Happy New Year!

You’re correct about the current world we live in. I went to war to help our economic trading partners whose economies affected our own. Kuwait’s occupation did not directly affect us and despite the peaceful embargo threats, Saddam continued to assert his claim of rightful conquest. It was also our military stance after the ceasefire that prevented Saddam’s expansion and the embargoes embittered the Iraqis against us when we finally decided to dethrone him. History does not only consist of WW2 as an example. the same thing has been happening for millenia. Tibet and Kosovo are polar opposites of bellicose decisions. Rome fell from internal dissension and civil war when those energies could have been better spent keeping the borders secure in offensive actions. The problems we face now have always plagued empires. We just happen to be lucky enough to be somewhat isolated an our economic empire is falling apart due to our society’s inability to adapt to the fact that the world is changing.
We have to protect that empire and a soft and weak military will cause that economic empire to be taken advantage of. You can use post war Germany and Japan as examples of weak military and economic growth but remember that their economies were heavily subsidized by our military might protecting their trade from others who would take it from them. I’ll just mention the Ukraine for a contemporary example and you can research the history, both economically and politically and come to your own conclusion.

@ Gargantua - Some efficient blogging on this forum then!  I wonder who has the MOST time logged in? Is it Commander Jennifer?  Not sure how to check that against everyone else.  You have a sufficiently lower number of posts than her.

!!! ??? ??? ??? ??? Call0fDiity17w ? ??? !!! 
?ea??! ?i??ea?e?? ?aa?a??u oi???a?? ei??a i?e?a??? au?i? e??u Call0fDiity17w ? ?ia?e?i ca e?oi??a?e?! 
??? !!!

Yes…… Yes I do…  :-D

A postcard from another planet. Why does that make me give a little shudder of “It’s Christmas Eve” type excitement?

And it isn’t magic. We (Okay NASA and co) just decided to do it and did it. Just did the work. I hope I’m around the day a Human walks on Mars.

@ZimZaxZeo:

Now, I dig your logic … and I would add simply that the people of the American nation either have to be for democracy, and this can only be universal democracy, or they have to be against it. Perhaps this Kaplan is using some seige mentality “warrior” reasoning that prefers to avoid messy things like differences of opinion between nations, in favor of having a nice, neat, manageable world where the US gets all the goodies while five billion other people can live under dictators and totalitarian regimes.

I totally agree with you (your arguing with a universal democracy), that’s why i find it …. in german you’d call it “perfide”, having one thing, but for your very own and selfish interest not wanting that others have it, especially when it is regarded as a common “good”.

BTW, we didn’t have an India thread this far AFAIR. And even though it still may be (i wasn’t there) a tolerant nation, i fear that fanatism might rise there, though i hope it does not.

@HortenFlyingWing:

care about the environment. Loggin’ is their biggest business.

well, we do “care” about the environment - prolly more than America, as well as many other nations. We are the home of Greenpeace, afterall. Also there are many “renewable resource” programs in place, and dozens of friends of mine spend their summers working tree-planting for these logging companies, etc.
No no, not logging. Our shame is in Alberta - a province that is working against Kyoto and environmental measures (it’s the Texas of Canada - with the good and the bad), not that Ontario is so great either - much industry near Toronto etc. Also we do waste quite a bit. Nice having all that landfill room.