Realistically, can the US be saved?

[Deja Q]

* Peak oil upon us or perhaps PAST us
* Massive debt that I don't think we can ever pay back (just think Soviet Union's collapse onehundredfold)
* Outsourcing/exploitation instead of relying on a solid infrastructure
* How long will it take for the world to respect us again? 30 days? 1 year? 4 years until somebody else gets elected or creates a coup...
* No universal healthcare
* millions of people in poverty and we're the richest nation on earth (and immigrants have no clue that just because we're a rich country doesn't mean we're all driving on streets paved with gold. x( )
* our economy is hanging by a thread; a thread composed of bubbles - each of which is about to burst
* not to mention some bogus wars based on vengeance or convenience, when our leader allowed the circumstances to cause the wars to happen - that costs that much more money
* tax cuts for the wealthy but claimed to benefit us all (Pres. Apostate* said we'd all get 25% more this year. Guess what? I got 13% LESS back this year.) How the hell will ANY president manage to rescind the cuts? Our populace is too brainwashed when not just too stupid. (forgive my cynicism, knowing that more than 10% of the population still likes * is more than enough...)

Forgive me, but I think we're down a path that's blocked from the rear and leads straight to hell.

Please convince me I'm wrong. I rather want something to live for. (No, this is not a suicide note so don't worry. There's always a way to live, one just has to find it.)

[keithyboy]

1. I honestly don't think so.

Nor do we deserve to.

[proud patriot]

2. it'll be a lot different , but yes it can be

The idea and dream will stay alive .

[HornBuckler]

3. Sorry, I Can't

I Think Your Cynical View Is Right On With Mine.

[LeftCoast]

4. We cannot predict the future

and the battle is not yet lost. There is no other choice but to keep fighting.

[aquart]

5. Charming.

[Malva Zebrina]

6. there will be no truth from politicians

they have few values other than their own political survival, because, of course, that is their livlihood, and the more stable it is the better. Stable, being defined as how much they pander to their consituents who contribute to their campaigns , and expect something in return for their contributions

This is the cynicism of a late bloomer in the field of politics

[kayell]

7. Germany survived

Of course there were decades and decades of collective guilt and remorse to deal with, not to mention rooting out remaining nazis.

[Solon]

8. Yes and no...

To be honest, I think that as we are now, no it is impossible to save our lifestyles, or current country. For most of our history, we were an imperial nation, similar to Great Britain, France, and other European powers. We have not expanded, territorially, for a century. We are a nation that used manifest destiny as a valve to keep the population from exploding. Even during the Vietnam era we used Canada for the same purpose, now, however, we are a pressure cooker, that is overheating, with no escape for the steam. Our lifestyle is disintegrating and the American People, as a whole, do not know how to live any other way. I think we have two choices as to how to prevent this pressure cooker from exploding. The first would be a stop-gap measure, to reinforce this pressure cooker to prevent it from exploding, at least for a time. Bush* has already started down this path, by trying to "preserve" our lifestyle by securing foriegn oil for our exclusive control. This is not a solution, this is putting a band-aid on a sucking chest wound. The second choice is to turn down the burner, lowering the pressure itself. This would involve a cultural shift in the United States, one which would value conservation, and conserving of energy. Instead of preserve our lifestyle, we dismantle it on our terms, unlike the first choice, this one actually gives us a choice as to what direction change can take place. Either way would be difficult, but we need to find a long term solution to our problems, or we will explode, and I wouldn't want to be the one in the kitchen when it happens.

[Deja Q]

10. Excellent post!

(Most responses are excellent and I've read every one and won't stop. My post is somewhat cynical, but not without merit.)

The one flaw is, do the people WANT to change their lifestyle? I hate to aim at them, but many of the NASCAR folk have bumperstickers of the little boy taking a whiz on the word "treehugger" and so on. That's their mentality,even if they're not prone to thinking.

[Solon]

11. No they don't, but its not like they would have a choice.

Given a choice, would you prefer to have us crash and burn, or have a (somewhat) controlled crash landing. Either most of us will die, in senario 1 or most survive, senario 2. We are between a rock and a hard place, we need to see if we prefer a steel or rubber hammer to slam us against one or the other.

[number6]

9. the empire is over

..eom..

