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"The Americans want so much to be the winners. The fact that they are sick with this illness, this winners' complex, is the main reason why everything in the world is so confused and so complicated," he (Gorbachev) told the packed news conference.
We Americans do want to be winners. The concept is deep in our national consciousness. "We're Number 1" & "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser" for example. Inside the US, our political party, football team, state, race, company etc. must win at all costs. Maybe we could improve things if we decided to just play our games within our own boundaries...North vs South... Go South!
"No one, no single center, can today command the world. No single group of countries ... can do it," Gorbachev said. "Under the current U.S. president, I don't think we can fundamentally change the situation as it is developing now ... It is dangerous. The world is experiencing a period of growing global disarray."
Why do we think we are the country to tell the rest of the world what to do? Why are we getting in Europe's business with a missile shield? Why did we invade Iraq? Why are we providing billions of dollars of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and other nations in the Middle East?
I would say that it's the pot calling the kettle black to have Russia, who just lost their empire, criticising the US for what they would be happily doing if not for their collapse.
I don't think that just getting rid of Bush will make everything hearts and roses. We have had this complex about being the saviours as well as masters of the world for a long while, especially during and after WWII. The majority people of the US barely pay attention, as long as we have our comforts. I don't know, maybe we have all been brainwashed by the television.
What to do? I am going to vote, and also encourage others to vote, only for candidates who will promise to bring all our military back home. Well, good luck on that one.
"The Americans want so much to be the winners. The fact that they are sick with this illness, this winners' complex, is the main reason why everything in the world is so confused and so complicated," he (Gorbachev) told the packed news conference.
We Americans do want to be winners. The concept is deep in our national consciousness. "We're Number 1" & "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser" for example. Inside the US, our political party, football team, state, race, company etc. must win at all costs. Maybe we could improve things if we decided to just play our games within our own boundaries...North vs South... Go South!
"No one, no single center, can today command the world. No single group of countries ... can do it," Gorbachev said. "Under the current U.S. president, I don't think we can fundamentally change the situation as it is developing now ... It is dangerous. The world is experiencing a period of growing global disarray."
Why do we think we are the country to tell the rest of the world what to do? Why are we getting in Europe's business with a missile shield? Why did we invade Iraq? Why are we providing billions of dollars of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and other nations in the Middle East?
I would say that it's the pot calling the kettle black to have Russia, who just lost their empire, criticising the US for what they would be happily doing if not for their collapse.
I don't think that just getting rid of Bush will make everything hearts and roses. We have had this complex about being the saviours as well as masters of the world for a long while, especially during and after WWII. The majority people of the US barely pay attention, as long as we have our comforts. I don't know, maybe we have all been brainwashed by the television.
What to do? I am going to vote, and also encourage others to vote, only for candidates who will promise to bring all our military back home. Well, good luck on that one.
thanks for the thoughts.
let's not forget that gorbachev was sort of anti-soviet empire, too...so not really pot calling kettle black.
you do understand, right, why America meddles with and provides and sells military equipment and support to so many other states with proximity to things we need - oil, minerals, markets..."our comforts"
i think you're right re the television (and other means of shaping our consumption and profit).
i do not think it's quite as simple as just bringing the military back home. but i do think you hit on some really important points with the "brainwash", "not paying attention so long's i got my comforts", "television trance" sorts of things. in my opinion, voting's important, but only with some real understanding of what and who we're voting for (and with...such that it's not just Diebold voting for us unbeknownst...). so how do you encourage people to go do these things - to vote, to learn the issues and how they relate to other things and vice versa, to really understand the types of people they're voting for and how those people could shape their (and their children's...) future (Supreme Court nominations for life, repercussions of angering ... the entire planet's human population more or less)?
Yes, America meddles in other countries as a way to protect our "national interests." Powerful nations have been doing this for centuries, but it is time for us to stop. We can be comfortable enough, as are other countries, without having a massive military, as well as the CIA plus how many unknown others carrying out our business. I don't think we should become isolationist, but we need to take a giant step back and stop being so selfish and materialistic.
I wonder how many of those who cry, "No blood for oil!" are now crying loudly about high fuel prices. Not that I think that any of the blood spilled so far has led to lower fuel prices, probably the opposite has happened.
What to do? Well, I have to backtrack on that one. I think it is as important to vote for the local offices as the federal offices, so the deal about bringing the military back home does not always apply. I feel that our government is built from the ground up, and if the bottom is rotten, then the top will be too.
"so how do you encourage people to go do these things - to vote, to learn the issues and how they relate to other things and vice versa, to really understand the types of people they're voting for and how those people could shape their (and their children's...) future"
I wish I knew the answer to that question. I guess I just have to try to be a snowflake in an avalanche. I try to do what I can today. For example, I support my local schools even though I have no children in school. Why? Because it is in my best interests to produce better citizens for tomorrow. Each of us can do something every day to make our society more civilized.
Other than that, I can just babble on over the internet. Maybe that will do some good. (Just kidding!)
