People get upset about American hegemony.
Is the problem American hegemony?
Or American hegemony?
And honestly, yes I think that the US has done better than if Europe had been in charge, because any situation in which Europe had been in charge would have involved the perpetuation of colonialism.
Does the British record in Kenya or the French record in Algeria really give any reason to believe that European hegemony would have been any better than American hegemony? And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
My point is that you're excusing the horrors of US hegemony by comparing it to an imaginary continuation of European hegemony - though you could argue that, apart from the geographical centre being in Washington rather than London, Paris or Berlin, that the US hegemony was simply a continuation of the European one - it's been pretty much the same people in charge, after all.
The thing that I'm disagreeing with is the idea that if any other nation where in the position that the US is now that they would behave any differently.
Which means that the best way to deal with this isn't to make the specific case against the US, but the general case against the behavior in question.
You shut down the conversation with a lot of the people who can have an impact on that behavior by making this about American hegemony instead of American hegemony. It's counterproductive.
It's cliche but true. Hate the sin, not the sinner. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
Does the British record in Kenya or the French record in Algeria really give any reason to believe that European hegemony would have been any better than American hegemony?
Equally bad I would say. If a CIA backed army is willing to overthrow a democratically elected government, if it votes the wrong way. Then go round shooting and torturing people who might exercise their freedoms in the future, how is that better than colonialism? its really just colonialism with added misdirection. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
