We know this with certainty because we have been fighting terrorism for thousands of years... (edited and removed to shorten)
My point exactly. You've been fighting it for thousands of years?
Well, you obviousely don't have a solution to it either, but how quickly the U.S. is judged for their methods in just 5 short years.
-Ashyn
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
I was talking about their reaction to the terrorist attacks on their soil. They took it with grace. Perhaps because they have more experience with terrorism.
Yes, they did take it with grace...................
over and over, and over, and over, and over, and over and over, and over, and over, and over.................
Which is exactly what we don't want happening to us.
Originally posted by MadAce
Let's hope when we have to knock at your door there still weill be a door and not a brick wall guarded by centries...
I'd welcome the brick wall, guarded by great big, burly centries - bouncers if you will.
There are tramps here. I can probably find you picture on the internet too.
It is not true of every nation of the world, Myspace is primarily used by Americans. The bulk of all internet services are primarily used by Americans. The rest of the world has more access and insight into the everyday lives and thoughts of Americans than any other populace.
Not every nation in the world has wide spread access to the internet at all, and almost none have had for as long as the U.S. It is an American led and American fueled Media.
yes, myspace is primarily used by americans, but not only americans. the rule still applies. youtube is popular throughout the world, its not an american only service, ive seen several vids just today on youtube that came from Australia, UK, this forum is used by people from around the world.
I have no problems with generalisations. If I say every person in America owns a pair of shoes, it's a generalisation, but a true one and it gives a functional understanding of the weatlh of the nation and a good idea of what people should expect if they travel there.
and your generalization would be wrong, i have been homeless, i know what it is to not even have a pair of shoes. generalizations are not an accurate measurement of anything. do all orientals have small wangs? do all blackmen have huge wangs? the answer to both is NO. its the same as generalizing that all americans are stupid or whores. am i stupid? if not, am i the exception or the rule? if so, then i guess this convo is pointless. btw, you have no idea of what to expect if you traveled here, and even if you traveled to the east coast, it would still be very different if you traveled to the midwest.
Hitler may be a bad leader, but he didn't go to war on his own. He was immensley popular with the German people, who themselves had something of a track record of starting world wars even before he came to power. It wasn't just Hitler, and most Germans didn't oppose him. It would be a mistake to grant each German with the benefit of the doubt as we did after WW1, a mistake which cost us millions of lives and a good proportion of our cities. It wasn't just Hitler we were after. It was Germany. The German people, to teach them how it felt personaly, individually and generally. A war on their own soil, not just in the Reichstag.
this youre right about, Hitler wasnt alone, i never claimed that he was. but what i said was that not all germans believed and acted like he did. if that were the case, we would have had to completely kill off the entire population, because as soon as Hitler was dead, some other german would have just taken his place as ruthless dictator. and you have to give people the benefit of the doubt, regardless of the consequences. otherwise we might as well kill off every german, scotsmen, englishman, american, indian, spanish, french, mexican, korean, japanese, italian, russian, cuban, and egyptian in the entire world because every one of their countries were involved in a war at one point in history. doesnt make any sense does it? i dont act or do the things me father did. im sure youre not exactly like your father.
The thing about generalisations is, even if you are the exception to the rule, the rule is still good.
this works only with numbers. not with people. tbh, every aussie ive met has been a prick, how fair would it be for me to assume that all aussies are pricks?
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Don't they? We haven't had another bombing on our soil since.
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Don't they? We haven't had another bombing on our soil since.
-Ashyn
If you'd have listened to us, you wouldn't have had the first one.
Terrorism can't be defeated, only prevented. The threat is always there. Since you have finally adopted decent airport security, you haven't lost another plane. Surprise surprise.
We've heard all your smarter than us about terrorism stuff before.
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Don't they? We haven't had another bombing on our soil since.
-Ashyn
If you'd have listened to us, you wouldn't have had the first one.
Terrorism can't be defeated, only prevented. The threat is always there. Since you have finally adopted decent airport security, you haven't lost another plane. Surprise surprise.
No, if you would have DEALT with it within those 1,000 years, we wouldn't have had the first one.
I was talking about their reaction to the terrorist attacks on their soil. They took it with grace. Perhaps because they have more experience with terrorism.
Yes, they did take it with grace...................
over and over, and over, and over, and over, and over and over, and over, and over, and over.................
Which is exactly what we don't want happening to us.
Actually not over and over and over and over and over and over.
Spain once and the UK once too. Since then all terrorist plots have been foiled. And Spain did that without invading a country (actually they retreated their troops).
