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Is the United States a benefit to the World?

Is the US a benefit to the World?

  • Yes, absolutely. The world will kill itself without us.

    Votes: 8 16.7%

  • Yes, I believe so. I think we do more good than harm.

    Votes: 26 54.2%

  • Not sure.

    Votes: 6 12.5%

  • No, I don’t believe so. I think we do more harm than good.

    Votes: 7 14.6%

  • No, absolutely not. The world will kill us if we don’t get out of its way.

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • Total voters
    48
  • Poll closed .
I think America has done a tremendous good for the world. It would definitely be far worse off without us considering we helped defeat Japan and the Nazis in WW2 as well as contributing to science and benefiting the human condition.
 
"the world buys treasuries to store their monetary representations in safety."

The World, mostly Japan, China and India only hold Treasuries to prevent the collapse of the value of our indebtedness to them. Those three Nations hold approximately $4 Trillion of US Debt. If they allow the dollar to drop value, they lose whatever percentage that drop is, instantly. They are forced to keep up the value of the worthless USDollar to prevent their own losses, not for any safety. For many of the US Treasury auctions, the buyer is the Federal Reserve and that is to protect the Federal Reserve Notes. Someday the Federal Reserve will bankrupt and the US will try to issue a National currency and pass blame for economic failure on the Federal Reserve. You'll know it's going to happen when you hear that some anonymous stockholder of the US Federal Reserve is selling his shares. Think about it! China would not buy one US Treasury if it felt it had a choice.
 
DaveFagan said:
"the world buys treasuries to store their monetary representations in safety."

The World, mostly Japan, China and India only hold Treasuries to prevent the collapse of the value of our indebtedness to them. Those three Nations hold approximately $4 Trillion of US Debt. If they allow the dollar to drop value, they lose whatever percentage that drop is, instantly. They are forced to keep up the value of the worthless USDollar to prevent their own losses, not for any safety. For many of the US Treasury auctions, the buyer is the Federal Reserve and that is to protect the Federal Reserve Notes. Someday the Federal Reserve will bankrupt and the US will try to issue a National currency and pass blame for economic failure on the Federal Reserve. You'll know it's going to happen when you hear that some anonymous stockholder of the US Federal Reserve is selling his shares. Think about it! China would not buy one US Treasury if it felt it had a choice.
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This isn't true. If China wasn't confident in the US dollar, why would it be confident in T-bonds? If they felt it wasn't actually worth anything, it would just be throwing good money after bad. They don't buy enough to prop up the value. And in any case, why would they continue to make the problem worse by accepting US dollars for goods, if they weren't confident in the US dollar?

The financial markets are quite confident in the dollar. We are paying record low interest rates on T-bonds.
 
Yes, absolutely. Think of all the quality of life enhancing innovations that America has given the world. Aviation, the electric light bulb, telephone communication, the Internet, the PC, satellite communications from advanced weather notification to live TV from all points on earth. Nearly every emerging country on earth bases their constitution on the principles of our bill of rights and checks and balances type of government. I'm sure I'm missing things, but yeas.
 
At one time, I would of said absolutely, now I must go with unsure. At one time, America was a shinning beacon to humanity. In America, the streets were lined with gold. A person could have a dream and persue that dream and if able they could be successful. Now, we punish the successful by taking thier achievements and success away to provide luxuries to people who are willfully non-productive leaches on society. We are failing as a society at the same time we adopt more and more Marxian phylosophies. Without the US, the world would sink into a Dark age of Marxian madness. Poverty, technological stagnation, even technological regression and oppression of the human spirit will become the norm the world over if we fall. Our beacon has become dim and almost extinct, the gold on the streets has become fools gold. We are losing our individual thought and freedom and falling to Marxism. Revolution is quickly becoming the only way that even a spark of freedom and self determination can survive and with less than a 150 million in a world of billions, it is a very small spark and will be constantly on the edge of extinction for a long, long while. There is always hope that another beacon will be lit, but it is a very slim hope. Some of us will not go gently into that darkness, but we will constantly feel the oppression of that darkness.
 
lunchbox said:
I've been hearing a lot of interesting rhetoric on this subject, for a while now, so I figured I'd throw this question out there and see what you all think.
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We used to be a great benefit to the world and the world treated us as such. Then came Vietnam . . .
 
