We're a nation so obsessed with war and conquest, even while claiming to adhere to a pacifistic religion and to hold freedom and liberty as tantamount human values.
We're a nation so unwilling to care for the sick and the poor that the soldiers we spend so much money on while they're in service are impoverished and without adequate mental or physical care once they're no longer active.
We will spend such vast sums of money on what we call defense - which is, quite literally, maintenance of an empire (50,000 troops in Germany? excuse me, is it still the 40s?) - yet bicker over spending fractions of the same amount on keeping American citizens healthy.
We let our national infrastructure crumble, we let special interest groups literally buy our elected officials, we allow the wealthy to continually reach new heights of wealth that exceed any ethically justifiable. Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
I hear people in other countries say things like... we just hate America's leaders, not Americans. I have news for you. About half of the people in this country are JUST LIKE those leaders. So thanks for the generosity of spirit, but it's not justified.
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.
Actually humans always were obsessed with war Just look at all the crusades, religion which talks about love and suffering for others used as an excuse for bloodshed
On April 02 2010 02:06 AngryLlama wrote: not disagreeing with you, but you actually posted a link that sort of makes it seem like the US isn't *as bad* as we thought.
Yeah, it's not our fault we spend so much on our military. If we didn't have so much money, we wouldn't have such a big military budget. (probably)
You just preemptively killed the mood for any future EG TAKES ON THE WORLD AMERICA FUCK YEAH moments.
But yeah, American politics are fucked up. You even failed to mention shit like FOX News and the Texas board of education. Or the fucked up voting system. Or the ridiculous price of decent education.
April Fools? The charts don't really fit your argument. Also, the number and severity of critiques that you offer on the US and "half the people" that live there makes one wonder why on Earth you would continue to live in such a place. Please join your friends bashing America from elsewhere, thanks.
On April 02 2010 02:13 RaGe wrote: You just preemptively killed the mood for any future EG TAKES ON THE WORLD AMERICA FUCK YEAH moments.
nono.. don't say that.
Team amerika is/has been lz/mach/myself/inka. We will throw a louder pic in there but it is more to balance the rad.
David is and has always been a citizen of france. Where people don't care about money, nobody is homeless and everyone thinks along liberal lines and the rich give all their money to everyone. They also have a non existent defense budget and are never involved in wars.
I agree though.. america does suck. I wish I lived in SUPER FUCKING AWESOME AMERICA. Where poor people are made to live in the same state (utah). War is ALWAYS fucking happening and we get to listen to metallica montages as tank cams display the M1 abraham rolling over 1000 years of historical architecture. I want christmas trees in fucking july and the only thing we ate was apple pie, hamburgers and double hamburgers and sometimes for lunch octaplamilionburgers.
On April 02 2010 02:06 AngryLlama wrote: not disagreeing with you, but you actually posted a link that sort of makes it seem like the US isn't *as bad* as we thought.
The US only gets away as "not so bad" in the relative statistics. But how likely is it that any combination of countries that has equal or more population is going at war with the US? How likely is it that those countries reach a population close to that of the US and all their allies? How likely is it that those countries get even close to the military efficiency of the US? When two countries are at war, the strength of an army in relation to wealth and population doesn't matter. The absolute values matter.
I am no expert on this matter, but I would assume that the US military is vastly oversized.
And as long as we shit on the constitution and continue voting for the current two-headed-party this will continue.
Americans refuse to educate themselves. Americans continually seek to vote themselves "rights" -- ie, money. Americans continue to shit on their own future; no savings, insane economic policy, and then beg for subsidy.
If you're going to shit on your cake; don't expect a new one for free.
Wow, according to this article I found on the "internet," America sucks! For some reason you felt like sharing that? If the internet had been around for the past few thousand years, we'd have the greatest record of why every single country sucks. I thought this was a gaming website. If you found a Zergling blogger who was talking shit on the Overmind, or maybe some Battlecruiser commander bashing middle-class marines, that'd be worth posting here. But seriously, you just had a revelation of self-loathing brought on by a website (one that doesn't even support your claim), and you want to pass it on? Nut up, we're not that bad!
On April 02 2010 01:55 Louder wrote: Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
That really feels like a distinctly American trait. I'd guess it's one of the reasons why America has flourished so much as a country, but it does lead to a very unequal society made up of those who made it and those who didn't.
On April 02 2010 02:13 RaGe wrote: You just preemptively killed the mood for any future EG TAKES ON THE WORLD AMERICA FUCK YEAH moments.
nono.. don't say that.
Team amerika is/has been lz/mach/myself/inka. We will throw a louder pic in there but it is more to balance the rad.
David is and has always been a citizen of france. Where people don't care about money, nobody is homeless and everyone thinks along liberal lines and the rich give all their money to everyone. They also have a non existent defense budget and are never involved in wars.
I agree though.. america does suck. I wish I lived in SUPER FUCKING AWESOME AMERICA. Where poor people are made to live in the same state (utah). War is ALWAYS fucking happening and we get to listen to metallica montages as tank cams display the M1 abraham rolling over 1000 years of historical architecture. I want christmas trees in fucking july and the only thing we ate was apple pie, hamburgers and double hamburgers and sometimes for lunch octaplamilionburgers.
The thing I dislike about American govt is all the hidden stuff that goes on and things that get tagged on to bills. If we're making a bill about A, don't add shit about B on it. Get A done, then move on to B. I hate senators who just tag on stuff to keep their rich donations coming in. It annoys me to no end.
As for army stuff, I think America just needs to realize we are not any form of world police, it is not our business going half way across the world to fix other people's things. We have so many problems domestically that need to be fixed. I'd really like USA to tone down the "Let's help everyone because we believe in freedom and democracy" and really just learn to help ourselves once in a while and fix our own problems.
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.....
Issues like this are way more complicated and ambiguous than they appear on the surface. Shit like this is part of the reason I'm fucking fed up with American politics; the polarization between the right and left is too fucking big, with most liberals talking like Louder here and most conservatives talking like Glen Beck. America needs to get its shit together and find middle ground between the two Americas in order to make real change. Shit Obama said he could do before harsh reality took over.
On April 02 2010 02:06 AngryLlama wrote: not disagreeing with you, but you actually posted a link that sort of makes it seem like the US isn't *as bad* as we thought.
His point is the total amount. Imagine spending 1% of that money elsewhere in some sector that would improve the quality of life of citizens. That's 6 billion dollars. Military is still left with over 600 billion dollars if you take just that 1% away.
In other words, the opportunity cost is great. There are a lot of things that the US could do to improve its citizens lives.
My grandmother had to sell her house and everything she owned after watching my grandfather suffer for 5 years from leukemia. My dad suffered from very advanced CTS and had to consider whether his hands were worth 6000 USD each. This may not seem like a big deal to some people, but not everyone makes >40k a year.
If you don't wanna be stuck with some horrible debt because of an accident, you have to deal with buying health insurance. This stuff is barely regulated in the US, and the insurers have become experts at riding the boundary between legality and illegality when it comes to denying payment (pretty much everything these days is a pre-existing condition; a lot of insurance contracts refer to several other documents, some of which are over 70 pages long, filled with legalese).
The state of public education is very poor. The university-level education is very good, but a lot of people are cheated before they're even given the chance at a university education.
Many places in the US suffer from long-term economic downfall. Regions like Mississippi suffer from widespread poverty and unemployment. A company building a single factory in the state is a huge deal. And when I say poverty, it's not just some statistic. People are starving, stealing, and killing others for food and money.
These things don't happen everywhere in the states, but why should they have to happen anywhere?
On April 02 2010 02:12 zergpower123 wrote: I would rather live in the US than lets say North Korea, Iran, Iraq, etc!!!!!!
Despite its faults, the US is still the greatest nation there is. Don't like it, check out North Korea and you'll be back within 1 day lol.
EL OH EL OH EL OH EL
Yeh dude we r bettur than the wurst peeps in the wurld. Represent.
Yeah I am a bit confused by the disconnect with the OP and the article that concludes as
"So is the US an "aggressive, war-mongering military machine" obsessed with spending on defence and plumping up its armed forces? Perhaps, the numbers say, not." EDIT...so umm yeah April fools or just look at the first 2 tables?
And as a rule, whatever country you are from is the greatest country in the world, no real point arguing, it's just human nature, so cut that out....(though arguing about it is natural too I guess )
What do 9 out of 10 people enjoy? A gang rape. Imagine if we just took all of the money from the richest 10% of the country and gave it to everyone else, then 90% of our country would be better off and we would probably score better on polls that rate "happiness" which seems to be the litmus test for how great a country is. It's a shame that the bottom 90% allows the top 10% to keep their money.
