patrick.net

Dan8267 says

True patriotism isn't pretending that your country is better than it is.

I am not pretending. We are a great nation. Sure, horrible things happened along the way, but horrible things happen all the time all over the world. The world is a better place since the USA has been the superpower. Who would you chose to be the world super power if it wasn't the United States?

Truthplease says

I am not pretending. We are a great nation. Sure, horrible things happened along the way, but horrible things happen all the time all over the world.

America has done great good and great evil. I've never claimed otherwise, but remember, you got upset about me comparing the USA to Nazis when I hadn't even done so, so I had to remind you of the great evil part.

All nations do great good and great evil. America is not the greatest nation. There is no greatest nation. Some nations are better at some things and other nations are better at other. Beating ones chest does nothing but show others we're arrogant, the stereotype of the "ugly American". I think we can be better than that by recognizing our flaws and our vulnerabilities. If the forces of evil can so quickly take over Germany in the 1930s, it is foolish to think that the same forces couldn't and don't operate in our own country. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. There is nothing special about America that makes it immune to tyranny.

This is precisely why things like the use of torture, secret prisons, the suspension of Habeas Corpus, and the acceptance of dehumanizing treatment of "terrorists" should scare every American. It is precisely these things that threaten America far more than any external power could.

Truthplease says

The world is a better place since the USA has been the superpower.

But is the world a better place because the USA has been a superpower? The world has certainly become a less violent place because of technology, telecommunications, and world-wide trade. But I can't find any examples of how the USA used it's superpower status for good. The establishment of the Peace Corps and foreign aid have done good, but that's not superpower stuff.

Fighting the Soviet Union was in our selfish interests and we used the same tactics they did. Our CIA assassinated foreign leaders, promoted dictators, and started wars (Charley Wilson). So it's not like we were the good guys in the cold war. Both sides were bad guys. Just ask Vietnam and Korea.

There was certainly the potential for the USA to use its sole superpower status in the 1990s for the greater good of mankind, but we didn't. We could have promoted republics, toppled dictatorships, ended human trafficking, established international environmental protection laws that would have avoided climate change -- which is now unavoidable -- and created a fair trade system that would have developed the third world without moving all US jobs to India and China. But we didn't. Instead, we let greedy corporations increase their executives' pay by selling out the country.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the post-imperial phase of American society. Judging from Europe, post-imperial societies are much nicer to live in than imperial societies. Just look at France or Britain.

Truthplease says

Who would you chose to be the world super power if it wasn't the United States?

The Metagovernment.

As to what that is, I'd have to write about it. It isn't any nation.

"Why the religious hate atheists?" is as a good question as "Why the snow is always black?"

But an interesting question is: why one certain atheist is constantly posting hatred messages about religious people?

Truthplease says

When you compare the USA to the Nazis, it shows your ignorance.

Look, one is free to compare anything to anything. If one can demonstrate existing similarities the comparisson is valid no matter how uncomfortable you may feel about it.

holy fuck that video is good. pun intended.

christianity is like that, but islam is 100x like that.

you rejected islam didn't you? asshole!

What video?

christianity is like that, but islam is 100x like that.

True, but the core problem is the same, and so is the solution.

indigenous says

What video?

The one in the original post.