On April 02 2010 02:02 michael. wrote: LOL. Thanks for generalizing all of us Americans in such an incorrect fashion. All I ever hear from people in the US is that we suck and that we should be more like Europe. Maybe you just happen to be around a lot of blind super nationalists but I find that unlikely.
I live in Texas. So yeah, it's pretty likely. At softball games for my daughter I hear the other parents talking about arranging a local 'tea party' chapter. Not that a one of them have any idea what the actual Boston Tea Party was about, or how absurd the current 'Tea Party' movement actually is.
Did you know that in America, people who don't believe in God are considered, by the general population, to be even less trustworthy than Blacks and Homosexuals? For a country well known for racism and homophobia, that's quite a thing.
Yes. That's an acceptable solution to my dilemma indeed. Except that the US has it's dick in everyone else's business anyway, so there's really no escape. Also, America was founded by dissidents on the notion of vocal dissent being key to government accountability. So telling a dissenter to move is directly contrary to the spirit of this country's founding.
On April 02 2010 02:59 BlackJack wrote: I'm no history buff but I would wager that the last 100 years have been some of the most peaceful years of all of mankind's existence.
On April 02 2010 03:00 Trowabarton756 wrote: Churchhill had a lovely saying, "America's the worst system of government I've ever seen, yet its better then all the rest." Sure we could use some(like...a lot) of reforms to education/systems that were established in the 1950s/1960s(The welfare system, education, etc.) but comparatively to the rest of the world we're well enough off we don't really have as much to worry about. I make a little over minimum wage at a local sub shop, but I make more then ~90% of the world in 2 weeks.
Actually, it's: It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.
Bit of a difference there.
And the US' standards of living are definitely not the highest in the world. :p
On April 02 2010 02:02 michael. wrote: LOL. Thanks for generalizing all of us Americans in such an incorrect fashion. All I ever hear from people in the US is that we suck and that we should be more like Europe. Maybe you just happen to be around a lot of blind super nationalists but I find that unlikely.
I live in Texas. So yeah, it's pretty likely. At softball games for my daughter I hear the other parents talking about arranging a local 'tea party' chapter. Not that a one of them have any idea what the actual Boston Tea Party was about, or how absurd the current 'Tea Party' movement actually is.
Did you know that in America, people who don't believe in God are considered, by the general population, to be even less trustworthy than Blacks and Homosexuals? For a country well known for racism and homophobia, that's quite a thing.
Texas is its own country. A true Texan would know that.
On April 02 2010 02:59 BlackJack wrote: I'm no history buff but I would wager that the last 100 years have been some of the most peaceful years of all of mankind's existence.
Spot on bro.
Someone else who doesn't know what they're talking about.
There is a really good book by Dennis Leary called: "Why we suck - A feelgood guide to staying fat loud lazy and stupid". He raises some really good points about whats wrong with US society, and its obviously hilarious.
On April 02 2010 03:14 sctechie wrote: It's a shame I had to stop lurking at TL after all these years to post in some stupid 'blog' forum post with a bunch of uneducated fools.
On April 02 2010 03:14 sctechie wrote: It's a shame I had to stop lurking at TL after all these years to post in some stupid 'blog' forum post with a bunch of uneducated fools.
Thanks for enlightening us !
Don't get me wrong guy, I'm as liberal as they come in the US. I'm not a big fan of certain policies my country has followed, but I prefer arguments be based in fact and not emotional photos or 'feeling's.
On April 02 2010 02:46 sctechie wrote: Wow, did anyone even bother to read the article?
You should be ashamed of yourself Louder for misrepresenting what was said in that piece so you could rag on the US a bit.
The article was pretty much a joke. It starts with "Who really spends the most on their armed forces?" and then proceeds to show that - even percentage-wise - no single decent country spends more on its military than the US.
At this point the author notices, that this is not what he wanted to show. He proceeds to distract the readership with stories about countries like Burma and Eritrea, and the number of soldiers, all of which don't matter for the initial question at all.
Yes, 4% of the GDP is fucking huge, especially for a civilized, wealthy and technologically advanced country like the USA. The numbers speak for themselves, no matter what the author tells us, and I guess that's why Louder linked the article.
On April 02 2010 02:46 sctechie wrote: Wow, did anyone even bother to read the article?
You should be ashamed of yourself Louder for misrepresenting what was said in that piece so you could rag on the US a bit.
The article was pretty much a joke. It starts with "Who really spends the most on their armed forces?" and then proceeds to show that - even percentage-wise - no single decent country spends more on its military than the US.
At this point the author notices, that this is not what he wanted to show. He proceeds to distract the readership with stories about countries like Burma and Eritrea, and the number of soldiers, all of which don't matter for the initial question at all.
