In a message dated 05/27/2000 5:14:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<<  All were in fact
 systems run by a handful of thugs who ruled by brute force and terror.

 I for one greatly prefer our current US form of Imperialism for despite it's
 many faults. >>

I know a number of folks who make this claim, but for years prior to the fall
of the Soviet Union, the USSr & the US were both considered by the rest of
the world to be totalitarian equals.  it's equally true that the US is about
15 or 20 political parties short of a democracy.  it's also true that the US
has the highest percentage of its citizens in prison.  I concede that the US
isn't Nazi Germany, although if I was a member of a minority group,
particularly African American, I might have a somewhat different opinion.  if
I was from a Central American country -- particularly from Guatemala or
Nicaragua -- I'd be hard-pressed to see the difference.  but I can see why
one might prefer the US brand of Imperialism, the horror of which, like its
British counterpart, are visited on other countries to the economic advantage
of US citizens.

joe brennan....