Democracy or Empire?

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>The opening sentence (recalled from memory) of a book review (I 
>forget the book) in the *Guardian* (NY) back in the late '60s:
>
>"Born in the blood of Indians, built on the bones of slaves, 
>fattened on the riches of the entire globe, the American Experiment 
>should be declared a failure and destroyed to make room for 
>humanity."
>
>Carrol
>
>P.S. Democracy of one sort or another, limited in one way or another,
>has always been the most efficient system of imperial rule. 
>Democracy *and* Empire.

I think that the reason why a limited democracy helps build & 
maintain an empire is that the rulers can't afford to fight on two 
fronts, domestic & foreign, at the same time, as Machiavelli reminds 
us.  Hence the usefulness of the Democratic Party & liberal 
internationalism in America....

Yoshie