what is isolationism?

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But when the question was asked to this known republican, he stated that america is not about isolationism from the rest of the world. And gave examples in today's world.
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"Isolationism" is a buzzword created to tailorfit the agenda by an identifiable group of people - going back to before WW1 - to steer us into one big global village.

The word did not exist in common use prior to it's political injection. And it could theoretically be applied to just about anything.

"Ted didn't like the idea of giving up control of his household and sharing responsibility and tasks with all the other households in his neighborhood; who he let into his house, how he dealt with dangerous stray dogs, burglars and other safety issues, yard work, household repairs, utility bills, food etc. But his wife called him an isolationist - and so coerced - he capitulated and joined the other households in their commune order."

Of course, "republican" means little in the current political status quo - because to buck the agenda, is to be partisan. One must be "in the middle", the "center" is where is at. Where change can roll forward. Continually in the same direction. Towards the Global Village, and "world peace". ;)

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http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org
 
After reading through all the post I get the feeling that many people now understand America really is the greatest determent for peace in the world. Sounds like some people have done their research by reading Noam Chomsky. Do to our meddling we have caused more pain and suffering in the last 100 years in the world than most other countries have in centuries. Since we started WWII, we should be paying Germany and Japan for the millions of the solider and civilians we killed in WWII. Wow, I guess it would be best for the world if we just minded our own business, built a wall around this country and kicked all the foreginers out. We should not have any contact to the outside of the wall since me might start another war. The UN should play world cop not us.
 
The Real Hawkey
"Interestingly, 90% or more of the people in the world do not want one world government. It is something an elite cabal has been working for since before the turn of last the last century, but it is far from inevitable when so few actually want it."

Most people want to be in peace. And most have no control over their governments.
Most people just want to eat and breed, and could care less what happens down the street till it affects them.

Derby FALs
asked, "John?"

Well ,yes. Revelation of John 19:11-21

I think it will get much worse before it gets better. I don't think the US will have much part in it, a bit player at best.
Though I love this Country, it has only been around a short time. The game has been going on longer. In the long run I don't think it will be a major player, But that is yet to be seen.
 
How do you figure? It is mobilization for great wars that made our central government so centralized and powerful. Oppression of the people requires centralization and a huge power grab. Decentralized, as we were prior to WWI, oppression was much less likely.
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US government consolidation and centralization would have been forced on
us later by whoever came out on top of Eurasia in the first 1/2 of the 20th
century. The potential for our confrontation with Eurasia would have led
to it. This was a process already well underway after our Civil War and not
forced by Wilson and the circumstances of WWI.

Recall that it took Stalin only 15 years to really put the Soviet Union under
a central totalitarian iron fist. He was certainly far far worse than the Tsar
he replaced. Stalin was able to do what he did with an infrastructure that
was comparable to what the US had 50 years earlier and covering more land.
For all intent and purpose, the early USSR was isolationist.

The US had it own monopolists/collectivists (depending on one's pseudo
right/left political orientation) in the 19th century and Europe already had
theirs before the US was even independent.

Again, this is not to say that I wouldn't have still wanted a relatively closed
national system for us, but this would have been corrupted from pressures
both within and outside it. Japan's pre-industrial period of internal peace
might have been a good example of effective isolationism, but their society
is far different than ours to begin with.....it was also very stratified and large
segments had very little freedom.
 
Ha ha! You think there's somebody in charge? Things just happen, man. That's sociology. You can study it, but you can't change it. I like the guy who said the industrial revolution was a mistake. A mistake made by whom? There're 12 billion hands on the steering wheel.
 
At one time we could remain isolated, In this modern world that as become impossible. The world has become too interdependant economically.
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In my opinion this sums it up. With the modern media, transportation etc, we are unable to get involved in foreign politics, it is necessary to protect our way of life and our interests.
 
Recall that it took Stalin only 15 years to really put the Soviet Union under a central totalitarian iron fist. He was certainly far far worse than the Tsar he replaced.
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Please! The Russians were a people totally accustomed to being ruled with an iron fist for thousands of years. It was not that great a transition for them to go from being ruled by Tzars to being ruled by Lenin or Stalin. Naturally this transition went smoothly for them. Slaves have always been able to smoothly transition from one master to another.
 
RH, you're missing the point that it's quite easy to put in a genocidal machine.
Stalin had at least 20 million people killed under his reign of state terror. Tsar
Nicolas II looked like a saint by comparison.
 
Getting back to isolationism, I would contend that isolationism means many different things to many different people. It can mean total economic and military isolation. It can mean one or the other, and it can mean a set of circumstances under which you involve yourself, but in most instances you stand alone.

Personally, I prefer armed neutrality. And controlled trade under the principle that we must be able to trade to you on equal footing (i.e. subsidized Chinese goods are not free trade). In other words, equalized tariffs. Anything less than this will lead to either economic or military disaster.
 
