Why doesn't the US stop solving all the other countries' problems?

[fury]

Well, we need help ourselves, especially at a time like this! So why the hell are we still solving other countries' problems when our own is in more need of it?

Read this snippet of a log from IRC just now

[21:24:50] <@s4> we have one main road in town and people hang out in the parking lots to pass dope
[21:25:07] <@dnar> and the cops let it go on?
[21:25:25] <@dnar> cripes
[21:25:31] <@s4> they hire a lot of young punks
[21:25:37] <@dnar> and so the rot continues to spread
[21:25:45] <@s4> people right out of high school
[21:25:55] <@s4> they wont get after anyone their age
[21:26:00] <@dnar> makes you wonder why so much money is spent on solving other countries problems...
[21:26:24] <@s4> this country needs the money too
[21:26:29] <@dnar> yup
[21:26:40] <@dnar> I watched a doco the other day
[21:26:52] <@dnar> I was appauled to see the homeless people living in US cities...
[21:26:59] <@dnar> and the number of them...
[21:27:12] <@dnar> we have a similar problem
[21:27:33] <@dnar> our Govt spent millions "moving" them when we hosted the olympics....
[21:27:41] <@s4> the money should be spent right here in the US
[21:27:47] <@dnar> yup
[21:28:09] <@dnar> I dont see any other country pouring money into the US like the US does in so many other countries...
[21:28:16] <@PostCode> This country started this downward slide once we broke our nuetrality after WW II. Once we started getting involved in foreign affairs, our own problems went further and further back
[21:28:31] <@dnar> agreed
[21:28:52] <@s4> i think we have to get involved
[21:28:59] <@PostCode> No we dont
[21:29:03] <@dnar> and Bush has justy committed a whole lot more money to "defense"
[21:29:15] <@s4> look at afganistan
[21:29:15] <@dnar> or "offense" as I like to think of it
[21:29:27] <@dnar> IMHO, the US does not have a "defense" force
[21:29:34] <@dnar> it has an "offense" force
[21:29:36] <@s4> i agree
[21:29:37] <@PostCode> For what reason did I go over to Suadi and kill?
[21:29:41] <@dnar> the US cant defend itself
[21:29:45] <@dnar> Sept 11 proved that
[21:29:49] <@s4> yep
[21:29:59] <@dnar> the US can go and stomp
[21:30:05] <@dnar> but thats all...
[21:30:08] <@s4> they could attack and we would be caught with our pants down
[21:30:23] <@dnar> yes, the "Dept of retaliation"
[21:30:27] <@PostCode> Sure we can. We can hit a target from two fucking miles away with an M1A1
[21:30:33] <@PostCode> No other tank can do that
[21:30:38] <@dnar> sure
[21:30:45] <@dnar> can you stop an attack though?
[21:30:51] <@dnar> The US is too big
[21:31:04] <@s4> i think we should focus on if the US were invaded
[21:31:17] <@dnar> I disagree
[21:31:20] <@PostCode> That mindset went out the Window once the Cold War ended. The bases started getting closed and defence went to crap
[21:31:22] <@dnar> the US wont be invaded
[21:31:28] <@PostCode> Yet
[21:31:34] <@s4> yet
[21:31:43] <@dnar> The goal of the "enemy" is to destroy
[21:31:59] <@PostCode> We continue our slide on our own problems and someone will invade
[21:32:05] <@s4> i think they are going to keep trying to destroy us a little at a time
[21:32:13] <@PostCode> Because we
[21:32:20] <@dnar> s4 - agreed
[21:32:25] <@PostCode> will be so screwed up no one will care
[21:32:49] <@s4> i also think getting Iran pissed off was not a good idea
[21:32:57] <@dnar> Western Societies are destroying themselves...
[21:33:08] <@dnar> from the inside out
[21:33:09] <@PostCode> Isolationism
[21:33:26] <@PostCode> We need to close the borders and tell everyone to leave
[21:33:31] <@s4> lol
[21:33:33] <@dnar> yup!
[21:33:36] <@PostCode> Work on our own problems
[21:33:40] <@dnar> yup!
[21:33:47] <@dnar> no-one else will do it for you!
[21:34:14] <@s4> we need an energy source that does not depend on the mideast
[21:34:22] <@dnar> mmm
[21:34:27] <@dnar> here starts the problem
[21:34:33] <@PostCode> Texas
[21:34:37] <@fury> my farts generate quite a bit of thermal energy...
[21:34:41] <@PostCode> Oklahoma
[21:34:41] <@dnar> I beleive the US has an alternate energy source
[21:34:44] <@PostCode> Alaska
[21:34:57] <@s4> iran is threatening to destroy the oil fields
[21:35:04] <@PostCode> And tell the "enviormentalists" tough god damn shit
[21:35:13] <@dnar> a sudden shift from fossil fuels will disrupt the delicate financial balance
[21:35:33] <@dnar> "money makes the world go round"
[21:35:33] <@s4> i think it is going to have to happen
[21:35:40] <@dnar> yup
[21:35:40] <@fury> like it's not disrupted already? 9-11?
[21:35:49] <@s4> we can't depend on the mideast
[21:35:57] <@dnar> for years, I have been following an alternate energy solution that is "under wraps"
[21:36:07] <@fury> btw, this discussion would go great on the boards
[21:36:12] <@dnar> It looks like the US is keeping it up their sleeve
[21:36:33] <@PostCode> That was a good warning shot. Whether or not the governmnet is listening and doing the right hting is another
[21:36:38] <@dnar> fury - the forum is not fast enough
[21:36:47] <@PostCode> hehehehe
[21:36:49] <@fury> who gives a fuck
[21:36:56] <@dnar> :wink:
[21:37:08] <@PostCode> Start one fury

