• PugJesus@lemmy.worldOP
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    3 months ago

    I say the USA needs to have a proper go at an empire.

    Please no. As Teddy Roosevelt once noted, we lack the interest in it. Let’s just not.

    • nBodyProblem@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Hard to argue we don’t have the appetite after spending our first 150 years conquering territory roughly double the size of the Roman Empire at its peak

      • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOP
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        3 months ago

        That was more ethnic cleansing than traditional imperialism. Not that I disagree that describing it as imperialism is valid, but it’s not what TR was talking about. The point was that Americans lack serious interest in foreign affairs or a desire for distant prestige projects. Our every overseas acquisition, temporary or permanent, has been marked by a noted uncertainty of what to actually do with any of it. Not that that makes any of the folk getting crushed happier, but it does reflect a lack of interest in the whole topic.

        • nBodyProblem@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Perhaps we just need to generate a little excitement.

          Gladiators worked nicely for the Romans, maybe we could generate similar hype with a reality show to choose the governor of each new province. I think “Love Island, Argentinian Governor Edition” would be a real hit.