Discuss in no more than 100 words...

Naturally - the US is the largest political, financial & military influence in the world, so most discussion will revolve around their actions.

(I still have 78 words left ;) )

[quote=krelm]Naturally - the US is the largest political, financial & military influence in the world, so most discussion will revolve around their actions.

(I still have 78 words left ;) )[/quote]

True, also obviously alot of members on this board are from the US, and they, thankfully, have no problem expressing themselves!

to davetlv: well spoken my friend!

Funny though how 'they' can feel really personally involved (and sometimes attacked) when somebody else has another opinion... Seems like Americans feel more 'part of the system' and closer to politics than in Europe. In generaL I can appreciate their contributionsto this forum.8)

(still got words left?):wink:

[quote=maxman] Funny though how 'they' can feel really personally involved (and sometimes attacked) when somebody else has another opinion... Seems like Americans feel more 'part of the system' and closer to politics than in Europe. In generaL I can appreciate their contributionsto this forum.8)[/quote]

Thats because America was built on a certain political infrastructure, that has since been emulated by every other "free" nation on the planet.

I'm not speaking for everyone, just myself. But when I hear about how America's health plan sucks even when its the best in the world, by far. Or that we shouldn't police the world and so on, even though we are the only ones capable of doing so. And another time WILL INEVITABLY come when America is the only hope for the entire world, as it was in WW II, and IMO, is becoming exactly that right now. Or when our president is compared to a ravenous, murderous, and insane savage of a dictator. Or when any of our system's structure's is questioned only to be emulated, it doesn't make me mad so much as it makes me laugh.

Everything we do in America is emulated worldwide by other democratic nations. Using healthcare as an example, other nation's will take our stance on it, modify it to fit their own "specs" if you will, and implement it into their system.

Usually, the rest of the world knows that our system is the best (proven many times throughout history) but those nations also don't want to completely follow us. Its human nature to want to be different. They are thinking, well sure its good, but we can make it better. And understandably so. But as we will soon see in Canada and the aforementioned example, they will soon need to modify it to even further emulate our own system, while badmouthing ours throughout the entire process.

That my friends, is what makes me laugh. America is the only super power in the world, we will be talked about because there is nothing else to talk about. Everyone is always badmouthing the big guy because thats human nature. When at the same time, people will either emulate us later, or implement their own system based on the emulation.

I don't know if it was 100 words, or less, or more or whatever. And I could care less. How stupid is that limit any way. Why would anyone sit around counting how many words they typed. Rediculous.

[quote=maxman]to davetlv: well spoken my friend!

Funny though how 'they' can feel really personally involved (and sometimes attacked) when somebody else has another opinion... Seems like Americans feel more 'part of the system' and closer to politics than in Europe. In generaL I can appreciate their contributionsto this forum.8)

(still got words left?):wink:[/quote]

Yeah we are pretty involved because those of us who are educated about American government know the central conflict of democracy: How do you create a government to control and organize the people while at the same time obliging it to control and organize itself.

People in both parties are trying to get the government under control but they have [b]VASTLY[/b] different ideas of how it should be done. Debates always get heated because of fear. Conservatives are afraid the government is going to get bigger and bigger and therfore get progressively worse. Liberals believe if the government gets smaller corporations and facists will control them. Between corporations and government, only one can write legislation and enforce it with cops and army. When i came to that revelation at about 13, i knew who i had to vote for.

I have been warding off big governmet liberals since that day, and i still have about 50 years worth of fight left in me! :mrgreen:

[quote=Civic_Zen][quote=maxman] Funny though how 'they' can feel really personally involved (and sometimes attacked) when somebody else has another opinion... Seems like Americans feel more 'part of the system' and closer to politics than in Europe. In generaL I can appreciate their contributionsto this forum.8)[/quote]

Thats because America was built on a certain political infrastructure, that has since been emulated by every other "free" nation on the planet.

