Pragmatism Vs. Idealism

American presidents, till the arrival of Roosevelt, followed the dictum given by George Washington: let’s mind our business, and not get into the affairs of the world problems. Touch me not was the approach as far as international politics was concerned. Foreign affair is foreign to us. They deliberately worked on this principle since; Brittan was controlling them for a long period of time and they had to wage war to live peacefully. And they did not want to follow the footstep of British in controlling the world which is uncontrollable in any case.

Since then, USA grew in strength and wealth. Then arrived FDR who believed that USA need to interfere with others’ affairs in order to safeguard the interest and security of USA. And adopted the typical Machiavellian approach, participated and dictated terms for other warring countries. He could not motivate fellow Americans since Washington’s idealism still lingered around the minds of the people.

At this time, Woodrow Wilson became the president. He believed in moral idealism and was convinced himself and others that USA has a moral obligation to take part in the international politics. He cleverly interpreted George Washington saying, “When it comes to human issues, nothing is foreign to us and we need to play a vital role in shaping international politics”. Wilson was an academician (professor), so I do give benefit of doubt to his idealism. But when we hear the similar utterances made by people like George Bush (Junior and Senior), the blood pressure goes up.

I can easily live with the pragmatic people like FDR, they are selfish, they know that they are selfish and I know that they are selfish, and also I know that I am selfish, so the game is straight forward. They are predictable and I need to move coins as per the predicament. But living with moralists is very confusing, I just do not know when they will compromise with their idealism, and their game changing move will remain a mystery. This uncertainty can drive any one into the world of craziness.