03-04-2003, 02:36 PM | #21 | |
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03-04-2003, 02:50 PM | #22 | ||
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
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03-04-2003, 02:54 PM | #23 | |
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
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Not that I would be able to start a company - since all companies would be owned by the state - but why would I want to take the risk if I could? There would be no HDTV or Cable or anything unless it served the state. Consumer products would not exist. There would be no need for stereo when it brings no additional benefits really than mono. We have stereo and color TVs and dishwashers because companies have spent time inventing these things and because consumers wanted them.
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03-04-2003, 03:01 PM | #24 | |||||||
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Essentially, the US has a big military, so other countries think they don't have to. I live in Canada so I know this for a fact. May I also remind you that, evening everything out a bit, the US owes the UN billions in dues. Quote:
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It's true that without your military, the Soviet Union would not have been kept in check. However, now that America has asserted dominance over the world as the Great Power, please state why such a military presence on the order of the Cold War era is such a necessity.
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03-04-2003, 03:11 PM | #25 | |||||
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For the record: I support war in Iraq (under certain prevailing conditions), I'm ardently anti-communist, I don't consider myself anti-American, but I still don't see the justification for increased military spending in the United States, when even the status quo military capacity is more than enough to assert global dominance as the Great Power du Jour. Speculative paranoia hardly constitutes such justification.
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03-04-2003, 03:29 PM | #26 | |||||
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
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Well actually the military budget doesn't just cover the planes and all that. It covers the transport of our weaponry and troops. About 60% of the money needed for Iraq is in getting the troops there and then getting them back out. This is ALL part of the military budget. Quote:
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03-04-2003, 03:59 PM | #27 | |||||||
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
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We, against my beliefs, paid off most of our dues - if not all of them. I think we should leave the UN all together. I just hope that we charge the UN for the use of our military. Quote:
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No we would not have invaded the Soviet Union. But the US was never out for world domination. We didn't have any countries which we controlled like the Soviet Union did. We had allies. Yes we used our military force to keep the Soviet Union in check - someone the hell had to. Quote:
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03-04-2003, 09:16 PM | #28 |
'Sober' Mullet Frosh
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Well Congress is republican controlled-so the spiraling deficit is now in their lap, but regardless...
Canada is seen as decentralized because the large social programs-especially health care, are provincially administered. Also Canada is far more regionalized then the U.S. The PM has to heed the demands of Premiers (think Governors) more often then not. Also Quebec especially has a lot of provincial power-which other provinces want. And Parliament itself is quite regionally divided, the parties are based in specific regions both in terms of seats and popular vote. This is not an entirely bad thing-unlike the U.S the PM has very few constraints at the Federal level. The American President is, as jerseydevil points out far less powerful domestically then he would like (or people assume) and does not necessarily set the size of the U.S military. But Presidents do have the most leeway in foreing affairs-perhaps a reason why the U.S is more activist externally. The American military can be argued as overkill, but it's not nearly the overkill some would assume. The U.S won the cold war by outspending the Soviets (who still had to devote a far larger level of GDP merely to maintain its army). Now the UN has its problems-it certainly doesn't do it what it is supposed to do (which is make the world safe for the veto powers-for all its good works) but withdrawing seems counterproductive. Sure it makes the UN irrelevant, but the U.S has absolutely no international goodwill at present. American arguements that "you should like us, we're good and stuff" don't help-though I must admit the alternatives (a different ending to the cold war/China) are not particularly pleasant if you are a liberal (in the classical sense of the word).
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03-06-2003, 02:14 PM | #29 | |
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03-06-2003, 03:14 PM | #30 | |
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
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Yes - under communism there is supposed to be no government - by the term "state" I'm referring to the people who make up the country. Under communism the government is the people and unless it benefits the general community directly - things don't happen. Communism is essentially a commune without leaders. The problem is that in reality not everyone's work is equal. Believe me - if I couldn't benefit from my hard work - I would not waste my time programming or constantly studying to increase my skills. Computers change so fast that it's constant learnign new skills. There isn't too much to flipping a hamburger or picking up the garbage - although there is a need for those services. The majority of people would do the minimum to get by - which means that innovations would come slowly because you'd have less people seeing a need to push themselves.
