Lifestyle > Train of Thought
Why America Is A Great Country
Maestro Minded:
--- Quote from: Ant on October 31, 2002, 01:29:00 AM ---
--- Quote from: Ibrahim Wampuka on October 31, 2002, 01:02:24 AM ---
--- Quote from: Ant on October 31, 2002, 12:29:56 AM --- In fact a poor american has a higher standard of living than the average person in some other coutnries enjoys.
--- End quote ---
thats bullshit.. and you know that... a poor american is really POOOOOR with no roof over the head... thats not the case with many european countries
--- End quote ---
If you read that statement it is correct you missed a few important words... i wrote "In fact, a POOR american has a higher standard of living than the AVERAGE person in SOME (notice i did not say european countries, also notice you said "many" and not all) other countries enjoys"
This statement is correct.
A poor american does not have no roof over their head. What you are referring to is homelessness which exists in ALL countries There are homeless shelters for these people. A person that is poor in america still recieves benefits from subsidized housing otherwise known as the projects or rent controlled living. They also receive welfare.
The average standard of living in all other countries is lower than the average standard of living of living in the US.
Many european countries have decent standard of living certainly higher than the "poor" population in the US, but in many countries outside europe specifically in 3rd world countries the average person's standard of living is actualy below that of a poor american.
--- End quote ---
you cant compare usa wit poor countries, usa aint a poor country, so its obvious that some of the poor in usa may have a higher living standard than avreage people in poor countries.....
usa should be compare to countries like great britain, france, germany, sweden, japan, ... ... and the fact is that all the countries i just mentioned have a much higher avreage than usa when it comes to money, when it comes to the way of living... ... but usa do have like a higher bnp than many other countries, but thats because of the few very rich person (bill gates, oprah, 100 other actors and actress, 1000 singers...)... if you remove less than 1 perent of americas richest people, the bnp dives dramaticy... and thats a fact, you can check them stats in your neares library...
and usa have one of the highest % of homeless people when being compared to other rich countries...
ITW [the irish boy]:
Many good points were made by Ant.
However there was a lot of extreme right thinking involved and I suppose a different set of morals.
It came across to me that you believe economic growth is more important than the welfare of poorer people. I believe until there are major work training programs for the poor to integrate them into the work force, a safety net should be in place. This is the case because the fact is, even if there's a jobs surplus, the workers may not have the skills to fill them. Also, the long term unemployed who are permently a "waste of resourses" still have the fundamental right to a decent standard of living.
However, I prefer not to discuss your internal affairs. Your foreign policies are what bother me. You say that the environment is one unfortunate loss due to economic growth.We may have growth in the short term, but what kind of lives will the next generation have....
Now, as for the american "company", i think it is illegal in business law (not to mention international law) to launch a preemptive strike, in anticipation of one. A good business will do what it does best and handle its business. The dirty ones will try and influence other rivals and use its power to the detrement of those without a vested interest.
oh, and Cracka_J ... most of the american music you listen to is sampled from oriental middle eastern, african and irish music....
Ant:
Not true. A company can launch a preemptive strike in anticipation. Even the best companys use ploys as tactics.
Consider when you are in business other company's are attempting to deceive you, if you demand to stick to your morals and never use the same tactics you will be at a severe disadvantage.
The same holds true in world politics. Look at what OPEC constantly does to the world economy when they change prices around. I think i just caught onto a double standard in that comment. It would be nice if the world was perfect but its not.
Again, America's first responsibilty is to its citizens. Just like your countries first responsibility is to its citizens. What kind of government would we be if over the years we sent out our armies to fight and die for their country if in the end we chose to show favor on the outsider and neglect our loyal citiczens.
Like i said, who woud you support the friend that was with you all the way or the guy constantly criticizing?
You can say America neglects its people but my point with the whole economic thing was that it does not. America imposes some of the strictest environmental regulations in the world, we have a lower tax rate than a good amount of european countries if i remembering correctly, and as far as the "wasted resources" that was a positive comment. If we have our workers being unemployeed they are not helping the economy, because we have such low unemployment we enjoy a high standard of living on average. What people often neglect to realize is that our poor population shifts. It is not the same group of people every year, some remain but many improve while new people take their place. Coming from a moral stand point yes it sucks, but when you run a country you cannot look at individual problems, you have to look at the whole. The same holds true in business, if you run it at the individual level and make sacrfices to help certain groups. Say by overemploying people with no talent to give them a job you lose in the long run, because eventually rather than continuing to grow and improve you regress and may even close down.
The same holds true in america. We can focus on our poor population but that requires sacrifices elsewhere. Its a tough decision to be made and i don't know the correct one. Im just attempting to explain another side to the story.
In terms of foreign affairs. It would be nice if we could be honest, fair and just. But the rest of the world isn't always and we have to protect our own asses. Its my belief that the people who deserve america's support are those that love and serve their country. As a country we do a good job of providing for those people, and a decent job at providing for the rest. But you can't make everyone happy. Sacrifices must be made.
On that basis i don't feel any of us have a right to criticize. Well maybe thats a little extreme, we all have a right to criticize but what bothers me more is the hatred expressed by many people that really don't truly understand everything that comes into play when running a coutry.
I used to criticize and complain but slowly as i learned more i sort of felt ignorant for all my criticism. I now take the stance of what I don't understand i can't criticize since i dont know the best answer unless i have all the facts. Also, what i can't change i tend not to criticize. Rather if my life ever reachs a point where I can make a positive impact then i will wait until that time comes and pursue it. But being outspoken and inconsiderate in my belief will not help me get to that point.
Don Seer:
America also just came 17th in the world rankings of press freedom.. freedom of speach my arse, hell the UKs even worse than the US here's the run down.
1 Finland 0,50
- Iceland 0,50
- Norway 0,50
- Netherlands 0,50
5 Canada 0,75
6 Ireland 1,00
7 Germany 1,50
- Portugal 1,50
- Sweden 1,50
10 Denmark 3,00
11 France 3,25
12 Australia 3,50
- Belgium 3,50
14 Slovenia 4,00
15 Costa Rica 4,25
- Switzerland 4,25
17 United States 4,75
18 Hong Kong 4,83
19 Greece 5,00
20 Ecuador 5,50
21 Benin 6,00
- United Kingdom 6,00
- Uruguay 6,00
from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2354077.stm
the organisation that made the list http://www.rsf.fr/content.php3
CharlieBrown:
Ant you say America's first interest is that of it's people, then you say America doesn't do that much for the poor, which makes up a larger percentage of the USA's population than the rich. So by carrying it's policies of giving tax breaks to the rich and then not returning that money back to those that need it they are not looking out for it's peoples interests (unless your rich). Thus that point is irrelevent or your a hypocrit.
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