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Posted

I'm not sure I'd agree. The US bears a heavy burden to be the superpower that it is. It spends a far larger portion of its resources on its military than we do, imposing a heavy tax/debt burden. And, Americans are often the first (or second after Israelis) targets of extremists and violent acts all around the world. Furthermore, every male over 18 still has to register for the draft.

Yes there are burdens for te US. Maybe the worst is that so many Americans must maintain its power and the security of the world with their blood/lives. Being a target of terrorists isn't a very big threat, an American is far more likely to be hit by lighting than harmed by a terrorist. Yes the US spends about half its budget on defence, but the defence industry also helps drive their economy. They are the largest arms manufacturer in the world and make a ton of money on selling arms/equipment to other countries (F35's!).

I don't put a lot of value on having a "say" in US foreign policy, its actions will be the same whether I get to contribute one vote in some particular voting district in the US or not.

I didn't word what i said quite right. I didn't mean i want a say in US foreign policy (which i would, duh), i meant that i would like Canada to have that power, and therefore I have more of a say in how the world functions.

I would agree with you that Canada has a far sweeter deal, the US shoulders the burden, and yet we reap most of the same benefits that the US does.

We have a sweet deal, i don't know if it's sweeter. The US has the power to influence a great many things to its specific advantage. It controls bilateral and multilateral trade policies that benefits them most. It dominates the UN, WTO, and virtually every other international institution/organization. In many cases, it controls who lives and who dies. It controls the conversation on most global issues. There are high costs for this power, but obviously the benefits are worth it for them. They don't flex their power just to be nice.

"All generalizations are false, including this one." - Mark Twain

Partisanship is a disease of the intellect.

Posted (edited)

I'd say the indicators thus far as bad for the best days being ahead for the USA. America has a massive total debt and deficit. Unemployment is high. Many jobs are being replaced by lower-paying jobs. Salaries are not growing in line with inflation. There's a massive illegal immigration problem.

Hell, they went through a civil war so bloody as to make most men go pale.

That's not proof of continued flourishing, I concede, but I wouldn't ring the death knell just yet.

In my view, American leadership for many years, including Obama of course, seems unwilling to address any of these problems boldly. There are also a lot of social problems - high rates of crime, leftist academia, stupid pop culture, etc.

My understanding is that the US crime rate is more or less aligned with Canada's. The murder rate charts high, relatively, but the country is not totally riddled with crime. I've heard that Canada's sexual assault rate is slightly higher, for example. We all soldier on.

And "leftist academia" is not a "social problem." :) Jeez. First of all, right-wingers could easily correct the perceived disproportion through radical methods such as higher attendance and doing the requisite work. But more to the point, any healthy democratic society is going to have a multitude of competeing voices in the realm of ideas, including fierce disagreement within the loosely-labelled nominals (ie "leftist," "conservative," what have you). The US and Canada have lots of this going on, which is good. Otherwise, we'd get calcification, a society ruled utterly by ideological convention. None of us have the absolute answers, and I thank Godzilla for the existence of centrists, fighting-mad conservatives, self-styled apolitical purveyors of "stupid pop culture," and all points in between.

.

I'm sure the resident Americans in here can offer better insights into the problems they feel are threatening their country.

Because they've a healthy and thriving country, they would disagree with one another on the nature and severity of any problems.

Edited by bloodyminded

As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand.

--Josh Billings

Posted

And, Americans are often the first (or second after Israelis) targets of extremists and violent acts all around the world.

No, the extremists have been concentrating their violence within Muslim nations.

As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand.

--Josh Billings

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