Does Stalin really belong in the game?

[Willem]

And do you know why we were so sure we had weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq? Because we gave it to them under the table.

'

There had been weapons inspectors for years looking for them and they kept saying that their were none. Yet the Bush administration trumped up some evidence to convince the world that there were.

1. You get paid a certain amount, each year. Regardless of how hard you work.

You mean like all those people that are working for minimum wage and barely surviving? How much were the people working in Nike's sweatshops being paid? Yet how many millions of profit was the company making off their labours?

People did not have enough houses. In a free enterprise economy, that kind of thing would never happen. As the demand for housing was so high, people would decide to make more houses as it would be very profitable!

No, instead you have people sleeping in the streets because they can't afford to put a roof over their head. Don't get me started on the advantages of a free market on housing. The area I live in has had a housing boom the past few years with all sorts of speculation going on in order to make a quick buck. The result is that the prices have jumped so high that ordinary people can no longer afford to buy them, only the rich. It's becoming difficult to even find a decent apartment to live in since all these companies are busy building high-priced condos and not bothering with rental accomodation.

Why does Taiwan (proportianly) have a better economy than China?

You've got to be kiddding! China has had the fastest growing economy in the world for many years now. Taiwan doesn't even come close. There you go again spouting misinformation without knowing anything about what's going on in this world.

 

[Lord Civius]

No one's forgotten. But invading Iraq has only succeeded in making things worse by angering the extremists even more.

I'm sorry we have angered thugs and murderers. We should take their feelings into consideration for what purpose? It is free people like you that hinder the great strides we are making on the war on terror not the US Gov't. Treasure your freedom and take a little pride in knowing your countrymen have helped to give it to millions of others. You have spewed alot of propaganda in this thread and must have a huge pair to accuse others of it.

There had been weapons inspectors for years looking for them and they kept saying that their were none. Yet the Bush administration trumped up some evidence to convince the world that there were.

All Intelligence Agencies came to the same conclusion including your own. They got it wrong but there is more to the Iraq war then meets the eye. It is planting seeds of democracy in the populations of the middle east. At the same time we are squeezing the head of the snake, Iran.

I've read you hold up brutal dictators like Castro yet you slam the democratically elected Prez of the U.S.. Castro Throws people in prison and kills some for their political views. His healthcare system is two tiered one for people, one of the worst in the world and one for the powerful, one of the best in the world. I could go on for hours but it seems socialist propoganda has clowded your judgement. Take a step back and look which side you are on.

BTW Now I am 100% certain that liberalism is a mental disorder.

 

[Willem]

What else are we going to do with them, have a nice civilized chat over tea and cookies with everyone airing their concerns and respecting each other's opinions?

Well it's too late now but you could have stayed in Afghanistan and helped rebuild the country, turning it into a model for the rest of Middle east. Kind of what you did for Europe after the war. You did owe it to them after abandoning them when the Soviets pulled out. I'm not sure what your options are now frankly. Invading Iraq has only managed to reinforce the image of the US as the evil empire and dialogue may no longer be possible. It was at one time though.

 

[Willem]

It is free people like you that hinder the great strides we are making on the war on terror not the US Gov't.

What great strides? Iraq has not been stabilized, the Taliban are still fighting in Afghanistan and Osama is still on the loose. I don't see any great progess frankly. If anything you have more people hating you over there than you ever did before.

It is planting seeds of democracy in the populations of the middle east.

You could have done that in Afghanistan as well.

At the same time we are squeezing the head of the snake, Iran.

Oh please, yet another demonization of a sovereign nation. Iran has shown no intention of threatening it's neighbours, why even bother with them? It's an age old political tactic to create an enemy in order to draw people's attention away from the problems at home. I see Bush has been putting that to good use.

Castro Throws people in prison and kills some for their political views.

You are aware that the US has the largest prison population of any country in the world aren't you? They even surpassed the Soviet Union when it was still around. And what about those secret CIA bases we heard so much about the past few years, and Gauntanamo Bay were people are being held with no rights whatsoever? The Bush administration even went so far as to claim they were not covered under the Geneva Convention.

