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User: jiheison

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  1. Re:What can be done about terrorism? on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    And here I thought that the dicators in places like the Congo and Iraq took some of the blame.

    Who built Iraq into a regional superpower? Before we went to war with them we helped build them into the fourth largest military power in the world.

    Of course the world has always been a fucked-up place. But America is most definiately a large part of the problem at this point in history. You (rightfully) condemn self-aggrandizement, and then you bend over backwards to defend the economic and ideological self-aggrandizement of the US.

    Your assumption that Globalism is too young a phenomenon to be responsible for current problems is lamentably naive. What substantive difference is there between Globalism and Imperialism. Globalism is just a more ambitious offshoot, characterised by a pernicious detatchemnt from its affects on humanity. At least the Imerialists of past centuries got into boats and did the dirty work of enslaving thier victims in person.

    People move to cities because that is where the jobs are.

    How do you think the jobs got there? Cities are a symptom of the concentration of wealth. A few among the wealthy figure out that they can make short term profits by selling off their countries resources on the global market. They consolidate land for growing products that are only useful for export, and build factories that produce goods for sale on the global market. Thus people who once supported their families by farming, hearding, local commerce etc., have no other choice but to move to cities.

    Who pushed us into our urbanized life. Rich merchants who wanted to process local resources into exportable goods! And factory workers in the established industrialized world lived under horrible conditions until exported them to the developing world.

    China is urbanizing. Do you think they looked across the ocean to us and said: "We'd rather be like them?" Hell no.

    Sorry, but Hell yes. You have some other explanation why their urbanization is accompanied by an increasing embracement of Western culture and market capitalism. China wants to remain a super-power, and that means emulating the US. Moreover, who is hearding their peasants into factories faster than China?

    We can, should and must help everyone in the world to achieve our levels of longevity and literacy.

    And once all of Africa and Asia reaches our standard of living, who is gonig to manufacture their goods for pennies an hour? These Aliens you are talking about? Maybe they can figure out how to build robots to do their grunt work, since we can't be bothered to. As long as they are forced to work hand to mouth to keep our malls stocked with shiny trinkets they will never have the time to get an education or develop good health. Yes, we should be working to improve health and education in the developing world. Stripping them of resources and lining the pockets of local despots who adopt corporation friendly laws does nothing to accomplish these goals. The idea that technology and industrialization can solve the worlds problems is the true artucle of faith here.

    Our luxury is primarily a result of our social systems which have evolved over hundreds of years and our technology which has evolved over thousands of years.

    And these social systems have always depended on exploitation. First of Native Americans, then African-Americans, then immigrants, and now the Third world. Much the same with technology. Factories made the wholesale exploitation of the working class possible. Later, automation made it possible to toss people out of the factories to starve. Transportation and communication now make it possible to enslave people on the other side of the world to satisfy our appetites.

    Other parts of the world will get there also but it may not be quick because the West didn't become properous overnight and it may not be possible elsewhere either.

    You are quite right, the West didn't become prosperous overnight. Actually, in your grand view of wealth, learning and longevity, we still haven't. There are many within our borders, and the developed world in general, who are deprived of opportunity, education and health. Shouldn't we prove that our system works here before forcing it down someone elses throat?

    If you are so concerned about the developing world, the least you could do is acknowlede the sacrifices they have made and the pain they have suffered so that you can enjoy your standard of living.

  2. Re:LEarn the History on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    Sorry, i missed the context.

    However, I think that the feeling of insecurity that Israeli's have in their own home, never being sure that they won't be the next victim of a bomb blast, must be far more terrifying than the killing of their countrymen overseas.

    Israeli's are more secure outside their country than at home. Pretty cold comfort.

  3. Re:Ripoff on GameCube Hits the Street · · Score: 1

    I had two PocketStations brought over from Japan. R4 was the only game that I had that supported it, but they worked fine with the US release. Unfortunatley, the feature for that particular game was pretty underwhelming.

  4. Re:think about your words before you use them on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    Capitalism is, essentially, the concept of each person exchanging money for goods and/or services.

    Sorry, but that is not correct. Just about any modern economic system involves exhanging money for goods and services.

    Capitalism is based on the private ownership of resources. Note how this encourages greed. The more you own, the more leverage you have in the market and in society in general. Even a cursory glance at America's power structure will confirm this. As such, it pits each member of the system against each other. Is competition a beneficail result of this? Yes. However, selfishness and greed are also part and parcel.

  5. Re:What can be done about terrorism? on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    Thanks to globalization we actually have a little influence over those doing the exploiting.

    We are the ones doing the exploiting. We already have the power to end it, but not the will. We would rather pretend that if people didn't have the crumbs that we toss them, they would have nothing. The fact is that these people were fine until we stepped in and sold the idea of urbaniztion and industry to agrarian populations. In our arrogance, we assume that anyone who does not have a TV and a car, or a shopping mall to visit is in desperate need of modernization. Thus, previously subsisting people were kicked off their land and hearded into slums to make way for cash crops and factories.

