{"id":5544,"date":"2017-05-06T15:08:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-06T15:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2017\/05\/06\/once-more-on-america-first\/"},"modified":"2017-05-06T15:08:14","modified_gmt":"2017-05-06T15:08:14","slug":"once-more-on-america-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2017\/05\/06\/once-more-on-america-first\/","title":{"rendered":"‘America First’ and the Values – Interests Distinction"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just read the following at The Atlantic<\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

[Rex] Tillerson explained \u201cAmerica First\u201d this way. It applies to \u201cnational security and economic prosperity, and that doesn\u2019t mean it comes at the expense of others.\u201d This defies common sense. Surely, if we\u2019re first, someone else is second, third, and finally last.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Not at all.  A perverse misunderstanding fueled by anti-Trump bias. In January, I explained it<\/a> like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It ['America First'] does not mean that that the USA ought to be first over<\/em> other countries, dominating them. It means that every<\/em> country has the right to prefer itself and its own interests over the interests of other countries. We say 'America first' because we are Americans; the Czechs say or ought to say 'Czech Republic first.'  The general principle is that every country has a right to grant preference to itself and its interests over the interests of other countries while respecting their interests and right to self-determination. America First<\/em> is but an instance of the general principle. The principle, then, is Country First<\/em>.  If I revert to America First<\/em>, that is to be understood as an instance of Country First<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Atlantic<\/em> author does not approve of Tillerson's distinction between national interests and national values. But the distinction is easily defended. American values are superior to all others. But we ought to have learned by now that imposing them on others is not in our interest, whether in the aggressive way of Bush or the feckless and geo-politically know-nothing  'lead from behind' way of Obama. <\/span><\/p>\n

Muslim and other nations are wedded to their own backward values and they are not about to abandon them for ours. Any attempt to teach them how to live will be interpreted as aggression, and by Muslims as 'crusading.'  They are stuck deep in the past in their ancient hatreds, prejudices, and tribalisms. With the partial exception of Turkey, they were untouched by the Enlightenment, although Ataturk's revolution seems now to be failing as Turkey slides back toward the old ways.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just read the following at The Atlantic: [Rex] Tillerson explained \u201cAmerica First\u201d this way. It applies to \u201cnational security and economic prosperity, and that doesn\u2019t mean it comes at the expense of others.\u201d This defies common sense. Surely, if we\u2019re first, someone else is second, third, and finally last. Not at all.  A perverse … Continue reading “‘America First’ and the Values – Interests Distinction”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-foreign-policy","category-social-and-political-philosophy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}