Of course both countries were the victim of terrorism in the past, domestic terrosims. And both countries have solved that problem largely and are certainly capable of containing it.
Get your facts straight.
The only thing I couldn't disprove was
I'd welcome the brick wall, guarded by great big, burly centries - bouncers if you will.
The revolving door is getting pretty old.
I bet that's exactly what the Roman Empire did before being destroyed...
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Don't they? We haven't had another bombing on our soil since.
-Ashyn
Are you joking??? Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
There are tramps here. I can probably find you picture on the internet too.
It is not true of every nation of the world, Myspace is primarily used by Americans. The bulk of all internet services are primarily used by Americans. The rest of the world has more access and insight into the everyday lives and thoughts of Americans than any other populace.
Not every nation in the world has wide spread access to the internet at all, and almost none have had for as long as the U.S. It is an American led and American fueled Media.
yes, myspace is primarily used by americans, but not only americans. the rule still applies. youtube is popular throughout the world, its not an american only service, ive seen several vids just today on youtube that came from Australia, UK, this forum is used by people from around the world.
I have no problems with generalisations. If I say every person in America owns a pair of shoes, it's a generalisation, but a true one and it gives a functional understanding of the weatlh of the nation and a good idea of what people should expect if they travel there.
and your generalization would be wrong, i have been homeless, i know what it is to not even have a pair of shoes. generalizations are not an accurate measurement of anything. do all orientals have small wangs? do all blackmen have huge wangs? the answer to both is NO. its the same as generalizing that all americans are stupid or whores. am i stupid? if not, am i the exception or the rule? if so, then i guess this convo is pointless. btw, you have no idea of what to expect if you traveled here, and even if you traveled to the east coast, it would still be very different if you traveled to the midwest.
Hitler may be a bad leader, but he didn't go to war on his own. He was immensley popular with the German people, who themselves had something of a track record of starting world wars even before he came to power. It wasn't just Hitler, and most Germans didn't oppose him. It would be a mistake to grant each German with the benefit of the doubt as we did after WW1, a mistake which cost us millions of lives and a good proportion of our cities. It wasn't just Hitler we were after. It was Germany. The German people, to teach them how it felt personaly, individually and generally. A war on their own soil, not just in the Reichstag.
this youre right about, Hitler wasnt alone, i never claimed that he was. but what i said was that not all germans believed and acted like he did. if that were the case, we would have had to completely kill off the entire population, because as soon as Hitler was dead, some other german would have just taken his place as ruthless dictator. and you have to give people the benefit of the doubt, regardless of the consequences. otherwise we might as well kill off every german, scotsmen, englishman, american, indian, spanish, french, mexican, korean, japanese, italian, russian, cuban, and egyptian in the entire world because every one of their countries were involved in a war at one point in history. doesnt make any sense does it? i dont act or do the things me father did. im sure youre not exactly like your father.
The thing about generalisations is, even if you are the exception to the rule, the rule is still good.
this works only with numbers. not with people. tbh, every aussie ive met has been a prick, how fair would it be for me to assume that all aussies are pricks?
I had shoes when I was homeless. But if you didn't that just makes you the exception. Generalisations work exceptionally well with people.
You in your life no matter how distasteful you find it, fit into many generalisations. You have much in common with many people. Many of the things that are true about you are true about many other people. As individual as you are, you are still part of the group. There are stereotypes that still apply to you.
Many of those commonalities are specific to your nation. Nations have national traits. The populaces significanlty differ in character.
I used to think I didn't act like my father either. But the older I get the more I start to recognise it.
Ashyn sorry I apologize, I have read a couple of your posts just now about Terrorism and now I understand that you are not joking. As long as you believe that things are fine and that things are working that is all that matters, because you wont understand why there has not been another attack on your soil. Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
I had shoes when I was homeless. But if you didn't that just makes you the exception. Generalisations work exceptionally well with people.
You in your life no matter how distasteful you find it, fit into many generalisations. You have much in common with many people. Many of the things that are true about you are true about many other people. As individual as you are, you are still part of the group. There are stereotypes that still apply to you.
Many of those commonalities are specific to your nation. Nations have national traits. The populaces significanlty differ in character.
