America is not the greatest country anymore

[Molly]

At least he put the good, useful information on top of all the hollow hyperbolic bullshit. I see his point, but I hate when writers write things like what I bolded out. Complacency/laziness is one thing, but to say that we've forgotten what it means to be american and need to go back to the way we were back in the good ol' days.. What a load of shit. When were these "good old days" anyway exactly? Anyone that reads a history book would know that americans of yesterday are just as selfish and close minded as many of us today are. Waging wars have pretty much always been a matter of convenience, not morality. Social programs and government regulation have always been a subject of hatred. Guys like Frank Zappa were seen as a bane in their own country for refusing the relent to system of morality/law based around theology. Most Americans have always been by and large uninformed, ignorant jackasses. They used to work harder is all. This isn't me arguing in favor of such traits, but lets be real. Im all for saying America needs that hunger and competitive spirit that has eluded us these past generations, but if we aren't stepping forward, id at least rather be standing still. I sure as hell don't want to be stepping backwards.

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[Oberyn]

At least he put the good, useful information on top of all the hollow hyperbolic bullshit. I see his point, but I hate when writers write things like what I bolded out. Complacency/laziness is one thing, but to say that we've forgotten what it means to be american and need to go back to the way we were back in the good ol' days.. What a load of shit. When were these "good old days" anyway exactly? Anyone that reads a history book would know that americans of yesterday are just as selfish and close minded as many of us today are. Waging wars have pretty much always been a matter of convenience, not morality. Social programs and government regulation have always been a subject of hatred. Guys like Frank Zappa were seen as a bane in their own country for refusing the relent to system of morality/law based around theology. Most Americans have always been by and large uninformed, ignorant jackasses. They used to work harder is all. This isn't me arguing in favor of such traits, but lets be real. Im all for saying America needs that hunger and competitive spirit that has eluded us these past generations, but if we aren't stepping forward, id at least rather be standing still. I sure as hell don't want to be stepping backwards.

That's what happens when you worship the past as some sort of untainted fairy wonderland. From the deification of the Founding Fathers, the mythology built around certain presidents, the rose-colored goggles when looking back at the Gilded Age, the worship of the "Greatest Generation" as if they were some sort of ubermensch, the list goes on and on. So you have this completely fabricated ideal of what being an "american" really means, and what the country actually stood for and accomplished.
Tbh looking towards the past and seeing only the good, and looking at the present and seeing only the bad is a universal trait anyways, not uniquely american. Every single generation has it, and it's usually some old fart complaining about how young people these days are lazy and degenerates. The one generation where that view is accurate (imo) is with the baby-boomers, which ironically both the actor and writer belong to.

[Tagora]

It sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chests. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men, we aspired to intelligence, we didn’t belittle it, it didn’t make us feel inferior.

>Implying that none of this was related to the cold war and our race to be the best.

I went to a social justice orientated school and I learned about imperialist paradigms perpetuating class struggle and what I've concluded is that it doesn't matter what economic/social model you adapt, whether it's capitalism, marxism, TROTSKYISM, if you identify as a patriot before a human being you'll end up with warfare and elitist dominance stirring up hatred.  Every time an alternative economic theory is proposed, retarded paranoids like Mao and Stalin manage to convince people they rely on government when Marxism states the opposite.

IMO, this guy is just a shitty version of: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/6681/

We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, Number 4 in labor force and Number 4 in exports, we lead the world in only three categories: Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending where spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies.

And because I'm a anarcho-socialist I reject their statistics as methods of measuring a non-objective state.  We should not be measuring ourselves by our governments but measuring ourselves by independence from governments.

[Murmillus_Prime]

Too bad that in this day and age the being the greatest is determined by the ammount of guns and nukes you have

Being the greatest = being the worst, having the ability to kill all life on earth, being the most aggressive, most manipulative, most dominating, most corrupt, most polluting, most selfish, survival of the fittest when it comes to humanity isn't about fitness, it's about manipulating the fittest to do the deeds of men with evil plans, who plot in the shadows and behind the curtains while their strung up actors are doing all the smiling and public manipulation, selling misinformation as reality, portraying propaganda as fact.

[Oberyn]

Being the greatest = being the worst, having the ability to kill all life on earth, being the most aggressive, most manipulative, most dominating, most corrupt, most polluting, most selfish, survival of the fittest when it comes to humanity isn't about fitness, it's about manipulating the fittest to do the deeds of men with evil plans, who plot in the shadows and behind the curtains while their strung up actors are doing all the smiling and public manipulation, selling misinformation as reality, portraying propaganda as fact.

And this is the other side of ridiculous propaganda  . I can't even decide which approach is more unrealistic and retarded.

[Murmillus_Prime]

And this is the other side of ridiculous propaganda  . I can't even decide which approach is more unrealistic and retarded.

Hmm?

I know what side you belong to, are you going to put me on a side too? Quite a conventional thought out judgement you have.

