There Ain't No Kumbaya

Most of us here in the United States are good people.  We want people to have the opportunity to succeed and prosper.  We want a fair and responsive justice system and we use the courts to arbitrate disputes rather than have a duel with ball and powder pistols at ten paces.  It may may not be as effective as pistols, but it is usually a lot less violent.  We want the world to calm down and experience the joy of being over lawyered as we are in this country.

We also want the world to like us.  We want them to know that we aren't really bullies and that we actually care about their national interests too.   We are told that George Bush has squandered our good will and our good name.  We are told that we are mean and nasty and the world hates us because we act like the world is our oyster.

And I'd agree with that to a degree.  A lot of folks hate us.  We haven't always acted like mature adults in the world.  We've plundered a bit here and there and we've tried to make sure that events run our way.  Sadly, we've not always done the right thing as a nation.  We've sometimes been a bully and sometimes, we've just made honest mistakes.  Sometimes we bet on the right horse and sometimes the nag wins. 

Our own lives are usually not much better.  We sometimes are the bully, sometimes we get a bit greedy and sometimes, we manage to get it all wrong when we are trying to do it all right.  It's life.  We are imperfect people in an imperfect world. 

As much as the left likes to point out how bad America is and what we've done wrong in the world, we have company.  Virtually every country and people in the world at some point or another has tried to exert their influence beyond their borders or beyond their present sphere.  Name a country and I can probably Google some idiot act they committed.  Some countries do more than others, but no one is immune to a little selfishness or greed or the desire for a little more power.

People mostly hate us because we are the big kid on the block - or sometimes we are the cop trying to keep the peace in the global 'hood.  people don't like cops, especially when they are either trying to get away with something, or they've just been caught red-handed.  Ever since I can remember, We've been hated by lots of people.  The usual suspects are usually Socialists and Commies.  And usually, these folks don't like us because we either won't give them everything they demand from us, or we are the cops keeping their empire in check - or both.

We've been told that the world will love us now because we elected Obama.  We will now be a good and kind and generous nation who will no longer be bullies or cops or whatever.

Guess what, my fellow evil Americans, It just isn't so.  Case in point:  The Arab world is already miffed at Mr. Obama for not bellying up to the bully pulpit and letting loose a verbal smack-down upon Israel.  I guess the Arabs will still be mad at us after all.

Dictatorial regimes such as Russia, North Korea, China and the wannabes like Venezuela will still hate us.  They need to hate us.  They need an enemy and we are convenient.  They can talk their smack and know they are reasonably safe from any real retribution from us.  They'll still get those aid dollars and they'll still buddy up to us when they need us, but by and large, these people don't like us and probably never will. Obama will not change that. 

I realize that there are some stupid people that believe we can negotiate with anyone.  Some of them think we should have done more to negotiate with Hitler and Hirohito.  (Yes, there are a few.)  Dictators only negotiate to either consolidate their power, or to buy time for whatever reason.  They are never interested in your best interests and will break whatever treaty you've signed as soon as they think they can get away with it.

The left says that when everyone has what they want and they can get all they want for free, there will be no more reason for crime or for nations to fight.  The left denies centuries of human nature.  There will always be someone somewhere wanting to have more and to have power over people and things.

Obama doesn't know any magic words that will suddenly make all the dictators play nice and he willl inevitably anger more than he will placate.  People will still hate us.  There ain't no Kumbaya.

VW

Comments

[Bloviating Zeppelin]

Liberals/Leftists/Socialists tend to believe there is no concept of "bad" in the world. There are only good people, people with which one may negotiate if but only you took the time to speak to them, understand them, see things from their perspective.

There is such a thing as Evil, pure evil. People sometimes purposely CHOOSE Evil of their own free will.

“It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.”

--Albert Einstein

BZ

[BobF]

Other nations have always hated us. Most of you probably remember this from back in 1973 when Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian, defended the United States.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGJynE37Npg

[Ayrdale]

Greetings from New Zealand. In the last few decades we have had a rocky relationship with the USA principally because my post WW2 generation have attained power. They/we (I was born in 1948) have corrupted the popular debate with the assistance of a compliant newsmedia and Hollywood.
The pendulum is swinging back. Don't believe me ? Take a look at my blog. I've posted a comment from a leading political commentator (an avowed Marxist)who has enough sense to see common sense - at least in terms of defence.
We have huge reason to thank and revere the USA and its fighting men. They saved our bacon at the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Coral Sea. God bless them and all true American patriots.

[Matt]

There's a psychological principle for this... It's called the scapegoat effect. My prof's would be upset that I can't remember who outlined it. I think it was Freud. Nevertheless, it's nothing new.