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SURVEY: USA -- Headed in the right or wrong direction?


Scott

SURVEY: USA -- Head in the right or wrong direction?  

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20 minutes ago, billsmart said:

 The whole reasoning behind a union is to band together to try to help solve, or at least ameliorate, the inevitable problems. Going it alone in the world today, like the UK and Trump advocates, is, IMO, just not an acceptable goal.

This is a wrong reasoning.

Nature shows that the more resilient things are the smaller ones, not the biggest ones...and like it or not, we are part of nature.

The problem is that our inflated egos lead us to believe that we are "smarter" than nature.

 

Being neither Democrat, nor Republican, or anything else, my own political guide would be Small is Beautiful, written by the economist EF Schumacher, who describes a society which as different as possible from the corrupt and decadent one we are living in.

 

 

Edited by Brunolem
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3 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

I don't much care what happens within the US, if they want to live with huge numbers of guns, cops that shoot unarmed blacks claiming self defence, rich that pay no taxes, poor education that discourages critical thinking and endless greed then that is ok. That is why I left the country.

 

But my problem is with the world outside that suffers from US bullying and aggression based on lies and false flags. The US sees itself at having the right to depose elected leaders, meddle in elections, spy including bugging leaders' phones, start wars all over the globe killing millions and blighting the lives of billions...then I have real problems.

 

If you are so stupid and dense to want to live in the US  where democracy is bought and paid for by corporations and the mega rich elite; where you are encouraged to go deep into debt to consume the meaningless baubles and stays symbols that they produce at outrageous prices....then by all means do it. But please don't inflict your awful values and way of life on other countries that wish to live more quietly and sensibly.

 

And in case you think I was one of the losers in the US, you couldn't be more wrong. America was good to me for a long, long time with a high level, ultra secure job in a large immensely profitable corporation. The US changed under George W Bush, after 9/11. With endless war then being actively promoted as the way to economic glory. It was based oglies and still is. The US has a fascist economic model in the true meaning of fascism ie the state and government each supporting and profiting from each other. Trump has added another awful dimension to this economic model...and that is an autocratic style of government. The historical omens for this are very bad indeed.

 

Plus I find the clowns big loud claims about trade imbalance a total laugh and very hypocritical.

 

In the earlier years of so called 'globalization' the US had no hesitation to get the best end of deals with other countries / companies in other countries. 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

This is a wrong reasoning.

Nature shows that the more resilient things are the smaller ones, not the biggest ones...and like it or not, we are part of nature.

The problem is that our inflated egos lead us to believe that we are "smarter" than nature.

 

Being neither Democrat, nor Republican, or anything else, my own political guide would be Small is Beautiful, written by the economist EF Schumacher, who describes a society which as different as possible from the corrupt and decadent one we are living in.

 

 

I agree with your comment that we, humans, think "we are 'smarter' than nature.'" That's called "hubris," and will, IMO, be our ultimate downfall.

But, I disagree with you assertions that the smallest things the most resilient. There is a myriad of examples of successful unions in nature. Fish shool, bees swarm, birds flock, and humans live in, at a minimum, family-related unions. First, there is the mother-child union, then the family, the extended family, the village, the province, the nation, and finally, the world. The error you make in your "smaller is better" argument is that when you operate as an individual, you either succeed or fail. When you operate in a group, some individuals may fail but some may succeed. In such a case, the group, the union, has a better chance of survival.

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4 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

Never saw a foundation getting lost, but a thin layer of paint getting peeled by the weather, quite often.

That said, America is not worse than any nation on Earth, just different.

It is certainly worse than it used to be.  People I have known since high school have turned into raving racists Trumpites. I personally don't want to go visit the US until we get a new president.  The persons who were in high school during the sixties and seventies, the recipients of the civil rights Act, learned nothing apparently during their high school years and are destroying the progress that I thought was permanent. Hatred against racial and ethnic minorities and women and other "out groups" is growing - sad.

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1 hour ago, patsfangr said:

The fact that Americans rejected socialism by electing a President who truly wants to put AMERICA FIRST is proof that the country is headed in the right direction. President Trump is leading America to precisely what Samui Bodah described. 