Also, everybody knows the oldest and most well known rule of the world is that as long as you are neutral and stay out of everyone's business, then nobody will want to go to war with you. Why do you think nobody ever bothers Canada? Especially in a time with modern democracies, and the United Nations, and great communication, nobody really goes to war anymore. 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. When is the last time a modern democratic nation has outright invaded another nation without any provacation whatsoever? Over 6 years ago now, right?
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.
On April 02 2010 02:13 RaGe wrote: You just preemptively killed the mood for any future EG TAKES ON THE WORLD AMERICA FUCK YEAH moments.
nono.. don't say that.
Team amerika is/has been lz/mach/myself/inka. We will throw a louder pic in there but it is more to balance the rad.
David is and has always been a citizen of france. Where people don't care about money, nobody is homeless and everyone thinks along liberal lines and the rich give all their money to everyone. They also have a non existent defense budget and are never involved in wars.
I agree though.. america does suck. I wish I lived in SUPER FUCKING AWESOME AMERICA. Where poor people are made to live in the same state (utah). War is ALWAYS fucking happening and we get to listen to metallica montages as tank cams display the M1 abraham rolling over 1000 years of historical architecture. I want christmas trees in fucking july and the only thing we ate was apple pie, hamburgers and double hamburgers and sometimes for lunch octaplamilionburgers.
^^
Let's hear someone make an argument that ethically supports an individual holding billions of dollars in wealth and doing nothing to improve the condition of his countrymen, but instead, simply growing needlessly wealthier off of them. It's awesome when people who love Jesus defend the rich.
On April 02 2010 02:40 Alou wrote: The thing I dislike about American govt is all the hidden stuff that goes on and things that get tagged on to bills. If we're making a bill about A, don't add shit about B on it. Get A done, then move on to B. I hate senators who just tag on stuff to keep their rich donations coming in. It annoys me to no end.
As for army stuff, I think America just needs to realize we are not any form of world police, it is not our business going half way across the world to fix other people's things. We have so many problems domestically that need to be fixed. I'd really like USA to tone down the "Let's help everyone because we believe in freedom and democracy" and really just learn to help ourselves once in a while and fix our own problems.
Just random thoughts about whatever.
They don't actually read the bills in Congress or the Senate. It's on the honor system. No joke.
On April 02 2010 01:55 Louder wrote: To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
Right back at ya(though I really don't know anything about Napoleons sense of superiority).
To top it all off, contemporary Europeans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything American is greedy, ignorant, capitalist, and we just flat out always know better.
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.
i like this country...-_-; there are worse leaders than American leaders all over the world...I bet American leaders are 1000x better compared to leaders in korea so much corruption....
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
Japan isn't allowed an army in their constitution. If you didn't garrison it I'd invade it in a shot. To be honest I feel safer knowing Japan is defended by American soldiers rather than Japanese. American soldiers may have a stereotypically bad reputation but Japanese have a rather worse one historically. As for Germany, Cold War legacy, it takes forever for the army to catch up.
1) American Soldiers are one of the best paid in the world 2) A lot of that is DoD R&D spending. Universities receive a lot of portions of DoD money. 3) For those comparing it to, say education spending, you're morons. Education is on the shoulders of the state - Education spending far exceeds that of military spending, nearly 1.1 trillion.
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.
*sigh* I'm not even getting into it. What is the author's bias exactly, pretty sure the article started out referencing UK defense spending cuts. What exactly that has to do with bias towards the US, I'm not sure.
You're no better than the "tea party' party people. Misinformation is the same regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum.
Fucking read the article people. It's an April Fools joke. He's making an ass of you if you tell him he's retarded because you're retarded for not reading it.
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.
*sigh* I'm not even getting into it. What is the author's bias exactly, pretty sure the article started out referencing UK defense spending cuts. What exactly that has to do with bias towards the US, I'm not sure.
You're no better than the "tea party' party people. Misinformation is the same regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum.
lol It brings up the UK because it's a British newspaper. As the man keeps saying, JUST READ THE DAMN NUMBERS. The reason he linked the article was to show the comparisons in numbers. lol
Louder actually feels this way so it would be a really unfunny joke if it was. Some of you obviously dont know him or havent read his numerous posts here =)
Now if he said he converted to christianity or was a republican....that would be an april fools joke
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.
I'm particularly thrilled you've identified issues with our society -- however, I've always been rather disappointed with you proposed solutions.
There's nothing wrong about the tea-party movement; it represents a rather large swathe of government dissent -- some good, some bad. It's a very "American" movement, which, I think you'd agree with. And as a segment of popular culture, sure, it's going to be filled with many buffoons.
You don't like wealth disparity -- sure, nobody likes unnatural wealth disparity. It doesn't help that our government is actively funneling money into the hands of the ultra-rich, but there was always an alternative. Ask yourself why as governments grow larger and more powerful we keep ending up with (as a world economy) an ultra rich demographic that is accruing more and more wealth.
First, in their favor -- their wealth just doesn't sit and rot in some castle. They make money by investing and placing their money in places where it will provide some return. This is only possible by offering some service or product that society deems wanted. The problem with is that in many ways their earned wealth comes from involuntary means -- government subsidy, government bailout, and/or government monopoly.
You're right about one thing -- these lucky individuals maintain their status quo by utilizing government to their advantage. But, the knee-jerk reaction to utilize government to chastise these individuals and impose some form of egalitarianism is just as flawed and immoral as their reign of manipulation and will only end up serving their benefit, or, leave us all in a less fortunate situation.
Reducing military spending (which I'm all for) should not be pursued in order to spend money elsewhere. It is time we stop spoonfeeding the parasitic class and their lackeys.
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.
Ehh, words are cheap on the internet. So, here's Prof. Pinker's bio from his own website:
"Steven Pinker is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Until 2003, he taught in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and The New Republic, and is the author of seven books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, Words and Rules, The Blank Slate, and most recently, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature."
Regardless of your OPINION on his work (your own research would be what?), I don't think you can call him an idiot. However, I am perfectly justified calling people on the internet who obviously don't know what they are talking about idiots. Take 30 seconds, go find me a link supporting your viewpoint and I'll be happy to read it. I like to educate myself.
So, I prefer to go with someone who actually knows what they are talking about rather than just another internet 'tough guy'. Thanks.
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.
I don't really think you can come to a conclusion that the last 100 years have been more peaceful then any other 100 year time span throughout history. In the article you linked the author for the most part only talks about a decrease in violence in regards to capital punishment, he mentions Darfur and Iraq but fails to mention WW1, WW2, the Holocaust, the genocies commited by the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, and many many many other violent events.
All this article concludes is that there is a decrease in violence with regards to capital punishment. Not that there has been a decrease in violence in the last 100 years.
Edit: Also learn some fucking respect, if you don't like blogs or conversing with people who post on blogs dont fucking read it.
Stop crying about it and do something about it. Everyone cries about this and that but has no balls to do something about it. Then you get some nerd like yourself who will post some bullshit on a gaming website. It takes a real person to try to stand up rather then crying and posting on a starcraft website. Do something with your life then cry and play starcraft. Your over 25+ years old, time to move on. But it'll be hard since you have no friends in real life, only SC. Thats why maybe you haven't left yet. Useless sperm egg that made it. Awesome. Dont even care if this is April fools, you should still get a life.
We have like 120+ military bases in other countries. We also have a long history if intervening in other countries but seem to be just offended if anyone even suggests some sort of check to the US international will. The post is well justified, and its also true that more than half of Americans share this view of "the rest of the world is fucked up, and apparently just needs us to invade them etc to teach them lessons."
Lastly, I will state that the US is the worlds leading terrorist state, being responsible for more civilian deaths in each period of the last 10, 20, 30 and 40 years than any other nation or group.
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.
I don't really think you can come to a conclusion that the last 100 years have been more peaceful then any other 100 year time span throughout history. In the article you linked the author for the most part only talks about a decrease in violence in regards to capital punishment, he mentions Darfur and Iraq but fails to mention WW1, WW2, the Holocaust, the genocies commited by the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, and many many many other violent events.
All this article concludes is that there is a decrease in violence with regards to capital punishment. Not that there has been a decrease in violence in the last 100 years.
Edit: Also learn some fucking respect, if you don't like blogs or conversing with people who post on blogs dont fucking read it.
Here, I did your work for you. Another piece that has an opposing viewpoint.
BTW, I wasn't drawing any conclusions. I was responding to some guy that posted a couple of inflammatory pictures as evidence of some larger point that we live in the most violent time in the history of the world. What I was trying to point out, is that the issue is a lot more nuanced than a bunch of pictures from 60 (yes SIXTY) years ago.
On April 02 2010 04:11 cursor wrote: Lastly, I will state that the US is the worlds leading terrorist state, being responsible for more civilian deaths in each period of the last 10, 20, 30 and 40 years than any other nation or group.
