Chuck, I am not disagreeing with anything on your list, but I sincerely want to know on what you base your belief that in the absence of U.S. hegemony we (the world) definitely would be better off.  Is the world better off becuase U.S. imperialsm replaced British imperialism....repalcing Roman imperialism.....Biblical imperialism (pick a "nation" from the Old Testament).  I see nothing in human history that guarantees a better tomorrow. Being the cynic about human nature, I am not sold on that.  I think power weill fill the vacuum.  Now, it very well could be the power of the people, but I doubt it, at least for the moment.  But, I would like to hear why I am wrong.  I am pessimisstic, not dismissive as to your belief.       Chuck Munson <chuck@tao.ca> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Nathan Newman wrote: > Why do lefties have so much praising a country that we had so much of a role > in creating? The multi-racial multiculturalism of this country, which the > Right hates, is based on centures of struggle against slavery, racism, and > nativism, a battle that progressives actually largely won, as shown by the > mass immigration numbers since 1965 and in our culture anytime you look at > the music charts. Short list: 1) Centuries of slavery for which African-Americans were never compensated 2) The genocide of the American indigenous people 3) The invasion of Vietnam and the killing of millions in Indochina 4) Dozens of interventions around the world, with the near destruction of several countries, especially Haiti. 5) Dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese civilian population and carpet bombed Germ! an! and Japanese cities. 6) The Cold War, in which the world was held hostage for decades with the immiment threat of nuclear annihilation. 7) The U.S.'s inability to serious address its racism and its embracing of institutions that entrench that racism. 8) What the U.S. did to the Black Panthers and AIM 9) Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, the millions in jail, and the hundreds who have been executed. 10) American capitalism, which is destroying the planet's environment at a rapid pace. 11) The alliance between state and business in fighting a viscious class war against all workers. 12) The privatization of airwaves and the enclosing of public spaces. Why would you want to be part of something that has a resume like this? << Chuck0 >> Personal homepage -> http://flag.blackened.net/chuck0/home/index.html Infoshop.org -> http://www.infoshop.org/ Alternative Press Review -> http://www.altpr.org! /<! BR>Practical Anarchy Online -> http://www.practicalanarchy.org/ Anarchy: AJODA -> http://www.anarchymag.org/ MutualAid.org -> http://www.mutualaid.org/ Factsheet 5 -> http://www.factsheet5.org/ AIM: AgentHelloKitty Web publishing and services for your nonprofit: Bread and Roses Web Publishing http://www.breadandrosesweb.org/ "...ironically, perhaps, the best organised dissenters in the world today are anarchists, who are busily undermining capitalism while the rest of the left is still trying to form committees." -- Jeremy Hardy, The Guardian (UK)</BLOCKQUOTE> <hr size=1>Do You Yahoo!? <a href="http://rd.yahoo.com/welcome/*http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com">Yahoo!</a> - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup