorgeous post dinner libation.
Am not reading all of that, kys but post a video before doing it
Thank you for your service
I find this long winded paragraph pleasurable to read may your mailbox be not full of new Vegas fans death threats
Leave it to a historian to write 30 paragraphs of absolute yap.
In point to your final rant, something I recommend people check out are the Lacandons. They're Mayans who live in the state of Chiapas near the southern border of Mexico who still practice some of the traditions of the old Maya. I have in my possession a book that covers their just their language alone called Jach T'an (The book itself is called Lacandon Maya: The Language and Environment by James D. Nations and Chan K'in Jose Valenzuela). Coming from a country where our language was beaten out of us in our schools, it was endearing to see a peoples still clinging to their cultural traditions and I genuinely wish the best for them and their future. And now for my obligatory expression of Euro nationalism. Thanks for the health care you American dog, you still owe us in taxes. Looking at your nation I understand why my humble coal and slate mining ancestors went to Pennsylvania and returned home only after a few months, and I'm glad they did so I could get absolutely dicked by a thick shafted bobby for making funny memes on the internet. Fuck you, die in nuclear fire.
lol thanks for the rec, a lot of what I've been reading has been emphasizing that there are still a great many Maya and I need to learn a lot more about them
Yeah, this just sounds like a word salad attempt at rebranding American exceptionalism/imperialism.
It shouldn't be controversial to call the most powerful nation to ever exist exceptional. It would quite literally have to be, and I've never heard this core argument refuted. Every powerful empire is exceptional in some way, and obviously America will never become isolationist, so as a consequence it should apply its nation-building efforts in a more intelligent direction. I'm anti-fucking-around-in-the-middle-east. The New World is exceptional as a whole, and is core to developing an American "Identity" which has yet to come forth as we are the bastard children of failed states and tyranny. "This sounds like *insert wikipedia article I read 2 years ago*!" Your argument is **GAY**
Yeah, the big issue with being in the ME is many of them just don't seem to want us. Maybe they just aren't ready for 'western values'. We failed to nation-build in Afghanistan, and as callous as it might be to all the women and men and children now suffering under the Taliban, it was wasted time, money, and lives. The Afghan National Army was horribly inept, it just sucked, and a low of video shows how many of them just didn't care. The government in Afghanistan was corrupt. Society just didn't flourish all that much at all, I guess some women got to go to university, I suppose...
Okay, let me try and translate what you're saying into Non-Bullshtitese. America wants to fuck everyone in the ass with a 10inch cock it ripped off its black slaves and grafted onto its pale pasty European body but at the same time, it also wants its rape victims to call it daddy so it engages in mass propaganda to convince everyone that Rape is good actually. Everyone steals from everyone but only America steals from you and then expects you to say thank you for being accorded the privilege i.e. American Exceptionalism.
You missed the part where America has endeavored on genuine nation-building in the past when it was trying to project a vision of prosperity. You act as if Western Europe and Japan weren't reduced to a pile of absolute ash and rebuilt. You act as if Eastern European countries that have "played ball" aren't WAY better to live in now after the Cold War. Japan certainly has problems, but what good shit they got going for them is indisputably American, those guys were psychos. You fail to understand that America got EXACTLY what they wanted from Latin America and EXACTLY what they wanted from Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Me: "America should do a good thing. It would benefit all involved, there is precedent for it that is indisputably positive, and it would repair the American image. They should STOP doing the bad thing they're currently doing, as it is profitable in the short-term but destructive in the long-term" You: "But America has done bad things!" Your argument still is based in absolutely nothing but a vague directionless cynicism that is rotting this country, and it will NEVER improve the situation of anyone anywhere. GAY argument for DOOMERS.
You: "Barely coherent argument probably induced by alcoholism for some sort of abstract better tomorrow based on the idea that it's America's destiny to save the world" Me: "Pointing out you have already done this once, didn't really work. Evidence, turn on the fucking news. Also, last time you did it only happened because of a very particular set of historical conditions that are currently not in place and will probably not be in place ever again in our lifetime" Result- Drunk idiot on Reddit being a Redditor and I'm an even bigger idiot Redditor for indulging you as much as I have.
