Independence Day Series #1: Is America the Greatest Country in the World?

"And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. And I gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today. ‘Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA."

Those über-patriotic lyrics from country singer Lee Greenwood clearly sum up the "Yes, of course, you Godless Red" point of view. A March, 2011 study from Pew Research shows that 53% of Americans have the highest opinion of the United States, while, to be fair, a Fox New poll showed 84%.

Explanations for this opinion range from "Freedom!! USA, USA, USA!" to "In this sense, as someone who used to take pride in being called a revolutionary...Where's the Russian Revolution now? It's gone.  Where's the Chinese Revolution now? It's mutated into something completely opposite, different to itself. Cuban Revolution is more [sic] at the best. The French Revolution, well, it did have a great effect on the world, and I wouldn't denigrate it, but the American Revolution, the one that says 'Build your republic individual rights, not group rights. Have a bill of rights that inscribed these and makes them available and legible to everybody. Separate the Church from the State. Separate the executive, judicial, and political [legislative] branch. Do all these things,' it doesn't sound like much, but it's a very revolutionary idea."

The latter response was by Christopher Hitchens, the late, great writer and famous quick wit. The former was from the Akron, Ohio 30-something, directly after the USA scored their only  World Cup goal, and directly before he passed out. 

I would have to agree with Hitch, that while the American Revolution did not immediately gain freedom for most Americans, the backing ideas were a giant leap for mankind in the realm of human rights. Acknowledging the self-evident truth the all are equal, with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness cannot be easily overstated. 

Some would call that, liberty and justice for all, the American Dream. Some would say that it's called a dream for a reason.  

How long, in American history, have all been equal? Go ahead; take your time and think about it...

1776: That all men are created equal, but some are more equal than others.

1868: No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. Lol, jk.

1920: Honey, make me a sandwich. Then, let's go vote. 

1963: You know what? I had the weirdest dream last night.

1966: The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he has rights, those pesky old things.

2000: Yeah, sorry. The most people elected Al to be president, but we live in a democracy, so George II now reigns. 

2013: OK, fine. We'll take out the anti-gay laws, but most states still won't let you guys marry. 

So, what was that, Tommy? Maybe we can try this again in ten years. Maybe twenty. Maybe seventy. When will there be equal sign  style equality?

So, to review, I believe that the best explanation for the "Yes, of course, you Godless Red" answer is that the ideals of America are the greatest in the world, and therefore, America itself follows suit.

Many outside of the "Yes" camp might not disagree with that principle. Instead, it is commonly stated that in practice, not principle, America lags behind. Is that true? Yes.

"And with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America is so star-spangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, BELGIUM has freedom! Two hundred and seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom. And yeah, you... sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is: There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world..."

As the "Yes" side, which is represented by the Greenwood quote is called "Yes, of course, you Godless Red", the side represented by the above quote shall be called "Meh, I put my money on Japan". 

That long rant above is a monologue from the Newsroom's, of HBO, Will McAvoy. The "Sorority Girl" asks a panel if they can describe what makes America the greatest country in the world. The resident liberal says, "diversity and opportunity," while the conservative says, "Freedom and freedom, so let's keep it that way." 

When McAvoy is pressed to answer, he says that it is not the greatest country in the world. He says what is written in the quote, and then goes on to rattle off a plethora of statistics to back himself up. Statistics like:

The USA is 17th in the world in literacy

 27th in math education

22nd in science education

49th in life expectancy

178th in infant survival

3rd in median household income

1st in obesity rate (looking at you, southern states)

1st in prison population and incarceration rate  

It is simple to wrap up the "Meh, I put my money on Japan" side by asking, if the USA is the best, what is it the best in? 

Hmm.....

War.

There is no doubt that the United States, being "back-to-back-world-war-champs" and having military conflicts in 217 of our 233 years as a nation, is pretty good at killing all sorts of other people pretty effectively.

