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.
It seems like we are coming in last (or near the bottom) of just about everything when compared to the rest of the world.
Are we still a superpower or are we hanging on to an old idea that is slowly slipping away from us?
If you think we still are, what exactly makes us a superpower?
The reason why I bring this up is because of the whole china issue. I know if I look at the labels of anything near me, it'll have a 'made in china' sticker on it. Then I started thinking about some of the threads that I read (about education, healthcare, the economy, etc). So it makes me think, just what the heck are we #1 in?
1. We're bullies who want to tell the rest of the world how to live their lives, when we don't know how to take care of our own people, our own country.
2. We have lost the ability to think and problem solve for ourselves.
3. We pay and waste hundreds of thousands of dollars for consultants who have been taught by a book and not experience, to come into corporate american and tell them how to do their jobs...while all over our nation, these people are being paid millions to do a job they can't do.
4. Americans have lost intelligence...
5. Americans have lost research and technolgy
6. Why, b/c we care more about material wealth then the welfare of our people...we have become individualists...and until we can take care of our own, we will never be able to take care of other countries....
7. We have a very weak nation, army, both mentally and physically
8. We can't make decissions and stand by them...
9. We may all be religious, but we don't stand by simple values for fear of being disliked.
10. We have become a nation or crime and corrupt actions...when ever you look back into history and a nation has fallen, it was because it was corrupt and chaotic...anything does't and can't go.
11. We are constantly dwindling away at our constitution to fit our own needs...our laws have been dwindled away to appease the causes of corruptness...when that happens, laws become non-existant
ok, calling the Army weak both mentally and physically is completely offensive. There are some rather pathetic statements in this thread with weak to no backing, but that one doesn't belong here at all..
The rest of it I either agreed with or won't comment on, but that line hit me pretty hard... you should've just left it at general population; I'll agree they are very weak both physically and mentally
and for the ethnocentric person.. illegalalien and what exact race are we centric on anyhow? and who exactly is we? I'm fairly certain you obtained this opinion from wikipedia, but that is never a source to be trusted. matter of fact, nobody at my school can use them as a reference and that should be very obvious...
ok, calling the Army weak both mentally and physically is completely offensive. There are some rather pathetic statements in this thread with weak to no backing, but that one doesn't belong here at all..
The rest of it I either agreed with or won't comment on, but that line hit me pretty hard... you should've just left it at general population; I'll agree they are very weak both physically and mentally
and for the ethnocentric person.. illegalalien and what exact race are we centric on anyhow? and who exactly is we? I'm fairly certain you obtained this opinion from wikipedia, but that is never a source to be trusted. matter of fact, nobody at my school can use them as a reference and that should be very obvious...
yes, we do have a weak army and I'll explain why and I mean no insult..
When you no longer have a manditory draft...and I mean having a manditory draft when there is no war going on...but a manditory draft gets children ready for life...
our army is not as strong as it used to be, our men children are not as strong at they used to be
and our regulations and rules in the armed forces are not nearly as strict as they used to be.
My son was in the air force...they came back from target practice and qualifying...they are supposed to unload their weapons...one girl didn't and her gun went off inside the barracks...no thing happened to her. Kids right out of high school with no respect for anything enlisted, and they trashed Air Force vehicles, nothing happened to them.
Years ago, some bad things happened to kids in the armed forces...and they died, so all liberal thinking people freaked out and made new rules, especially with all the women getting in now a days, they've become more lienient and I don't believe that's good.
If we are ever attacked here on our own ground, our forces would be weak, b/c we don't have ENOUGH good leaders anymore....we do have leaders who are good, but not enough...why? Look at what happened to Colin Powell?
We need leaders who are able to make snap decissions...and people today fear doing that...
If we have a manditory draft, it will not only make our children into adults but teach them respect and give them direction and purpose, while training them....and trained people are educated people, people who cannot be controlled so easily, along with skilled in strategic thinking and problem solving.
That is why I say our military is weak,,,,it is not what it used to be...not nearly as powerful and there is no reason why it shouldn't be. There is no reason, why our population of weekend warriors cannot be guarding the boarders....and building that fence....or, we could put our prisoners to good use and let them build the fences that would seal off our boarders, but they'd still have to be patroled...I mean, solutions to these problems are not so difficult...????
I didn't meant to attack you personally, or your branch...but our army as a whole...isn't nearly as strong and as powerful as it used to be.
Our minds have lost something....a lot
oh and don't get me wrong, America is still the best place in the world to live...it's just that a lot of us have sat back and allowed these liberal ideas to take over and it's not working...sometime you gotta get tough and make really tough decissions for the entirety of the people...when you do what is best for one, you loose, yanno...but when you do what is best for all the people, then your doing something collective....and laws, we must stand by our laws and not bend them for one, and expect them to be adheared to by others....or you have criminals running around all over the place, and gangs taking over...
like what is happening right now
I believe there is still hope, but we've got to let go of liberal thinking and change things around...we've got to stop fighting among each other, democrates vs repulicans....they're both corrupt and doing nothing for this nation...I mean
how utterly ridiculous, we're talking about impeaching the president NOW? What is that, his term is almost over...these are the things that are ridiculous...a laughing stock...and a waste of the tax payers money..all for sensationalism....we need to get rid of everyone in there and hire people that are going to do their jobs and the world will change....if you have corrupt leaders, it trickles down into everything else, even our army.
