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"Created equal" doesn't mean we have equal intelligence or abilities--just that we are equal in our humanity. When people stop believing in the basic dignity of all human beings, we get situations like slavery or Nazi Germany, where certain classes of people (not just Jews, but also other so-called "undesirables," such as the mentally retarded, who were also exterminated by the Nazis) are viewed as less than human and not subject to the same rights as whoever is deemed "fit" to live in our society. We're no Nazi Germany, but nevertheless, this kind of thinking is alive and well in our society today.
I doubt that many in your country know much about lifestyles here. Your arrogance in coming here is indeed breathe taking. You have to remember that we have seen many countries that you have not because we have served in the military there.More people in my state probably have worked in more countries around the world and live there than your entire country.To think that you actually believe that MOST country enjoy more freedom then in the USA is laughable at the least.
Took me quite a while to stop laughing.
The sheer arrogance is BREATHTAKING.
It seems that few Yanks know anything about conditions and lifestyles in other countries.
God help me, Aus (just as one example) has its own problems but we have nothing remotely LIKE the "Patriot Act" and the bugging and wire-tapping and surveillance of ordinary citizens and snide, sneaky back-room politicking and commercial thuggery
that appears to exist in the USA.
And I venture to suggest that there are many (probably MOST) nations on this planet which enjoy far more idyllic freedoms and transparency than Americans could ever aspire to.
Well, that's great!
Maybe all the immigrants beating down our doors can go to Australia and all those other nations (wait, MOST of the world's nations!) on the planet that enjoy those 'idyllic freedoms'. Best news I've heard all day. Just kill off a few more aborigines to make room for them....
Is the motivation for the "Ship of Fools" question a result of observing current events, or from observing the last 16 yrs? Or longer?
Well, I'm a thirty-something and therefore have a somewhat limited scope of personal experience. But I find that the older I get, the more this notion of democracy-is-dumb strikes me.
No matter what kind of leveling systems, affirmative action programs, and reverse racism/sexism the United States institutes, there remain elite pockets which are intellectually superior and capable of higher achievement relative to the vast and mediocre many. And of course there is a caste at the lowest rungs which self-destructs and/or can't get hip and survive progress (and because of the liberal entitlement programs, sucks off the government tit and acts as ball and chain to efficiency and natural progress).
This great leveling process -- this obsessive social engineering whereby minorities and the "less fortunate" are manually maneuvered onto and around the game board of life and into competing positions, given special treatment -- is an act of futility in the grand scheme! --
There will continue to be no less proportion of the winners and losers in life; no real change in the mentality of a keen, elite front-running group amongst men and its obtuse counterpart, the mob.
It's all a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
My sense is that once this society achieves "equality" which transcends any discernable sexist, racist, or ethnic lines, we'll yet come full circle: we'll wake up one day to a society of haves and have-nots and no longer any scapegoats on which to pin the blame. Bona fide French-style revolutions will erupt to break the chains of the "new" but "stagnant" elitist power-holding systems.
There is no end to the pursuit towards equality among men. This is why I argue we should embrace a Darwinian struggle, shirk these chains of liberalism and democracy, hold our collective noses and take on a little bit of anarchy and a whole lot of oligarchy and mosey on down the road: freely and naturally for once (ironically).
So may the best men win AND MAY WE LEARN TO LIKE (or at least accept) THE RESULT!
Last edited by san phlegmatico; 03-16-2008 at 03:37 PM..
VERY interesting, thought-provoking and well articulated, Phlegm.
As for Mimi. 40% of adults currently living in Aus WERE NOT BORN HERE
which suggests we take our fair share of immigrants, mate. Proportionately more than the USA most likely.
As for the drivel about "killing off some aborigines",
your track record with 'native Americans' was not too flash either.
VERY interesting, thought-provoking and well articulated, Phlegm.
As for Mimi. 40% of adults currently living in Aus WERE NOT BORN HERE
which suggests we take our fair share of immigrants, mate. Proportionately more than the USA most likely.
As for the drivel about "killing off some aborigines",
your track record with 'native Americans' was not too flash either.
A friend of mine moved to Australia a couple of years ago and is loving it there! I remember that she had to go through quite a process to gain a visa and the only reason she did was because she had a partner that is Australian. Even though the relationship ended she is staying over here, instead of coming back to the US. It appears the Aussies have no problems attracting newcomers, in fact have trouble keeping them out!
__________________
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
Many subscribe to the thought process, "if we could only rid ourselves of (insert a group), this country would run perfectly and all the problems of today would disappear." This thought process is short sighted, dishonest, and at best willfully ignorant. The problem is not always inherently in the corruption of government or small groups of men, but in the way, that many governments and small groups of men avoid taking responsibility for their mistakes.
What if the "insert group" was "large government"?
It never ceases to amaze me how much people compare our system of government to democracy, it is not. We are a Republic...and as such the "mob rule" does not apply. We elect representatives on our behalf and as such we expect them to spend their time doing what is best for the country. Men have a will of their own, however, and typically do what is best for themselves. This is why aristocratic or monarchal rule is even less desirable than the Republic or Democratic system.
Also, the "everyone is equal" statement is as much a fallacy as the new tolerance movement. "Everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others".
The statement as in the Declaration implies that everyone at birth should have the same rights as everyone else and the same opportunities.
A friend of mine moved to Australia a couple of years ago and is loving it there!
I remember that she had to go through quite a process to gain a visa and the only reason she did was because she had a partner that is Australian.
Even though the relationship ended she is staying over here, instead of coming back to the US.
It appears the Aussies have no problems attracting newcomers,
in fact, have trouble keeping them out!
Not bloody wrong, Katz !
I have never yet met a single American who came here, stayed for a while,
AND RETURNED HOME.
Not ONE !
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we're both