Yes, America meddles in other countries as a way to protect our "national interests." Powerful nations have been doing this for centuries, but it is time for us to stop. We can be comfortable enough, as are other countries, without having a massive military, as well as the CIA plus how many unknown others carrying out our business. I don't think we should become isolationist, but we need to take a giant step back and stop being so selfish and materialistic.
I wonder how many of those who cry, "No blood for oil!" are now crying loudly about high fuel prices. Not that I think that any of the blood spilled so far has led to lower fuel prices, probably the opposite has happened.
What to do? Well, I have to backtrack on that one. I think it is as important to vote for the local offices as the federal offices, so the deal about bringing the military back home does not always apply. I feel that our government is built from the ground up, and if the bottom is rotten, then the top will be too.
"so how do you encourage people to go do these things - to vote, to learn the issues and how they relate to other things and vice versa, to really understand the types of people they're voting for and how those people could shape their (and their children's...) future"
I wish I knew the answer to that question. I guess I just have to try to be a snowflake in an avalanche. I try to do what I can today. For example, I support my local schools even though I have no children in school. Why? Because it is in my best interests to produce better citizens for tomorrow. Each of us can do something every day to make our society more civilized.
Other than that, I can just babble on over the internet. Maybe that will do some good. (Just kidding!)
thank you very much peggy. i like your "rotten from the bottom up" idea. i think it might even apply more broadly - i think WE may be a part of "the bottom" (in terms of our being at the bottom of the power ladder, sort of). i guess i'd also say that we might be able to look at it another way - WE could be considered the top, with our public servants ("yeah, right") ... serving us. i guess that's what you might be talking about in terms of snowflakes etc..
even if we (the US, as "superpower) remain in a "power role", it does seem like there are other ways to "lead" rather than in ways sometimes a bit akin to the "dictators" that our "officials" sometimes like to rail against.
some nice news from Iraq:
Iraq beats Saudi Arabia 1-0 for Asian title, captain calls for U.S. to withdraw troops - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-asiancup&prov=ap&type=lgns - broken link)
Well, sometimes it doesn't seem very much like we live in a democracy. I don't think much of the idea of spreading our type of government all over the earth.
I was alluding to the idea that no snowflake in an avalanche feels responsible, and thinking that all of us snowflakes might get together and create an avalanche of public opinion to force our current government to start paying attention to us for a change. OK, a bit off the wall.
Yes, it is good to see some good news from Iraq. I hope we can repair the damages we have caused there. Faint hope.
Well, sometimes it doesn't seem very much like we live in a democracy. I don't think much of the idea of spreading our type of government all over the earth.
I was alluding to the idea that no snowflake in an avalanche feels responsible, and thinking that all of us snowflakes might get together and create an avalanche of public opinion to force our current government to start paying attention to us for a change. OK, a bit off the wall.
Yes, it is good to see some good news from Iraq. I hope we can repair the damages we have caused there. Faint hope.
i knew basically what you meant about the snowflake
as far as "our type of government", i sometimes wonder whether the emphasis on "individual freedoms and liberty" - the individual - may actually have a bit to do with some, maybe most, of the issues we're talking about here. and then, there's always that corporations are afforded the status of an individual human being - constitutional rights and priveleges thereof - on top of it, which seems ironic in so many ways it's practically inside-out... seems "individual liberty" of actual individuals might do more for those "individual" corporations by promoting consumption of their goods towards their profits, etc etc.. but i'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on that kind of thing.
Not sure I could agree with the views of the 'un-named' tho' 'respected' think tank, I mean, could be the BBC. I'd question the 'failing over the Iraq war', encouraging detractors and jeopardizing stability in Asia and the ME. It's not like the ME has historically exhibited much stability to jeopardize. Unless of course, stability only means 'status quo', in which case it does sound very European. And I believe western Europe may be having an awakening to that jeopardy.
So with upcoming elections, I want leadership with a no BS attitude towards security, immigration included.
Can you tell the difference between an Arab and a Mexican? On the border? At midnite? With nite vision goggles? On the run?
Not sure I could agree with the views of the 'un-named' tho' 'respected' think tank, I mean, could be the BBC. I'd question the 'failing over the Iraq war', encouraging detractors and jeopardizing stability in Asia and the ME. It's not like the ME has historically exhibited much stability to jeopardize. Unless of course, stability only means 'status quo', in which case it does sound very European. And I believe western Europe may be having an awakening to that jeopardy.
So with upcoming elections, I want leadership with a no BS attitude towards security, immigration included.
Can you tell the difference between an Arab and a Mexican? On the border? At midnite? With nite vision goggles? On the run?
it almost seems to not matter who the "think tank was". what they're claiming is, at this point, pretty much common sense - it seems that throwing a stick in the hive and waving it around without much other contemplation will indeed stir up instability of sorts. p!$$ everyone off, act like you don't care about them, or talk and behave in blindly biggoted ways, and it seems sensible that your future may include some challenges.
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