[KamaAina]

12. Yes. But not by pink-tutu DLC liberalism.

Only a true progressive movement can move us away from oil dependence (and the imperialism that goes with it), outsourcing, regressive taxation and all the rest of it.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still ABB all the way. But I have no illusions that Kerry is The Answer. He's more like a tourniquet we need to apply, right now, for a short while, in order to stop the bleeding.

[Tinoire]

13. Not w/out a revolution that will take the country in a different direction

The US is finished.

Kerry knows it.
Rumsfeld knows it.
Clark knows it.
Clinton knows it.
Nader knows it.

Without the courage to drastically change things now, there is no stopping the train wreck.

The madness we've caused in the Middle East is just the final nail in the coffin because from now on, the rest of the world will isolate us and let us get our just desserts for having been so asleep, so self-centered, so greedy for so long.

For decades we propagated the myth that WE, God Bless America, were some sort of chosen people, beacons of light and justice, and now our whole house of cards is tumbling down.

The entire world knows at what price to them the two cars in our garages, the dish-washing machines, the tax cuts, NAFTA, WTO, GATT...

The dollar is as dead as a door-knob unless Bush or Kerry can pull off a miracle in Iraq and control their oil to ensure that the dollar remains OPEC's currency.

The day the dollar is no longer OPEC's currency, it will have to be backed up by something a little more substantial (such as hard work and tangible products). Our dollar needs that oil subsidy BAD.

We're in a world of hurt because we lack the courage to do what is right and what is fair.

[G_j]

18. I'm with you on that

and I honestly don't think Americans are up for it. It's a dire emergency right NOW at this very moment and we're all pretending.
It may already be too late.
So my answer? I sincerely doubt it.

[AngryAmish]

26. Are you one of those gold-standard guys?

[Tinoire]

29. If you hold my back against the wall

I suppose that's what I would admit. It's nothing I've seriously evaluated before.

But when you think about it, look at the currencies backed, even partially, by gold. The Swiss franc is one example. Swiss law requires a minimum 40% gold reserve for every franc in circulation.

The Euro is 15% backed by gold.

The US dollar? Backed by hot air and subsidized by OPEC; it has no instrinsic value and depends on a magician's sales job. Big problem when the hot air and the oil subsidy exit stage left.

Thought this article was interesting...


How the Islamic World Plans to Beat the West: A Gold Coin

by Bill Sardi

The Muslim world has found a novel way to strike back at the West – or at least at Western bankers who rule the world's currencies – introduce a gold coin. Malaysia expects to use gold dinars to trade only between Islamic countries beginning in 2003. The gold dinar, which is 4.25 grams of 24-carat gold, would unite Muslim nations who blame "greedy" currency traders for Asia's downfall in the economic crisis of 1997–98. There is also a silver Islamic Dirham coin of 3.0 grams silver. The dinar is being privately used in 22 countries and is minted in 4 countries.

The Malaysian premier, Prime Minister Mahathir Modamad, last year proposed that the gold dinar would eliminate paper money which has no intrinsic value and would cease making exchange rates arbitrary and subject to manipulation as seen during the Asian financial crisis. "The risk of speculation can be reduced to almost nothing. World trade can actually expand because the cost of business will be much reduced as the need to hedge will practically disappear," said Modamad.

<snip>

The result of a gold-backed currency in the world could cause the US dollar to crash in value. Some suggest the gold dinar would cause a shift in economic power from the West to the East. Trading in Islamic dinars is also planned to open up on the Internet.

<snip>

http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi20.html

[IndianaGreen]

14. Death to the Empire!

Long live the Republic!

[UrbScotty]

15. To say 'no' is ridiculous. Besides, look at my sig line

We've gone through so much in our history - wars (such as the one in Vietnam, in which nearly 85 times as many people died as have died in Iraq), a Great Depression (and a few smaller ones), and a period in the 1780's when it was believed that we would not survive.

We've gone through so much. This current situation can't kill America.

As Clinton said on January 20, 1993:

[RainDog]

16. funny you should ask that question...

today at work a guy walked in (I sell books, btw) and squinted at a copy of After the Empire, by Emmanuel Todd. He was an older guy and I thought he was trying to see if that was the book he was looking for, so I said, are you familiar with the book,etc.

He wasn't. I said it was interesting, that the writer was French...

and the guy immediately interrupted and said he didn't want to read anything by any French...

So I said, but he predicted the fall of the Soviet Empire way back in the 70s..he's a demographer...it's a really interesting book..

And the guy said...what, does he hate this country?

