I didn't quite know how to answer this one, because I don't think my opinion fits either of the answers. I don't want to say "NO!", because I don't believe that, BUT I don't wont to choose, "Yes! Get out now!", because I don't think we're at a point that people need to be fleeing.
So, I suppose my answer is: Yes, somewhat. But, not past the point of redemption. Please let me further explain myself. I have a few points I'd like to address.
-First, I'd like to say something about some of the previous answers, specifically the ones coming from other countries. Of course I don't speak for ALL non-Americans but, as a general rule, you need to take their criticisms with a grain of salt. I don't mean to imply that any of you are stupid, but a lot of foreigners I talk to tend to have this image of all Americans being redneck, racist, trigger happy, assholes. Not to say that we're innocent of this, though. It's very similar to how a lot of Americans have an inaccurate image of Middle Eastern peoples.
Now, on to the discussion.
-I think there are a few key issues at play here. First is simply, poor leadership. I know, I know, "It's all Bush's fault! Obama's just trying to fix everything!". Now, not that I like Bush at all, but Obama is no better. In fact, he's not much different at all except that he's a whole lot sneakier. In five years, Obama has brought our deficit from $6 trillion to nearly $17 trillion, not to mention the estimated $9 to $11 trillion that will be added to that with the new immigration laws. Our debt makes us weaker, and this is a HUGE factor.
-Bogus wars. The War on Terror is ridiculous. We armed and created Al-Qaeda when we gave them a bunch of weapons and training during the cold war. Then, when it turned out they had the resources our government wanted, we started a war we couldn't finish. The War on Drugs is another one. Let's be honest, it's the war on Marijuana. We've been jacking up punishments on it with mandatory minimum sentencing laws and such, when we shouldn't be fighting it at all. I don't even smoke it(or anything else, for that matter). Never have, never will. But, it shouldn't be a criminal activity. All these laws accomplish is putting otherwise law abiding, non-violent citizens in prison. What we SHOULD do, is switch from criminal enforcement to taxation. Take it off the Controlled Substances Act, let states decide if they want to legalize it recreationally or not, and tax it like we tax alcohol and tobacco. Boom, that's two birds with one stone, it would add over $100 billion to our national budget AND end the War on Drugs.
-We're too heavily involved in foreign affairs. Nobody likes it when America tries to police the world, and it only ends up biting us in the ass. Like, take the situation with the Syrian rebels, for example. Obama is going to go ahead and arm them, thereby giving weapons to people who want us dead at the same time as pissing of the Russians, too. Do we really want to take this road? What we should be doing is backing up the U.N. on some de-escalation campaigns, not giving weapons to a bunch of random people and making their government even more unstable.
-Our Government is making a power play. If you haven't noticed, the Constitution and Bill of Rights are sort of being put through the shredder at the moment. All our rights are being challenged. The NSA can now dismiss our right to privacy. It is now illegal to protest on government soil, so there goes the right to petition the government. Did you hear about Jared Marcum? They tried to give him a year in prison for wearing an NRA t-shirt to school. Then there's also the whole gun rights battle, that I don't really feel like getting into. Also, now that the media is completely controlled, we've seen several attempts in the past few years to censor the internet, or control it, by the government. By the way, what happened to our right to a fair trial? That's gone with the Patriot Act. Then, they add in the National Defense Authorization Act, so even if you DO have a trial, and are proven INOCCENT, you can still be held by the government. Think that wouldn't happen? Did you know that 86(approx. one half) of the prisoners still in Guantanamo Bay have been cleared of all charges already, yet are still being held?
I like how people complain about America making "power plays" with other nations as if this is a bad thing. It benefits everyone in the United States if they are powerful. Why anyone would argue for the US to be less powerful?
Alternatively, the US could just go play in their little corner and not bother anyone, like Canada does. But have you ever heard of anyone calling Canada a Superpower? No. That's mediocrity.
And you must understand that foreign policy and domestic finances are related issues. We are able to amass so much debt as a direct result of our military might. We are so intertwined in global affairs that it becomes impossible for anyone on the outside to devalue our currency. The moment we stop acting like a global power and step back from world affairs is the moment when we actually do run into financial problems.
Is America becoming a bad country to live in?
