I hope to see you back soon Kevin. I believe that the radical in radical
centrism doesn't work unless we stretch ourselves with ideas from others
that might be incongruous with our own. It has been enlightening to see
your posts, and how they compare and contrast with others on the list.
Chris
------------------------------------------
Christopher P. Hahn, Ph.D.
Constructive Agreement, LLC
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
P.O. Box 39, Bozeman, MT 59771
(406) 522-4143 (406) 556-7116 fax
------------------------------------------
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kevin Kervick
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 9:41 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [RC] [ RC ] Military Expansionism & etc etc
That gives one a very clear idea where you are coming from Billy. We can
agree to disagree but it seems that the common sense conservatism I am
talking about is not compatible with radical centrism as you envision that
brand to be.
These conversations are helpful in clarifying ideas and allegiances. I've
learned some things and also hope that I have offered some alternative ideas
for folks here to ponder.
I too am going to be very busy and already behind on these e-mails. So, I
will unsubscribe.
regards,
kevin
Since Christmas is closing in fast, my time for responding to e-mails will
be
severely limited for the next week.
All that I can say about TR for now, Re: Your comments below, is that the
politics of the early 1900s is not the best way for me to spend the time
that is available to me just now. I will say that it is a good thing that TR
saw to it that the Panama Canal was built, that he brokered the
Russo-Japanese
peace deal, that he busted the trusts, that he took full advantage of the
situation
when war with Spain broke out, that he expanded the national park system,
that he strengthened the Navy, and on and on.
About his racialism, the question to ask is who, in that era, was not
similarly disposed ?
Wilson was far worse, for example. And if you really want to turn back the
clock,
Jefferson and Washington owned slaves.
Furthermore, demonizing TR is over the top and, from an RC perspective, is
an
attack on Radical Centrist principles. Not because TR was perfect but
because
he was a leader like few other presidents in US history, because he was as
honest
as it is reasonable to expect any president to be, because he provides the
best available model , so far, of a serious attempt to create a viable 3rd
party
to break the Democratic / Republican stranglehold on US politics.
Furthermore,
he was a polymath, was one of the smartest presidents in history, certainly
one
of the top 5, willing to think about cultural issues, not only economics,
and
an exemplar of American virtues.
It is with plenty of good reason that, I think, by common consensus, TR is a
model
for an RC presidency, someone respected by those of us who are actual
Radical Centrists.
In effect, this attack on TR is an attack on our most respected founding
father.
Not something I can possibly be silent about.
Billy
12/21/2011 5:01:53 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
As I pointed out in a previous post there is evidence that Teddy Roosevelt
had a fondness for the Japanese people whom he believed were superior to all
other nation/tribes in Asia. In the late 19th Century TR called blacks a
"perfectly stupid people". He believed China was declining and the US could
use its big stick to divide up China with Japan - thus keeping it away from
Russia. In 1905 TR empowered Japan (first at a treaty signing that was held
in Portsmouth, NH at a place I can see from my window) to expand throughout
Asia. That imperial decision set the stage for the Japanese expansion that
FDR would later disavor. The Roosevelts, it appears are not what
Progressive propoganda wants us to believe about them.
Ron Paul's non-interventionism is a direct challenge to the big stick
imperialism and social engineering that began in the Progressive Era. This
was a time that bigger than life men had decided they could control human
destiny and the course of history.
This history is difficult for most Americans because it does not place our
leaders in a very good light. And it causes us to be more cynical about one
the most cherished aspects of our heritage, our involvment in the World Wars
of the 20th Century. It hurts the psyche.
About the 2009 book, The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and
War. James Bradley
http://hnn.us/articles/121083.html
Let's talk more about Theodore Roosevelt's far East policy in the early 20th
century laying the basis for World War 2. What's the connection? There was
forty years separating them from each other. How did what Teddy Roosevelt
did in 1905 lay the basis for this horrific war in the 1940s?
People ask, 'How could something that occurred in 1905 have repercussions
forty years later? Well, Ken Burns just did a documentary on TV about the
National Park system. Apparently if you walk into a national park you're
supposed to feel that Teddy Roosevelt had a lot to do with it a hundred
years ago.
I have a friend who's writing a book on Theodore Roosevelt's helping to
create American football. If you watch the Super Bowl this year, you're
watching something that Theodore Roosevelt influenced. What Theodore
Roosevelt did not only reverberated forty years later but is still
reverberating.
This is an important President at a fulcrum moment in history, 1905.
Roosevelt says to the Japanese, I trust that you're different than rest of
Asia. My racial theories tell me this. You are more like Americans. We've
got a problem in north Asia. China's collapsing and we do not want the
Russians to fill that void. Congress will not give me the troops I would
like to use America's big stick there in that beautiful rich part of north
Asia. So what am I going to do?
So Roosevelt said to himself, I'm going to partner with the Japanese army
and the British navy. The three of us are going to push back the Russians
and take over China. He did not advocate liberty and freedom for China. You
see the significance of that? He called the Portsmouth Peace Treaty
negotiations, that sat down to negotiate their differences. They were
dividing up a map of China and he didn't invite China. There's no
repercussions of something like that? Hosting a peace conference dividing up
China, China asking, 'can we come' and Roosevelt saying, No! You've got
nothing to say about the future of your country. Yeah, it has repercussions,
I think still today.
I think that it is indisputable that the problem in WW2 that my Dad was sent
to help extinguish was Japan going into Asia. They said in their declaration
of war that the problem is Britain and America want to control Asia and
we're Asians, and we're going to control it. Japan's going to control it
themselves.
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Radical Centrism website and blog: <http://radicalcentrism.org/>
http://RadicalCentrism.org
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
<[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
--
Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community
<[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
--
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<[email protected]>
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism
Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