And I said, No, he used to live here. He's trying to offer a warning, based upon our current situation...I said, there are lots of conservatives who are also concerned...

And the guy was still trying to sputter about what a bankrupt place France was, and I said, well, last year, a report stated they have the best health care in the world...

and, I said, Canada, according to the UN, has the best quality of life...

And he was just about spewing, saying that they were nothing but a bunch of socialists...secular...

And I said, we're a secular nation too, as Washington and Jefferson and Madison all made sure...

(and by this time, I really just wanted to snap the guy's neck, metaphorically, and I said, Yes, we're a secular nation and I'm willing to go to war against anyone who tries to change that.

But, I said, Americans choose to be willfully ignorant about their own nation and the rest of the world...

And then I had to go to the bank for work because I was ready to spit, myself.

And I thought to myself that people in this country make me sick with their dumbass view of the rest of the world and their ignorant religious bigotry and I really, really, really don't think that this country is going to recover from the Talibornagains and the neocons unless they are TOTALLY discredited in this country...

which means they should be impeached for lying to Congress and us about the war in Iraq, and they should be impeached for stealing money from the special appropriation of humanitarian aid for Afghanistan, and they should be slapped down for embracing fascism, as that merger of state and corporate power, and as that sort of false patriotism that is really ignorant jingoism.

but with people like Rush Limpballs constantly spreading lies and encouraging the death of liberals, I'm almost to the point where I think that America's greatest enemies are right here in this country, because they are the ones who are working to destroy our Constitutional foundations and who have worked for decades to create a climate of hate.

So, I guess they won because I hate them now.

[mulethree]

20. fear

hate = fear
religions feed on fear, some work to eliminate fear via understanding, others lessen the fear by converting some fear to hate and convincing adherants that theres a difference.

The iran-contra guys are back. If we get rid of the neo-cons, how do we make sure they don't come back? Well, short of incinerating them and spreading the ashes?

[RainDog]

22. They're back because Poppy pardoned them

and because Fux News hired North, for instance, to provide commentary, instead of tossing his ass in jail.

This is why they should have been punished for Iran/Contra, for Iraggate, why BCCI should have been allowed to go forward as an investigation....

we also need someone, like Teddy Roosevelt, who will act as a trust buster and totally dismantle the con game that corporations have going now.

we need white collar criminals to have punishments that fit their crimes, rather than, like Neil Bush, let them go free just because they're rich and connected.

we need to UNDO this recent Bush agreement with Sharon...this is incredible that Sharon is allowed to keep territory he acquired by invading and taking it...it's horrible, it's an injustice and it almost seems like a provocation to make sure Bush gets another terrorist attack before November to put him in office.

I personally think Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, Rice, and Libby should be tried as war criminals for the invasion of Iraq.

I think we should hold elections in Iraq now, stop trying to pretend we are handing over power in June, when the agreement is simply to legitimize our control of Iraq indefinitely.

Then we should get out of there. if troops are needed, the UN should supply them, and all construction should go to Iraqis, all money from the oil should go into a trust for the nation, and none of the corporations who pushed for this war should be allowed to profit from it.

Taxes should not be weighed to oppress the poor, as they are now, but should be progressive.

corporations as of today, do not have "personhood."

...those are a few starts.

pay teachers more than you pay paper pushers in a bank, and hire teachers who are educated in their field.

universal health care now, which is not tied to a job, so that Americans can be entrepeneurs, rather than slaves to a corporation.

we need a push, like the space race, which will move us away from a fossil fuel economy and energy base.

quit trying to interfere in every other nations' policies, and work with other nations to stop terrorism as a tactic around the world.

if Saudi Arabia, for instance, insists on its monarchy/theocracy, then we do not have to trade with them under beneficial conditions, and if we move away from fossil fuels, then we won't care about what they are doing, frankly.

let Osama take his war where it belongs..to the House of Saud.

[mulethree]

25. How?

I agree with everything you just said, If you arrange them into the right sequences ;)

E.G. need trust-busting before you can do a serious alternative energy push, the health care trust is in the way also.

But how do you get a trust-busting government into place without them getting snuffed?

[RainDog]

28. that's why I supported Howard Dean

and why I'm wondering whenever I hear Kerry campaigning to woo those who lean to the right.

I don't know, frankly, what Kerry will do when he wins, and it's not simply who has control of the executive branch, is it?

As long as Congress is full of Tom Delays, I wonder if anything will be done to address the problems we face...