Why should it be? Being concerned about other countries' problems, most of which are their own fault and can't be changed by outside help, means ignoring our own. We must overthrow those at home who don't care about the majority of Americans, who are sinking to Third World levels.
 
DVSentinel said:
At one time, I would of said absolutely, now I must go with unsure. At one time, America was a shinning beacon to humanity. In America, the streets were lined with gold. A person could have a dream and persue that dream and if able they could be successful. Now, we punish the successful by taking thier achievements and success away to provide luxuries to people who are willfully non-productive leaches on society. We are failing as a society at the same time we adopt more and more Marxian phylosophies. Without the US, the world would sink into a Dark age of Marxian madness. Poverty, technological stagnation, even technological regression and oppression of the human spirit will become the norm the world over if we fall. Our beacon has become dim and almost extinct, the gold on the streets has become fools gold. We are losing our individual thought and freedom and falling to Marxism. Revolution is quickly becoming the only way that even a spark of freedom and self determination can survive and with less than a 150 million in a world of billions, it is a very small spark and will be constantly on the edge of extinction for a long, long while. There is always hope that another beacon will be lit, but it is a very slim hope. Some of us will not go gently into that darkness, but we will constantly feel the oppression of that darkness.
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The question, as I understood it, had to do with America's influence on people beyond our own borders. I get everything you're saying, but I'm confidant we'll sort all of that out in time. America isn't perfect, just close to perfect. :lol: I bet if you open up an almanac and look for the time you were without ambiguity persuaded America was doing things in a way in which you approved, I'm willing to bet there were things going on here that were far worse than things you take exception to today.
 
I think we're generally a benefit to the World.. Mostly with our inventions/innovations in technology, medicines, etc.
 
jet said:
We used to be a great benefit to the world and the world treated us as such. Then came Vietnam . . .
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Vietnam was a chief conflict and very important to anti-Soviet regime offense. We also won Vietnam in every conceivable aspect except the permeation of liberal media influencing ignorant hippie minds.

That aside, is the United States a benefit to the world? Let me put it this way - if America developed a complete isolationist foreign policy overnight, about 25% of the world's countries would be seriously screwed.
 
PrometheusBound said:
Why should it be? Being concerned about other countries' problems, most of which are their own fault and can't be changed by outside help, means ignoring our own. We must overthrow those at home who don't care about the majority of Americans, who are sinking to Third World levels.
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I for one have no idea what you're trying to say.
 
I think we're currently more of a benefit to the world than we are to ourselves, to be honest.
 
Finally a poll I can comfortably vote in (due to the question and an option being specific enough), and it's not public.
 
Gipper said:
Vietnam was a chief conflict and very important to anti-Soviet regime offense. We also won Vietnam in every conceivable aspect except the permeation of liberal media influencing ignorant hippie minds.

That aside, is the United States a benefit to the world? Let me put it this way - if America developed a complete isolationist foreign policy overnight, about 25% of the world's countries would be seriously screwed.
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Well, actually, Vietnam showed the world that the emperor wore no clothes. (I'm not going to argue the impetus for Vietnam: containment vs commercial expanse): the fact is; we didn't win the war, and that set us up. Since that time, the US has not been involved in truly altruistic " saving of others". We are living with what the world thinks of US right now, and as we can see, we don't appear to really be a benefit anymore but an impedence.
 
jet57 said:
We are living with what the world thinks of US right now, and as we can see, we don't appear to really be a benefit anymore but an impedence.
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If you don't mind me asking, what religion are you?
 
jet57 said:
I'm a deist.
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Deist is not a religion, but a brand of theism. Claiming that ones God has walked away doesn't really change anything. Thanks for the answer.
 
