Don’t worry, just a little bump - $70 is just around the corner. Short traders just keep making those margin calls, mortgage the house if you have to. Fortunes await you! PO is for pansies and doomers. At $70 short some more ..... it is going back to $22 .... the world is awash with oil ........ reality has nothing to do with it, its all in those charts!!!!!!!!!!
Joined: May 27, 2007 Posts: 1171 Location: The Post Peak Oil Historian
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 3:15 am Post subject: Americanism: The good, the bad and the ugly
Instead the real reasons as seen from Europe and Latin America stem first of all from stupid, arrogant and self-defeating US foreign policy. At the same time, French or Dutch can hardly believe the ignorance and naivete of Americans about the world. While many Americans boast of their anti-intellectualism and their president has trouble finding strange places like Kenya or even Afghanistan on the map, the “green” media inform French and Italians that the waste and consumerism in the USA is destroying planet earth and Germans and Scandinavians are realizing that American democracy is a sham and has defiled the very word.
People are more and more aware that the USA PATRIOT Act and legislation subsequent to 9/11 have eroded America’s civil liberties. That the divide between rich and poor has never been more profound, the word “social” is taboo, and American capitalism has become more and more savage and vicious. For many others, American culture seems to be limited to mall shopping and TV sports, while America’s absurd theories of exportation of democracy and globalization as a solution to world poverty are widely scoffed at: exportation of democracy means war and globalizations means loss of jobs in Italy or France.
Europeans are right to wonder why Americans, even well intentioned people of the Left, cannot see the obvious. The answer is that their continuing faith in a mythical Americanism blinds them. And their false consciousness created and maintained by disgraceful corporate media that distorts the concept of freedom of the press.
Joined: Dec 07, 2005 Posts: 1717 Location: Australia
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 5:41 am Post subject: Re: Americanism: The good, the bad and the ugly
Quote:
Germans and Scandinavians are realizing that American democracy is a sham
What do you base that on? And what differnance does it make?
People in Sweden for instance have for a couple of centuries now been conditioned to bitch about the situaiton but not to seriously do anything.
More recently we had coverups from the Tsunami when tapes of telephone calls during the disaster were ordered to be destroyed and ministers lied to media and public about their actions (or reasons for lack there of).
(Was there any protests? NO, punishment? NO)
Web sites being taken off line because individual politicians ordered the ISP. (flashback)
Webhosts (piratebay) being raided and have their datacentres raided and equipment confiscated becasue foreign (US) government hinted it was what it wanted (no legal ground.)
Now there is a proposition that police should have the right to judge in "smaller" cases, and totally bypass the court.
Historically there is also disturbing tendencies (since I am whining I might as well continue).
For instance the socialist democratic party's close cooperation with USA and especially CIA although this party is officially critical about US. (Critized US in Vietnam, Supports Palestine etc.)
Later has been revealed the part leader Palme had close ties with US, supported NATO and later allowed secret CIA flights with so called terrorists land in Sweden on the way to secret prisons in East Europe.
Sweden also has a history of making certain topics taboo to even discuss. Back in the 80's for instance no media would ever divulge if a crime had been committed by an immigrant as this was considered racist. You couldn't even discuss statistics about the ethnical background of criminals. There was an absolute outroar when one of the more popular journalists (Jan Guillio) dared to have a an episode in his show that discussed crime rate among gypsies.
Don't know what is happening in the other Scandinavian countries, but I am glad I moved away from that place. I think once the NWO is implemented Swedish government will be first in line to adopt and people will do nothing but grumble quitly. (Just look at how they brown nosed to what ever side was winning in WW2 and refused to help their own neighbours.)
And for those a little bit more conspiratorially minded, in the 60's they introduced gargling with fluoride for all kids in the schools.
