OFF TOPIC - The IOC sucks.

[Puke]

the thing that i dislike the most about the US (not that i dislike the US, but i figured i would chip in for the other side of the argument.. only fair.) is that people dont like the police. the average citizen is trained to distrust and be afraid of the police. its a huge cultural problem, and part of the problem is with the civilians and part is with the police.

I think that the whole anti-authority mindset is what leads to all the youth-violence we have in the States. Other countries that have more open attitudes where someone can ask a friendly question to an officer on a street corner dont seem to have the rampant problems with inner city gangs and school violence that we have.

[Dragonlord]

Spoogy, I actually spoke to a recruiter in Toronto Last week, they had an interesting open position. But when they heard I was not a US citizen (let alone Canadian) they said it would be too difficult paperwork-wise. They also said that getting a work visa in Canada is equally hard as in the US...unless you're American. Odd, they almost made it sound as if they were a northern province of the US rather than a country in its own right.

[ZeroAdunn]

Speaking as an American (one who is born in america is of course an american, just like someone who is born on mars is a martian, so don't try and say I am not an american.) I find some of these comments rather insulting.

To adress one comment earlier, why shuold we care about humans rights and civil liberties in some country half way around the world, well, becuase they are PEOPLE. You should care about the world around you, and the people most of all because they are your kin, maybe not directly but we are all one people, and to only care about oneself is selfish.

And another thing, if we weren't going to care about those around us, why the hell should we care about the government. And not all americans drive SUV's and spray arasole cans into the air for fun. I for one ride a bike most of the time, and encourage those around me to do it as well. And we are taking steps (maybe small ones but you have to start somewehere) to decrease pollution, recycling is up, incinerators are steadily going the way of the dinosaur and mass transit is being pushed more and more.

As for the biggest problem in our country, it's not regulating american run industry in foriegn nations, this causes major explotation problems and causes many american industries to move out of the country.

As for our election system, it's fine, the problem is big buiseness and interest Groups are exploiting it with money. A situation easily fixed if it wasn't for the fact that it benefited the politicians, who are the ones who would fix it.

Which brings me to another point, there aren't supposed to be politicians in america, it was originially set up so that being a politician would be something you just did, not a job.

Another thing, about Lucanos' comment about america being a dictatorship, it is not. It is more like neocolonialism, only in this case the government is merely a puppet to itself and corporate america. And one more thing Lucanos, propaganda is propaganda, you can't take it worth ****, it is skewed, if you want the facts you must look deeper.

Maybe native american's were here first, maybe my ancestors did take their land, maybe it was wrong, here slit my rists, lord knows that it's only right that I should pay for the sins of my ancestors. I'm sure your ancestors never did anything wrong!

As for poverty, of course there is poverty in our country, there is poverty in every country.

Not that I am saying america is superior, no nation is superior. Perosnally do not believe in government, or organized religion for that mater (organized religion is just another attempt at government but claiming it is gods will.)

Oh yes and a comment earlier, something about this day and age countries should moving towards democracy? What the hell? Whoever said democracy is the ultimate form of government? In reality communism is, that is true communism, where there is no real government and everyone gives of themselves to benefit their neighbor. And don't give me any crap abou thats not communism, cause that is communism as it was originally intended, countries today that claim to be communist are generally more facist or socialist than true communist.

Please don't generalize your statements, I don't look down on anyone that I don't know, (of course upon meeting people a realise they are idiots and proceed to look down on them) And to those who believe we need government or organized religion, they are wrong, china opporated mostly without organized religion and government for a long time. It wouldn't have been a nice place to live, and then along came religion and look where china is now. Seriously, look it up.

It seems as a lot of people here have a 'holier than thou' attitude. No person is perfect, no government is perfect, but mostly no person is perfect..... dagnabbit.

- just another long rant from Zero.

[ZeroAdunn]

Sorry, double post, oh ya, one more thing:

Come on people now, smile on your brother everybody get together gotta love one another right now.

[This message has been edited by ZeroAdunn (edited 23 July 2001).]

[Phoenix-D]

FYI you can delete Posts. Same screen as the edit button.

Anyway- communism as a perfect government: perfect governments have to work. Communism..doesn't. Human nature, really.

Phoenix-D

[CW]

quote:

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Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
Anyway- communism as a perfect government: perfect governments have to work. Communism..doesn't. Human nature, really.

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Quite true. Communism is just like the idealised calculations in physics and chemistry... great for theoretical studies but doesn't really work out in real life. I guess Marx forgot that humans are humans afterall.


[This message has been edited by CW (edited 23 July 2001).]

[parwez]

quote:

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Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
Every single attempt to do that so far has had the result of creating masses of rules (so you need a laywer and MORE money), limiting free expresion, and gennerally making the "interest Groups" with money more powerful.

Phoenix-D

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Actually all you need is a law that says senators can't serve more than one term in their life. That will stop it being a career option, force big businesses to spread there money futher.

or better yet treat it like jury service.
(possibility for insider dealing exists here)

[CaptSpoogy]

Dragonlord - They make it easy for you if you're American coming here. But if you're from the UK, it should be pretty easy as well...

[capnq]

quote:

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china opporated mostly without organized religion and government for a long time.

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China has had some form of centralized government since the Shang Dynasty in 1600 BC. No culture on Earth has ever advanced beyond clan-based tribalism without some form of government.

------------------
Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

[dmm]

quote:

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"The love of money is the root of all evil." --Lord Acton (I remember that one!)

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Actually, it predates Lord Acton by a couple of years. "For the love of money is the root of all evil..."--St. Paul, First Epistle to Timothy
[/quote]

Actually, the first quote IS from Lord Acton, who was misquoting Paul. The "corrected" quote is also a misquote. The correct quote, in context, is
"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many griefs."
Note that the problem is not money, or even riches, but greed, coveting, and pride. Paul then proceeds to give apostolic commands for Timothy to pass along to the wealthy:
"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share."

That is "Christian communalism": From each, willingly, as an act of love and mercy (and also to gain eternal rewards -- God knows human nature!), according to how God has blessed; To each, according to his/her need (not want), as determined by individuals or by a local fellowship of people who know and love him/her and want the long-term best for him/her.

In practice, this is not an easy thing to achieve. Liberals err by trying to force everyone to "be nice" to everyone, regardless of circumstances or merit. Conservatives err by assuming that people will automatically "be nice" if only the government will stay out of it.

P.S. Regarding China and the Olympics: No one seems to remember that Moscow was awarded the Olympics during the Cold War, and the U.S. would have gone if it had not been for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. I wonder if the Afghanis took comfort from that while they were being sprayed with nerve gas from helicopters? Or do you suppose that maybe the CIA-supplied Stingers they got later on were more of a comfort?