hahahah, MikeAI, leader my ass!

eatapeach · 08-22-2004

that's what i like about oprano, higher average iq per poster than any other webmaster board.

ok, colin first:

"How is that any different than the westward expansion that preceded the 20th century?"

it's not necessarily different, but at best the argument could be made that the contiguous land-mass and lack of recognized "sovereign nations" was different than going a third of the way around the world to overtake countries to set up military bases for forward deployment.

"What did the Americans ask for while the European powers were carving up Africa and the Middle East in the Treaty of Versailles?"

my knowledge is still incomplete on this topic, so rather than try to bs it i'll take a pass for now. if i have time i'll respond.

"And what was the rest of the world doing during this period of "US Empire" as you refer to it? Starting two world wars and gobbling up and enslaving the world in a rush to see which nation could be the greatest colonial power."

yes, and how did that turn out for those countries? file that under "precedent for failure of imperial ambitions".

"The US didn't emerge as a true world power until the 1880s when its economy became the largest in the world. By your reckoning, the US began to decline precisely when it had just begun to get going."

rome was rocking in 137 BC or so when the decline began. it took over 400 years to fall. i didn't say it was going to happen next wednesday, i just said it was going to happen.

"It seems quite obvious that the US is in a much better position in 2004 than it was in 1984 during the Cold War."

hardly. in 1984 the US was much more powerful than today.

"We have allowed ourselves to go from an international creditor to a debtor nation in a matter of a few years. We are now the world's largest debtor nation by a factor of five or six times." Jim Rogers

so what does that mean? that means that america relies on foreign investment to meet its obligations, and that without them forking over incredible amounts of cash the US government is bankrupt and will have no power.

instead of spending all this money to build the infrastructure of a modern manufacturing country the US is spending $500+ billion a year for it's military to go around starting wars that piss off the rest of the world. how long do you think china and japan will be interested in investing in a country that is throwing away it's investment like that?

you have an much different idea of "power" than me i guess.

08-22-2004	#32
eatapeach Members Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 203	that's what i like about oprano, higher average iq per poster than any other webmaster board. ok, colin first: "How is that any different than the westward expansion that preceded the 20th century?" it's not necessarily different, but at best the argument could be made that the contiguous land-mass and lack of recognized "sovereign nations" was different than going a third of the way around the world to overtake countries to set up military bases for forward deployment. "What did the Americans ask for while the European powers were carving up Africa and the Middle East in the Treaty of Versailles?" my knowledge is still incomplete on this topic, so rather than try to bs it i'll take a pass for now. if i have time i'll respond. "And what was the rest of the world doing during this period of "US Empire" as you refer to it? Starting two world wars and gobbling up and enslaving the world in a rush to see which nation could be the greatest colonial power." yes, and how did that turn out for those countries? file that under "precedent for failure of imperial ambitions". "The US didn't emerge as a true world power until the 1880s when its economy became the largest in the world. By your reckoning, the US began to decline precisely when it had just begun to get going." rome was rocking in 137 BC or so when the decline began. it took over 400 years to fall. i didn't say it was going to happen next wednesday, i just said it was going to happen. "It seems quite obvious that the US is in a much better position in 2004 than it was in 1984 during the Cold War." hardly. in 1984 the US was much more powerful than today. "We have allowed ourselves to go from an international creditor to a debtor nation in a matter of a few years. We are now the world's largest debtor nation by a factor of five or six times." Jim Rogers so what does that mean? that means that america relies on foreign investment to meet its obligations, and that without them forking over incredible amounts of cash the US government is bankrupt and will have no power. instead of spending all this money to build the infrastructure of a modern manufacturing country the US is spending $500+ billion a year for it's military to go around starting wars that piss off the rest of the world. how long do you think china and japan will be interested in investing in a country that is throwing away it's investment like that? you have an much different idea of "power" than me i guess.