Fuck this shit. I hate Americans sometimes.
FYI, I'm Australian.
(from a debate on a kink forum I frequent)
American economics, culture, military power, and general presence are out-sized relative to all other nations (so far). So the United States is, of course, a target for criticism and also (alas) for enmity. People and ideologies who fear or otherwise hate freedom will focus on America.
I don't fear freedom. Accusing someone of that when they criticize America is just another version of "if you hate us, you're a communist/you're a terrorist/you're not human and you should be shot".
Also, bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. The Australian military is relatively smaller in terms of deployment and equipment, but we still out-gun you with newer technology and better tactics. I was thinking about this the other day: if Australia and the US went to war tomorrow, I would give Australia a 78% chance of winning that war.
2) No other country has provided more freedom, more prosperity, peace, opportunity, human rights and dignity for as many people as the United States has--not just for its own citizens, but for the liberation and protection of countless other peoples around the Globe.
The EU has much stricter human rights requirements for membership than any other multinational alliance. Also, Australia doesn't actively keep LGBT personnel out of the military or allow children to be denied medical care just because their parents are religious fanatics. Practitioners of minority religions don't have to keep running to the ACLU because yet another local or state government is giving them grief. Stop regurgitating nationalist propaganda and look at the facts for Gods' sakes.
Also, "the liberation and protection of countless other peoples around the Globe" is more like "we make ourselves feel superior and reinforce our national entitlement complex by invading poor countries and telling them how to do things while gobbling up global monetary reserves in the process".
Prosperity? PROSPERITY? YOUR COUNTRY NEARLY WENT DOWN THE TOILET LAST YEAR! The US is still groaning under a $21tn debt while numerous companies have gone under or filed for bankruptcy protection. Countless people have lost their homes and live in tent slums and homeless shelters. Your first attempt at health care reform in over half a century STILL leaves thousands of people without proper access to health care. You practically live in a godsdamned third world country.
Is it any wonder that so many of the world's dispossessed still want to come here?
More refugees are showing up in Australia and the UK now than in the US.
(from a debate on a kink forum I frequent)
American economics, culture, military power, and general presence are out-sized relative to all other nations (so far). So the United States is, of course, a target for criticism and also (alas) for enmity. People and ideologies who fear or otherwise hate freedom will focus on America.
I don't fear freedom. Accusing someone of that when they criticize America is just another version of "if you hate us, you're a communist/you're a terrorist/you're not human and you should be shot".
Also, bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. The Australian military is relatively smaller in terms of deployment and equipment, but we still out-gun you with newer technology and better tactics. I was thinking about this the other day: if Australia and the US went to war tomorrow, I would give Australia a 78% chance of winning that war.
2) No other country has provided more freedom, more prosperity, peace, opportunity, human rights and dignity for as many people as the United States has--not just for its own citizens, but for the liberation and protection of countless other peoples around the Globe.
The EU has much stricter human rights requirements for membership than any other multinational alliance. Also, Australia doesn't actively keep LGBT personnel out of the military or allow children to be denied medical care just because their parents are religious fanatics. Practitioners of minority religions don't have to keep running to the ACLU because yet another local or state government is giving them grief. Stop regurgitating nationalist propaganda and look at the facts for Gods' sakes.
Also, "the liberation and protection of countless other peoples around the Globe" is more like "we make ourselves feel superior and reinforce our national entitlement complex by invading poor countries and telling them how to do things while gobbling up global monetary reserves in the process".
Prosperity? PROSPERITY? YOUR COUNTRY NEARLY WENT DOWN THE TOILET LAST YEAR! The US is still groaning under a $21tn debt while numerous companies have gone under or filed for bankruptcy protection. Countless people have lost their homes and live in tent slums and homeless shelters. Your first attempt at health care reform in over half a century STILL leaves thousands of people without proper access to health care. You practically live in a godsdamned third world country.
Is it any wonder that so many of the world's dispossessed still want to come here?
More refugees are showing up in Australia and the UK now than in the US.