Confused Anti-Americanism

Most of the rhetoric spewed by anti-Americans can easily be refuted. In the realm of public discourse, there's a huge difference between critically assessing America and being anti-American. It's carefully respecting this line that can help to lead us to some objective and intelligent conclusions. Scholars and academics need to be responsible as should powerful modes of mediums like Hollywood.

It is my contention that world opinion of America is a product of our reliance on snap shot sound bites. The world right now dislike or even hate America based on Iraq. I suspect that a course in American history would somewhat simmer this.

An argument can be made that the older societies who harbour suspicion of American power and might are the ones, ironically, who feel America does not act like an empire enough. Sure, they fear and talk negatively about it but somewhere in the subconscious people are upset because America is confused in their role. If this assessment is mildly acceptable it would be vindicated in that America is indeed confused.

If American foreign would acknowledge that it is an empire and move on, can it alleviate some of the negative public relation perceptions swirling around the U.S.?

America can turn its back and theoretically opt for an isolationist policy. This is impractical but not out of the realm of possibility. Let us suppose they close the doors. What could happen?

One of the biggest complaints nations have against the U.S. is how they meddle in the affairs of others. That, for example, they push democracy upon them only to not honor the results. That's because those populations haven't figured out how to choose the "right" person. Populations who have no clue how democracy works simply vote with the devil they know - usually the strongman they are familiar with. People want stability and democracy in its early stages does not bring stability. Hence, they are caught between short and long term interests. This is unfortunate and unfair to them.

Back to our hypothetical case. Given what I just mentioned it's very possible that all societies where democracy never took root would simply revert back to former forms of governance - fragmented or otherwise - that humans were accustomed to over the last 5 000 years. In other words, in most of the world, they would be free of American rhetoric and chart themselves a path to a pre-1776 world. Either this or they would truly give democracy a go.

This scenario is highly unlikely. Once America turns its back, the school children will throw paper planes. Let us not over estimate European affinity for democracy either. Their form of democracy is being redefined with Brussels. Either way, even if democracy is firmly rooted (which it is in Western Europe) the underbelly of unsettled scores that nationalism seeks revenge for still runs wide and deep. Europe, in other words, has problems. So do China and India.

Assuming countries opt for any past system, that leaves the United States of America as the last bastion of reason and democracy on earth. Challenge the notion of American reason? Put up the Constitution anywhere on earth and for the most part most of it (if not all) would resonate on some level to people. Jefferson and Madison were more astute and smarter, it turns out, than Marx.

The choice is clear. Most people internally know this to be true but have taken to blurting out an entirely different ethos. In my estimation, when push comes to shove, America is the choice.