When people limit themselves to two halves, we can either be 50% wrong or 100% wrong, think outside of defined norms, it's usually where new ideas are formed, and generally new ideas are good for human progression, (generally, I guess the development of certain aspects of war aren't really classed as positive human progression), limit yourself to two choices and you're going to be picking a side, and someone or in some cases everyone, has to lose when they have a side to take.

[LordBerenger]

Being the greatest = being the worst, having the ability to kill all life on earth, being the most aggressive, most manipulative, most dominating, most corrupt, most polluting, most selfish, survival of the fittest when it comes to humanity isn't about fitness, it's about manipulating the fittest to do the deeds of men with evil plans, who plot in the shadows and behind the curtains while their strung up actors are doing all the smiling and public manipulation, selling misinformation as reality, portraying propaganda as fact.

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[Murmillus_Prime]

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Conspiracy in your case is a rejection of the truth that the world does not revolve around you, in-fact revolves around those who can put some ink to paper and make hundreds of thousands of equally human albeit financially poles apart people lose their lively hoods.

You may keep dreaming, and I will keep seeking.

[LordBerenger]

Well i believe that certain Secret Societies might actually exist. Makes sense. And some of their supposedly plans for a better world sounds actually good. But i'm heavily doubting certain ''beliefs'' and conspiracy theories or aspects of em.


If i pull 3 quick ones (conspiracy theories).


Shapeshifting Lizards.....= Omg..sigh...

A super powerful group known around as ''Illuminati'' with several branches under it's command (Majestic 12, U.N, Trilateral Commission, all bankers supporting it and having powerful positions within) = Some of it could be true but you gotta remember that their motive might not be ''OMG THEY LOVE SATAN AND WANTS TO CONTROL THE POPULATION AND PUT CHIPS INTO OUR BRAINS!''. Don't be biased and one sided.

Roswell UFO 1947 = Well, it could've been true that UFO had crashed. But keep in mind that going public with that isn't exactly a smart thing to do to begin with as you can't know how everyone else might react. But it could be true, but it could also just have been a secret military vehicle that crashed whilst being tested.


TL;DR Overall you gotta take EVERYTHING with a pinch of salt.

[Murmillus_Prime]

Just because I have an alternate opinion to the mainstream does not mean I endorse all conspiracy theories, in-fact, many things I believe in which aren't mainstream aren't conspiracies at all, just ignored reality, why is it ignored?

 Because politically it doesn't flow with the globalists plans to initiate a future world government, you know, hypocrisy, genocide, ect ect, doesn't really look good in a world governments portfolio, but the elites behind this dream, yeah it's their dream, not ours, I mean it benefits them more than any non-elite, non-super rich individual, but in order for them to realise their dreams they have to get the masses on board, after all without any roots a tree cannot grow, and the fruit cannot be picked when they come to bare, and in order to get the masses on their side, they have to attempt to mould themselves into the masters of morality, the masters of principle, the masters of public safety, the masters of freedom of choice, the masters of our freedom and the givers of our freedoms and our safety, in-fact, they'd sooner have half of us killed if it would further serve their goal of one day having each and every one of us easier to manipulate and control so being at the top isn't so much hard work, after all, while we strive to earn to live, they earn to rule, it's a cultural thing, born from being rich for too long and having generations born into wealth and subsequently power, many of the elite are a different species and they couldn't survive in a working class man's world, not even for one hour.

While for an African tribesman survival is killing the next animal or working all week for a bag of rice, the working class western man is to earn his wages and pay the rent, in the elite's circle's its to live a life without knowing work and fearing the loss of their voice in the direction of our species, the loss of their ability to provide their children with the lives they've lived, which are far removed from our own, so much so, even a conspiracy theorist would look normal to the likes of you, when in comparison psychologically to many of the individuals in these elite circles.

[LordBerenger]

See there's what i just told ya. What makes YOU think that an One world government would actually do that and make it a totalitarian ruled world?

Just theories and theories and opinions and shit. Maybe and just maybe it would actually be for the better of mankind. But no, it's much better to fight useless wars for stupid nationalism and for your theocratic nations. Right? And i'm positive freedom won't be robbed if and only if a one world government appears.

[Murmillus_Prime]

See there's what i just told ya. What makes YOU think that an One world government would actually do that and make it a totalitarian ruled world?

Just theories and theories and opinions and shit. Maybe and just maybe it would actually be for the better of mankind. But no, it's much better to fight useless wars for stupid nationalism and for your theocratic nations. Right? And i'm positive freedom won't be robbed if and only if a one world government appears.

Because there have been false flag attacks, and false flag attacks exposed as just that, false flag, attacks created by one side with the intention of having what would otherwise appear to be a justified reason to take a course of action deemed necessary to eliminate a threat they've invented, only they didn't invent all the civilians that would die as a result of the conflicts they initiate in the name of taking a falsely justified course of action, they didn't invent the suffering and make it up, they made it happen, oh but they're justified and they're hero's never-mind, let them kill, butcher and maim, and be hypocrites, because they're the good guys and they're on our side.. Fuck off.