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.
I'm particularly thrilled you've identified issues with our society -- however, I've always been rather disappointed with you proposed solutions.
There's nothing wrong about the tea-party movement; it represents a rather large swathe of government dissent -- some good, some bad. It's a very "American" movement, which, I think you'd agree with. And as a segment of popular culture, sure, it's going to be filled with many buffoons.
You don't like wealth disparity -- sure, nobody likes unnatural wealth disparity. It doesn't help that our government is actively funneling money into the hands of the ultra-rich, but there was always an alternative. Ask yourself why as governments grow larger and more powerful we keep ending up with (as a world economy) an ultra rich demographic that is accruing more and more wealth.
First, in their favor -- their wealth just doesn't sit and rot in some castle. They make money by investing and placing their money in places where it will provide some return. This is only possible by offering some service or product that society deems wanted. The problem with is that in many ways their earned wealth comes from involuntary means -- government subsidy, government bailout, and/or government monopoly.
You're right about one thing -- these lucky individuals maintain their status quo by utilizing government to their advantage. But, the knee-jerk reaction to utilize government to chastise these individuals and impose some form of egalitarianism is just as flawed and immoral as their reign of manipulation and will only end up serving their benefit, or, leave us all in a less fortunate situation.
Reducing military spending (which I'm all for) should not be pursued in order to spend money elsewhere. It is time we stop spoonfeeding the parasitic class and their lackeys.
I do think cutting military spending and shifting money elsewhere is a legitimate part of a larger solution. My original blog post is more about the American mindset and why it makes America suck. The Tea Party movement is certainly American in it's ignorance - any number of polls taken at events across the country demonstrate that they didn't even know what the proposed health care legislation was going to do - they just opposed it. The Reaganites and their "any government is bad government" line are clearly people so far detached from reality that there is simply no validity to their opinions.
The notion that the wealthy re-invest in society is not entirely true. Capitalism at large relies on the idealistic assumption that there is a fair balance of power between the provider and the purchaser of a good or service, between the employer and the job holder. I don't think I need to provide evidence that this assumption is false - but if I do, look at worker conditions in the industrial revolution in this country. It's a perfect example of wage slavery. Building on that, you have the wealthy class spreading wealth amongst itself, accumulating wealth, and not allowing wealth to trickle down in any way. They re-invest to the extent it directly benefits them, and only them - often in ways that directly harm the lower classes. Current mortgage derivative and credit default swap induced economic crisis is a case in point.
Better yet, let's talk about privatization of government functions for the sole benefit of the wealthy. Privatizing the prison system, for example, has been demonstrated to raise cost, and also raise the incarceration rates. It's no coincidence that when the drug war really heated up in the early 90s, privatization was just getting rolling. Defense, health care, penal system, corporate welfare (bank bailouts? omfg) - it's an endless pattern of misuse and abuse of public wealth for the benefit of the upper class. And poor people everywhere are convinced these things are good, simply because they are convinced government is bad, therefore privatization is automatically good. Same for regulations and so forth.
But as long as Americans have their TV, their assault rifles, their wars to cheer with blind patriotism, and their superstitious religion, and the carrot on a stick showing them that "yes you too can be rich and powerful", there will always be a status quo that is owned entirely by the wealthy.
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.
Ehh, words are cheap on the internet. So, here's Prof. Pinker's bio from his own website:
"Steven Pinker is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Until 2003, he taught in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and The New Republic, and is the author of seven books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, Words and Rules, The Blank Slate, and most recently, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature."
Regardless of your OPINION on his work (your own research would be what?), I don't think you can call him an idiot. However, I am perfectly justified calling people on the internet who obviously don't know what they are talking about idiots. Take 30 seconds, go find me a link supporting your viewpoint and I'll be happy to read it. I like to educate myself.
So, I prefer to go with someone who actually knows what they are talking about rather than just another internet 'tough guy'. Thanks.
Which part of that qualified him on military history? Appeals to authority are a great logical fallacy to employ but it's normal to appeal to an authority within the field of the argument. Otherwise I could just counter your argument with Gandalf.
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
Japan isn't allowed an army in their constitution. If you didn't garrison it I'd invade it in a shot. To be honest I feel safer knowing Japan is defended by American soldiers rather than Japanese. American soldiers may have a stereotypically bad reputation but Japanese have a rather worse one historically. As for Germany, Cold War legacy, it takes forever for the army to catch up.
You're assuming either country is actually in need of the vast amounts of defense we provide. If military might were the sole deterrent to war, then indeed our spending would be justified - but amongst first world nations, it's far more complex than that. I would argue that military might is one of the least important factors, if not the least, in international politics amongst first world nations.
On April 02 2010 04:08 MuscLe wrote: Stop crying about it and do something about it. Everyone cries about this and that but has no balls to do something about it. Then you get some nerd like yourself who will post some bullshit on a gaming website. It takes a real person to try to stand up rather then crying and posting on a starcraft website. Do something with your life then cry and play starcraft. Your over 25+ years old, time to move on. But it'll be hard since you have no friends in real life, only SC. Thats why maybe you haven't left yet. Useless sperm egg that made it. Awesome. Dont even care if this is April fools, you should still get a life.
On April 02 2010 04:11 cursor wrote: Lastly, I will state that the US is the worlds leading terrorist state, being responsible for more civilian deaths in each period of the last 10, 20, 30 and 40 years than any other nation or group.
Granted, it's Chomsky. So... that might color your opinion a bit. =)
Most people who make these terrorist statements fall back on the US support of Israel and Israel's 'terrorist' actions. School of the Americas in Fort Benning (sp?), GA would be another good example. There's plenty of bad marks on the US history if you want to go looking for em.
Certainly no different than any other government for the most part.
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.
I don't really think you can come to a conclusion that the last 100 years have been more peaceful then any other 100 year time span throughout history. In the article you linked the author for the most part only talks about a decrease in violence in regards to capital punishment, he mentions Darfur and Iraq but fails to mention WW1, WW2, the Holocaust, the genocies commited by the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, and many many many other violent events.
All this article concludes is that there is a decrease in violence with regards to capital punishment. Not that there has been a decrease in violence in the last 100 years.
Edit: Also learn some fucking respect, if you don't like blogs or conversing with people who post on blogs dont fucking read it.
Here, I did your work for you. Another piece that has an opposing viewpoint.
BTW, I wasn't drawing any conclusions. I was responding to some guy that posted a couple of inflammatory pictures as evidence of some larger point that we live in the most violent time in the history of the world. What I was trying to point out, is that the issue is a lot more nuanced than a bunch of pictures from 60 (yes SIXTY) years ago.
Unlike you I can come up with my own opinions and I don't need to just link an article that shares the same viewpoint as me.
Lastly, I will state that the US is the worlds leading terrorist state, being responsible for more civilian deaths in each period of the last 10, 20, 30 and 40 years than any other nation or group.
You're going to need to define terrorist, because no standard definition of it (although it has become an ambiguous term) agrees with you. Terror is a specific tactic used in the theater of war, emphasis on theater. America has done some horrific things, but I don't find there to be much merit in calling it a terrorist state, besides the obvious shocked reaction you're trying to garner.
I also don't think that's true (and arguably not a very useful number either.) Perhaps in the last 10 or 20 years, or if you want to use indirect means to implicate the US.
On April 02 2010 04:11 cursor wrote: Lastly, I will state that the US is the worlds leading terrorist state, being responsible for more civilian deaths in each period of the last 10, 20, 30 and 40 years than any other nation or group.
[citation needed]
I think it's simple to make a case that the US is the world's leading INCITER of terrorism, particularly in the middle east. Calling it a terrorist state is a stretch, but we certainly do have a history of supporting terrorist groups when it suits our government's agenda.
Of course, on the note of terrorism, I always think back to this image:
Ask any American what scares them more - major illness leading to financial hardship and possibly death due to lack of health insurance, or a terrorist attack.
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.
I don't really think you can come to a conclusion that the last 100 years have been more peaceful then any other 100 year time span throughout history. In the article you linked the author for the most part only talks about a decrease in violence in regards to capital punishment, he mentions Darfur and Iraq but fails to mention WW1, WW2, the Holocaust, the genocies commited by the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, and many many many other violent events.
All this article concludes is that there is a decrease in violence with regards to capital punishment. Not that there has been a decrease in violence in the last 100 years.
Edit: Also learn some fucking respect, if you don't like blogs or conversing with people who post on blogs dont fucking read it.
Here, I did your work for you. Another piece that has an opposing viewpoint.
BTW, I wasn't drawing any conclusions. I was responding to some guy that posted a couple of inflammatory pictures as evidence of some larger point that we live in the most violent time in the history of the world. What I was trying to point out, is that the issue is a lot more nuanced than a bunch of pictures from 60 (yes SIXTY) years ago.
