America the Brave

I have been thinking some more on my attitude towards America and Americans. You will be aware from my earlier writing that I just don’t have the time to hate all Americans and as Altruistic Dad reminds me ‘It would be far better (and fairer) to say you're anti-Bush, anti-Republican, or anti-American-conservativism’. Well maybe that’ll do for the time being.

What galls me more, I guess, than American fast food culture and all that this entails is the bullying, we’re right you’re wrong and we’ll fight you for it attitude. Where does this attitude come from? Okay America is a big strong country. We know that, they know that, everybody knows that, so why does America have this inclination to throw its weight around? It’s the Mike Tyson of nations. It is probably an urban myth but it seems to me, from watching TV, that a lot of big physical men, fighting men are pussycats. They are content with their strength. They don’t have to prove to all and sundry that they are tough, take Muhhamed Ali for instance, I have never seen a bad headline about Ali beating on people other than those who chose to step in a ring with him, he even refused to fight in Vietnam. Yet Tyson seems unable to control his rage, his anger and strength. He bites peoples ears off, rapes women, he’s a big bad angry man. And so to is the USA a big, bad and angry nation.

Why is this? I think it is simply to do with History. The United States is still an adolescent in the family of Western Nations. It is young, barely out of its teens whereas the rest of the Western Nations are well into middle age, mature, solid, sure of themselves. These Western European Nations have been at it for centuries, we have a history. We’ve had our squabbles, spats, fights and Wars over more than 1000 years. We’ve bloodied noses and bit off ears with the best of them, before even the US was a twinkle in someone’s eye.

Now I think the US is jealous, they want to flex a bit of muscle, they want to do what their older brothers have done. I mean all of us in the family of nations have even had colonies. Why once little Old Britain owned most of the civalised world, we ruled the seas, Emperors and Kings bowed at the knees of our Monarchs (I’m not saying this was a good thing per se but it’s the truth). Even little bitty nations like, Belgium and Austria had colonies. The Big boys, Britain, France and Spain were regularly beating the shit out of each other and anyone else that got in their way.

But now we’re older, mature, content with the status quo. We can look after ourselves without having a hissy fit if someone tries to get funny with us (i.e the IRA). Whilst the US is acting like the new punk on the block. She acts like a punk dancing in the mosh pit at a gig, all elbows and knees not giving a fuck who eyes and groins she mashes her elbows into - thinking ‘look at me look at me, I’m the hardest toughest kid around’. Whilst in the shadows, at the back, the old big guys, the guys who once were tough snort and do their own thing. The Russian Mafia guys sell girls and guns and wonder if they can get a Mac Donalds franchise, the Chinese Tong guys are more worried about where their next chop sui is coming from and all the other big fish are back at home in Europe wondering when the young punk will come and shit in our backyard.

But America is smart enough to know that the West would not put up with it’s hissy fits for too long. So the bullyboys of the USA march into countries where the armies they fight are basically miltia made up of boys and men with old AK47’s. And yet not smart enough to realize that they get beat all the time. (Vietnam - Strategic withdrawal, Korea – lost, WW2 - steal the glory from the Soviet people who died in their millions for victory over the Nazi’s, Battle of Little Big Horn – get the picture!)

The United States is not learning the lessons of history, they lose at this type of war, these wars are unwinnable, like Vietnam, because people are fighting not for political ideologies such as the Nazi’s did but they are fighting for their homes and families, for the right to live how they want to live. Britain and the rest of the West learnt these lessons long ago, why do you think we gave up our empire, because it was a mission impossible to maintain any form of legal authority over the people with out degenerating into an armed struggle that would carry on for year after deadly year with casulty and dead numbers rising and rising.

The United States and it’s people need to grow up, they need to become adults and learn from their mistakes. Don’t think you can force your ideas of liberty, democracy and freedom on whom you so chose. We tried it and failed. Learn the lessons of history. Unfortunatly given the results of the recent election there is still some growing up and hard learning to be done!