What the hell is wrong with America

Jumping ship isn't going to solve anything.

GRR at Fenix posting when I do. TO add to that though, the US is also a Federation. I think that might be part of the problem singe the form of government sees each state as a semi-independent entity and partially encourages the every man for himself mentality. Who cares about Nevada? I live in Arizona. In addition this whole crap about having the Senate and the House of Representatives came about because the states decided that the identity of each state was more important that that of the country. The way politicians are chosen under that system leaves much to be desired, especially the electoral college

 

Yeah, I hear that a lot, leaving won't solve it. Are any of you doing anything to change it? Not really I bet. Nothing I do will ever make any sort of difference. I have more then one reason to leave too. You can't expect everyone to want to live in this country. If I want to leave, let me. It's not your place to stop me.

 

I think part of our problem is opposite that. As I've stated before, I'm a huge fan of a minarchist government, in which states are given FAR more autonomy. If we didn't have to worry about appeasing all the different senators, some from extremely liberal states, others from pure red, we wouldn't have near as much deadlock in decision making as we do right now.

 

If the states were given more autonomy then we might as well start existing as 50 separate countries.
Anyways It's not that I want states to have less autonomy, it's that I want states to cease to exist entirely. Eliminate a level of government and the system becomes much slimmer and the federal government can get more done. Most things are in the hands of the state government. School is one of them, which is one of the reasons getting better schooling is so hard. one state improves their school systems but if the rest ignore schools then it hasn't done that much to reduce the ignorance of the country as a whole. if we can't act as a country then why call ourselves one?

 

i think BoP's opinion really compliments how i feel. The thing that really gets under my skin though is the very fact we approved 2 800 billion $ bail out plans in less then a year. People dont even know the simple concept that politicians and government officials do not change or determine the economic state of a country. All politicians are good for are making budget plans and going to war. The president is like the captain of a ship, he gives orders from his deck and sets the direction the ship sails, but its the crews job to really run the ship. Its we as a people who need to really dig ourselves out and its the very fact we sunk this low that is the real eye opener.

and dark, I didnt mean to offend you. And realise that talking about this on a public form is a way of change. Its a way to get knowledge out there that might otherwise not. I am only 23, with little money, full time job and part time school. There isnt much I can do outside of just trying to get the word out as often as I can, without preaching, and to remain as educated as possible.

 

The problem is, the US was created on the principle of local government over a central government. A strong central government without local say was the reason we broke away from Great Britain, though we have been slowly moving back to that form of government since WWII.

Plus, the elimination of the state level of government is literally impossible as long as the current form of the US Constitution exists as it restricts the Central government's power over the local level.

 

Well Eon, it's not like the Constitution has stopped our current administration. I forget what all they were but they have ignored it on several occasions.

I just find it funny how everyone thinks Presdient elect Obama is gonna solve all the problems and turn America to a new direction when he won't. Then it's just gonna turn into Bush where everyone starts blaming him for all the problems and why they aren't getting fixed. I recall right after september 11 and eariler everyone loved Bush but then all of sudden due to events everyone starts hating him not because they actually know his crimes and what he did wrong but because it is popular belief.


Everyone always calls me crazy or stupid for saying Mccain or Obama wasn't gonna be any different or change anything. But I say you got to be stupid or crazy to beleive a politictian is gonna make good on all his promises and turn an entire country and economy around.

 

y'know what really strikes me as odd; the fact that Obama tries to dump the guantanomo bay prisoners in other countries and then is surprised that people wont accept potentially dangerous criminals


maybe i missed something?

 

Obamao is pushing for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, however it is the U.N. who insists that most Guantanamo inmates are harmless and innocent and that the world must make them part of the family.

 

read the most part, no one ever denied there are incredibly dangerous individuals in guantano bay, but there are two problems:
1. none of the people in the prison were publicly prosecuted, so any of them could be innocent, a few probably are, though i dont think most
2. y'know, torture, 'n stuff


what needs to happen is giving them a trial

 

torture? My dad was stationed there for 6 months, and he has stated that there were no acts of torture.

