United States of USSR

[Mitera Nikkou]

I've been thinking. Is the US becoming more like the USSR during the cold war, where we appear rich and powerful but are on the road to collapse?

[Haylie]

If all the crime, drinking, drugs, national debt, and human behavior in general continues as it has, yes, I think that's a very real possibility.

[Flannery]

USSR? You mean like we are becoming communist?

[Mitera Nikkou]

Um... No. Economically, not politically. Don't be silly. ;/

[Shadell]

We're becoming a command economy?!

The decline of empires is a fact. You could just as easily have said France, Rome, Persia, etc.

[Mitera Nikkou]

So the US is an empire? ;p Well, the US does try to be a sort of empire of the world, at times... The US' ego has grown since the second world war, so I guess it's understandable. ;/

[Raijin]

I Think the world is on the break of Collapse not just the US. But suppose you could say US is the best monitor.

[Shadell]

So the US is an empire? ;p Well, the US does try to be a sort of empire of the world, at times... The US' ego has grown since the second world war, so I guess it's understandable. ;/

Most scholars would agree that to some extent the U.S.A. has been an empire. If you consider how large our influence is, as well as the extent of our territory and the fact that much of it was gained by conquering the local people, we are certainly an empire.

The only debate is whether or not we're presently an imperialistic force.

I Think the world is on the break of Collapse not just the US. But suppose you could say US is the best monitor.

Depends on how you define collapse. The E.U. for example is doing quite well economically. Many areas in Asia are growing astronomically. Extreme poverty is declining even though we just figured out it was worse than we thought it was last time it was measured, etc.

Environmentally on the other hand...

[Flannery]

break of collapse. I think not. America in itself is a good country that has raisin to be a world super power on it's own. The USSR did not collapse. It Marley changed it's form of government. It went from Communism to Socialism, and it gave up it's hold on Poland, Germany, Bosnia, ext... Look how good they are doing now.

Capitalism in itself is a very good system of government. It's downfall is industry. American' Industry is falling flat on it's face. Jobs being outsourced, plants that close down, and businesses go bankrupt.

You want to talk collapses, look at North Korea. China was in the same boat, until it became more socialist.

[Mitera Nikkou]

America in itself is a good country that has raisin to be a world super power on it's own.

If it weren't for France, America probably would have remained colonies of the British empire.

The USSR did not collapse. It Marley changed it's form of government.

Not exactly. From how I understand it, the change originated with economic failure. It was the economic reformation that, in turn, required changes in the government. Not just because the focus on funds for the military was bleeding the USSR dry, but because the methods of running the economy wasn't working well enough for what they needed. It's actually very similar to the US' position right now: war is bleeding us dry, and we're doing a bang-up job with our economy.

Capitalism in itself is a very good system of government.

Capitalism is not a government. (As far as I know.) America is a Republic that got drunk one night, went to bed with a Democracy, and had a bastard child some months later. Or something like that. ^_^;

It's downfall is industry.

And what has done this to America's industry? Gee, it must be our economic system... Capitalism! Dun-dun-dunnnn!

In my opinion, capitalism is a bad system. There's too much freedom, which leads to outsourcing (and thus plants will likely close down as the business moves to where the cheaper employers are). And whenever problems arise (because every greedy person is doing their own thing, and not for the sake of the country), the only thing that can be done is to regulate it with the government, which the general public doesn't seem to like, so...

Basically, if we have the kind of government and economic system that's supposedly the creme de la creme, and yet it's failing... Doesn't that mean we're screwed? I mean, how could resorting to something considered to be worse be of any help? Our government, by its very nature, is doomed to divide and fall apart. Capitalism, by its very nature (and the nature of mankind), ultimately only benefits a small percentage of the population, which isn't enough to prevent economic collapse.

It's like people forgot about a thing called balance. Capitalism gives too much freedom, and a Republic/Democracy is too easy to abuse and pervert (especially with a populace that has a low intelligence... like we have now).