Smeagol said:
The question, as I understood it, had to do with America's influence on people beyond our own borders. I get everything you're saying, but I'm confidant we'll sort all of that out in time. America isn't perfect, just close to perfect. :lol: I bet if you open up an almanac and look for the time you were without ambiguity persuaded America was doing things in a way in which you approved, I'm willing to bet there were things going on here that were far worse than things you take exception to today.
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Bet lost. There is nothing that I take greater exception to than socialism. Ok, maybe I would take exception to being tortured to death over a long period of time, but really, given a choice between that and socialism as the only available options, I would probably strap myself to the rack.
 
DVSentinel said:
Bet lost. There is nothing that I take greater exception to than socialism. Ok, maybe I would take exception to being tortured to death over a long period of time, but really, given a choice between that and socialism as the only available options, I would probably strap myself to the rack.
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You're a gutsy felow. :) Okay, lets prove it. Pick any 4 year period in American history so I can get specific and ask you if you think things that were going on then were better than the policies of the Obama administration. Not saying you're wrong. I just suspect you and many like you are so caught up in the political emotionalism of the day they you might be getting selective amnesia.
 
I suppose your example was humorous.

However, it is a good example. How does this link form. Do you run an ad saying I have 1000 bananas and I'd like to trade for wine?

Every transaction requires a frame of reference. The bananas and the wine may yet be the result but without a reliable currency, the whole world would be operating like a flea market.

Canell said:
OK, let's imagine that Columbia trades bananas for wine with Argentina. Tell me one reason why they should use US dollars, please.
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Smeagol said:
You're a gutsy felow. :) Okay, lets prove it. Pick any 4 year period in American history so I can get specific and ask you if you think things that were going on then were better than the policies of the Obama administration. Not saying you're wrong. I just suspect you and many like you are so caught up in the political emotionalism of the day they you might be getting selective amnesia.
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Not really, but hey. Cold War era had it's points, unfortunately came after the Great Depression and Kennedy and the great communism in America social revolution took place during that era. The era of Western Expansion. I am not really sure of what you are refering to Era's, but with the exception of the New Deal business, anything prior to Kennedy would be better than to day, we have been on a constant downhill slide since then.
 
DVSentinel said:
Not really, but hey. Cold War era had it's points, unfortunately came after the Great Depression and Kennedy and the great communism in America social revolution took place during that era. The era of Western Expansion. I am not really sure of what you are refering to Era's, but with the exception of the New Deal business, anything prior to Kennedy would be better than to day, we have been on a constant downhill slide since then.
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Okay, I agree those were amazing times in American history, the stuff of goosebumps. The western expansion, the advent of the automobile, a lot of really cool stuff. However, at the same time all of that was going on black people were being strung up on trees and mob lynched often with the complicity of municipal law enforcement. It is estimated that the total number lynched from post civil war to the assasination of Martin Luther King doubled the number killed on 9/11. During the dust bowl of the 1940s over 2 million people were left homeless and over 7 thousand staved to death due to that partial man made disaster. Not to mention the fate of our Native Americans. With all due respect and no offense intended, I have a hard time thinking any of that is better than the Affordable Health Care for Americans Act, which everybody including Obama realized it will be modified and tweaked over time or the Frank Dodd Banking Bill that stopped banks from approving debt card charges when they knew you didn't have enough funds in your account to cover it but didnt realize it just so they could send you to the cleaners with NSF fees or any of the so-called socialist policies of President Obama unless you eat right-wing pundit demonization from breakfast lunch and dinner.
 
