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Post by soulflower on Oct 6, 2022 19:07:34 GMT -5
Just finished this book: The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empirewww.amazon.com/True-Flag-Theodore-Roosevelt-American/dp/1627792163At the turn of the 20th century when the US annexed Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and took control of the Philippines, there was a major debate about expansionism and imperialism. Teddy Roosevelt was one of the most outspoken boosters of American expansion. And before reading this book I had no idea that Mark Twain was very outspoken against imperialism. Many other intellectuals that I admire joined Twain in opposing imperialism, including Andrew Carnegie. The book explores how debates over America's role in the world and expansion have occurred throughout our nation's history. Ultimately, the downfall of the anti-Imperialist movement in the early 20th century was due to the inability of the Right and Left to set aside their differences on other issues in order to focus on the anti-imperialist cause. What concerns me most about today is the lack of debate about America's role in the world. What does it mean to be the "shining city on the hill"? What does "American exceptionalism" mean? I prefer the US be a good example of a healthy democracy so we can lead by our own good example. Others believe the US should proactive about promoting or protecting Democracy around the world.
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Post by zenwalk on Nov 6, 2022 16:39:49 GMT -5
Twains problem was the way we waged the Philippine American War, a little known blood fest after the Spanish Am War when we tried to spruce the place up with a gov similar to ours. It's hard to find any references this war. It's estimated we killed and tortured 200,000 Philipinos. We fought it like nazis. To add insult injury troops used to do this were left over from the initial 1898 force. They were left there for years, unpaid (wasn't considered a war deserving of funding). Years later they were dropped off on the West Coast here where they finished their lives living in the near by dunes. The VFW was formed helping these guys. Twain was appalled by this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine–American_War#Official_end_of_the_war
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Post by soulflower on Nov 8, 2022 11:14:27 GMT -5
Twains problem was the way we waged the Philippine American War, a little known blood fest after the Spanish Am War when we tried to spruce the place up with a gov similar to ours. It's hard to find any references this war. It's estimated we killed and tortured 200,000 Philipinos. We fought it like nazis. To add insult injury troops used to do this were left over from the initial 1898 force. They were left there for years, unpaid (wasn't considered a war deserving of funding). Years later they were dropped off on the West Coast here where they finished their lives living in the near by dunes. The VFW was formed helping these guys. Twain was appalled by this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine–American_War#Official_end_of_the_warTwain was very progressive for his time. He told it like it is. Interestingly, Teddy Roosevelt was less imperialistic as President. But he was followed by Woodrow Wilson who was very racist and imperialistic.
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