You want a list + pics of the genocides and wars in the last 15 years ?
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
Japan isn't allowed an army in their constitution. If you didn't garrison it I'd invade it in a shot. To be honest I feel safer knowing Japan is defended by American soldiers rather than Japanese. American soldiers may have a stereotypically bad reputation but Japanese have a rather worse one historically. As for Germany, Cold War legacy, it takes forever for the army to catch up.
You're assuming either country is actually in need of the vast amounts of defense we provide. If military might were the sole deterrent to war, then indeed our spending would be justified - but amongst first world nations, it's far more complex than that. I would argue that military might is one of the least important factors, if not the least, in international politics amongst first world nations.
I completely disagree, especially in East Asia and Eastern Europe.
I agree that we're spending too much and in some cases frivolously, but military might is still very important. Also, let's not forget some of the ways in which the military has been ahead of the country, not just in terms of leading technology but social issues as well. "Don't ask, don't tell" is an awful policy, but the military was also the first major public body to integrate, long before schools were willing to.
Also of note, and relevant to your OP, public schools in America are actually more segregated today than they were before Brown v. Board of Education. There's no policy for it, but there's also no policy to keep integration working, and as a result of the hands off approach, we have more divided schools than before.
On April 02 2010 04:11 cursor wrote: Lastly, I will state that the US is the worlds leading terrorist state, being responsible for more civilian deaths in each period of the last 10, 20, 30 and 40 years than any other nation or group.
Granted, it's Chomsky. So... that might color your opinion a bit. =)
Most people who make these terrorist statements fall back on the US support of Israel and Israel's 'terrorist' actions. School of the Americas in Fort Benning (sp?), GA would be another good example. There's plenty of bad marks on the US history if you want to go looking for em.
Certainly no different than any other government for the most part.
i skimmed that very long interview that talks about foreign political policies that i don't fully understand but saying the US is responsible for more civilian deaths than any other group within the last 50 years is simply not true.
for example
Pol Pot became leader of Cambodia in mid-1975.[2] During his time in power, Pol Pot imposed a version of agrarian collectivization, forcing city dwellers to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labor projects, toward a goal of "restarting civilization" in a "Year Zero". The combined effects of slave labor, malnutrition, poor medical care, and executions resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 to 2.5 million people, approximately 21% of the Cambodian population.[8]
i would also like to say even though military spending may seem overindulgent it is still necessary. the US government buys freedom for many countries with its military might whereas if we were not as powerful militarily our opinion on certain matters would be more easily ignored. for example, if china wants to start shit over taiwan all the US has to do is park a carrier there and it's instantly without deliberation a sign saying "fuck off china".
Also of note, sexism is still alive and well in the US, but the fact that you get to go to your daughter's softball games and it's completely acceptable and promoted makes it suck a lot less than most other places, including many other first world countries. Now why they play softball instead of baseball is another issue...
I like it, and this might just be inbreed bias but isn't a substantial part of our world stability held in place by a firm belief in the might of American arms? Like the tenuous peace between North and South Korea exists because we're there to counter balance China and to a lesser extent the thing with Japan. And because we're here Israel isn't like "fuck this" and stomping through Palestine. And the North Korea's and Iran's and other shaky militaristic powers of the world aren't shitting on everything? Nothing we do is prefect but I'm glad it's the US in the drivers seat instead of retreating back into itself and saying fuck the world like we did pre WW1 and 2.
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.
I don't really think you can come to a conclusion that the last 100 years have been more peaceful then any other 100 year time span throughout history. In the article you linked the author for the most part only talks about a decrease in violence in regards to capital punishment, he mentions Darfur and Iraq but fails to mention WW1, WW2, the Holocaust, the genocies commited by the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, and many many many other violent events.
All this article concludes is that there is a decrease in violence with regards to capital punishment. Not that there has been a decrease in violence in the last 100 years.
Edit: Also learn some fucking respect, if you don't like blogs or conversing with people who post on blogs dont fucking read it.
Here, I did your work for you. Another piece that has an opposing viewpoint.
BTW, I wasn't drawing any conclusions. I was responding to some guy that posted a couple of inflammatory pictures as evidence of some larger point that we live in the most violent time in the history of the world. What I was trying to point out, is that the issue is a lot more nuanced than a bunch of pictures from 60 (yes SIXTY) years ago.
Unlike you I can come up with my own opinions and I don't need to just link an article that shares the same viewpoint as me.
No. I can pull opinions out of my ass too. However, I prefer to to defer to people obviously more knowledgeable than me in certain areas. Your opinions are only worth the evidence they are backed up by. I also don't agree with the link I posted for you, nor do I agree with the Chomsky link I posted. But, at least others can go educate themselves on these issues rather than listening to internet 'tough guy' give his opinion.
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.
I'm particularly thrilled you've identified issues with our society -- however, I've always been rather disappointed with you proposed solutions.
There's nothing wrong about the tea-party movement; it represents a rather large swathe of government dissent -- some good, some bad. It's a very "American" movement, which, I think you'd agree with. And as a segment of popular culture, sure, it's going to be filled with many buffoons.
You don't like wealth disparity -- sure, nobody likes unnatural wealth disparity. It doesn't help that our government is actively funneling money into the hands of the ultra-rich, but there was always an alternative. Ask yourself why as governments grow larger and more powerful we keep ending up with (as a world economy) an ultra rich demographic that is accruing more and more wealth.
First, in their favor -- their wealth just doesn't sit and rot in some castle. They make money by investing and placing their money in places where it will provide some return. This is only possible by offering some service or product that society deems wanted. The problem with is that in many ways their earned wealth comes from involuntary means -- government subsidy, government bailout, and/or government monopoly.
You're right about one thing -- these lucky individuals maintain their status quo by utilizing government to their advantage. But, the knee-jerk reaction to utilize government to chastise these individuals and impose some form of egalitarianism is just as flawed and immoral as their reign of manipulation and will only end up serving their benefit, or, leave us all in a less fortunate situation.
Reducing military spending (which I'm all for) should not be pursued in order to spend money elsewhere. It is time we stop spoonfeeding the parasitic class and their lackeys.
I do think cutting military spending and shifting money elsewhere is a legitimate part of a larger solution. My original blog post is more about the American mindset and why it makes America suck. The Tea Party movement is certainly American in it's ignorance - any number of polls taken at events across the country demonstrate that they didn't even know what the proposed health care legislation was going to do - they just opposed it. The Reaganites and their "any government is bad government" line are clearly people so far detached from reality that there is simply no validity to their opinions.
The notion that the wealthy re-invest in society is not entirely true. Capitalism at large relies on the idealistic assumption that there is a fair balance of power between the provider and the purchaser of a good or service, between the employer and the job holder. I don't think I need to provide evidence that this assumption is false - but if I do, look at worker conditions in the industrial revolution in this country. It's a perfect example of wage slavery. Building on that, you have the wealthy class spreading wealth amongst itself, accumulating wealth, and not allowing wealth to trickle down in any way. They re-invest to the extent it directly benefits them, and only them - often in ways that directly harm the lower classes. Current mortgage derivative and credit default swap induced economic crisis is a case in point.
Better yet, let's talk about privatization of government functions for the sole benefit of the wealthy. Privatizing the prison system, for example, has been demonstrated to raise cost, and also raise the incarceration rates. It's no coincidence that when the drug war really heated up in the early 90s, privatization was just getting rolling. Defense, health care, penal system, corporate welfare (bank bailouts? omfg) - it's an endless pattern of misuse and abuse of public wealth for the benefit of the upper class. And poor people everywhere are convinced these things are good, simply because they are convinced government is bad, therefore privatization is automatically good. Same for regulations and so forth.
But as long as Americans have their TV, their assault rifles, their wars to cheer with blind patriotism, and their superstitious religion, and the carrot on a stick showing them that "yes you too can be rich and powerful", there will always be a status quo that is owned entirely by the wealthy.
To be accurate, most of everyone doesn't know what the healthcare bill does. It's blatant fascism that the "anti-fascist" party pushed and the "fascist" party vehemently opposed.
The industrial revolution was just that -- a revolution. It was a time of experimentation, learning, and evolution -- especially that of employer/worker relationships. As expected, workers fought for representation, and, earned it.
"Building on that, you have the wealthy class spreading wealth amongst itself, accumulating wealth, and not allowing wealth to trickle down in any way. They re-invest to the extent it directly benefits them, and only them - often in ways that directly harm the lower classes. Current mortgage derivative and credit default swap induced economic crisis is a case in point." Haha, what exactly is your point? I thought the motto "every american deserves a home" was a core mantra to the housing GSE that fueled the CDS fervor.
