But I do not live in a society like that, and neither does the United States. Their is an international community and it may not be perfect but their is one. And I live in a community. That is kind of a definition of civilisation, you know, the whole agriculture instead of hunter gatherer thing. The whole giving up thousands of years of kicking the shit out of whoever for our benefit whether they are a threat or not and replacing it with cooperative effort.
If the US will subscribe to things like economic sanctions, whether their idea or not, they have subscribed to the idea. Such action is not taken against a state because they are a nice friendly place, it is because there is something "wrong" there. But a choice has been made. Standing firm and making your decision right is a far stronger message than saying fuckit, bomb the bastards.
And yes, that is about being better than them, not as an individual, not as a culture, but as an opposing side of whatever the argument is.
If you cannot prove you are "better" than them, then maybe you are not, and should accept it.
Tracker.
p.s. better does not equal bigger, stonger, my dad can beat up your dad, I can afford bigger guns.