I used to think I didn't act like my father either. But the older I get the more I start to recognise it.
you completely missed me point. i dont know how you did it, but you did. if your father was a coldblooded killer, that doesnt mean that you will be. its a proven fact, no use arguing with it. me fathers gay, im not. no amount of getting "older" is going to change that. generalizations dont work, they just make people mad when they see those prejudices. like i said, many of the aussies ive come across were pricks, are they all pricks? would it be fair for me to make a generalization that all aussies are pricks because of those that i met? hell no, now im not sure if youre just trying to argue for arguements sake, but im going to assume that youre not.
and me point about the homeless without shoes was that you said that the generalization that all americans had shoes was true, i disproved it. whether im the exception or not, its still not a true generalization. thats why generalizations dont work for people, because there are always exceptions. are all muslims plane stealing building crashing kamakaze retards that want to kill all americans? if so, why is it wrong to make war with them? you seem to be one of the main people arguing that america should pull out of this war, if so, why not kill all the dirty bastards, if the generalizations are true? see how generalizations could be a problem?
Originally posted by baff Generalisations aren't disproved by exceptions, they are proved by them.
so answer me questions then. are all aussies pricks? are all muslims murders and worthy of our wrath? btw, your "Generalisations aren't disproved by exceptions, they are proved by them" makes no sense. in what way are generalizations proved by exceptions?
A generalisation is not a 100% exacting rule. It is a generalisation. Something that is generally true, not an absolute empiric formula.
The exception proves the rule. Exceptions are expected in every generalisation.
.
If we take the generalisation that all muslims are plane stealing suicide bombers, and only a very few exceptions of them aren't. Then the Exception would prove the rule.
If on the otherhand it turns out that muslims who don't steal planes and use them to suicde bomb are not the exception at all but in fact the majority, our rule is not proven. Our generalisation incorrect.
Originally posted by baff Generally you find aussies to be pricks.
A generalisation is not a 100% exacting rule. It is a generalisation. Something that is generally true, not an absolute. The exception proves the rule. Exceptions are expected in every generalisation.
so if i made the generalization that all aussies are pricks, i could state that and no one could argue with me or defend themselves because its a true generalization. theyre just the exceptions that you speak of. does that sound about right to you?
generalizations about americans are considered to be the norm. one of the generalizations is that all americans are fat and lazy. is that a true generalization? even if i know many people that are neither? or is it only true to you? and if that is the case, isnt it you that has a problem? not the fat lazy americans who arent fat or lazy.
exceptions are indeed expected in every generalization, which is precisely why i dont like them. that way i dont come off as a dick for buying into a generalization that is proven to be false. like if i actually believed that all aussies were infact pricks. every nonprick aussie would think that im a dick for being so shallow as to judge them based on flawed perception.
"All Americans are fat and lazy" is a stereotype, not a generalisation.
If lots of people in the world all spoke of Aussies in a similar way as you do, then the Aussies might want to think about why they are percieved this way as a race.
It is a mistake to ignore evidence.
Just beacuse you don't like what you are hearing, doesn't mean it is untrue.
I'm bald. I don't like it when people mention it to me. But I'm still bald. (Just like my father, who inicidentally taught me to be a cold blooded killer, just like him).
Generalization is a foundational element of logic and human reasoning. It is the essential basis of all valid deductive inference. The concept of generalization has broad application in many related disciplines, sometimes having a specialized context-specific meaning.
For any two related concepts, A and B; A is considered a generalization of concept B if and only if:
every instance of concept B is also an instance of concept A; and
there are instances of concept A which are not instances of concept B.
For instance, animal is a generalization of bird because every bird is an animal, and there are animals which are not birds (dogs, for instance). (See also: specialization).
I don't know if this has been said already. And I'm still having trouble believing if it's true (as I've yet to research it). But my brother who is studying World History and is in Model UN at school (one of the countries his school takes a position in is China), has told me that China has purchased all of the United States' debts to other countries and, consequently, the government owes them 100 billion (trillion?) dollars (approximately). In other words, China could call us out on that debt and utterly decimate our economy and render the vaule of the dollar worthless. If that isn't terrifying I don't know what is. I don't know if they would ever do that or if it would be a benefit to do that, but it makes me think that China may be the new "world power" when it's time for us to fall.
If anyone knows anything more about this factoid, I'd really like to know. I almost can't believe it to be true, so any clarification would be lovely.
Edit: Questioning whether it's billions or trillions that we owe them.
Britain and Japan are the two biggest foreign investers in America in that order. China is number three but has recently traded it's Dollar reserves for Euros.
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 08 Dec 2006 at 07:17:41 PM GMT is:
$8,658,593,727,214.13
The estimated population of the United States is 300,417,224 so each citizen's share of this debt is $28,821.90. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $2.16 billion per day since September 29, 2006!