I'm not speaking for everyone, just myself. But when I hear about how America's health plan sucks even when its the best in the world, by far. Or that we shouldn't police the world and so on, even though we are the only ones capable of doing so. And another time WILL INEVITABLY come when America is the only hope for the entire world, as it was in WW II, and IMO, is becoming exactly that right now. Or when our president is compared to a ravenous, murderous, and insane savage of a dictator. Or when any of our system's structure's is questioned only to be emulated, it doesn't make me mad so much as it makes me laugh.

Everything we do in America is emulated worldwide by other democratic nations. Using healthcare as an example, other nation's will take our stance on it, modify it to fit their own "specs" if you will, and implement it into their system.

Usually, the rest of the world knows that our system is the best (proven many times throughout history) but those nations also don't want to completely follow us. Its human nature to want to be different. They are thinking, well sure its good, but we can make it better. And understandably so. But as we will soon see in Canada and the aforementioned example, they will soon need to modify it to even further emulate our own system, while badmouthing ours throughout the entire process.

That my friends, is what makes me laugh. America is the only super power in the world, we will be talked about because there is nothing else to talk about. Everyone is always badmouthing the big guy because thats human nature. When at the same time, people will either emulate us later, or implement their own system based on the emulation.

I don't know if it was 100 words, or less, or more or whatever. And I could care less. How stupid is that limit any way. Why would anyone sit around counting how many words they typed. Rediculous.[/quote]

Come on Civic... this is the kind of arrogance that's gets people's backs up - "We are the best, etc."

And the 100 words thing was a joke.

:roll: double post when the server was crashin

[quote=mixu]Come on Civic... this is the kind of arrogance that's gets people's backs up - "We are the best, etc.[/quote]

Who cares. The only reason it gets on their nerves is because they think we are not the best. Who cares if a man has pride in where he lives and convictions for the things his country stands for...........just because we think we're the best doesn't mean we don't think youre a close 2nd :WinkNSmi:

[quote=mylexicon][quote=mixu]Come on Civic... this is the kind of arrogance that's gets people's backs up - "We are the best, etc.[/quote]

Who cares. The only reason it gets on their nerves is because they think we are not the best. Who cares if a man has pride in where he lives and convictions for the things his country stands for...........just because we think we're the best doesn't mean we don't think youre a close 2nd :WinkNSmi:[/quote]

Hey, I've got no problems with people thinking they're the best - it's human nature. Have pride, have conviction...

Just don't assume anything 8)

[quote=Civic_Zen] America is the only super power in the world [/quote]

Try telling that to China. :mrgreen:

[quote=mylexicon] Who cares. The only reason it gets on their nerves is because they think we are not the best. Who cares if a man has pride in where he lives and convictions for the things his country stands for...........just because we think we're the best doesn't mean we don't think youre a close 2nd [/quote]

Well, talking about the best is very hard. You definitely have the best (Strongest) military, you have one of the best / strongest economies, but still everything is still not the best in America (according to an article link posted on MS by mylexicon, Americans are one of the worst workers on the planet :wink: ). I personally think Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland) are "better" than the USA and should be the raw-model for the rest of the world. But as I said in the beginning, it is hard to argue what is best, because nothing is perfect, and to each of us some things are more important than others, so it's actually a matter of opinion and not a fact. :WinkNSmi:

Re:: Is it me or this becoming a US politics forum?

Hmmmmmm

A question for u Civic...

Do u know which nation had the exact ideas with the ones u have (we are the super power, we are the best, everybody emulates us etc. etc.)?

The fucking Nazis.

Secondly...

Your political infrastructure.....is an emulation of democracy.Which is something that most countries had b4 the existance of the US.

And last... You just proved u don't know shit about the rest of the world.

Surely America is the super power, and changed the world dramatically over the years....but man a little modesty would not harm u.

Really...r u an ethnicist?

Re:: Is it me or this becoming a US politics forum?

[quote=redrum-er]Do u know which nation had the exact ideas with the ones u have (we are the super power, we are the best, everybody emulates us etc. etc.)?