(and I was just spouting, so excuse my laundry list...)

So, though I think there are current answers to correct problems, I don't think that those in positions of power at this time want to do anything about these problems.

which is why, every day, I think about moving somewhere else...one of those "secular" countries, you know?

[Piperay]

17. No, it's too late even

if Kerry gets in. It would have been almost too late if Gore had gotten in but the last 3 and a half years have done so much damage that time will run out before enough can be reversed.

[G_j]

19. well if it's not too late now

(and I'm not sure it isn't)
Then it may be very soon.

case in point>> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x6973

[BeFree]

21. Of course it can be saved, we are AmeriCANs

The real question is: Will we save it?

Or will we let it dissolve into fascism? Will the people consent to more and more control over their lives or will they strive to remain free?

But, as GJ has pointed out, our alterations of the planetary environment may result in changes that are unsurvivable. I'm just glad I ain't no youngster.

[camero]

23. Sadly, I think you're right

For all the reasons that you mentioned plus some others.

1. A population that is urbanized and for the most part cannot grow their own food.

2. A population brainwashed on Survivor, Seinfeld, and much of what passes as entertainment.

3. A population that sees personal relationships as merely financial transactions.

4. A people so arrogant that we think we know what is best for the rest of the world when we can't keep our own house in order. Pride goeth before the fall. Nobody seems to want to mention that the only ones who can speak for the Iraqis are Iraqis. Read Arabs. It's their part of the world and they would know best how to fix it without our meddling.

Frankly I don't think I could meet anyone as cynical as I about where the US is heading.

[librechik]

24. it's horribly entrenched and nobody's really motivated

to do anything about it. Lawmakers are compromised and complacent, the populace happy eating nachos and watching the Apprentice.

I'm fairly certain that to bring significant change it would take something so catastrophic that we'd be too busy just surviving to appreciate it. Then who knows what would happen?

I don't expect it within my lifetime.

I felt so sad watching that young hostage soldier. This is what that generation and the next and the NEXT will be doing if Cheney's gang stays in charge. Kerry's a good man, but I'm afraid even he won't be able to do much. They will keep the levers of power out of his reach. Or he might just be part of a bad cop good cop strategy. Who knows? These bastards were able to marginalize Clinton. Why do we think they will let Kerry do anything?

Good luck, younguns.

[cosmicdot]

27. it's not a pretty picture as long as corporate power isn't contained

... and, we need sweeping reform ASAP to do just that before more damage is done ... and, that power isn't going to go away quietly in the night ... nor without a fight ... it's not going to go away with sold-out politicians ... it's going to take a leader of exceptional determination to slay the dragon ...

... corporate america is a cancer virtually killing the fabric and soul of our Society ... America can only be diluted/leached to a bottom-line by so much before our in-much-need-of-an-overhaul infrastructure virtually collapses ... we're on thin ice now.

The system is so corrupt that, I fear, we're hanging by a thread.

So many people are stressed, and are full of angst against a system which they have no control over ... but, we won't see this on the 6 o'clock 24/7 non-stop blather some call 'news' ... most folks are too engaged with daily survival that I, also, fear they may be too far removed from the reality that's just around the corner.

I'm an idealist by nature, but I did battle with this system on a personal/local/corporate level ... and, I learned then that we were in trouble ... I experienced first hand the gestapo tactics and power over others ... my battle was a microcosm of the current Big Picture ... the good ol'boys, I learned then, were doing us in ... and, here, 8 years later, I'm afraid things are too far gone.

I had hoped that the tide would have turned on 11/7/2000 ... and, I think it would have ... but, when a corrupt system is so powerful that it can steal the will of the people and pervert our system in full public view ...... it's not a good sign.

Antics being discussed at this link exemplify a system out of whack ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x491287

and, not us helping our situation at all ...

[leftistagitator]

30. Yes

1) We will find a way around peak oil. There are all kinds of ways to generate electricity, and ways to better use the electricity that we make.
2) The debt isn't as bad as it looks. A large portion of the debt is between government agencies, and once Kerry is in office he will begin to reorganize the tax code and budget to stop the hemmoraging of cash flow. That is, if we get him the additional senators and congressmen.
3) This is a big problem. High societies like ours have always relied upon slave labor of a sort, be it actual slaves or people working at slave wages. And this kind of labor is never stable for very long. But, once we find a better way to generate energy and improve automation we can get rid of the need for mindless labor and begin the transformation of the rest of the world to bring them up to the level we've been living at.
4) Kerry. * pissed off all of our friends, Kerry will bring them back.
5) Another big problem, which Kerry has pledged to pour resources into. If it wasn't for the repugs, we'd have this already, so this just boils down to having the will to do it.
6) More investment into education, training, healthcare, welfare, and R & D projects, and less pork for *'s buddies and bs wars then we'll get this economy growing again and help out the bottom rung of our society at the same time.

