superpower drivel

[historian]

Here we are in perhaps two of the most primitive country in the world and we cant win! We were kicked out of lebanon, somalia and we only won Grenada cause it was 30000000 against 500. Oh yes and panama which was illegal and conducted at night - no declaration of war.
Our schools are churning out hopelessly ignorant people who are void of any sense of history and, worse dont care.
The classes are being ground into the dust and our politicians are all up for sale.
Superpower my rear end. The only thing we have are weapons and one day they will run out.
A superpower is somewhere with well educated people who can understand simple instructions, who are able to support their families, who do not see hungry children in the midst of obscene wealth, who are tolerant of each other and so on....
Ancient rome and USA today - decadence slipping into mediocrity.

[IrateCitizen]

1. I think you'd better choose a better username...

... because no "historian" I've ever known would ever postulate such an incoherent babble without any kind of cause/effect analysis or documented support for their arguments.

[info being]

5. never mind

Message self-censored.

[historian]

6. incoherent babble???

Tell me please, if you can, why decadence is the inevitable result of the maturing of ANY society? If you read your history,you will see that the romans, greeks, persians, whoever you choose, went through all the phases every power does. Establishment of a community,enlargement into a state, strong beliefs and ethics (whether you agree with them or not) conquest, the accumulation of riches, widening gap between the rich and poor, corrupt governments and finally the slide into mediocrity as they lose to the barbarians.
Where do you think we stand now?
And try to be a little m ore polite it never hurts or is that another sign of decadence?

[ex_jew]

2. Why do you think our weapons will run out ?

I've never heard a shortage predicted.

It's true, aside from its armed forces, the US has little to offer the rest of the world. But perhaps that's enough ! What was the last army that could offer us any competition, and where are they now ?

[John BigBootay]

3. Huh?

"It's true, aside from its armed forces, the US has little to offer the rest of the world."

I have to take some exception to this. The US gives a lot of foreign aid to various nations around the world. Our technology and innovation creates new products, drugs and machinery that are widely used. Our standards of construction and engineering are among the best in the world and widely emulated. I could go on and on...


Come on!!!

[RichM]

4. You could go on, but you already made a mistake - on foreign aid.

It's a common misconception that the US gives a lot of "foreign aid." It just isn't true. The percent of GDP that we give as foreign aid is something like 0.1%. This is lower than almost any other industrialized power, and the money is NOT string-free, nor all targeted for "nice" things like building schools and dams, etc. A lot of it is money given with the proviso that the recipient government must use it to buy US-made armaments.

[historian]

8. Have you ever lived in 3rd world country?

I have - i lived in brazil when the elected socialist president was kicked out of power by the CIA, and then handing over power to the military.One of my friends parents, outspoken critics of the USA, vanished. I can tell you the results of american interference always result in the following: a decrese in living standards for the majority; inflation driving the poor further and further away from the cities where the jobs are; a corrupt govt whose only interests are pleasing the US and getting more money from them and on and on...
Our standards might be high but they dont really benefit the average citizen - all he wants is to be able to feed his family and live a decent life.
I will say though that the average american is to be admired - they are the first to open their wallets to send help in case of catastrophes etc ...its the f.....g govt and the greedy ceo's who destroy our image as being a decent and generous people.

[historian]

7. wrong word

I dont mean shortage - i mean our expenses on the military will far outgrow our revenues as is happening now leading to eventual bankruptcy.

[sendero]

9. while I wouldn't...

... state it as stridently, I basically agree with you.

Americans are simply losing touch with the things that made our country great. Americans don't save money, they spend ostentatiously. Our consumer goods are made somewhere else and we use dollars borrowed from other countries to buy them.

Corporations no longer have the slightest loyalty to what is good for America. As they scramble over each other to outsource jobs for a small temporary competitive advantage, they seem to have no idea of the long term implications of their actions.

Our currency is in free fall as we speak. Once certain creditor nations lose confidence in us, it will spill over into our domestic economy in a very negative way. Our domestic economy cannot afford much negative right now.

America is not going to be conquered militarily. It will be conquered economically. Those who think we can bluster our way out of this quagmire are mistaken.

[historian]

11. thank you

Im so angry at the things ive seen all over the world, then hear the platitudes offered, that i do tend to bluster out of annoyance.

[camero]

12. You weren't far off the mark

Another thing is peak oil and most weapons systems rely on oil in some form. No oil, no weapons.

[historian]

10. poorly armed and barely literate afghans

and causing us untold grief - so much for vast armies. Afghanistan has never been conquered and never will be. We went into somalia (a primitive country if there ever was one) and we had to leave. Iraq is another example - we havent won - we defeated a dispirited and poorly armed force, but us soldiers are still dying and being maimed.
Im sorry but you have to advance your thinking - large armies nolonger are the response to anything - only to lead us into further quagmires.
Do you think that someone with dynamite strapped around their waist gives a damm about our wonderful weapons and wizardy?

[bemildred]

13. I agree with you.

My mind is still boggled at the amount of blood and
treasure thrown down a rathole in VietNam.

You might like "The Unconquerable World" by Johnathan Schell.