Take a guess where all that money came from. Take a guess which "company" made the most profit in 2009. If you want to talk about slavery and servitude, we are purely at the whim of our economic overlords.
Privatization of the prison system does not put people into jail. Law does that. Who makes law? Oh right, government.
Once again, I adore how you see problems... I just wish you wouldn't fall to the same poor logic as those you criticize do.
On April 02 2010 03:00 Trowabarton756 wrote: 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.
So once we're 'good enough' there's no reason to get any better? Once we reach D+ on ICCUP, there's no need to practice any more?
So long as there's a possibility for improvement, people will (rightfully) bring attention to it. Saying that 'hey we're doing pretty ok, actually' is not a good attitude for self-improvement.
And here I am, being the ultimate hypocrite talking about the US improving itself, and I moved to Canada.
I would agree with you on a lot of points, but the fact that America actually subsidizes the defense of foreign nations (like the European nations), leads me to believe that America, even though is very militaristic, and in many ways imperialistic, some nations should be thankful that we actually provide for "the common defense".
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.
I don't really think you can come to a conclusion that the last 100 years have been more peaceful then any other 100 year time span throughout history. In the article you linked the author for the most part only talks about a decrease in violence in regards to capital punishment, he mentions Darfur and Iraq but fails to mention WW1, WW2, the Holocaust, the genocies commited by the Ottoman Empire/Turkey, and many many many other violent events.
All this article concludes is that there is a decrease in violence with regards to capital punishment. Not that there has been a decrease in violence in the last 100 years.
Edit: Also learn some fucking respect, if you don't like blogs or conversing with people who post on blogs dont fucking read it.
Here, I did your work for you. Another piece that has an opposing viewpoint.
BTW, I wasn't drawing any conclusions. I was responding to some guy that posted a couple of inflammatory pictures as evidence of some larger point that we live in the most violent time in the history of the world. What I was trying to point out, is that the issue is a lot more nuanced than a bunch of pictures from 60 (yes SIXTY) years ago.
You want a list + pics of the genocides and wars in the last 15 years ?
That's a good point you make. Is there some amount of violent, graphic images you could link that sway my thoughts... probably not. Was death not just as graphic 500 years ago, what about 1000, 10000? Obviously, I can't show you photographs of the Romans flaying people alive.
I think we can both agree that genocide is never warranted.
i like hollywood movies, even if some of the war movies get supported by the us army and change historical facts or at least try to deny the "bad" facts.
On April 02 2010 02:59 BlackJack wrote: What do 9 out of 10 people enjoy? A gang rape. Imagine if we just took all of the money from the richest 10% of the country and gave it to everyone else, then 90% of our country would be better off and we would probably score better on polls that rate "happiness" which seems to be the litmus test for how great a country is. It's a shame that the bottom 90% allows the top 10% to keep their money.
Also, everybody knows the oldest and most well known rule of the world is that as long as you are neutral and stay out of everyone's business, then nobody will want to go to war with you. Why do you think nobody ever bothers Canada? Especially in a time with modern democracies, and the United Nations, and great communication, nobody really goes to war anymore. 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. When is the last time a modern democratic nation has outright invaded another nation without any provacation whatsoever? Over 6 years ago now, right?
Also, this guy was being sarcastic. It was pretty obvious in case that guy who decided to link the pictures of genocide couldn't tell >.>
On April 02 2010 03:00 Trowabarton756 wrote: 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.
So once we're 'good enough' there's no reason to get any better? Once we reach D+ on ICCUP, there's no need to practice any more?
So long as there's a possibility for improvement, people will (rightfully) bring attention to it. Saying that 'hey we're doing pretty ok, actually' is not a good attitude for self-improvement.
And here I am, being the ultimate hypocrite talking about the US improving itself, and I moved to Canada.
We're a nation so obsessed with war and conquest, even while claiming to adhere to a pacifistic religion and to hold freedom and liberty as tantamount human values.
We're a nation so unwilling to care for the sick and the poor that the soldiers we spend so much money on while they're in service are impoverished and without adequate mental or physical care once they're no longer active.
We will spend such vast sums of money on what we call defense - which is, quite literally, maintenance of an empire (50,000 troops in Germany? excuse me, is it still the 40s?) - yet bicker over spending fractions of the same amount on keeping American citizens healthy.
We let our national infrastructure crumble, we let special interest groups literally buy our elected officials, we allow the wealthy to continually reach new heights of wealth that exceed any ethically justifiable. Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
I hear people in other countries say things like... we just hate America's leaders, not Americans. I have news for you. About half of the people in this country are JUST LIKE those leaders. So thanks for the generosity of spirit, but it's not justified.
Dude, everything you posted is wrong, countries are a lot worse than us such as North Korea, China, and Russia.
Plus, if we wanted to take over the world, I believe that we could have done the majority of that a long time ago!
On April 02 2010 03:37 Louder wrote: 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
Defense planning is based on capability, not intent - threats can appear as quickly as they can disappear, as the Soviet Union collapsed. There's also a political meaning to stationing troops overseas as well - any attack on the host country necessarily draws the US into the fray, which can be a significant deterring factor, so it serves as reassurance of US commitment. In any case, having overseas bases allows us to react to any crisis that may or may not develop. You'll also note that we are in Japan and Germany with the consent of their governments, so obviously they feel like they're getting something out of it.
We're a nation so obsessed with war and conquest, even while claiming to adhere to a pacifistic religion and to hold freedom and liberty as tantamount human values.
We're a nation so unwilling to care for the sick and the poor that the soldiers we spend so much money on while they're in service are impoverished and without adequate mental or physical care once they're no longer active.
We will spend such vast sums of money on what we call defense - which is, quite literally, maintenance of an empire (50,000 troops in Germany? excuse me, is it still the 40s?) - yet bicker over spending fractions of the same amount on keeping American citizens healthy.
We let our national infrastructure crumble, we let special interest groups literally buy our elected officials, we allow the wealthy to continually reach new heights of wealth that exceed any ethically justifiable. Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
I hear people in other countries say things like... we just hate America's leaders, not Americans. I have news for you. About half of the people in this country are JUST LIKE those leaders. So thanks for the generosity of spirit, but it's not justified.
Dude, everything you posted is wrong, countries are a lot worse than us such as North Korea, China, and Russia.
Plus, if we wanted to take over the world, I believe that we could have done the majority of that a long time ago!
Saying there are examples of worse behavior is not an argument, it's deflection.
On April 02 2010 03:00 Trowabarton756 wrote: 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.
So once we're 'good enough' there's no reason to get any better? Once we reach D+ on ICCUP, there's no need to practice any more?
So long as there's a possibility for improvement, people will (rightfully) bring attention to it. Saying that 'hey we're doing pretty ok, actually' is not a good attitude for self-improvement.
And here I am, being the ultimate hypocrite talking about the US improving itself, and I moved to Canada.
I'm right behind you.
You could start with moving out of Texas. We do agree on the Canada thing though, beautiful country. Vancouver is my first choice if we're moving.
Whatever this article is supposed to be, the answer is : cause humans suck - no matter if you are American, Asian, European. I figured that people will never fix something like world famine, destroying tropical forests, innocent people dying even if it was in our power. yeah that's right. Only thing i would add to the US thing is that americans seem little bit "brainwashed" to me, especially young generation. When 15 year old guy tells me that no country should fuck with the US or they can fucking blow it with nuclear weapons- doesn't seem ok to me.
We're a nation so obsessed with war and conquest,even while claiming to adhere to a pacifistic religion and to hold freedom and liberty as tantamount human values.
We're a nation so unwilling to care for the sick and the poor that the soldiers we spend so much money on while they're in service are impoverished and without adequate mental or physical care once they're no longer active.
We will spend such vast sums of money on what we call defense - which is, quite literally, maintenance of an empire (50,000 troops in Germany? excuse me, is it still the 40s?) - yet bicker over spending fractions of the same amount on keeping American citizens healthy.
We let our national infrastructure crumble, we let special interest groups literally buy our elected officials, we allow the wealthy to continually reach new heights of wealth that exceed any ethically justifiable. Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
I hear people in other countries say things like... we just hate America's leaders, not Americans. I have news for you. About half of the people in this country are JUST LIKE those leaders. So thanks for the generosity of spirit, but it's not justified.
Dude, everything you posted is wrong, countries are a lot worse than us such as North Korea, China, and Russia.
Plus, if we wanted to take over the world, I believe that we could have done the majority of that a long time ago!
Saying there are examples of worse behavior is not an argument, it's deflection.
Dude, why did you even come to America in the first place (or your parents)???? Even if your ancestors we born here, I need to ask you a question.
IF America is so bad, why don't you just move.
Also, if we were a nation "so unwilling to care for the sick", what about all the nursing homes across America, the 988 (or something like that) billion dollar health care plan we just passed.
