Imperialism

I was sitting in a diner, one that looked like it had come straight out of Pulp Fiction, eating and watching the TV in the corner. It was June 2004, and the TV was showing a large gathering of people, all dressed in black. I noticed Governor Schwarzenegger in the crowd. As I later found out, the event was taking place just one valley over from where I was eating that day, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. It was Reagan’s funeral. Of course, I knew who Reagan was, but I only realized much later how consequential his presidency had been for America and the world we live in today. ...

Post-WW2 global order After World War II, the United States developed a system of allies, rather than vassals, making it the de facto leader of the free world. And rightfully so. Don’t get me wrong — America never shied away from imposing its will on other countries by force (the annexation of Hawaii is my favorite example), but compared to other contemporary powers like the Soviet Union, the US has indeed been a benevolent superpower. ...

Despite being broadly unpopular with many on the right, America should be thankful to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. By introducing the right amount of socialism, he shielded America from communism. It’s easy to dismiss his policies from today’s perspective, but try to put yourself in the place of a lower-middle-class family in the United States during the Great Depression. How long would you endure the hardships before looking for solutions offered by extremists? ...