Smeagol said:
Okay, I agree those were amazing times in American history, the stuff of goosebumps. The western expansion, the advent of the automobile, a lot of really cool stuff. However, at the same time all of that was going on black people were being strung up on trees and mob lynched often with the complicity of municipal law enforcement. It is estimated that the total number lynched from post civil war to the assasination of Martin Luther King doubled the number killed on 9/11. During the dust bowl of the 1940s over 2 million people were left homeless and over 7 thousand staved to death due to that partial man made disaster. Not to mention the fate of our Native Americans. With all due respect and no offense intended, I have a hard time thinking any of that is better than the Affordable Health Care for Americans Act, which everybody including Obama realized it will be modified and tweaked over time or the Frank Dodd Banking Bill that stopped banks from approving debt card charges when they knew you didn't have enough funds in your account to cover it but didnt realize it just so they could send you to the cleaners with NSF fees or any of the so-called socialist policies of President Obama unless you eat right-wing pundit demonization from breakfast lunch and dinner.
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Obama is detrimental to a far larger number of people. Socialism always is. Dodd Frank and Obama care is far more damaging to far more people. By the traitor, Justice Roberts. The most damaging part of the bill was not the individual mandate but allowing the government to step in and actually limit profits and dictate corporate spending. The longterm human affects of those actions are going to be a lot worse than what you have mentioned. Add in Dodd-Frank, if it is upheld, then the government is cleared to totally implement a socialist agenda. How many people have socialist killed during that same time period you mention? The number lynched in the US is not even a significant portion of a single percentile of the deaths associated with socialism. The dust bowl, sure bad deal, but 2 milllion homeless, 7 thousand starving to death, not even a busy day for Linnen, Stalin, Mau, Minh, etc. Hell, not even a significant percentage of Americans at the time either. How many died fighting Adolf Hitlers National Socialist (Nazi's) in Germany? Since the first attempt to implement socialism, how many have become homeless and starved to death as a result of attempts to implement such policies? Was Slavery a bad deal for those under it, sure, but that doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of them would of been killed or never existed had slavery not existed. By far, most slaves were sold to Europeans by Africans who captured them in tribal warfare, prior to selling them to Europeans, they were simply killed or enslaved in Africa. Genocide is not anything new in Africa, only the lack of it would actually be a change in their history.

The Native Americans, well, they got their asses royally kicked because they practiced a form of socialism and never progressed above early stone age and couldn't compete with far superior technology and methods, thus, in the natural order of things, they faded into history. Further, after the US was formed, they stupidly started wars against it and got their butts kicked. No claims to "Indian" terreritory ever derived from the US, the US purchased or got those claims from other countries. They set a really good example, never let your military capabilities and technological advancement fall to such a weak level, someone stronger will come along, kick your ass and take what you thought was yours. The native American wars should of been against European and other powers, not the US.

Their is no significant difference in how bad a particular act was, but there is a major difference in the scope. Getting lynched in the US was probably a lot better for the individual than ending up in the Gulag in Russia.

PS. One of the greatest things about the Cold War era was that we got to train for, plan for, practice for and even sometimes we got to kill socialist. There is no greater enemy to mankind than socialism.
 
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Kandahar said:
This isn't true. If China wasn't confident in the US dollar, why would it be confident in T-bonds? If they felt it wasn't actually worth anything, it would just be throwing good money after bad. They don't buy enough to prop up the value. And in any case, why would they continue to make the problem worse by accepting US dollars for goods, if they weren't confident in the US dollar?

The financial markets are quite confident in the dollar. We are paying record low interest rates on T-bonds.
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Treasury bonds are loans from the country purchasing them. We owe 15+trillion and another 50-60 trillion in long term liabilities. We are not a creditworthy country anymore than Greece or Ireland or Spain. When foreign countries don't buy bonds (make us a loan), then the Federal Reserve, a private central bank, makes the loan. This amounts to just printing mo' money, as they say. China, Japan, and India can see we are a third world debtor Nation, but, as I previously stated, if they don't loan us the money, we go bankrupt and they are stuck with worthless US paper. If they do loan us the money, at least the US Paper that they are stuck with maintains its' value. The US Dollar is "full faith and credit," and that is that confidence that you keep repeating. Only a fool country would upset the apple cart, but it is not about a "sound" US Currency. The Federal Reserve that issues the currency is a Private Central Bank, so when push comes to bankruptcy the US will say the no-good money is the Federal Reserves and the Federal Reserve will be required to shoulder the blame while the US as a Nation will issue a US currency and claim disassociation with the Federal Reserve. There is an overabundance of US Currency because all Nations are required to pay for OIL with US Currency, as per our Agreement with Saudi Arabia that all OIL will be traded in USDollars and the US will provide a military umbrella for Saudi Arabia. That is a treaty agreement from around 1972. Fact. Every dollar of a country's currency is a loan that is paid when it comes back to the host Nation and purchases OIL, silver, gold, real estate, timber, etc.
 
