> Opposition to empire-building has a long history in American
> politics, going back at least to George Washington. The argument was
> that building an empire abroad would be the death of democracy at
> home. What's wrong with reviving that old line? Elites have long been
> frustrated by the masses' reluctance to get involved abroad.
>
> Doug
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A post-Periclean fear of losing what they have as a result of empire may partly explain the unease and passivity many citizens feel, hence more time is spent on ambivalence-generating China bashing by elites than thinking through deepening democracy and the institutions needed for doing so [education, healthcare, infrastructure investment etc.] at home.
I'm not convinced GW was being sincere, he welcomed heading west over the Allegheny's.
Ian