Some say China would come to dominate the world if the US were to dismantle its empire. That may be a valid point. I suspect some of us might over-generalize in that we focus on these issues as if the US were uniquely bad in terms of the exercise of power, compared to other empires throughout history.
Perhaps where the political left and right could find more agreement is in opposing war profiteering whereby wars are started, and prolonged so as to make more money from it. Those saying that has occurred with Operation Iraqi Freedom make a credible case, regarding Blackwater, or whatever they’ve changed their name to lately.
But my guess is that not all wars can or should be avoided, though it’d be a pleasant and miraculous surprise if that were the case.
I don’t expect China to somehow be a more benevolent super-power. But I think ordinary citizens (and even non-citizens) in the US should concern ourselves with US foreign policy as much as we might concern ourselves with domestic issues.
And I’d suggest that US power would be exercised more wisely, if our nation were to genuinely support democracy, instead of giving it lip-service while funding and arming dictators and oligarchs that repress their people.
Such tyrants, no thanks to the US, enrich themselves and a select few elites, while catering to the interests of transnational corporations from North America and Western Europe.
As for China and India, their governments and corporations from those countries have been getting into the imperialist game of supporting ruling elites in poor countries that cater to businesses by repressing their people, for example killing trade unionists or peasants fighting for their land in Latin America.
Sometimes lacking nuanced thinking, some of us on the political left might get it wrong by acting as if the US were the only country that abuses power. Similarly, some folk on the political right mistakenly act as if the US were a nation that exercises its power with exceptional benevolence.
In the US, those of us who are ordinary folk, and not elites, still benefit from our nation having access to resources rendered by way of military might. That’s the case whether one calls oneself a liberal, a conservative, an anarchist or whatever.
But a case can be made that the US is entering a stage in which our degree of militarism is nationally self-defeating. Even if one is indifferent about the death and suffering of tens, or maybe hundreds of thousands of people at the receiving end of US military might, one might be concerned about how the costs of these wars affect our ability to maintain the physical, intellectual, and social infrastructure upon which our quality of life depends.
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