It’s amazing. Suddenly Virgil Goode, obscure political hack, Democrat-turned-Republican, is in the news all over the world, because of publication of his letter beating the drums of fear lest we be overrun by Muslims getting elected to congress and taking their oath of office on their own book of scripture.
A friend of mine, Tom Hansen, sent me an email saying he wasn’t surprised by Goode’s remark because Goode had told him that he is against all foreign aid except military. I asked if I could reprint the article Tom had written that cited the conversation, and here it is. As Tom said, “He is consistent, at least.”
What They Think of US
Thomas Hansen, Ph.D.
It is good for us here in the U.S to know more of what others think of us.
Foreign polls show that over 85% of the respondents think the U.S. poses the
greatest danger in the world. Only 7% picked North Korea. I think that we here
need to deal with this perception, for perception shapes policy and action and
anger. We can understand why this perception exists, for we have forged ahead in
our current war on false premises, disregarding the advice and counsel of
allies, asking that they join us only on our own terms, actually misrepresenting
the facts in the General Assembly of the UN, refusing to listen to expert
advice, and the list could go on and on. We have made many mistakes here, and
those mistakes need to be acknowledged and corrected, which is not happening yet.
So where else might this dissatisfaction with America come from, besides our
current war effort? It can also come from our refusal, beginning as early as
the Earth Summit of 1992, to join with the rest of the world to begin the
process of halting global climate change. We said at that time that “The American
lifestyle is not up for negotiation.” We have officially refused over the
subsequent 13 years to even acknowledge that there is a climate change problem. And
since we are the major contributor to climate change, our stance has caused
ill feelings toward us. A recent meeting of 200 scientists from around the
world concluded that climate change is very real, more rapid than models had
predicted, and that our point of no return for survival of humanity on earth is
less than ten years. And yet, we Americans, or at least our government, which
supposedly expresses our wishes and leads us, continues to deny the problem and
says we must wait for conclusive proof. Kyoto has gone into effect recently,
without our participation, and we need to look at it now as an agreement that we
can seriously work on to make it acceptable to us.
Half of the population of the world lives on $2 a day. Half! They see us in
America as excessively rich. Many of them likely resent us, and rightly so.
They see multinational corporations, which are willingly supported by many of the
developed countries, come into their countries and destroy local economies.
They see that America has supported dictatorial regimes that have kept their
people at $2 a day.
I have met some of the world’s poor in Africa, in Brazil, in Russia, and here
too. Many are confused. They really don’t understand how in the world we rich
people can simply ignore their plight. I can’t give them an answer that makes
any sense to them or to me. Why don’t we rich people finally find a better
way to work together to help them, to eliminate diseases that we conquered for
ourselves generations ago, to forgive more debt so that they have a better
chance of moving forward, to give them assistance without requiring American
companies to be the providers, and on and on? Instead of going to war practically
unilaterally, why can’t we join forces to alleviate the more core causes of
such poverty and resentment and war? It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out
what to do for the poor of the world. One stealth bomber, at a cost of $2.5
billion, would do wonders for people making $2 a day. They don’t need the
bomber, but the money. Why can’t we figure out how to need fewer bombers?
About a year ago I was meeting with my Congressman, Virgil Goode, in his
office in D.C. I was trying to get him interested in supporting a Department of
Peace bill in Congress. I spent 10 minutes giving examples of how it would be
beneficial to have someone at the Cabinet level who understood foreign aid in a
broader sense, with a purpose of getting at the root causes of war and hatred,
who was an expert in conflict resolution. I told him of a recent talk by a
former U.S. diplomat who was pushing for a more culturally-based analysis of
foreign countries, based on their needs, but not ignoring ours needs as well. I
mentioned to Congressman Goode that I had been in the Peace Corps in Liberia in
Africa in the 1960s, and that this diplomat had been there too. I gave
examples of what this diplomat meant, related to Liberia and other developing
countries. Congressman Goode said that if he had been in charge in the 1960s, I
would not have been in the Peace Corps in Africa because there would not have been
a Peace Corps at all. He said that there should be no U.S. foreign aid except
military aid, then and now. I gasped and asked: How are those poor countries
supposed to deal with their problems, and isn’t it in our own best interest to
see that they are healthy, free and developed economically? He said we should
just let them figure it out among themselves, deal with their own problems as
we have done for ourselves. He didn’t agree to be a co-sponsor of the
Department of Peace bill.
I continue to try to understand Congressman Goode’s logic regarding our
responsibility to other countries, and I assume he tries to understand views such
as mine, but I think we will need a miracle before we will see the world in a
more similar fashion. His type of thinking can be found throughout America
today. Many members of Congress share at least aspects of his view.
What will change Americans so that we become world citizens? I haven’t the
slightest idea at this point, only frustration. As a nation we seem to have
little interest in being part of the larger world community, except on our own
terms. Perhaps it is as Winston Churchill said in the 1940s, that you can always
count on Americans to do the right thing. But only after they have exhausted
every other alternative. I wonder when we here in America will feel an
exhaustion of the alternatives? Will it be after climate change has reached the point
of no return? We don’t have that much more time to diddle along. For myself, I
do not plan to quietly roll over and submit to policies that I feel are
misguided. I do not consider the results of a Presidential or Congressional
election to be a mandate for silencing opposition to policies. In whatever peaceful
and nonviolent way I can, as just one citizen of the world community, I will
speak up, hopefully in a way that Congressman Goode can hear. I love this
country and I do not plan to move elsewhere, nor do I accept that we be seen as the
greatest danger in the world. That is not what our Founders intended nor what
our children deserve.