The Ugly Truth About US, or "Damn it feels good to be a gangsta."

Did you know that Americans comprise less than 5% of the world's population, but consume about a quarter of the world's resources? (This statistic is a rough approximation–the actual percentages vary by specific category, e.g. energy, food, & etc.)

Most of us do not realize the implications of that statistic.  Furthermore, I daresay you don't want to know the implications, for it can make it hard to sleep at night . . . so stop reading here if you have an active conscience.  

Idealistically, Americans should produce 5% of the world's resources and consume their own 5%,  but we don't.  And we don't want just 5%.  No, we want that all-you-can eat, unlimited gas, central air and heating and 500+ channels on our TV.  We want the game, the car, the house.  Like all humans, we want it all, and thanks to free market capitalism, Ohio class ballistic missile submarines, and a little luck, we have just about all we care to gorge ourselves on.  

You see, in order for us to consume an extra 20% of the world's resources, we have to obtain them.  Traditionally, it's been a simple matter of conquest, but in the modern era, military conquest has to be done very subtly, for televisions freely display the horrors of war, and no person (who thinks themself decent) supports war for long.  So how do we get our extra 20%?  Well, it has to be taken from others.  The strong (US) attack the weak (them) and take our 20%.  No, not always by force, but we take by all means necessary.  Sometimes it means war, and most times it means supporting someone like Saddam Hussein, who we'll give arms and aid and turn a blind eye towards so long as he gives us cheap oil, or whatever else we'd like.  America is on a shopping spree, and if you'll give us a deal, we'll make you the finest tin-pot dictator yet minted!  But God help the poor bastard that refuses to play ball . . .

Now it's easy to take the moral high ground and criticize our nation and its policies.  But consider what it really  means to play fair.  Consider what it would mean to go without our extra 20% . . . For you and I it's easy to imagine.  Pretend you do the same job as now, but your pay has been cut by 80%.  You now only make 1/5 of (5/25 of 100%) your income.  Would you live where you do now?  Drive the same car? Take the same trips or eat at the same places?  Seriously, what would our lives be like without that "I'm an American" premium we get from the rest of the world?

By hook or by crook, it is no lie, we take, gather, and steal all we can to keep our quality of life (QOL, measured by how many of our theoretically unlimited demands we can meet) high.  No wonder every poor sap in the world wants in.  "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven."

So what is it?  Shall we reduce ourselves to poverty in the name of fairness?  And who's to say if we do, that somebody else won't just take our place?  Trust, we do what we do because we are human, not because we are Americans.  The Asian is as capable as the African who is as capable as the European in this regard.  

So if you believe in fair play, by all means, start donating 80% of your net income to social causes, then I'll grant you the moral high ground from which you may cast upon me all the stones you wish.  Otherwise know, the food you eat, the gas you burn, the resources entire that you consume, are stripped from the hands of the poor, leaving them with less and us with more.  Know this is simply the first law of the jungle; "The weak shall suffer the strong".  Americans are obese for a reason.  "Damn it feels good to be a gangsta . . ."

Enjoy your buffet.