Blogworthy
My friend José, Spanish-born and living in the U.S., pointed me to Iberian Notes, a blog by a U.S. expat living in Spain. IN has some bitingly good take-downs.
This one caught my eye:
I was thinking about this idea of the U.S. as "the world's police." OK, I admit it, that train of thought was inspired by "Team America." But I was looking at our local police. They're answerable to the citizens. They can be sued, fired, jailed if they do their jobs in a way that the people find objectionable. They operate under rules and guidelines that they don't establish, and enforce laws that they don't make and may not even agree with, personally.
And then I look at them: they get paid a salary that my taxes help sustain. They don't buy their own uniforms or guns or bicycles. They have insurance coverage and legal representation provided by those they protect and serve.
If there's an image of America's military and its role in the modern world, it's not a local police force. More like a private security service for a big building in a dicey neighborhood. Sometimes the interest of the security force and the rest of the community converge, sometimes they don't.
Often the interests converge. For instance, the dominance of the U.S. Navy, paid for entirely by U.S. taxpayers, protects the United States and advances its interests. But it also keeps world piracy at bay and limited to intra-national waters in places like the Philippines and Indonesia, and allows worldwide trade among all nations to proceed relatively unimpeded, at no cost to them. The British Navy before us provided much the same function.
Sometimes the security guards can take down a neighborhood bad guy, but they're not required to, and it's not especially their mission. Yet the overall health of the whole block has an impact on that building and the people who work in it and protect it.
And so forth. Crude, but all such metaphors are after a while. If the role of the U.S. in the world is to change, then that will require a re-thinking on the part of more than just the Americans.
This one caught my eye:
If anybody ever comes up to you with that ridiculous argument about how the rest of the world should be allowed to vote in the American elections since America rules the world, try this string of arguments on him: 1) America doesn't rule the world in the first place 2) why should you jokers vote on issues that only concern us anyway--what do the Belgians know about water issues in the Far West 3) we'll let you vote in our elections if you let us vote in yours--if you have them, that is 4) you can't have representation without taxation, so when y'all start kicking in to the US treasury that's when you get to vote 5) if you want the vote in US elections, you must agree to live under US constitutional law, or else what's the point?
I was thinking about this idea of the U.S. as "the world's police." OK, I admit it, that train of thought was inspired by "Team America." But I was looking at our local police. They're answerable to the citizens. They can be sued, fired, jailed if they do their jobs in a way that the people find objectionable. They operate under rules and guidelines that they don't establish, and enforce laws that they don't make and may not even agree with, personally.
And then I look at them: they get paid a salary that my taxes help sustain. They don't buy their own uniforms or guns or bicycles. They have insurance coverage and legal representation provided by those they protect and serve.
If there's an image of America's military and its role in the modern world, it's not a local police force. More like a private security service for a big building in a dicey neighborhood. Sometimes the interest of the security force and the rest of the community converge, sometimes they don't.
Often the interests converge. For instance, the dominance of the U.S. Navy, paid for entirely by U.S. taxpayers, protects the United States and advances its interests. But it also keeps world piracy at bay and limited to intra-national waters in places like the Philippines and Indonesia, and allows worldwide trade among all nations to proceed relatively unimpeded, at no cost to them. The British Navy before us provided much the same function.
Sometimes the security guards can take down a neighborhood bad guy, but they're not required to, and it's not especially their mission. Yet the overall health of the whole block has an impact on that building and the people who work in it and protect it.
And so forth. Crude, but all such metaphors are after a while. If the role of the U.S. in the world is to change, then that will require a re-thinking on the part of more than just the Americans.
