Why Does the Rest of the World Hate America?

*Originally written January 5, 2006*

I just finished reading an article entitled, "U.S. faults Bolivia Anti-Drug Efforts," written by Associated Press reporter Jennifer Loven. Basically, the Shrub administration "sees disturbing trends in Bolivia's dealings with efforts to combat illicit drugs." The U.S. government annually issues a list of major drug-transit or drug-producing countries. This year, 20 nations made the list: Afghanistan (of course!), the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.

This disturbs me for several reasons. As any sane-thinking person knows, prohibition doesn't work. It didn't work in the 1920s with alcohol, and it isn't working now. Not with sex/abstinence. Not with underage drinking. Nothing. By forbidding these things "for your own good," the party in power virtually ensures that demand will increase. Any good sales person can tell you that taking something away from a customer is the best way to get a sale. People want what they can't have.

But, there's a part of this article that bothers me even more. White House press secretary Tony "Fair and Balanced" Snow reported that the U.S. government "will establish benchmarks by which to further judge Bolivia, such as eradicating minimum acreages, including in the Chapare region, making changes to Bolivian law and tightly controlling the legitimate sale of the coca leaf for traditional use."

Not only will the U.S. government tell the Bolivian government how to run its own country, the U.S. is going to do "an interim assessment" in six months to determine if Bolivia is following U.S. rules. So, we're going to tell them what to do, when to do it, and then we're going to check to make sure that they're doing it our way?

Hello, people? Is there anyone in Washington with a fucking brain? The rest of the world hates the United States. And, why? Because our government can't keep its fucking nose out of everyone else's business. Trey Parker and Matt Stone were right on target with "Team America: World Police." If you've never seen it, you should.

Don't get me wrong. I love living in a country where I am free to express my opinions. I love the fact that my opportunities are only limited by my imagination. And, I'm not complaining about the standard of living and technology, either. I have it pretty damn good. But, I do have serious issues with the powers our government assumes that it has.

Georgie, you do not have the right to control any other country except for the United States of America. Somehow, you managed to cheat your way into the White House (can you say nepotism? Look it up.) and half of the country was so stupid that they let you stay for another four years (this is a topic for another blog). The people of Colombia did not vote you into office. The people of Afghanistan did not vote you into office. And, over half of the people of your OWN country did not vote you into office. This world was a lot better off before you came along and ran it into the ground.

I can't wait for 2008.