The fucking Nazis.[/quote]

:lol: :lol: Yeah [i]we[/i] are the one's filled with bitter contempt. If we believed the same things as the Nazis we would have conquered France a long time ago. We have no abitions for new territory......we aren't rounding people up into death camps......the military has not overthrown the government. These types of baseless accusation could be dispensed with a half-way decent education system......you know.....the one Europe claims it has.

Honestly, if we are as bad as Nazi Germany and our military is as out-of-control as everyone claims, why doesn't Europe have a single standing military force that is bigger than the U.S. marine corp. If you really believed the shit you spout you would be building up a huge military to make sure we sure we don't get too imperialistic.

There is no initiative anywhere in Europe to increase the size of your military, indicating to us and the rest of the world that your leaders and your people are full of shit, or they are just as lazy and just as insolent as before WWII.

Re:: Is it me or this becoming a US politics forum?

[quote=mylexicon] There is no initiative anywhere in Europe to increase the size of your military, indicating to us and the rest of the world that your leaders and your people are full of shit, or they are just as lazy and just as insolent as before WWII.[/quote]

Ehm, they actually are building that, but you know politics huh? Slow, slow slow...

The problem with Europe is that it's gradually moving to become one, but a lot of people around here are very afraid of losing their own identity and becoming subject to some unpersonal 'government' far far away. And people don't have much trust in such a government, especially after the corruption scandals revealed in the European parliament.

Please, don't make the mistake of comparing Europe to the US in the sense of being one political or cultural entity. It's not, not by a long shot. What you have here is a big group different nations, cultures, trying to make an idea of unity work. But it'll take time, I don't expect to see it become one real political unity in my lifetime. The US is a federal system, but on the whole people over the have the same general idea of being part of the same identity. Europe is different, these are countries we're talking about, not states. Creating that "we-feeling" will take some time. And to give just one example: how are you going to deal with all those different judicial systems? They may seem pretty alike in the beginning, but if you take a closer look, you may notice that a lot of laws are based on a concensus which is not present in all the countries. For instance, in my country abortion is legal, posession of marihuana is legal, doctors are (under strict regulations) permitted to assist in Euthanasia. Not every country will accept those laws if Europe were to become one judicial entity. And we will not give up those rights for which we fought so hard. Problem. And there's lots more like this one.

Re:: Is it me or this becoming a US politics forum?

[quote=redrum-er] Your political infrastructure.....is an emulation of democracy.Which is something that most countries had b4 the existance of the US.

And last... You just proved u don't know shit about the rest of the world. [/quote]

Oh really. What country had a democracy before the existance of the US? Ya, I wonder which of us it is that has no idea what their talking about.

And how many countries have you been to outside of Europe exactly? Go ahead and list all the countries you've visited, since that seems to be the basis of understanding a "country" and their culture on this board. Have you ever been to the US?

Re:: Is it me or this becoming a US politics forum?

[quote=Civic_Zen][quote=redrum-er] Your political infrastructure.....is an emulation of democracy.Which is something that most countries had b4 the existance of the US.

And last... You just proved u don't know shit about the rest of the world. [/quote]

Oh really. What country had a democracy before the existance of the US? Ya, I wonder which of us it is that has no idea what their talking about.

And how many countries have you been to outside of Europe exactly? Go ahead and list all the countries you've visited, since that seems to be the basis of understanding a "country" and their culture on this board. Have you ever been to the US?[/quote]

Have you ever been out of bible belt America?

Re:: Is it me or this becoming a US politics forum?

[quote=devon][quote=Civic_Zen][quote=redrum-er] Your political infrastructure.....is an emulation of democracy.Which is something that most countries had b4 the existance of the US.

And last... You just proved u don't know shit about the rest of the world. [/quote]

Oh really. What country had a democracy before the existance of the US? Ya, I wonder which of us it is that has no idea what their talking about.