From what I know it stopped for a while (if it is all good as they claim, why stop?) but now it is making a comeback again (how timely). _________________ Lets take a ride, and run with the dogs tonight
In suburbia
You cant hide, run with the dogs tonight
In suburbia
- Pet Shop Boys
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 7:17 am Post subject: Re: Americanism: The good, the bad and the ugly
I'd like to quiz the Swedes and Italians on where Kenya and Uzbekistan are. _________________ Massive Human Dieoff must occur as a result of Peak Oil. Many more than half will die. It will occur everywhere, including where you live. If you fail to recognize this, then your odds of living move toward the "going to die" group.
Joined: Dec 07, 2005 Posts: 1717 Location: Australia
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:16 am Post subject: Re: Americanism: The good, the bad and the ugly
Quote:
I'd like to quiz the Swedes and Italians on where Kenya and Uzbekistan are.
Yap, Swedes are good with geography. if they don't pin the country on the map they are at least close.
Remember seeing on TV when they too a "blind" map out in cenral park and asked people to point out different countries. Quite a few of them had difficulty pointing out USA and one of them even pointed at Antarctica as it was "in the middle of the world". _________________ Lets take a ride, and run with the dogs tonight
In suburbia
You cant hide, run with the dogs tonight
In suburbia
- Pet Shop Boys
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:21 am Post subject: Re: Americanism: The good, the bad and the ugly
[quote="Micki"]
Quote:
I'd like to quiz the Swedes and Italians on where Kenya and Uzbekistan are.
Yap, Swedes are good with geography. if they don't pin the country on the map they are at least close.
Remember seeing on TV when they too a "blind" map out in cenral park and asked people to point out different countries. Quite a few of them had difficulty pointing out USA and one of them even pointed at Antarctica as it was "in the middle of the world".[/quote
I wouldn't mock American stupidity. I believe they named Australia as North Korea. So you should hope that we don't decide to bomb NK but accidently nuke you. American stupidity won't be so funny then. _________________ Riches are not from abundance of worldly goods, but from a contented mind.
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 2:34 pm Post subject: Re: Americanism: The good, the bad and the ugly
Looks like you have an admirer, Cid.
And sword, this is under the Americas Discussion. Since this is about Americanism, I think this is an appropriate thread for the forum it is under. If emerson thinks otherwise, then he's free to move it to Open Disc. _________________ Riches are not from abundance of worldly goods, but from a contented mind.
Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject: Re: Americanism: The good, the bad and the ugly
I think evrybody seems to get categorized by their extremes and wow! America sure has them.
I met an older guy years ago who fixed copiers and had emigrated form the U.S.A. (not so different for me in some ways) and his name for the States was the "Excited Snakes of America". Well, he explained, that everybody seems to be hyper to succeed in America. And, then those who who try to succeed and get hyper but do not succeed become the angry ones. The scary ones. His take anyway.
You see it in guns and in drugs and in trying to show off. My SUV is bigger than yours. My wife is hotter than yours. An so on and so on. But, it also cuts the other way.
When you look for extremes of achievement and generosity and education and wisdom you shuld start by looking in America.
If only America coould have a cull of sorts, to clean out the riff raff and the cling ons. But, again, maybe not, they'd likely end up in Canada.
Joined: Feb 29, 2008 Posts: 55 Location: Borgloon, Belgium
Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 12:06 pm Post subject: Re: Americanism: The good, the bad and the ugly
Don't be too proud of the european intellect. Look at our television programs, how stupid they have become, we're just catching up. If you would ask an average european to pinpoint an american state on a blind map, they would have a hard time to. According to a lot of people here the high oil prices are due to the muslims. Yep the muslims done it again, shame on them....
Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 1:00 pm Post subject: Re: Americanism: The good, the bad and the ugly
Quote:
I'd wager you'd get a higher success rate than with Americans.
That's not a wager, that's throwing money away.
But don't make the mistake of thinking that knowing more geography than Americans somehow makes them educated.
Just like the 300 pound man laughing at the obesity of the 400 pound man doesn't make him fit. _________________ Massive Human Dieoff must occur as a result of Peak Oil. Many more than half will die. It will occur everywhere, including where you live. If you fail to recognize this, then your odds of living move toward the "going to die" group.
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