I tried to Fine Tune this. I promise.

Make me a Politician, somebody.

Phase 1: Alexander

Back in the day, there was a young man who decided that he was going to be remembered for eons for what he did. Whether it was for good or bad – well, that’s your opinion - but he undoubtedly did it for the power. I’m not too well-versed in the details, I’m just running with an idea. His empire was vast, stretching from parts of India in the East to the borders of Western Europe. Some of the people around at the time, particularly in Greece (I wonder if This is why we call them great philosophers), were influenced by his thoughts and actions, because although Alexander was a violent conqueror, he had a very apparent… what’s the word…. Humanity about him, which appealed to people, I suppose. The Greeks and the Romans were influenced in many ways by what he did. And this gave birth to a school of thought which is both beautiful and horrid.

Phase 2: The Roman Empire

The Romans took inspiration from the deeds of Alexander, and decided that they could do as good a job, if not better. From the days of the Roman Republic, things developed into something much larger, when Julius Caesar declared himself Dictator for Life. He then proceeded to expand borders like few before him had. They were real estate holders on a global scale, you could say, because when they conquered a country (and remember, Europe was still a jungle at the time, with tribes and the like), they immediately set about developing it, which was a progression of sorts from the destruction the Macedonian indulged in. The Letter of the Law (which is STILL Latin) was respected, and construction of roads (All Roads Lead to Rome, anybody? J) and buildings, along with a lot of other civic infrastructure was carried out on an unimaginable scale. The Greco-Roman Calendar was put in place, and Christianity was the religion. From Turkey in the East, to all of Western Europe. And England.

Phase 3: The Raj

It took a while for this to affect a lot of Europe, because we’re dealing with a LOT of countries (for want of a better word, at the time). The Roman Empire eventually collapsed in the 1400s, when Byzantine fell to the Ottomans (Who had, incidentally, been part of someone else’s empire themselves). And Europe took the mantle over in style, going all over the world. Even if they were racist (a mistake they made which still affects the world today), they were as good as the Romans when it came to developing the countries they conquered. England were pretty good at it – they had a presence in every continent (Africa too, I think) – at some point of time or the other during the years 1600 – 1950 (approximately), they were in America (North and South), Europe, Australia, and, of course, Asia. No wonder they call English the world language. The U.S were a colony to start with, and India succumbed too. We were cut off from the Himalayas in the North, and by water on the other three sides, so we decided to fight among ourselves, with princely states cropping up all over the place. The British saw an easy target, and there were a lot of pound signs in their eyes. Anyway, to cut a long story short – we were a colony for a Heck of a long time, it pains me to say. But our country did gain a lot, in terms of civic infrastructure and Industrial development.

An Interlude…

The Americans, having successfully thrown the British off their rather large patch of land, decided to form states and go through the usual infighting process, before eventually settling on a single country. They built it with the toil and sweat of a lot of slaves, and made the foundations for the way we view the world today. They were enterprising, and they had some revolutionary thinkers who were also politicians (a combination which is delightfully rare these days). The country decided that they’d had as much land as they could take, and went for the money instead – using military might not to conquer in the literal sense of the word, but to establish control over places (a term which is used very lightly). No one in their right mind would doubt that that country today is pulling the strings all over the place. And they’re Helping Eeveryone in exchange for that small (?) loss of control. Investors are pouring money in on a global scale these days, and benefiting. As are people who get jobs with multinationals and software giants (it comforts me to think of the number of Indian giants we have, to be honest with you - Reliance, TATA, Infosys etc, you're all doing a great job of globalising India).

Alright, maybe that wasn’t an interlude.

Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is this. Our country has the infrastructure. It has the brainpower (almost in excess J). It has the will to win, and our politicians are showing more steel than they did in the past (we can believe!). We’ve got people all over, and I mean literally ALL over the globe. And I’ve got a gut feeling in my stomach, the sort of which I haven’t really felt since December the 8^th 2004, when Steven Gerrard scored against Olympiakos. Liverpool went on to win the Champions league on the 25^th of May 2005. And this gut feeling will not be ignored. We just have to realize that we can’t all live in the past. ("Hypocrite", I hear you say)

History was made so that we could learn. And this is almost an open book test, in that sense.

Everything is in place. We have to pull together. And make this country even better than it already is. The attitude is what we need to have. I’m not trying to be incendiary in ANY sense of the word, I promise.

Alright, this is a little theory I came up with as a means to an end. I want to believe that our nation is going to be one of the most powerful nations on the planet in years to come, not dissimilar from what the U.S are today. We’ve got the potential. We’re the people who have to make it happen. And there’s a lesson to be learnt for every country on the planet. I was using India as an example out of a fierce sense of patriotism, but the whole world needs to sit back right now and think about what's going on. (Call me a hippy, and I'll kill you!) I’d like to think I’m right, but I guess history will be the judge of that.

The Rise of the Capitalist Imperialist World