And how many countries have you been to outside of Europe exactly? Go ahead and list all the countries you've visited, since that seems to be the basis of understanding a "country" and their culture on this board. Have you ever been to the US?[/quote]

Have you ever been out of bible belt America?[/quote]

I've never even been to any of the bible belt states, except Texas. And I sure has hell don't live in any of them. So what is your point exactly?? Or were you just making an assumption, AGAIN, that I live in a bible belt state? :TNF: :Asshole:

Re:: Is it me or this becoming a US politics forum?

Cool down guys. This is a political discussion, so try to use a little more 'diplomacy' when venting your opinions.

Imagine what would happen if our governments would settle their disputes like this. War all over the place.

Make :Anal: :Suck: :HumpMe: not :KillYou: :Boom: :DumbAss:

Democracy did not come into life exclusively in the US of A. It has developed in time (about 700 years looking at recent history, but actually longer) across mostly Europe. When Europeans spread out over the African and American continents, so did their ideas. The process got sped up by the war on independence. Europe followed after that. But don't treat democracy as an idea coming exclusively from the 'Americans', because that would imply that the USA has no history before colonization. That is in Africa called the 'Trevor-Roper' trap. He was an anthropologist who wrote about Africa, but denied the fact that Africa has a history before colonization. Look it up.

Greetingz my fellow Earth-inhabitants.

Re:: Is it me or this becoming a US politics forum?

[quote=Yao]Cool down guys. This is a political discussion, so try to use a little more 'diplomacy' when venting your opinions.

Imagine what would happen if our governments would settle their disputes like this. War all over the place. [/quote]

I love watching some people rant and rave endlessly while making their "points". People talking about how civilised they are, then resorting to petty name-calling. They, themselves, are the best argument in showing how their beliefs are closed-minded and tension-causing.

If a donkey bray at you, don't bray at him.

• George Herbert

Re:: Is it me or this becoming a US politics forum?

:RockOn:

word

[quote=brakada] Well, talking about the best is very hard. You definitely have the best (Strongest) military, you have one of the best / strongest economies, but still everything is still not the best in America (according to an article link posted on MS by mylexicon, Americans are one of the worst workers on the planet :wink: ). I personally think Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland) are "better" than the USA and should be the raw-model for the rest of the world. But as I said in the beginning, it is hard to argue what is best, because nothing is perfect, and to each of us some things are more important than others, so it's actually a matter of opinion and not a fact. :WinkNSmi:[/quote]

I agree that it is hard to argue what is best. However, Europeans(I'm generalizing for the sake of simplicity) have throughout history decided what is best for everyone. Which is, in fact, one of the main reasons why the Middle East and Africa are such a mess. Europe sliced up these regions as they saw fit, neglecting any ethnic or tribal areas. We have a bunch of people who hate each other living where they might otherwise not be. Result: neverending violence towards each other. Think about how many lives and how much money it has cost the world(primarily US, as usual) to go in and try to temporarily stop these people from killing eachother. The US has liberated almost a billion people in its short history. There is no other nation in the world that even comes close.

With that said though, statistically Europeans are much more involved in politics than Americans. Most countries have high voting numbers(compared to the 40% that vote here). Nonetheless, there is no question that US poitics is shaping the world. Actually it is the US economy which IS without a doubt the strongest and most stable economy in the world(there are probably very small economies that might be more stable but not comparable to US).

Furthermore, Norway and Sweden are monarchies. Finland has a parliamentary system with a president; they can't be lumped together. If they like it, they should be able to live that way. No one should argue that Swedes need to change their political system(who really cares, no offense). The important thing to remember is what are countries like Sweden, Norway, and Finland offering the rest of the world? They may be nice, clean places to live, which is great. However, they have a combined population of 20 million people, which is less than a tenth of the US population, yet none of them have a per capita GDP as high as the US. The US is the driving force for innovation and improvement on the planet. There is no question about that. If people like it better somewhere else, that's fine. But that's no reason to ignore the merits and accomplishments of the US.

sorry, way more than 100 words 8)

ehh... itsw a U.S. election year what more can I say?