Look, we're facing some serious problems here, and without competent leadership America will be fubared. But I don't think it's too late yet. As long as we get Kerry elected and at least retake the Senate, we have a good chance to turn this around.

[hunter]

31. U.S. Americans who can't change are in for a world of hurt...

They won't understand why they can't afford gasoline for their big cars and trucks, meat for their dinners, or electricity for their air conditioners. They won't understand why the rest of the world hates us. There will be long hot summers and cold winters...

U.S. Americans who already live without, who know how to work hard, will carry the day. They will not let those who currently live in privilege enslave them. They know that freedom and justice are worth working for, worth fighting for; they know that anyone "born on third base" has no right to claim the home runs.

Something good may come of this, but it is going to be a long hard road.

[eridani]

32. I don't know

I feel like a pilot with three out of four engines out. Pilots in that situation run through the drill for surviving it as best they can. Maybe the plane lands. Or not. Either way, they do their professional best right up to the end.

[Doctor_J]

33. Probabaly not, and here is a simple explanation of why not

It comes down to two things, really.

First of all, the game is now officially fixed. Between Diebold, the media, voter roll purging, the electoral map, the $300M Bush will spend, the silencing of MoveOn and similar organizations, and so on, they basically cannot lose an election. Their corruption machine runs like a Swiss watch, with each piece covering for the others. DIdn't purge quite enough AA voters in FL? No problem, we'll just let the supreme court stop the vote count. A number of them have committed purgery in the last week, and no one cares. That part is over, until the next revolution comes.

Second, a deadly combination with the first, is that they don't have a clue how to govern. Within a few years, the entire world will be against us and GB. It's apparent in the recent elections in Venzuela, Spain, Canada, and South Korea that we are becoming the enemy of the world. We will soon have no money, no moral authority, no oil, no clean water, no clean air, and no friends. Iraq is a disaster, as we predicted. Venezuela - disaster. Haiti - disaster. Economy - disaster. Corruption - rampant. We're moving troops out of Afghanistan, which means the Taliban will be back in power there within a couple months. Just look at who this cabal picked to present to the world as their representative. THat "Press Conference" was pathetic to the point of scariness. Bush could not possibly answer one unscripted question about ANY issue. Not one. He approaches this job just as he has everything else in his life - slack it off, let Dada's friends bail me out. He does not know one thing about economics, foreign policy, the environment, law, or defense. Well, guess what - this job is too big to treat like college drinking course. Tell me that foreign leaders weren't watching that debacle and saying to themselves, "Christ, the US is completely dead. THe most ignorant man in the country is the president".

I am sad that my kids and grandkids will have to live through what the Germans did from 1935-45, but I think that on a personal level I have done pretty much everything I could. To that end, my kids are smart and level-headed and liberal, and I will be encouraging them to emigrate as soon as it's feasible. As soon as they are safely overseas, I'll be gone too. They deserve better, but the game is rigged and this Empire will have to burn out the way every other one has, through a lethal combination of incompetence, corruption, and hubris.

[0007]

34. Everything dies - I think this country has a long way to go to catch up

with the rest of the world. We're holding onto a lot of superstitious old worn out doctrines. In order to make progress for the future to be successful the U.S. must change.

[American Renaissance]

35. there is more,

The social and political situation is frightening enough, but there is alot more depth that is also concerning.

Conservatives would have you believe that the "5th Column" is anyone who doesn't think bombing the shit out of thrid world countries is our mission from god. The real 5th column is the corporate elite.

I don't own a Che hoodie, and I strongly believe in Free Trade, but I believe the american economy is being destroyed by the corporate elite. I work in aviation, my entire family does. And one can't find a better example of how the wallstreet elites have fucked up an American industry.

When I was born, McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, Lockheed and Convair (General Dynamics) all built commercial jets. The only serious competition came from the French who had a small jet called the Caravelle and the British who had the BAC 1-11. United Airlines flew the Caravelle, American Airlines and Braniff flew the BAC.

