Was it when you wrecked up the middle east under Bush I and II? When you put in place dictatorships all over the world to assert your dominance? Was it when you trowed napalm at kids in Hanoi 1972? When you burned black students in the sixties because of unfounded hatred of the other? When you throwed away two nuclear bombs in a country that had already lost the war by every single indicator? When you created concentration camps for japanese descendents in WW2? When you turned away boats full of jews coming from nazi germany? When you killed yourselves in a bloody civil war because of a terrible institution such as slavery? Was it when your already big country invaded Mexico in order to get even bigger? Maybe it was when you were killing indians so you could civilize the land?
Yes, if you mean by great = mighty. And more folk care about might than kindness, I'm afraid.
At least the Europeans went to war and colonized stating their national self-interest.
No, there was always moral high ground propaganda. In the Napoleonic wars, it was to defeat "mankind's foe" (yes, Napoléon was really called that), in the Russian Civil War, it was to promote each own's ideology and what was "best" for the country, and in the Second World War, it was to slay the most evil man in the world, totally ignoring (and often keeping secret) colossal Russian, British, American democides; combined Allies likely bigger democide than Axis.
- Refusing to use Metric system and Celsius like the majority of the world.
Truly America's biggest flaws...lol