So many of the posters here have no idea about what is happening in America. They get their information from the extremely left wing American media; which uses a combination of lies, exaggerations, and biased speculation to hide the truth. The FACT is that the American economy is reversing the path to disaster that Obama's socialism had created. The unemployment rate is nearing an all time low, and that INCLUDES black Americans! Businesses are returning manufacturing plants from foreign countries. Taxes are lower, giving all Americans more money to improve their quality of life. And for the fool who said that "the rich pay no taxes", do a little research. The top 10% of income earners in the USA pay 75% of the taxes! Stop reading the lies from people like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and the rest of the George Soros funded Democrats. America is doing MUCH better than it ever did under Barack Obama, the man who truly divided the country and incited the discontent and violence that grew during his 8 disastrous years in office. If the country can keep its borders secure, and prevent the invasion that the Democrats want, the REAL Americans will see improvement continue under its modified capitalist economy, with real opportunity for ALL  citizens continuing to rise. America will continue to be the bright shining light in the darkness that threatens to destroy the world. 

How exactly is he putting America First? By picking fights with the rest of the world and tearing down alliances? The stock market has continued to rise out of its slump from the recession created under Bush, but it was trending that way already under Obama. Corporate profits have skyrocketed but it hasn't trickled down to most American's, wages are completely stagnant while entitlements are being decreased, and the cost of living is rising. You mention unemployment, it was already trended down from 10% to 5% under Obama. See attached image to illustrate that. 

How can you say America is doing better now? We've been condemned by the U.N. over human rights violations. Our allies world wide are wondering if they can trust us? The U.S. image around the world dropped from 48% to 30% favorable, and unfavorability rose from 28% to 43% in Trump's first year in office. To put that in perspective that's 4% lower than it was after the invasion of Iraq. He's started trade wars, imposed tariffs on allies, attacked the justice system, and made a mockery of the office of president. Hyper-partisanship. Family separations. Increasing wealth distribution gap. Neutering of healthcare and entitlements. That's winning to you? 

 

 

 

unemployment.jpg

Edited by jcsmith
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24 minutes ago, JAFO said:

1) No doubt Trump has done many things, Sadly the few good things he has accomplished are negated by his behavior. I personally expect more from the leader of the United States of America.

 

2) As for Clinton and Obama era, Didn't vote for either of them. They served and all wasn't all that bad. Look at it now. You like what is happening now with Trump at the helm? He has made being President his own reality game show. He is too old to be President. And while we are on this discussion, Notice how the public has seemed to ignore the fact that he openly admitted he paid for sex with a call girl while married? His wife hides now as she is ashamed and probably hopes it all goes away. 

 

3) Building a wall is laughable. That's like building a screen dam to hold water. Ever heard of tunnels? If you feel safer and that a big 30ft wall makes you feel better then donate more money to the cause. Its a big waste of cash. Let me be clear. I hate that the US has been over ran by immigrants. It bothers me even more that they seem to get preferential treatment that born and raised American citizens aren't afforded. It needs to stop but a wall is not the answer. Its just plain dumb.

 

4) Do not get me wrong, I love the USA. I am sad to see it losing some of its appeal. The people you say that would love to come live there from other countries, Sure they do...initially. It all looks so good on the news. Even my wife and her friends that have lived and visited said life you see in the news is not reality at all. 

 

5) You made it personal. I never said I was trying to keep up with the Joneses. My observation is I have watched many many people do it. The states is all about consumerism and one up the other guy. Bigger house, better car, gated community, bragging about what school their children go to etc etc. Very few seemed comfortable living for themselves and within their means. This constant competition keeps people in deep debt. Their children suffer as all I see now is obese kids with a tablet or cell phone stuffed in their face playing video games versus the parent actually paying attention to their child. 

 

Do I see things getting better....No. Is that Trumps fault...Absolutely not. He is just another pawn in a big chess game. He will come and go like they all do. The American voters got what they voted for.  The ball that's in motion cannot be stopped or changed. Its up to the individual to make the cognizant decision to make it a better place.  

Actually gerrymandering districts in favor of republicans got Trump the presidency.  Clinton won the popular vote, the true Democratic vote, by 3 million.  I blame Trump for the violence and accompanying hatred erupting now and for people like myself leaving their homeland for a country run by dictator which is more peaceful than USA.

Edited by ReMarKable
correction
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20 minutes ago, billsmart said:



But, I disagree with you assertions that the smallest things the most resilient. There is a myriad of examples of successful unions in nature. Fish shool, bees swarm, birds flock, and humans live in, at a minimum, family-related unions. First, there is the mother-child union, then the family, the extended family, the village, the province, the nation, and finally, the world. The error you make in your "smaller is better" argument is that when you operate as an individual, you either succeed or fail. When you operate in a group, some individuals may fail but some may succeed. In such a case, the group, the union, has a better chance of survival.

