Our reliance on other countries for our very life blood isn't, or shouldn't be, news to any one's ears. And I'm sure that I'm not that only one that has thought about that reliance and what it means to our country, but it is something that I have been thinking about a lot. I think, most would agree that the United States has been a "great nation." Some might say empire, but I'm going to go with "great nation." By using the term has, I'm not implying that the United States is no longer a great nation. Whether or not it is might be up for debate, but we'll have to have that debate in another post. However, how can any "great nation" survive, when it relies solely upon the products/production of foreign countries? Foreign countries, I might add, that certainly do not have the best interests of the United States in mind. Oil, of course, is one of those products, but clearly that is not the only one. Just take a look at the clothes that you are wearing. If you are wearing anything that was manufactured in these United States, then you are one of the few (congratulations). Add electronics to that list and automobiles and the list goes on and on.
So, not only have we placed our very livelihood in the hands of foreign countries, but we have exported most of our higher paying jobs in the process. We have literally sold ourselves down the river. And I do say WE, because it is WE who have allowed the government to steer this country towards its eminent demise. While we are sitting on the couch hypnotized by Everybody Loves Raymond, the government is ruining this once proud nation. How long can any nation, great or otherwise, last when it has placed all of its eggs in an unstable basket.
Ok... I'll stop ranting, for now. But, my question is... is this the beginning of the end of another empire (great or otherwise)??
Flatulent Fuzz
Mr. Obama
Apparently, this is the best president that money can buy!
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1 comment:
Ah, a subject near and dear to my heart!
You know me; it used to be that I wouldn't buy or wear a ball cap (among other products) that wasn't made in America; I'd search far and wide if necessary for that most satisfying of all labels: Made in the USA. My how things have quickly changed in this country, and how I've been forced to adjust to those changes. Now if I want to own and wear a ball cap (to cover my increasingly balding head), I just have to ignore the label. Interestingly enough, I own fewer ball caps today than ever in my lifetime.
And yet, these things are not completely outside our control, though they seem to be at times. I agree with you re the complacency of the Everybody Loves Raymond crowd, what with their big-screen plasma tvs, surround sound entertainment systems and whatnot; all made where?
Is America a "great" nation? That probably depends on what we mean by the term "great." But in the normal sense, and the sense that I think you're using it, I think America ceased to be a great nation when the nation ceased to hold itself to a standard of greatness. Everything else was just an after effect. As has been said before, "the whole is exactly equal to the sum of its parts."
But I commend you for making an excellent point. A great nation, in order to maintain its greatness, must be at least somewhat self-sufficient and independent. In order to do that, it must be inhabited by people (a majority) that are self-sufficient and independent. That's one of the main reasons I have long opposed large scale immigration to this country, and its corollary which I've termed "easy citizenism". As Noah Webster once said:
"I consider it a matter of infinite consequence, the cautious admission of foreigners to the rights of citizenship ... they [immigrants] come here with violent prejudices against arbitrary government, and they seem to make no great distinction between arbitrary government and a government of laws founded on free elections. ..."
Anyway, I could go on and on and on, but I'll exercise a little self-discipline here and spare you for the time being.
Nice post!
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