Thursday, December 30, 2010

You know... being a superpower isn't all its cracked up to be.

Most nations end up hating you no matter what you do and eventually you go broke.

For example, when you pick sides in other nations' wars, one side instantly hates you. In time the other side will come to despise you too because you didn't help them in exactly the way/timeframe they wanted or they resent you because they are unable to help themselves.

It ain't a lot of fun and the rewards you get are endless involvement in faraway wars, disdain from foreign intellectuals who will see you as overpowered and heavy handed, attacks from religious fanatics who see you as corrupt and weak, and hostility from enemies and "allies" alike. Oh yeah... and mountains of un-repayable debt.

Hopefully you'll truly help people along the way. Doing thankless things like taking the lead in humanitarian disasters like the Haiti earthquake, fighting malaria and hunger in Africa, or funding massive medical efforts in third world countries to confront or eradicate chronic diseases. These are necessary endeavors only a superpower can effectively perform but they are also costly and you won't get any credit for them.

So good luck on your rise.
Enjoy it while you can.

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