America Resembles a Broken Banana Republic

InTheTrees

Eggy Baby! wrote: »

I really wish people would stop describing the USA in ridiculously OTT superlatives and comparisons to third-world countries. It discredits the people who have legitimate criticisms based on facts about the USA. People who compare it to acting like Nazi Germany in its foreign policy, or Obama to Hitler or Stalin, are simply discrediting people who have legitimate concerns about Obama's ridiculous administration or US foreign policy and who are prepared to back them up with data and facts.

The internet is a breeding ground for hyperbolic rhetoric and oversimplified generalisations.

Seriously?

Oh right "ridiculous administration" is a legitimate criticism is it? No need to back up that dumbass comment with "data and facts" huh?

Eggy Baby!

InTheTrees wrote: »

Seriously?

Oh right "ridiculous administration" is a legitimate criticism is it? No need to back up that dumbass comment with "data and facts" huh?

It's my opinion and I didn't want to burden my snappy, witty post with detailed explanations as to why I dislike Obama and his silly government. Don't be so anal.

"Ridiculous" is not an insane superlative. Its an intentional simplification of my position. If I called Obama a nazi, or said the USA was becoming like India, or that the USA was a totalitarian dictatorship then I would be making a hyperbolic statement.

Lastly, Obama is ridiculous, so your point is void. The guy has had a non-stop media circus around him since 2008 and we may as well have given Ariel Sharon's comatose body the Nobel Peace Prize back then instead of Obama.

davwain

MilanPan!c wrote: »

Look at the Stats -- America Resembles a Broken Banana Republic





http://www.alternet.org/economy/america-rich-name-only-look-stats-we-resemble-broken-banana-state


What do we think?

What's happening to America seems, at least in the near-term, to be irreversible. And of course US politics is closer to broken than working... so no help from Washington.

Of course, one of the two parties is going through death spasms, and the other is paranoid about being seen as anything but slightly right of centre. So... Americans don't really have much hope for fixing the issues, except at the grassroots.

When I think of the term "government shutdown", the right-wing Republican nutcases in Congress in the US instantly come to mind. In my home country (Canada), a loss of a vote of confidence - by the governing party or coalition in the federal House of Commons, the Yukon legislative assembly or in any of the 10 provincial legislatures - means the governing party falls. The only time that public services grind to a halt in my country is when there are strikes affecting such services. If a government of a province or territory loses a vote of confidence, public sector workers still get paid, even if it means the passing, of a new budget, is delayed until after the election that normally results from that lost vote of confidence. It's too bad neither house of the US Congress has such a mechanism.

Jim2007

Foreign companies now see us as the world’s cheap labor force, and we have the non-unionized South to thank for that.

I nearly fell of the chair when I read this line in the OP's first post. Why? because that is exactly what my company decided to do last week!

ChicagoJoe

Well the first thing we could do and improve Middle East relations enormously would be to stop funding Israel. Since it was founded in 1948, Israel has become the largest single recipient of U.S foreign assistance — a total of $121 billion, almost all of which has been in the form of military assistance.

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/international/foreign-policy/u-s-foreign-aid-to-israel-2014-congressional-report

eire4

For me where the US most looks like a broken banana republic is in its political system which I feel is certainly not functional or operating in a way that serves the needs of the majority of Americans. The 2 party cartel of the Republican and Democratic Parties have a monopoly on power for the most part and use any means at all levels to make it as hard as possible for any other voices to be heard. The Citizens United and more recent McCutcheon supreme court cases have all but turned the US Congress into a bought and paid for entity owned by various corporations and wealthy individuals.


Poverty levels in the US have risen and according to the Economic Policy institute in 2010 stood at 17.3% much higher then most other developed nations. Child poverty rates are even higher at 23%. In many ways the US either is already or at least to a certain extent has become an Oligarchy.

InTheTrees

eire4 wrote: »

For me where the US most looks like a broken banana republic is in its political system which I feel is certainly not functional or operating in a way that serves the needs of the majority of Americans. The 2 party cartel of the Republican and Democratic Parties have a monopoly on power for the most part and use any means at all levels to make it as hard as possible for any other voices to be heard. The Citizens United and more recent McCutcheon supreme court cases have all but turned the US Congress into a bought and paid for entity owned by various corporations and wealthy individuals.

A presidents lasting legacy is in their appointments to the supreme court. Those people can effect society for decades.

And we're witnessing the results of the Bush family's appointments, and its as unpleasant as you would expect.

eire4

InTheTrees wrote: »

A presidents lasting legacy is in their appointments to the supreme court. Those people can effect society for decades.

And we're witnessing the results of the Bush family's appointments, and its as unpleasant as you would expect.

No question how right your post is about the supreme court. The Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions have significantly accelerated the turning of the US into an Oligarchy if it has not already reached that status. To say those 2 decisions have harmed the US and the lives of the majority of Americans would be a gross understatement.