I would like to address some of the anti-Americanism floating around here, in particular the notion of America as an "evil empire" out to rule the world.

The fact is that people are by nature powermongers. Some more so than others. By extension, nations are by nature powermongers. What kind of a country doesn't want to expand, and control others? What a preposterous notion!

Some of the most revered nations in history have been very aggressive. Clear example: the Roman empire. But I'll talk about the Roman Republic here. Due to the patriotism and determination of the citizens, Rome expanded to essentially rule, what was for them, the known world.

And yet, they had practices such as watching people kill each other in brutal ways in the Colliseum (which was entertainment!!), not to mention all the wars they incited. If you'll remember, after the second Punic War, the Romans entirely razed Carthage to the ground. Destroyed an entire city! I'm sure that a lot of massacres happened then. And after conquering Gaul, they essentially destroyed the population. Vae victis indeed!

The point is that in modern times, few think of the dark side of Rome, but blindly praise it for its great qualities. Granted, it did have great qualities that enabled it to endure so long, but it also had not-so-great ones (especially under the Imperial times).

America is also a great, powerful nation today that exerts a lot of influence, social and political, not to mention military. Of course, there are dark sides to it. But there are also good sides.

I lived in America myself (Washington D.C. to be precise) for five years in my childhood. I look back on those years as one of the greatest times of my life, and the people that I've met there were quite wonderful, kind, and sincere human beings. Thankfully, my parents had a great habit of taking pictures everywhere we went, so I have several albums filled with fond memories that would have otherwise been forgotten. One thing that stands out the most, is the amount of freedom there. Of course, maybe things are changed now, but I think that overall the situation is the same.

I wonder what I would have thought of America had I not lived there myself. Actually, I kind of know. When I went back to Serbia for family visits, etc., I saw incredible amounts of anti-Americanism, even downright hatred. Some of you won't believe this, but I talked to people that were happy when the WTC towers were destroyed. I was disgusted. Of course, there is the issue of the US bombing during the Kosovo incident that influenced people's opinions, but of course that is a different matter, and the Serbs had it coming to them anyway... but yes it's a different matter, let's not talk about that here.

Of course, I am open-minded and try to be very objective. Thus I also see that America has many problems and has caused many problems elsewhere. (For example, I think the US has brought up the Iraq issue at the wrong time, and for reasons that they might not be making as clear as it seems, not to mention that I am flatly against the war) But causing problems are quite natural - who hasn't done so? Think back to the Romans! They have been held in higher regard than any other nation that has existed on this planet, and yet some of the things they have done are shocking, and some of their Emperors were just as bad, if not worse, than Hitler.

I'm surprised that some people here cite one or two examples of America doing wrong in order to support their arguments for America-as-bad.

I'm also surprised that some people here blindly follow America and view it to be something of a Messianic nation. This is just as bad as viewing America as an "evil empire."

People have to look around, examine, see with both of their eyes what is happening around them. They must also have an open mind free of prejudice. Only then can well-formed opinions and ideas arise, that are free from hatred in one form or another. This goes for everyone.

Opinions, thoughts? I would actively like to restrict this thread to people who have something productive and balanced to say! If you are just going to bash America, or praise it to the skies, in a black-and-white manner, then please don't bother posting! I would like to keep this thread flame-free.