georgeob1 wrote:
There are idle young men all over the world. The facts that those who confront us come only from some Moslem countries, and that many of them arose from relatively priviledged backgrounds there, strongly suggest there are other causes.
I don't agree with you -- I think there are many more idle young men in the countries that are restless and I seriously question your belief that "many terrorists" arose from privilege. What do you think are the causes of their hatred of us? How do you believe it should be halted? By killing and maiming them and their families and by destroying their countries? What kind of world is that? If you want peace, work for justice.
Quote:You said... I believe it is, at best, a great distortion to label the Bush administration as fascists.
<shrug> from Wikipedia:
Quote:Fascism = any system of government ... that exalts nation above the individual, uses violence and modern techniques of propaganda and censorship to forcibly suppress political opposition, engages in severe economic and social regimentation, and espouses nationalism. The State not only is an authority which governs and molds individual wills with laws and values of spiritual life, but it is also power which makes its will prevail abroad....A key feature of fascism is that it uses its mass movement to attack the organizations of the working class - parties of the left and trade unions.
That sounds like the Republicans, to me. You hate the left... you hate trade unions, you have made your will prevail abroad, your Patriot Acts have made individuals less important than the state, you use violence, propaganda and censorship to suppress opposition and the flag-waving of the Republicans can only be described as rampant nationalism. The common citizen now has to walk a very narrow path of social conformity... don't take photos of certain objects, be careful what you say in public, stand like sheep as you get on and off public transportation, allow any orifice to be checked by government agents. Do I need to go on? Despite what should have been a move to the middle by this administration, it has engaged in an active shift from right-wing to the excessive right-wing attitudes which I believe I can correctly describe as fascist.
Quote:You say...Though it is clear they are willing to pursue a Foreign policy that SOME European countries don't like, it is hardly accurate to say, "... they don't give a damn about the rest of the world".
I scoff at this. "Some" countries? Which countries, which people are pleased with us? The mid-east? The Asians? The South Americans? The Fascists in government have engendered hatred for the everyday citizen everywhere. Please, at least be as honest as my Republican brother in law who says "I don't give a damn how the rest of the world views us."
Quote:You say: Though the U.S. does indeed consume more energy per capita than most countries (Canadians consume a good deal more), we also deliver much higher economic productivity than any other country. We produce a higher fraction of the world's stuff than the fraction of energy we consume.
I don't think so... We use a higher fraction of the world's stuff... we no longer make that much and we do, indeed, use a much higher amount of energy than we have. We are a user economy. The economic tide flows toward the United States, not away.
Quote:You say: While it is true that the Republicans are resisting and attempting to slow some of these changes, it is neither fair nor accurate to say they are forcing us into anytyhing new. On the contrary, they are trying to conserve long-established views.
Wrong. The Republicans are trying to drag us back to a different time. They are trying to change established laws on a woman's right to choose. They insist that people should respond to AIDS, for example, by abstaining from sex. The appointments that this president has made show how he scoffs at the legal rights of women.
Quote:You say: Not all of those who advocate, litigate and demonstrate in the name of better conservation of natural resources do so with right understanding of the tradeoffs and consequences of what they advocate. The public debates about nuclear power and correct management of our forests provide ample demonstrations of this.
This administration does not use real science for its decisions. This government wields its power based on the fascist needs of their "base of support" - the wealthy who have exploited and continue to exploit public resources and public needs to the fullest extent of the law, a law now hampered by foot-dragging appointees. The Republicans don't give a damn about the rights or the desires of the common citizen. Tell me about how this administration uses real science in restricting stem-cell research. You can't because they don't. Tell me how this administration uses real science in cleaning up the environment. You can't because it doesn't.
