I just have some "food for thought" in response to the article by Fred Kaplan regarding America's image abroad, (which was a worthwhile read). As an immigrant in Canada who has lived in numerous countries, I find that America needs to take a step back, and stop trying to force itself onto the plates and TV sets of other countries.

American culture - whatever you perceive that to be - is precisely that; American. American values have become another commodity to be exported, and ultimately that's what really gets under the skin of people abroad. Of course, at America's heart is "spreading capitalism" and really keeping the American economy going, at the expense of the rest of the world - which doesn't go unnoticed either.

The honest truth is, the United States, with it's tremendous resources over the years, has lodged its cultural, social, and economic foundations into the lives of most people on this planet, and that alone frustrates people, who feel their culture disappears under this Herculean force called "America". Believe it or not, but some people just want America to stay in America - and this realization is hard to digest for good ol' Uncle Sam.

Ultimately, improving America's image is an uphill battle that not too many are willing to fight - and who'd even want to? To improve America's image means raising the level of education to global standards, improving social welfare and healthcare, developing more diversified cultural environments, and making political decisions based on merit and common sense, rather than corporate agendas - and that my dear Americans is something no one in your beloved country has the guts to do - that's the de facto scenario; also known as reality.

As the French say - C'est La Vie.

Growing up, I personally enjoyed the A-Team. And Knight Rider. I like listening to Guns n Roses or Nirvana. More recently, I've enjoyed The Sopranos and The Simpsons. Not to mention a great number of Hollywood movies and American novels.

I don't want to have to go to America to get all that stuff. Unlike you, I'd have to fly thousands of miles to get there, for a start.

Have you looked at our balance of payments over the last several DECADES???

We're not "forcing" our culture on the rest of the world! They're selling us everything they have and then taking the money and INVESTING HERE! They're investing in our stock markets, buying our companies, buying our land, buying our Treasury Bonds and anything else they can get a handle on! They even take our stupid movies!

Our economy would have long collapsed under this huge dollar drain if the citizens of foreign lands were not coming back and INVESTING in America!

Now even those who don't have money are sneaking over our borders BY THE MILLIONS!

We're not "forcing" ourselves on the rest of the world; y'all are grabbing our culture with both hands... and if you can't get it fast enough, you come here to buy it or steal it!

We even elected a president (Bush in 2000) largely because he ran AGAINST "nation building" and promised to focus on domestic issues (i.e. NOT Palestine/Israel, NOT Kosovo, NOT Korea, etc. as Clinton had during the previous administration.)

If we APPEAR now to be "forcing" democracy and open markets upon the 3rd world, be assured it is because we want you guys to be HAPPY OVER THERE! We are very, very (may I say, "DAMN") tired of having you abandon your own countries and running over here to get "justice" and "freedom" and everything else in our culture!

Big suggestion: STAY HOME AND FIX YOUR OWN COUNTRIES and let us live in peace WITHOUT ridiculously high illegal immigration and foreigners trying to buy up our country! YOU go fix Darfur... YOU go fix Thiland... YOU go end racial bias and AIDS in Africa... YOU go rebuild the Middle East after decades of rule by tyrants and religious radicals. Please! Don't let us "force" ourselves upon you one more time!

Slaterbait, I had hoped your insight would have been more profound given your username.

The rawest, truest source of power of a people is its military. A people exist or do not as a nation, country, or entity based on their military. Militaries are the first to make contact between people. They pave the way for diplomacy, business trade, social relations, cultural exchange, etc. This is how mankind has lived. Only in the past 60 years have nations been formed without militaries, yet they are unofficially under the military protection of greater military powers (eg. Costa Rica).

This realpolitikal axiom being true, then today's global economy which Slaterbait portrays as centered around America should be examined retroactively to see how, why, and when did so many nations place so much of their nation's surplus wealth in American investments.

And very likely, the best way to ascertain the hows, whys, and whens would be to examine the military relations between America and the rest of the world.

Take Japan for example. It is fairly obvious that prior to WWII, Japan was entirely self sufficient and invested its wealth into its own economy, which gave life to its imperial sprawl. Indeed, as Japan's investments enabled developments in energy industries (oil refineries) manufacturing plants, etc. Japan developed a national thirst for more energy, more resources, more economic opportunities to feed its growth (sounds a lot like America today).

After WWII, America occupied Japan and invested 100s of millions into rebuilding Japan's capital infrastructure. America also forced into Japan''s constitution that America would be responsible for and control Japan's national interests beyond its borders. Thus Japan was guided to focus solely on internal economic development.

Key observation, the capitalist economic model appears to force a bulging economic power to engage in "imperial" expansion beyond its borders to maintain, sustain its rate of growth.

Forced on Japan....I like that, but it's wrong. If, as you say, we forced this upon Japan...then why hasn't that portion of it's constitution changed? To imply we forced anything upon them would mean that they didn't want it and were on course to change it as soon as we got our hands out of the mix. It would seem that Japan has fared quite well from what we "forced" upon them.

Your point about Japan misses a

It sounds as if you are advocating a return to an almost medieval economy and pure isolationism to promote world peace. According to your post on Japan, when they modernized their economy, it turned them into imperialist monsters. After being beaten in World War II, what happened? They were "forced" to accept millions and millions in economic aid, which "forced" them to rebuild their economy even bigger. How does this make any sense at all?

And, does the mere presence of American pop culture mean others are "forced" to accept it? You may hate the fact that people in other countries like things that come from the US, but don't insult them and us, and say they were "forced" to accept it.

There is a very serious error in your view, encapsulated by the phrases "stop trying to force itself", and "keeping the American economy going, at the expense of the rest of the world".

To the extent that American goods, services and ideas are present outside of America, they are present because people _wanted them_, because they judged that such things would enhance their lives. There is no force involved, and by the very nature of it, there is no such thing as keeping an economy going "at the expense of the rest of the world." A free market economy is based on trade, on exchanging values by mutual consent to mutual advantage. For that reason, keeping any such economy going is to the _benefit_ not the expense, of the rest of the world.

To the extent that people outside America really are "frustrated" by America, or feel that their culture is being overwhelmed, they are basically taking offense at other people's success in life. That is not a proper attitude for any healthy human being. That same unhealthy attitude is everywhere inside America too - it is part and parcel of leftist ideology and of religion - allegedly (but not actually) the only two alternatives.

America should not attempt to be more like the rest of the world, because most the rest of the world has accepted that false alternative to a far greater degree than America has. What America should do is _abandon_ that alternative entirely and rediscover the real alternative: the secular, Enlightenment philosophy upon which it was founded.

That philosophy was either never adopted outside America, or was discarded long ago - to the great detriment of human life wherever that happened.

MP

So the rest of the world is just jealous of America's success. And Japan was not actually defeated and occupied, it invited America to run its country.

I think folks here are so insulated from reality, and have been drinking the Kool Aid for so long that they cannot tell that Emperor Bush is naked with blood on his hands.

Khalaas. Farewell in you matrix.