I had the fortunate opportunity of attending a session at the Netroots Nation conference on "America's Role in the World after the Bush Presidency" with a specific focus on foreign policy. Prior to attending the session, I was familiar with the term, "Pax Americana," coined as a term referring to the United States' post-WWII military and economic position. A significant part of the world had looked to the United States as a nation filled with opportunity and prosperity.
Nevertheless, as the daughter of immigrants and as a U.S. born woman of color, I recognize that this country has fell short of living up to being Ground Zero for the American Dream. Racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and other fears emphasizing our differences with a negative undertone, continue to plague our country. As a country, we not only suffer from gluttony, as is evident with the rising rates of obesity (127 million adult Americans are overweight, 60 million are obese, according to the American Obesity Association), but we also suffer from a greed for and dependency on foreign oil. Rather than serve as a world leader for positive social change, we invest our resources, including our people, in serving as a world bully.
In prior blog postings, I've commented on the need to divert the funds our government uses in incarcerating our youth, specifically those of a particular socioeconomic status, when it really should be investing those funds to vamp up our education system, specifically in the math and sciences, and allowing other low-income youth and young people of color have a chance at a decent education, and for that matter, a chance at life.
This time, I want to look beyond the nation-state, and reconsider the role of the U.S. on the foreign scale: our dependency on foreign oil, as indicated earlier, as well as our continued presence in a country that does not get to the core of addressing terrorism.
Yes, the 44th U.S. President will not only have to deal with terrorism abroad, but also the terrorism taking place within our country. But, where does he begin?