Above is a graphic to illustrate the timeline of U.S. national debt better, given as a proportion of GDP.
I certainly see China replacing U.S. domination in Asia anytime the U.S. withdraws. But not in any military confontational manner.
It's not often I am moved to reply, I mostly keep my thoughts to myself
Let me introduce myself,
I am a normal run of the mill American guy (normal? how do I know if i'm normal? subject for another topic I guess) Married 10 years with two wonderful children. I am not what some would consider an educated man, hence the spelling and gramer mistakes sure to be found and pointed out. I love my life, very happy to be who I am. My family and I live in a small town in the heart of these great states of ours, yes that would be a red state. I grew up as an Air Force brat (meaning my entire child hood was spent moving from one Air Force base to another) and remember the clear threat of nuks. My early adult hood was spent roaming the world serving my country as a solider.
Why the intro? I thought maybe it would be useful in showing what sector of the American population my thinking derives from.
Let me say I respect many of the views expressed here, and some of the knowledge I have seen here is amazing. I am impressed.
OK OK, on to my point
The original post expressed what the world thinks of my country, more to the point the actions of our government.
I thought maybe I would share with you what at least one American is feeling about America, I am not qualified to say I represent the thinking of the masses, but maybe I do, who knows.
1. I am sick and tired of "red vs blue" or "left vs right" or "lib vs con" I think this may be one of our biggest problems. I am sick of hearing both sides bash each other and throwing around terms such as "traitor" or "un-American" There are good ideas on both sides, come together and figure this crap out because me and my little high school education are counting on you.
2. Voting, I have lost all confidence in this. It seems I only have two choices (see above) It has became a choice between two lesser evils.
3. Money and politics, I'm afraid America now goes to the highest bidder. It scares me to death to continualy see "made in china" stickers. Or to hear that our government seeks adivice from those such as this bradly guy (owns a law firm that represents Saudi? Give me a break!)
4. I'm afraid that the majority of our leaders (not all) have thier own intrest at heart and not our country. You say vote for somebody else? Who? Their is a serious lack of quality leadership here in the states atm
5. I'm afraid we as Americans have become blind to what is going on in our own country. We are to busy in the here and now to see what may be coming down the road. The world around us, the world we can see and touch is all we are focused on, so focused that we honestly do not care what happends as long as we do not experience it ourselfs. And as my father used to say "its gonna bite ya in the a**"
The scary part is I think I could go on, but I don't have time. I feel guilty because I know this is a government of the people, by the people. I feel like there is something I should be doing to ease my fears or help our country, like I'm looking to somebody else to solve my problems, but what do I do? Theirs alot of folks pointing out whats wrong, but not to many offering up solutions.
1. There is thousands of miles of water between us.
2. Most of the people from there are still there.
3. Damn I am having a hard time here, trying to think of somthing to like about another country.
4. I'll get back to this....
What I Dont like about other countries.
1. They hate the USA and all it stands for, untill the shit hits the fan, and then its "HELP US UNCLE SAM"
2. They make real shitty cars...I mean they are junk, if they cant do 187,000 miles without a major problem I dont need them.
3. They work cheaply, and produce cheap goods, then cry when Americans wont buy them.
4. They think they have good morales. But 90% of the worlds child porn comes from europe.
5. They think ploitics will save the day...remember December 7th, 1941.
6. They make real stupid tv shows and cartoons.
7. They dress funny, Just kidding here folks
8. ok that enough....
The thing is, Americans enjoy a better way of life, then most others. I work hard for my money, its mine. I like to enjoy the rewards I have as beeing american. If I was born in Germany, I would be living in some converted warehouse with 6 other family units. If I lived in England I would get taxed out the arse for an old t.v. If I lived in brazil I would be living in a hovel.
If you want to, come to America, we welcome you with open arms and friendship, leave your politcal beliefs behind, bring your religion, and your new thoughts, we welcome them.
Oh and another thing, The information given to Bush by the CIA came from the french......
Comments
We know this with certainty because we have been fighting terrorism for thousands of years... (edited and removed to shorten)
My point exactly. You've been fighting it for thousands of years?
Well, you obviousely don't have a solution to it either, but how quickly the U.S. is judged for their methods in just 5 short years.
-Ashyn
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
Yes, they did take it with grace...................
over and over, and over, and over, and over, and over and over, and over, and over, and over.................
Which is exactly what we don't want happening to us.
