gnu@sun.UUCP (John Gilmore) (11/02/83)
Q: Since when did "invasion" become "in the best interests of the US"? A: It has always been perceived that way. Remember when the U.S. was 13 little states (themselves stolen (by invasion) from the people who lived here)? Admittedly, we did buy Louisiana and Alaska, but that's because it was cheaper than fighting a war (because the people we bought them from were strapped for cash). Face it, the "American Way" they told us about in 7th grade Social Science was a self-serving bunch of baloney. Our government is as bad as the rest of the governments in the world (in how it treats other governments and citizens of other countries) and it's time we realized it and dealt with it.
andree@uokvax.UUCP (11/14/83)
#R:sun:-33200:uokvax:5000016:000:907 uokvax!andree Nov 10 18:35:00 1983 Very good, sun!gnu. The US does have a bad habit of getting involved in wars because they want something. But then again, all governments start wars for that reason, which is a pretty lousy reason (but then again, aren't all wars started for lousy reasons?) In combing my memory, I can think of only two wars that america didn't start off by invading someone - the war of 1812 and WW I. Likewise, there are only two wars where the US didn't get something out of it: WW I and Vietnam. So you are correct: the history of the US does not support the view that we are the good guys. It does indeed make us out to be as bad as anybody else in how we treat non-us citizens (not that we do all that well with our own citizens). Then again, I am GLAD that FDR manipulated us into a war against Germany. The idea of living in a soviet america scares me; the idea of living in a nazi america TERRIFIES me! <mike