What ?? How old are you ?? You don't know ?? Read your history. Last week we threw the Chinese diplomates out of (Houston ??) Texas because they were trying to steal our coved research. SMFH !!!!!!!!!!!!
First of all....fuck off with the condescending crap SoCal. If you wanna pretend to be mature learn to use proper punctuation instead of typing like a preteen girl. Spying doesn’t equal an inability. The US spies on other countries and steals their research as well....does that mean we can’t do what we are stealing? You’ve displayed an overwhelming lack of understanding of history on this and other threads...I suggest you take your own advice. The Chinese diplomat thing had a lot more to it than Covid research. Nice attempt though. Maybe read more than just headlines. And back to my original question....what is something we, the USA, is capable of that the Chinese or Russians aren’t. Trying answering without getting your question key stuck.
The whole bill of rights, freedom of speech, press, religion, right to bear arms... and all the rest. Yes, China and Russia are not capable of drafting and actually implementing such rights. They know what rights we have here, and they don't care to change their political systems there in order to get those rights. Putin's pseudo-dictatorship enjoys over 80% approval amongst Russians. As for China, I've been there and can tell you folks there don't respect each other, their environment (people take craps on the sidewalks and spit on the floor inside in a store), and are completely disengaged politically. They buy whatever their government tells them. And if you think this country is racist, you haven't been anywhere in Asia or the Middle East. You ever talk to people in Asia about black people? I have, and I can tell you that even in that highly developed first world country like Japan, racism there runs far deeper than it does here. It's trendy right now to hate on this country because Trump is so repulsive, because we dropped the ball with Covid19, and because our foreign policy has done so much damage to the world since WW2. The Trump presidency is a sign that this country is in decline, no doubt. I still cannot wrap my mind around why people voted for him. Even if you hated Hilary and liberals so much, why not vote third party? But Trump? Seriously, how the fuck? But I'd rather live here than China and Russia. I can say "Fuck Trump" and nothing will happen to me because this country is still great, even with all its faults and even with the most ignorant, narcissistic, deranged stupid president in world history. PS, I did not read Baby's article. I'd rather watch paint dry.
My question was more about capability than it was political systems and ideology. This is what I was referring to with my question... The rest of the world still wants to come here. Foreign governments (USSR and now China) still want to steal our technology. Because we can do what they can't. That’s not me hating on our country. I don’t hate it. Quite the opposite. I just don’t follow the nationalist agenda that you gotta love it or leave it and piss red, white, and blue at all times. And I know you don’t either blang. You’re spot on about Russia and China and our freedom here to criticize are elected leaders. That’s something that does put us ahead of others.
This part ?? Don't agree with it totally. But I will lay down my life to defend your right to say that. Welcome to America.
Thanks Bww and blang for your thoughts. The world is changing and it benefits the populations of each country to drop the rhetoric and start thinking for themselves. To me, having the ability to think outside of the box and to be able to stand up for your own beliefs is freedom. Like Bww said, because you are showing more respect and honour for those who carved the US out of wilderness by NOT being content to be one of the herd of sheep. @blang84 you should give the article a read. It's really worth it.
This is intellectual dishonesty. China has had multiple violent border skirmishes with India in the last 40 years, not to mention their constant military aggression in the South China Sea, which has angered all of their neighbors. To say that the US has not spent a day at peace is also false. Yes, we have bases in 150 countries though nearly all of the soldiers never see a day of combat during their entire service. There were plenty of peaceful days (years) in the lead up to 9/11, since then, not so much. If he's talking about declared "war" then he's still wrong since we've only had three of those since the 70s, and none during the 80s. Carter demonstrating he knows nothing of history and the author embarrasses himself further. Anyone ever hear about ancient Rome? Yeah, well from the 5th century BC till the reign of Augustus they were in a state of constant war. Even during the so-called Pax Romana, there were dozens of wars on the border, even Marcus Aurelius spent most of his reign fighting the barbarians in Germany. Then from Commodus onwards, yeah basically constant war (most of it internal) till the fall of the western empire. So again, pure intellectual dishonesty from this writer. I gave up reading after that quote from Carter. No sense in going further when the writer totally ignores history because he wants to make his tired point. Thanks but no thanks Baby.
