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> Are they trying to pen themselves into a corner where the entire world ends up standing against them? http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/media/50646/us_vs_world.

by 13 12y ago

> Are they trying to pen themselves into a corner where the entire world ends up standing against them? http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/media/50646/us_vs_world.gif http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/media/50646/us_vs_world.gif There's not many outcomes to that scenario if you look at the budgets involved.

balabaster 12y ago
That may be the case, but if you cut off America's access to oil, food and other things they're a net importer of, you'd pretty soon restrict their military abilities regardless of their military spending - they can't let their non-military population starve and go homeless. A huge expensive military with billions of dollars worth of machinery isn't going to run very long without food/water for its personnel, supplies and fuel - even if they have almost half of the global military spending. The first rule of a fight is never fight someone at their own game. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. At some point you have to say "Hey, enough of this bullshit. You may think you run this planet, but you're one country of 196. The rest of us are tired of your shit, we all deserve to be treated with respect. If you want to be part of the team, step up and be part of the team, but you're not going to dictate to the rest of us how you want it to be."
- happyscrappy 12y ago
  > if you cut off America's access to oil, food and other things they're a net importer of Not sure where you got that idea but the US is a net exporter of both. > The rest of us are tired of your shit But apparently not tired enough to actually do anything.
  - balabaster 12y ago
    Except make pissed off assertions on Hacker News :P
- vondur 12y ago
  I believe that the US is a net exporter of food and could probably be self sufficient in oil too if need be. Also, with that huge military the US could pretty much take whatever we want from whomever we want. It reminds me of a scene from the Rome TV series when Caesar is in Alexandria trying to collect the money owed to Rome (Pompey the Great). He is explaining his calculations to the Egyptians when the minister of Egypt protests that is based on Roman law, and Caesar replies "Is there any other?"
  - ojbyrne 12y ago
    That whole "take whatever we want from whomever we want" has failed a few times. Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, etc.
    - cookiecaper 12y ago
      It hasn't failed. If you disrupt the balance of power in a tribal state, you're going to have a lot of contingencies making power plays. The U.S. accomplished its short-term goals at least in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Changing hearts and minds" is good propaganda but everyone knows it's eminently unrealistic, and not why we invade countries.
    - EpicEng 12y ago
      if we suddenly stopped caring about human rights and political consequences (I.e., we're starving), it's a different approach completely. It's not like we unleashed the full force of our military (our came anywhere near). Of course, your entire premise is flawed as we could support ourselves Not sure where you got your numbers from, but they're wrong.
  - balabaster 12y ago
    > with that huge military the US could pretty much take whatever we want from whomever we want It's exactly this attitude that is gradually turning the world against them.
  - EpicEng 12y ago
    "Is there any other... You wretched woman" The full quote :)

by 13 12y ago

balabaster 12y ago

That may be the case, but if you cut off America's access to oil, food and other things they're a net importer of, you'd pretty soon restrict their military abilities regardless of their military spending - they can't let their non-military population starve and go homeless. A huge expensive military with billions of dollars worth of machinery isn't going to run very long without food/water for its personnel, supplies and fuel - even if they have almost half of the global military spending. The first rule of a fight is never fight someone at their own game. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. At some point you have to say "Hey, enough of this bullshit. You may think you run this planet, but you're one country of 196. The rest of us are tired of your shit, we all deserve to be treated with respect. If you want to be part of the team, step up and be part of the team, but you're not going to dictate to the rest of us how you want it to be."

happyscrappy 12y ago
> if you cut off America's access to oil, food and other things they're a net importer of Not sure where you got that idea but the US is a net exporter of both. > The rest of us are tired of your shit But apparently not tired enough to actually do anything.
- balabaster 12y ago
  Except make pissed off assertions on Hacker News :P
vondur 12y ago
I believe that the US is a net exporter of food and could probably be self sufficient in oil too if need be. Also, with that huge military the US could pretty much take whatever we want from whomever we want. It reminds me of a scene from the Rome TV series when Caesar is in Alexandria trying to collect the money owed to Rome (Pompey the Great). He is explaining his calculations to the Egyptians when the minister of Egypt protests that is based on Roman law, and Caesar replies "Is there any other?"
- ojbyrne 12y ago
  That whole "take whatever we want from whomever we want" has failed a few times. Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, etc.
  - cookiecaper 12y ago
    It hasn't failed. If you disrupt the balance of power in a tribal state, you're going to have a lot of contingencies making power plays. The U.S. accomplished its short-term goals at least in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Changing hearts and minds" is good propaganda but everyone knows it's eminently unrealistic, and not why we invade countries.
  - EpicEng 12y ago
    if we suddenly stopped caring about human rights and political consequences (I.e., we're starving), it's a different approach completely. It's not like we unleashed the full force of our military (our came anywhere near). Of course, your entire premise is flawed as we could support ourselves Not sure where you got your numbers from, but they're wrong.
- balabaster 12y ago
  > with that huge military the US could pretty much take whatever we want from whomever we want It's exactly this attitude that is gradually turning the world against them.
- EpicEng 12y ago
  "Is there any other... You wretched woman" The full quote :)