In Response
"What the problem is"
I had a comment to my "Three Finger Point Back" post that I felt compelled to answer...not calling anyone out, but I'm not sure I ever addressed those questions in such a way here.
My first suggestion for improving this country is accountability. If we would hold people accountable they would be hesitant to act as they please. This means that despite the fact that a president is treated like royalty we have to realize he's a public servant. I think one of the problems is that our system doesn't provide a proper check and balance. If candidates didn't have to raise so much money to campaign would they be so easily swayed by contributers? If laws were written in more simple (and short) terms wouldn't congressman bother to read them in full? My friend we ARE in an elite fucked up status. Think of it like reparations, Japanese victims of Internment camps got them...Native Americans are getting them, yet the people who were the free labor for an entire country haven't? Companies exist and families are rich still because of slavery. The country as a whole became so great because of it...a land built on free labor. I don't care if people don't know what to do with them, if I'm wrong I'll apologize even if the person I'm apologizing to is too angry to accept it. The main problem with America is that we won't acknowledge our faults and we hide behind the "greatness" of the country. Americans as a whole never openly admit that we did something wrong. As in some of the cases I pointed and you asked if we should be the worlds benefactor - my philosophical answer would be why not. What happens in other places will effect us. We get involved when we know it may hurt us. We get involved when something conflicts with our interest. Helping to improve conditions all over is in our interest. I think about John Nash from A Beautiful Mind...if we do what's best for the group we can all win. America, instead has been chasing the blonde forever. If we had been proactive on several fronts we wouldn't have spent as much money or sacrificed as many of our own lives to restore order later on. The intellectual answer would be - we don't have to, however, we shouldn't use others for our benefit, especially since alot of those we have used in the past are now bigger problems (Iraq, Osama, etc.) in the present. Right now America is caught up in issues of Morals, but we think about what's on T.V. and in video games as opposed to what we are doing in the world and how it will impact us later...if anything we should be selfish in that manner. I'd like to make the world better on principle...but I know that if it isn't than any children I have will exist under a more serious version of the threats all of us face now. America used those we see as terrorists now to serve our needs then. The result: we trained, funded and armed people then created the conditions for them to hate us. We got what we wanted cause it caused Russia to collapse...as a result people the world over can more easily acquire weapons - from guns to Plutonium. I remember my Teachers, when I wouldn't stand for the anthem, would ask where else in the world I would live...doesn't matter cause America has effect the world over. On top of that my family still lives here and I couldn't abandon them. We're talking about a country that would love to arrest Bobby Fisher cause he went to a country we had a problem with to play chess.
You mentioned that people the world over risk life and limb to come here...well citizens who have found a means have also left here because of the nature of this country. Despite the fact that only one of the smallest minorities are truly from "here" alot of those people who try won't be allowed in. If your a cute little cuban boy we might spend tax dollars and protest for you, but don't be a boat full of Haitians. This is the most arrogant, self-centered and egotistical country in the world...from top to bottom. We consider 9/11 one of the worse tragedies in history when most countries all over the world have had to deal with "terrorism" for decades. The P.L.O., The I.R.A. how many terrorist organizations have existed in the world. How many have we funded because their current agenda suited our needs or wants at that moment. We are the Supreme elite fucked up status. When the rest of the world told us not to go to an ill-advised and unsubstantiated war we flipped them the bird and went. When Hitler was tearing Europe a new asshole we didn't do anything until something happened to us. Worse than what we do the world over is probably what we do to our own citizens. Children getting life sentences, Tobacco, a known killer, is not illegal while weed which has medical uses is. We deny people rights in court because the system is backed up. We place quotas on how many people should be arrested each month but not how many need to graduate from school. We are scared of our own children, which means we fear our future. Our president the lowest approval rating of any since WWII (save Nixon during Watergate) and he is still doing as he pleases...at our expense. I could call this the worst country in the world because we have the potential to be so much better than we are. We just don't because of our own greed and ignorance, than we look at the rest of the world as if from some higher position to judge them when in truth we can't even control ourselves.
posted by Amadeo at 11:50 AM
9 Comments:
I certainly agree that this country is made of hypocrits and that we have fundamental issues of ignorance, arrogance and selfishness, but I firmly believe that our greatest problem is complacency. We, especially my generation, have grown so accustommed to things being taken care of for us that we are more fearful of the change than the condition. Because people believe that it may get worse before it gets better, they sit back unwilling to risk what little comfort they have. We need brave spirits in these times...ones who are willing to fight for people other than themselves. Where have all the heroes gone?
Europe/Amerikka...
set the precedent for hypocrisy, oppression, and suppression.
Europe/Amerikka...
set the precedent for hypocrisy, oppression, and suppression.
Even a Black person in this country, I have to disagree on that. Sorry, white folks ain't got the lock on sheistyism. Africa is a fucking mess today not simply due to still-existing colonialism, but largely to African retardation.
Humans are clannish and ignorant on the whole.
Yet still, alot of Bush's supporters will fight you tooth and nail without a quarter to be given and still say that they voted the right man in office.
While no president has the executive muscle to prevent a tragedy like this from occurring, it's painfully clear that, if we weren't in a baseless and meaningless war, our own military, mainly the National Guard and Army Reserve would be back home aiding in the rescue efforts.
We're stretched so thin, it's become a friggin' joke. And don't get me started on the line soaked in blood of yesterday's allies will be tomorrow's enemies. According to history, we should be in a major war with Tony Blair and his country within the next decade.
