Not only is the USA the freest nation on Earth, its the greatest nation on Earth.
That's one of the explanation President Clinton gave when he signed the China WTO deal. Capitalism would naturally topple communist China, so they could experience some of this good freedom and greatness. That's all you have to do is mention the United States greatness and most of its gullible citizens won't bother to question if it's in our best interest. As sweet Ronnie Regan said back in 81, we would have a service economy. Yep, it sho' is monin' in America. 
Originally Posted by Noam Chomsky
Booker wrote:Well to get specific, you're absolutely wrong...
inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/telegrap
h.htm
Sorry, should have written "accoutistic" telegraph, not telegraph...but otherwise, I am absolutely right.
rbstern wrote:
radomu wrote:You can say the exact same thing for the majority of the liberal democracies in the world. I don't feel restricted to my "walls", whatever you mean by that, in Japan, Britain, or Canada. Actually, I would rather stay home as much as possible in a bad part of America where there is crime.
When a liberal democracy has a 245 year track record and hasn't gone authoritarian in that amount of time, please get back to me.
Based on that assumption, Great Britain has been a liberal democracy since 1688, almost a century before the American war of independence. Universal Suffrage didn't surface in the United States until probably the 1960s when blacks finally won the right to vote. Large swaths of the country was still ruled by a de facto Apartheid regime until then, like the god-forsaken South Africa that global anti-racist protestors used to condemn until Mandela's release.
Either way it is irrelevant because how long a single regime steadily maintained itself has nothing to do with how "free" a country is at this very moment. One can hardly call the US a proper representative democracy with the trend of corporatisation of politics since the Second World War.
radomu wrote:
The most spectacular thing about American society is the existence of racial identity as the most dominant form of identity, especially when you are not white. This functions both as a form of economic alienation of minorities, especially blacks and hispanics, and a means to segregate urban spaces.
Yes, well living in a country that is one of the most homogeneous on the planet, that surely qualifies you to comment on a country that has some actual racial, ethnic, and religious diversity.
Just Me wrote:
radomu wrote:
The most spectacular thing about American society is the existence of racial identity as the most dominant form of identity, especially when you are not white. This functions both as a form of economic alienation of minorities, especially blacks and hispanics, and a means to segregate urban spaces.
Yes, well living in a country that is one of the most homogeneous on the planet, that surely qualifies you to comment on a country that has some actual racial, ethnic, and religious diversity.
Ah yes, the old "you're not american so you're opinion does not matter" that you idiots like to fall back on so much.
Booker wrote:
Just Me wrote:
radomu wrote:
The most spectacular thing about American society is the existence of racial identity as the most dominant form of identity, especially when you are not white. This functions both as a form of economic alienation of minorities, especially blacks and hispanics, and a means to segregate urban spaces.
Yes, well living in a country that is one of the most homogeneous on the planet, that surely qualifies you to comment on a country that has some actual racial, ethnic, and religious diversity.
Ah yes, the old "you're not american so you're opinion does not matter" that you idiots like to fall back on so much.
That not what I said, dumbass...
He lives in Japan, what does he know about racial identity in America or living in a diverse society?
Maybe he can write a thesis on "Racial Identity of Non-Japanese living in Japan"
Nothing.
Just Me wrote:
Booker wrote:
Just Me wrote:
radomu wrote:
The most spectacular thing about American society is the existence of racial identity as the most dominant form of identity, especially when you are not white. This functions both as a form of economic alienation of minorities, especially blacks and hispanics, and a means to segregate urban spaces.
Yes, well living in a country that is one of the most homogeneous on the planet, that surely qualifies you to comment on a country that has some actual racial, ethnic, and religious diversity.
Ah yes, the old "you're not american so you're opinion does not matter" that you idiots like to fall back on so much.
That not what I said, dumbass...
He lives in Japan, what does he know about racial identity in America or living in a diverse society?
Nothing.
So in other words, that's exactly what you said.
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Just Me wrote:
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radomu wrote:
The most spectacular thing about American society is the existence of racial identity as the most dominant form of identity, especially when you are not white. This functions both as a form of economic alienation of minorities, especially blacks and hispanics, and a means to segregate urban spaces.
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Yes, well living in a country that is one of the most homogeneous on the planet, that surely qualifies you to comment on a country that has some actual racial, ethnic, and religious diversity.
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Thanks for your close-minded response. I live in Britain right now, and while it is not as diverse as the United States even an idiot can see that the importance of racial identity is much stronger in the States.
I've visited America many times and while I love the place, I distinctly feel like a minority there than any other Western country that I've visited. No one seems to give a damn that I'm from Japan or that I'm Asian here in the UK, but that clearly is not the case in the US. Understand also that the fact that you're a white does not really count to anything, unless you're a member of the BNP, here in Britain. As long as you speak English well enough people will treat you like anyone else in Britain (which has its own problems, but that's that). Whenever I go to California, however, the fact that I am of the Asian race defines me more than anything, even much more than my nationality.
It is intellectually feeble for anyone to point out the background of someone who's making an opinion, rather than giving an objective response to their opinion. It shows that you have nothing to say as a response, and nothing about how correct I am.
rbstern wrote:
radomu wrote:Based on that assumption, Great Britain has been a liberal democracy since 1688, almost a century before the American war of independence. Universal Suffrage didn't surface in the United States until probably the 1960s when blacks finally won the right to vote. Large swaths of the country was still ruled by a de facto Apartheid regime until then, like the god-forsaken South Africa that global anti-racist protestors used to condemn until Mandela's release.
Either way it is irrelevant because how long a single regime steadily maintained itself has nothing to do with how "free" a country is at this very moment. One can hardly call the US a proper representative democracy with the trend of corporatisation of politics since the Second World War.
When history doesn't support your argument, you can always try to recast it.
My first paragraph consists of a historical rebuttal to your statement. Then I argued in the second paragraph that regardless of the truth, your statemend is irrelevant to the topic that we're discussing here anyways.
What the more do you want? Even if you are correct (which I have demonstrated that you aren't), it doesn't work as a premise to anything.
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