Do you think US foreign policy is good for the world?
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US foreign policy seems to consist largely of giving huge amounts of cash, often secretly through the CIA, to the favored leader of a country so he can buy US manufactured weapons systems and suppress his people. Then we invade the country and overthrow the same tyrant we put in power when he stops doing our bidding. The only beneficiaries of this kind of policy are the corporations in the Military Industrial Complex. In relation to the amount we give for weapons, the humanitarian aid we offer (usually with strings attached and through the World Bank or IMF) is trivial. Regardless, our policy comes down to trying to use our wealth to control the world, usually with poor result.
Jeez, what a cynic you are. I have yet to see any post of yours find anything good about the USA. I am tempted to tell you to get the hell out of the USA, but I won't. In most other countries you would have been placed in the slammer for anti-government statements and treason. In a few you would lose your head.
Sounds to me like all this time you were trying to tell everyone I was anti-American but it looks like you are the one who is anti-Canadian.
But stop your personal attacks, that's not productive. Tell us instead why you think the US foreign policy is so great to other countries and helpful to the rest of the world.
Please don't make the common mistake of only seeing individual trees in a localized part of the forest, MikeHend. My comments are specific to questions/comments posted here. Were you to ask questions pertaining to the things I love about the people or the landscape or the ideals which founded America, you would hear plenty positive. If I seem cynical to you it is because the dialogs here pertain to topics that I see as the worse part of America and Americans. I believe it was you who stated that there is always room for improvement in any society. I'm just commenting on the areas I feel most urgently need improvement. We are a juvenile society, created and developed largely in a vacuum, and need to grow into our awesome power before it destroys us. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
We, my friend, are the longest surviving representative democracy on the planet. If it were not for the USA, Britain, yes and even Canada you might very well be speaking Russian, German or Japanese and most certainly not enjoying the freedoms you have today. As an American you are certainly entitled to express your opinion, favorable or unfavorable, but just know that your frequent criticisms provide fuel to those that don't like the USA for whatever reason.
Wikipedia has some interesting information on the history of Representative Democracies (ironically they first appeared in Mesopotamia (Iraq!) in Sumerian cities there) but I won't belabor that point. REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_democracy
Certainly, history would could have turned out differently and I'm grateful for the life I have. Where we differ, MikeHend, is in our view of where the enemies of America live. You seem to imply that internal criticism by patriotic Americans, of which I include myself, harm our country! I believe that free and open debate is one of our greatest strengths! We, as a free people, need not fear airing our dirty laundry in public. That is the only way that the dirt may be found and washed away. In my opinion, we most need to fear those who want to stuff our dirty laundry in the closet and allowing it to rot, fester, and infect everything it touches. How can Al Quaeda, for example, possibly take advantage of an open discussion of the lies told that led us into the War on Terror? If Al Quaeda wants to overthrow our form of Government, I suggest to you that they have already succeeded in ways they never imagined. We are today a divided people, afraid of phantoms, led by politicians who have removed some of our most cherished and hard fought freedoms, bought and sold by faceless corporations, and hated (yes hated) around the world as a country. You think I hate my country but you are wrong. I simply believe that my country could be oh so much more lovable, respected, tolerant, supportive, wealthy, and wise if we adjusted our actions a bit. You seem willing to look backwards and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. I look forward and encourage us to improve.
To this I should reply that if they really wanted to attack us again, nothing would be easier. All they would have to do us put on a sombrero and cross the border passing themselves off as illegal Mexicans. After all their skin color would make them virtually undetectable.
But they aren't doing that ..... why?
Could it be that they aren't all that interested in attacking us?
You should learn how to read and try to understand what you read. teotwawki didn't say one bad thing about the American people, in fact he only said bad things about the government of the USA.
I find it strange that you completely ignored what he wrote and instead you tried to focus on what you think other countries would do to him.
You see, the right to free speech is very very important in that if your government is getting out of hand you can stand up and make noise about it. But people like you are very effective at trying to destroy free speech by claiming that if anyone said anything factual about their establishment they are anti-American and would have their heads cut elsewhere.
I see your post is from Canada. Are you Canadian? Are things so very good in a country with a bankrupt medical system? Is it that you want the USA to become more socialist in its laws and policies? Is it because of your jealousy of the citizens of the USA that you feel you must point out every little perceived flaw? Do you point out the flaws in Canada as well? I will keep looking for any of those parts of the American government or scene that you find acceptable to your standards.
Sigh, MikeHend, please. If you can't debate on the merits, attacking the individual is a trap that you MUST try to avoid. It lends nothing to the discourse and cheapens your opinion.
