On Contact: The Birth of American Empire with Stephen Kinzer

Chris Hedgers talks to Stephen Kinzer about the American Empire.  The US ruling elite always had debates about whether to expand the US beyond its borders or invest in building up their country at home instead, but by a few narrow votes they always voted to expand.

Stephen Kinzer says how after WW2 the US had a surplus of products coming out its factories and the farmers were producing a surplus too and so big business pushed Congress to expand the country's borders to find new markets. The first thing they did was to take the Philippines from Spain thinking it would be a gateway to Chinese markets where American farmers hoped to get the Chinese liking their beef. The ruling class thought they would be able to get raw materials cheap from other countries and then sell finished goods back to them at a substantial mark up. I thought this was a very interesting interview.