Today, Airbus is eating Boeing alive and everyone else is history.

How did Boeing fail?

The same way McDonnell Douglas failed, the commercial airplane business is brutal, Airbus is the most aggressive force the market has ever seen. If your a business, what do you want to do?

Invest 2 billion dollars in building a new plane?
Or invest nothing, and kick back 2 billion dollars a year in tax dollars, producing nothing but computer animations to show congress?

McDonnell Douglas died because they refused to invest in the future, they just tweeked the hell out of the DC-9 and DC-10 and pretended the MD-11 and MD-80 were new planes. Meanwhile, Airbus was offering the A320, which was an all new airplane. When McDonnell Douglas was eliminated from the running in the JSF program, they were so far behind Boeing and Airbus that they couldn't survive on their MD-11 and MD-80/90s.

Once Boeing got the 777 out the door, they fired most of their civilian engineers and they bought McDonnell Douglas. And began to do the very things that caused them to fry in the first place.

Boeing cancled their 737 and 747 replacement programs, they tweeked the 737 a bit and abandoned the 747 upgrade entirely and concentrated on their billion dollar computer animations.

While Boeing was fucking around with their own JSF failure, the market changed, Airbus went into over-drive, and Embraer and Bombardier came into the game with their smaller jets that the airlines craved.

Last year Airbus beat Boeing, this year they are going to skull-fuck Boeing. Airbus is racking up orders for the A320 and A330, while Boeing is faced with killing the 717, 757 and 767 lines. Boeing can still sell the 737 based on economies of scale alone, but they are even having trouble selling the 777. Boeing isn't even being invited to bid for alot of orders. You are seeing airlines emerge that don't fly any American aircraft. JetBlue flies the A320 made in France and will fly the Embraer 190 built in Brazil. Spirit will eventually fly only A319's and A321's built in Germany once they replace their MD-80's. Same with Frontier and America West. They will become all Airbus. I am not xenophobe, I find the A319 and Embraers 170's amazing. But I am concerned as an American to see a field we once dominated be ceeded to foreigners in less than a generation.

Boeing is making a half-assed attempt at the 7E7, but the 7E7 will be designed in Russia and built almost entirely overseas and just thrown together in Seattle. It seemingly has not occured to Boeing that down the road these foreign companies Boeing is giving their technology too will eventually turn on Boeing and build their own.

It happens eventually in every industry. You can only outsource for so long before the outsourcing partners will turn on you.

What I am getting at, is that America is losing its heavy industry know-how. Between the low hanging fruit of money from the Pentagon to day dream about weapons that will never get beyond the animation stage and a business climate that seems investment in the future as wasteful. If Boeing were to spend several billion building an all new plane, Wallstreet would go ape-shit and accuse them of reducing share-holder value. The 7E7 is going to be built on the cheap, (if it is built at all) we all know how well those efforts turn out *cough* MD-11 *cough*.

and it isn't just aviation, America is losing it's institutional experience in almost every field, and eventually the lack of that experience kills the entire industry. America can not build large commercial ships anymore. We don't know how. I think before 2020 America won't be able to build commercial airplanes either. Southwest Airlines isn't going to fly people around in the F-22.

The political situation is bad enough, but times change, once an industry is dead and the foreigners have complete dominance there is nothing we can do. But this current neo-conservative economic perspective is destroying American industry. If you don't invest in the future, you wind up stuck in the past. Look at public infrastructure, our cities are falling apart. Every city in America needs a "Big Dig" ala Boston, but that isn't going to happen. They have pissed away so much money on waving their dicks at the world that America is broke. What the fuck does America have to show for the Reagan National Debt? Mothballed ships and fighters collecting dust in the desert. What Do we have to show for the Bush deficit?
Fucking nothing.

The Brazilians and Europeans are sinking billions of dollars into the next generation of airplanes. Boeing is trying to throw together an outsourced airplane on the cheap. the same thing is happening in every single industry!

who would you put your money on?

I am still an American, but I have lived in Canada my entire adult life, I keep putting off taking Canadian citizenship because I have to believe something better is comming to America, but it only gets worse. Even during the Clinton years the Reagan climate lingered.

No matter who is president, this culture can't be changed, the damage is done. We can't be a country of Walmart greeters. If we don't produce goods of value, we just become another economic basket case drowning in debt, or backed up sewage.

[leftofthedial]

36. no

no