We're Number 1!!!

warning!!! political ramblings follow...

not my only...but more current inspiration for this type of rant...

is it ironic that the one thing Americans need to realize actually sound the most un-American? and that notion is that we must prepare ourselves for the day that America is no longer the world’s everything, that we are no longer the world’s only superpower, that we are no longer the world’s hegemonic master.

the problem is that in order to prepare ourselves for this day, we need leadership that can take us away from our current mantra of “America - What Are You Gonna Do About It?”. we have somehow managed to alienate ourselves from the entire world while still feeling superior to it. how can we take any credible “for the people” stance in Darfur when we, in a unilateral and imperial fashion, invaded a sovereign country and left their citizens exposed to civil war? how can we take a moral high-ground to China’s political prisoners when we went through Abu Ghraid? how can we continue to take credit for the largest producing economy when we’re in a consumer-induced trade deficit?

i don’t say this to promote an isolationist environment or believe that that is what this country needs. quite the opposite in fact. i believe we should continue to provide foreign aid and that we should continue to pursue free trade. both those things lead to an America that the world can respect and an America that the world can relate with. sooner or later, China or Russia or India or any of the other up and coming nations, will join us on our world pedestal. and we’ll need to abide by the Golden Rule and learn how to share and treat others with respect. our continued path of world superiority can not sustain much longer.

if we keep this up, an old saying comes to mind:

“What do you call a leader with no followers? Just a guys taking a walk.”