Remember the Titanic: Bush & Co are Just the Tip of the Iceberg

[justinsb]

Remember the Titanic: Bush & Co are Just the Tip of the Iceberg
By Justin Beach

The lack of genuine international coverage in the US, the lack of interest on the part of the mainstream media in the US, the lack of funds provided by the media for this coverage and the lack of interest on the part of too many Americans means that most Americans do not understand what is really going on in the world outside their borders. As an American expat living in Canada I can verify that the world starts to look much different once you step over that imaginary line.

The short answer to ‘what is really going on’ is that the world is waking up and starting to try to deal with some very real problems that all of the world has in common. Treaties such as Kyoto (to try to deal with climate change – note: Kyoto is only a first step, the real solution must cut much deeper), the International Criminal Court to try to deal with International crimes against humanity, the International Treaty on the rights of Children, and the International Ban on Landmines are just a few examples. Three of the biggest problems being actively discussed have yet to be dealt with; those being poverty, the rise of pandemics that threaten the population of the globe and a worldwide water shortage that will soon dwarf peak oil as an international crisis.

Not only is the US opposing all of these, and actively trying to destroy the organization that is facilitating them (the UN) but is actually going in the opposite direction – increasing it’s consumption of global resources, interfering in the operation of sovereign states and governments, building newer and more destructive weapons and committing international war crimes on a large scale.

The resulting sentiment against the US is causing many to converse about, compare and more carefully examine history and many are discovering or coming to the conclusion that America has never really been the ‘good guy’. Examining any point in US history leads to the discovery of abuses and crimes. This is the anti-American sentiment that politicians and pundits are raving about, but it doesn’t mean that the facts are not facts. From the Indian wars, to slavery, to the oppression of women, to supporting brutal dictators and engaging in illegal and unjustified wars throughout the third world all of it is there for anyone who cares to look and the facts and feelings they evoke are not likely to go away with the Bush Administration.

As I said before, the world’s current problems affect the whole world – not just those outside the US. From the outside you can see the steady decline of the US economy, China, India, the EU and to a lesser extent Brazil are the rising players and though they may not match (at least for a long time) the per capita income of the US, they make up for it in sheer population. The US, in economic decline and built around a vanishing commodity (oil) is seen by many as the past, not the future. The much feared US military is losing it’s frightening shadow, Iraq has reminded the world that the financing, training and technology that go into the machine that is the US military are no match for a determined indigenous population.

I have no doubt that Americans will soon tire of Bush and his administration and that they will be replaced, but I think it will shock many in the US when this doesn’t fix their problems. The disappearance of Bush won’t make China and India go away, the departure of Cheney won’t create more oil, and just because the US changes figureheads, the world won’t forgive and forget. It is likely that whoever replaces Bush, even if he withdraws from Iraq will maintain oppressive and interfering US policies in the Middle East and Latin America.

The reality is that it will take negotiations, concessions, contrition, humility, apologies, reparations, dramatic shifts in policy and mindset, signatures on treaties, and changes in lifestyle for the US to get back in the good graces of much of the world. Even then it will take time to forgive and forget and even then it will not create more oil or water or make China and India go away.

[ewagner]

1. Sort of like this?

[acmejack]

2. We are the bad guys!

snip

"The resulting sentiment against the US is causing many to converse about, compare and more carefully examine history and many are discovering or coming to the conclusion that America has never really been the ‘good guy’."

snip

I think many of us realize this & are working to change it, but first we must get rid of * and the neo-con bunch.

I think Bernie Sanders would be the kind of President I could really get behind, he is not associated with any kind of elite group. Not in my lifetime I fear. When I was in my teens and early twenties we KNEW we would change the world. Most of us thought it would be for the better.

It kills me that things have went so far in the wrong direction.

[justinsb]

3. I think the difference is that it has gone beyond

activists in the third world and the lunatic fringe. I've talked to rational, educated, fairly moderate, middle to upper middle class westerners from places like Canada, the UK, Australia, Germany and France who are suddenly sounding like Castro or Chavez in their critisism.

Previously those who were critical had little or no power, that is what is changing I think.

[indepat]

4. Getting back in the good graces of much of the world is neocon job #2,

right after tax cuts for the most affluent and large corporations.

[bemildred]

5. The national security state turns out to be bad for our national security.

:crazy: