World Boss: A Short History Primer - 10 MORE Reasons to be Mad as Hell

How did we get here? How did we become World Boss, an imperial instead of a democratic power? How did we become a country in which the Pentagon takes half of all our discretionary spending and major corporations dictate our foreign policy? Since past is prologue, as the old saying goes, it’s critical to examine our history and to trace how we arrived at this sorry state.

Sadly, this process of serving corporate interests ahead of our own national interests began even before the Cold War and the unprecedented military buildup that this country has seen in the last sixty years. For well over a century now, our military has bullied lesser powers and our government has confused what’s best for us with what’s best for big business’s bottom line.

• History Reason #1: Strange Fruit
• History Reason #2: The Monroe Doctrine
• History Reason #3: The Spanish-American War
• History Reason #4: The Platt Amendment - U.S. Imperialism Begins in Cuba
• History Reason #5: Dirty Tricks Around the World
• History Reason #6: The Cocaine Intelligence Agency
• History Reason #7: Blown Away in Nicaragua
• History Reason #8: Narco Politics - The Rise and Fall of Rent-a-Colonel
• History Reason #9: Empire in the Canal Zone
• History Reason #10: Another Illegal Invasion

NEXT: World Boss History Reason #1: Strange Fruit