5 ms·

Maybe the US would do well to obsess a little less about wars? After spending 90%+ of its time existing on being at war, it sure would seem like a good time to

by pluma 7y ago

Maybe the US would do well to obsess a little less about wars? After spending 90%+ of its time existing on being at war, it sure would seem like a good time to take a break and stop attacking other countries maybe.

TheCryptoTengu 7y ago
If only however the military industrial complex is to big. I think America is more like a hired gun never at home hence why home is not in best of shape.
booleandilemma 7y ago
When you’re on top, everyone else is going to try to take you down. And make no mistake, we’re still very much on top.
- celticninja 7y ago
  When you are on top you think everyone else is trying to take you down.
- Nevermark 7y ago
  We are going to seem to be on top, on the surface, long after we Have lost that position in actual practice. Right now we are escalating the debt to extreme levels during the longest economic expansion in US history. I.e. we seem to be planning to bankrupt ourselves. In the meantime, trade differences and trade wars are complex, but the net effect of the tensions with China is it is adapting away from any dependency from us, while are allies are of little help because we dropped our agreements with them. In the meantime, the US has been falling down the country lists for health, longevity, and education for some time. And our recent deference to authoritarian regimes over democratic allies is eroding our political power. The US is undergoing a steep decline and a turnaround in the current divisive hyper-polarized political climate seems very unlikely. The decline is being accelerated by the current political climate.
- pluma 7y ago
  Haha, no.
- rolltiide 7y ago
  I like the US' market's liquidity, that seems unparalleled I like the US' diversified portfolio of industries and stewardship of resources Its military seems wasteful and unnecessary, perpetuated by cultural paranoia and its domestic infrastructure for actually living seems to exist in a parallel world where it is compared to the worst countries in existence whenever challenged, operating with seeming unawareness of what other G20 countries have. when compared to a mixture of legal frameworks to support human rights across countries that have actively made inroads in this area, US seems to lag. The comparisons being just some mostly European countries in the G20. The US seems to lack consensus on supporting its existing human rights and lacks consensus on expanding what they are. when people say "on top", and further reflect that in its leaders masqauarading the US as a moral beacon in the world, I find this to be the exact kind of double speak that George Orwell described. given how many attributes countries have, it further seems like the US is number one in a race only it competes in. At least in this century. The things I like about the US, number one in market liquidity, aren't really what people talk about. Perhaps given that its capital class is so relatively small to its population, their voices aren't what I hear. Deriving confidence from number aircraft carriers around the world just seems to lack perspective, or perhaps this is again related to the size of its working class that required the option of military duty to get by, people that must comply and be a soldier to obtain subsidized schooling, trades, healthcare and housing from the government. The military is a kind of cool technical feat but given the costs and lack of threat its like really? this century? Those are my main thoughts so by which metrics is the US on top specifically, for you?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - sangnoir 7y ago
    > people that must ... be a soldier to obtain subsidized schooling, trades, healthcare and housing from the government. Sounds like joining the army is one way of getting these special citizenship benefits. Would you like to know more?
    - rolltiide 7y ago
- marcyb5st 7y ago
  Based on which metric? Your comment remind me of this video -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqcLUqYqrs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqcLUqYqrs
- stronglikedan 7y ago
  Not to mention that, if we're not the world police, then someone else will be, so we may as well be, since we're the best suited for the job.
  - mikejb 7y ago
    "World police" sounds nice, but the US military is what it is: the military force of a country, ensuring that countries interests, and little else.
- mrmonkeyman 7y ago
  Nah, you are just paranoid. Nobody is taking anyone down because you don't matter anymore. Interesting stuff is happening on the Asian continent. Like the Roman Empire you are just falling, slowly, but steadily and nobody will give a shit. Just like France, UK, etc.
input_sh 7y ago
Then what are they gonna do with all their toys and what reason will they have to request an increased budget year after year?
chapium 7y ago
Perhaps? I'm not surprised a branch of the military is hawkish however.
situational87 7y ago
We just admitted defeat in Afghanistan after 18 years of.. what was the mission again? Build a government? Build the Afghan National Army? We cut out both of those groups from peace talks with the Taliban this year. We tried to keep the talks secret from the government you're negotiating peace about. I can't imagine a more awkward way to discover that mission has been a failure. This has turned into a Vietnam-scale boondoggle, and now we're just supposed to accept the utter failure of the DoD and State and NSA and just listen to their demands for resourcing for future boondoggles? Why? How about we try saying no for once instead of rewarding incompetence over and over again? If we lived in an alternate reality where the State Department had a good track record and today people were posting pictures about their awesome vacations to Tripoli and Kabul and we were talking about new businesses and schools opening that would be one thing, but unfortunately it's just one failure after another with almost nothing to show for it.
- gnusty_gnurc 7y ago
  People generally disagree with me, but I think the absolute failure of our administrative state to get _anything_ right poured gasoline on the fire that is general distrust in government. It was way too easy for someone like Trump to just repeat "Iraq" on stage to remind everyone that "the experts" have failed us in spectacular ways.
- jacquesm 7y ago
  > unfortunately it's just one failure after another with almost nothing to show for it. I really urge you to read Catch-22. It is only a failure until you inspect the books, and then you will realize the genius of it all. Lots of people made out like the bandits they are over this.
- PorterDuff 7y ago
  I think you could make an argument for a 'war', but you need to think less like a Roman and more like a Byzantine.
- turk73 7y ago
  Make a lot of money, dispose of some excess population.
blaser-waffle 7y ago
And do what with it? Spend it on healthcare and infrastructure and NSF research grants? Bah!
mar77i 7y ago
I don't get why Trump gets slammed by the media for talking to Kim Yong and walking back on Iran, or even trying to set up meetings with Taliban this month. Just because he's negociating doesn't mean negociating in itself is wrong, so I find that peculiar.
- justaman 7y ago
  Its very telling of our inability to attribute positives to someone who holds an alternative political ideology. We need to be able to compliment one another somehow if we are ever to bridge the ever increasing gap between political parties.
  - Angostura 7y ago
    I think that's a reasonable goal. Of course the current president seems very content to rip up initiatives of the previous president simply because he was the previous president - see the Iran deal, for example.
- Angostura 7y ago
  On the Iran side, he was slammed because there was already a deal, which according to independent observers was working reasonably well. In terms of North Korea, it might have been a reasonable strategy if there was any evidence of a lasting deal. As it is, it looked like a PR dance by both leaders. Who knows what was going on with the Taliban.
- wonderwonder 7y ago
  Its not that he is negotiating that is the issue, its the fact that he is doing it badly. NK wanted to meet with the president of the US in order to gain international recognition for their leader. They got what they wanted in return the US got nothing, and in the mean time NK has produced more nuclear weapons and continued their missile tests. We have also alienated SK our traditional ally. Regarding Iran, Iran had verifiably held nuclear enrichment to a set level. This was a deal that was working and Trump just pre-emptively left it and re-applied sanctions, and now everyone is mad / surprised that Iran is once again raising its enrichment level. There are essentially no or very limited ongoing negotiations with Iran. The point of the original deal was to prevent a nuclear Iran and it was working. Once Iran gets Nukes the international stage is very different. From an outsider perspective it very much appears that we have stepped back from the deal in order to find a reason to go to war.