Also, "vast amounts of money to make an empire," every country wants to spend its money on protecting its citizens are ensuring that they are stronger and tougher for all the threats that they face.
We're a nation so obsessed with war and conquest,even while claiming to adhere to a pacifistic religion and to hold freedom and liberty as tantamount human values.
We're a nation so unwilling to care for the sick and the poor that the soldiers we spend so much money on while they're in service are impoverished and without adequate mental or physical care once they're no longer active.
We will spend such vast sums of money on what we call defense - which is, quite literally, maintenance of an empire (50,000 troops in Germany? excuse me, is it still the 40s?) - yet bicker over spending fractions of the same amount on keeping American citizens healthy.
We let our national infrastructure crumble, we let special interest groups literally buy our elected officials, we allow the wealthy to continually reach new heights of wealth that exceed any ethically justifiable. Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
I hear people in other countries say things like... we just hate America's leaders, not Americans. I have news for you. About half of the people in this country are JUST LIKE those leaders. So thanks for the generosity of spirit, but it's not justified.
Dude, everything you posted is wrong, countries are a lot worse than us such as North Korea, China, and Russia.
Plus, if we wanted to take over the world, I believe that we could have done the majority of that a long time ago!
Saying there are examples of worse behavior is not an argument, it's deflection.
Dude, why did you even come to America in the first place (or your parents)???? Even if your ancestors we born here, I need to ask you a question.
IF America is so bad, why don't you just move.
Also, if we were a nation "so unwilling to care for the sick", what about all the nursing homes across America, the 988 (or something like that) billion dollar health care plan we just passed.
Also, "vast amounts of money to make an empire," every country wants to spend its money on protecting its citizens are ensuring that they are stronger and tougher for all the threats that they face.
Ok. I feel the need to contribute in this thread. One of the top reasons why America sucks must be that NOBODY seems to know what Bounty is (the chocolate bar). Seriously? See another blog about this..... Or Wikipedia.....
Any of the major brands in the US are world-renowned symbols. How do you guys not recognize one of the best chocolate bars that the rest of the world enjoys instead of your closest, crappy comparison?
Shit, maybe I should have kept it a secret..... ~280 million people, who are on average more gluttonous than the rest of the world, could have been left ignorant of one of the greatest inventions of all time (right behind penicillin, the telephone, and sliced bread). More Bounty for me in that case!
Bill Maher has been talking about this for the last year on Real Time.
His guests and himself have covered every possible issue from healthcare to military spending, unfortunately the program is seen as a comedy show, because when you think about it, the truth is so fucked up that you can't really swallow it without a nervous laughter.
BTW, it hasn't been any better in the 20th century, you can read up on wonderful stuff like sponsoring "revolutions" in latin american countries, agent orange, dropping minefields off in Laos, Vietnam massacres, acid rain, no medicare, etc. Are american politicians more corrupt than in other countries? Nah, not really, but corruption is actually quite beneficial, assuming that it is limited and there are significant rents left for improvement of actual infrastructure after feeding the government bureaucracy.
We're a nation so obsessed with war and conquest,even while claiming to adhere to a pacifistic religion and to hold freedom and liberty as tantamount human values.
We're a nation so unwilling to care for the sick and the poor that the soldiers we spend so much money on while they're in service are impoverished and without adequate mental or physical care once they're no longer active.
We will spend such vast sums of money on what we call defense - which is, quite literally, maintenance of an empire (50,000 troops in Germany? excuse me, is it still the 40s?) - yet bicker over spending fractions of the same amount on keeping American citizens healthy.
We let our national infrastructure crumble, we let special interest groups literally buy our elected officials, we allow the wealthy to continually reach new heights of wealth that exceed any ethically justifiable. Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
I hear people in other countries say things like... we just hate America's leaders, not Americans. I have news for you. About half of the people in this country are JUST LIKE those leaders. So thanks for the generosity of spirit, but it's not justified.
Dude, everything you posted is wrong, countries are a lot worse than us such as North Korea, China, and Russia.
Plus, if we wanted to take over the world, I believe that we could have done the majority of that a long time ago!
Saying there are examples of worse behavior is not an argument, it's deflection.
Dude, why did you even come to America in the first place (or your parents)???? Even if your ancestors we born here, I need to ask you a question.
IF America is so bad, why don't you just move.
Also, if we were a nation "so unwilling to care for the sick", what about all the nursing homes across America, the 988 (or something like that) billion dollar health care plan we just passed.
Also, "vast amounts of money to make an empire," every country wants to spend its money on protecting its citizens are ensuring that they are stronger and tougher for all the threats that they face.
No offense bro', but you're an idiot.
With all due respect, can you plz back up your response???
We're a nation so obsessed with war and conquest,even while claiming to adhere to a pacifistic religion and to hold freedom and liberty as tantamount human values.
We're a nation so unwilling to care for the sick and the poor that the soldiers we spend so much money on while they're in service are impoverished and without adequate mental or physical care once they're no longer active.
We will spend such vast sums of money on what we call defense - which is, quite literally, maintenance of an empire (50,000 troops in Germany? excuse me, is it still the 40s?) - yet bicker over spending fractions of the same amount on keeping American citizens healthy.
We let our national infrastructure crumble, we let special interest groups literally buy our elected officials, we allow the wealthy to continually reach new heights of wealth that exceed any ethically justifiable. Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
I hear people in other countries say things like... we just hate America's leaders, not Americans. I have news for you. About half of the people in this country are JUST LIKE those leaders. So thanks for the generosity of spirit, but it's not justified.
Dude, everything you posted is wrong, countries are a lot worse than us such as North Korea, China, and Russia.
Plus, if we wanted to take over the world, I believe that we could have done the majority of that a long time ago!
Saying there are examples of worse behavior is not an argument, it's deflection.
Dude, why did you even come to America in the first place (or your parents)???? Even if your ancestors we born here, I need to ask you a question. [1]
IF America is so bad, why don't you just move. [2]
Also, if we were a nation "so unwilling to care for the sick", what about all the nursing homes across America, the 988 (or something like that) billion dollar health care plan we just passed. [3]
[1] Dude why were you born into a poor family? Like, seriously, you should have been born into a rich family.
[2] Yeah what we should do is just have a mass exodus of all people that dislike the US. That'll fix all the problems. By the way, I did move and so have many others - and for many of the reasons stated in this thread. So obviously, at least some of the points raised here are valid.
[3] You've seriously gotta be joking with this one. You cannot even remotely compare the US's care of the sick with other modernized nations. The US does not even come close. If you become extremely sick in the US and you weren't born into a rich family, you can either suffer and possibly die or you can dig yourself below the poverty line.
Sure, they have the best healthcare in the world if you make like 100k+ a year...
But as a medical doctor in the US, clearly you are biased.
On April 02 2010 02:13 RaGe wrote: You just preemptively killed the mood for any future EG TAKES ON THE WORLD AMERICA FUCK YEAH moments.
But yeah, American politics are fucked up. You even failed to mention shit like FOX News and the Texas board of education. Or the fucked up voting system. Or the ridiculous price of decent education.
What do you mean about the voting system. And yea...Fox is biased and education is pricy (but the investment mad is imo worth it) and recently American Politics are fucked up...but that does not mean that were the worst nation, i would rather live here than in any other country.
[1] Dude why were you born into a poor family? Like, seriously, you should have been born into a rich family.
[2] Yeah what we should do is just have a mass exodus of all people that dislike the US. That'll fix all the problems. By the way, I did move and so have many others - and for many of the reasons stated in this thread. So obviously, at least some of the points raised here are valid.
[3] You've seriously gotta be joking with this one. You cannot even remotely compare the US's care of the sick with other modernized nations. The US does not even come close. If you become extremely sick in the US and you weren't born into a rich family, you can either suffer and possibly die or you can dig yourself below the poverty line.
Sure, they have the best healthcare in the world if you make like 100k+ a year...
But as a medical doctor in the US, clearly you are biased.
To question your view on #2, you moved but what about the thousands that come to America everyday???
#1...i just don't get
and #3...thanks for bringing that to my attention, so i must agree with that...however the I was mainly talking about the quality of care GIVEN to PEOPLE WHO CAN PAY. I mean we are pioneers in medicine and science and medicine
I think the worst part about the world today is that stupid people will never change their minds, and clever people are usually right to begin with. Status quo - we have to wait generations for new oppinions to be formed.
Also i think posts like this will only push peopple further into the extreme because both sides have a billion experts backing them up, and no one really knows which experts are right.
Thank you Louder for showing us once again that people never actually ever completely read links that are posted that need to be read to understand the context of the post.
Your logic concerning medical care and immigration is grossly flawed. Just because some people go someplace doesn't mean that place is very good, just that it is better than others, or that is has more lax immigration laws.