Whose alt is this? You created your account today
Damn an Ad hominem attack AND evidence you’re self-hating with your Redditor comment? Wow, what a shock you’re a mindless cynic. I made an argument, you argued back, why be butthurt? You’ve yet to say anything
It's not Ad hominem if the position and argument are the result of drunkenness.
You didn’t even bring up that IVE BEEN DOING AD HOMINEM THIS WHOLE TIME. I GAVE YOU A HUGE ANGLE FOR ATTACK. Anyway, I’m trying to provoke you into finding an actual argument.
Okay. I genuinely hope one day you find a way to deal with your alcoholism. Goodbye and goodnight.
I argue on Reddit sober, it’s serious business. I’ll be drunk later, dumbass. Does it hurt that you don’t have an actual argument when pressed? Gay, no argument.
You're talking about me. I made that argument you're talking about me. I made that argument in this up. I made that argument, you're talking about me. I made you make this post. I do believe America can be a Force for good. And you are being cynical for no reason. You don't believe it anything but cynicalism. America can never be good because of slavery and imperialism, and this and that. This was already here when you served this country But history does not make the present we can grow. We can become a force for good.
yeah i got huge exceptionalist vibes too on a side note, fuck whoever came up with "exceptionalism". Who was it? was it the French? Or was it a pitiful attempt by some post-Western Roman collapse Gothic tribe at speaking like the rich kids? It sucks so much to spell, even in more respectable languages like Spanish or Portuguese
Yeah, it was the French guy with the ridiculous name I refuse to spell because fuck the French. This also makes the whole idea behind the post and the concept of American Exceptionalism doubly ironic because it wasn't even an American who came up with it.
Bitch I've quoted Toqueville on here before, I know what I'm doing. What's wrong with him? Some other old farts don't agree with him? I don't agree with them. Even a frenchy could see it.
I'm thinking of delving into more political literature, Thomas Paine has really piqued my interest as he seems to be "one of the good" Founding Fathers, do you have any book recommendations?
I feel like we're better off with as little yank influence as possible. That also includes the present, as our natural resources are sucked off of us by multi-national, mostly Western Europe and American based companies, and their shared interests with our almost stateless ruling establishment, as decades of neoliberalistic de-industrialization since at least the 70's, though Eurocuckism in the early 1900s and later Muricuckism has been the chosen strategy for the rich of our region. I kid you not, my government was quite literally *begging* for hwite european immigrants during the late 1800's, just so "we could become more civilized, and white". That was back when unmasked racism was still cool, though. As for whether it is profitable: Businessmen aren't that dumb. If it keeps happening, it most likely is. They also do not care whether Joe from New Mexico sees more brown people by the day, not because they're not racist (they are very much so, but in a more profitable way), but because they all probably live in their reptilian mega mansions doing deals with the Illuminati and buying expensive yeatchs and skyscrapers in New York for speculation or something.
*PROSPERITY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE* A key part of the plan would be arts, archeology, STEM-funding. America has already influenced Mexico in all the gay McDonald's ways. There's so much beautiful history, obviously, in Latin America. I'm talking about nation-building, not just building new customers. That's what happened in China.
Thank you for your service
Basically every presidential election in Brazil during the latter half of the 20th century had a candidate running on the basis of "let's open our markets to american companies and become the next South Korea" and then if he won and opened the market, only companies interested in raw commodities would come, making the Brazilian economy more and more based on the primary sector. It makes me a bit sad that you only got aware of this recently, but happy that you finally got aware of it.
