I am sure most of you know that we as a country and a people are not thought of very highly by the rest of the world’s citizens. “Hate” may be a strong word in SOME cases but definitely not all. Our government tells us that other countries are mad at our way of life, and in SOME cases this is true, but not all.
There is not any one reason why we are looked at the way we are. Like everything else in life a combination of things, big and small come together to form opinions.
During my time in our military I qualified for particular jobs and schooling that allowed me to travel the world a little more than the average soldier my pay grade. I will not get into all the specifics of my occupation here. I will do what I can to write these things here as I see them now and I have seen them during my times in other countries.
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I think the most important step here is not to let our media and our government, confuse us about the difference between a country and a country’s people.
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When our media flashes professors and film clips telling us that the people of another country can’t understand why were hurting them, because they don’t have anything against us as a people, they are absolutely right. When our government tell us that another country is against and is at war with our way of life and basic beliefs……..THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. Most people don’t take the time to learn the differences in definitions here. Because most stories are equally true, both sides are able to find ample “proof” and “evidence” to support there desires. Our media always wins because our media always gets the last word. If you ask enough people the same question eventually you’ll get the answer your looking for.
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“A country” when discussed here is defined by as the ruling body of the country.
I will make every attempt to use “a country’s people” when talking about opinions of the masses. Even my headline here can be misleading.
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On the average the people of the world believe that we are a powerful, loud arrogant group of people who are in ways “spoiled” like children. We insist on having our own way and will throw a tantrum if we don’t get it. We are dangerous, and in general a scary group of individuals. The governments of other countries feel in generally the same way about our government, and therefore our country.
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I could and most likely will write A LOT concerning our own propaganda campaigns, but for now let’s just say that we sold ourselves hard on the lie.
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I was once told that there are two ways to meet a United States Soldier. In a bar yelling at a girl from your country or giving you first aid after shooting you. I told this story to a fellow soldier once and he said he would only give first-aid if there was a news camera there.
If I were able to write in a dramatic pause here I would.
Our soldiers are trained to kill and die. All the education in whatever field you’re in is only to support one of those two goals. Soldiers in their hearts know this. It’s not something we tell our parents or family members. We don’t even admit it to ourselves most times. We hide it under layer and layer of a persona that can not die. Our military helps us to build this persona with weeks of training and then years of “brainwashing”. (yeah I said brainwashing) It’s called confidence and if taken in too large of a dose it can have a side effect similar to steroids.
Most of our people only have knowledge of other countries from popular media, or by whatever slant our government is currently projecting. Please remember that other countries people can only form there opinions of us by their popular media and whatever slants their government is projecting us as. America however also has our soldiers all over the world representing us, our culture, and our beliefs. Do you think that a person who is not allowed to define his own enemy, a person who is at their heart afraid to embrace a culture that he believes he may be ordered to destroy is a good representative of the “people” of our country? Are they a good representative of you?
How would you act to a people you "have to" kill? I say "have to" because not doing so when ordered to is called "treason". Not doing so can and likely will cause your friend next to you to die. He is thinking the same about you and that is the only reason he is killing. These are questions you don’t like to ask yourself. BTW many of these soldiers did not have another option so take whatever hypothetical “I would not allow myself to be in that situation.” scenario you are telling yourself and try to suppress it long enough to get to the truth. Take everything else out of your mind and put yourself defending your "family". It does not matter that the person across the road does not “want” to kill you. What matters is that he is trying to. Once you pass over words like “terror”, “shame”, and “duty”, I think "emotionally distant" from the "enemy" could be considered an accurate description of how you would feel. What lies would you tell yourself and, what would you come to believe in order to get though each day? What kind of person would you become? Would that person be a good representative of us as a country?
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Stick with me I am getting to the point
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This is a case where we as a people are being judged because of the “views” of our government, as well as the image our government wants and needs to portray. It is the job of our government to protect us and “keep” us strong. This is not only done by maintaining a strong “confident” military but portraying an incredibly strong image to the world. In every playground in the world there is a person who at one level or another understands the need to maintain a strong image so that they can keep getting that lunch money. Most of us know that if we “stand-up” to the bully he will back down. The ones you fear the most from your childhood are the ones that beat you down for trying. A bully can get YEARS of respect from one good playground thrashing. Unfortunately, that is the system our government is trapped in. “We the people” feel that we are past that and that we have somehow evolved beyond it, and I like to think that in our hearts we have. Unfortunately we are not alone in the playground. The world hates and fears us because our government needs them too. We need them to fear us on some level. The fear alone is enough to stop the fight.
Other countries hate us because we need them too. The illusion of our strength is the only thing that keeps us ahead in the game. When the bully shows weakness another bully steps up to take his place. Peace though peaceful means is not an option. I wish it were but its not. We are caught in a runaway lie that we can not admit to, and their hate and fear has gotten us this far.
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More speculation follows
Fear will always stop us. The definition of peace and peacefulness involve the right to believe what someone wants to, in a way that someone wants to. As long as any two belief systems differ in that definition, peace can not be achieved. The two politically and militarily strong belief systems on our planet have advocated the killing of others in the name of “conversion”.