Go and nuke half the world for humanitarian reasons Berenger, I'm sure the means justify the ends right? Go and use weapons of mass destruction on those falsely accused of having weapons of mass destruction, go and help those innocent, Al-Qaeda, armed and funded terrorist protesters "peacefully" topple their ruling government, please you may have been born yesterday but some of us were not.

[Oberyn]

If you think being poor and "powerless" somehow makes nations less selfish, violent and corrupt, yes, you were born yesterday. If you think modern nations such as the US (that you malign as some sort of Great Satan) are as bad as literally ANYTHING that existed before WW2, you are not only a newborn but a complete retard. Or heck, don't even need to go that far back. Just look at wtf is going on just south of their border right now. These are just a couple of random examples.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_San_Fernando_massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_San_Fernando_massacre

Where, in anything that the evil corrupt masterminds that run the US have planned, has been as sick and fucked up as this?
Only retards and ultranationalists with zero understanding of geopolitics have ever tried to portray the US and it's real politik selfish moves as anything but that, but your bleeding heart idiocy is just as moronic.

[Murmillus_Prime]

If you think being poor and "powerless" somehow makes nations less selfish, violent and corrupt, yes, you were born yesterday. If you think modern nations such as the US (that you malign as some sort of Great Satan) are as bad as literally ANYTHING that existed before WW2, you are not only a newborn but a complete retard. Or heck, don't even need to go that far back. Just look at wtf is going on just south of their border right now. These are just a couple of random examples.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_San_Fernando_massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_San_Fernando_massacre

Where, in anything that the evil corrupt masterminds that run the US have planned, has been as sick and fucked up as this?
Only retards and ultranationalists with zero understanding of geopolitics have ever tried to portray the US and it's real politik selfish moves as anything but that, but your bleeding heart idiocy is just as moronic.

What? Mexican cartels killing rival cartels so they can sell their drugs to the American market? What? You're telling me America's homicide rate is low? What? America isn't continuously breaching the national sovereignty of multiple nations and bombing militants and civilians all year round? What? America isn't the real driving force between many EU nations foreign policies, which end up encouraging the EU to get involved in unjust unlawful wars?

How does one bad situation deride a multitude of others? Your point Oberyn? Seriously, I don't understand what kind of point you're trying to make here? You're saying Mexico doesn't have rich people calling the shots? What day were you born on? History dictates America's kill-rate, and involvement in conflicts in which deaths go into the millions is a fact, and you cannot deride history with a comparably much smaller conflict which is funded and armed  by the very same nation which I am talking about.

The difference between the Mexico situation and the Middle-East, is that the middle-class and rich American hard drug consumers and gun runners fuel the Mexican murders, in the Middle-East it's the corporations which fuel the conflicts and weapons are sold via proxies such as Saudi Arabia, who by the way are arming the "peaceful" protesters in Syria.

You have not derided my point, you've only reinforced it Oberyn.

[Tagora]

If you think being poor and "powerless" somehow makes nations less selfish, violent and corrupt, yes, you were born yesterday. If you think modern nations such as the US (that you malign as some sort of Great Satan) are as bad as literally ANYTHING that existed before WW2, you are not only a newborn but a complete retard. Or heck, don't even need to go that far back. Just look at wtf is going on just south of their border right now. These are just a couple of random examples.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_San_Fernando_massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_San_Fernando_massacre

Where, in anything that the evil corrupt masterminds that run the US have planned, has been as sick and fucked up as this?
Only retards and ultranationalists with zero understanding of geopolitics have ever tried to portray the US and it's real politik selfish moves as anything but that, but your bleeding heart idiocy is just as moronic.

The difference is in America where generally speaking, access to education, healthcare, and employment is relatively easy to find when you compare us to developing nations.  You cannot argue that a developing nation is equally accountable to crime until you have given the world an equally distributed amount of power and resources to fight crime.  I've traveled to Mexico and visited where the average pay ranged from $4-8 a day for a worker who sometimes worked consecutive six hour shifts.  Drug dealing was fairly common.  Still, the people living there were some of the kindest, most gentle people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.  I saw families who were crossing the border, I even talked to a few people who did cross the border.  Do you have any idea how much they lost to try to make it to America where they did not face constant economic strife and persecution?  One man lost his child, another has an untreated leg injury, and another left his family behind when he was found and deported.  Oh yeah, for all of you people who enjoy statistics, here's one: over 2,000 to 3,000 people have died in the last 10 years attempting to cross the border.  Honestly, your comment just sounded like someone who has no concept of poverty and what it forces people to do to survive.

So let's try to think of a few things that are fucked up in America in recent times (post-ww2 right?) , besides the deportation and exploitation of an ethnic group.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_drug_trafficking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDAA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB53/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemalan_Civil_War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmGcaOkRsTU
http://www.flagrancy.net/timeline.html

These are all documented instances of American abuses of power, or institutions relating to American private interests propped by American foreign policy.  These are not conspiracies.