His healthcare system is two tiered one for people, one of the worst in the world and one for the powerful, one of the best in the world.

Right, and the American model is so wonderful where millions of people can't even afford to get medical care and many end up having to sell their homes and using up their life savings in order to pay their bills.

BTW Now I am 100% certain that liberalism is a mental disorder.

Funny, I feel the same way about Conservatism.

 

[Lord Civius]

What great strides? Iraq has not been stabilized, the Taliban are still fighting in Afghanistan and Osama is still on the loose. I don't see any great progess frankly. If anything you have more people hating you over there than you ever did before.

A country that was ruled by a dictator for 30 years now has a representative Gov't. That same country that was supporting terrorism against the west is now fighting along side the U.S. to rid its country of foreign terrorists and local Shiites extremists trained and armed by Iran.

You could have done that in Afghanistan as well.

Afganistan is a little different because of Pakistan. The Taliban have had free reign crossing the border at will with a safe haven just across the border. If you keep up with popular events then you would know that the more extreme groups in pakistan are losing elections to the more moderate ones. Democracy is taking root and it is only a matter of time before the people turn on the Islamic Extremists as they have been doing in Iraq of late.

Oh please, yet another demonization of a sovereign nation. Iran has shown no intention of threatening it's neighbours, why even bother with them? It's an age old political tactic to create an enemy in order to draw people's attention away from the problems at home. I see Bush has been putting that to good use.

Do you live in a cave? They are training and arming terrorists in Iraq. They are trying to build a nuclear bomb to hasten the return of the 12th Imam. Their Prez has proclaimed the destruction of Israel and the U.S. Their people are oppressed under theocratic rule. Eventually when people keep telling you they are going to do something you should start listening to them, especially when they are enriching Uranium.

You are aware that the US has the largest prison population of any country in the world aren't you? They even surpassed the Soviet Union when it was still around.

You do understand the difference between lawbreakers and political prisoners right?

And what about those secret CIA bases we heard so much about the past few years, and Gauntanamo Bay were people are being held with no rights whatsoever? The Bush administration even went so far as to claim they were not covered under the Geneva Convention.

Oh Club Gitmo . There are rules of war (the Geneva Convention) and you have to abide by the rules when you wage war. The Geneva Convention is in place to make sure human rights are granted to enemy combatants that follow the rules. If you give those rights to terrorists then there is no deterrent to such tactics.

Right, and the American model is so wonderful where millions of people can't even afford to get medical care and many end up having to sell their homes and using up their life savings in order to pay their bills.

Ya that happens all the time here . No one is refused medical attention here, not even illegal immigrants. No system is perfect but we definately have the best of the worst. The problem is everytime the government gets in the way it gets worse. Empower the individual and you will create competition. Competition lowers costs and the consumer wins. Capitalism is always better, everytime no matter what.

Funny, I feel the same way about Conservatism.

Is that supposed to be a joke, cause its not funny.

 

[Napalm102]

Empower the individual and you will create competition. Competition lowers costs and the consumer wins. Capitalism is always better, everytime no matter what.

Rofl, what are you smoking? Capitalism cares for the consumer, true, but it also disregards the working individual. The point here is, somewhere along the way to make the same product cheaper someone, somwhere will have to work for less and for longer time. The profit can only be reduced somuch, beyond that people who work will pay the price.

Capitalism needs to be watched 24/7 or it will turn an individual ito a drone in a ways that communism could only dream off. I mean how bad is it in US already? Two weeks vacation time per year, and no pay for overtime? All it comes down to: work, money, work, money...when the heck do you guys have time to actually enjoy the life?

I mean what I said above is obviously extreme, but I still beleive that pure capitalism is something to be aware off.

Oh Club Gitmo . There are rules of war (the Geneva Convention) and you have to abide by the rules when you wage war. The Geneva Convention is in place to make sure human rights are granted to enemy combatants that follow the rules. If you give those rights to terrorists then there is no deterrent to such tactics.

