week three

The material and discussions this past week reminded me, if not everybody, of one place they all hate to be: stuck between a rock and a hard place. In this case, America is the stuck one, imperialist expansion, the rock, and anti-imperialist seclusion the hard place.
By the turn of the century America was in an unsettled place: a surplus of money with no circulation, an overabundance of workers with no jobs, and a plethora of worldwide expansion with little followers. To the people of the time there was no gray. It was white or black. Expand or do not expand. As a secondary opinion/viewer, looking in, obviously the best choice is to do what will benefit mother America more. Be idle? Take action? Expand? Don't?
For today's people, the lines of cost can sometime blur over the lines of benefit and vis versa. On the one hand, America would at first be encroaching into foreign lands, populated by alien people, denying them of their motherland and connection to her and their fellow natives. On the other, incredible growth, employment, and monetary opportunities laid out on a golden path before them. Is one right and the other not? After all, the U.S. was known for a reputation of no holds bar intrusion, occupying any land to gain what they wanted- which isn't necessarily bad nor good. In this case however, the Filipino islands were a blank slate to Americans. Intrude to gain, or intrude to control? While neither option may be what was Americas intention, it was the ultimate choice.
Personally, I feel, that even though moving into new lands would cause a flood of people seeking job opportunities and channels which new found markets would stimulate, taking over already settled lands is the parallel of modern day America deciding to take over Tokyo  on Monday, and wanting everything settled by Tuesday. While it seems like a happy ending, there is no thought to the other characters of the story. At no point, except to anti-imperialists, did the thought of expansion project anything except  prosperity.
Was it right? Was it wrong? Was it beneficial? Was it detrimental? To each their own, I just find it somewhat ironic that nearly a century later Americans still haven't learned that actions require consequences. After all, history does repeat itself.