Originally posted by MadAce
Let's hope when we have to knock at your door there still weill be a door and not a brick wall guarded by centries...
I'd welcome the brick wall, guarded by great big, burly centries - bouncers if you will.
The revolving door is getting pretty old.
-Ashyn
There are tramps here. I can probably find you picture on the internet too.
It is not true of every nation of the world, Myspace is primarily used by Americans. The bulk of all internet services are primarily used by Americans. The rest of the world has more access and insight into the everyday lives and thoughts of Americans than any other populace.
Not every nation in the world has wide spread access to the internet at all, and almost none have had for as long as the U.S. It is an American led and American fueled Media.
yes, myspace is primarily used by americans, but not only americans. the rule still applies. youtube is popular throughout the world, its not an american only service, ive seen several vids just today on youtube that came from Australia, UK, this forum is used by people from around the world.
I have no problems with generalisations. If I say every person in America owns a pair of shoes, it's a generalisation, but a true one and it gives a functional understanding of the weatlh of the nation and a good idea of what people should expect if they travel there.
and your generalization would be wrong, i have been homeless, i know what it is to not even have a pair of shoes. generalizations are not an accurate measurement of anything. do all orientals have small wangs? do all blackmen have huge wangs? the answer to both is NO. its the same as generalizing that all americans are stupid or whores. am i stupid? if not, am i the exception or the rule? if so, then i guess this convo is pointless. btw, you have no idea of what to expect if you traveled here, and even if you traveled to the east coast, it would still be very different if you traveled to the midwest.
Hitler may be a bad leader, but he didn't go to war on his own. He was immensley popular with the German people, who themselves had something of a track record of starting world wars even before he came to power. It wasn't just Hitler, and most Germans didn't oppose him. It would be a mistake to grant each German with the benefit of the doubt as we did after WW1, a mistake which cost us millions of lives and a good proportion of our cities. It wasn't just Hitler we were after. It was Germany. The German people, to teach them how it felt personaly, individually and generally. A war on their own soil, not just in the Reichstag.
this youre right about, Hitler wasnt alone, i never claimed that he was. but what i said was that not all germans believed and acted like he did. if that were the case, we would have had to completely kill off the entire population, because as soon as Hitler was dead, some other german would have just taken his place as ruthless dictator. and you have to give people the benefit of the doubt, regardless of the consequences. otherwise we might as well kill off every german, scotsmen, englishman, american, indian, spanish, french, mexican, korean, japanese, italian, russian, cuban, and egyptian in the entire world because every one of their countries were involved in a war at one point in history. doesnt make any sense does it? i dont act or do the things me father did. im sure youre not exactly like your father.
The thing about generalisations is, even if you are the exception to the rule, the rule is still good.
this works only with numbers. not with people. tbh, every aussie ive met has been a prick, how fair would it be for me to assume that all aussies are pricks?
______________________________
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Don't they? We haven't had another bombing on our soil since.
-Ashyn
We know this with certainty because we have been fighting terrorism for thousands of years... (edited and removed to shorten)
My point exactly. You've been fighting it for thousands of years?
Well, you obviousely don't have a solution to it either, but how quickly the U.S. is judged for their methods in just 5 short years.
-Ashyn
We have also been fighting old age, war and disease for thousands of years. Have you got a solution for that too?
If you still think it's solvable, you haven't grasped what you are dealing with yet.
Actually we've had plenty of solutions.
Against the IRA our current solutions are to enage them politcally, spy on them, and attempt to isolate them from the U.S.
Against the Boers, we used concentration camps and genocide.
Against the Jews we gave them their own country.
We got zillions of solutions. Had plenty of "5 years".
You don't get to learn them overnight.
.
The Irish problem has taken about 800 years to date. That should give you some idea of the timeline you are working to. And it's not over yet.
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Don't they? We haven't had another bombing on our soil since.
-Ashyn
If you'd have listened to us, you wouldn't have had the first one.
Terrorism can't be defeated, only prevented. The threat is always there. Since you have finally adopted decent airport security, you haven't lost another plane. Surprise surprise.
We've heard all your smarter than us about terrorism stuff before.
3,000 dead in one attack = not very smart.
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Don't they? We haven't had another bombing on our soil since.
-Ashyn
If you'd have listened to us, you wouldn't have had the first one.
Terrorism can't be defeated, only prevented. The threat is always there. Since you have finally adopted decent airport security, you haven't lost another plane. Surprise surprise.
