American Imperialism

During the Cold War, the world in general was a maniacal, paranoia-driven place to live in. Feelings of nationalism and inter-cultural isolation/conformity created rifts filled with fear between opposing nations, especially the two superpowers. The United States, as the juxtaposition to Soviet communists, sought to identify communism as a social evil, and a suppressor of both happiness and liberty. The resulting mentality following the period of global animosity triggered numerous instances of economic/cultural collapse, simply because the United States refused to acknowledge communism as an acceptable alternative to a democratic, capitalist society. In truth, the actions practiced by the United States are essentially reprehensible. Just to eliminate traces of the misconception that capitalism is the solution to world-suffering, one must recall the situation in Chile during the Cold War. When Augusto Pinochet came to power in 1973, a startling statistic is that the unemployment rate was an enviable, by today’s standards, 4.3%. However, in 1983, after ten years of free-market modernization, unemployment reached 22%. Real wages declined by 40% under military rule. This reality solidifies the fact that although not a necessarily democratic government, the free-market/capitalist Chilean government, severely exacerbated the issue of poverty in Chile. Capitalism, a system consistent with democracy, failed. Miserably. The first point is that the United States’ concerns for the economic well-being of other countries was misplaced, believing that the only way is the American way. As a world power drunk with international influence, the United States forced its policies on nations that were doing well without being