by pluma 7y ago

TheCryptoTengu 7y ago

If only however the military industrial complex is to big. I think America is more like a hired gun never at home hence why home is not in best of shape.

booleandilemma 7y ago

When you’re on top, everyone else is going to try to take you down. And make no mistake, we’re still very much on top.

celticninja 7y ago
When you are on top you think everyone else is trying to take you down.
Nevermark 7y ago
We are going to seem to be on top, on the surface, long after we Have lost that position in actual practice. Right now we are escalating the debt to extreme levels during the longest economic expansion in US history. I.e. we seem to be planning to bankrupt ourselves. In the meantime, trade differences and trade wars are complex, but the net effect of the tensions with China is it is adapting away from any dependency from us, while are allies are of little help because we dropped our agreements with them. In the meantime, the US has been falling down the country lists for health, longevity, and education for some time. And our recent deference to authoritarian regimes over democratic allies is eroding our political power. The US is undergoing a steep decline and a turnaround in the current divisive hyper-polarized political climate seems very unlikely. The decline is being accelerated by the current political climate.
pluma 7y ago
Haha, no.
rolltiide 7y ago
I like the US' market's liquidity, that seems unparalleled I like the US' diversified portfolio of industries and stewardship of resources Its military seems wasteful and unnecessary, perpetuated by cultural paranoia and its domestic infrastructure for actually living seems to exist in a parallel world where it is compared to the worst countries in existence whenever challenged, operating with seeming unawareness of what other G20 countries have. when compared to a mixture of legal frameworks to support human rights across countries that have actively made inroads in this area, US seems to lag. The comparisons being just some mostly European countries in the G20. The US seems to lack consensus on supporting its existing human rights and lacks consensus on expanding what they are. when people say "on top", and further reflect that in its leaders masqauarading the US as a moral beacon in the world, I find this to be the exact kind of double speak that George Orwell described. given how many attributes countries have, it further seems like the US is number one in a race only it competes in. At least in this century. The things I like about the US, number one in market liquidity, aren't really what people talk about. Perhaps given that its capital class is so relatively small to its population, their voices aren't what I hear. Deriving confidence from number aircraft carriers around the world just seems to lack perspective, or perhaps this is again related to the size of its working class that required the option of military duty to get by, people that must comply and be a soldier to obtain subsidized schooling, trades, healthcare and housing from the government. The military is a kind of cool technical feat but given the costs and lack of threat its like really? this century? Those are my main thoughts so by which metrics is the US on top specifically, for you?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- sangnoir 7y ago
  > people that must ... be a soldier to obtain subsidized schooling, trades, healthcare and housing from the government. Sounds like joining the army is one way of getting these special citizenship benefits. Would you like to know more?
  - rolltiide 7y ago
marcyb5st 7y ago
Based on which metric? Your comment remind me of this video -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqcLUqYqrs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqcLUqYqrs
stronglikedan 7y ago
Not to mention that, if we're not the world police, then someone else will be, so we may as well be, since we're the best suited for the job.
- mikejb 7y ago
  "World police" sounds nice, but the US military is what it is: the military force of a country, ensuring that countries interests, and little else.
mrmonkeyman 7y ago
Nah, you are just paranoid. Nobody is taking anyone down because you don't matter anymore. Interesting stuff is happening on the Asian continent. Like the Roman Empire you are just falling, slowly, but steadily and nobody will give a shit. Just like France, UK, etc.