So I did. Now discuss.

 

[dnar]

Well, we need help ourselves, especially at a time like this! So why the hell are we still solving other countries' problems when our own is in more need of it?

Several reasons. The FatCats (tm) on the Hill beleive:-
1) Its their job to fix the worlds problems..
2) The US beleives world stability is essential for the longevity of peacfull life in the US and the rest of the world
3) Basic politics, unless the US armed forces use their hardware, they wont get any more budget support. The US Marines are in fact in thread of being phased out. The new wars will be faught by proxy, using technology rather than men, so you gotta keep the men involved to ensure a future for the corps!!!
4) Didnt anyone tell you? The US are the self appointed global police. Maybe you missed that memo.

 

[s4]

Yep. I said those things.

 

[PostCode]

And yes, I truely believe that our country has gone to shit. We care more and more about foreign affairs and less and less about our own people. Our own children and our own lives. We're uneducated, create reforms for educating our children that don't work and sweep the rest under the carpet. Well, the carpet is only so big and the pile under it is starting to creap out the sides. Time to stop and look at what we are.

Time to stop worrying about Israel and Iraq. Time to wake up and look at our own country in the face. We used to have a sound education system that was rigid and setup in such a way that children who skipped school felt the wrath of their parents and teachers. Now it's called child abuse. Before it was called learned respect. Now, we call it foreign affairs, before it was called intervention.

I say we need to look at what we have now and stop worrying about what the guy five thousand miles away. I could really care less about Isreal. It has NO bearing on my life regarless of what the government tries to say. We need to close our borders and work on our own problems.

 

[fury]

Very well said. The US cares too much about other countries. Time to ignore the fact that our nation was founded in part as a refuge for the oppressed (it's on a poem engraved underneath the Statue of Liberty IIRC) for a while until we can get that nation we founded back into a stable position where we are ready to accept more outcasts.

 

[UltraLiberty]

We care about other countries because we need other countries to be prosperous if we are to be prosperous. We cannot survive on our own. Other countries have stuff we need; we have stuff other countries need. We need to be able to trade our surpluses to them so that we can make up our deficiencies. Sure, we could focus on ourselves and yes it's true, we will shoot up higher than anybody else, while others collapse around us...but we won't last that long. There will be nothing to sustain us at that great height and we will slide back down, and this time there won't be anybody left to help us even stay where we are now.

Human society is one big symbiotic relationship. We need them, and they need us.

 

[seclusion]

i'll tell you why the us doesn't stop solving other countries' probs...

it's because they're taking it up the ass from afghanistan...

you fuckin heard me... those towel headed monkeys in afghanistan are in bed with the united states and they're planning world fucking domination... don't believe me? where was the pentagon's defense when the plane crashed into it? why weren't the pilots in all the hijacked planes trained and armed in preventing a security breach? why is the wtc wreckage still not cleaned up? there are a lot of things the us and afghanistan doesn't want us to see... that's why... the us government is just as bad as all those fucking piece of shit towelheads in the middle east...

 

[fury]

How could the U.S. be taking anything up the ass from Afghanistan when they're shoving bombs down Afghanistan's throat?

Of course, they're also feeding them at the same time which is kinda defeating the purpose of shoving bombs down their throat.

 

[Shadowfax]

That's one thing I also wonder sometimes...why doesn't the US stop interfering with the problems in other countries?
In some cases, help is wanted; then there are great problems, concerning the whole world, not only the US.
In other cases there are personal motives for the US to interfere; like in Afghanistan.
But in a few other cases, the interference of the US is plainly not wanted. It aren't only Americans putting questions at this kind of "help".
Sometimes you have to give a country time to solve the internal politics, although the problems could be solved more quickly with interference from other countries. But sometimes, IMO, the US pushes it. They shouldn't stick their nose in someones elses business too many times.

 

[dnar]

Dont forget also, that the US "help" during the 80's and 90's is exactly what generated the hatred now so apparent in the middle east... I strongly beleive the CIA are indirectly resonsible for the Sept 11 attacks.

 

[Ian Peter Freely]

Well, I'm glad our country is so generous. Being a generous and kind man myself, it pleases me to hear that there are nice people like our government out there keeping things in other countries cool.