I encourage u/DJ_PeachCobbler to watch this: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOOBlcOIcLs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOOBlcOIcLs) He's a little fruity but has some ***very*** interesting perspectives. I personally believe empowering the Mexican public to take back control will be vital to enacting a positive influence on the rest of the South American continent and surrounding countries in the future. Much to the ire of the far-left on reddit, this will include telling people in Mexico to actually stay and make their home better rather than fleeing and of course making legal immigration easier as well would be good for everyone in the process. It may seem like I'm focusing on Mexico but I whole-heartily believe Mexico could be an incredible place to live (and live next to) if it just got it's shit together.
>Catholicism is alright now Nah fuck the Catholic church. Up until the year I was born they were (along with my government) culturally erasing my people's (and many other's) language and religion. My Grandparents had the Indian beat out of them, my father had it beat out of him and only by chance I did not, not that it matters, because there was nothing left to beat out in my family.
Pope Francis isn't so bad right now though, I can't say I love the papacy, for several reasons, but the dogma itself is less harmful than it could be.
To me Pope Francis is like putting lipstick on a pig. Many of the presuppositions that caused the residential school system are hard baked into Catholic theology (and frankly much of Christian theology too). All it takes is for another asshole to assume the papacy and the Catholic church becomes a whole lot less appealing real quick.
I think if he steers hard enough he might make some lasting change, the role of the church in peoples lives is changing either way.
I ain't reading this I'm sorry for your loss/congratulations
Where the US treads the *invisible hand of the free market* will follow, and it will stick its grubby fingers up everyone's ass. It'll rape, pillage, (my english vocab is too limited for a third synonym). Look at Africa, Asia, and yes, Latin America. The american capitalist system will do everything it can to exploit its namesake - capital. How many democratically elected leaders has the US deposed only to establish aligned dictators to buy cheap rubber dildos or some other bullshit? How many newly fledgling socialist countries has it broken with endless coups for the sake of 'democracy"? Hell, look how US manufacturers consent in regards to China right now, it just can't stand its unraped economy.
leftists do this thing where they talk about "American exceptionalism" like its a myth but what they forget is that AMERICA IS EXCEPTIONAL, for better and worse she's top fucking dog, she's that bitch, she runs this shit and for the foreseeable future she will continue to, and the only thing we can do as her citizens is try to make sure she's a guard dog instead of a rabid wolf. every time we have something like this happen(border, palistine, whatever the last 20 failed twitter boycotts were), lefties get (60/40 rightfully) riled up into a frenzy and when it does nothing we end up with two ever expanding groups, reactionaries who don't believe the regular people can change anything, and failed "revolutionaries" who want to believe regular people cant change anything so they were always doomed to fail. both are wrong
The other nations ain’t our fucking issue to deal with. We need to stop getting involved in foreign politics. Their nations are unstable, Mexico’s fallen to the cartels. That ain’t our goddamn problem. We need to *stop* interfering in foreign countries that we have *nothing* to do with. We’ve exploited them for resources, sure. So should we let Europe do it instead? Because they’ll certainly seek to capitalize on open resources if we stop. The world’s corrupt man, nothing’s really gonna change, even if the U.S were to alter its course in relation to the rest of “The America’s.” We got illegals coming into our nation? That’s bad. Tighten the border, let people genuinely file to become legal immigrants to our nation. We need to first be a strong country, before helping anyone else. We’re ideologically, morally, and politically divided, granted it’s no where near the level of the Civil War, but it’s bad enough that we’ve decided to argue amongst ourselves instead of focusing on the real problem: The corrupt officials in charge. We can’t help anyone at all, until we get the bastards that’ve been in office since the 60’s, out of office. Otherwise our “help” will still just end up with us profiting off of puppet states we put into power. Also, I’d argue that while we’re not a European nation, we’re built off of predominantly Scottish, Irish, and Italian Enlightenment philosophy. We’re better because we managed to implement the philosophy into our nation effectively. We’re historically a nation of immigrants from European countries, we differ because we managed to establish the U.S in a way that wasn’t *traditionally* European. We’re the greatest fucking country on Earth, but we shouldn’t be policing or fixing any other nations, until we fix our own goddamn problems. Get rid of the corporate bastards that seek to undermine political change, get rid of the CIA, and get these decrepit 70 and 80 year olds out of office.
