Plawolf,

Heres a thought, lets combine the benefits of capitalism, with a minimum “safety net” of governmental benefits for those who fall through the cracks, and as far as your theory that people need an ideology, then lets add freedom of religion. This is essentially what we have here in the US.
The big political debate in the US is between the democrats who believe the government should provide more benfits to the people, at much higher taxation, and the republicans who believe that the government should provide the minimum amount of benefits to insure nobody is sleeping on the street, at much lower taxation, and it then becomes the individual citizens responsibility to provide for their own needs. This individual responsibility is the crux of our brand of democracy! Myself and a majority of Americans DONT WANT HE GOVERNMENT INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES, who knows better what my family wants or needs, Me or some bureucrat in Washington DC? I can spend and invest my money in ways that I predict will benefit me! Governmental involvement in health care, retirement, employment and other facets of life ALWAYS results in an inefficient costly product or service, and most Americans acknowledge this. Of course their are areas where only a government can accomplish things, such as defence, but for the most part services left to the private sector provide a better product at a cheaper price.

Your theory that most nations are heading towards communism because they are embracing many socialist policies has a ring of truth to it. I personally believe that the US has excelled and will continue to be sucessful is due to the fact that we embrace the concept of individual responsibility for ones life, To a communist this may sound perverse, but if every citizen in China were pursuing his own individual goals, doing his best to provide the best life for his family then collectively the entire society has to benefit. Some people may fall through the cracks, and that is a good place for government to step in. The proof is all around us, it works, look at the difference btween North and South Korea, East and Western Europe…less government is better!!

Seahawk,

To quote You’ Modern western imperialism spreads suffering to the third world, to the benefit of themselves etetc etc’

What an extreme rascist view of the third world!!! First show some proof of “western imperialism” in the last 50 years that cause so much suffering in Africa South America,
Concerning your racsim, The fact that you believe that a small group of western countries control and manipulate the vast majority of the worlds population has to be based on the premise that non-western peoples are not capable or intelligent enough to control their own destinies, even in thier own nations. To hold this opinion you must believe that these peoples are not intelligent enough or somehow inherantly inferior to “western man” Like I said if they are the majority of the worlds population why do they allow this to happen? So you must be a racsist.
I have travelled extensively in the third world,(I’m a Pilot) and I believe that all people are inherantly equal, we all want the same things in life, The difference I see is the values and institutions, and cultures of different peoples are what differentiates us all. I also tend to believe the western “model” and democratic sytem of governance seems to be the most sucessful system, of course this isn’t saying other cultures are any better or worse, just the western culture seems to do the best in the modern world, Its up to each nation/people to chose which one they want, but the fact that they choose poorly, doesn’t mean the west is to blame. Stop blaming the west for its properity!
Also I have spent countless years observing people, and especially in the third world, I see a group of young men standing around, surrounded by garbage and rubbish, and nobody lifts a finger to pick it up or tidy up, I always wondered why? I’ve seen this same state on many foreign Air Bases where a group of soldiers are sitting around smoking cigarettes while surrounded by junk, yet it doesn’t seem to bother them, or their commanders, But I guess their failure to give a damn about their environment must be because the western powers have manipulated and exploited them !!! As we say in the States
‘Give Me a Break”

Rabie,

In any event if there were a competetition tomorrow to build a fighter/transport/margarita blender….A single corporation would probably do a better/faster/cost-efficient job than a conglomerate of many companies/nations etc

Which goes back to my original point, as long as their are communists/quasi-communists China will never be a true world class nation that can compete on an equal footing with the west. For example I’d venture to guess and I hope some of you may enlighten me, but the average monthly wage of a Chinese worker is probably what I make in a night, The fact that they have millions of people working at low wages makes their products attractive to western pocketbooks and manufacturers,

PlaWolf,

Thanks for the reply, I see your perspective on these topics, I’ve been doing some studies about Asis and I can promise you no nation especially the US wants to get involved in any type of confrontation with China, I’m under the opinion that in order to gain peace why not give up a claim against Taiwan and work things out, I also believe that Israel should do the same with the Palastinians, just give them the West Bank as a homeland and avoid all this death and destruction. But I see your point.
I can tell you that while the US see’s China as a great trade partner, our big concern with you is your communist and the US/West do not trust Communists, If China were to embrace a democratic form of government the US would not feel compelled to act as a counterbalance in Asia. One of the tenants of US policy is that democracies don’t go to war with eachother, If you think about this its true for the last 50 years, The worlds trouble-makers tend to be countrie s run by tyrants/communists, as far as aggression goes (I can hear many of you screaming now about us with Iraq) Also China’s relationship with North Korea is troubling, personally your better off walking away from that one as well. I can see China becoming the dominant world power eventually, but it will never happen under a communist government, you could never compete with the West on equal terms, until the whole apperatus of communism is replaced, or in China’s case modified to a degree that it really isn’t Communism any more. Just my opinion

Rabie,

Concerning NATO, I think if the EU would ask the US to leave, I for one wouldn’t mind, of course then the onus is on the EU to keep the peace, and handle any contingencies that arise in your sphere. It may not be so far away. Since I’ve been in the Air Force (1985) our presence in Europe has shrunk dramatically as it should have, after the fall of the USSR

Rabie,

You make good points, I think the crux of the problem with the whole concept of the EU is, its a difficult process to get a number of different nations to agree on anything. Just look at the A-400 Airlifter, If it is ever built I’m sure it will be way overbudget, and expensive. I’m not trying to discourage the whole EU concept, Its probably a good idea as it relates to easier trade, access, travel, monetary sytems etc, but It will be quite difficult to balance all the percieved benefits of each “program” equally amongst each member nation. I could easily envision the French or Germans dominating, and some of the other nations feeling they are not getting their fair share. I don’t mean to bash Europe, but do you honestly forsee any program/business deal/military project where A conglomerate of many nations, along with their inherant governmental red-tape and inefficiencies can compete against a single private corporation, which is lean, well managed, and streamlined? Just look at the JSF program, Two corporations, along with the US and UK military, designed and tested 2 brand-new state of the art prototype fighters, in a few years, chose one, and has started developement. Now look at Euro-fighter/A-400.. Again please don’t think this is EU bashing, You guys are the ones who build Mercedes, Ferrari’s, Spitfires etc etc, But the whole EU structure doesn’t lend itself to competitive business practices, and efficiencies. Give up your costly social welfare programs, cut everyones taxes by half, trust them to take care of their own lives, and business will thrive, people will have incentive to innovate, work harder, and competition, though very tough will assure a superior product.!! Now if I could only get half of the Americans to understand this !!!!!!!
Regards TTP

GarryB,

I said, “I didn’t see any Marines looting that museum”

You then go on a diatribe about how Americans never loot, and that we think were better than everyone else, I don’t know how you jump from one point to the other. Americans do loot, but they didn’t loot the museum, again, GarryB what exactly happened to you to make you find everything the US does wrong?
My analogy of the barking poodle still stands