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Yep.

And people keep asking me why I'm trying to move out of this place...

posted by zenresistance on May 16, 2005 at 12:48 PM | link to this | reply

I agree that law and peace and harmony are good things. 

But the likes of Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Slobodan Milosevic, the Janjaweed, and Kim Jung Il will have no place in such a model except the prison or the grave.

It's pretty clear that these kind of folks are against peace and harmony and would be no matter what the Great Satan of the U.S. did.  So whilst the empire exists, we had better use its power to create that law and actually enforce it, and certainly not use the law as an excuse not to enforce it. 

I am doing my part, though, to ultimately diminish America's imperial dominance -- you may note that, in a fairly recent post, I called for the eventual abolition of WMDs of all forms, including nuclear, all weapons that cannot be used without killing massive numbers of civilians.

I called on the U.S. to take the lead in negotiating gradual disarmament -- beginning with us, the U.K., Russia, hopefully China, and of course the European continent. 

It would be a good will gesture -- we have so many weapons it would not compromise our defense by making us vulnerable to N. Korea's regime.  By the time we were disarmed, so would the rest of the world be.   

posted by Dylan24 on March 21, 2005 at 7:50 PM | link to this | reply

I Like Your...

...optimism, and at times, I share it! Though I definitely prefer the law and peace and harmony model to a resurected British empire. Empires are old hat, and the sooner Bush figures this out, the better.

Well done for all that exercise - I've just joined a gym, though I haven't actually made it through the door yet, apart from my induction.

I'll go find your new blog soon.

Cheers!

D

posted by DamonLeigh on March 16, 2005 at 9:46 AM | link to this | reply

I can already feel myself falling -- ahhhhhhhhhh!  Horrors! 

Who will rule the world after that?  This is not to flatter you, but if I had to choose a new superpower I would restore that of the U.K. 

I know, what did we fight for in 1776?  But that was a long time ago.

Maybe instead there will be no superpower, just international law and peace and harmony. 

Let us join hands and sing.  Let me light my cigarette (courtesy the American Indians) first, though. 

Bad idea, I'd be out of breath pretty soon.  Did 3 miles today on the track, though -- 2 walking, 1 jogging. 

Why am I rambling?--must need to adjust the meds. 

Note that I have a new blog in "News and Politics". 

posted by Dylan24 on March 13, 2005 at 6:24 PM | link to this | reply

Dylan...

..all powers rise and fall. All empires rise and fall. America seems to think this is it's time to be on the rise. Alas, most of the world thinks differently, and the fall may come sooner than many expect.

Thanks for reading.

D

posted by DamonLeigh on March 12, 2005 at 8:40 AM | link to this | reply

What a relief...

Actually I was wondering about the earth orbiting myself -- I honestly did not know whether it was once a day or once a year.  I was kind of afraid to ask.  That's like asking someone's name after you've known them for a long time.  You hope he/she will just say it to someone else so that you'll finally know.

I just re-took the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in math, which is given to adolescents as a pre-university assessment -- got the same score I did in high school, which depressed the hell out of me -- well, almost.  My score was not impressive then, and it's not impressive now (600 out of 800, about 75th percentile -- and that's by America's standards.  That would mean about 40th percentile or maybe 50th among nations in which most people are educated.  Ouch!  But my verbal was 99th by U.S., so probably about 80th by world standards.) 

Anyhow, this might mean that America will decline in relative power, which would help solve whatever problems American imperialism causes.  It will also mean some other country or group of countries will have to step up to the global security plate; or, at least, all countries will have to learn to defend themselves within a framework of legitimate international law that reduces the frequency of conflicts.  It would probably be better that way in any case. 

But I would imagine that America's relative dumbness, combined with its profligacy, will have to eventually diminish our geopolitical power.  I'd like us to become smarter, but maybe this is a good wake-up call, assuming most Americans realize it -- it will give us a much-needed dose of modesty.  Maybe people will even feel sorry for us -- an illiterate, backward, anti-scientific, pro-fundamentalist country living off the bounty of its ancestors and declining rapidly.  The book about it may be "The Rise and Fall of the American Empire."  I won't write it, though.      

posted by Dylan24 on March 3, 2005 at 11:12 AM | link to this | reply