By Lon Zimmerman, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa
A recent editorial rant in the Advocate trumpeted the failures of "Imperialism" throughout world history. The article warned of the impending (possibly) doom of the U.S. if we attempt to intervene in the countries on the globe which promote and invoke destructive practices which are exported to our republic (we are not a "democracy", by the way). Virtually each and every one of the "imperialist" nations named in the piece still exist today and are no longer regarded as such (i.e. Russia, Great Britain, Germany, and Japan). And each of those named countries are recognized as "world powers" still.
If impending disaster relating to continuing existence as a representative republic is of concern, one might want to examine our internal stability first. What is the future of a nation which not only tolerates foreign invasion, but purposely promotes and invites it? What are the ramifications of having a "national language", and ignoring the need to insist that immigrants learn it and are functional in its usage in order to attain citizenship status? We have prided ourselves on being a "melting pot" where persons regardless of their country of origin, can become citizens of the U.S., and adhere to our American customs, laws, and culture. Yet, today we see our nation becoming ever more fractionated by large groups of immigrants who settle into densely populated enclaves which adhere to their society of origin's principles with little regard for our laws and customs. Some of these folks fly flags of allegiance to their native lands while desecrating the flag of the country to which they have moved-even though they moved to escape their places of birth because of the horrible conditions encountered there!
We have about half of our population who will lock their doors to protect themselves and their properties from invaders-but then promote open borders to our entire country. They'll welcome "all comers" including criminals of all persuasions-and then fight against the law enforcement entities who try to make the crooks obey the laws the officers have sworn to uphold. Our country won't die due to its "imperialism" -but it may well cease to exist because we committed societal suicide! We may watch ourselves gasp our last because we didn't recognize that we needed to work hard to understand and adhere adamantly to our U.S. Constitution-and insist that all newcomers do the same. We've allowed our nation to drift away from being a "melting pot" to become a "chamber pot", which we have failed to empty in a timely manner.