Also saying a country has good healthcare because rich paying people receive good medical treatment is just...
I do agree though that you are pioneers of medicine and science and medicine though.
On April 02 2010 08:01 lMPERVlOUS wrote: Ok. I feel the need to contribute in this thread. One of the top reasons why America sucks must be that NOBODY seems to know what Bounty is (the chocolate bar). Seriously? See another blog about this..... Or Wikipedia.....
Any of the major brands in the US are world-renowned symbols. How do you guys not recognize one of the best chocolate bars that the rest of the world enjoys instead of your closest, crappy comparison?
Shit, maybe I should have kept it a secret..... ~280 million people, who are on average more gluttonous than the rest of the world, could have been left ignorant of one of the greatest inventions of all time (right behind penicillin, the telephone, and sliced bread). More Bounty for me in that case!
ever had a Mounds bar?
nuff said.
@op: Dude I understand all of what you are saying but most people are not like that consciously. this generation will change things just like every generation changes things. Stop bitching , its survival of the fittest.
We're a nation so obsessed with war and conquest,even while claiming to adhere to a pacifistic religion and to hold freedom and liberty as tantamount human values.
We're a nation so unwilling to care for the sick and the poor that the soldiers we spend so much money on while they're in service are impoverished and without adequate mental or physical care once they're no longer active.
We will spend such vast sums of money on what we call defense - which is, quite literally, maintenance of an empire (50,000 troops in Germany? excuse me, is it still the 40s?) - yet bicker over spending fractions of the same amount on keeping American citizens healthy.
We let our national infrastructure crumble, we let special interest groups literally buy our elected officials, we allow the wealthy to continually reach new heights of wealth that exceed any ethically justifiable. Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
I hear people in other countries say things like... we just hate America's leaders, not Americans. I have news for you. About half of the people in this country are JUST LIKE those leaders. So thanks for the generosity of spirit, but it's not justified.
Dude, everything you posted is wrong, countries are a lot worse than us such as North Korea, China, and Russia.
Plus, if we wanted to take over the world, I believe that we could have done the majority of that a long time ago!
Saying there are examples of worse behavior is not an argument, it's deflection.
Dude, why did you even come to America in the first place (or your parents)???? Even if your ancestors we born here, I need to ask you a question. [1]
IF America is so bad, why don't you just move. [2]
Also, if we were a nation "so unwilling to care for the sick", what about all the nursing homes across America, the 988 (or something like that) billion dollar health care plan we just passed. [3]
[1] Dude why were you born into a poor family? Like, seriously, you should have been born into a rich family.
[2] Yeah what we should do is just have a mass exodus of all people that dislike the US. That'll fix all the problems. By the way, I did move and so have many others - and for many of the reasons stated in this thread. So obviously, at least some of the points raised here are valid.
[3] You've seriously gotta be joking with this one. You cannot even remotely compare the US's care of the sick with other modernized nations. The US does not even come close. If you become extremely sick in the US and you weren't born into a rich family, you can either suffer and possibly die or you can dig yourself below the poverty line.
Sure, they have the best healthcare in the world if you make like 100k+ a year...
But as a medical doctor in the US, clearly you are biased.
Poor people just have to be more careful about what they are eating/doing to stay healthy. Everything is based on your own choices, you are NOT run by the system 100% and you can make it up higher if you try.. We are the richest country in the world, our healthcare is pretty fuckin good for MOST people.
On April 02 2010 09:08 ShaperofDreams wrote: How old are you Housemd?
Your logic concerning medical care and immigration is grossly flawed. Just because some people go someplace doesn't mean that place is very good, just that it is better than others, or that is has more lax immigration laws.
Also saying a country has good healthcare because rich paying people receive good medical treatment is just...
I do agree though that you are pioneers of medicine and science and medicine though.
I am 13 years old (yes very young) so yea....i just like to have strong opinions
You said, that some people go someplace, "it has more lax immigration laws" and "better than others"
And why is it better than others, mainly because its laws towards immigrants are better and everyone has the opportunity to succeed in the sense of that they have the chance to be great ...you can't deny the fact that 2 million immigrants come to the u.s each year (this includes about 100,000 illegal immigrants). Do 2 million immigrants just come or do they come to have the prospect to live to their fullest potential???
We're a nation so obsessed with war and conquest,even while claiming to adhere to a pacifistic religion and to hold freedom and liberty as tantamount human values.
We're a nation so unwilling to care for the sick and the poor that the soldiers we spend so much money on while they're in service are impoverished and without adequate mental or physical care once they're no longer active.
We will spend such vast sums of money on what we call defense - which is, quite literally, maintenance of an empire (50,000 troops in Germany? excuse me, is it still the 40s?) - yet bicker over spending fractions of the same amount on keeping American citizens healthy.
We let our national infrastructure crumble, we let special interest groups literally buy our elected officials, we allow the wealthy to continually reach new heights of wealth that exceed any ethically justifiable. Our poor and middle class are even convinced by the wealthy that they, too, can some day have a piece of that pie, and so they should protect the interests of the wealthy first, since some day they might join the club.
To top it all off, Americans have a superiority orders of magnitude beyond what Napoleon was said to have. Anything European is bad, ignorant, socialist, and we just flat out always know better.
I hear people in other countries say things like... we just hate America's leaders, not Americans. I have news for you. About half of the people in this country are JUST LIKE those leaders. So thanks for the generosity of spirit, but it's not justified.
Dude, everything you posted is wrong, countries are a lot worse than us such as North Korea, China, and Russia.
Plus, if we wanted to take over the world, I believe that we could have done the majority of that a long time ago!
Saying there are examples of worse behavior is not an argument, it's deflection.
Dude, why did you even come to America in the first place (or your parents)???? Even if your ancestors we born here, I need to ask you a question. [1]
IF America is so bad, why don't you just move. [2]
Also, if we were a nation "so unwilling to care for the sick", what about all the nursing homes across America, the 988 (or something like that) billion dollar health care plan we just passed. [3]
[1] Dude why were you born into a poor family? Like, seriously, you should have been born into a rich family.
[2] Yeah what we should do is just have a mass exodus of all people that dislike the US. That'll fix all the problems. By the way, I did move and so have many others - and for many of the reasons stated in this thread. So obviously, at least some of the points raised here are valid.
[3] You've seriously gotta be joking with this one. You cannot even remotely compare the US's care of the sick with other modernized nations. The US does not even come close. If you become extremely sick in the US and you weren't born into a rich family, you can either suffer and possibly die or you can dig yourself below the poverty line.
Sure, they have the best healthcare in the world if you make like 100k+ a year...
But as a medical doctor in the US, clearly you are biased.
Poor people just have to be more careful about what they are eating/doing to stay healthy. Everything is based on your own choices, you are NOT run by the system 100% and you can make it up higher if you try.. We are the richest country in the world, our healthcare is pretty fuckin good for MOST people.
You're right, man. My grandmother should have known better than to marry my grandfather if she knew he was just gonna die of expensive cancer when he grew old. They should have lived in a trailer park their whole lives and saved money to pre-empt the inevitable expense of him failing to beat cancer. And they should have been smarter than to get health insurance that ended up falling apart because of a pre-existing condition (a disease in one kidney unrelated to cancer).
If everyone actually had control over their fates, I would agree with you 100%. But in reality, almost no one has real control over their lives. Something unexpected could happen to anyone at any time. Sometimes, life just deals you a bad hand. I respect your attitude of taking control for yourself, but for many people (especially those with the least means) this is sometimes completely impossible. This is why some eventually turn to theft and worse - they have basically run out of choices.
/edit - My final point was unspoken. If life deals me a bad hand, I'd rather be in Canada at the time.
I agree. America has money for wars but it wont feed the poor. A lot of Americans don't have any common sense too, it sickens me. Wearing a sweater while wearing shorts in summer. Wearing T-shirts in below freezing weather. Yeah that's the U.S for ya.
On April 02 2010 11:36 S2.Squal wrote: I agree. America has money for wars but it wont feed the poor. A lot of Americans don't have any common sense too, it sickens me. Wearing a sweater while wearing shorts in summer. Wearing T-shirts in below freezing weather. Yeah that's the U.S for ya.
On April 02 2010 11:36 S2.Squal wrote: I agree. America has money for wars but it wont feed the poor. A lot of Americans don't have any common sense too, it sickens me. Wearing a sweater while wearing shorts in summer. Wearing T-shirts in below freezing weather. Yeah that's the U.S for ya.
??????
Do you need me to get pictures?
A man is wearing shorts while wearing a sweater. Doesn't that destroy the whole point of a fucking sweater you may as well not even have the sweater.
