>>>You don't agree there is an American empire then?
>>
>>Correct.
>
>So why do you think there are US armed forces distributed all over the world. I think its a projection of power and while altruism may be a factor its not the main one.
And that is exactly my point - projection of power for non-altruistic reasons is not the definition of empire or imperialism.
Charles Hankey
Though a good deal is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened.
- Thomas Hardy
Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm-- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.
-- T. S. Eliot
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.
- Ben Franklin
Pardon him, Theodotus. He is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.