I agree, but the unions you describe are still very small in comparison with the human constructions.

 

A fish school is efficient, yet limited in size...what humans are trying to do is to regroup all the fish in the Pacific ocean in a single school!

 

Another kind of human achievement is to build fortunes so big that 3 Americans own as much as the lower half of the population...or that Google and Facebook collect more than 90% of all the advertising revenues on internet...

 

 

Edited by Brunolem
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3 hours ago, rskdev said:

American Dollar, USD. Will always rule! As it still does this second, minute and hour. Look at other countries. What currency do they prefer? Banks are based on the USD, exchange rate is always based on the buying and selling of all currencies against the USD.  Just take a look at the FOREX market. A Trillion Dollars more or less is traded every day around the world.  Who controls that? Use your brain. Nothing will change.

Never underestimate the power of USD.

USA is heading in the projected direction according to its own rules established many years ago.

 

And all the other issues that are going on now, don't really mean jack. What it all comes down to in the end is money and resources.

 

By the way, I trade on the Forex Market. Very profitable.

AHA! The voice of (unfortunate) reality is heard from! That simple truth, RSKDEV, is the precise reason why socialism will never succeed. Beneath that, the reason why "What it all comes down to in the end is money and resources" is that it is not possible to eliminate greed, envy, and lust for power from the human psyche. We are all born with it. The majority of us sublimate those to some form of moral structure, based, in most cases on religious teachings. In other cases the damage that can be caused by those evil urges have to be controlled by some form of law enforcement. But those evils will always drive some people to want more than "the next guy". The concept of sharing everything equally is simply not "human nature". It never was. It never will be. Capitalism, when managed by some level of control (the level of which will always be argued), is the only way for a society to flourish, as American society has flourished. Yes there are poor. Capitalism, much like nature herself, is a cruel "survival of the fittest" economic model. That's where the control, and the endless arguments about the proper amount of it, come in. But I must ask all of those clamoring for socialism, and touting to the "great success" of that economic model in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, etc., a couple of questions. What is the average annual immigration level into those countries? How many people are leaving their homes, and risking their lives to get into the heavenly socialist societies of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark each year; as compared to the number doing so to get into the capitalist society of the USA? OK, one more question. How many people emigrate from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark to the USA each year; versus those who reverse that path? (You can check immigration numbers here: https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/international-migration-outlook-2018_migr_outlook-2018-en#page23 ... If you do so, note the surge in Germany since they opened their borders to Muslims. But that's a subject for another time.)

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2 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

True!

Now, how many of these votes came from California?

More than 4 millions!

Meaning that, California aside, Trump won the popular vote.

That's a silly argument considering 12.5% of the United States population lives in California. 

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4 hours ago, rskdev said:

American Dollar, USD. Will always rule! As it still does this second, minute and hour. Look at other countries. What currency do they prefer? Banks are based on the USD, exchange rate is always based on the buying and selling of all currencies against the USD.  Just take a look at the FOREX market. A Trillion Dollars more or less is traded every day around the world.  Who controls that? Use your brain. Nothing will change.

Never underestimate the power of USD.

USA is heading in the projected direction according to its own rules established many years ago.

 

And all the other issues that are going on now, don't really mean jack. What it all comes down to in the end is money and resources.

 

By the way, I trade on the Forex Market. Very profitable.

 4 TRILLION dollars traded every day, and counting, in the Forex Market

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17 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

I agree, but the unions you describe are still very small in comparison with the human constructions.

 

A fish school is efficient, yet limited in size...what humans are trying to do is to regroup all the fish in the Pacific ocean in a single school!

 

Another kind of human achievement is to build fortunes so big that 3 Americans own as much as the lower half of the population...or that Google and Facebook collect more than 90% of all the advertising revenues on internet...

 

 

I would like to see all human group together as a society regardless of where they are. Their geographic location is not important.

No, the capitalistic penchant for amassing large fortunes is not a unifying activity. As I've said in other of my recent posts, socialism is the unifying economic system that will allow all to both contribute and draw from the unified assets of the entire community. The larger that community is, the more assets, and yes, the more people that will need to draw from it. 

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2 minutes ago, jcsmith said:

That's a silly argument considering 12.5% of the United States population lives in California. 

Not silly, just simple maths.

In a country where the population is roughly divided 50/50 between two political parties, one big state favoring overwhelmingly one of these parties is enough to tilt the balance...

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