Yeah, c'mon by the same logic any prisoner on the death row should just be torn appart as painfully as possible, cause they violated those very human rights themselves? The state is supposed to uphold the law and the human rights of others, irrespective of what the individual has done. The reson for this is simple, if you don't, you're no better then the terrorists themselves.

 

[caketastydelish]

'

There had been weapons inspectors for years looking for them and they kept saying that their were none. Yet the Bush administration trumped up some evidence to convince the world that there were.



You mean like all those people that are working for minimum wage and barely surviving? How much were the people working in Nike's sweatshops being paid? Yet how many millions of profit was the company making off their labours?



No, instead you have people sleeping in the streets because they can't afford to put a roof over their head. Don't get me started on the advantages of a free market on housing. The area I live in has had a housing boom the past few years with all sorts of speculation going on in order to make a quick buck. The result is that the prices have jumped so high that ordinary people can no longer afford to buy them, only the rich. It's becoming difficult to even find a decent apartment to live in since all these companies are busy building high-priced condos and not bothering with rental accomodation.



You've got to be kiddding! China has had the fastest growing economy in the world for many years now. Taiwan doesn't even come close. There you go again spouting misinformation without knowing anything about what's going on in this world.

Of coarse China has a bigger economy. They have a much larger population! They are a much bigger country! I was talking PORPORTIANALLY. If you took out one section of china(besides Hong Kong) and all the population from that area(and the population should be equal to Taiwan's) you would find Taiwan is producing a lot more than China! So yes, China has a bigger economy they are the bigger country. But proprtianlly speaking, Taiwan's is bigger. I can give you a source for that if you need it.

I am aware that even Democracy isn't perfect. "Democracy is the worst system of government except all other kinds have failed."

Anyway, The Soviet Union had a LOT of poverty. Even more, than the United States today, believe it or not. Cuba is also very poor. As I pointed out, South Korea's economy is much better than the North. Infact, north Korea has one of the smallest economys in the world.

Why do you think those jobs by American companys are being worked by Chinese Laborers in the first place? Because they get paid less. Its more profitable for them. Thats why. Otherwise, they would make the products right here in the United States! Under communism, the people the economy is worse, and people are more desperate to get paid anything. With the Tibbet thing going on, China is more worse off than ever before. I don't know who your kidding.

 

[Grimz101]

Of coarse China has a bigger economy. They have a much larger population! They are a much bigger country! I was talking PORPORTIANALLY. If you took out one section of china(besides Hong Kong) and all the population from that area(and the population should be equal to Taiwan's) you would find Taiwan is producing a lot more than China! So yes, China has a bigger economy they are the bigger country. But proprtianlly speaking, Taiwan's is bigger. I can give you a source for that if you need it.

I am aware that even Democracy isn't perfect. "Democracy is the worst system of government except all other kinds have failed."

Anyway, The Soviet Union had a LOT of poverty. Even more, than the United States today, believe it or not. Cuba is also very poor. As I pointed out, South Korea's economy is much better than the North. Infact, north Korea has one of the smallest economys in the world.

Why do you think those jobs by American companys are being worked by Chinese Laborers in the first place? Because they get paid less. Its more profitable for them. Thats why. Otherwise, they would make the products right here in the United States! Under communism, the people the economy is worse, and people are more desperate to get paid anything. With the Tibbet thing going on, China is more worse off than ever before. I don't know who your kidding.

Liechtenstein has just over $106,000 GDP(According to CIA world Factbook) per Capita, proportionally you would find Liechtenstein owns Taiwan.. using this data i can point and say we should all follows Liechtenstein's system of goverment, but i wont that would be stupid.. thats the same thing you doing for Taiwan, dont rely on statistics to prove your arguement, do more !

Look at India worlds biggest democracy.. look at the problems of poverty and the castle system.. democracy does not automaticly mean wealth, it is all about transitions.. look at China its not Democratic or officially Capitalist, yet its projected to have a stronger economy then USA by 2050, maybe even sooner with the credit crunch and if USA dips into recession..