No, if you would have DEALT with it within those 1,000 years, we wouldn't have had the first one.
-Ashyn
Why didn't you deal with it 1,000 years ago yourself?
Spain once and the UK once too. Since then all terrorist plots have been foiled. And Spain did that without invading a country (actually they retreated their troops).
Of course both countries were the victim of terrorism in the past, domestic terrosims. And both countries have solved that problem largely and are certainly capable of containing it.
Get your facts straight.
The only thing I couldn't disprove was
I'd welcome the brick wall, guarded by great big, burly centries - bouncers if you will.
The revolving door is getting pretty old.
I bet that's exactly what the Roman Empire did before being destroyed...
CLICK HERE TO GET A LIST OF FREE MMO LISTS!!!
Could be because your methods are the same methods that have been used already over and over and over and they do not work. That might be why. Bring it on down now.
Don't they? We haven't had another bombing on our soil since.
-Ashyn
Are you joking??? Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
There are tramps here. I can probably find you picture on the internet too.
It is not true of every nation of the world, Myspace is primarily used by Americans. The bulk of all internet services are primarily used by Americans. The rest of the world has more access and insight into the everyday lives and thoughts of Americans than any other populace.
Not every nation in the world has wide spread access to the internet at all, and almost none have had for as long as the U.S. It is an American led and American fueled Media.
yes, myspace is primarily used by americans, but not only americans. the rule still applies. youtube is popular throughout the world, its not an american only service, ive seen several vids just today on youtube that came from Australia, UK, this forum is used by people from around the world.
I have no problems with generalisations. If I say every person in America owns a pair of shoes, it's a generalisation, but a true one and it gives a functional understanding of the weatlh of the nation and a good idea of what people should expect if they travel there.
and your generalization would be wrong, i have been homeless, i know what it is to not even have a pair of shoes. generalizations are not an accurate measurement of anything. do all orientals have small wangs? do all blackmen have huge wangs? the answer to both is NO. its the same as generalizing that all americans are stupid or whores. am i stupid? if not, am i the exception or the rule? if so, then i guess this convo is pointless. btw, you have no idea of what to expect if you traveled here, and even if you traveled to the east coast, it would still be very different if you traveled to the midwest.
Hitler may be a bad leader, but he didn't go to war on his own. He was immensley popular with the German people, who themselves had something of a track record of starting world wars even before he came to power. It wasn't just Hitler, and most Germans didn't oppose him. It would be a mistake to grant each German with the benefit of the doubt as we did after WW1, a mistake which cost us millions of lives and a good proportion of our cities. It wasn't just Hitler we were after. It was Germany. The German people, to teach them how it felt personaly, individually and generally. A war on their own soil, not just in the Reichstag.
this youre right about, Hitler wasnt alone, i never claimed that he was. but what i said was that not all germans believed and acted like he did. if that were the case, we would have had to completely kill off the entire population, because as soon as Hitler was dead, some other german would have just taken his place as ruthless dictator. and you have to give people the benefit of the doubt, regardless of the consequences. otherwise we might as well kill off every german, scotsmen, englishman, american, indian, spanish, french, mexican, korean, japanese, italian, russian, cuban, and egyptian in the entire world because every one of their countries were involved in a war at one point in history. doesnt make any sense does it? i dont act or do the things me father did. im sure youre not exactly like your father.
The thing about generalisations is, even if you are the exception to the rule, the rule is still good.
this works only with numbers. not with people. tbh, every aussie ive met has been a prick, how fair would it be for me to assume that all aussies are pricks?
I had shoes when I was homeless. But if you didn't that just makes you the exception. Generalisations work exceptionally well with people.
You in your life no matter how distasteful you find it, fit into many generalisations. You have much in common with many people. Many of the things that are true about you are true about many other people. As individual as you are, you are still part of the group. There are stereotypes that still apply to you.
Many of those commonalities are specific to your nation. Nations have national traits. The populaces significanlty differ in character.
I used to think I didn't act like my father either. But the older I get the more I start to recognise it.
Ashyn sorry I apologize, I have read a couple of your posts just now about Terrorism and now I understand that you are not joking. As long as you believe that things are fine and that things are working that is all that matters, because you wont understand why there has not been another attack on your soil. Bring it on down now.
Damn byotch dat aint no friggn moon fool, dat be a friggn space station byotch.
I had shoes when I was homeless. But if you didn't that just makes you the exception. Generalisations work exceptionally well with people.
