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In Reply to: RE: America is AWESOME right now. posted by Carl G on March 12, 2022 at 11:51:27:
There are a few issues here and I can't respond to all of them because - well I have a life outside of this forum.
They were only paying 1% of their GDP vs USA paying 4% of GDP on defense.
The problem with this, which is true, is that the US spends more than like the next 10 countries combined - the US military is FAR FAR too big and completely unnecessary. So while the US chooses to spend a massive amount of money on the military that is the choice the US government makes. Historically, the US has made deals with allies not to have massive militaries because while a country may be a friend now they may not be a friend in 25 years. So The US-made deals by saying - "we'll protect you, but you are not allowed to have nukes." So countries agreed to that. The problem is 5 presidents later you get a new president who doesn't understand that history because he never reads and just looks at the dollars and says - pay up.
This is a problem in a two-party system because one president makes a deal with a country (a contract) and then a new president comes in and reverses (rips up the contract). Obama made deals - Trump came in and reversed them (executive orders) then Biden came in and reversed Trump's executive orders. It doesn't matter which guy is right - what happens is that the rest of the world can't trust the US because every 4-8 years there is a good chance the "deal" will be ignored.
I look for consistent arguments - Trump ordered the execution of a general - fair enough - Obama/Biden/HRC got together and ordered the execution of Bin Laden. Lots of people get killed by the US government under both Republican and Democratic presidents. These presidents are getting intelligence from the CIA and FBI and the NSA and others and they make decisions.
Pulling out of Afghanistan was the right thing to do - it was something that the right was arguing for and Trump said he was going to do. Biden did it. They actually agreed on that.
My belief systems generally fall to the domestic side of the spectrum anyway.
Things I support are:
freedom of speech,
freedom of the press,
freedom of religion,
separation of church and state,
right to due process and equality
LGBTQ+ rights and protections
Pro-Choice,
Progressive tax systems,
free universal healthcare (single-payer)no p[profiting on sick people, Pro-Unions,
Paid vacation
40 hour work weeks
Paid maternity/paternity leave
No banning books like Harry Potter, 1984, Lord of the Flies etc
Leaders must be morally and ethically upstanding people
You get the idea. You know where most liberals are on these things.
I have friends who differ with me (in the real world) but I was never an anti-Republican - I was fine with Bush SR and Reagan. I would have been fine with Romney winning or with McCain winning. But I want the person to be someone I can respect as a human being. Even if I differ with them on their economic platform.
And that's why I have said on these forums that as the years have moved on there is almost no shared ground anymore.
Put another way, Trump became a kind of focal point in divisiveness where families split relationships where friends since elementary school unfriended each other. Biden had more votes than any president in history - not because people liked him - but because they hated Trump. Trump got the second most votes in history in his second term as well showing just how many people love him.
But this is the greater point Carl - it's not about arguing who is right over which decision but it comes down to the fundamentals of the person running the country. The Republican Party and the Democratic Party are fundamentally different on almost every "humanistic" level.
I asked Ghost to list some things where democrats and Republicans in modern times agree - he did not reply. Maybe this was always here but it never seemed this bad in the past.
There are predictions by some that there will be a possible violent Civil War type action coming in 2024's election. Seriously? But let's say these worries are legit something to be concerned about - this illustrates that folks have fundamental and profound diametrically opposed views on almost everything today. Conservatives don't want change - they want to go back to the 1950s idealism and progressives keep progressing and moving away from that era belief system - becoming more and more "secular" and I just don't see how that gap gets closed.
People on here argue endlessly about the exact same topics - kind of like Cables and Vinyl vs digital but I see the same people arguing the same things in 2022 that I read in 2002.
America like Canada is made up of States and Provinces who have joined together because you're stronger together than alone. But in Canada, we have a province that tried to leave and there have been rumblings of seceding from the Union (doubtful as these things would be).
But I still think it's a pretty respectable idea. I am not a Republican but I have seen the kind of anti-California statement for many many years - those liberals in California and their vegans and electric cars etc and folks often make fun of the southern states as being filled with the slow-witted. Canada has the same thing - we call Alberta the Texas of Canada and it's not meant kindly. Hong Kongers typically can't stand the Mainland Chinese.
I mean if all the lefty liberals moved out of saying Alabama and Kentucky and Arkansas and moved to California and all the GOPers moved out of California to those three States - don't you think everyone in all 4 states would be happier? I sort of Joked that the USA should be divided into two USA - the United Democratic States of America (UDSA) and the United Republican States of America (URSA). Give everyone says 3 years to move to the State that holds their belief systems - I mean what does it matter if you work at McDonald's in Orange County or one in Austin Texas?
With two separate countries, you can live under the rules you like. You don't have to put up with the woke liberal left - you don't have to be pissed off that Biden is president. It would create far less animosity. In the URSA - there would be no Pro-Choice - it would not exist. Abortion would be 100% illegal. Everyone can open-carry anywhere. No taxes. Trump would be president. Congress and the senate would be 100% Trump supporters. Climate Change? Screw that. No gays in the military arguments - they would be banned or shot or whatever the rules would now be. Abolish the minimum wage.
The Liberals would get their States and buy all-electric cars etc - they'd probably boot Biden and go for an AOC or Bernie - They'd be that cute neighbour like Canada - you go over to buy some maple syrup and vacation from time to time. All the Mexicans would move into California. Seriously dude - the best way to get along is often to live apart. In a bad marriage, you can walk away. Living together is a sort of abuse.
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- RE: America is AWESOME right now. - RGA 03/14/2207:36:11 03/14/22 (0)
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