Chinise people getting the Jobs due to globalization, like also USA telecomms industry moving to India, because of globalization, this is argued not to be good for America and protectionism and tariffs are meant to solve this.

Communism does not mean worse economy.. and moving on no country is truely Capitalist, they are mixes of state control(which you think is communism) and free markets(capitalism)..
And oh please whats worse Tibet, and Americas lack of comment on it, or America's invasion of Iraq resulting in millions dead indirectly or directly..

 

[Grimz101]

A country that was ruled by a dictator for 30 years now has a representative Gov't. That same country that was supporting terrorism against the west is now fighting along side the U.S. to rid its country of foreign terrorists and local Shiites extremists trained and armed by Iran.

Whilist Saddam was in power could you walk from one side of Bagdad to the other without fear of dieing? Answer Yes

Current Iraq, can you walk from one side of Bagdad to the other without fear of dieing/kidnapped and being executed for crimes of America? Answer hell no, i wouldnt walk down from one side to the other without a bribe in the millions, a bulletproof vest, helmet, gun and military escort, aswell as an Iman.
Americas invasion has achieved a civil war, negative GDP growth, millions fleeing, social problems that will plauge Iraq for generations, a recruitment base for the Taliban, Insurgents ect

Afganistan is a little different because of Pakistan. The Taliban have had free reign crossing the border at will with a safe haven just across the border. If you keep up with popular events then you would know that the more extreme groups in pakistan are losing elections to the more moderate ones. Democracy is taking root and it is only a matter of time before the people turn on the Islamic Extremists as they have been doing in Iraq of late.

Free reign you make it sound like Pakistan military supports them, and does not persue them..? UN troops have chased the Taliban over the border numerous times violating Pakistans border, and Pakistan's response to this has been anger.
You make it sound like there will be a civil war, with deaths, and Muslims crying Jihad, i could say in Germany 'Extreme' capitalist with no care for the enviroment are losing seats and its only a matter of time before the Green party takes hold(they have been in minority goverments before i think)

Do you live in a cave? They are training and arming terrorists in Iraq. They are trying to build a nuclear bomb to hasten the return of the 12th Imam. Their Prez has proclaimed the destruction of Israel and the U.S. Their people are oppressed under theocratic rule. Eventually when people keep telling you they are going to do something you should start listening to them, especially when they are enriching Uranium.

Why should America hold right over Nuclear power, Show me proof of the goverment trainning terrorists, that i cannot point to as propoganda, and foolishness calling an entire army a terrorist organization..
Well Israel has no right being there , many countries have said the same thing, dont mean they are gonna do it, could mean destruction of Israel's and America's influence on the Middle east..
If there was a general sense of huge oppression im sure there would have been an uprising by now, rule in the Middle east by Muslims was always theocratic and they were doing fine there to me untill the Colonial powers screwed it up.
Look at the Nuclear powers, any major wars between them, does that not prove MAD works, and please tell me how will Iran get the Ballistic missiles to nuke USA ?

Oh Club Gitmo . There are rules of war (the Geneva Convention) and you have to abide by the rules when you wage war. The Geneva Convention is in place to make sure human rights are granted to enemy combatants that follow the rules. If you give those rights to terrorists then there is no deterrent to such tactics.

So are you saying criminals in the USA should be executed because they give up their human rights when they commit a crime, not following Human rights will make us just like them the Terrorists.. from their viewpoint are we not terrorising them, show me the benefits to Iraq outweight the negatives.

Ya that happens all the time here . No one is refused medical attention here, not even illegal immigrants. No system is perfect but we definately have the best of the worst. The problem is everytime the government gets in the way it gets worse. Empower the individual and you will create competition. Competition lowers costs and the consumer wins. Capitalism is always better, everytime no matter what.