    Most of the world will never be able to support the standard of living that people in the US enjoy. The only reason that we can enjoy our luxuries, is because they are built on the misery and deprivation of millions in the third world.

  6. Re:LEarn the History on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    Do you think any terrorists are willing to repeat murdering Israelis?

    Is this a joke? Pick up a newspaper sometime. Suicide bombers kill Israelis on a regular basis, in Israel. Hard to track them down when they are willing to die in the act.

  7. Re:What can be done about terrorism? on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    It's the historical home of a lot of other people too. Ever heard of Muslims or Christians?

    How is any other homeland going to cut it for Palestinians?

  8. Re:So then... on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    Turn on the TV for your answer. What you reap is what you sew.

    None of the Americans who lost their lives yesterday deserved their fates. Neither did the countless civilians who died in America's ideological wars. Nor do the civilians who may die in America's quest for revenge.

  9. Re:US foreign policy, not global trade, the issue on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    None of these examples show how the United States prevented stood in the way of the Freedom of the Arabic people.

    How is actively supporting a repressive regime not considered standing in the way of freedom. These are our one time/current allies, and we are helping them continue to abuse their people.

    It's incredibly hypocritical for them to be constantly shouting how they are fighting the US in the name of freedom

    Listen up dude, they aren't. They just want us out of their affairs. When they say freedom they mean freedom from America's influence, not the personal freedom that Americans talk about. These aren't democracies.

    When a country is at war with one of our enemies, we may help to fund those wars... It's in our own self interst to do this.

    Exactly. As natural as it may be, no one should expect a pat on the back for putting their own self-interest before the lives of others.

  10. Re:What can be done about terrorism? on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    And who will enforce this? No one, because it's in our (developed countries) interests to manipulate foreign governments.

    That's the point. We (developed countries) need to change our ways.

    If you think that corporate greed and globalization aren't germane to this discussion, I will gladly pit my knowledge of how the world really works agains yours. Attitudes like yours are the reason why we (developed countries) are so oblivious to the animosity directed toward us and so helpless to stop it.

  11. Please. on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    Much like the 'war on drugs', this 'war' is a rhetorical construct.

    And that's just as well. With no defined enemeny, no understanding of its motives or objectives, and no idea where to strike back, this is a war we are bound to lose.

    Do us a favor and put your head back in your ass.

  12. Re:What can be done about terrorism? on More On Tragedy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Most of the world has real problems (AIDS, oppression, genocide) and globalization doesn't even rank.

    And what do you think is at the root of or at least a conributing factor to these problems?

    Why do you think we have bases in foreign countries? To proctect the interests of American civilians?

  13. Re:What can be done about terrorism? on More On Tragedy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    1) Do you think that Arabs would care about Israel if we had put it in our backyard instead of theirs? Lets remember that Israel is a figment of our own guilt stemming from our own history of anti-semetism. How brave of us to make up for not defending them against oppression by carving a nation out of someone elses land and propping it up with guns and a mandate to kill anyone in their way. How dare they call us pigs when we refuse to do anything about the lives and land that are illegally taken from them everyday with the weapons we supply.

    2) Yes corporations are the basis of everything we have. So? Does that mean that they aren't exploitative? Are you so arrogant as to believe that the reason that American's don't live hand to mouth is because we just work harder than the rest of the world. Or that we are inherently smarter. I hate to break it to you, but your comfortable life is built on the backs or third world labor and evironmental destruction. Wake up and smell the rainforest burning. The next time you buy a cheap meal, ask yourself how many people starved to make it possible. The next time you buy anything made overseas, ask yourself who's land was stripped of resources to build it.

  14. Re:Deeply flawed logic alert... on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    What we do next may not be right. It needs to be final.

    Problem is, such finality is unattainable as long as we continue to cultivate the same conditions that produced this hatred in the first place.

    Big talk about our military might and ruthlessness is a pitiful conceit. There is no answer to an attack like this. There is no way to make the few fanatics who perpetrated this pay a price high enough to atone, and there is no way to prevent the next group from causing equal or greater damage.

  15. Re:US foreign policy, not global trade, the issue on More On Tragedy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think it is a mistake to assume that there is no rationale behind the hatred for the US. It excuses us from addressing our own shortcomings, and justifys our own irrational violence.

    Terrorists would not be attacking us if we were not a bully in the international community. In fact, when it comes to identifying other lifesyles & political systems that simply can not be tolerated, we are the most guilty. No one has rained more destruction on its ideological enemies than the US.

  16. Re:What can be done about terrorism? on More On Tragedy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Do you think that Mossad has more or less terrorism to deal with thanks to their effort? If we crack down on terrorist, inevitably harming the innocent and killing the supposed guilty extrajudicially (as Israel is doing), will there be more or fewer people motivated to strike us?

