The most extreme Libertarian would say this was an excellent way to do it.
It may be that you are too inherently decent to readily imagine just how indecent others can be when they lose their centre and start flailing.
The most extreme Libertarian would say this was an excellent way to do it.
That's an interesting point. Similarly, if a country explicitly has the word "Democratic" in its name (e.g. the former East Germany and North Korea) that seems to indicate that it's a dictatorship. Country names often seem, like Hamlet's mum, to protest too much methinks.Greta wrote:The way I see it, if a nation has the word "United" in its name, that's an indication of a strong separatist movement being quelled in the past, and you'd expect tense undercurrents to remain.
Good point about democratic. Protesting too much remains the norm, it seems. Look at the Yanks - one minute champions of democracy and ready to bomb their way to it, the next moving full speed towards authoritarianism, with plenty of media and citizen backers.Steve3007 wrote: ↑January 23rd, 2019, 6:14 amThat's an interesting point. Similarly, if a country explicitly has the word "Democratic" in its name (e.g. the former East Germany and North Korea) that seems to indicate that it's a dictatorship. Country names often seem, like Hamlet's mum, to protest too much methinks.Greta wrote:The way I see it, if a nation has the word "United" in its name, that's an indication of a strong separatist movement being quelled in the past, and you'd expect tense undercurrents to remain.
How many nations in the world were created without violence or wars of independence?......... I'm trying to think of a nation not founded in blood, or significantly maintained by it. Are there any?
Quote source:The Czech Republic and Slovakia were created out of the old Czechoslovakia without a war.
Luxembourg and Monaco seem to have evolved into independent countries without a war.
Australia and Canada became independent countries without a war.
Most countries in the “British” Commonwealth were spun off without a war although there was local agitation in some.
Both Canada and Australia were founded in blood and warfare, just that the wars with the existing indigenous people were so one-sided that descendants of the invaders now don't even think of it as war, just colonisation.UniversalAlien wrote: ↑January 29th, 2019, 8:51 am Greta wrote:How many nations in the world were created without violence or wars of independence?......... I'm trying to think of a nation not founded in blood, or significantly maintained by it. Are there any?
"The only country that comes to my mind is Liberia........"
Quote source:The Czech Republic and Slovakia were created out of the old Czechoslovakia without a war.
Luxembourg and Monaco seem to have evolved into independent countries without a war.
Australia and Canada became independent countries without a war.
Most countries in the “British” Commonwealth were spun off without a war although there was local agitation in some.
https://www.quora.com/How-many-nations- ... dependence
I'm also thinking if we looked hard enough we could find others
- Today in Iceland there is no standing army and only a lightly armed coast guard.
Not a bad summation of the current situation, though many will disagree on the implications for the future. For example if you believe that the government actually has a role to perform in society and that there is merit to having the folks in the government having the interests of the majority of the populace in mind. Then he is paving a path for folks in the future to routinely not give a darn about the 99%. Of course just because he has shown the way doesn't mean that future leaders will necessarily choose to go that way, but BT (Before Trump), even the most plutocratic American presidents were wary about going too far and self regulated to the extent of throwing a bone to the rabble once in a while. The future may (or may not, its' true) look like that.Steve3007 wrote: ↑December 12th, 2019, 7:25 am The Trump presidency, so far, is not as bad as many of us predicted is it? The third world war hasn't come. As far as it's possible to tell, he hasn't yet impetuously tried to "press the button". Trade disputes rumble on but they haven't yet tanked the US economy. The Paris Climate Agreement withdrawal has been begun, but that can be reversed by the next president, so meh. Whatever.
All of his faults are pretty well known, and have long since been priced in by supporters and foes alike. We all know he lies, values people who flatter him more than people who know stuff, bases his decisions largely on personal grudges and would, if he had his way, be a populist dictator for whom a compliant media would regularly report that 110% of the electorate vote in every election. But if he doesn't get his own way in that respect, who cares? It's like saying that if the fuel in my car's fuel tank got its own way it would explode. But it doesn't get its own way. It's contained for a reason.
I heard a commentator on the radio news this morning opining that this whole impeachment thing, massive as we say it is, is irrelevant because we already know what will happen. The Republican controlled Senate is 100% certain to strike it down and 3 months from now most voters won't really be able to remember whether he was impeached or not and won't care much. In this world where truth doesn't matter and where any event, no matter how apparently momentous it seems at the time, just sweeps past in the continuous avalanche of meaningless is-it-fake-or-is-it-real news, the US hasn't yet imploded. So who cares? Maybe nothing matters.
During the Vietnam War I was sure WW III was eminent - Thought the end of the World was near. But we're still here.Steve3007 wrote: ↑January 6th, 2020, 8:55 am A curious thing I've noticed about Trump's assassination of Iranian and Iraqi generals in Iraq is that it has caused all the teenage children I know (my own children and the children of friends and family) to talk excitedly about the prospect of World War III starting. But the adults see it as business as usual - an action that was taken after a simple cost/benefit analysis shows that the US government can do, essentially, anything they want in any country that is militarily and economically much smaller than themselves with no significant cost to themselves.
I guess it's the power of the internet over young minds combined with the excitability of youth and the weary cynicism of age.
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