Quote:
Originally Posted by happy_terd
I advocate dropping an atomic bomb on another country if it were to save American lives. Take from that what you want.
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American lives are not inherently better or more valuable than the lives of people in other places. American lives could only be worth the destruction of other lives *if* America is devoted to something beyond its own basic survival.
I'd like being an American (a USan, really; "America" has more than one nation) to mean something other than "my ancestors lied, cheated and murdered more effectively than anyone else, which made us rich, and therefore my generation has the right to stomp on anyone who doesn't like our goals."
I like our rights in the US. (At least, I like the ones on paper, as contrasted with the ones actually currently available.) I like our devotion to innovation and creativity. I like our efficiency in dealing with large-scale problems, and our obsession with new methods of communication and distribution of resources. I like our tolerance of diversity.
I don't like our obsession with puritanical morality; don't like our bureaucratic and hierarchical approaches to some problems. And there's something wrong with claiming to be the "greatest nation on earth," as many do, while we also claim the greatest per-capita prison population on earth. Obviously, a lot of our own citizens disagree.
I don't like our approach to wars in other parts of the world. I understand and approve of the desire to defend the American way of life; I'm not sure how we do that by killing people in Iraq.
I support our troops--I pay taxes. I don't sabotage military bases or equipment, and am not openly hostile to military personnel, current or former, whom I meet in person. But supporting the troops doesn't mean approving of their choice of job, nor agreeing that the government (which I helped put in place) is doing the right thing with those troops.