I agree there need to be reforms too, we agree on something lets celebrate, except on Capitalism being better 100%, what you mean to say to a certain extent, and to within limits, with state intervention or we could end up with something similar to resident evil

 

[caketastydelish]

Liechtenstein has just over $106,000 GDP(According to CIA world Factbook) per Capita, proportionally you would find Liechtenstein owns Taiwan.. using this data i can point and say we should all follows Liechtenstein's system of goverment, but i wont that would be stupid.. thats the same thing you doing for Taiwan, dont rely on statistics to prove your arguement, do more !

Look at India worlds biggest democracy.. look at the problems of poverty and the castle system.. democracy does not automaticly mean wealth, it is all about transitions.. look at China its not Democratic or officially Capitalist, yet its projected to have a stronger economy then USA by 2050, maybe even sooner with the credit crunch and if USA dips into recession..

Chinise people getting the Jobs due to globalization, like also USA telecomms industry moving to India, because of globalization, this is argued not to be good for America and protectionism and tariffs are meant to solve this.

Communism does not mean worse economy.. and moving on no country is truely Capitalist, they are mixes of state control(which you think is communism) and free markets(capitalism)..
And oh please whats worse Tibet, and Americas lack of comment on it, or America's invasion of Iraq resulting in millions dead indirectly or directly..

You got me there with Iraq. I hope we withdraw soon. Everyone hates us for it, and its costing us a fortune. India has poverty because of overpopulation. With a few exceptions, overpopulation always leads to poverty. (Japan for example, has overpopulation but they aren't that poor). Generally however, overpopulation is a bad thing. Canada is in a trade surplus and US is in defecit. Canada has much less population than United States, but a lot of territory and recources.

And where is Lienchienstien by the way? That dosen't even sound Chinese to me, therefore its irrelevent (or is it Chinese, you tell me).

Generally, communism DOES mean worse economy. For reasons I have already mentioned in this thread.

 

[Grimz101]

To add to terrorism debate, or fuel to be used in future debate
(laughs evily about my evil plan to derail this thread)

First lets define terrorism in my mind, and yes its encourages to argue about this definition later, and how i just stole it from wikipedia
"The deliberate use of violence, or threat of its use, against innocent people..."

Now lets move onto what i think is the greatest act of terrorism in recorded history
Japan 1945, Two nuclear attacks against Civilians not military.. Osama could only dream to achieve such death to the 'infidels'

Did not America supply and arm counter-revolutionary guerrillas in Cuba, aswell as the bay of bigs, also Operation Mongoose, a US program of sabotage and other secret operations against the island. The scope of Mongoose included sabotage actions against a railway bridge, petroleum storage facilities, a molasses storage container, a petroleum refinery, a power plant, a sawmill, and a floating crane.

They also considered Operation Northwoods which as no one else has talked about it i shall just copy and paste its intentions.

A secret plan, Operation Northwoods, was approved by the the Pentagon and Joint Chiefs of Staff and submitted for action to Robert McNamara. This plan included acts of violence on U.S. soil or against U.S. interests, such as plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities; blowing up a U.S. ship, and contemplated causing U.S. military casualties, writing: "We could blow up a U.S. ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba," and, "The U.S. could follow up with an air/sea rescue operation covered by U.S. fighters 'evacuate' remaining members of the non-existent crew. Casualty lists in U.S. newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation." The plan was rejected by the Kennedy administration after the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

All i can say is thank goodness for Kennedy's change of mind, and damn your joint chiefs..

again look..

a case heard in 1986 by the International Court of Justice which found that the United States had violated international law by direct acts of U.S. personnel and by the supporting Contra guerrillas in their war against the Nicaraguan government

The CIA has been accused of being the perpetrator of a 1985 Beirut car bombing which killed 81 people. The bombing was apparently an assassination attempt on an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.[125][126] The bombing, known as the Bir bombing after Bir el-Abed, the impoverished Beirut neighborhood in which it had occurred, was reported by the New York Times to have caused a "massive" explosion "even by local standards," killing 81 people, and wounding more than 200.

Seems to me that the CIA is one of the biggest terrorist organizations in the world..

