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> Japan, however, can and should kick the US military out tomorrow morning. Ditto Germany Citizens of other countries are similarly held hostage by their gover

by mih 14y ago

> Japan, however, can and should kick the US military out tomorrow morning. Ditto Germany Citizens of other countries are similarly held hostage by their governments too (although some to a much lesser extent than the US). The US however has too much clout over other governments to allow what you state to happen.

grecy 14y ago
Wow, once again I see people comparing America to second and third world countries. Yes, people in those countries have it worse than people in America. People in first world countries are not "held hostage" by their governments. Why, why, why would you compare America to Second and Third world countries instead of looking to the top of first world countries and striving to be better?
- jfoutz 14y ago
  Mostly because the US is very very diverse. If I move two counties over, my life expectancy goes up 5 years. It's probably fair to say 1% of the US is third world. At the very least, Alabama's immigrant ghettos are concretely third world. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/456/reap-what-you-sow?act=1 http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/456/r...
  - grecy 14y ago
    That doesn't mean you should compare the country to second and third world countries when analyzing if something needs improvement or not That's like comparing America's murder rate to El Salvador and saying it's perfectly fine. Instead, it should be compared to first world countries, and it's soon very clear that it's not OK and is a serious problem for such a prosperous country.[1] This kind of comparison leads to apathy. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate#2010s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentiona... (sort the list by "most recent", and have a look where the United States sits compared to the next first world country.
    - anamax 14y ago
      > That doesn't mean you should compare the country to second and third world countries when analyzing if something needs improvement or not He didn't say that the US didn't need improvement. The US' diversity means that the comparison is complicated. In fact, when you compare the US apples and oranges to apples and oranges in other countries, you find that the US is doing reasonably well. You're seeing consequences of the fact that the apple countries don't have oranges. We'd be happy to give some oranges to apple countries so they can show us how to do it correctly....
      - grecy 14y ago
        I understand it's a big, diverse place, but at what point is this thing "United" and at what point is it "divided"? I mean, either it's United or it's not.
        anamax 14y ago
        > I mean, either it's United or it's not. Why do you think that that's true? I ask because it isn't in other circumstances (particle vs wave). The world doesn't care whether it's convenient. There are various connections, but geography is the only common one.
        grecy 14y ago
        Because the whole founding principle of the country is "One nation, under god, indivisible...". It's supposed to be a singular entity where everyone is working towards the benefit of everyone, but that got lost somewhere along the way.
        anamax 14y ago
        > Because the whole founding principle of the country is "One nation, under god, indivisible...". That's from the pledge of allegiance, which was written in 1892, long after the nation was founded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance More important, you're confusing a goal with reality.
- Porn_Monopolies 14y ago
  This shows a stunning lack of a sense of irony. First world countries are routinely "held hostage" by the US government - and more importantly, by Capital. You might notice the reference here was to copyright laws, and we all know how many first world countries have written copyright laws to US spec. recently. If you actually doubt it is driven by Capital, ask the next government that attempts to create a viable competitor to Visa / MasterCard (or the big four) what happens. Hint: The State Department starts not-so-nicely suggesting this could be bad for trade relations. As for "second and third world" countries [not the current lingo, my dear], they simply have their governments changed for them by the US if they disagree. ~ Dumber & Dumber here.

by mih 14y ago

grecy 14y ago

Wow, once again I see people comparing America to second and third world countries. Yes, people in those countries have it worse than people in America. People in first world countries are not "held hostage" by their governments. Why, why, why would you compare America to Second and Third world countries instead of looking to the top of first world countries and striving to be better?

jfoutz 14y ago
Mostly because the US is very very diverse. If I move two counties over, my life expectancy goes up 5 years. It's probably fair to say 1% of the US is third world. At the very least, Alabama's immigrant ghettos are concretely third world. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/456/reap-what-you-sow?act=1 http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/456/r...
- grecy 14y ago
  That doesn't mean you should compare the country to second and third world countries when analyzing if something needs improvement or not That's like comparing America's murder rate to El Salvador and saying it's perfectly fine. Instead, it should be compared to first world countries, and it's soon very clear that it's not OK and is a serious problem for such a prosperous country.[1] This kind of comparison leads to apathy. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate#2010s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentiona... (sort the list by "most recent", and have a look where the United States sits compared to the next first world country.
  - anamax 14y ago
    > That doesn't mean you should compare the country to second and third world countries when analyzing if something needs improvement or not He didn't say that the US didn't need improvement. The US' diversity means that the comparison is complicated. In fact, when you compare the US apples and oranges to apples and oranges in other countries, you find that the US is doing reasonably well. You're seeing consequences of the fact that the apple countries don't have oranges. We'd be happy to give some oranges to apple countries so they can show us how to do it correctly....
    - grecy 14y ago
      I understand it's a big, diverse place, but at what point is this thing "United" and at what point is it "divided"? I mean, either it's United or it's not.
      - anamax 14y ago
        > I mean, either it's United or it's not. Why do you think that that's true? I ask because it isn't in other circumstances (particle vs wave). The world doesn't care whether it's convenient. There are various connections, but geography is the only common one.
        grecy 14y ago
        Because the whole founding principle of the country is "One nation, under god, indivisible...". It's supposed to be a singular entity where everyone is working towards the benefit of everyone, but that got lost somewhere along the way.
        anamax 14y ago
        > Because the whole founding principle of the country is "One nation, under god, indivisible...". That's from the pledge of allegiance, which was written in 1892, long after the nation was founded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance More important, you're confusing a goal with reality.
Porn_Monopolies 14y ago
This shows a stunning lack of a sense of irony. First world countries are routinely "held hostage" by the US government - and more importantly, by Capital. You might notice the reference here was to copyright laws, and we all know how many first world countries have written copyright laws to US spec. recently. If you actually doubt it is driven by Capital, ask the next government that attempts to create a viable competitor to Visa / MasterCard (or the big four) what happens. Hint: The State Department starts not-so-nicely suggesting this could be bad for trade relations. As for "second and third world" countries [not the current lingo, my dear], they simply have their governments changed for them by the US if they disagree. ~ Dumber & Dumber here.