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I'm not sure it isn't. It is naturally unpopular among USians to contemplate that they might not be perfect rulers of the world. But it is pretty obvious that o

I'm not sure it isn't. It is naturally unpopular among USians to contemplate that they might not be perfect rulers of the world. But it is pretty obvious that one party rule is not a good idea. The US is bad enough with checks on its absolute power. Heaven forbid they should be unchecked. That's not anti-American. The sentiment applies equally to everyone. Russia should not have complete control of the world. Nor should Holland or Iceland. The USA has way too much power and influence as it stands. Thank goodness there is some opposition to provide some balance. USians watch a movie like "The Courier" or "Hunt for Red October" and applaud the courage and foresight of a man who was willing to be a traitor to the USSR in order to save the world. But they villify anybody who would be so treacherous as betray the USA. NATO missiles in Poland: good. Warsaw Pact missiles in Poland: bad. Unproven vulnerabilities in Huawei equipment: unacceptable. Replace it all with American products proven repeatedly to be espionage vectors of the USA government: good. I wonder if a post like this one will attract more interest from Chinese intelligence or from USA intelligence.

madars 5y ago
Your Polish example is laughable. Poland offered $2 billion to have permanent U.S. bases in Poland but, obviously, did not welcome Russian invasion. "Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!"
- freeopinion 5y ago
  So the Soviets defended their helpless neighbors for free; the U.S. occupied Poland then demanded that Poland pay money to wealthy war-profiteering capitalists for the privilege? It is funny that denizens on Madison Avenue think they have a corner on spin. "Caveat emptor!"
bobthechef 5y ago
You're relativising and disregarding how power balances occur in practice. First, there is a massive difference between empires. Sure, the US has done and is doing a bunch of shitty things in the world, but between two evils, would you prefer the American jackboot or the Chinese jackboot? Second, nobody volunteers to surrender power for the sake of some power balance. Power balance occurs because there's a stalemate. In the case of countries like Poland, these countries have an interest in playing empires against each other. Let them "bid" for influence and may they check each other's power.
- trasz 5y ago
  Between two evils, in the last two decades the US invaded two countries and killed million innocent people for oil, meanwhile China didn’t.
  - JackFr 5y ago
    > US invaded two countries and killed million innocent people for oil Seems crazy to do that since we’ve got so much we export the stuff now.
  - elzbardico 5y ago
    It would be perfectly possible to be a chinese shill in an american site like hackernews, spreading chinese propaganda e misinformation all day long, while living in the US. Try to do the same, but spreading american propaganda, in a chinese forum, while living in China.
    - trasz 5y ago
      It would be perfectly possible to cooperate with some random company from eg Iran, while living in China. Try to do the same while living in the US. Which is to say - your point being? Is being able to efficiently spread misinformation and propaganda really such an important factor?
      - elzbardico 5y ago
        Ah, the misleading comparison. We are talking about freedom of expression and then you conveniently conflate it with the freedom to have work or business relationships with an enemy or sanctioned foreign entity. The original point still apply, you have freedom in the USA to defend and express your favorable opinion even when this goes counter the government interests. You could even protest against the us military during a war. You can do this in China unlike you really want to be imprisoned and tortured. China is a dictatorship. América is a democracy. Sure, there are plenty of abuse from the police, the federal government, but those abuses once exposed and questioned in the court of law, have severe consequences for their perpetrators. China engages routinely in torture, censorship and genocide, a truly criminal state.
chrchang523 5y ago
Counterexample: a lot of Americans, especially here at Hacker News, think highly of Snowden even though he betrayed the US government.
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  You could say the US Government betrayed its citizens first by spying on them.
caycep 5y ago
plus, it's hard to compartmentalize science. Once you get the bomb, it's not that hard for other people to figure out. So do you ban all German scientists and get the bomb 20 years later (and maybe let the Russians poach them, because...well it is a market with demand...), or get the Germans, and lose a few to espionage/traitors. I feel these national borders on comms equipment will eventually be a paper tiger of sorts, because, well, tech is tech, and it's hard to stop the flow. And things work best with open standards anyway.

madars 5y ago

Your Polish example is laughable. Poland offered $2 billion to have permanent U.S. bases in Poland but, obviously, did not welcome Russian invasion. "Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!"

freeopinion 5y ago
So the Soviets defended their helpless neighbors for free; the U.S. occupied Poland then demanded that Poland pay money to wealthy war-profiteering capitalists for the privilege? It is funny that denizens on Madison Avenue think they have a corner on spin. "Caveat emptor!"

bobthechef 5y ago

You're relativising and disregarding how power balances occur in practice. First, there is a massive difference between empires. Sure, the US has done and is doing a bunch of shitty things in the world, but between two evils, would you prefer the American jackboot or the Chinese jackboot? Second, nobody volunteers to surrender power for the sake of some power balance. Power balance occurs because there's a stalemate. In the case of countries like Poland, these countries have an interest in playing empires against each other. Let them "bid" for influence and may they check each other's power.

trasz 5y ago
Between two evils, in the last two decades the US invaded two countries and killed million innocent people for oil, meanwhile China didn’t.
- JackFr 5y ago
  > US invaded two countries and killed million innocent people for oil Seems crazy to do that since we’ve got so much we export the stuff now.
- elzbardico 5y ago
  It would be perfectly possible to be a chinese shill in an american site like hackernews, spreading chinese propaganda e misinformation all day long, while living in the US. Try to do the same, but spreading american propaganda, in a chinese forum, while living in China.
  - trasz 5y ago
    It would be perfectly possible to cooperate with some random company from eg Iran, while living in China. Try to do the same while living in the US. Which is to say - your point being? Is being able to efficiently spread misinformation and propaganda really such an important factor?
    - elzbardico 5y ago
      Ah, the misleading comparison. We are talking about freedom of expression and then you conveniently conflate it with the freedom to have work or business relationships with an enemy or sanctioned foreign entity. The original point still apply, you have freedom in the USA to defend and express your favorable opinion even when this goes counter the government interests. You could even protest against the us military during a war. You can do this in China unlike you really want to be imprisoned and tortured. China is a dictatorship. América is a democracy. Sure, there are plenty of abuse from the police, the federal government, but those abuses once exposed and questioned in the court of law, have severe consequences for their perpetrators. China engages routinely in torture, censorship and genocide, a truly criminal state.

chrchang523 5y ago

Counterexample: a lot of Americans, especially here at Hacker News, think highly of Snowden even though he betrayed the US government.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
You could say the US Government betrayed its citizens first by spying on them.

caycep 5y ago

plus, it's hard to compartmentalize science. Once you get the bomb, it's not that hard for other people to figure out. So do you ban all German scientists and get the bomb 20 years later (and maybe let the Russians poach them, because...well it is a market with demand...), or get the Germans, and lose a few to espionage/traitors. I feel these national borders on comms equipment will eventually be a paper tiger of sorts, because, well, tech is tech, and it's hard to stop the flow. And things work best with open standards anyway.