You in your life no matter how distasteful you find it, fit into many generalisations. You have much in common with many people. Many of the things that are true about you are true about many other people. As individual as you are, you are still part of the group. There are stereotypes that still apply to you.
Many of those commonalities are specific to your nation. Nations have national traits. The populaces significanlty differ in character.
I used to think I didn't act like my father either. But the older I get the more I start to recognise it.
you completely missed me point. i dont know how you did it, but you did. if your father was a coldblooded killer, that doesnt mean that you will be. its a proven fact, no use arguing with it. me fathers gay, im not. no amount of getting "older" is going to change that. generalizations dont work, they just make people mad when they see those prejudices. like i said, many of the aussies ive come across were pricks, are they all pricks? would it be fair for me to make a generalization that all aussies are pricks because of those that i met? hell no, now im not sure if youre just trying to argue for arguements sake, but im going to assume that youre not.
and me point about the homeless without shoes was that you said that the generalization that all americans had shoes was true, i disproved it. whether im the exception or not, its still not a true generalization. thats why generalizations dont work for people, because there are always exceptions. are all muslims plane stealing building crashing kamakaze retards that want to kill all americans? if so, why is it wrong to make war with them? you seem to be one of the main people arguing that america should pull out of this war, if so, why not kill all the dirty bastards, if the generalizations are true? see how generalizations could be a problem?
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Generalisations aren't disproved by exceptions, they are proved by them.
Muslims generally aren't plane stealing suicide bombers. It is the exceptions that prove the rule, not render it useless.
I'm not anti-war. Which war are you talking about?
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Generally you find aussies to be pricks.
A generalisation is not a 100% exacting rule. It is a generalisation. Something that is generally true, not an absolute empiric formula.
The exception proves the rule. Exceptions are expected in every generalisation.
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If we take the generalisation that all muslims are plane stealing suicide bombers, and only a very few exceptions of them aren't. Then the Exception would prove the rule.
If on the otherhand it turns out that muslims who don't steal planes and use them to suicde bomb are not the exception at all but in fact the majority, our rule is not proven. Our generalisation incorrect.
so if i made the generalization that all aussies are pricks, i could state that and no one could argue with me or defend themselves because its a true generalization. theyre just the exceptions that you speak of. does that sound about right to you?
generalizations about americans are considered to be the norm. one of the generalizations is that all americans are fat and lazy. is that a true generalization? even if i know many people that are neither? or is it only true to you? and if that is the case, isnt it you that has a problem? not the fat lazy americans who arent fat or lazy.
exceptions are indeed expected in every generalization, which is precisely why i dont like them. that way i dont come off as a dick for buying into a generalization that is proven to be false. like if i actually believed that all aussies were infact pricks. every nonprick aussie would think that im a dick for being so shallow as to judge them based on flawed perception.
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"All Americans are fat and lazy" is a stereotype, not a generalisation.
If lots of people in the world all spoke of Aussies in a similar way as you do, then the Aussies might want to think about why they are percieved this way as a race.
It is a mistake to ignore evidence.
Just beacuse you don't like what you are hearing, doesn't mean it is untrue.
I'm bald. I don't like it when people mention it to me. But I'm still bald. (Just like my father, who inicidentally taught me to be a cold blooded killer, just like him).
Generalization is a foundational element of logic and human reasoning. It is the essential basis of all valid deductive inference. The concept of generalization has broad application in many related disciplines, sometimes having a specialized context-specific meaning.
For any two related concepts, A and B; A is considered a generalization of concept B if and only if:
For instance, animal is a generalization of bird because every bird is an animal, and there are animals which are not birds (dogs, for instance). (See also: specialization).
-Ashyn
I don't know if this has been said already. And I'm still having trouble believing if it's true (as I've yet to research it). But my brother who is studying World History and is in Model UN at school (one of the countries his school takes a position in is China), has told me that China has purchased all of the United States' debts to other countries and, consequently, the government owes them 100 billion (trillion?) dollars (approximately). In other words, China could call us out on that debt and utterly decimate our economy and render the vaule of the dollar worthless. If that isn't terrifying I don't know what is. I don't know if they would ever do that or if it would be a benefit to do that, but it makes me think that China may be the new "world power" when it's time for us to fall.
If anyone knows anything more about this factoid, I'd really like to know. I almost can't believe it to be true, so any clarification would be lovely.
Edit: Questioning whether it's billions or trillions that we owe them.
Britain and Japan are the two biggest foreign investers in America in that order. China is number three but has recently traded it's Dollar reserves for Euros.
