Are the USA going to react?

[spice]

Generally, i agree.....what really did the Romans in was that they were too expansionistic for their own good.....they'd seize some far-off territory and try to jold it with a few small outposts......they got too big for their britches as they say here in Hazzard county.......

This sounds familiar, hmmmm........

The cyclical nature of reality seems to be completely lost on ignorant, misguided fools such as George Bush, and then you go and put a Bible in his hand and MY GOD that is a recipe for disaster.

The real problem has recurred here in America, namely, when an empire grows past a certain point, IT MUST become expansionistic, and it must then go down the road to ruin.

This has happened to EVERY SINGLE EMPIRE in history. The monstrous ego to think we, America are immune to these larger machinations of reality is just fucking stupid.

So, the answer for the future would seem to lie in realizing this, and acting on it, not allowing cities to bloat and grow to the point where they are obese. This is how it always goes, down the road to ruin.

 

[BrainEater]

imagine an empire with the whole citizens of the planet sharing the same idea.
would be kind of cool... but i guess it might be a bit improbable right now..

peace 8)

 

[faithless]

imagine an empire with the whole citizens of the planet sharing the same idea.
would be kind of cool... but i guess it might be a bit improbable right now..

peace 8)

It would be impossible, and even if it was.. Don't you think it would be very boring? No new idea coming up, no change at all..

I even think that's the world we are living it. The whole citizens don't share the same ideas, but they are forced to follow the government's ideas.. Which leads to the same result: no great change, no new idea coming up, nothing but the deep shit

(maybe I'm too negative on that post, my thoughts are not so extremists )

 

[Guest]

mycophile - the article you have read is far too simplistic to be held as truth. there are countless factors that helped the roman empire go down. namely, the generals and centurians buying their place in rome; the huns and all the nomads from central asia; the catholic church and so on...
one thing that we are failing to see is that the USA are not a civilization. there is a western civilization, where europe, the usa, and other countries, like australia and so on, play a role. we share the same values, and if one goes down this deep, it will drag the rest.

and the most important thing: if an idea comes up, no matter how liberarian, humanistic or philantropic it might be, it will ALWAYS, ALWAYS serve a group. check the steam engine (vs. slavery abolition), opium proibition (vs. UK agenda), the new european treaty (vs. the european constituition). i could go on forever. we have always been made to belive in utopias to serve a small group of people. and i am stunned to see so many people belive in utopias, still beliving that human nature is not the way things are TODAY. you can bury your head in the sand, but be sure that the world continues to work on the outside, and your ass is uncovered. be realistic and learn that utopias are just a very simple way of getting rid of the weight that human nature is the way things are.


spice - the redeeming qualities of hunger in the real world of today ? if that's the question (not sure if i follow you), i don't think that it doesn't redeem myself of nothing. things are going better and i can now manage to save a little money every month. if some person is keeping many of my money, what can i do except to play by their rules ?
if you want to live and fill some mouths with food, you got to play, no matter what the rules are. what are you going to do ? a single-person demonstration, so you will never get a decent job and grow a family ? or do you swallow your pride and do as you are told ?
redeeming is what one does when he has trouble sleeping at night, due to heavy-conscience. that's very christian and i don't see christ printed in any bills or coins.



my "throw away your computers" idea was not very happy. my point was that many people here criticise capitalism, but only see them being capitalist. and buying trendy-hippie-global warming clothes doesn't count. computers can serve us, as they can control us, just like every important invention it has it's drawbacks. i also am aware that many people are currently using the internet, so they can forget their boring lives. how it is good to pick an AK47 and blast some zombies! learning to guide myself by the sun or the stars ? too boring.

 

[BirdGame87]

I agree. It's no surprise that this government is so carefree about debt when you consider the financial habits of the people. So many people here are in debt and they don't seem to mind. Expensive items, such as cars, are advertised by the monthly payment instead of the full price. People aren't concerned about interest, length of payment, etc.; they're only concerned about a quick fix.

As for me, I'm trying to save my abstract American dollars so I can purchase gold!

 

[spice]

Knowledge will be worth a lot more than gold when the infrastructure breaks down

 

[Telico]

i can now manage to save a little money every month. if some person is keeping many of my money, what can i do except to play by their rules ?
if you want to live and fill some mouths with food, you got to play, no matter what the rules are. what are you going to do ? a single-person demonstration, so you will never get a decent job and grow a family ? or do you swallow your pride and do as you are told ?

Maybe, but the rules of the game are going to change, and it will be increasingly difficult to fill some mouths with food ... Just an example : ethanol-producing firms were created as an alternative to normal fuels, but they require tremendous amounts of water and acres of farmlands, so they push up food prices internationally. There in France, pasta's price increased by 63% since 2000, vegetable oil by 60%. As a student, I try to economize, but I run out of money quickly, and I don't spend my money on unuseful things.

I mean, is it still possible to play this game with the same rules ? Nowadays 10% of the French population is POOR. We have to change capitalism rules, because we cannot continue to play this way, because it will lead us to greater and greater inequalities.

When you're earning 800€/month, and you must pay your rent 650€/month, you must manage to divide 150€ between food and staple products.

Maybe I'm an utopian, but I can assure you that I won't be the only one to demonstrate for a change in capitalism rules ! And I, and other people, are constantly voting for associations that try to establish a discussion with the Ministry of Education to make something to help us to work in better conditions. It's a shame that students are forced to have a job to be able to afford their rent and their scolarity fees.

If you think that we can still play the game in those conditions, I find this game neither fair, nor funny.

 

[faithless]

a little bit offtopic but telico made me want to say it:

1 steack needs something like 1000liters of water. I find this enormous but i'm nearly sure it's true.

 

[Telico]

A little bit offtopic indeed, but it has to be said.And to answer to the question, we are in the 9th month of this financial crisis, which tends to affect the whole world, and banks in the USA have now a capital loss accounting for 200 billion dollars... Even if they react now, it will be extremely difficult for them to recover from this crisis ...

 

[Rymmen]

Debt gets written off all the time. What I see happening is massive inflation, leading to those investors that stored their wealth in commodities, usurping the rest of the economy through the banks selling off all the properties due to foreclosures. Then the US takes out more debt to jump start the economy, probably through the excuse of war.

=D People suck.