American Revolution:
You might have heard about the Industrial revolution, and how the Americans grew up to become the world's largest economy after the Ist World War. Americans innovated processes and machines that reduced the time and effort of making things, and mobilising things. Even today, American businesses innovate new ways of living and doing things.
All that is true.. but, not entirely. Americans are not the only people on Earth who innovated stuff, or who did things better. In fact Americans themselves used slaves and transported labor from poor nations (till today they do this), and got work done for low costs from these people.
You also probably know, that when these slaves who were called blacks by the white american population, grew bigger and demanded equal rights, Americans reacted harshly which started all that was later named racial discrimination.
Today America is a better place, and there are laws and amendments that declare racial discrimination as abusive and criminal. Not entirely again, Americans are showing, and have shown interest in foreigners for labour reasons. for other things, they prefer Americans.. you would see this in every act and law in the west. A little of this, my friends in UK tell me, holds good with the british also.
If all countries are innovating, why is that only American innovation is at the forefront.. definitely that doesn't have to always mean that only American innovation is good or sophisticated. What that simply means is this.. Americans are influencial.
The term influencial could mean different things.. power, money, voice.
We will have to consider some more history to understand how Americans can be called influencial.
Americans - the international police:
Soon after America won the Gulf War with Iraq protecting Kuwait, the Americans were showered praise from all quarters of the world for their action.. (this probably was also the first big United Nations achievement in protecting a member nation kuwait I believe).
Alongwith the showers, many nations (probably member nations of the UN) donated in money for the costs that the US recurred for being involved in the war. If I remember right, US actually made extra money(profit), more than their costs due to huge donations from all nations and also from kuwait itself.
After the showers was the time probably Americans, especially politicians, started reacting to every international issue. Formally acting in their new found responsibility as an International peace-keeper and police, most American politicians have tried to get under the spotlight by verbing reactions to issues in other countries, and sometimes even nations that are not UN members.
Even the press in the west, especially the American and British press, seem to have got into this mode, and always you see them interviewing or discussing international issues with just American and British analysts...rather than the actual victims or sources of the issue in the country where the issue is.
This bias, a gross bias, diplomatically has helped both the western giants grow hand in hand, leaving other nations voiceless or less influencial.
United Nations - an organized charter of the biased
The other day, shashi taroor, Chief of public relations, United Nations, said in an interview, "The US is indispensable to the United Nations". Actually, what he probably could have indirectly mentioned was, the vice-verse also holds good.. "The United Nations is indispensable to the US".
If not for United Nations, the Americans would have found it impossible... to find a common place to diplomatically silence the other powerful nations from questioning them, on their wars in Afganisthan, then in Iraq, and now slowly trying to find targets in Iran and North Korea.
If not for United Nations, Americans would be having the war in their country by now, in reaction to their war activities in other countries. The rest of the world would not go silent easily.... also, seems like the rest of the world found it ok to dispense with lives in Afganisthan and Iraq.. than elsewhere in more democratic or powerful nations.
If the United Nations really want to stand up for world peace ..which is what they are intended to do, then firstly they should remove the concept of veto powers in the UN where 5 nations USA, UK, France, China, and Russia have the rights to do anything through the UN if they agree within themselves...no matter whether the rest 180 and odd nations don't like their decisions.
Would anybody with some common sense call this veto power thing an unbiased setup.
War on Terror !
Yes, there was september 11, and Americans are not wrong in answering their assassins... but the Americans should have drawn a line at some level in their way,
rather than,
generically calling it 'war on terror', which repeatedly sounds an alarm that Americans could seek to attack any nation in the claim of protecting world peace.
Free Hand
The Americans and American politicians today have a free-hand to draw projectiles from their country to any other country for occupying it in the name of 'war on terror'. This is blatant modernization of invading countries.
I really dont see anything better than this level of influence and free-hand some country can have.. even in the future.
Big businesses often draw red or blue circles on the world map marking their markets around the globe. If we drew such circles at places where American troops have base in the world map, we would see a considerably good networking of troops. What's this... policing.. "for keeping away ants, would you carry the sugar everywhere."
End Note:
One of my proffessors at college used to say, "Americans will never like Israel-Palestine to become peaceful, or North korea - south korea to sign peace pacts, because only when nations fight will there be a market for US weapons, and for the US atleast 40% of their economy is based on their defence systems and the money they make with it".
I can't vouch for the stats my proffessor gave, but his's is a valid perception considering the American attitude to war and weapons.
With money comes the craziness of exhibiting Power.
That explains why the Americans call themself relentlessly the super power, and why american politicians can't rest one moment when some non-American country is rising in its economic strength and military power.
That holds good for any country's politicians and people.. why should we just talk about and blame the Americans?
The logic is behind the below understanding:
When the Gun is in the hands of someone who knows to use it, and who is known for using it very often for killing people, we will be more worried, than when the gun is in the hands of a new person who is just learning to use it.
Americans are no-doubt the most influencial people in the world.
If you are an American, and grinning for that statement, ...rather than being known as influencial, think... are Americans the happiest people in the world ?, the most peace loving in the world ?... the best human-beings showing love and affection to the world.. ?
Influencial... Americans are, since the time they displayed their acrobatics by blasting two nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. They ended the war they say, but they actually fast-forwarded the war and completed it 110% in fullness by killing people at a snap. The world war II was completed successfully for the Americans, and that too much earlier than the time and cost it would have taken for them to complete it without the atom bombs.
In my opinion, some Americans .. not just President Bush show immaturity and impatience when it comes to decision making. Some of them don't seem to believe in patience, forgetfullness, or the likes of anything thats said in the Holy Bible unto the idea of legalizing gay marriages with public announcements and press releases..for a stupid thing like gay marriage..
When they can't obey one rule in a religion they say they follow, how is it to be expected by the rest of the world to respect Americans for their word in every accord that they sign to. Why shouldn't one think that Americans have an internal document and an external document on everything.
Most people in the rest of the world are only using the Americans.. for their money and power.. its high-time Americans realize their weaknesses, try resolve themself into better positive thinkers, and stop misusing their influence or try gaining influence through non-innocent acts.
In conclusion:
"Americans" in the world, is like a person in the family, one of the men, a very rich business man, busy dealing money, forgetting house-hold committments. (the committments to living with the world, respecting other views, other interests, ..)
Americans have to respect the people of the world.. If you are an American reading this, and reading through this article, if even for a second you thought "huh! an Indian writing about me..", then you are among those who have to change that attitude and respect this writing as 'also an opinion' from a critics perspective.
