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Note how we embraced this, and became the world's dominant power. Now we've been getting away from it (and our population feels entitled to the trappings of success without doing what's necessary to earn it), and our success is slipping away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by English Dave
Survival of the fittest. Dog eat dog........ just like the link says!
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,816 posts, read 34,796,327 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fleet
"Buffoon leader" is an opinion. He made a lot of anti-Trump people buffoons with his accomplishments.
You don't seem to understand. A buffoon goes out of his way to be rude & crude to allies. A buffoon speaks highly of the foreign opposition. Let's see what he does after meeting with his boss in Helsinki.
Oh gawd...... the 'from my cold dead hands' crowd have arrived. I knew they'd be here soon.......
I'm off to bed folks. I shall return to the fray in the morning.
My family attended Sheffield for their post doc work. Hard to put a finger on the culture of kingdom but we thoroughly enjoyed it....free museums elegant in marble and the smaller ones pride in each drawer. There is a real custodianship between generations in England.
The nicest? Unpasteurized beer, community and the culture of favors.
We talked and if we were to live abroad again it would be London.
That said...it's a wonder why ED cannot emulate the fondness we felt.
We are Americans. 1st to reject the colonial spate of taxation, 1st to fight, were not pretty at all. The lesson? Don't F with us.
Fierce for family, fierce for our countrymen and the world benefits from our inventions and our caring.
We carry guns, we use them to protect ourselves. We elected a man just like us who is loved and revered for his tenacity and love of country. Think Hillary could have talked down No. Korea?
Keep citing the downsides..your rancor has smelled like an amalgam of old cheese, stiff upper lip, and pig **** since your post appeared...but in reality, you really do do far more of a disservice to your country than to ours.
What accomplishments are they then? Korea? Yep America can sleep well tonight. Oops.
Tax giveaway? Most to the rich, and crumbs for the rest. Just increasing the national debt.
Illegal immigration? You call that a success? Where's the wall then? You know, that beautiful big wall?
Employment? It's been improving for years, before Trump arrived. The tax cuts have just inflated the economy. All bubbles burst.
He is an accomplished liar, of that I agree.
You should know his accomplishments by now.
It's not a "tax giveaway." Tax payers keeping more of the money they earn is good (bad according to leftists and never-Trumpers).
The wall? I didn't realize Trump is out of office.
Wow, after living through the William the Impeached, probably the biggest liar of any president in history, I don't see why anyone would criticize Trump for "lying." Also, Trump has done much more regarding N. Korea than any recent president... by far.
I have been fascinated with America, and it's people all my life. At the same time I have been puzzled by many attitudes, and the seeming despising of so called failures in society. The one's who don't 'lift themselves up by their bootstraps', and the like.
With the election of Donald Trump, this underlying cruelty has manifested itself, and is on display all the time in this forum. Whether it's illegals, different racial groups, UHC, politics in general, the educated sneering at the uneducated, and a more inward looking population. A seeming cheering at Trump's wrecking ball type of politics. It is endlessly interesting to me, as an outsider looking in, but difficult to understand.
I came across an online article which for me, helped a little in understanding the American mentality. The writer of it says America was a promised land - for the despised, loathed and hated. Folks not given an ounce of respect, dignity, or even belonging in their societies of origin.
It was built on hate. First the British and French settlers hating the Native Americans, and then the next wave of settlers too. Cruelty was established as a way of life. Each new tribe that came to this promised land, brought the burden of being despised and oppressed with them. They were finally above someone else in a social hierarchy. They were not at the bottom anymore. The basis of a dog eat dog, survival of the fittest mentality was formed, which continues today. Today's servant wants to be tomorrow's master. Today's peasant, wants to be tomorrow's landlord. Today's victim aspires to be tomorrow's oppressor.
An attitude of cruelty was formed. Punching down, not lifting up. It's all that Americans expect from each other, and give to each other. A perverse idea of virtue, that by punishing people, we can better them. It is all that Americans expect from each other, and give to each other.
This article made me think, and ponder about this great country, and why it does, what it does. How did the 'Promised Land' get to where it is today? Led by a sociopathic, hateful man, who can do no wrong to a large part of the population. Do Americans on this forum agree with what he has to say, or think he's wrong?
The US is "uniquely cruel"? Yes, our past was dripping with cruelty motivated mostly by greed. The 19th and early 20th century especially so in regards to the Indians. I will state that there are parts of our history that were quite cruel. A better word would possibly be brutal. The slaughter of the buffalo, thus starving the Indians out. I would have fought back just like they did.
However the US is hardly alone in atrocious treatment of native peoples. And even now the reservations are pretty bad. Yea, we see the tribes that have built big casinos and such and are prospering but around here the reservations are not a good place to be. Unless your in with a couple tight friends who live there.
The reservation system was a huge mistake. The whole Indian War was a huge mistake perpetrated by generals of exceptionally brutal and hateful nature. Crook, Miles,Sherman etc. Custer was not a General. He was a LTCol. He held a brevit General rank for a while but lost it after the War. Yes, this was a particularly brutal time in our history. BUT...that's what it is . History. We can't go back and change it mores the pity. So we learn from it and advance as a society and people. Unfortunately a great many people just never learn.
The "cruel" nature of the 19th century is flat gone now with a few groups as exceptions and they dare not get overtly and wildly violent on a large scale. Speaking personally I grew up and lived all my life right on the border of a huge rez. I have more than a couple good friends who live there. We have discussed the Indian Wars in depth objectively. The Long Walk ,the Trail of Tears, and more obscure events such as the Battle of Pyramid Lake. Oh there's lots more I'm just scratching the surface.
Thing is, it's all history. The US cannot be labeled or judged today using that history. We are a totally different society in 2018. Kids today don't play Cowboys and Indians. There's a reason for that. We are a totally different society now. Cruel? Perhaps it seems so at times. The "pull up by your bootstraps" thing and all,yet I understand that mentality having been raised that way. But now I understand that sometimes it just ain't that easy.
There are FAR more cruel nations than the US. Now we're actually pretty benign. The wars in the ME and such aside and looking at the population inside our borders. The government is not the people. This is also true of places like Iran. Their government is vicious and brutal but the biggest chunk of the people do not like their govt. They just can't do anything about it. The mullahs have read Mao's lil' red book.
Anyway, I hope I made my point, that being that the US today is NOT the US of the 19th century.
Maybe my English is really bad after graduating college (when English was actually taught)
What the Hell are you saying?
You quoted a poster who probably, based on posting history, disagreed with the premise of the thread as much as you are, and said you had read "their" article. They didn't post the article, so why direct that comment to them, and not the OP?
I'm saying you appeared to be attacking someone who probably agrees with you.
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