Year of the Golden Pig Reading 15: "Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire"

When I picked this one up, I expected something a little different. I assumed that this would be your standard anti-American tome. I knew the author, so I assumed it would be a well-written "anti-American tome." Instead what I got was an author saying that America should become an empire! I was kind of shocked; in this day and age to hear such a thing amounts to heresy.

The further I got into the book, though, the more his argument made sense. There are a lot of problems in the world that have to be fixed. Who is going to fix them? Europe is mostly emasculated (but not in the way that Thailand is: I have never seen a country where so many men try to look like girls; and I am not talking about transvestites, just kids on the street); Russia is too poor and drunk; China has too many of their own problems; Japan keeps whistling through its teeth; and Canada is full of Canadians. So it is up to America to do something.

Or is it? American, of course, has its own problems. Too many prisoners, not enough in our saving's accounts, a huge defecit, and politicians who are only worried about being re-elected. So maybe we can't do anything ourselves. That is one of the worries that the author has. He feels we have moved from a multi-polar world to a uni-polar one, but Americans really don't want all of the headaches that come with imperialism. He really worries that we will enter an apolar world where there is no leadership from any quarter. He thinks that this period would be highly unstable and lead to a decline of civilized trade and commerce and perhaps a new dark ages.

The author uses a lot of economics, which I honestly am not a huge fan of. I could have used some more historical details. All in all, it was a pretty good read. Moving a lot more quickly than I thought.