You seem to have a strong bias for democracy and capitalism. Many Americans assume that democracy is the perfect government system
success? How do you measure success? I personally would not want to live like that. In fact, my dream is to live simply.
No, I'm being serious. I am not tied to Democracy or Capitalism at all, as it has been said previously all democracies fail. It is this constitutional republic and its capitalism I am questioning. I see the ills, I'm looking to the future. What can we find that is better, what system can prove to handle 300 million or 300 trillion people? Where is the the test lab (country) I should explore?
Sorry, that didn't cross the Atlantic very well did it?
I meant you have put up an OP of, shall we say, contentious assertions, likely to generate a lot of heat.
This one could run and run!
No not my intention, I seek to understand and discover. At this moment exactly how do I translate "I've rumbled you" 'I've figured you out?' 'You can't fool me?'
I have a question:
Which is more cruel, selfishness/greed, or jealousy/envy? Which has the tendency to provoke the worst insane violence?
I could be warped, this is my statement, that selfishness/greed in the end wins out for others. Folks get sentimental as they age look back on what they've done and decide they want to do something for the good of the whole, sometimes at the end of their lives, sometimes in their will. Now if they don't their brat kids and grandkids take over run everything into the ground and spend like nuts...all that money goes back to the people.
I would never have expected this from you so clearly I don't know you that well! I think only an American could express should staggering arrogance.
Here's an alternative POV:
Which society/gov't has been more of a global polluter and threat to peace in the world? (Courtesy of selfishness).
s.
I think you do have me wrong. This is an investigation. I've repeatedly said I know the ills of this society. I've been ranting against it for years. But I'm stepping back and looking at results, could the ills have been avoided and how, could the benefits to the world been accomplished another way?
As far as global polluter, we were ahead of our time. We are reversing that trend and India and China are taking up the slack. In the 60's the river in Pittsburgh caught fire, and you could walk across the river in New York, I've seen the improvement in my lifetime, a long way to go for sure.
How do we measure success? Am I measuring it by selfishness, no but the results of it. 27 billion in foreign aid, twice any other nation is that a worthwhile guage, I don't know. Now we are 22 down as far as percentage of GNP, but if we were number one, over the years would our GNP stay as high and net less or more for the world?
Who is number one on the giving scale? Norway! Can we be compared to them? They've got health care, they give a lot, they take care of their people, how do they do it? Offshore drilling, they supply 40% of the oil to Europe and use almost none, why hydroelectric power. Talk about rich in resources, enough water energy to power their country, enough oil to fund all their needs, and they export crude, so most the refineries and pollution occurs in other countries. Unless you are a little country in the Middle East this model can't be duplicated.
I'm looking for the duplicable model that will handle trillions of us!
I'd love to live simply and that can work on a small scale, but can that work on a large scale. If we each only concern ourselves with our plot of land and feeding ourselves, low consumerism, we'll pay little or no taxes to pay for all the things that we ask of gov't, law enforcement, roads, schools, and health care...only more taxes, ie more income would pay for these social things in a society of this size.
Yes this could go on and on.