input_sh 7y ago

Then what are they gonna do with all their toys and what reason will they have to request an increased budget year after year?

chapium 7y ago

Perhaps? I'm not surprised a branch of the military is hawkish however.

situational87 7y ago

We just admitted defeat in Afghanistan after 18 years of.. what was the mission again? Build a government? Build the Afghan National Army? We cut out both of those groups from peace talks with the Taliban this year. We tried to keep the talks secret from the government you're negotiating peace about. I can't imagine a more awkward way to discover that mission has been a failure. This has turned into a Vietnam-scale boondoggle, and now we're just supposed to accept the utter failure of the DoD and State and NSA and just listen to their demands for resourcing for future boondoggles? Why? How about we try saying no for once instead of rewarding incompetence over and over again? If we lived in an alternate reality where the State Department had a good track record and today people were posting pictures about their awesome vacations to Tripoli and Kabul and we were talking about new businesses and schools opening that would be one thing, but unfortunately it's just one failure after another with almost nothing to show for it.

gnusty_gnurc 7y ago
People generally disagree with me, but I think the absolute failure of our administrative state to get _anything_ right poured gasoline on the fire that is general distrust in government. It was way too easy for someone like Trump to just repeat "Iraq" on stage to remind everyone that "the experts" have failed us in spectacular ways.
jacquesm 7y ago
> unfortunately it's just one failure after another with almost nothing to show for it. I really urge you to read Catch-22. It is only a failure until you inspect the books, and then you will realize the genius of it all. Lots of people made out like the bandits they are over this.
PorterDuff 7y ago
I think you could make an argument for a 'war', but you need to think less like a Roman and more like a Byzantine.
turk73 7y ago
Make a lot of money, dispose of some excess population.

blaser-waffle 7y ago

And do what with it? Spend it on healthcare and infrastructure and NSF research grants? Bah!

mar77i 7y ago

I don't get why Trump gets slammed by the media for talking to Kim Yong and walking back on Iran, or even trying to set up meetings with Taliban this month. Just because he's negociating doesn't mean negociating in itself is wrong, so I find that peculiar.

justaman 7y ago
Its very telling of our inability to attribute positives to someone who holds an alternative political ideology. We need to be able to compliment one another somehow if we are ever to bridge the ever increasing gap between political parties.
- Angostura 7y ago
  I think that's a reasonable goal. Of course the current president seems very content to rip up initiatives of the previous president simply because he was the previous president - see the Iran deal, for example.
Angostura 7y ago
On the Iran side, he was slammed because there was already a deal, which according to independent observers was working reasonably well. In terms of North Korea, it might have been a reasonable strategy if there was any evidence of a lasting deal. As it is, it looked like a PR dance by both leaders. Who knows what was going on with the Taliban.
wonderwonder 7y ago
Its not that he is negotiating that is the issue, its the fact that he is doing it badly. NK wanted to meet with the president of the US in order to gain international recognition for their leader. They got what they wanted in return the US got nothing, and in the mean time NK has produced more nuclear weapons and continued their missile tests. We have also alienated SK our traditional ally. Regarding Iran, Iran had verifiably held nuclear enrichment to a set level. This was a deal that was working and Trump just pre-emptively left it and re-applied sanctions, and now everyone is mad / surprised that Iran is once again raising its enrichment level. There are essentially no or very limited ongoing negotiations with Iran. The point of the original deal was to prevent a nuclear Iran and it was working. Once Iran gets Nukes the international stage is very different. From an outsider perspective it very much appears that we have stepped back from the deal in order to find a reason to go to war.