Yes and no, I moved up here a year ago for work. The city where I am is booming with money. I don't intend to stay here very long. As soon as the boom is over here and things get better in the USA I will be moving back. I basically go where my company sends me, I am an easy target for traveling around because I am not married and no children and I have a dual citizenship.
>> Are things so very good in a
>> country with a bankrupt medical
>> system?
I don't know what you are talking about. Here I have to pay 40$/month for health care. I contracted brachial neuritis a while back and I had to get an MRI. It costs 800$ but I didn't pay any of it, and I had to wait only a day before getting the MRI. As far as I can tell the health care ssytem here is great but i don't care all that much because I don't intend to stay here forever. But should I get sick at some point, I would rather get sick in Canada then in the USA.
Anyway you are wrong about the Canadian health care system being bankrupt because there is no such thing as a Canadian health care system. The health care system here is different in every province, some are very good while others are not so good.
>> Is it that you want the USA to
>> become more socialist in its laws
>> and policies?
Where do you get the idea that I am a socialist?
>> Is it because of your jealousy of
>> the citizens of the USA that you
>> feel you must point out every
>> little perceived flaw?
I consider myself an American more then I consider myself a Canadian, but you on the other hand, you appear to want to pick on me just because you think I am Canadian .... are you anti-Canadian?
>> Do you point out the flaws in
>> Canada as well?
I am sure Canada has it's flaws too but I don't care all that much because, again, I consider myself an American first and I intend to die in the USA, I just don't intend to get sick in the USA ..... LOL
>> I will keep looking for any of
>> those parts of the American
>> government or scene that you find
>> acceptable to your standards.
I don't understand what that is supposed to mean .... please explain.
I suppose I am a little sensitive Pepelapiu because so many of the Canadians posting here have nothing but ill to say about my country. Therefore, I tend to strike back. A failing I am sure, but there it is.
What I find strange is that yes, many Canadians hate the USA (as most other countries do).But I also find that Canadians in general are better informed about American politics then Americans themselves, and this saddens me greatly. All Canadians here do KNOW that the bushies lied about Saddam's WMDs and they don't start calling themselves liberals and conservative wing nuts whenever others don't agree with them. But when I am back home, it is impossible to have a political discussion without people wrongly deciding that I am either a demublican or a repocrat.
Anyway, I wrote a little article a few years ago and now I am getting ready to make a short documentary based on that article, but with more accurate and up to date information.
Please have a look and tell me what you think. This is all my research, and not something I got off of some wacky website. The links are all dead now but the information is still very relevant and accurate:
"They came for the Jews but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t a Jew. They came for the Gypsies but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t a Gypsy. They came for the homosexuals but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t a homosexual. They came for the mentally retarded but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t mentally retarded. Finally they came for me and no one said anything because no one was left to speak."
"Jeez, what a cynic you are. I have yet to see any post of yours find anything good about the USA. I am tempted to tell you to get the hell out of the USA, but I won't. In most other countries you would have been placed in the slammer for anti-government statements and treason. In a few you would lose your head."
Now have I connected the dots for you? Or do I still need to simplify? We were all posting against your silly notion that one should not question the actions of their government.
Ah! Strange, isn't it! Virtually all who claim that US foreign policies are beneficial to other countries while the people who are in those other countries are telling us that US policies are bad to them.
Please wake up America, your government is not your own, your American ideals have been hijacked by powerful corporate and banking interests.
Not at all, just trying to elevate the discourse above the playground level. You are certainly free to say what you will. NOTE: my comment was a polite request, hence the use of the word "please", not an attempt to censor. Lets move on.
Canada
Sure
Yes.
US foreign policy seems to consist largely of giving huge amounts of cash, often secretly through the CIA, to the favored leader of a country so he can buy US manufactured weapons systems and suppress his people. Then we invade the country and overthrow the same tyrant we put in power when he stops doing our bidding. The only beneficiaries of this kind of policy are the corporations in the Military Industrial Complex. In relation to the amount we give for weapons, the humanitarian aid we offer (usually with strings attached and through the World Bank or IMF) is trivial. Regardless, our policy comes down to trying to use our wealth to control the world, usually with poor result.
Jeez, what a cynic you are. I have yet to see any post of yours find anything good about the USA. I am tempted to tell you to get the hell out of the USA, but I won't. In most other countries you would have been placed in the slammer for anti-government statements and treason. In a few you would lose your head.
The fact that you are "tempted" MikeHand suggests that you aren't 100% in favour free speech.
