I do have a pride for my country. And that stemmed from the American Revolution. It was "us" against the world at the time.
Ok, first of all, you do realize the world wasn't against you, the British were. And at the time, you were British too, so basically it was a civil war. And at the time France and Britain were still great rivals, so the French helped you guys out a lot, so much so that the country was practically bankrupt by the end. This "us against the world" nonsense is just that, it was "13 British colonies + the French army vs. Great Britain." So if the source of your pride stems from a bunch of colonists, with the help of a foreign nation, revolting against their government it concerns me to hear you follow that up with comments like:
The U.S does need friends. But not in a way that our very existence depends on it
Because in fact, you're very existence is
because of it. And also:
I feel it's disrespectful when people ridicule the leader of the very nation they live in.
Before the "freedom loving Americans" through off the "shackles of the oppressive British" they did a lot of ridiculing the British government. Perhaps I'm not reading the intent of your words, so correct me if I am wrong, but that to me is in direct contradiction with itself. Please elaborate so I understand why it was ok to ridicule the government, and even revolt against it, 300 years ago, but it is no longer ok to ridicule the government in the country that was born out of the aforementioned revolution.
People hate him because he lead us into a war that has cost a a few thousand lives.
Actually from what I understand that is merely the icing on the cake. People
hate him because he looks out for his own interests, and the interests of the wealthy. His social policy is horrible, he doesn't listen to the needs of his people, and he seems to make mistakes
all the time, not just every so often. He isn't fit to represent, let alone lead, the people.
American soldiers died to free France.
When Germany annexed the Rhineland what did America do? Nothing. When tanks tore through the Maginot Line and Paris fell, what did America do? Nothing. When England was being bombed by the Luftwaffe to near ruin, what did America do? Sent some supplies, at a "marginal" fee. It wasn't until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor that an American soldier died in WWII, and actually started to gather troops for an invasion of Europe. Real heroic, I can't understand why France wouldn't remember that to this day, perhaps 4 years of occupation with no sign of American involvement leaves a bigger impression... Oh and by the way, Canadian and British soldiers "helped out" in the freeing of France, if I recall correctly America was in charge of two beach heads on Normandy, the British were also in charge of two, and Canadians were in charge of one. We managed to stay friends with France, and last I heard they were on good terms with the British. Besides, that was a long time ago, what has America done for any country lately? Oh that's right, they're currently showing Iraq the joys of an occupation force, I bet they're overjoyed...
And it's hard to be willing to be friends when certain nations who wouldn't be here if American blood was sarificed for them stab us in the back.
Oh right, it's also quite heroic of you to expect something in return for your help. Go America...
The UN would also not be in existence today if it wasn't for the U.S. So, in your opinion, what else should the U.S do in order to make friends before this country says screw it and returns to Isolationism??
Well, you pointed out one problem the American government could be adressing:
I see jobs dissapearing from my area and moving down to Mexico because labor is cheaper.
Perhaps they could create more employment for jobs in America, distribute the wealth of the country a little more evenly, eliminate as much poverty as possible, get a national health care program going, and other various social reforms. Decreasing the military budget alone would provide a lot of money for such social programs. Right now America has the largest military budget in the world, it's unnecessary and people are affected negatively by it. They could use the money to provide aid to countries that need it, like India after the tsunami for example, or elsewhere in the world where people are suffering poverty, even within America would be a positive thing. Oh and it would also be nice if the US quit invading other countries and trying to impose their will on every other nation. If America could do some of this I'm sure they would appear a much better country in the eyes of other countries. You don't make friends by starting wars, especially when none of your current friends go to war with you.
Sorry about the length of the post. I'm also sorry about being as sarcastic as I was at times, I hope no one is offended and if I have any of my facts wrong please do point it out. Otherwise I look forward to spirited rebuttals.
ok well I'm going to get bombed with disagreement :lol