    We haven't exactly taken a soft line on terrorism so far, and look what happened. You simply can't kill them all, and the more you try, the more you spawn.

  17. Re:What can be done about terrorism? on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    1) That is what they are doing. They see us meddling in their affairs to further our own interests (politics, oil) at their expense. They are defending themselves from us!

    2) Force our corporations to comply with basic rules regarding their conduct in foreign markets. Prevent them from exploiting the people and environments of the countries they do business in, and prevent them from manipulating foreign governments to further their ambitions.

    You're right, there is no difference between 'personal responsibility' and 'corporate responsibility.' Whatever the perceived flavor, it needs to start in the US. We have the power, it is up to us to set an example.

    3) Damn straight!

  18. One approach: Undermine them on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    Terrorist thrive on two things. The suffering of those they claim to represent, and the (however false) moral high ground that they claim by demonizing their targets.

    If we reach out to the average Palestinian, Sudanese or Iraqi citizen and offer them a better life, reiterate our support of thier religious freedom and show them that we are not out to murder them and extinguish their beleifs the support and mandate that terrorism enjoys will erode. Soon they will be falling all over themselves to claim the bounty on bin Laden and his ilk.

  19. Right on! on More On Tragedy · · Score: 1

    This battle is already lost. All we can do now is pay respects to the dead and work towards making this a world where this kind of thing is no longer imaginable.

    The arrogance with which we rain destruction down on arbitrary targets whenever we are stuck is an insult to the laws and due process that this country is founded on.

    The only way to win this 'war' is show the world that our humanity and civility can not be shaken.

  20. Re:What can be done about terrorism? on More On Tragedy · · Score: 3, Flamebait

    Today, having calmed down a little, I have been thinking about feasible ways to prevent such acts of terrorism.

    Simple. Here are just a few ways:

    1) Take actions to prevent the conditions that breed terrorism and show the people of the world that we pay more than lip service to the idea of 'defending liberty'.

    2) Reign in corporate greed and globalization. As long as our bottom line takes precendence over human rights, we will be a target of (quite justifiable) rage and (condemnable) violence.

  21. Re:Brilliant! on More News And Links On Yesterday's Terrorist Attack · · Score: 1

    Except for near the points of take-off and landing, which are almost always near populated areas. Factor in the speed of the plane, and the myraid potential of course diviations during such an incident, and your statistics aren't so comforting.

  22. Re: Brilliant! on More News And Links On Yesterday's Terrorist Attack · · Score: 1

    Most crimes are commited by someone who has power over another. They have a weapon and the victim doesn't. Would you attempt to take a wallet if you knew that the individual had a gun? Would you pull a knife on a person who has a gun?


    Hypothetically, no. I would pull out a gun and shoot him.

    For a criminal with a potentially armed victim, it is just a matter of shooting first. You think that criminals are going to quit just because the stakes are raised? Most criminals don't think they are going to encounter consequences. That is why they are criminals. The only crime that would go down is non-violent crime, because simple robberies and the like would escalate to armed robberies and felony murders. Fear of guns will only make criminals more dangerous to their victims.

  23. Re:US Imperialism and anti-US sentiments worldwide on More News And Links On Yesterday's Terrorist Attack · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You are naive to think anything less than wiping terrorists out completely will solve this problem.

    Unfortunately, the assumption that killing anyone, including terrorists, is the true naivety. Terrorism is the symptom. The disease is the desperation that much of the world endures while being steamrolled under our economic imperialism (what you call 'economic expansion'). The cure, is to reach out and re-build our reputation as protectors of liberty rather than protectors of our own god-given right to gorge ourselves on junk food while the rest of the world starves.

  24. Re:Cowards on More News And Links On Yesterday's Terrorist Attack · · Score: 1

    When we protect repressive regimes because it contributes to the bottom lines of our corporations, it is we who are responsible for the denial of economic freedom abroad. The luxuries that we enjoy could not be achieved in a truly free world. It is time for us to either give up a little by giving it back to those who's sweat and blood go into building it, or have it taken away by the desperation that it creates.

    It is a pure conceit to dismiss the world's hatred of us as mere envy. The world hates us for our arrogance, ignorance and obsessive consumerism. There is a lot to love about this country, but we have a lot learn, and a lot of work to do to right our wrongs. Until we acknowledge this, we will be a target.

  25. Re: Brilliant! on More News And Links On Yesterday's Terrorist Attack · · Score: 1

    Okay Rambo, and you probably assume that you can shoot your way out of any situation regardless of how out-numbered. You think that crime only occurs in dark alleys? You think that only a person listening to a Discman and daydreaming can be a victim?

    As with most gun toting cowboys, your arrogance is a weakness that no amount of firepower can make up for.