 

[Shadowfax]

Yeah, it's called "generous" to a certain amount...after that people call it "sticking your nose in somebody elses business"

 

[Joe Black<RC>]

Ungrateful schmucks...

How could the U.S. be taking anything up the ass from Afghanistan when they're shoving bombs down Afghanistan's throat?

Of course, they're also feeding them at the same time which is kinda defeating the purpose of shoving bombs down their throat.

The real irony is that we continue feeding their hungry and building shelters for their homeless, yet psychotics like the Taliban, Hesbulah, Crimson Jhihad (etc...) call us invaders and infidels. Yet they kill their “own” people while trying to roust us. Hypocrisy at it’s ugliest…

 

[dnar]

It is a very fubared world we live in, a world that is degrading and slowly dieing, (with our help).

The sad part of the story is this, it aint getting better, and its going to get much much worse....

 

[PostCode]

Very twisted indeed. I picked up the latest Time magazine. In it is a small little article near the front about the Taliban's little sex slave escapde. Now here's a religion where the woman have to be fully clothed and such because of the "tempting" nature of their bodies and the fact that their Bible calls for their eternal sufferage. Along with that, the religion is supposed to be fanatic about goin by the book, or the Koran. Will someone show me where is says in the Loran that sex slaves are alright?

The article decibed what was found by people who went ot look for their loved ones after the fall of the Taliban. Bones, fragments of bones, unmarked graves, bits of clothing...but no living person. Yeah, sounds like my kinda govvernment. At the US Government lets you know when they're goina rack you over the coals. Hell, they even let you do the rackin' It's called Taxes.

Seriously though, I find a religion as fanatical as the Muslims and it's branches that harbors individuals who perform crap like this for kicks and then other nations harbor them becuase the US is trying to stop it pathetic. The US shouldn't be their in the first place, but were there now. So we may as well finish it. Like we should have done in 90'. Finish the fucking bastard off. Sorry...it's starting to get personal now.

 

[Gonzo]

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Do any of you remember what happened to Europe in the late 30's thru the mid 40's? We kept our nose out of it. We were isolationists. We figured it was their problem not ours. We almost allowed London to fall. We did allow Poland & France & Hungary & Libya & Austria & damned near every square inch of western Europe to fall to Nazi Germany. They were in Asia. They were in the US & Canada, as spies. They were after Eastern Europe, which very nearly fell. If Britain hadn't been an Island, they would've fallen sooner than we helped.
It did & may happen again. There has to be a SuperPower. Who better than the richest nation on the face of the earth? Who better than a country that is not looking to increase it's landmass? Who better than a country that has no interest in defeating a nation, just in removing leaders that are a threat to the world security. None, that I can think. We, unlike the Roman Empire, are happy with our piece of real estate. We also don't want to run the day to day operations of the rest of the world(well, maybe the CIA, but they aren't really us.)
Look at the "poor" in the US. With too many exceptions, though not nearly as many as some would have you believe, they would be living the high life in most other nations of the world. Ask an Afrikaner to show you his car. Have a Haitian use their microwave. Read a book with a Laotian. Ask an Australian to show you their sheep(never mind, bad example). How many Russians fit in a 900square foot apartment, built for a small family? Do you think that Czech Republic has electrical efficiency as dependable as ours? How about that indoor plumbing, what? it's not universal? The American homeless, usually, could get a place to live-but choose not to, for a myriad of reasons. There is work to be had. There is money to be earned. Just get off your ass & do it. Those who are left out of the system CAN get assistance, somewhere.

We help the world because we can. It's our duty. It's our burden. It's for our financial future & prosperity to help. It's cheaper to give 25billion dollars & forgive the debt than to fight a war, both in financial & human cost. It's what happens when power is granted, given or earned. We are the cops. Be good & there's nothing to fear, get in our face & pay the consequences.

 

[Joe Black<RC>]

Saw a dandy bumper-sticker the other day:

"NUKE THE BASTARDS"

Nuf' said.

 

[UltraLiberty]

Seclusion asks where were the Pentagon's defenses. I guess he wants to know how it's possible that an airplane could crash into it, and thinking that it must have been allowed to happen.

Hello, idiot: The Pentagon is right next to a major airport (Ronald Reagan National Airport). With all the airplanes that are taking off and landing and circling literally directly overhead, it is practically impossible for the Pentagon to have any type of air defenses.

Look at the photo here: The airport is clearly identifiable in the center, and the Pentagon is in the NW corner of the photo. In fact, if you center on the Pentagon and zoom in, you can clearly see the damage on the western wall. Looking back at the airport, you can see that one of the runways is aimed almost directly at the Pentagon. Any airplane coming toward that runway from the NW cannot help but pass directly over the Pentagon, and any airplane taking off to the NW would also pass directly over it. There is no way to avoid it.

 

[PostCode]

You have to wonder what goes through the individuals minds who work there and hear those jet engines constantly roaring by all day now...I honestly don't know if I could work there if I had gone through what they had.

 

[PostCode]

Here's a closeup