Since we started WWII, we should be paying Germany and Japan for the millions of the solider and civilians we killed in WWII
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While I think your post was intended to be highly sarcastic, we sort of did pay Germany and Japan.

After defeating them, we worked so hard to rebuild each into an economic juggernaut. Both have GDP's ranked in the top 20 in the world and have solidified their place in world trade.

It is a habit the United States has shown throughout it's history. While we have completely wiped away some countries, we invest a ton of money into making sure their economy flourishes as that country rebuilds.
 
While we have completely wiped away some countries, we invest a ton of money into making sure their economy flourishes as that country rebuilds.
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Which countries have we completely wiped away? Wasn't it just a week or
so ago that dubya stopped in Vietnam for a few hours.....
 
Apache, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chinook, Chippewa, Comanche, Crow. Haven't even gotten past the Cs yet.
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When you get down to the M's Mashantucket Pequot give me a shout.
 
..that is something every tribe of man around the world is guilty of...trying to wipe out another tribe somewhere....so stay out of glass houses, tipis, hogans or wickiups...
 
Isolationism is akin to "good fences make good neighbors." This doesn't
mean we don't trade or take care of growing problems that could actually
affect us. However, what has happened is that we don't stay in our
yard, don't keep our fence mended, go into other peoples' yard all the
way over on the other side of town and "tell 'em how it's gonna be from
now on", etc. etc. Of course, this comes from our new job in Globotown
where we are one of the globocops. We use to be globo-farmer/educator/
inventor/etc. Under our burden of national debt and negative consumer
savings, we are also now globo-debtor. In such a position we can't be
isolationist because we are no longer independent.
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Great post. (alot of them are good here)
Reading this thread I guess Iam not alone in the confusion of terms. We could not be economic protectionists If we tried. Our "free" market is to big and that just fine with me. But a country's economics and its military intervention need not follow the same path. Given the military intervention in the last 60 years, I know longer think it does us any real good. Our markets will work, better in fact.

pcosmar you write like that Republican spoke, in my first post. After the knee jerks, I'm still looking for better anwsers. And right now even the current GOP seem empty.

I maybe too damn simplistic. (but then I think most of the complex only benefits the Govt....by design) noone has really given me a better anwser than Armed neutrality and free markets. I'm totally open to new ideas.....
 
But a country's economics and its military intervention need not follow the same path. Given the military intervention in the last 60 years, I know longer think it does us any real good. Our markets will work, better in fact.
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Hayek would agree with you that a real free market with free individuals
working in it would be the optimal way to go. Our problem is (not just
the US, but world) that economics and military intervention go and have
gone hand in hand for a long time. This becomes worse when central
planners are involved who serve limited interests but convince themselves
they're doing it for the good of the whole.
 
Apache, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chinook, Chippewa, Comanche, Crow. Haven't even gotten past the Cs yet.
Click to expand...

When you get down to the M's Mashantucket Pequot give me a shout.
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I would consider this ethnic cleansing and not nation-state destruction in
the Western sense. BTW, I have a drop or two of native American blood
floating around in my veins as well.....ironic given that my Scots-Irish
ancestors were the ones who practically led the migration and settlement
of this country. It should be no wonder that I'm locked in life and death
with this land.
 
Wonderful!

This thread is exactly the reason I frequent THR!

Not much of the history lessons I had in HS in the 1980's touched on many (if any) of the aspects presented here concerning American history!

Through the years, I have been introduced to many of these "reasons", but have never formed a personal "belief" as to the true history of the United States.

I relish reading well thought-out and debated historical facts and reasonings.

History has shaped our globe since the beginning of time. It's always been "the winner's" history that has become fact. As literacy has increased, so has the different versions of history.

It is this sort of thread that introduces so many different reasons for our entrance into WWI and WWII and the consequences of each subsequent descision that makes history so fascinating.

Was the US intervention more relevant in WWI or in WWII, or were they intertwined? Did US policy change due to any particular skirmish, or was it formed over the years? I feel that the US has been at war or at least has been "picking sides", thus leading to wars later on, since independence.

One thing leads to another. When should we intervene? When should we impose force? When should we use economics/embargoes? When should we ignore?

Those much more learned than I, please continue to contribute!
 
Isolationism works only so long as other countries don't change their flag from this:

Hinomaru_364x254.gif


To this:

navy_army_ww2_flag.gif


Right-thinking men and women cannot allow countries to grow through practices like the Rape of Nanking and the Bataan Death March:

http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/ChinaHistory/rape.html

http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~ehimchak/death_march.html

Why do so many Americans believe that racism is only evil when perpetuated by Americans? Imperialist Germany and Japan were EVIL!!!!! Plain and simple. Japan created its own defeat and dragged the U.S.A. into a world-wide arena.

Anyone who thinks the USA should not have embargoed and later dropped two Atomic bombs on Japan is seriously undereducated or just plain old rooting for the wrong side.
 
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