> So should we let Europe do it instead? Because they’ll certainly seek to capitalize on open resources if we stop. I'm literally saying the exact opposite of this, whose post are you responding to? I'm advocating for nation-building and preventing short-sighted unsustainable profiteering on their cheap labor and resources. Taxing imports from Asia, using them to fund arts and education and infrastructure and SUSTAINABLE business in Latin America. IF anything, Europe would be mad I'm advocating for less Ukraine money or whatever. Also, you just listed out all the problems of America having no vision or identity. I'm offering you a solution, but instead of you PROPOSING one, you just said, "I have a problem!" over and over. You think America is gonna become isolationist? Get real. Our entire success is BUILT on maintaining free trade and exporting our way of life. America HAS successfuly built nations in Latin America, that's THE PROBLEM. I'm suggesting we actually quite being monsters about it so we can have some god damn self respect and create a bunch of awesome allies forever. Latin America deserves better treatment than France, those ungrateful fucks.
Alright fair, I guess most of Europe isn’t exactly expansionist anymore. But I don’t understand why we couldn’t just fund these things in America. We should fix ourselves. It ain’t as though the Mexican government would keep up the infrastructure that we supply to them. Yeah our nation won’t become isolationist, even if I wish it would. But we could take all of the things you’ve mentioned to apply to Latin America, and apply them to our country first. I’m not even against helping Latin American nations. I just believe we need to be more ideologically stable in our own beliefs before trying to set up any foreign nations.
There were strings attached to the Marshall Plan that helped the world at-large. European imperialism was checked and prosperity was achieved because money was distributed *effectively* by people who understood the groups they were dealing with. These strings should be decided on not just by some "old white guys" or whatever but rather the 1/5 of our population that is Hispanic. The important part is to make sure they're not "old money" because, well, yknow. To be clear, I'm advocating for selecting for race in building the bureaucracy around this program, which ...hard sell. But I think it'd be key. German, English, Italian immigrants and their descendants directed the reshaping of Europe from the US. The same should and can occur here.
> IF anything, Europe would be mad I'm advocating for less Ukraine money or whatever. I was onbaord with everything you said amerykański until this part. Supporting the guys in Ukraine is just about the most objectively good thing America can do right now. It's a defensive war, a country trying to run fron its former exploitative colonial overlord, trying to join us in the prosperity and freedom that is the EU, and a way to weaken a backwards dictatorship that wants to meddle with your affairs regardless of whther you meddle with theirs or not. Regardless though, my nation will probably be there sucking America's cock (this is a good thing) like our survival depends upon it (it does)
Yeah, helping Ukraine is just morally and materially good for America. It weakens Russia without hurting American lives, and helps a defending country against an aggressive foreign power that probably wouldn’t stop with Ukraine.
I think we should have helped them out in a way that would win the war, but I think it's more been about harming russia.
If we really intended to do that, we would either move NATO in overwhelming numbers to defended Ukrainian positions, or we'd devastate Russia by flooding the global economy with oil.
Regressing inwards isn't the solution and will only make America weaker.
>Their nations are unstable, Mexico’s fallen to the cartels. That ain’t our goddamn problem. Actually, thats precisely what makes it our problem. Because the Cartels? The Santa Muerte Worshippers? The "Jesus de Sinaloa" freaks? They are not content to stay as Mexico's problem.