 The USA has 2150 active nuclear weapons, more than any other nation by an order of about 300. Russia comes in second, having around 1800 active and 8500 total. In contrast, the United States has approximately 7700. Both countries have been reducing their stockpiles, to the sigh of relief from the collective lifeforms on the planet. Russia has much more dramatically reduced their stockpiles, however, hitting its peak stockpile in the 1980's with 45,000 nukes.  I give all this information about nuclear weapons because it is pretty much the only instance where another military is close to the ability of the US military. It is pretty uncontested in all other categories. Countries such as China may have more man-power total in their military, but that is becoming less and less important as technology advances. 

Ok, so the USA is definitely best at war. Does that make it great?

Of course not! Who would even pose such a question, not rhetorically? You know there will always be someone. 

And plus, there is at least one obvious way that our gargantuan obsession with war makes America a less great nation. It's so expensive.

The military accounts for 47¢ out of every tax dollar in the federal budget. The military budget is bloated beyond common sense. For example, should president Obama keep hundreds of troops at Fort Sumpter, just in case the South should rise again?  It seems completely unrealistic, until you realize that we still have approximately 52,692 troops in Japan. 52,692! We're invading our allies. There are 45,596 just in case Hitler pieces together his head and rises from the grave.  There are around 10,000 troops in Italy, and around 10,000 troops in the UK.  One should read that last stat with a sigh, a sigh of despair. 

I recognize that there are logistical incentives for an empire to have troops posted at strategic points overseas.  But why on earth would the USA need 119,000 troops in the WWII countries. I can only think of one practical use, off the top of my head for any of these troops at all, and that is North Korea. But with 28,000 troops in South Korea, why are 52,000 needed in Japan.

Obviously we spend an exorbitant amount of money on military expenses like this, but just how much do we spend?

In 2012, the U.S. approved $645.7 billion in defense budget. This figure includes funding for the Pentagon base budget, Department of Energy-administered nuclear weapons activities, and the war in Afghanistan.

That number is six times the war budget of China. It's 11 times Russia. That figure accounts for 41% of the total military spending for the entire world. 

In fact, we spend more on our military than the next 15 countries combined. And Congress cuts NASA. Please. 

I think that is enough of a war tangent. Now I can relate it to the original topic. We are number one in the world for war capability. But this is not good. We are number one in many bad things, such as incarceration rates and obesity rates. Practically, there is not one major category to speak of in which America performs the best. 

I don't enjoy writing the last several paragraphs. I want the United States, my homeland, to be the greatest, just as a patriot from anywhere would. Often times, when Americans do not find the USA to be the greatest, freest, most star-spangled awesome country to ever exist in the Milky Way galaxy, they are called unpatriotic. I say nothing could be further from the truth. I am a patriot because I want America to be the greatest, I acknowledge that it currently isn't, and I am ready to fix the problem. Those who aren't patriots are the ones who refuse to accept that America has problems, and therefore, refuse to fix it. 

Drone Wars: Now, In A Desert Far, Far Away

You've most likely heard of it by now, unless you get all your news from Dora the  Explorer. I don't think she's been covering foreign policy much lately, unless you include 

the immigration reform. 

The US use of drones seems to be a strictly B-List political issue. It's not as prominent as gun control, but it's also not off to the wayside like education, for instance. 

Drones are unmanned aircraft used by the Air Force. Surveillance drones are used for taking photos and videos and aiding in reconnaissance. Predator drones are the ones frequently shown in pictures, like the one above. They can see people from the sky while people can't see them. They are equipped with missiles to remotely take out targets. 

The political issue of drones is about predator drones and specifically the use of drone against US citizens, and civilian deaths and the "double tap" policy. 

It's likely that you remember the thirteen-hour filibuster by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Rand was trying to prevent the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director and, more importantly, call attention to the president's ability to use drone strikes against US citizens on US territory. After thirteen straight hours of talking by Rand, the administration gave its answer. While it is clearly against the Fifth Amendment for a president to just go out and declare the death penalty on someone, Eric Holder answered in typical lawyer fashion.

"It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance I which it would be necessary and appropriate u der the constitution and applicable laws of the US for the president to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the US." Holder said, though, that such a circumstance is unlikely. 

