OT (or is it?): American Imperialism

[Puke]

i was talking to a friend the other day, and we were discussing that modern day america is probably the last empire the world is likely to see, and that this is probably the end of it.

i mean, not like its going to come crashing down tomorrow, but the era of imperialism is on the wain. after we succumb to ignorance, corruption, and decadance, i dont think anyone else will ever achieve the same things. i dont think any one nation will ever dictate global policy in the same way, nor will other nations plant military bases all over the world. none others do now.

but for all that, it does not much feel like we (in the US) are living in a great empire. it feels pretty mundane, like any other place.

or does it? Japan and Hongkong are both very modern, industrial, first-world places - by any measure. citizens enjoy a high standard of living, and you can find some of the most expensive realestate in the world there. But many things are not like you would expect to find in the US. toilet water is sea water, and is not desalitinized. paper napkins in restaurants are very small and thin sheets. if you want hot water, you have to turn on your own water heater and wait for it to get hot - it does not run all the time. so its an extra 5 to 10 minutes when you want to take a shower, and you usually wont bother with the heater just to wash your hands.

In the States, i flush my fecies down the toilet with fresh drinkable water. i could take a gulp from the back tank of the toilet if i was so inclined, and it would be more sanitary than the real drinking water in most of the world. I can be a pig at a restaurant, and use as many danm napkins on my greasy fingers as i want. and I have hot water whenver i want it, a big heater is running round the clock just incase i get the urge to wash my hands at 01:00 in the morning.

supermarkets here are better stocked with produce and all manner of foodstuffs. it might not be as fresh as what you could get in a european maret, but we sure as hell have more of it. year-round, too. you can buy things in the states even outside of their growing seasons, thanks to hydroponics, genetic engineering, and farms in places with all kinds of weather. I can go to the market in the dead of winter, and buy as much citrus fruit as i can carry.

and those are just a few small examples of the luxuries that we overlook. sure, we dont have seargent pepper parrading his company up and down the square for the pomp and glory of our empire. but undeniably, this is an empire - and our great-grandchildren will probably never see another one like it.