This is post #4 in a series called “Dark Clouds In Our Future”

It seems sometimes as if almost every country on the planet, including those that are supposedly allies, are out to see the US destroyed. People cheer anything that seems like it could be a blow to the United States. There are even growing numbers on groups within the United States that seem to hate our way of life and want us to collapse.

Ever wondered why that is?

I have heard some of the, in my opinion, overly simplistic and outright incorrect answers given to us by the mainstream. Here are a few I have heard -

• They hate us for our freedom.
• They are jealous of what we have.
• They just don’t understand us.
• They are backwards.

There are others as well, but they typically seem to fall into one of those four categories for the most part.

Are these true? Do people around the world really hate us because “they are backwards” or “they are jealous?” Or could it be that there are some legitimate reasons why many of the people around the world have a problem with us?

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Now, I should stop here and say that there are some cases where the above statements are true. Those who would choose to kill or destroy us in the name of their religion are certainly backwards and misguided. There may also be those who are truly jealous of America (although this doesn’t really seem to be the case). And I don’t think anyone actually hates us for our freedom. They may want to take it away, but it is not because they hate us for it. They just simply hate.
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Then Why?

So then, if, for the most part, the people who hate or just generally dislike the US don’t fit into the main categories above, then why? Well, the reality is a little more complicated than we typically hear on the news, but I think it can can narrowed down to one sentence -

Simply put – we have, in many ways, lost our virtue.

Let me say that again – We, as a people and in many ways, have lost our virtue. What do I mean by that exactly? Let me break it down into three categories (although there are more) -

Greed

How is it that we became the largest creditor nation in the world (in other words, everybody owed us money), to the largest debtor nation in the world and of all time? Half of the answer is greed.

Let me ask you this – we all know the economy tanked in 2008, but do you know why? Most people that I talk to don’t. While there were numerous factors, the largest one was this – our banking system, in a convenient partnership with our government, gave out loans to people who they knew could not afford them, mostly home loans, playing on their desire to own their own home (which is not a bad thing).

But, that’s not the worst part. While doing that, they also essentially “bet” against those of you who took out a loan, expecting up front that you wouldn’t be able to pay it. They succumbed to such a level of greed that has never been seen. And what happened – when their little scheme came to an end and it all failed, our government gave them your tax money to pay off their debts on the bad loans. They still foreclosed on everyone’s homes, and got their paychecks.

How did this happen? We live in a society now where greed has become a god and a virtue. It’s all around us – in our music, in our schools, in our businesses, in the halls of our governments.

Here’s the worst part and why this affects how the world sees us. It’s been said that when America sneezes, the rest of the world gets a cold. While many have suffered dearly here due to what has happened, others in the world, who are dependent on the US as we buy many of their exports, were left starving and homeless.It crippled the entire world financial market when we crashed. And it never had to happen.

That being said, from an outside perspective, why would anyone still look up to America?

(And don’t even get me started again on how we are devaluing the dollar! Read more about that here.)

Dependence

(This one is going to get me in trouble with some of my more progressive friends.) There was a time when self-reliance and independence was a virtue of a majority of Americans.

Now, more than 50% of Americans are on some type of government assistance.

What happened to bootstrapping? What happened to finding a way? What happened to individuals, families, and churches helping one another?

When there was a problem, people in the US used to say, “We need to do something about this.” Now, in general, people are more likely to say, “Someone needs to do something about this.” This is a fundamental shift in our thinking reflected by the number of people on the take from the government.

Often during the day, I hear commercials for “free camera phones” and “get a cell phone for $1.49/month!” These are government programs. Why is it that I am paying for a camera phone for someone else? That’s just one simple example.

I understand that we can’t simply rip out our safety net from people who need help and I know that there are people who genuinely need assistance. I am not saying that we should shut down all of these programs tomorrow. I am saying we need to get back to looking within ourselves first and looking around us to see who we can help.

How does this relate to why the world feels differently about us? Because this particular virtue is what, in many ways, made us unique and set us apart from the rest of the world. People could come here and have their freedom and get their own start. Now the tax and regulation burden is so high that many Americans are instead leaving and going elsewhere to start or maintain their businesses.

Violence

(This is the one where I may anger my conservative friends.) We have the largest, strongest military the world has ever seen. I can’t imagine anyone disputing that. And I would agree with those who say that the best offense is a good defense.

However, we aren’t just playing defense anymore. We are on the offensive all over the world.

I have the utmost respect for our troops. In every way. What an awful position they are in – fighting all over the world, many of them going on multiple tours.

The people I do not have respect for are the ones sending them there – our politicians. Unfortunately, we voted for them. In fact, many of you voted for Obama because you believed he would change this. That hasn’t exactly worked out.

Let me ask you a few questions -

• Why are we in Afghanistan still?
• Why do we have troops still in Iraq and people on the ground in Libya and Syria?
• Why do we always end up involved militarily in every single conflict around the world (except the one happening on our own borders)?
• Do you believe the world is a better place now because of the last 11 years of perpetual war?
• Do you believe that we have “won the hearts and minds” and/or “liberated” the people in these places?

Having talked to friends from around the world, very few people see us as “liberators.” They see us more like an empire for all the fighting that we do around the planet. Ron Paul often tries to make this point, and m Republican friends often boo him for it, but he is mostly right – rather than winning hearts and minds, we have lost most of them.

Simply put – we cannot continue to meddle in everyone’s lives around the world and expect them to love us for it. Would you? I won’t even belabor the debate as to whether we should be in these wars or not – just consider the fact that if we have troops on the ground in a foreign country, most of the time, good or bad, right or wrong, we will be considered invaders and not liberators.

This post has already gone longer than I wanted, so I will stop here and continue in the next post on this same subject, including some more evidence to back up all my above claims. But I want to hear your thoughts, your objections, your questions. Hit me up in the comments or via email.

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