Thanks for taking the time to read up to that point blang, I appreciate it. This is exactly the reason why I battle insurmountable odds (joke) even posting off-sports topics, because some of you take the time to dig through it and you also take the time to formulate a well-thought out reply. I'm not trying to stroke anyone's egos here, I just want to say that when someone comes in and gives me reasons for their opinion and they do not immediately jump to or hide behind defending 'the U.S. is great no matter what', it shows that they take the time to evaluate, challenge and think. Let me go a little deeper than that. Because of Covid we are taking a big hit in sports right now, which means the level of traffic on LSN4 isn't driving the same attention = less revenue = BAD THINGS MAY HAPPEN. As long as some of you good thinkers show up occasionally to share your thoughts on different topics you are doing your part to make sure that the site will be here and available when sports come back and we want to yell and scream at each other. This thread, "Protests and Riots" makes my point for me.
This ^ America, for all its ugly flaws is leading innovation/tech, especially for military purposes. China wants in on that and has been trying to get in on that for a long while now. They've inched closer and closer to close the gap. Usually I find when people say "read your history" or something similar nomenclature-wise, they typically are the ones who never look at history. Let's also not forget about that Tibet place (displacing the Dalai Lama to India and probably killing the Panchan Lama/John Oliver on HBO did a terrifyingly exceptional piece on this). Oh. And Taiwan. Want a recent example? Muslim Uyghurs in the northwest. Hong Kong now. I'll build on Blang's point. Traditional "war" as we know it, as history has explained--has changed entirely. We think of Revolutionary War standing and point muskets, the Civil War standing and firing far more accurate rifles, and even WW1, WW2, and Vietnam where we had trenches and most of all--boots on the ground. Its 2020. You dont need boots on the ground to be in a war or conflict.
The "red white and blue can never be wrong" crowd is an enormous detriment to advancing as a country because of the"America can do no wrong" and "America has a clean, whitewashed history because we're going to rewrite history books to leave out the bad stuff" crowd mentalities. You point out a bad flaw like separating kids from their parents in cages at the border and people say you're unamerican. The media doesn't help either. Obama put kids/families in cages = no coverage. Trump does it (albeit boisterously and heinously/separating kids from families) and hes the worst. Pride is one of the ugliest, worst things about America and the sooner its gone the better for everyone. Because pride typically means you don't think America can improve or go higher because you're at the apex. That its already great when its not or when politically convenient--to restore one's memory to a better time. And Politicians do their best to maintain the vicious cycle. Politicians tell small town folk that big city slickers are bad/mean. They tell city folk that small town folk are morons. Meanwhile, you have to get out and visit a small town/big city/opposite of your situation and experience it for yourself. Turns out--if you're not a c.unt, small town folk are hospitable and wonderful when you visit. Vice versa (sans the city being expensive). Religion is the biggest pillar for this thin veil of bullshit. I'm perpetually baffled by all the Christians in this country who think they're persecuted (on top of doing all the things Jesus never did/greatly opposed doing). Meanwhile, they cant just be Christian on their own time, and not get a gay marriage/abortion because they disagree with it so much. And in return, pride gets the Catholic Church a hefty government bailout for priests raping kids. Pride does that. It tells you that you cant be wrong because 'Merica.
I question the safety and effectiveness of it because when it comes to vaccines no amount of research no matter how accomplished can replace time and testing. I question also when he says his daughter has taken it.
Not to mention China engages in proxy wars all the time. I disagree about the peaceful days in the lead up to 9/11. Before W took office Clinton spent a lot of time dropping bombs. A lot on Serbia that goes unmentioned when people try to talk how great Bill was. And while there was no declared war in the 80s....Reagan spilled a lot of blood around the globe while nation building and being low key imperialistic. Honestly...if you take the impact of war actions, both in declared wars and undeclared, the USA is far beyond the Romans. That's a bit unfair because the Romans didn't have bombs and tanks at their disposal. I think if you found a way to make it an apples to apples type comparison the Roman's were probably more war mongering. But if you bring in espionage, nation building, coups, illegal weapon sales, targeted assasinations, and all the other dark stuff the US government has been involved in since the rise of the Military/Industrial complex then it really tilts the scales in favor of the USA being history's biggest war machine. I don't think any pre-industrial age empire can really compare in terms of global impact.
You have to remember that Rome couldn’t be told to fuck off, while the US could be blown off and told to stick it sideways. The worst the US would do is put sanctions on the country, the Romans would come in and destroy the country and enslave the people there. when in Rome do as the Romans do. Here in the US we bend over backwards to accommodate foreigners in Rome foreigners bent over backwards to please the Romans.
Go play with your toys...adults are talking. Romans accepted immigrants into the work force, the military, and Rome itself. Like the USA...they grew strong and rich on the backs of foreigners. Also the Romans lost plenty of battles, wars, and conquests. They weren’t the undefeated dynasty that a lot of people believe them to be.