As for the U.N., I don't what to think about them, they can't seem to make up there mind about things, but I guess thats what happens when you have representatives from multiple countries debating. The US has sent more troops to the Middle East than all other U.N. combined...pathetic.

Also, the U.N. doesn't seem to care about Israel at all, hardly let them retalliate against any attack. They don't really do anything when Israel is under attack, but get all huffy whenever Israel desides to fight back.

 

The U.N. should be disbanded. Nothing good has come from it.

I agree with EonMaster on this one. In a time of war, the safety and security of the nation is a top priority where as the public trial of terrorists is something trivial. Ever hear of the term guilty by association? They are there for a reason.

Anyway with the recent Gaza Conflict, it seems that the home-front breeds "Pro-Palestinian" sentiment which is just a politically correct term for "Anti-Semitic!" It is funny how these "peaceful" protests demand death to all Juice and the destruction of Israel and have recently ended up in violence.


Them's fighting words.

The U.N.

“No country in the world, even those preaching morals to us, would have shown the tolerance and restraint that we have,” -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

 

don't forget, though, that not all Palestinians are like that. Plus, the UN TRIED to vote to stop Israel from firing missiles and such, but some countries voted no--including the US. No one is innocent here, both the respective sides have their conflicts and both continue the violence instead of trying to work it out. If they could, then things like the UN wouldn't have to exist. But nations prove time and again they are unable to solve differences without trying to destroy each other (all nations are guilty of this, not just ones in the middle east). The main issue is because people aren't willing to listen and just love to hate instead of accepting one another and getting over it, because in the end, what the hell are you angry for? Because someone believes something else? As i've said time and time again, it's intolerance and anger at other people's beliefs because they feel its an attack on how they view things. and it's easier to hate and blame others than to admit you're at fault, too.

As for Obama, thank you Chef, good to see you back, i agree 100%. People follow the crowd and flock to something that will solve their problems. I'm not saying it's people's faults for the banks screwing up and trying to gamble on things, or that wall street collapsed into the pits, but people need to stop thinking everyone else will fix it for them. Obama wants to spend 760some billion dollars to fix the nation. yeah, lets put ourselves more into debt with money -we don't have-, that will fix the problem. In essence, this brings back the point of how the monetary system works. It's such BS, because it doesn't work, and because of how banks function, there are people who were in debt, are, and always will be. The fact is:

a check for the money, backed by gold and silver, is made. then this money goes to banks. the bank is only required to keep 30% of all their value at stock. so they naturally start issuing out money that they don't need to back, so in essence it's creating money out of nowhere, money that DOES NOT even exist. This is what interest is, and if you look at it, this system doesn't work because there is only, so to speak, so much money circulating, and to demand interest is asking you to pull something from nothing, so someone will always get the short end of the stick.

because of this, no one can fix this issue, not even the great, as some people like to say, savior obama. until people admit it doesn't work, we will ALWAYS have this problem. not just here, but everywhere. and because the US, the big manufacturer and power it is, is suffering, so is the rest of the world. and it will continue to do such until people realize that this way of life isn't working anymore, and no president, congressman, or state official can change it.

 

Eon, the UN is not a US institution. The invasion of Iraq in the first place wasn't condoned by the UN, the USA went in without UN approval. The UN is made of individual nationstates some of which don't agree with the formation of Israel in the first place. The UN will not be able to come to a sastifying conclusion on anything Israeli related because according to many, many governments, it should not exist.

I hate it when people claim all Anti-Zionists or 'Pro-Palestinians" in this are Anti-Semitic. Yes a lot of Anti-Semites will use this as an excuse but you can't categorise everyone under this 'golden rule'.

The US needs to leave the Guantanamo Bay. There is something fundamentally wrong with a superpower being able to declare land leased to hem and only them being able to terminate the lease. With the fear of communism fading hopefully the embargo can even be lifted eventually.