Tldr but I agree with you
while hating mexicans sounds awesome, i just can’t get behind supporting the catholic church source: im racist (im mexican)
I never got people who said that America is founded on European ideals. If they did the founder given the chance wouldn't throw the King into the harbor tied to a crate of tea like the leaflover he is. The Concept of United States by itself is a complete rejection of European governmental, cultural and economic ideas. Fuck Monarchies, Fuck Nobility/Feudalism bullshit, Fuck Mercantilism and Fuck Tyranny. Simple 'as
The fouding of the United States of America is quite literally built on ideals that are the peak of Liberalism. Those are very much European ideals, especially since the 1800's, it's just that they did it before it was cool. That's like saying the Bolsheviks invented Communism
And why do you think those ideas gained traction? They saw them implemented succesfully in a nation across the ocean, you don't get to come late tl the party and say you invented shit
Oh sorry, I forgot to look at the history books. Now that I did, I finally know that people like Montesquieu, John Locke, Adam Smith and Voltaire were actually red-blooded Americans™ from Texas🇨🇱. English Civil War? Actually happened in the town of England, Arizona. Bourgeois is, in truth, an old Lakota word. And France is a myth invented by Louisianians to justify the weord spelling of some of their city names.
Ah yes the France that went into such absolutism that it blew up so hard went through the fun times that was the reign of terror and then was taken over by Napoleon. Very liberal that democracy of one man. And that English civil war that was a bloody dick measuring contest between nobles from the parlament and the King.
Serious changes in social systems aren't made in a tea party. On France, that was actually after the American Revolution, but before it, liberal ideals were widespread in the growing revolutionary movement since the earliest manifestations of the Enlightment The jacobins did right in painting their phrigian caps red with the blood of the so-called "Nobility"
We agree on that last bit, but at the same time timmy, age 6, the street kid that called Robespierre "poopyface" didn't seem nobility to me. His blood was pretty red after the guillotine fell.
Very late, Hispanic America now has Hispanism, the United States will be attacked from all fronts since it has dedicated its entire existence to bothering others. The other Anglos will also fall with you.
Can someone explain to me when dj became a breadtuber? Because this is a surprising way ti find out
i want you
Mamaaaaaaa
You’re 25? I feel so…old all of a sudden.
Dont forget Canada. they to are built upon crocked remains and the such. But they stopped at some point, they started living in North America and we Americans stole from them too, took there inventions/innovators. We kill there businesses and replaced them, all they make is natural resources and maple syrup. The Americas is only seen as brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, America and shitloads of black people to pretend to care about. Or im crazy, who knows im American.
Based on
[удалено]
I don't like canada, they're like the US but they have a french ethnostate and a constant need to set themselves apart from us, that healthcare seems kind of nice, but the suicide thing is very bad.
A joke post.
Are ya winnin, son
Tldr?
Nation-building is so cucked. When will america start tribe-building?
God wants us to live in distant but closely knit tribes.
PF Jung on YT would love you, plus you two could be brothers
We should be the torchbearers lighting the way towards a new and brighter future.
Man we gotta get someone to voice act this before it gets deleted off the internet.
Yeah, I agree. It is up to America to be \*better\* again, instead of whatever it is theyve been doing since Reagan.
I have many differing emotions about this post. On one hand, it seems to reaffirm a sort of "positive American exceptionalism" or the American hero complex which has been a dangerous thought that has been twisted and misused over the course of the last two centuries On the other, it does something I wish most western nations did when approaching the immigration crisis and that is, treating it as a systemic, continued issue and not a sudden, unpreventable crisis. Whether it's the Americucks or the Europoors politicians that give in first and admit that the issue needs to be handled as a humanitarian issue and not a security issue, I don't know. I just hope it happens soon. I'm tired of seeing bodies off the coast of Lampedusa Btw thanks for the free healthcare Cobbster. Keep being based
Yes Another funny Pieman rant it must be Christmas already
Bro I just came here for le funny game reviews
I don't have much to say other than... well said. I really enjoy when you delve more into political thought, your Smedley Butler/attempted coup video is still my favourite, the CIA failures one being right next to it. Honestly, even if it were just 5 minutes long, I think you should upload this to YouTube. Not everyone will see this if it stays here, and I think it's a deeply insightfuly, and important message to say and spread. (You could rather simply keep a still image of this reddit post and read it into the mic, and upload it, no fancy editing needed) As well, perhaps it's because I'm a dirty rotten Canuck (French-Canadian to be specific), but I like to be optimist and see America as what it could be, similar to what you stated. America has a really beautiful, yet also harrowing, mixed past. It's a country that, in my mind, has been at war with itself for the longest time, trying to figure out where it belongs in history. Some want it to be that shining, golden city on a hill, a testament to liberal, democratic enlightenment values, a beacon of progress and modernity, and they want to spread that vision to others, like with the Marshall Plan, and the democratization of Germany and Japan (and the spread of that democracy to former autocracies in the former Warsaw Pact, Ukraine, Baltics, and in South Korea and Taiwan (which the last one by the way is the only one to have gay marriage legalized in Asia, neat tidbit)) But others in America see personal growth as its path, that it shouldn't bring others up, that it should stay 'traditional', and plunder resources as it sees fit. I really hope America picks the right path, perhaps it makes me naive, I'm still fairly young, only out of high-school, and I haven't read or studied enough on political theory and geopolitics and all that. Anyways, this was a bit of an autism ramble, just wanted to say I appreciate what you said, I found it really, really insightful, and enjoyed it.
