Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm suggesting that we put our risks in perspective.
This is a very good point. Consider the amount of money our government spends in various ventures to prevent a "terrorist attack".
Then consider the amount of money our government spends on encouraging a healthy lifestyle, preventing drunk driving, and preventing other causes that lead to death.
Why do we spend so much money on one of the most statistically irrelevant risks there are?
Makes you wonder what will happen if/when terrorists get a nuclear weapon and use it.
Another Hiroshima. Somehow, Japan got over that very quickly, life went on, Japan flourished. Hiroshima is a bigger city now than it was then.
What nation ever became great while hiding under the bed? What if Americans had been afraid to take the risk of wagon trains across the plains the first time they were attacked by Indians?
Another Hiroshima. Somehow, Japan got over that very quickly, life went on, Japan flourished. Hiroshima is a bigger city now than it was then.
What nation ever became great while hiding under the bed? What if Americans had been afraid to take the risk of wagon trains across the plains the first time they were attacked by Indians?
I'm sure we'd rebuild, thats not what I'm getting at.
If Americans were so easily giving up liberties and freedoms after only 3000 people were killed, and only a few building were destroyed, could you imagine what they'd be willing to give up to avoid another nuclear attack?
Makes you wonder what will happen if/when terrorists get a nuclear weapon and use it.
washington dc will cream its pants! no more running to congress or the supreme court! the executive branch would be handed carte blanche to do whatever they pleased at home and abroad! as horryfying as a nuclear attack seems to most it might serve as a powerful incentive to some and this is the fault of the people.
i think we lack the resolve to want to be free. take the patriot act, i don't know if you could find many people in america who agree with the patriot act in principle. if obama and congress did the right thing and repealed it i think we'd all rejoice. if we were attacked the following day/month/ year, we'd vote him out of office purely based on the decision to repeal the act.
like everything, freedom to has a price and unlike other systems that price is paid upfront!
I do not think that the "terrorists" (which is an arbitrary, subjective term) won. If what they opposed was an interventionist American foreign policy, they did not get what they wanted. The USA has become even MORE interventionist. We have TWO wars going on now.
Quote:
Here is a metaphor some here will have a problem with: If a bully at school keeps picking on a select amount of kids, what do you think the bully is going to do if one of those kids retaliates? He is going to pick on that kid even HARDER than before.
And for clarification: I never think such violent acts as War or "Terrorist Attacks" are justified.
In general, most bullies are cowards and when confronted will back down. Then the bully will go pick on someone easier or weaker.
This is a very good point. Consider the amount of money our government spends in various ventures to prevent a "terrorist attack".
Quote:
Then consider the amount of money our government spends on encouraging a healthy lifestyle, preventing drunk driving, and preventing other causes that lead to death.
Why do we spend so much money on one of the most statistically irrelevant risks there are?
These are life style choices, terrorist attacks aren't.
This is a very good point. Consider the amount of money our government spends in various ventures to prevent a "terrorist attack".
Then consider the amount of money our government spends on encouraging a healthy lifestyle, preventing drunk driving, and preventing other causes that lead to death.
Why do we spend so much money on one of the most statistically irrelevant risks there are?
Its a very good question. The answer is that people perceive some things as being much more terrible than other things. If you talk to the average person out there about threats to his life and limb, chances are you won't hear anything about heart disease, cancer, or diabetes even though these are the three biggest killers according to health statistics. In fact, you probably won't hear any concern expressed about automobile accidents either which claim 40,000 American lives in the average year.
What you will hear about from John Q. Public, ad nauseam, is how concerned he is about Al Quaeda terrorists and street crime. Politicians aren't stupid. They tend to reinforce what people believe rather than try to educate them to realities. One of the most difficult things to do in life is to change the way that people think. Its very hard to do that. Most successful advertising campaigns make no effort to change the way people think. Instead, they validate their thought processes and try to use techniques that reinforce what people already believe.
The attack on 9/11 justified and required a response by our government. I personally believe that response has gone way overboard. Even if all we look at are airport security lines try to imagine this. Let's say you have 50,000 business executives a day flying on commercial airliners. Let's say all those executives earn an average of $200 an hour (these figures are not at all unrealistic). For every hour these executives spend in an airport security line the loss in GNP or income is equivalent to $200 X 1 hour X 50,000 executives or a total of ten million dollars. Now imagine this occurs 300 days per year in America. If we multiply ten million dollars by 300 days we get the staggering sum of $3 billion.
No one even considers this cost. Yet, I bet this is an understatement of what we lose every year just by making business travelers spend all this time in security lines.
The costs of what we are doing are higher and more far reaching than anyone realizes. And, I have to ask myself if all this is really worth it.
If he is alive, I bet Bin Laden laughs his head off if he realizes the cartwheels he is making people in this country turn everyday.
These are life style choices, terrorist attacks aren't.
it's only a matter of time before your lifestyle choices come under attack too. legislation like the patriot act only openly affects a small minority. most people don't even understand the implications nor do they care, thus it is easy to pass. when we get socialised medicine, and we will get socialised medicine, there will come a time when budgets come under strain. apart from rationing care they will look at their biggest revenue drain (probably heart disease, diabetes) and the nanny state will go into action. they'll start sin taxing sugar, fast foods, meat etc. they might then start outright banning certain foods which they decide are harmful. you might think the people will want this socialised care overturned then? wrong, by that time people will have become wholly dependent on it including those who oppose it today! it might sound far fetched but just cast your eyes over to britain and watch how they deal with shortfalls when their huge tax revenue from the boom time economy disintegrates
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