Boy? How did you come up with that off the wall analysis. But the, you are Canadian.
Sounds to me like all this time you were trying to tell everyone I was anti-American but it looks like you are the one who is anti-Canadian.
But stop your personal attacks, that's not productive. Tell us instead why you think the US foreign policy is so great to other countries and helpful to the rest of the world.
Please don't make the common mistake of only seeing individual trees in a localized part of the forest, MikeHend. My comments are specific to questions/comments posted here. Were you to ask questions pertaining to the things I love about the people or the landscape or the ideals which founded America, you would hear plenty positive. If I seem cynical to you it is because the dialogs here pertain to topics that I see as the worse part of America and Americans. I believe it was you who stated that there is always room for improvement in any society. I'm just commenting on the areas I feel most urgently need improvement. We are a juvenile society, created and developed largely in a vacuum, and need to grow into our awesome power before it destroys us. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
We, my friend, are the longest surviving representative democracy on the planet. If it were not for the USA, Britain, yes and even Canada you might very well be speaking Russian, German or Japanese and most certainly not enjoying the freedoms you have today. As an American you are certainly entitled to express your opinion, favorable or unfavorable, but just know that your frequent criticisms provide fuel to those that don't like the USA for whatever reason.
Wikipedia has some interesting information on the history of Representative Democracies (ironically they first appeared in Mesopotamia (Iraq!) in Sumerian cities there) but I won't belabor that point. REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_democracy
Certainly, history would could have turned out differently and I'm grateful for the life I have. Where we differ, MikeHend, is in our view of where the enemies of America live. You seem to imply that internal criticism by patriotic Americans, of which I include myself, harm our country! I believe that free and open debate is one of our greatest strengths! We, as a free people, need not fear airing our dirty laundry in public. That is the only way that the dirt may be found and washed away. In my opinion, we most need to fear those who want to stuff our dirty laundry in the closet and allowing it to rot, fester, and infect everything it touches. How can Al Quaeda, for example, possibly take advantage of an open discussion of the lies told that led us into the War on Terror? If Al Quaeda wants to overthrow our form of Government, I suggest to you that they have already succeeded in ways they never imagined. We are today a divided people, afraid of phantoms, led by politicians who have removed some of our most cherished and hard fought freedoms, bought and sold by faceless corporations, and hated (yes hated) around the world as a country. You think I hate my country but you are wrong. I simply believe that my country could be oh so much more lovable, respected, tolerant, supportive, wealthy, and wise if we adjusted our actions a bit. You seem willing to look backwards and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. I look forward and encourage us to improve.
Amen!!
>> If Al Quaeda wants to overthrow our
>> form of Government, I suggest to you
>> that they have already succeeded in
>> ways they never imagined.
To this I should reply that if they really wanted to attack us again, nothing would be easier. All they would have to do us put on a sombrero and cross the border passing themselves off as illegal Mexicans. After all their skin color would make them virtually undetectable.
But they aren't doing that ..... why?
Could it be that they aren't all that interested in attacking us?
Be that as it may, sir, do you dispute my analysis of US foreign policy in general?
I hope you guys are all adding points to this question so it will end up getting voted on!
Yessir, I dispute your entire analysis.
This comment was deleted.
[1 point] 4 years ago by deleted user ReplyNo more than the average bear, Canadian bear that is.
>> I have yet to see any post of yours
>> find anything good about the USA
You should learn how to read and try to understand what you read. teotwawki didn't say one bad thing about the American people, in fact he only said bad things about the government of the USA.
I find it strange that you completely ignored what he wrote and instead you tried to focus on what you think other countries would do to him.
You see, the right to free speech is very very important in that if your government is getting out of hand you can stand up and make noise about it. But people like you are very effective at trying to destroy free speech by claiming that if anyone said anything factual about their establishment they are anti-American and would have their heads cut elsewhere.
I see your post is from Canada. Are you Canadian? Are things so very good in a country with a bankrupt medical system? Is it that you want the USA to become more socialist in its laws and policies? Is it because of your jealousy of the citizens of the USA that you feel you must point out every little perceived flaw? Do you point out the flaws in Canada as well? I will keep looking for any of those parts of the American government or scene that you find acceptable to your standards.
Sigh, MikeHend, please. If you can't debate on the merits, attacking the individual is a trap that you MUST try to avoid. It lends nothing to the discourse and cheapens your opinion.
Might you also post that same reply on the several posts attacking me. In the interest of being fair and balanced, of course.
>> I see your post is from Canada. Are
>> you Canadian?