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I didn't quite know how to answer this one, because I don't think my opinion fits either of the answers. I don't want to say "NO!", because I don't believe that, BUT I don't wont to choose, "Yes! Get out now!", because I don't think we're at a point that people need to be fleeing.
So, I suppose my answer is: Yes, somewhat. But, not past the point of redemption. Please let me further explain myself. I have a few points I'd like to address.
-First, I'd like to say something about some of the previous answers, specifically the ones coming from other countries. Of course I don't speak for ALL non-Americans but, as a general rule, you need to take their criticisms with a grain of salt. I don't mean to imply that any of you are stupid, but a lot of foreigners I talk to tend to have this image of all Americans being redneck, racist, trigger happy, assholes. Not to say that we're innocent of this, though. It's very similar to how a lot of Americans have an inaccurate image of Middle Eastern peoples.
Now, on to the discussion.
-I think there are a few key issues at play here. First is simply, poor leadership. I know, I know, "It's all Bush's fault! Obama's just trying to fix everything!". Now, not that I like Bush at all, but Obama is no better. In fact, he's not much different at all except that he's a whole lot sneakier. In five years, Obama has brought our deficit from $6 trillion to nearly $17 trillion, not to mention the estimated $9 to $11 trillion that will be added to that with the new immigration laws. Our debt makes us weaker, and this is a HUGE factor.
-Bogus wars. The War on Terror is ridiculous. We armed and created Al-Qaeda when we gave them a bunch of weapons and training during the cold war. Then, when it turned out they had the resources our government wanted, we started a war we couldn't finish. The War on Drugs is another one. Let's be honest, it's the war on Marijuana. We've been jacking up punishments on it with mandatory minimum sentencing laws and such, when we shouldn't be fighting it at all. I don't even smoke it(or anything else, for that matter). Never have, never will. But, it shouldn't be a criminal activity. All these laws accomplish is putting otherwise law abiding, non-violent citizens in prison. What we SHOULD do, is switch from criminal enforcement to taxation. Take it off the Controlled Substances Act, let states decide if they want to legalize it recreationally or not, and tax it like we tax alcohol and tobacco. Boom, that's two birds with one stone, it would add over $100 billion to our national budget AND end the War on Drugs.
-We're too heavily involved in foreign affairs. Nobody likes it when America tries to police the world, and it only ends up biting us in the ass. Like, take the situation with the Syrian rebels, for example. Obama is going to go ahead and arm them, thereby giving weapons to people who want us dead at the same time as pissing of the Russians, too. Do we really want to take this road? What we should be doing is backing up the U.N. on some de-escalation campaigns, not giving weapons to a bunch of random people and making their government even more unstable.
-Our Government is making a power play. If you haven't noticed, the Constitution and Bill of Rights are sort of being put through the shredder at the moment. All our rights are being challenged. The NSA can now dismiss our right to privacy. It is now illegal to protest on government soil, so there goes the right to petition the government. Did you hear about Jared Marcum? They tried to give him a year in prison for wearing an NRA t-shirt to school. Then there's also the whole gun rights battle, that I don't really feel like getting into. Also, now that the media is completely controlled, we've seen several attempts in the past few years to censor the internet, or control it, by the government. By the way, what happened to our right to a fair trial? That's gone with the Patriot Act. Then, they add in the National Defense Authorization Act, so even if you DO have a trial, and are proven INOCCENT, you can still be held by the government. Think that wouldn't happen? Did you know that 86(approx. one half) of the prisoners still in Guantanamo Bay have been cleared of all charges already, yet are still being held?
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Sog
10 years ago
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I like how people complain about America making "power plays" with other nations as if this is a bad thing. It benefits everyone in the United States if they are powerful. Why anyone would argue for the US to be less powerful?
Alternatively, the US could just go play in their little corner and not bother anyone, like Canada does. But have you ever heard of anyone calling Canada a Superpower? No. That's mediocrity.
And you must understand that foreign policy and domestic finances are related issues. We are able to amass so much debt as a direct result of our military might. We are so intertwined in global affairs that it becomes impossible for anyone on the outside to devalue our currency. The moment we stop acting like a global power and step back from world affairs is the moment when we actually do run into financial problems.