All this use of the words "US territory" is an effect of one terrible incident that happened in 2011. Anwar al Awlaki was a radical Muslim Imam and clearly linked to Al Qaeda. His son, however, was not. Abdulrahman al Awlaki was a 16 year old US citizen. Without any charges or trial, or anything that would cause anyone to think he had done anything wrong, this 16 year old Boy from Denver was killed by a drone strike in Yemen. The circumstances around the death are unclear, but surely they were "unlikely".

Another thing talked about in the drone debate is civilian deaths. Under the Obama administration, 22 terrorists have been killed by drones. For that 22 terrorists, 800 civilians have been killed. What's worse is that sometimes, the children deaths aren't a mistake.  Army Lt. Col. Marion Carrington, quoted in a Marine Times article, said that “It kind of opens our aperture” that children are being used in the conflict. “In addition to looking for military-age males, it’s looking for children with potential hostile intent."

On December 3rd, it was reported that three children were targeted for a drone strike for digging a hole in the ground. That is absolutely disgusting to anyone with the smallest sense of morality. A full list of children killed ideone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen can be found at http://www.policymic.com/articles/24164/a-list-of-children-killed-by-drone-strikes-in-Pakistan-and-yemen

However, what may be even more disgusting is the "double tap" policy. In a double tap, a drone strike happens on a target, and then soon after, after first responders and other people have come to help, a second strike happens on the same target. Can you imagine if this happened in America? Can you imagine if an enemy bombed a target in the United States and ten bombed the same place soon afterward? We would be livid, and rightfully so. 

Lastly, even if you don't have a heart or soul, you still must be against drone strikes. They are, in the end, counterproductive. Recent polls show that 74% of Pakistanis consider the United States an enemy. All that a lot of Pakistanis know about the United States is this: they are the country that sent a missile at the house next to mine to kill a terrorist, it he process they hit my house and killed my family. We wonder why they don't like us so much. 

Kim Jong Unstable

Kim Jong Un, the Supreme Brat of North Korea, has been making a lot of fuss about war in recent weeks. It all started back in early March, when the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed new sanctions on the reclusive state. The ruler of this starving, bankrupted nation was deeply offended and angered when these sanctions on luxury yachts and jewelry were approved. Kim Jong was Unamused North Korea responded to the sanctions by cutting of contact with South Korea across the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ. 

After a little while, the North started up a new line of rhetoric, saying that it reserved the right of a preemptive strike on the United States, and that it would turn Seoul, the capital of South Korea, into a "sea of fire". 

North Korea continued acting out, having military drills and reopening nuclear plants.  On March 11, the North Korean army declared that the armistice treaty that put a pause on the Korean War, to be "invalid," and that the North had entered a "state of war" with the South. Recently, Little Kim, as he is known to the news media, had missiles moved to the east coast of the country, pointed toward the United States. 

This week, North Korea reported that the "moment of explosion" was soon approaching. Russian officials have been in close contact with South Korea, Japan, the US, and the UK, after the North Korean government told them that the Russian and other foreign embassies will not be able to be protected after April 10th.  

North Korean missiles are not expected by anyone to reach the United States, but South Korea and Japan are a much different story. I, personally, don't find it likely that the North would carry out any military action, because China has condemned the idea. You see, on the international stage, North Korea is like a spoiled toddler, and China is its mom. If, however, Kim Jong Unafraid decides to fully embrace the Juche idea of self-reliance that North Korea is founded on, and carry out a strike on any of its neighbors, it will be the end of the Kim dynasty, and the Koreas will most likely be reunified. The joint US-South Korean forces located in South Korea will gain control of the country, and China will probably be too overwhelmed with refugees to stop it. We Americans would then be able to retry what we planned for the Iraq war: take out the evil dictator, put the good guys in charge, and get out.

My favorite part of this whole series of events has been when Anonymus, the computer network hacker group, actually hacked the North Korean government. That goes to show how powerful Anonymus is. They hacked the government's network, put ridiculous pictures on the state media sites, and even recovered 1500 email addresses from state officials. 

(This is a pretty awesome picture that Anonymus posted)