DVSentinel said:
Obama is detrimental to a far larger number of people. Socialism always is. Dodd Frank and Obama care is far more damaging to far more people. By the traitor, Justice Roberts. The most damaging part of the bill was not the individual mandate but allowing the government to step in and actually limit profits and dictate corporate spending. The longterm human affects of those actions are going to be a lot worse than what you have mentioned. Add in Dodd-Frank, if it is upheld, then the government is cleared to totally implement a socialist agenda. How many people have socialist killed during that same time period you mention? The number lynched in the US is not even a significant portion of a single percentile of the deaths associated with socialism. The dust bowl, sure bad deal, but 2 milllion homeless, 7 thousand starving to death, not even a busy day for Linnen, Stalin, Mau, Minh, etc. Hell, not even a significant percentage of Americans at the time either. How many died fighting Adolf Hitlers National Socialist (Nazi's) in Germany? Since the first attempt to implement socialism, how many have become homeless and starved to death as a result of attempts to implement such policies? Was Slavery a bad deal for those under it, sure, but that doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of them would of been killed or never existed had slavery not existed. By far, most slaves were sold to Europeans by Africans who captured them in tribal warfare, prior to selling them to Europeans, they were simply killed or enslaved in Africa. Genocide is not anything new in Africa, only the lack of it would actually be a change in their history.

The Native Americans, well, they got their asses royally kicked because they practiced a form of socialism and never progressed above early stone age and couldn't compete with far superior technology and methods, thus, in the natural order of things, they faded into history. Further, after the US was formed, they stupidly started wars against it and got their butts kicked. No claims to "Indian" terreritory ever derived from the US, the US purchased or got those claims from other countries. They set a really good example, never let your military capabilities and technological advancement fall to such a weak level, someone stronger will come along, kick your ass and take what you thought was yours. The native American wars should of been against European and other powers, not the US.

Their is no significant difference in how bad a particular act was, but there is a major difference in the scope. Getting lynched in the US was probably a lot better for the individual than ending up in the Gulag in Russia.

PS. One of the greatest things about the Cold War era was that we got to train for, plan for, practice for and even sometimes we got to kill socialist. There is no greater enemy to mankind than socialism.
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A big difference between your and my perception of Obama is I don't consider him or hIs policies to be socialist. Liberal for sure but IMHO the 'socialst' label is not how he describes himself or how respected economists describe him but the vilification tag he's been given by right-wing media pundits some of whom are expert propagandists whonave been caught on video rubbing vicks vapor rub into their eyes to make themselves look like they're crying uncontrollably over America because of the Obama administration in order to emotionally manipulate their gullible and trusting followers.

Hope I'm not coming across as condescending but I was once active ona board based in Europe to learn of and study other people and also try to influence other parts of the world when anti-Americansm was at a high point. Several members were self-described socialists. One called himself a communist. I once started a thread asking if they thought Obama was a socialist they unanimously said that was the biggest crock they'd ever heard about him.

Think about it. What is it about Obama that makes him a 'socialist'? If you're honest and i'm guessing correctly on what you think makes him a socialist, I bet you'd have to give Richard Nixon, FDR, LBJ, Rick Perry, Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush and Mitt Romney the same designation. Or at least some from that list.
 
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