America, Abandoned On Its Own Petard?

Can President-elect Obama teach an old country new tricks
... and a new mindset?

It took Pearl Harbor for America to enter WW II despite Germany and Japan having all but ravaged its enemies. It took the Cuban missile crisis for America to risk nuclear war even after many countries had fallen to Communist totalitarianism. It took 9/11 for America to take terrorism and the enemy across an ocean seriously enough to wage an all out war while other countries and continents have been living with that reality for decades.

Before that America slept just as Britain had prior to WWII (and was written about by John F. Kennedy when he was a college student in 1940).

Why did we sleep? Because despite Americans having espoused their lofty ideals (maybe it's a case of "the country doth protest too much"), when push came to shove perhaps it really hasn't cared about other countries unless it served our self interests. It is not lost on the global observer that yes, helping rebuild Germany and Japan may have helped them, but it also enabled America to help itself to those countries as a market for our products and services that spanned decades.

Now what if America is getting a taste of its own "your problem, not my problem" medicine from countries that we served it up to for decades (maybe even centuries)? What if just like us, they are content to let America be in the crosshairs of terrorist regimes and turn a jaundiced eye rather than roll their sleeves up and help? Why put their young men and women in harm's way, when we resisted doing the same in every international conflict until we were unable to avoid it any longer?

Bless President elect Obama and I wish him luck. He is running on all cylinders enjoining us to finally get it. It's no longer about "us" vs. "them," it has to be about "we" with "them."

Until America switches its mineset (only about America) to ourset (about the world), we will remain stuck.

Follow Mark Goulston, M.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/markgoulston

Comments

[enochsmoky]

08:12 PM on 12/30/2008

This is a confusing article. Are you saying that the world hates us because we have interfered too often on the world stage or did not interfere enough? I think that Americans can hold their heads high because we have battled totalitarianism more than the rest of the world combined. 45,000 dead in Korea, 53,000 dead in Vietnam, 4,000 dead in the Middle East and a multi billion dollar Cold War all attest to our country's committment to resist totalitarianism. The American left has been willing to raise the white flag of surrender at each of these critical foreign crises. Some of the interventions have other ulterior motives such as the expansion of American power and commerce, however, the U.S. has wielded its power much more wisely and compassionately than world powers in the past. We have nothing to be ashamed of.

[Mnemanth]

03:00 PM on 12/30/2008

If the United States would get out of the rest of the world's business we'd be better off.
The middle east is none too happy with the U.S.- because we're telling them what they should be doing. China is none too happy, for the same reasons. Name a country in the world that lauds the superiority of the U.S.?
Repeatedly, if we're to believe news sources other than our own talking-heads, the U.S. has been told to get lost, go home, and work out our own problems before coming to the "rescue" of everyone else.
Until we start putting some emphasis on ourselves we'll always be the target of another country somewhere- if for no other reason than our hypocrisy, greed, and arrogance.

[joebaggadonuts]

02:42 PM on 12/30/2008

The biggest thing that we did as human beings which allowed us to rule the world over all the animals and even the insects and plants is that we banded together for our common good. Of course, more of this will help and we should figure out a way to do it. Our survival as a species depends upon it.

[The Patriot]

02:16 PM on 12/30/2008

The rest of the world will never respect this country again if we do not hold our criminals to justice. We must arrest, try, and if found guilty, convict and punish Cheney, Rumsfeld, and even Bush, for crimes related to torture, the bailout, Iraq, et al.

Let us hope this is one of the purportedly "unpopular" things the new president will be compelled to do for the good of the American nation come February.