[geon]

> but you can hardly say we've ruled the world terribly.

"Terribly" is definitely a fair assessment.

> who has ever ruled it better?

Blatant whataboutism.

> instead of conquering them

"I protected them in so many ways, cared for them as if they were my own children. But to this day, is there a single statue of me on Bajor?"

[Waterluvian]

I love the DS9 reference. But it also reminds me of Hamilton:

    You'll be back, time will tell
    You'll remember that I served you well
    Oceans rise, empires fall
    We have seen each other through it all
    And when push comes to shove
    I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love!

The idea that the world was better off under American rule is so deeply ironic that my brain is breaking.

[brokencode]

What you call whataboutism, I call comparative evaluation.

On an absolute scale, every world power in history and humanity in general has been terrible. Endless injustices and atrocities since the very start.

That’s just not a very useful way to look at things though.