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It’s Somebody Else’s Turn – or, Pax America Bye-Bye

Amazing how every country in the world has had it’s Empire.

There’s Egypt, of course,
And Rome,
Turkey,
Britain,
France,
Spain,
Those Viking types,
The Greeks (remember them ?)
The Aztecs and Mayans and Incas,
India,
Germany (had a go!),
And no doubt Africa has had its’ conquerors
(Mali, Ghana, Songhai ?),
Japan’s been there,
Persia (Iran),
Crete,
The Arabs
(Whose Islam brought Optics, Music, Medicine, Chemistry, Mathematics, Astronomy
And a civilisation more tolerant even then than Christianity),
China
Russia

And now we’re in Pax America –

So tell me, America, will YOU be leaving behind culture and wisdom,
Or will it be just a string of burnt-out McDonalds in a concrete desert,
A remembrance of arrogance, meddling and indifference
And a world struggling to recover from your foreign affairs ?

Because it’s somebody else’s turn now, Uncle Sam,
And if you’re ever going to do the right thing
(Looking after the world instead of trying to destroy it)
Then you’d better get off your backside and start doing it now.

Every nation has its empire, the equivalent of fifteen minutes of fame.

2 Comments     0 Pings

By Damian Gray Sun Jul 28th 2013 at 8:27 am  

It’s not fair to assume America is the cause of all the world’s problems. Yes, we are the cause of a lot of them, but so is every major power on this Earth. Singling us out as racist, air-headed capitalists is not only untrue in its entirety, but also solves nothing. Instead of insulting America, why not offer solutions to the world’s problems? Not only is it fairer to us, but it’s also a lot more productive. But at least you understand most of us aren’t bad. Aside from that, great writing! 🙂

By Richard Macwilliam Sun Jul 28th 2013 at 10:22 am  

Hey Damian, good comment, though the racist / capitalists came from you, not me. 🙂 The solution? Whilst America holds power it has the most chance of creating solutions – this is my tiny bit of the solution, a mere breath trying to nudge it awake. But here in the UK we’re just as comatose.

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