EPTHow do foreigners view US politics? - Page 31
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limonovich
England226 Posts
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Velr
Switzerland10970 Posts
On November 05 2010 22:49 Ferrose wrote: People are still claiming that he's Muslim. It's sad. Yeah... No matter what he does, no one ever seems to notice that he is in fact jewish. | ||
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Gaga
Germany433 Posts
On November 05 2010 22:55 Scruffy wrote: So if government decides to not allow you lifesaving drugs (too much $$$) and you die, then didn't the government just indirectly kill you? and the difference to insurance companys not paying your care (to much $$$) ?? why not give the goverment a chance when its working in so many other countries (mine for example) and if remember correctly even in the US the goverment pays for healtcare if your life is in danger (emergencies) and have no insurance at all ? | ||
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Ferrose
United States11378 Posts
On November 05 2010 22:55 Gaga wrote: i guess it's not a good sign that when i read this from an american, i don't know if you are sarcarstic or not :> Don't worry, I was being sarcastic. xD On November 05 2010 23:02 Gaga wrote: and the difference to insurance companys not paying your care (to much $$$) ?? why not give the goverment a chance when its working in so many other countries (mine for example) and if remember correctly even in the US the goverment pays for healtcare if your life is in danger (emergencies) and have no insurance at all ? Whenever someone uninsured goes to the ER and can't pay, the people who do have health insurance have to pay anyway. I don't see a big difference between that and instead paying the government to give those people health insurance. | ||
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SgCloud
Germany23 Posts
Then again, everywhere in the world people think government control = socialism and don't really know about the history of the socialist movement. | ||
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crayhasissues
United States682 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:02 Gaga wrote: and the difference to insurance companys not paying your care (to much $$$) ?? why not give the goverment a chance when its working in so many other countries (mine for example) and if remember correctly even in the US the goverment pays for healtcare if your life is in danger (emergencies) and have no insurance at all ? Exactly, so why do I need new taxes to give all these people insurance when their basic needs are covered? So they can be hypochondriacs and visit the doc everytime they get a cold? | ||
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Ferrose
United States11378 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:05 Scruffy wrote: Exactly, so why do I need new taxes to give all these people insurance when their basic needs are covered? So they can be hypochondriacs and visit the doc everytime they get a cold? So all people who get government healthcare will go to the doctor when they get a cold? | ||
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crayhasissues
United States682 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:08 Ferrose wrote: So all people who get government healthcare will go to the doctor when they get a cold? Sorry, I should have said "cold." Now look up hypochondriac if you don't know what it is. Also, from Wikipedia: "Some of the primary criticisms of socialism are distorted or absent price signals, slow or stagnant technological advance, reduced incentives., reduced prosperity, feasibility, and its social and political effects." | ||
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Qzy
Denmark1121 Posts
Most other countries has multiple parties since opinions aren't black or white. And 1 more thing: While running for president you can receive very big support from organizations - how can this be allowed? Money shouldn't be a HUGE factor when running for anything. In Denmark (probably all EU countries?) it's not allowed to support with more than 20,000 dkr (4,000$). And EVERY single amount of money needs to be written down and accounted for. This helps to counter the possibility of firms supporting an elected president (we don't have a president, but say candidate for counselor, or whatever ours is called in English), with the INTENT to have the market changed in THEIR favor. Meh, why am I even trying =) No one listens on a board anyhow. Go starcraft! | ||
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Gaga
Germany433 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:05 Scruffy wrote: Exactly, so why do I need new taxes to give all these people insurance when their basic needs are covered? So they can be hypochondriacs and visit the doc everytime they get a cold? If you don't know why i can't explain that to you .. but in Europe people care about the well being of their fellow citizens. | ||
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crayhasissues
United States682 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:12 Qzy wrote: My main problem with US (and most danish people i talk with) is the 2 party system. Most other countries has multiple parties since opinions aren't black or white. And 1 more thing: While running for president you can receive very big support from organizations - how can this be allowed? Money shouldn't be a HUGE factor when running for anything. In Denmark (probably all EU countries?) it's not allowed to support with more than 20,000 dkr (4,000$). And EVERY single amount of money needs to be written down and accounted for. This helps to counter the possibility of firms supporting an elected president (we don't have a president, but say candidate for counselor, or whatever ours is called in English), with the INTENT to have the market changed in THEIR favor. Meh, why am I even trying =) No one listens on a board anyhow. Go starcraft! But even if corporations don't influence candidates running for office, don't they send waves of lobbyists to the government in your country? | ||
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Zechs
United Kingdom321 Posts
First and foremost, it is embarrassing to a lot of us because it often makes more news programs than local news. The previous presidential election, for example, never seemed to be off the TV for more than five minutes. The way our politicians dick-suck America is honestly humiliating - thanks, Tony Blair. But from other angles, we're kind of embarrassed FOR America. The fact that Americans recite the pledge of allegiance and harp on about the bill of rights is hilarious to us, although English people have a large tendency towards self-depreciating behaviour. I guess that's hard for Americans to understand since you famously don't really 'get' irony and satire, but the "my country, right or wrong" attitude just seems immensely juvenile to us. What makes it even funnier is that the founding fathers set up the USA as a secular country. As we can see from republicans, it is now anything but secular. Again, to most (if not all) of the rest of the Western world, this is so incredibly outdated that it's genuinely laughable. When you consider that America is the leading world power in so many other ways, the fact that their political environment is so backwards is as funny as it is terrifying. As many people have already pointed out, Obama becoming president was the best thing that could happen to America from an outsider's perspective. But honestly, as flawed as our political system is in the UK (and it is flawed, btw), the fact that Bush could even be mentioned in the same sentence as the word president is mind boggling. Words can't do justice to how ridiculous his tenure seemed. The saddest thing of all - sad because it happens here now too - is what an earlier posted called the "American Idol" style of election. The lobbying, rallying, vote-buying (policy wise, i'm not talking about literal bribery here) and popularity contest style of election that America has given to the world is proof, to me anyway, that democracy isn't all its cracked up to be. Defenders of racism regularly refer to 'right man for the job' but that clearly isn't how it works, even at the highest level of world politics. | ||
