Expansionist Tendencies

Today's topic, class, is "expansionist tendencies." To be expansionist, you must have a desire to expand something, such as your skills, interests, or territory. Let's first take a look at a good yet simple example.

My expansionist tendencies want me to start developing an operating system based on my own ideas and designs. I know that I already have too many pet projects to even play games that I waited years for, so I know that I have little business starting a project of such grandeur. But expansionists rarely put such foresight into their interests; they feel trapped or limited, and want to push those limits outward. Writing an operating system would be an excellent test of my skills, and would be a fine way to prove my OS design knowledge and skills. This is a positive use of expansionist tendencies.

A bad example of expansionist tendencies doesn't necessarily involve actually expanding an object, area, or interest. It can just as easily be about aggression. President Bush is exhibiting his expansionist tendencies by threatening Iraq and North Korea with an unwanted war. Rather than listen to the millions of citizens of the United States of America, he and his advisors are pressuring the United Nations to authorize violence to prevent violence in theory. In actuality, I'm afraid that Mr. Bush is simply a warmonger.

I hope that we all can learn from these examples and use any and all expansionist tendencies in a positive and constructive manner.

Thank you for participating in today's lesson.