Get it said!
@Midlife Crisis..
I can't speak on the sheistyness of individuals... that's a personality quirk regardless of nationality.
I'm speaking historically, I'm speaking politcally... One can't deny the fact that problems that run rampant in Africa and various other third world countries were instigated by U.S., Europe, and other "progressive countries" particulary French colonialism in Africa.
In any event, the world is a mess and there needs to be some restoration of order. We need an effective leader... which probably wont happen anytime soon.
I mean I was hoping that we could disagree without giving each other the fanger, but its all love black man.
I agree with you that we should eliminate the campaign contributions to candidates for public offices. The republican senator from Arizona, John McCain wrote a bill that attempted to do that but it was passed after being watered down a bit. So you actually have some right-winged support there.
But you lost me when you talked about reparations for native americans and the Japanese victims of internment and then the very next thing you said was that "americas problem was that they dont acknowledge their mistakes". Well isnt reparations a monetary way of doing just that?
Also I never said that American shouldnt be a world benefactor. What I did say was that we shouldnt be expected to help others if it puts our own security at risk and has no benefit for us. So I simply say if we can expect no return on capital, spend only what we can afford. Thats no different than how someone would run their household.
In the case of giving Osama and the boys weapons to fight the Russians in Afghanistan in the 80's, I just cant see how that was a bad idea. The Russians were trying to take over that country and we helped them fight the Russians. Thats not using them. Of course we've always attempted to stop the spread of communism where ever it was, but that is no secret. At the time the threat of nuclear war with a communist nation was far greater than any two bit terrorist could ever be. We didnt know that they would eventually be fighting us. We dealt with the immediate threat then and we will deal with the immediate threat now. Its pretty simple man. Then you talk about how the collapse of the USSR made weapons and plutonium available for other in the world. So are you saying that we never should have combated Russia because it would allow all of their weapons to be distributed elsewhere? Thats just like saying that you shouldnt disarm a gunman who has a pistol to your head because there is a danger that someone else could pick up the same gun and shoot you.
And Im not sure what you mean about 9/11. Ure right that other countries have battled terrorism for decades longer than we have. But are you suggesting that we made too big a deal about 3,000+ of our citizens being murdered? Was the outpour emotion unwarranted? And are our attempts to prevent it from happening again unjustified? Help me understand.
wow, interesting discussion out here.
as i see there are always more than two sides to any issue you may raise here. I get both of your points, amadeos and marquis de sob`s and it s not so much you guys disagreeing but just different priorities of value and concern, if you ask me.
the point is that people only fully understand when they feel it. thats why 9/11 WAS one of the greatest tragedies in a shortsighted mindset of most americans, most certainly for those directly affected by it. also, different tragedies don t diminuish the personal amount of suffering of civilians no matter where in this world. each personal tragedy is a mournable one.
in a big scale and in abstract terms you can start argueing about accountabilities, responsibilities, justified lessons that obviously needed to be learned and obviously haven t been learned yet and stuff. but each personal tragedy is the real big one that will overshadow any face of a starving child or a child soldier in lets say Uganda. or somalia.
It s very cynical and sarcastic what i experience right now here in Germany: some people, despite their knowledge of how terrible all is that happens right now in the southern states, go like: well, we are happy that it hit the states as well. Tsunami wasn t close enough. It s their fucking own fault they didn t engage more in clima protection.
they better should...
also we find it sadly true that many of the Americans we meet here in Europe actually do fit into the prejudices we have about you guys.
that is, ignorant bastards.
i am glad i can witness here sth else.
Amadeo I think we should care about what is on TV and Videogames and stuff. I ve read your post about the videogame and got your point, but as a matter of fact we need to improve from all sides. and education is one of the most crucial one, if you ask me. Americans need to become more conscious in many ways and TV is unfortunately a means with which you can reach lots of children. I wish it wasn t this way. i wish they d play more outside and develop normal motoric skills.
hm. i ll be thinking more about all this and come bac k later
one love and respect!
piranha
@ Marquis de SOB
The finger goes out to all of us compliments of BUSH, I wouldn't do that. Just a poignant image.
My point with reparations is that if those two groups got them, why not the group that has not only suffered at the hands of this country, but made it the richest in the world through hundreds of years of slave labor?
As far as Osama and the Afghans...by not helping them after the war we left them with a barren war torn country where they can't really even farm. If we could invest money, weapons and training to help them fight (for our own purpose - to quote "give them their Vietnam" ) would it really have hurt us to help them make their land habitable again? Because we did not, they became roving bands of "freedom fighters" with the weapons and training we gave them. Right through 9/11 to present day. While it may have been smart to supply them it would have been humane to help them afterwards. So by destabilizing the U.S.S.R. and not helping the Afghans we created nomadic warriors and basically opened up a weapons superstore for them and every other terrorist to shop at. Notice that most "terrorists" use Russian weapons.
In regards to 9/11 we act like what happened to us was the worst thing ever...not saying it wasn't horrible, but we let our anger drive us into some bad positions. From an ill advised war...to even pulling troops who had Osama trapped out to send them to Iraq. Worst of all we didn't bother to really explore the situation. The country moved behind sayings like "They hate us for our freedom" when they hate us for how we left them high and dry after getting what we wanted from them. Just like individual people we only really think things are bad when it happens to us. Therefore we only really do anything when something happens to us, just like WWII. It's not healthy to be reactive.
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