 

[Grimz101]

You got me there with Iraq. I hope we withdraw soon. Everyone hates us for it, and its costing us a fortune. India has poverty because of overpopulation. With a few exceptions, overpopulation always leads to poverty. (Japan for example, has overpopulation but they aren't that poor). Generally however, overpopulation is a bad thing. Canada is in a trade surplus and US is in defecit. Canada has much less population than United States, but a lot of territory and recources.

And where is Lienchienstien by the way? That dosen't even sound Chinese to me, therefore its irrelevent (or is it Chinese, you tell me).

Generally, communism DOES mean worse economy. For reasons I have already mentioned in this thread.

Well i would say India has poverty because it produces more capital good which in the long term leads to an increase in standard of living but short term decline.. Infact i would think Overpopulation would be good providing a strong young work force, and more people to work for the benefit of the economy, and increasing competition, Sooo... Britain has lack of territory compared to Canada but a strong economy whats your point, US is in Defecit for numerous reasons, Canada has lots of oil to export thats why its in surplus..

Yes the country is in Europe next to switzerland i think, and its really small, i was just pointing out one can manipulate statistics with ease..

Capitalism and Communism have gains and benefits, one can point out the Soviet union had bad leaders when it came to economic expertise, and as soon as it became capitalist there was high inflation and negative growth for years, which made many people wish they were back to how it was with Communism, and one can also argue that what we saw was not true marxist communism..
Which leads me to the other point, imagine if the Red uprising in Russia was Capitalist not Communist, do you really think it would of been able to defeat Nazi Germany, and that industry growth would of been that high?

 

[Comrade Alex]

If you really think that 600,000 people have been DIRECTLY killed by US troops there is no point arguing with you. I have friends that have served in Iraq and we have had long discussions about attacking insurgents and making sure that they are enemies and not civilians. One of them is a 1st LT. and he will be the first to tell you that if you just open fire on anybody you will find yourself in a military prison for causing civilian deaths.

Oh of course, all those soldiers at My Lai were prosecuted, weren't they? Anyway, the US can easily palm off incidences of brutality as the work of "a few bad apples" rather than a terrible side effect of the army's excessive brainwashing of its troops.
Abu Ghraib anyone?

Indiscriminate bombing campaigns on soft targets?

Argue with the Lancet, not me.

One last thing, you lost to North Vietnam! You lost! Repeating any tired old "stabbed in the back" myth won't cange that.

I see all that money the Americans spent on propaganda was not wasted, then.

 

[Comrade Alex]

I believe that it's fairly obvious that the post-invasion Iraqi government was installed by the Americans, through rigged elections. The shi'ite majority would undoubtedly elect a pro-shia, pro-Iran government.

But the president is a sunni and a kurd.
whoops.

 

[Comrade Alex]

I've read you hold up brutal dictators like Castro yet you slam the democratically elected Prez of the U.S.. Castro Throws people in prison and kills some for their political views. His healthcare system is two tiered one for people, one of the worst in the world and one for the powerful, one of the best in the world

Wait, you were talking about Cuba? That sounds an awful lot like the US to me. Two tiered healt, two tiered housing, two tiered education. Go outside American, look around you and soak in the inequality.
Throwing people in prison for their political beliefs? Ooof. I smell Guantanamo.

And I believe that helathcare in Cuba is universal, as is education. The death penalty has been abolished.


I live in a capitalist democracy.
The inequality.

 

[Willem]

A country that was ruled by a dictator for 30 years now has a representative Gov't.

Which is almost totally ineffectual and barely able to hold the country together. There are large areas in Iraq where they have absolutely no power at all because they are in the control of the various factions.

That same country that was supporting terrorism against the west ...

More Bush propaganda, I see he's done a good job of brainwashing the American public. It has been proven that Saddam had no connections with Al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization, even your CIA has said as much. It just wasn't his way of doing things.

Afganistan is a little different because of Pakistan. The Taliban have had free reign crossing the border at will with a safe haven just across the border.

And all those troops that are now in Iraq would have been unable to make it harder for them to cross over?

