Going It alone, But Having It Our Way

DONALD TRUMP'S "America first" agenda, which could be accurately described as "America Alone", has removed the United States from the Paris climate change accord, the nuclear arms limitations agreement with Iran, and the Trans Pacific Trade Partnership, among others. In all instances, all the other participants in these cooperative endeavors are happily continuing their productive cooperation, without the slightest concern for our departure. These agreemtns were entered into for a reason. Now, all the other countries benefit in many ways from them, America does not. Good riddance America, Don't let the door hit your butt on your arrogant way out, is the message. America will go its own way, irrespective of foreign concerns, and will subordinate cooperation with all other nations to the immediate but poorly conceived, poorly perceived interests of the United Sates. In other words, America Alone. Trump's presidency has done nothing to enhance America's prestige abroad; quite the opposite, in fact. In parades all over the world, caricature balloons float high above flat bed floats, depicting Trump is various unflattering guises, from village idiot to petty, gun wielding tyrant. Trump is not respected by the global community, and increasingly, neither is America. Recently the United States informed young Iranian student scientists that under no circumstances should they even consider a career in nuclear physics. Although possible consequences were not specified, presumably Iranians who choose the verboten career will meet with severe punishment, od some undetermined sort. one can scarcely imagine what that might entail. legions of special forces operative infiltrating Iranian territory, possibly armed with poison pills and an assault rifles, picking off young Iranian scientific scholars by the thousand. Between 1953 and 1973 the United states, under several presidents, did everything in its power to persuade Iran, governed by the Shah, an American puppet, to develop and deploy a nuclear weapons arsenal. Iranian students of nuclear physics studied at M.I.T., with American pleasure and approval, and at other prestigious American institutions of higher education. We the highly fluctuating America people have now come full circle; from encouraging and supporting Iranian inquiry into nuclear weapons, to forbidding absolutely their doing so. To Iran, this must seem a confusing state of affairs, as it must to anyone paying attention. One might wonder why the U.S. didn't merely ship nuclear bombs and missiles directly to Iran. The most likely answer is that doing so might have aroused the wrath of other global powers, and might have made the united State seem to be a war mongering belligerent. Precisely why did the United States of Imperialism spend a quarter century trying to get Iran to go nuclear? According to former Secretary of State and national security adviser Henry Kissinger, it was because "they were our friends then". Just as a matter of fact; all the other countries which signed the nuclear agreement with Iran are stills standing strongly by it, and Iran is abiding by it. it would seem that the American way is not the only way.Imagine, the United States, presuming to tell all Iranian students which courses of study and careers are impermissible, while harboring even the most tenuous belief that is has even the remotest hope of enforcing its belligerent bullying. Quite honestly, had I been born in Iran rather than Missouri, I would in all likelihood be on social media, twitter tweeting right back at Donald Trump, telling him precisely what he might do with his nuclear physics instructions, his torn up treaties, and his country. it wouldn't be pleasant nor pretty. The United States of Animosity, withdrawing from the world as if it is somehow too superior to participate in it, and simultaneously presuming telling its member nations, nations willing to cooperate in and abide by international agreements, what to do. the United States under Trump has not been made great again, far from it. It has been made lonely again, lonely, bizarre, bipolar, and impotent, much like its demonstrably mentally ill head of state. The time may be arriving for America's remaining sane to adorn red baseball caps, emblazoned with the message: "make america sane again". the only problem with this approach is obvious: has the United States of Aversion ever been, in any real sense, sane?