How did we get so arrogant?

I have been pondering this North Korea thing for a couple of days now. No, not the nuke thing, but the prisoner thing. And it got me wondering… How in the hell did we ever get so arrogant?

To be certain, being arrested in North Korea and sent to “prison” there really sucks. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. However, you can’t get arrested and sent to a North Korean prison if you don’t go to North Korea. It really is that simple.

North Korea is a sovereign nation. They have borders, and unlike us they actually enforce that border. While we may think that we are supperior “citizens of the world” (amplified ten-fold by Obama’s own arrogance), but the truth of the matter is that being an American citizen does not give you the right to do as you please in other countries. Of course, the “fine”  folks in Washington help to propel this by diligently working to ensure that American citizens don’t have to pay any consequences for their arrogance, which really doesn’t help matters much.

Sure, I will concede that North Korea would do well by releasing the women in the name of international relations; however let’s get real for a minute – North Korea has shown very little interest in appeasing the international community. With that said, if North Korea decides to hold on to these women, who are we to say “no?”

To further that, North Korea detains many people without our government getting all uppitty about it, so itsn’t it a bit hypocritical to stand now and lay the claim that it’s fine for them to arrest and imprison their own people, but not our people? It’s not as if the North Korean police chased these women down and arrested them on our soil. In fact, I see very little difference between their treatment and the treatment of North Koreans in North Korea – the only difference being which country’s ID card they carry.

So again, where does our arrogance come from? We are not kings of the world. We hold no legitimate power over other countries other than the power of opinion. All we can say is “please” and hope for the best. Yet that’s not the route we are taking, is it?

But don’t get me wrong, I’m not interested in backing down from a fight. Far from it. But I do firmly believe that we need to do a better job of choosing our fights – and otherwise keeping our noses out of others’ affairs.