Do you live in a cave? They are training and arming terrorists in Iraq.

And who provided them with the window of opportunity to do so? Sure as hell they wouldn't have been able to if Saddam was still around. That's the funny thing about creating a power vacuum, someone is always going to step in and fill it.

They are trying to build a nuclear bomb to hasten the return of the 12th Imam.

Or maybe they're just trying to ensure that they can protect themselves from Israel who has been rumoured to have had nuclear bombs for many years. Why is it OK for the US and the other western nations to have huge stockpiles of nuclear devices but it's not for Iran? They have as much right to establish a deterrant as anyone else. And with the way Bush has been rattling his sabres in their direction lately, I can understand that they might be a bit nervous and want some sort of insurance policy.

Their people are oppressed under theocratic rule.

The clergy doesn't have nearly as tight a control as it once did. And the people there also have the opportunity to elect their own president. That's more than can be said of the Chinese people, yet the US isn't heading for a showdown with them.

The Geneva Convention is in place to make sure human rights are granted to enemy combatants that follow the rules. If you give those rights to terrorists then there is no deterrent to such tactics.

So I guess that makes the terrorists not human then, that they can't be afforded the same basic rights that everyone else is entitled to?

The problem is everytime the government gets in the way it gets worse.

The US is the only industrialized nation in the world to not have a public health care system. All the rest of us have managed to make it work, so what's wrong with you people?

No one is refused medical attention here, not even illegal immigrants.

But all they get is the most basic treatment. Do you honestly think that someone without a dime to his name would get triple-bypass surgery there if they needed it? Not a chance!

Empower the individual and you will create competition. Competition lowers costs and the consumer wins.

Tell that to the people that have to sell their homes because of an illness. I personally think that it's a crime for someone to profit from another person's misfortunes.

Is that supposed to be a joke, cause its not funny.

What's the matter, you can't take what you dish out?

 

[Willem]

Of coarse China has a bigger economy. They have a much larger population! They are a much bigger country! I was talking PORPORTIANALLY. If you took out one section of china(besides Hong Kong) and all the population from that area(and the population should be equal to Taiwan's) you would find Taiwan is producing a lot more than China! So yes, China has a bigger economy they are the bigger country. But proprtianlly speaking, Taiwan's is bigger. I can give you a source for that if you need it.

I wasn't talking about the economies of scale, I'm referring to sheer growth. The Chinese ecomony is outstripping anyone else's and has been for a long time. At the rate they're going it won't be too long before overall they're the richest nation on earth. They're certainly doing much better than Taiwan. Taiwan may have had a head start over the mainland, but they're going to be left in the dust before too long. China is poised to be the next world superpower and chances are it's going to end up being more powerful than the US, both in terms of economic clout and military might. The US is already in debt to them for billions of dollars.

 

[Willem]

Oh of course, all those soldiers at My Lai were prosecuted, weren't they?

Yeah, three years of house arrest is a pretty tough sentence. And that was only the commander, the rest of them weren't even charged. Now that's going to set a good example to the rest of the armed forces!

 

[Willem]

Empower the individual and you will create competition. Competition lowers costs and the consumer wins. Capitalism is always better, everytime no matter what.

BTW, you might want to reconsider this statement after reading this study. It seems that the US has the most expensive health care system per capita in the world. So much for free enterprise! And gee, it only took me a couple of seconds on Google to dig it up! And look who sponsored the study! The University of Maine, one of your own.

http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S. HCweb.pdf

 

[caketastydelish]

BTW, you might want to reconsider this statement after reading this study. It seems that the US has the most expensive health care system per capita in the world. So much for free enterprise! And gee, it only took me a couple of seconds on Google to dig it up! And look who sponsored the study! The University of Maine, one of your own.

http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S. HCweb.pdf

I agree with you that American health care should NOT be free enterprise. I believe the government should gurantee universal health care to all.

However, not ALL thing's should be controlled by the government. Health care is one of the exceptions, that should. American health care is nowhere near as good as it could and should be. Watch the movie Sicko!