Is your IQ above average? Keep reading and find out.

Who am I?
In just looking at the word "hegemony," did you answer the question correctly?
I would not be surprise if you did.
But if you didn't, here is a clue: I am a country. Sometimes I am personified and represented by a man who says that he is not just the leader of this country but of the free world. Terms like "the free world," "the third world" and "the civilized world" bother me.I can hardly stomach them.
Since I am the leader of this country and can speak for the country, I want to be sure that you know my name, at least one of them. My name is Hegemony. (pronounced "he-'jem-e-ne.) My national mystique, that is, my beliefs, attitudes and practices are closely associated with my name, that is mystifying to most of the peoples of other nations. Assuming that you speak English, the only language that I can speak, I want to mention some terms that you should have in your lexicon. In the future these terms are likely to be on your daily menu. At the top of this list is terrorism. The number two term is Home Land Security. Of course, on my other list that I have under classified information are two number one terms: Bin Laudin and Saddam Hussein, never mind that the latter has been captured. Back to the first list. Put on that list confrontational politics, a term that is often couched by some political actors in the phrase, "my friends on the other side of the isle or in the House with some color." But it is not a colored house. You will never hear me say, "my friends on the other side of the isle," because I don't have any friends on the other side of the isle. There are some on the side that is not the other side of the isle that I don't trust. At least this one thing I can tell the truth about.
Despite the fact that the hegemonic practices of my country have increased terrorism, and that is likely to continue, although I would not admit that publicly, just as I have not admitted the truth about some other things, it appears that the majority of the people of my country, according to the polls conducted by my people, support my country's hegemony position in the world and, I am hoping to be able to say at some time in the future, over the world.
Now, a member of the minority who purports to speak for the much-too-often silent minority of his country, speaks in opposition to the prevailing hegemony stance of his country. He accuses many of the country's leaders of working havoc upon his fellow-countrypersons and threatening to damn future generations. He calls for a cessation to the acquiescence and silence of his fellow-countrypersons and warns them that confrontational action is neccessary in order to improve and promote national security. Then he adds, "History is replete with horiffic examples of disgraceful legacies that nations bequeathed to their descendants and the peoples of the world." He asks "Are not we all brothers and sisters?"
You have another chance to answer the question asked at the beginning of this dialogue.
My name is Hegemony. Who am I?


Copyright 2004 by Uriah J. Fields