Quote:
Originally Posted by MTVN
Always interesting how the US is constantly criticised for interfering too much globally then the second they threaten to step back a bit they're accused of abdicating responsibility. People need to make up their mind over whether they want the US as a protector of global affairs or not, Europe should get their own act together if they want to protect Europe
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That's sort of how I feel. Why would they
want us in their business? It's an old mentality that I think is on its way out... mainly because citizens are tired of paying for it and it's caused so many issues of conflict of interest locally within the US for people here locally. Having lived near DC for a significant part of my 20's, I saw first hand all the people who had govt money in their pockets and vice-versa... and they are loudly and proudly under the impression the gravy train will never end.... the original "essential worker"...
Quote:
Originally Posted by arista
Maru,
JD Vance had to tell the other leaders
times have changed.
and Germany has Terrorist Afghans
I say.
Maru you are a Good American
please post more on this thread if you can...
all views are welcome.
Joey posted his true thoughts
on this thread
that is great
More views are needed.
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Thanks.
If I see something worth commenting on, I usually will, but admittedly my POV is going to be very nuanced in some cases. I can only speak to how I experience these policies as a citizen... I'm not a player on the chess board but we're definitely all paying for the pieces as a taxpayer. So I'd like to see some of the things that the earlier progressive movement was aiming for before they were co-opted... such as improved healthcare "for all", whether that's more affordable healthcare or a transparent system or even "universal" (if done well...)... but it needs doing in an intelligent way... if we have a system that encourages the raiding of our cookie jar (and vice-versa), necessary culling is difficult, new modes of thinking can't be tried and it's very difficult to take advantage of change... so I think progressive ideas still have a place, but it has to be with the idea that we do have to work with what we have and not just go based on ideals... I think there is a real hunger for that in the States, if I'm honest.
I think it's very true everything is changing. Whether it's "for the better", always remains to be seen. Although, that whole concept to me is a modern invention. Humans have really been through it all across history and yet we're all still here progressing forward. (And if looked at with far away enough in the rear view, we could almost always say we're doing better and have left bad ideas behind and that it's been a progressive shift upward... )
Also... I'm not sure we're entitled to "for the better" by any kind of default. We can't just sit back and wait. We have to make anything happen with our own hands. The modern think is to sit back and complain rather than being part of the "for the better", but all that people seem to be taught to do is now is talk about hope. I'm not sure they understand the promise of hope.
The new energy is that people need to actually get involved in what it is they want to create... so that's my opinion of that... I saw a meme about the "Parasite Class" and while it's certainly a vulgar term, I do see that we have ideas that support the premise of groups on either end of the spectrum, the extreme poor, the extreme rich, having their fill of whatever is available to them via the system. Even if those person(s) are not able to easily take from the tap, they're still in the mindset that it should be there on a whim and that's not really good for society. The problem is, the middle that funds that is getting very thin and so it's more take than give on the whole, and that's not really viable... so to that, if other countries want protection, they should pitch in of course because its' their country, ie their future... they need to invest in that for their own citizens... because it's not going to be possible for us to forever fund the military to the level we are currently funding it and that's not something people like to talk about... but it's the reality.
It's been said many times since I've first learned of Social Security (the part of it is that is our version of a "pension) is that it won't be there when myself and my peers reach of age to take from it. The math just isn't there. Add to this, declining birthrates across the West... nobody talks about this, but Japan is a warning to that particularly...