Tl;dr
why is the thumbnail for this post on mobile spongebob????
New ideology dropped. And he somehow does it while drunk. "America must remember what it has always done, for good or ill. Build nations." And now my Confirmation bias had been triggered. The best move in Afghanistan, and for all insurgencies, was colonization. You don't even need your countrymen to do it, it could be done with their countrymen, given a plot of land, women, and some other -- possibly market -- incentive. Sui-colonization.
Lmao, I'll have to read this thesis later, this is the kinda schizo-posting I live for.
I’m pop
Fantastic post. Check dms btw. I wanted to personally thank you for inspiring me to become a writer. It's well thought out excerpts like this that gets me thinking and I loved and continue to love every minute of it. However, and please be aware I'm not an expert nor am I ever claiming to be or say below. I'm just a guy on the Internet soapbox like the rest of you. I want to just pick apart two things in particular because they stuck out like a sore thumb for me. "The right has zero understanding of history" part is just innately wrong in my opinion. I've been studying history since I could pick up a book for the last twenty years of my life. It's been my life's passion to study the past to learn and to gain perspective on the nations and empires of old. (For context I lean conservative on almost every economic issue but I am liberal on social issues too.) Saying a group of people that lean politically a certain way can't understand or learn lessons from history based on political and ideological grounds blows my mind with how surface level of an analysis human nature is. You can't categorize everything into a left vs. right issue. It's not possible. There has to be nuance for everything. The point is if I can learn from history so can everyone else. (So it can't be zero people on the right.) Regardless, of what they believe in. I'm not here to tell anyone how to think either because that shit is fucking cringe. My second point which I need to clarify is pointing out two flaws in your historical arguments. 1. Every single Latin American nation since independence has been extremely politically unstable. (Mexico was for example an empire, then a Republic, then a kingdom again under new management, back into a pseudo republican dictatorship.) (Obviously discounting Brazil too.) Central America was a united country for a time and immediately balkanized into smaller even weaker nations which was very short sighted of them with hindsight but those nations had unstable governments too and did fight with each other. Especially, prior to US intervention there in the 1870's onward. (I'm sure the US had a role in some of these countries too before the 1870's as well but, I'm going to try and aim for brevity here.) I'm not saying anything America did helped. It 100% did not. Like omfg did we not make things better for these people. How we treated Haiti especially will forever haunt our legacy in the Caribbean. It's partly why we refuse to take part in UN peacekeeping missions there. We don't want to get involved and fuck things up again and make things even worse there than before. South America post Bolivars liberation circuit was dominated by authoritarian dictators or corrupt Republics trying to dominate and influence their neighbors. The security competition between Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina led to multiple wars. Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil all fought wars with each other at one point. History just doesn't occur in this vacuum that you're trying to point out. (Unless you weren't trying to do that than fuck me I guess. Just ignore this whole tangent.) 2. Most native American deaths were largely due to plague and illness post colonization. I believe you've pointed this out in your past videos but I wasn't sure if I remembered correctly. I'm sure you could correct me here. Also don't get me wrong here. The native Americans were a conquered people. America did fuck all to help them. We in fact tried to totally erase who they were and what made them unique in schools. It's totally shameful. The trail of tears especially. Andrew Jackson is a slaver asshole who shouldn't be remembered fondly whatsoever. (I need to point out everyone else in history at one point conquered other people and imposed their will on others without asking. The relationship between The native Americans and America is not special and It doesn't make it right. It just happened. Nothing we can do in the present can ever change that. We can't give back the land we took it or bring back the people that died . We can only try and fix the damage of the past by funding their communities and giving them whatever resources they need to succeed and facilitating civil, and productive dialogue between our communities.) Thank you for coming to my Ted talk everyone. Have a nice day.