Yes and no, I moved up here a year ago for work. The city where I am is booming with money. I don't intend to stay here very long. As soon as the boom is over here and things get better in the USA I will be moving back. I basically go where my company sends me, I am an easy target for traveling around because I am not married and no children and I have a dual citizenship.
>> Are things so very good in a
>> country with a bankrupt medical
>> system?
I don't know what you are talking about. Here I have to pay 40$/month for health care. I contracted brachial neuritis a while back and I had to get an MRI. It costs 800$ but I didn't pay any of it, and I had to wait only a day before getting the MRI. As far as I can tell the health care ssytem here is great but i don't care all that much because I don't intend to stay here forever. But should I get sick at some point, I would rather get sick in Canada then in the USA.
Anyway you are wrong about the Canadian health care system being bankrupt because there is no such thing as a Canadian health care system. The health care system here is different in every province, some are very good while others are not so good.
>> Is it that you want the USA to
>> become more socialist in its laws
>> and policies?
Where do you get the idea that I am a socialist?
>> Is it because of your jealousy of
>> the citizens of the USA that you
>> feel you must point out every
>> little perceived flaw?
I consider myself an American more then I consider myself a Canadian, but you on the other hand, you appear to want to pick on me just because you think I am Canadian .... are you anti-Canadian?
>> Do you point out the flaws in
>> Canada as well?
I am sure Canada has it's flaws too but I don't care all that much because, again, I consider myself an American first and I intend to die in the USA, I just don't intend to get sick in the USA ..... LOL
>> I will keep looking for any of
>> those parts of the American
>> government or scene that you find
>> acceptable to your standards.
I don't understand what that is supposed to mean .... please explain.
I suppose I am a little sensitive Pepelapiu because so many of the Canadians posting here have nothing but ill to say about my country. Therefore, I tend to strike back. A failing I am sure, but there it is.
What I find strange is that yes, many Canadians hate the USA (as most other countries do).But I also find that Canadians in general are better informed about American politics then Americans themselves, and this saddens me greatly. All Canadians here do KNOW that the bushies lied about Saddam's WMDs and they don't start calling themselves liberals and conservative wing nuts whenever others don't agree with them. But when I am back home, it is impossible to have a political discussion without people wrongly deciding that I am either a demublican or a repocrat.
Anyway, I wrote a little article a few years ago and now I am getting ready to make a short documentary based on that article, but with more accurate and up to date information.
Please have a look and tell me what you think. This is all my research, and not something I got off of some wacky website. The links are all dead now but the information is still very relevant and accurate:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread142784/pg1
If you have any questions or comments contact me at pepelapiu@gmail.com or repost here.
I guaranty you that all the information I provide in that article is 100% accurate.
"They came for the Jews but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t a Jew. They came for the Gypsies but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t a Gypsy. They came for the homosexuals but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t a homosexual. They came for the mentally retarded but I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t mentally retarded. Finally they came for me and no one said anything because no one was left to speak."
All very true Daever, but connect the dots for me. What does your post have to do with the subject?
This was in retort to your comment of:
"Jeez, what a cynic you are. I have yet to see any post of yours find anything good about the USA. I am tempted to tell you to get the hell out of the USA, but I won't. In most other countries you would have been placed in the slammer for anti-government statements and treason. In a few you would lose your head."
Now have I connected the dots for you? Or do I still need to simplify? We were all posting against your silly notion that one should not question the actions of their government.
Excellent post teotwawki, well put.
You mean that unopened suggestion box that the US calls "Foreign Policy"?
Ah! Strange, isn't it! Virtually all who claim that US foreign policies are beneficial to other countries while the people who are in those other countries are telling us that US policies are bad to them.
Please wake up America, your government is not your own, your American ideals have been hijacked by powerful corporate and banking interests.
What can I say Pepelapiu? You are as full of crap as a Christmas turkey.
Again, MikeHend, if you can't say anything, please don't resort to name calling. It is childish.
What? Are you trying to limit my freedom of speech? I can't believe it. If I believe a person is full of it, I will continue to tell them that.
Not at all, just trying to elevate the discourse above the playground level. You are certainly free to say what you will. NOTE: my comment was a polite request, hence the use of the word "please", not an attempt to censor. Lets move on.
This comment was deleted.
[1 point] 4 years ago by deleted user ReplyOut of 41 votes from outside the U.S.A., only 5 "Good" or "Very Good", 28 "Bad" or "Very Bad"...
Note that even within the US more people think the policies are bad (34%) than good (24%). Most are unsure.