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03-06-2003, 03:35 PM | #31 | |||
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
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The House of Representatives - REPRESENT their districts (at least they're supposed to be). I don't want my representative worrying about California. They represent only me and my district in Congress and to the federal government. The House of Representatives is based on population. The Senate is similar except that every state gets 2 senators. Both the House and Senate keep each other in check also. No bill can go before congress without first being approved by the House - but in order for it to go to the president - it must pass the Senate. If it's a constitutional change then it must go before the states. 2/3 of the states must approve it - as well as 2/3 of the Congress. Quote:
I am glad that we have a large military because of the way the REAL world is. In reality I would like the US to just worry about ourselves. Bring the military home and defend our borders. If North Korea attacks South Korea - well then I guess Europe's "huge" military will have to take care of it. If the Middle East breaks out in huge wars - then again someone else can take care of it. Europe gets most of their oil from the Middle East - so Europe has a far higher stake in there than we do. I still feel sorry for Isreal though because without the US protection they'd be history within a week.
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03-06-2003, 04:56 PM | #32 |
'Sober' Mullet Frosh
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I'd argue it be worse then that-with out U.S guarantees Israel would be forced into a war that would go nuclear swiftly (Israel not being that large) and the entire middle east would go up in smoke. I suppose the question is whether one believes even more overt guarantees (i.e stationed troops as there is now) acts as a stabilizer or a provocation. There are arguements for both size. I'd say the risk is larger without the troops-no U.S troops in the gulf and baghdad would go for Riyadh (and arguably Tehran would try for Bahrain and the like).
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03-06-2003, 04:59 PM | #33 |
'Sober' Mullet Frosh
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I'd argue it be worse then that-with out U.S guarantees Israel would be forced into a war that would go nuclear swiftly (Israel not being that large) and the entire middle east would go up in smoke. I suppose the question is whether one believes even more overt guarantees (i.e stationed troops as there is now) acts as a stabilizer or a provocation. There are arguements for both size. I'd say the risk is larger without the troops-no U.S troops in the gulf and baghdad would go for Riyadh (and arguably Tehran would try for Bahrain and the like).
I have some idea how Congress works-I realize party lines are far weaker in the U.S system. It must be said that it severly weakens U.S governance, but you would say that is a good thing. I happen to be in favor of a more activist state, though I envy the fact that American politics is so balanced. In Canada the PM's power can be enormous if he wished (when Canada got hit by terrorism-one guy got kidnapped) the PM at the time declared martial law in Quebec, arrested scores of people without cause or trial, sent troops in to ensure order etc. And this was for what in hindsight seems to be quite little. But Canadians don't like to remember such things, I suppose.
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03-06-2003, 06:17 PM | #34 | ||
I am Freddie/UNDERCOVER/ Founder of The Great Continent of Entmoot
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In terms of the balance of power - the US Government was set up to LIMIT the government's power. The government is set up to work slowly - not to move in drastic turns with the severe swings which public opinion often does. By forcing the government to negoiate amongst all the different branches and competing interests - hopefully what comes out is a more balanced government. I'm just rather upset that so much power was given to the federal goverment in the early 1900's. Now that they have it - it's much harder to reign it in. The states in my opinion should be the back bone of the government. There are some shortcomings in the way our government was set up. Most of it stems from the fact that the founding fathers didn't foresee the transportation and speed of communication we have today. Now instead of lobbying for what is good for their district or state - people can set up countrywide lobbying. During the late 1700's it took a week to get from Boston to Philadelphia. Now it's a 4 hour train ride. Instead of Congress fighting for their constituents who voted them in, and I'm not talking about getting pork projects for their states, they worry about country wide perception too much. As far as I'm concerned - NJ representatives should NOT be listening to anyone outside of New Jersey. They're supposed to be representing MY concerns to the federal government. Quote:
It's illegal in the US for the military to ge involved in domestic affairs. That even came up during the Washington sniper man hunt. The military was able to supply technology and so forth such as helicopters to patrol areas - but civilian agency personnel had to be running the show and physically in those helicopters. The military would have been unable to take any direct action - only the civilian agency would have been permitted to apprehend the snipers.
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03-07-2003, 11:18 AM | #35 |
'Sober' Mullet Frosh
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Canada also deported Japanese Canadians (they did not get the vote until 1948, I believe). Canada isn't perfect, and I don't think we cliam to be. I think the main problem in terms of the relations between the U.S and the world is perceptions. That is the U.S seems to be going out of its way to magnify what looks bad while deemphasizing all the good things they have done. The truth is that the wrangling over the UN is not over Iraq-after all Russia, France and Germany are not pacifists, but over the current balance of power. They are trying to limit American power for the (good or bad take your pick) sake of limiting American power. But the U.S has not cast it as such so the "pro-peace" (in of itself a loaded term) movement sees anti-American opposition as opposing war, as opposed to opposing an American War.
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