tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post115115649504885536..comments2023-10-26T20:05:14.669+07:00Comments on intrepid flame: The Chauvinistic ApproachJabizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15060918134697370964noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151337061384967762006-06-26T22:51:00.000+07:002006-06-26T22:51:00.000+07:00That's an interesting point. I would have cited Wo...That's an interesting point. I would have cited World War II as an example because indeed some liberation was done but we probably wouldn't have even gotten involved had Pearl Harbor not occured... I'm certainly going to have to rethink what I said. Excellent point, BZ.MC Fanonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04966360672502646830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151287228173806692006-06-26T09:00:00.000+07:002006-06-26T09:00:00.000+07:00We've just sort of become this force for justice i...<I>We've just sort of become this force for justice in the world and I would say in the past we have been.</I><BR/><BR/>Just curious Dave, which time are you talking about? Was it when we helped the Native Americans with their land, or when we helped Mexico with California and Texas? Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic? When did the US bring about any justice? Please don’t bring about WWII. That was a war to realign and set the stage for our current century, and the US after the Marshal Plan and the re-creation of Japan, was not out trying to help anyone but it’s own position in the world. <BR/><BR/>Sac Voice, you are right the poor in the US do have it better than many of places. I lived in a small town in Mozambique for two years without any running water or electricity, and while the experience was quaint and exciting for me, it was not for the people who had no choice but to live there. However, the poor in the US are not far off, see New Orleans, or the inner-cities of any major city, or poor rural parts of Mississippi or Alabama. You say the poor have a choice, as if it is there fault that they are in a system that is stacked against them. I also taught in the Bronx for two years, and I can’t tell you how many talented, bright amazing kids I saw struggling to get by in a school that was falling apart. The only real choice they had was the military. Don’t you think that given a choice, most people would prefer not to be poor, and have the things they need in life. So you are right, while most people in the states do have electricity, and water, and they are better off than people living in the slums of India, that doesn’t mean that they have it made. <BR/><BR/>And finally yes China, plays the part of Communist well, but it is probably one of the biggest capitalist economies in the world as we speak.Intrepidflamehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185093331334990403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151279151140723832006-06-26T06:45:00.000+07:002006-06-26T06:45:00.000+07:00Sorry Diva. We're not quite at a fascist state yet...Sorry Diva. We're not quite at a fascist state yet. Actually you're misusing the term fascist. Too often liberals like to envoke the word as a sort of political curse word. Read Trotsky's pamphlet on fascism for a better understanding of it.<BR/><BR/>http://marx.org/archive/trotsky/works/1944/1944-fas.htm<BR/><BR/>-Comrade Dave<BR/>http://theredmantis.blogspot.com/MC Fanonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04966360672502646830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151252620364189072006-06-25T23:23:00.000+07:002006-06-25T23:23:00.000+07:00Sacramentovoice, the poorest in this country do NO...Sacramentovoice, the poorest in this country do NOT have it better than others. We have inadequate health care in the USA. This includes a shortage on trauma centers; nursing; even doctors. We have an incredible imbalance of wealth vs. poverty which winds up dictating policy in favor of the wealthy. We have overcrowded conditions in most schools with inadequate facilities. Several years ago, as a substitute teacher in Chicago, I went to one such school to teach art. I asked for some supplies; the principal told me that they had $.19 (19 cents) in their budget for the rest of the school year. That was in January. BTW, the school was 100% black. <BR/><BR/>We ignore real crisis in Africa because, really, who cares about a black nation? WTF is that about? We march blindly into Iraq because the real goal is to control oil. Has nothing to do with terrorists. <BR/><BR/>Yes, China is a capitalist country; much more so than Sweden. We are a fascist country, and we call ourselves a democracy - we aren't. When all things are operating without insanity, the USA is actually a Republic, not a Democracy.DivaJoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02534571327558009753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151251490313783212006-06-25T23:04:00.000+07:002006-06-25T23:04:00.000+07:00So you are saying that China is more of a capitali...So you are saying that China is more of a capitalist country then Sweden?SacramentoVoicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10011035263405972426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151199541306068392006-06-25T08:39:00.000+07:002006-06-25T08:39:00.000+07:00Because the "Communist" and "socialist" countries ...Because the "Communist" and "socialist" countries you're referring to are probably more in line with fascist nations (i.e. the Soviet Union, Vietnam, North Korea) and some are "Communist" in name only (China, which is actually a capitalist nation in most ways).<BR/><BR/>A prime example of real socialism is Sweden, which not only prides itself with one of the lowest poverty rates, highest GDP's, and lowest unemployment rates.MC Fanonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04966360672502646830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151193403179543922006-06-25T06:56:00.000+07:002006-06-25T06:56:00.000+07:00The poorest in this country have way better then m...The poorest in this country have way better then many in this world, at last they have options. As capitalism being so bad, how do you explain the standard of living being lower in communist/strongly socialist countries?SacramentoVoicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10011035263405972426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151187884938399612006-06-25T05:24:00.000+07:002006-06-25T05:24:00.000+07:00But let's not be too hard either. After all, no on...But let's not be too hard either. After all, no one assigned us the duty of helping out other nations. It's not like we necessarily have a natural obligation to do so. We've just sort of become this force for justice in the world and I would say in the past we have been.<BR/><BR/>Man, I flip-flop way too much on this issue because although I recognize that we are so much better off (value-wise and material-wise) than most other nations, problems like our 12.7% poverty rate don't help that case. I suppose any disappointment/anger I have towards us is directed at the administration who led us in this direction, namely Bush.MC Fanonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04966360672502646830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151175639387660762006-06-25T02:00:00.000+07:002006-06-25T02:00:00.000+07:00The main problem we see with the US is that it lik...The main problem we see with the US is that it likes to put itself up there as the 'beacon of freedom and democracy', but you only have to see what it does abroad to see what a crock that is. It is a disgerace with everything from high priced medicine that the countries that need them cannot afford, to it's foreign policy that sees it invade countries it defines as a danger. We have a thing here called the tallest poppy syndrome. Anyone who sticks their head up the furthest above everyone else is the one that everyone notices. If America did not try and purvey itself as whiter then white and the saviour of the world, then people would not be so harsh. Unfortunatly it does so it deserves every withering word aimed at it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21001963.post-1151159683413103412006-06-24T21:34:00.000+07:002006-06-24T21:34:00.000+07:00BZ, fantastic post. I just discussed this exact to...BZ, fantastic post. I just discussed this exact topic with a friend of mine last night. I'm afraid by our very nature (liberals, prograssives, democratic socialists, whatever you want to call us) we tend to be hard to the U.S. for the reasons you point out. For instance, we are U.S. citizens; that's undeniable. And because we are we have an obligation to try and better our system (which as you pointed out is corrupt to begin with).<BR/><BR/>But let's not let our guard down too much either. The U.S. is a country that values ideals like freedom and this burns bright in the modern world but look at how we forsake the ones who need freedom the most?<BR/><BR/>I'm reminded of the genocide in Rwanda that was ignored by the Clinton Administration, as well as their poor handling of the situation in Somalia later on.<BR/><BR/>I think about modern day Uganda, where Joseph Kony and the L.R.A. can kidnap and forcibly conscript children into their rebel ranks to rape, murder, and pilage.<BR/><BR/>We allow this sort of thing to go on all of the time and too often we turn a blind eye to it. <BR/><BR/>The U.S. is ultimately a force for good but anyone who denies that we have some major faults has another thing coming. <BR/><BR/>-Dave<BR/>http://theredmantis.blogspot.com/MC Fanonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04966360672502646830noreply@blogger.com