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Ferrose
United States11378 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:12 Qzy wrote: My main problem with US (and most danish people i talk with) is the 2 party system. Most other countries has multiple parties since opinions aren't black or white. And 1 more thing: While running for president you can receive very big support from organizations - how can this be allowed? Money shouldn't be a HUGE factor when running for anything. In Denmark (probably all EU countries?) it's not allowed to support with more than 20,000 dkr (4,000$). And EVERY single amount of money needs to be written down and accounted for. This helps to counter the possibility of firms supporting an elected president (we don't have a president, but say candidate for counselor, or whatever ours is called in English), with the INTENT to have the market changed in THEIR favor. Meh, why am I even trying =) No one listens on a board anyhow. Go starcraft! In January our Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the right to donate as much as they want to campaigns. Supposedly saying that the corporations have the rights of people. I don't agree with the decision, but oh well. | ||
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Gaga
Germany433 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:11 Scruffy wrote: Also, from Wikipedia: "Some of the primary criticisms of socialism are distorted or absent price signals, slow or stagnant technological advance, reduced incentives., reduced prosperity, feasibility, and its social and political effects." Also, from Wikipedia: "Critics argue that capitalism is associated with the unfair distribution of wealth and power; a tendency toward market monopoly or oligopoly (and government by oligarchy); imperialism, counter-revolutionary wars and various forms of economic and cultural exploitation; repression of workers and trade unionists, and phenomena such as social alienation, economic inequality, unemployment, and economic instability." i think a good mixture of both is the way to go ... | ||
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Zechs
United Kingdom321 Posts
This is one of the biggest problems with capitalism in its current form: medicine should be about saving lives and treating illness, not about turning a profit. | ||
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us.insurgency
United States330 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:13 Gaga wrote: If you don't know why i can't explain that to you .. but in Europe people care about the well being of their fellow citizens. People care, its just the thousands of illegal immigrants everybody is paying for. We need to get the southern border stabilized because we cant keep on paying for aliens that don`t pay taxes themselves. | ||
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crayhasissues
United States682 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:17 Ferrose wrote: In January our Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the right to donate as much as they want to campaigns. Supposedly saying that the corporations have the rights of people. I don't agree with the decision, but oh well. Ferrose, I am going to have to agree with you on this one. I am taking a corporate taxation class. While corporations are made up of people, it is really a faceless entity that should NOT have the same rights as an individual. Unlike us, corporations don't have to ever die, which is kind of scary thinking about what kind of long-term influence they could have on government. | ||
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Ferrose
United States11378 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:43 Scruffy wrote: Ferrose, I am going to have to agree with you on this one. I am taking a corporate taxation class. While corporations are made up of people, it is really a faceless entity that should NOT have the same rights as an individual. Unlike us, corporations don't have to ever die, which is kind of scary thinking about what kind of long-term influence they could have on government. Not to mention, that a corporation can donate so much more. Who is a politician more likely to listen to: a multi-billion dollar company, or a random voter from their district? It makes the voice of the actual voters less meaningful, since a company can donate a lot more to a campaign than most regular people can. | ||
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Promises
Netherlands1821 Posts
Apart from that the main thing that amazes me is the amount of shit-throwing and completely unfounded bashes the parties throw at eachother (from what I've seen more the Republicans then the Democrats but I might not know the full story), altho I do notice a trend in Dutch politics for this to happen aswell, altho unfounded dung-flinging is punished quite badly; making unfounded statements is a big loss in credibility. There's one thing I hate about American politics and thats the influence of Religion. While there is an constitutional law that Religion and Government should be seperate, in I think 6 states you cant get into office if your not Christian? Still quabling about gay marriage and abortion? That sort of stuff belongs in another century, its amazing it's still holding on in the US. | ||
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crayhasissues
United States682 Posts
On November 05 2010 23:47 Promises wrote: I'm usually actually pretty surprised at how the more right-wing part seems to portray "Socialism" (the brackets are there because what they call Socialism a major part of the rest of the world just views as fairly normal society) as some kind of hellish, diabolical system and a pool of drugs, violence etc. The Democratic party in America is actually pretty right-wing in comparison to almost every party in the Netherlands, and it's not exactly as if our crimerates (or drug-abuse etc) are higher then those of America. Apart from that the main thing that amazes me is the amount of shit-throwing and completely unfounded bashes the parties throw at eachother (from what I've seen more the Republicans then the Democrats but I might not know the full story), altho I do notice a trend in Dutch politics for this to happen aswell, altho unfounded dung-flinging is punished quite badly; making unfounded statements is a big loss in credibility. There's one thing I hate about American politics and thats the influence of Religion. While there is an constitutional law that Religion and Government should be seperate, in I think 6 states you cant get into office if your not Christian? Still quabling about gay marriage and abortion? That sort of stuff belongs in another century, its amazing it's still holding on in the US. You can get into office in every state, Christian or not. What you may have read is that its hard to get elected if you are athiest/agnostic/some other religion. America was founded on religious freedom, so religion is still somewhat important. Ferrose, you are right about the corps having too much power. Both sides are guilty as well. Examples: Republicans - Halliburton; Democrats - General Electric | ||
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