[Brnin8r]

In my opinion, capitalism is a bad system. There's too much freedom, which leads to outsourcing (and thus plants will likely close down as the business moves to where the cheaper employers are). And whenever problems arise (because every greedy person is doing their own thing, and not for the sake of the country), the only thing that can be done is to regulate it with the government, which the general public doesn't seem to like, so...

Well...to the capitalism claim, I would ask you to find a better system and wonder why too much freedom is a bad thing. The only reason freedom can become a bad thing is when there is no intellectuals to govern themselves (as you pointed out at the end of your last post)

It's not balance that can be kept in a capitalistic nation, in fact...there's rarely a better balance in any other system. In most political system, the build resembles a pyramid; the lowest class dominating the population while the very top dominates the system itself. While our capitalistic nation has sort of tipped-to-the-side square shape to it; very few people having absolutely nothing, very few people having nearly everything, while most of the population has some sort of basis. Now...you can easily tell that a square on it's side will have a very definite problem with balancing since it requires a perfect amount of such to stay up.

To FIX the problem, you'll need a good twenty years to recuperate from the damage we've done with the No child left behind nonsense...It merely contains all students at the same level, bringing the slow kids up to date, while holding the smarter crop alongside them. We need to better the parenting of our children, instill some values through physical demonstrations (spanking, even though I'm not a parent, had shaped my view to see that I needed to do what was right to not be punished).

Because, as Nikkou said at the end, a low-intelligence populace can be perverted easily. The best way to fix any government system is through the intellectual use of freedom by the population itself. I know I'ma get a lot of hate for this, but if you've ever read what communism is about, it's a sound government system that focuses on the people making the economic choices (I still don't think it will work cuz we're all greedy bastards in the world)

Capitalism leads to collapse...just as all governments do. What we can do about it is take what intellectuals we have and take action when the time comes.

*shrugs* but I'm rambling...and probably annoying people at this point.

[Mitera Nikkou]

You won't get any hate from me. Usually, whenever I lay out my solutions, someone calls me a commy. ;/ Of course, my solutions calls for the abolishing of currency altogether, so I don't really know how I could be a communist. *Shrugs*

Basically, what I understand is that a good economy needs a strong, local industry. The population need jobs, and the production needs to sustain the populace (at the very least). What we have now is mostly the opposite of what we need: we consume too much from outside sources than we do from ourselves. We can see it from how many products we buy from corporations now operating in Mexico, China, Taiwan, et cetera. Even most of our oil supply comes from outside sources. We're being bleed, technically.

I don't believe there is a good system for humanity, since humanity's nature seems to be too invested in self-interest. Even if someone comes up with a good idea, later on it will likely be used and abused. But I guess that's to be expected, since there isn't a thing yet found to exist that doesn't also bear the seeds of its own destruction.

I think the human body is a good basis for an economic system. If I were to compare capitalism to a body, I'd say that the body is overrun by parasites. If the corporations and industry stayed in the country, I'd say that it'd be a symbiotic relationship. But more and more such things are leaving the country, sucking up resources from the outside. It's not really a case of consuming too much, but giving up too much to the actual consumers. I mean, consumers are the ones that ultimately benefit, so...

That's just how I see it, anyway.

[Flannery]

In my opinion, capitalism is a bad system. There's too much freedom

And I suppose Socialism is without a doubt the best form of government?

[Mitera Nikkou]

Depends on what socialism is. It has "social" in it, which sounds nice, but I often find terms often don't mean exactly what the root word does. Social security, from what I understand, is supposed to be a form of socialism, isn't it? But I don't really find much wrong with social security (aside from, possibly, the social security number). Or, at least, I'd prefer there be social security for people who can't work to make a living. I mean, if someone becomes a quadriplegic due to an accident, at least they won't be abandoned. Just imagine what would happen if our morals followed more closely capitalism and corporatism. What do you think happens to defective products that can't cost-effectively be fixed so it's in a condition adequate for sale?

Either way, like I already said:

I don't believe there is a good system for humanity, since humanity's nature seems to be too invested in self-interest.

Really, that could have said it all, but, then again, it was supposed to discourage the kind of post this one is replying to, to begin with, so... ;/