Q: Are We Witnessing A Revival of 19th Century Imperialism?

I'm just reading David Thomson's Hstory of England in the 19th Century at the moment and the parallels between the US now and Britain then are eerie. So if I may offer a brief response (which is in danger of getting longer when I've finished reading Thomson) - yes.

Want to offer a slightly less brief substantiation? What parallels?

:wink:

I'd love to but I'm bereft of knowledge right now. When I've finished Thomson I may be better informed but I'm absolutely sure that others here would be much better informed than me right now. In fact I know it. I'm afraid I was thinking along these lines when I was reading the first few chapters in Thomson but now I will have to read more and try to bolster my admittedly shallow thinking with some deeper evidence. Either that or I will read on and then come back to this thread to announce that I was full of it and very wrong. Time and reading will tell.

What is an Imperial Power?

I think an interesting thing that is happening in the world, with regard to migration (I am assuming an imperial power is one that wants to make an empire and have colonies, kinda) is that potentially "imperial" countries are opening up their borders to foreigners, and people from the first countries are moving, themselves, to the second country - I think this is because it's such a different lifestyle that ... yeah - it's often like being attracted to your opposite.

Now, in order to have an empire ... you have to actually give your "colonies" adequate support, and take on the responsibility of caring for them. I would hope America would realize they don't want that.

Am I way off base?

I'e said this before. I believe America is in the process of shifting from a republic to an empire. Just like Rome did in the time of Julius Caesar.

The United States (unless you mean to include Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Chile, etc. since they are also America) has already managed to develop the imperialistic attitudes so we might as well go for the full immersion into power.

The only way for the U.S. to become a full Imperial Empire though, is by placing a crown upon George W.'s head...let's do this now before it is too late.


LONG LIVE THE IMPERIALIST PIGS!

Don't forget that one of the hallmarks of an empire is a degradation of the rights of the citizens. We're seeing that already.

No, I didn't mean to include all of North and South America. By 'America', I did mean the United States. You're right, of course, that the USA has had imperialistic attitudes since at least the mid-19th Century. What else was 'Manifest Destiny' all about if not imperialistic urges? This phase of our imperialism reached its apogee in 1898 when, first, we acquired Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines from Spain after a war that lasted barely a few months; and, secondly, Hawaii simply by overthrowing its legitimate monarchy and taking it over as a protectorate. (We graciously "gave" Cuba its independence almost immediately and finally loosened our hold on the Philippines following World War II. But the post-WW II era, of course, was a time when the word 'Colonialism' first acquired a pejorative connotation and we became more or less honor-bound to allow the Philippinos to govern themselves. We still 'own' Puerto Rico, and we keep a tight rein on it.) But this new resurgence of imperialism is a slightly different phenomenon, geared to the 21st, not the 19th or early 20th, century. We now have what amount to 'client states' a la the Soviet Union during the last century. There isn't any Platinum Curtain yet, but there is certainly a Western bloc, largely dependent on the good will of the USA.

I don't think George Bush needs a crown, nor would he accept one. That is sooo Elizabethan and/or Victorian era. All he needs is a mandate from Congress to circumvent the Constitutional limits on presidential terms. Even failing that, the Bush family and its gang of multinational CEOs could continue to rule, as long as their party stays in power. As DrewDad has rightly pointed out, the degradation of the rights of citizens is a characteristic of imperial rule. This erosion of our civil liberties began long before the current Bush came into the Oval Office. His dad -- and, before him, both Nixon and Reagan -- got the ball rolling nicely. Take, just as one example, the so-called 'war on drugs.' There is no war on drugs. If there were, we ouldn't be wasting time and money on useless and ineffective interdiction of drugs from foreign shores. We would have a vigorous campaign, instead, perhaps analogous to the current anti-tobacco campaign, to inform the public and wean it away from drug dependence. What we have, instead, is a war on our civil liberties which only fosters an atmosphere in which weaker-willed people resort to drugs in order to ease the emotional pain.

DOWN WITH IMPERIALIST PIGS!!!

I'm still reading Thomson. I'm on the Chartists right now. I hope this thread is still going when I've finished the book. If not, then I shall resurrect it out of a surfeit of narcissim and egotism to display my new found (and borrowed) knowledge.

Good post MA.

We have three more years of Bush; it's gonna seem like fifteen years! If he doesn't do anything more foolish, most Americans, according to recent polls, do not want the Bush policy to continue into the next administration.

Over 50 percent of Americans still think Bush is a "strong leader." However, they fail to ask if he's a "smart" leader. All the other questions pertaining to Bush's presidency gets a failing grade - some in the 20-percent range.

It's good to see that the majority of Americans (and that includes republicans) that Bush's performance as a president is below 40 percent. They are finally catching on that we are worse off today than we were in 2000. Increased world terrorism, higher cost of fuel, loss of most of our allies, more families falling into poverty, increase in the number of uninsured for health insurence, no improvement in reading scores for our children for the past two years under No Child Left Behind, increase in the national debt from a surplus, and our major industries going bankrupt (airlines and auto).

Everybody, happy?