When did the people of the USA become convinced of their right to tell the rest of the World what is right?

Question

Was there a particular point in history when the USA decided that the welfare of its citizens was paramount to, and of more importance than, the welfare of the other peoples of this Earth? Please give details if possible as it's an anthropologically puzzling issue and I'd be interested to know it's origins.

and how amny people have been tortured by tyrants who have been put in place and supported by the USA? Saddam included!

JoshD,
General Pinochet was probably the most infamous of the tyrants who were either assisted into power or supported in their regime by the USA in the last 40 years. There are many more but you can google for them, I'm not going to tell you everything, some things you must find out for yourself. By the way , Indian people who follow a Guru called Amma donated $m1 to the Hurricane Katrina rescue fund while your own 'first on the scene' Government sat on it's hands. The rest of the World looked on in horror and shame as your President continued his vacation in the face of one of the worst disasters ever to hit modern American society.

Answer 1

The US did not put Saddam into power. It helped him in his war against Iran, because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Other than that, the US does not tell people what to do unless:

1. Those people are a threat to our national interest
2. Those people want our money

If either of those two scenarios exist, we have a right to either protect ourselves or decide where our money goes.

As for the welfare of its citizens being paramount, THAT IS WHAT ALL GOVERNMENTS DO! Russia protects its people (or should). England protects its people. Canada takes care of its own. Governments are charged with protecting their citizens. You need an 18 year old girl to tell you that?

America protects its citizens, number 1. Then it helps its friends, number 2. And in case you haven't noticed, like during the tsunami, it sent loads of aid to countries which hate us. Go figure. Who else does? So number 3, sometimes the US aids the citizens of its enemies.


Added 11/30 - Some of you people are big into revisionism. For instance, IamCount says the US began its imperialism with the Spanish-American War and it continues. Wrong!

The US's imperialism began and ended with the Spanish-American War. Remember World War I? The US was involved in that. There were over 116,000 military deaths, 53,000 combat related. That is involved. What territory did the US claim as victor? Just some land to bury their dead.

Remember World War II? Over 400,000 dead, over 291,000 of those were combat related. The US's imperial designs there? Yeah, that's right, more space to bury the dead. Shortly after that, the Philippines became independent. Remember, this was the US's main imperial takeover in the Spanish-American War. The US gave them their independence. Is that an act of an imperialist? I think not.

So if you are going to throw around statements like imperialism, make sure you get your facts straight. Because the facts are that in the 20th Century, the imperialists were the Soviets (Eastern Europe, for example), China (Nepal or Tibet, anyone?), Germany (WWI & II), Iraq (Kuwait and Iran), and a few others. The US has had no imperial designs. Facts are facts.

And it is funny, the coward who asked this question will choose one of the lame answers he agrees with as the best, without even replying to the well thought out answers which disagree with his premise. He won't even deal with the fact that governments are charged with their own citizens' well-being before the well-being of others. Why? It doesn't suit his argument. His problem is America does it so well. All nations do it. North Korea doesn't protect all its citizens, just a chosen few. But it sure doesn't give any thought to citizens in other countries.

I dealt with every question and point he posed. Will he be able to refute it? No. So he must ignore it.



Added 11/30 - Still ducking Meta. Cowardice suits some people. You insinuate some strange things in your addition. You speak of Katrina donations to the US. So much more has gone the other way, it staggers the imagination.

Where to begin. How about the billions after World War I given by the US to Europe, when billions was real money? How about the sacrifices made by the US during World War II, which was closely followed up by the Marshall Plan. That was money given without strings. And don't forget the Berlin Airlift. Pilots died giving food to starving Berliners. Again, no strings attached.

Then there were all of the earthquakes, floods, typhoons, etc. No country has given away a larger percentage of their GDP than the US. And since the US has the largest economy, it also means they have given away way more than anyone.

So keep spouting your anti-American garbage. Some day you might need help. America will help get you on your feet again so you can resume hating us once you have accepted our money without bothering to thank us.

But don't worry, you will get your just rewards, if not in this life, surely the next.

