Originally posted by: Stark
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: Stark
this is the sort of arrogant, isolationist mindset that makes so much of the world hate america. We are a stupid, spoiled, lazy culture that somehow thinks we deserve the prosperity we enjoy even if it comes at the expense of everyone else on the planet.
but i digress... see this is what happens when you take a vacation outside the country (just got back from the middle east on Sunday). 😉
WTF??? while I do not agree with him on AIDS in Africa, how the fsck do you go from that to our success coming at the expense of others?
Our success is SOLELY at the expense of hard work and determination of the American people over the last 200+ years.
The idea that Americans are stupid, spoiled and lazy is pure BS. You don't become the most powerful economic, political and military superpower on the planet by being stupid, spoiled and lazy.
Again, the trendy self loathing among young Americans continues to amaze me.
while capitalism and representative democracy have proven to be the best system of government on the planet, the truth is that we've had a huge, unspoiled, resource-plentiful continent to exploit with minimal competition at just the right point in history (reaping all the benefits of the Industrial Revolution).
to say that people in developing countries not lucky enough to be born in a place like the US deserve to die of AIDS and starvation, IMO, is the ultimate example of American arrogance.
If you honestly compare what we've accomplished to the empires of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and Rome, we really are just babes in the grand history of civilization.
Why do you pull out the "americans are fat, stupid and lazy" bullshit? Worthless argument.
That stance is hardly arrogant or isolationist. All of these countries hate America and want them to stay out of their affairs until something happens. Then the first entity they run to is America. They want America to stay out of their business, but when they need them they want America to pour money into them and help them. You can't have your cake and eat it too. These countries set themselves up to hate America.
I never stated that I think people deserve to die from AIDS and starvation because they arn't on this continent. What I did say is that their resources are not sufficient to support their population. The only ways to fix that are to magically increase their natural resources, or decrease their population. You cannot argue against that. Of course America is expected to step up to the plate and make that happen. Where exactly is the rest of the world?
What I find amusing is that Africa harbors some of the oldest civilizations on the planet, yet they still havn't managed to get their sh!t together after all these years. It's not America's fault they can't rule themselves worth a damn. It's also not America's responsibility to do it for them. It's not America's responsiblity to feed, clothe and educate the rest of the world.
America wasn't "blessed" with a goddamned thing. It is just like every other stretch of earth on the planet, it has its ups and downs in natural resources. By your logic the middle east was "blessed" with insane amounts of oil, so why don't they share it for free? That would be the right thing to do, correct? In that case every country in the world should freely share their resources just because they have them and others don't, right? Well lets just have ourselves a cute little global communist circle jerk then.
Not all charity is about feeding the poor. Some are for educating them so they might do something worth while with their life.
Teach a man to fish...
You're right on 'feeding' the poor.
Yes I'm more inclined to support charities that educate. That is of course the ideal situation. Though at the same time our educational system is getting worse by the day. Take care of your own first, or there will be nothing left.
Where is the rest of the global community when it comes to these educational charities? Why is America expected to pick up nearly all the slack? Setting up educational systems to support entire countries is a monumental task that no single nation should ever be asked to do.
I'm not implying that I want these poverty stricken people to starve and die of AIDS. I am saying that population control most likely needs to happen or the problem will never be solved. It's a simple matter of supply and demand. Totally solving the problems of the poverty stricken is nearly impossible. They have to help themselves before we can really truly make a difference. Until that time we are just feeding the fire.