 

Though fear of communism has lowered, it's been replaced by the fear of Terrorist. As long as that exists, Guantanamo will likely stay.

I know the UN is not a US institution, I've always known that.

Personally, I think the UN should leave Israel alone. The UN should grow some backbone and actually do something else besides forcing cease-fire agreements for once.

 

The problem is people can't live in peace. We can't accept other people as who they are. If those people in the Middle East, in fact, around the world, didn't try to kill each other out of unreasonable hate and think about their actions, we might get a little peace and quiet. Oh, if only we could simply ask a country for help and we would receive it. Sending random missiles won't solve anything, it'll only stir up more violence. And most protests... aren't even that peaceful. Recently in the area where I live, there were protests about an accidental shooting of a man on a BART (Bay Area Railroad Transportation) train. The protests did not look peaceful to me. A huge crowd gathered around a police car and shook it and threw things at it. I don't think that is peaceful. They set a dumpster on fire... Not to assume anything, but I think this may be why China's government forbids protests. They fear that all the people will join in, cause violence, and possibly overthrow the government.

 

I didn't mean i thought you literally thought it was, i meant the comments about the UN failing to respond in situations that the interest in it is solely or mostly american.

L, countries get help without having to ask for it, they get aid when a disaster, natural or not, happens. Nations, even those with little interest in the area, will send diplomats to try to reach a peaceful agreement. If that is not sending help when it is needed i don't know what is.

 

The thing is the instinct of conflict and competition is built into the human animal and most all other animals. So war and violent disagreements are inevitable. As long as there are humans there will be war until we learn to grow or suppress this basic instinct.

The three main causes in human history for wars and other conflicts have been Religion, Resources, and Territory. I think the biggest problem of people today however is that they will not think for themselves and have a intense belief of right and wrong depending on their ideas. It's the idea that one persons idea is right and justice while the other persons is evil and wrong and out of their justice and righteous they must defeat and kill the one with evil ideas, even though right and wrong is just perspective.

 

You have to remember that Israel has shown great restraint in their operations. It is the mainstream media who greatly spin the negative image. It cannot be helped that there are civilians who are injured but the targets continually embed themselves and their infrastructure in civilian centers but Israel has shown great precision in its selective bombing. Look here, if the people who are launching rockets into your city centers have sworn and publicly announced statements to destroy Israel and push all the Jews into the sea, then there can be no talks of peace. Did you know that Israel (without any peace agreement) unilaterally and completely withdrew it's military forces from Southern Lebanon and Gaza? After each time Israel withdrew it's military, the Palestinians responded by launching terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens.

Israel would love to live in peace but when you are talking to people who have been raised to hate you from the very beginning, talks are just out of the question. Didn't you see it when Hamas started launching rockets and mortars into Israel, no one was outraged? No protests what so ever? But when Israel decided to do something about the blatant attacks, the whole wide world jumped the gun?

I agree, injecting billions of dollars into circulation would do quite the opposite and create hyper inflation. It happened in Iran and other countries. They also voted for him BECAUSE he said he would provide for them.

I apologize that you took it this way, however with all the videos I have seen if the protests, not one has offered any real solution other than "Death to Israel" or "Israel is the REAL NAZI state". I just have to laugh with the latter because you know, the holocaust definitely has nothing on the Gaza conflict...

I say it as it comes, the way things are in the world today. Remember Christmas trees were suddenly renamed Holiday trees? Happy holidays replaced Merry Christmas? BLAH BLAH BLAH junk? Yeah. My point exactly.

 

Ahh, okay, I see. Then how come the world is so against isreal? I mean, they have oil and such, you'd think that would make everyone want to defend it and protect it instead of jump the gun with it. Call me ignorant, but why is everyone getting so pissed at israel when some of the Palestinians were starting the whole mess?

also, imagine, it's hard to take you serious with your avatar =P