I mean, look at how many army training facilities they closed down over the last 15 years, which means, a lot of training among our youth has been lost....
thats what I meant by a weaknesses, which goes so much further and deeper then I think most people imagine....
but hey, it's much more important to keep us in fear about 2nd hand smoke.....sheeesh??????
Last edited by cremebrulee; 07-26-2007 at 08:13 AM..
ok, I can see your point now, or at least a little more clear.. however, you are mostly pointing to specific cases and there have always been those throughout the history of the military. Good example would be all the people on the flight deck of the USS Nimitz that were stoned and caused a jet to crash. This was in the 70's or 80's I believe and of course led to the mandatory drug testing we have now. Normally, something bad leads to good changes, although there are cases like Tailhook which led to good changes, but also led to a LOT of witch hunts.. I personally was on the wrong side of one of these cases and did not enjoy it at all.. at the time a woman could accuse a man of anything and the knee jerk reaction was to get rid of the male because they didn't want another tail hook.. I ended up having to request a court martial, but in the end was finally found not guilty and this woman went on to terrorize many other males she was stationed with.. unfortunately, she was never booted out, which she obviously should've been..
I will agree that the new edition of recruits are not what they used to be.. and it shows when they get out in the field. So I guess I can see that part of your argument, but still, the vast majority of military people are at least as strong, proud and capable as any previous generation. That is very evident in Iraq where the military has adapted and overcome despite a lack of leadership and clear vision of the future..
ok, I can see your point now, or at least a little more clear.. however, you are mostly pointing to specific cases and there have always been those throughout the history of the military. Good example would be all the people on the flight deck of the USS Nimitz that were stoned and caused a jet to crash. This was in the 70's or 80's I believe and of course led to the mandatory drug testing we have now. Normally, something bad leads to good changes, although there are cases like Tailhook which led to good changes, but also led to a LOT of witch hunts.. I personally was on the wrong side of one of these cases and did not enjoy it at all.. at the time a woman could accuse a man of anything and the knee jerk reaction was to get rid of the male because they didn't want another tail hook.. I ended up having to request a court martial, but in the end was finally found not guilty and this woman went on to terrorize many other males she was stationed with.. unfortunately, she was never booted out, which she obviously should've been..
I will agree that the new edition of recruits are not what they used to be.. and it shows when they get out in the field. So I guess I can see that part of your argument, but still, the vast majority of military people are at least as strong, proud and capable as any previous generation. That is very evident in Iraq where the military has adapted and overcome despite a lack of leadership and clear vision of the future..
Hey, enjoyed reading your response, and I agree but wasn't talking along those lines.....I know a lot of military people who are strong...good people, but what I'm saying is they can't do it all alone...we need more men, better technology and we have it but we don't use it...I guess what I doing here is going for the big picture...we are capable of so so much more, yanno?
And we wouldn't have to use that power and that knowledge to kill other nations, but just simply strength our own capabilites, use what we already have...but magnify it....by utilizing more then 1/4 of our brains...
Of course America is still a super power but I feel it is definitely on the decline. The Dollar is no longer what it used to be, foreign policy has made it so unpopular it has become a by-word for jingoistic and aggressive and with the rise of China and Indian world markets, a stronger and more united South American continent and a very much bigger and stronger Europe, I suspect the days of America being number one and top dog are numbered. The dollar will soon lose its status of world currency and this will be quite a big shock to many multinational corporations and will hit the US economy quite hard.
Hey, enjoyed reading your response, and I agree but wasn't talking along those lines.....I know a lot of military people who are strong...good people, but what I'm saying is they can't do it all alone...we need more men, better technology and we have it but we don't use it...I guess what I doing here is going for the big picture...we are capable of so so much more, yanno?
And we wouldn't have to use that power and that knowledge to kill other nations, but just simply strength our own capabilites, use what we already have...but magnify it....by utilizing more then 1/4 of our brains...
Does that make sense?
perfect sense and I appreciate your ability to debate and resolve.. too bad quite a few others are lacking in this ability.
there's always a resolution down there somewhere, we just need to find it
Hmmm, I'll admit, I'm not as knowledgeable in politics as others are here. I do have to say I am a words person though. I have studied certain words and phrases the US has come up with as a form of propaganda throughout history. These words and phrases support American exceptionalism and ethnocentricity. Perhaps that wasn't a good example and if not, then I apologize for wasting your time.
perfect sense and I appreciate your ability to debate and resolve.. too bad quite a few others are lacking in this ability.
there's always a resolution down there somewhere, we just need to find it
well thanks very much, but for me, I'm learning by sharing and I love this forum and it's people, they do seem willing to discus and teach...not to mention, a lot of you have a great sense of humor...
I've learned a lot here...
thanks very much
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.
Not nearly