On April 02 2010 11:36 S2.Squal wrote: I agree. America has money for wars but it wont feed the poor. A lot of Americans don't have any common sense too, it sickens me. Wearing a sweater while wearing shorts in summer. Wearing T-shirts in below freezing weather. Yeah that's the U.S for ya.
??????
Do you need me to get pictures?
A man is wearing shorts while wearing a sweater. Doesn't that destroy the whole point of a fucking sweater you may as well not even have the sweater.
i wear shorts with winter jacket and i wear sneakers in any weather
ofc this is worse than a scarf, man purse, tight euro pants and speedos
On April 02 2010 11:36 S2.Squal wrote: I agree. America has money for wars but it wont feed the poor. A lot of Americans don't have any common sense too, it sickens me. Wearing a sweater while wearing shorts in summer. Wearing T-shirts in below freezing weather. Yeah that's the U.S for ya.
??????
Do you need me to get pictures?
A man is wearing shorts while wearing a sweater. Doesn't that destroy the whole point of a fucking sweater you may as well not even have the sweater.
i wear shorts with winter jacket and i wear sneakers in any weather
ofc this is worse than a scarf, man purse, tight euro pants and speedos
LOL if you think anyone actually wears man purses and tight pants in Europe. IIRC America is the one who has this trend going on currently? If you wear shorts with a winter jacket I'm sorry but you are really stupid, What LMAO. Your gona stay warm up there but cold on you leg huh? Really smart.
and, it is way worse then wearing a scarf, scarfs actually protect you from cold weather but only Americans can think of wearing shorts with a jacket.
On April 02 2010 12:20 notsoeloquent wrote: i wear what i want, i wouldnt claim that americans wear jackets with shorts. Do you go outside at all?
baggy pants became popular in europe way after it did here. So it picked up US fashion
i never see americans wear as many accessories as european guys do. Tight shirts tight pants i do see every summer on every exchange student
I do see Americans wear gay accessories, quite a lot actually. They also wear gay Abercrombie and Fitch/Hollister shirts that are really tight so you can't say shit. Again though, only Americans would was 60$ on a normal t shirt with just a fucking bird on it. And trust me ROFL. Anyone who has baggy pants anyways is a fucking retard who thinks its cool to look like a hoodlum. A belt should be a necessity to all normal men.
@and whats up with Americans wearing rubber bands on their arms.. another stupid trend that wouldn't benefit their lives at all.
only brazilians, fobs, kids and chicks wear abercrombie
to answer your baggy pants comment - they dont have to hang between your knees, they also called carpenter pants and plumber pants. They been around forever and they super comfortable.
edit: yeah link a model to demonstrate what americans wear. You clearly won, enjoy your party
edit: that wasn't a model retard, it was a foot ball player. Nice job reading my post idiot.
this is a perfect link to prove my point. "American men dress like pigs", "American men really have no fashion sense, they throw on a baseball jersey, some baggy jeans, and sneakers and go out on town...I think it is because of American culture. Fashion for men is not as big in America as in Europe or Asia. There seems to be a view that "comfort rather than style"...being fashionable and stylish is seen as flamboyant and homosexual in America, so most men shy away from that..."
you said americans wear tight pants and manpurses. But its actually baggy pants and baseball jerseys. Laid back is what its called
and brady is a model, its sad you didnt know that. Last thing he would wear is casual clothes being married to Gisele Bundchen
Love the Haters. I'm an Environmental Scientist, and an American, not a war monger. To those Canadian's hating on the US, wow... no point in arguing with them. Lets put it this way, if Canada was ever attacked, I'm sure the US will be there to save them. If America puts its guard down, do you know how many nations would love to take us over? Plenty. Oh and if there's other problems in the world, let the US fix them, and if we don't, we are seen as criminal. Wonderful, and everyone wonders why we need to spend money on our military...
Absolutely every aspect of life in a developed, western European country is much, much more accessible to the population. I prefer life there to here in the United States.
On April 02 2010 12:41 S2.Squal wrote: So being laid back and looking like an idiot street bum is cool eh?
I like how you keep insulting my country, then you get permabanned for being a tool. On top of this, I guarantee everyone on TL is at least 2x more intelligent than you'll ever be, and dresses at least 2x better.
On April 02 2010 02:12 zergpower123 wrote: I would rather live in the US than lets say North Korea, Iran, Iraq, etc!!!!!!
Despite its faults, the US is still the greatest nation there is. Don't like it, check out North Korea and you'll be back within 1 day lol.
This is the typical American response to any criticisms of the nation and its predatory policies, both against other nations and its own citizens. Do Americans look towards ideals and high standards to measure themselves? No, they look for the least common denominator for comparison to prove to themselves that they are so wonderful, while deliberately ignoring the fascist tendencies of the country. God help us all.
On April 02 2010 02:13 RaGe wrote: You just preemptively killed the mood for any future EG TAKES ON THE WORLD AMERICA FUCK YEAH moments.
nono.. don't say that.
Team amerika is/has been lz/mach/myself/inka. We will throw a louder pic in there but it is more to balance the rad.
David is and has always been a citizen of france. Where people don't care about money, nobody is homeless and everyone thinks along liberal lines and the rich give all their money to everyone. They also have a non existent defense budget and are never involved in wars.
I agree though.. america does suck. I wish I lived in SUPER FUCKING AWESOME AMERICA. Where poor people are made to live in the same state (utah). War is ALWAYS fucking happening and we get to listen to metallica montages as tank cams display the M1 abraham rolling over 1000 years of historical architecture. I want christmas trees in fucking july and the only thing we ate was apple pie, hamburgers and double hamburgers and sometimes for lunch octaplamilionburgers.
You're no true American. True Americans eat bacon and mayonnaise on top of their triple stack hamburgers with buns made out of fried chicken cutlets. You are some weaksauce Euro in disguise trying to fit in.
On April 02 2010 02:13 RaGe wrote: You just preemptively killed the mood for any future EG TAKES ON THE WORLD AMERICA FUCK YEAH moments.
nono.. don't say that.
Team amerika is/has been lz/mach/myself/inka. We will throw a louder pic in there but it is more to balance the rad.
David is and has always been a citizen of france. Where people don't care about money, nobody is homeless and everyone thinks along liberal lines and the rich give all their money to everyone. They also have a non existent defense budget and are never involved in wars.
I agree though.. america does suck. I wish I lived in SUPER FUCKING AWESOME AMERICA. Where poor people are made to live in the same state (utah). War is ALWAYS fucking happening and we get to listen to metallica montages as tank cams display the M1 abraham rolling over 1000 years of historical architecture. I want christmas trees in fucking july and the only thing we ate was apple pie, hamburgers and double hamburgers and sometimes for lunch octaplamilionburgers.
^^
Let's hear someone make an argument that ethically supports an individual holding billions of dollars in wealth and doing nothing to improve the condition of his countrymen, but instead, simply growing needlessly wealthier off of them. It's awesome when people who love Jesus defend the rich.
Because he earned it for himself. BOOM! The beauty of individualism. And on top of that, because the free market has determined that he should be that rich, therefore somewhere in all this mess it is benefiting society for him to make that much money because otherwise the free market would not have allowed it! Double boom! The awesomeness of capitalism.
On April 02 2010 02:13 RaGe wrote: You just preemptively killed the mood for any future EG TAKES ON THE WORLD AMERICA FUCK YEAH moments.
nono.. don't say that.
Team amerika is/has been lz/mach/myself/inka. We will throw a louder pic in there but it is more to balance the rad.
David is and has always been a citizen of france. Where people don't care about money, nobody is homeless and everyone thinks along liberal lines and the rich give all their money to everyone. They also have a non existent defense budget and are never involved in wars.
I agree though.. america does suck. I wish I lived in SUPER FUCKING AWESOME AMERICA. Where poor people are made to live in the same state (utah). War is ALWAYS fucking happening and we get to listen to metallica montages as tank cams display the M1 abraham rolling over 1000 years of historical architecture. I want christmas trees in fucking july and the only thing we ate was apple pie, hamburgers and double hamburgers and sometimes for lunch octaplamilionburgers.
^^
Let's hear someone make an argument that ethically supports an individual holding billions of dollars in wealth and doing nothing to improve the condition of his countrymen, but instead, simply growing needlessly wealthier off of them. It's awesome when people who love Jesus defend the rich.
Because he earned it for himself. BOOM! The beauty of individualism. And on top of that, because the free market has determined that he should be that rich, therefore somewhere in all this mess it is benefiting society for him to make that much money because otherwise the free market would not have allowed it! Double boom! The awesomeness of capitalism.
Don't know if serious... You don't have a free market in America. There are controls in place to stop monopolies and the like. Now your argument is invalid. And that's not even going into how many people get very fucked over as the very few get very rich.
EPT
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