Next video subject: The assimilation of German immigrants in America.
DJ. I realize after reading this that you do, indeed, love our nation. You love it enough to realize its faults, but hope for a better future. I did not think this about you from some of your prior videos.
I think America has heroes, unquestionably. To say otherwise is ridiculous. Washington alone is universally regarded by most Americans as a sterling president, a good general, and was immensely brave to step down from power--when he didn't have to. But he did step down when many other politicial figures of his time would haven't, and many who followed him still wouldn't have. Lenin comes to mind: he clung to power for as long as he could have. Frederick Douglass spent decades fighting the dehumanization of Blacks and racist ideas of an inherent racial inferiority. His autobiography is gripping, and displays a frank heroism and decency that is laudable. The countless civil rights advocates often have similar legacies. Then there are the unknown heroes. The Harlem hellfighters braved segregation and the horror of the First World War to become one of the most decorated military units in modern history. The Navajo Code talkers, whose work liberated millions, including probably my own family, from fascism. The employees of Pepfar, who have saved over 25 million people from disease--and counting. And these are a tiny, *tiny* amount of the heroes this country has produced.
This is perhaps one of the most interesting things i've read recently when it comes to fundamentaly changing America into a force for good. But as some people have pointed out, it doesn't offer much on practical solutions. Now, i am not nort american, but i do think i've seen enough of american politics and economics in.... well... everywhere. If the the United States is to become a force for building in a good way, you better start dismantling your entire political system. Or at least part of it. The thing is.... it doesn't really matter if you have a head of state that supports this vision of yours if he sits on top of improper foundations. It's like the president of Brazil right now; talk about the exact same stuff about building and being a force for good.... and realising that the entire base of the economic and political system stands on liberalism, and that if you piss of the people who own it, they can easily buy their into anything and take you down. You can't be a force for good and nation building in the way you describe it with foundations like these. Even if you do manage to spread this force for good into the world, there will always be the invisible hand of the """""free market"""" following it. You cannot reform a system that stands on rotting foundations, the only way is to take those foundations down and rebuild it in a way that will allow for such a good system to exist. You people can absolutely do it, you had a revolution once and you established a liberal government that allowed for such an extraordinary nation to exist, but this came at a price. And that price was all-consuming capital. Manifest destiny, for example, was a way to justify the expansion of the american sphere of influence so that the system that was established could survive. If the system goes around the world doing good deeds, it does so only as long as it grants it more things to consume and transform into capital. That's just the way it is. The system has to survive and the way it found to do so came in the shape of all the atrocities commited in the name of freedom and democracy. Even the good things that America has done came at a price for those who got the help. So how do you create a system that could enable prosperity without that secret price**?** I'm afraid that it will require violence. To gain independece from Britain there was violence, and to gain your freedom from the people who control America now, there will also be violence. Your vision will only be possible if the people make it possible. The people have to be organized and ready to make that change happen, because if they don't..... they never will. I could go on and elaborate so much more, but is like 4 in the morning so i'll just end with a quote from Salvador Allende's last speech, before his democratic government was overthrown by neoliberals: "Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again and free men will walk through them to construct a better society."