The Outstanding Public Debt as of 08 Dec 2006 at 07:17:41 PM GMT is:
$8,658,593,727,214.13
The estimated population of the United States is 300,417,224
so each citizen's share of this debt is $28,821.90.
The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$2.16 billion per day since September 29, 2006!
Above is a graphic to illustrate the timeline of U.S. national debt better, given as a proportion of GDP.
I certainly see China replacing U.S. domination in Asia anytime the U.S. withdraws. But not in any military confontational manner.
Nice Topic!
It's not often I am moved to reply, I mostly keep my thoughts to myself
Let me introduce myself,
I am a normal run of the mill American guy (normal? how do I know if i'm normal? subject for another topic I guess) Married 10 years with two wonderful children. I am not what some would consider an educated man, hence the spelling and gramer mistakes sure to be found and pointed out. I love my life, very happy to be who I am. My family and I live in a small town in the heart of these great states of ours, yes that would be a red state. I grew up as an Air Force brat (meaning my entire child hood was spent moving from one Air Force base to another) and remember the clear threat of nuks. My early adult hood was spent roaming the world serving my country as a solider.
Why the intro? I thought maybe it would be useful in showing what sector of the American population my thinking derives from.
Let me say I respect many of the views expressed here, and some of the knowledge I have seen here is amazing. I am impressed.
OK OK, on to my point
The original post expressed what the world thinks of my country, more to the point the actions of our government.
I thought maybe I would share with you what at least one American is feeling about America, I am not qualified to say I represent the thinking of the masses, but maybe I do, who knows.
1. I am sick and tired of "red vs blue" or "left vs right" or "lib vs con" I think this may be one of our biggest problems. I am sick of hearing both sides bash each other and throwing around terms such as "traitor" or "un-American" There are good ideas on both sides, come together and figure this crap out because me and my little high school education are counting on you.
2. Voting, I have lost all confidence in this. It seems I only have two choices (see above) It has became a choice between two lesser evils.
3. Money and politics, I'm afraid America now goes to the highest bidder. It scares me to death to continualy see "made in china" stickers. Or to hear that our government seeks adivice from those such as this bradly guy (owns a law firm that represents Saudi? Give me a break!)
4. I'm afraid that the majority of our leaders (not all) have thier own intrest at heart and not our country. You say vote for somebody else? Who? Their is a serious lack of quality leadership here in the states atm
5. I'm afraid we as Americans have become blind to what is going on in our own country. We are to busy in the here and now to see what may be coming down the road. The world around us, the world we can see and touch is all we are focused on, so focused that we honestly do not care what happends as long as we do not experience it ourselfs. And as my father used to say "its gonna bite ya in the a**"
The scary part is I think I could go on, but I don't have time. I feel guilty because I know this is a government of the people, by the people. I feel like there is something I should be doing to ease my fears or help our country, like I'm looking to somebody else to solve my problems, but what do I do? Theirs alot of folks pointing out whats wrong, but not to many offering up solutions.
Rich and powerful people start wars for one reason ,..more power and more money.
Freedom is a smokescreen used far too much. Just wait till they find a way to tax your oxygen intake.
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Well I have to put my two cents in.
What I like about any country but USA..
1. There is thousands of miles of water between us.
2. Most of the people from there are still there.
3. Damn I am having a hard time here, trying to think of somthing to like about another country.
4. I'll get back to this....
What I Dont like about other countries.
1. They hate the USA and all it stands for, untill the shit hits the fan, and then its "HELP US UNCLE SAM"
2. They make real shitty cars...I mean they are junk, if they cant do 187,000 miles without a major problem I dont need them.
3. They work cheaply, and produce cheap goods, then cry when Americans wont buy them.
4. They think they have good morales. But 90% of the worlds child porn comes from europe.
5. They think ploitics will save the day...remember December 7th, 1941.
6. They make real stupid tv shows and cartoons.
7. They dress funny, Just kidding here folks
8. ok that enough....
The thing is, Americans enjoy a better way of life, then most others. I work hard for my money, its mine. I like to enjoy the rewards I have as beeing american. If I was born in Germany, I would be living in some converted warehouse with 6 other family units. If I lived in England I would get taxed out the arse for an old t.v. If I lived in brazil I would be living in a hovel.
If you want to, come to America, we welcome you with open arms and friendship, leave your politcal beliefs behind, bring your religion, and your new thoughts, we welcome them.
Oh and another thing, The information given to Bush by the CIA came from the french......