[paulddraper]

> Doesn't the US import almost double what it exports

Yes, though that's due to legal restrictions on domestic drilling, not some sort of physical necessity.

> Also, why has the US worked so hard in the past 70 years to maintain influence across the world, warring and pillaging and murdering, and trading and bribing as well? Doesn't their standard of living rest on the global state of affairs they strive to maintain (or further exploit)?

There are multiple schools of thought and multiple eras of the US. What should be US involvement in UN, Syria, Iraq, Vietnam, Cuba, etc.

I don't think that really disproves the point.