Yes, 4% of the GDP is fucking huge, especially for a civilized, wealthy and technologically advanced country like the USA. The numbers speak for themselves, no matter what the author tells us, and I guess that's why Louder linked the article.
Yes. I thought it was pretty obvious. It was about the numbers, not the idiot author with obvious bias.
Without getting into ethical/moral arguments, the US' defense budget is large because the US has global commitments that no other nation has - this includes keeping sea lanes free, making sure friendly countries don't get invaded, etc. Essentially, if the US stopped shouldering the burden, then other countries would have to take up the slack. Based on what would be ideal for keeping our commitments, the US military is actually undersized.
I was fully expecting an april fools blog but mh maybe its not.
the thing about the US is its such a freaking ridiculously huge country (compared to all european countries excluding russia at least) that you have both some of the most brilliant and also some of the dumbest people ever in that country. But some parts of the system are quite sad indeed. Pathetic health care, retarded election system, political system is generally stupid ( just two real parties I mean.. come on..), no man can be president unless he shits gold, ridiculously biased news... Are there really 50 000 american soldiers in germany? Are you sure thats true cause that sounds really ridiculous. Then again, most of the things I spend my time with are from the US, this game called starcraft, most of the movies I watch, most of the music I listen to, basically ALL of the comedians I like and all the shows I watch..
On April 02 2010 03:00 Trowabarton756 wrote: Churchhill had a lovely saying, "America's the worst system of government I've ever seen, yet its better then all the rest." Sure we could use some(like...a lot) of reforms to education/systems that were established in the 1950s/1960s(The welfare system, education, etc.) but comparatively to the rest of the world we're well enough off we don't really have as much to worry about. I make a little over minimum wage at a local sub shop, but I make more then ~90% of the world in 2 weeks.
He never said that. He said democracy was the worst political system apart from all the others. You can't just change the subject and hope nobody else knows the quote.
On April 02 2010 03:26 Underwhelmed wrote: Without getting into ethical/moral arguments, the US' defense budget is large because the US has global commitments that no other nation has - this includes keeping sea lanes free, making sure friendly countries don't get invaded, etc. Essentially, if the US stopped shouldering the burden, then other countries would have to take up the slack. Based on what would be ideal for keeping our commitments, the US military is actually undersized.
Nonsense and assumptions. Who are we protecting Japan and Germany from with 100,000 troops between the two, for example? The notion that if we don't occupy the entire world nobody is safe is fallacy
On April 02 2010 02:42 Athos wrote: The more I learn about the world, the more I realize America has it good. From that chart we're only spending 4% of our GDP on defense which is quite low. If we cranked it up to 10 or 15% we could really kill some motherfucking nazis. Oh right, they're called terrorists now.....
4% is still really high. The only countries that spend more than the US as a % of GDP are military dictatorships or poor countries stuck in volatile regions. I would guess Singapore is up there because of its mandatory military service but I could be wrong. There really is no valid reason for the US to be spending that much on the military given that our closest neighbors are relatively stable and it doesn't seem like anyone is going to be invading us anytime soon. The nearest thing we have to a threat is terrorism which is about as much of a threat to the united states as a tick is to a dog and is pretty much something we created for ourselves anyways. If you want to make the argument that we protect the world then I want to make the argument that everybody else that can pitch in better pitch in.
On April 02 2010 02:59 BlackJack wrote: I'm no history buff but I would wager that the last 100 years have been some of the most peaceful years of all of mankind's existence.
Spot on bro.
Someone else who doesn't know what they're talking about.
It's a shame I had to stop lurking at TL after all these years to post in some stupid 'blog' forum post with a bunch of uneducated fools.
Just because Steve Pinker said the world is getting more peaceful doesn't mean anyone who doesn't think that is uneducated. The 20th century has seen countless genocides, mass murders and the invention of total war. It has seen biological warfare unleashed on the Chinese, nuclear warfare on the Japanese and millions dying in genocide. I personally think Steve Pinker's an idiot and I'd go so far as to say you're an idiot for linking him without in any way adding thoughts or analysis of your own.
On April 02 2010 03:14 sctechie wrote: It's a shame I had to stop lurking at TL after all these years to post in some stupid 'blog' forum post with a bunch of uneducated fools.
Thanks for enlightening us !
Don't get me wrong guy, I'm as liberal as they come in the US. I'm not a big fan of certain policies my country has followed, but I prefer arguments be based in fact and not emotional photos or 'feeling's.
Sorry for the personal attack.
Well i think that the victims of WW1, WW2 etc ... would disagree. Actually more people died because of wars during the 20th century than during the 8000+ years before if you doesn't count wars involving China. But hey you will probably say that it is normal because we are more numerous nowadays. I mean we live in a peacefull world and everything is fine !
Gas chambers ? Nukes ? Genocides ? Nah that didn't happen and anyway cavemen were more violent than us.
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