Answer 2

Wow.... all the junk that's been posted by supposed Christians and people who are either Atheists or other groups. I've been Mormon my whole life and the whole load of junk that people claim we believe, and the misinformation. I would suggest that you read the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. If you can't handle the Bible then it's possible that these might help clarify things or it might turn you off completely. Jack Mormons are people who don't really follow the beliefs or are inactive. It's more of an insult in the Mormon community than a complement. Mormons are Christians. We believe in Jesus Christ, despite all other Christians claiming that we don't. Mormons better than Christians. I don't believe that at all. I've meet some really good people of other Christian denominations. Some of them on here though treat the whole concept of Mormon like it's a dirty word and drag it through the mud as much as they can. We believe in the God of Abraham, Issac, Jacob. This is the God who covenanted with all these patriarchs of the Bible. Again we believe in Jesus Christ. We don't believe in the Trinity, we believe in a Godhead, that is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit or Ghost. They work together as one, as one in purpose. I don't expect Atheists to understand the Mormon/LDS faith. In fact, people like Desiree who are Atheists and of the worse case, can't stand Mormons and are pretty darn vile. But Atheists come in all stocks and stores. And not all are the same. If anything else, Mormons/LDS don't believe that Atheists are going to Hell. I have never been to South Africa so can't help in anything with a South African context.

Answer 3

Ok i don't think anthropology has anything to do with it. Ok the US didn't put Saddam into power we just helped him with Iran. The US took him out of power and made sure that he wouldn't rule again, yes we killed him. And when we find that other jackass Bin Laden I'm sure we will do the same. I do not know of any leader that the US has HELPED into power that tortures anyone. As far as when did we start to tell the world what is right. When we becam the world super power. Now i think that every country tries to tell the world what is right and what is wrong, not just the US. Russia has tried, England has tried and if you remember the Germans tried to once too. They tried to rule the world and create a master race. That stopped when the US, England and Russia kicked their sorry @$$ into the ground and told them what was right. We did the same to the Japanese too. They tried to tell the Chinese what was right by raping their women, and using the prisoners they took for bayonet practice. Those three counties to my knowledge has not tried to rule the world. Every country with the exception of a select few in Africa puts the welfare of its people before those of the world. Its how we operate. The US will protect its people then those of its allies like Canada, England, Germany, Russia, Australia, Israel and yes even those of France. And I'm sure we can count on three of those countries to help us out when we need it. Example 9-11 who was one of the first countries to send help to the US? Canada then England and Israel even offered and i believe sent some help to look for survivors. and when something horrible happens in the world who is one of the first to help? The US is. When the tsunami hit Indonesia the USMC and USN was the first to help with the relief. We didn't have to but we did. America isn't the only one who tells the world what to do. And we really to tell them what is right. We like the rest of those in the UN try and advise them on what is right. We along with the rest of the UN try to help those nations out that are ruled by tyrants. We do this by spending billions of dollars of American money on food, schools, training for militaries, farming and countless other things. We spend this money knowing that we will never see a dime of it in return. Sometimes our actions fail and sometimes they are a success. So quit dogging on the US, its not just us it is everybody else. So open your eyes and start paying attention to the rest of the world too. Do this because I'm not going to repeat myself to you again.

Answer 4

First of all, anthropology has nothing to do with it.
Americans DON'T think our welfare is more important than the rest of the world; IF we did, we would NOT support the U.N. AND almost the rest of the world. Who helps countries when they are hit by earthquakes? America. Who helps when people are starving? America. Who helps when a tyrant tortures people? America.
Get your facts straight.

Answer 5

I agree that it's always been like that-- from the time settlers tried to wipe out the native people. The US can spin anything into a moral issue. I could type for three days about this. I believe the government is motivated by greed. They will step on their own citizens for the sake of making money; never mind foreign countries. We need a positive change!

Answer 6

The US began its period of "imperialism" or "expansionism" with the Spanish-American War & more fully with Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet. So we are talking the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

Answer 7

How about the fact that we used to be close allies with Osama Bin Laden? We wanted to help him fight against the Russians in Afghanistan and when it was over we wanted to secretly tell him what to do.

Answer 8

I think it was after WWII...around the start of the Cold War that we started treating the world like stupid children.

Answer 9

Such hubris in these answers.

Answer 10

It's just always been that way!