Letter: America: 'Beware of foreign entanglements'

Dear Editor:

I believe it is necessary to recognize that the American people have been duped for at least 100 years into believing we as a nation are responsible for bringing about peace, tranquility, prosperity and democracy to the entire world.

We began to pay income tax in order to pay for our involvement in World War I. By the time the debt was paid, our government had assumed other obligations such as foreign aid, a huge military budget, social programs and a series of other wars that never seem to end.

The American people have literally carried most of the world on their backs for 100 years. This is an unprecedented phenomenon because for most of those 100 years, our nation was the world’s greatest military power.

For 5,000 years of recorded history, the victor of every war took the spoils. We seem to have stood this idea on its head. Not only have we not availed ourselves of the spoils of war, we have found it necessary to aid our former enemies and rebuild their war-torn countries. We have also forgiven the debts of war materials accrued by our allies during war.

It is often when our meddling in the affairs of other nations has had an undesirable effect. For all our good intentions, we must accept responsibility when we do more harm than good. It seems to me, we as well as the world at large, would have been better off had we heeded George Washington’s advice: “Beware of foreign entanglements.”

The American people have established a reputation around the world as honorable, generous, industrious, innovative and forgiving. Behind our back, I believe we are also characterized as arrogant, naïve and silly. I would argue that allowing our government to take a good share of the rewards of our toil and spew it all over the world earns us the additional designation of “dumb.”

Bill Payne, Libby