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Senate Managing the Decline and Fall of the United States

Discussion in 'Community' started by Jabbadabbado, Mar 3, 2015.

  1. Jabbadabbado

    Jabbadabbado Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 19, 1999
    maybe
     
  2. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

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    Feb 18, 2001
    Well, the wars basically stretched the Empire thin and meant even if it wanted to, it couldn't afford on monetary or logistical grounds to fight to retain it. I don't see the US being able to do this either, anymore.
     
  3. Jabbadabbado

    Jabbadabbado Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 19, 1999
    assume that's true. How does Europe manage the U.S. exit from "soft power hegemony"?
     
  4. Harpua

    Harpua Chosen One star 9

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    Mar 12, 2005
    Apparently no women survive this thing.... big ol' sausage party.
     
  5. Jabbadabbado

    Jabbadabbado Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 19, 1999
    There's also the issue of the global financial system. The Euro and the Dollar are dancing together in an accelerating death spiral.
     
  6. ShaneP

    ShaneP Ex-Mod Officio star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    Yep. It's one big frat house.
     
  7. SuperWatto

    SuperWatto Chosen One star 7

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    Sep 19, 2000
    harpua leads a wandering band of hippies that trade flowers for oil. No Wifi. No board.
     
  8. Darth Punk

    Darth Punk JCC Manager star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2013
    it's not a dependence on foreign oil anymore, it's that you don't want any other country to have their hand on the spigot
     
  9. ShaneP

    ShaneP Ex-Mod Officio star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    I don't see us withdrawing from unsustainable foreign adventures as a fall or decline. I see it as sobering up. We threw a party, it lasted over a century, we wrecked our car and ran over some neighbors fences, and we're in the hangover phase.

    We'll come out the other end wiser and mature just like our closest allies. We'll be healthier and not fat on our sometimes unwelcome "largess"(yay! American Liberalism for all!).
     
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  10. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    Our national defense needs to be for defense, not for interfering in everyone else's business.

    Dismantle the corporatocracy. Citizens United greased the slope to decline for us.

    Put a stop on policies that accelerate income inequality. Restructure/emphasize education instead of demonizing it and everyone who works in the field.

    Restructure the way national elections are conducted. No politician is going to question the gross overuse of corn because nobody with any Presidential aspirations is going to want to piss off Iowa. Plus, the lobbying problem by huge corporations is not going to change until it stops costing so much to run for office.

    We need to make/produce something that the rest of the world might want to buy. It's not about bringing back manufacturing; products in the Information Age do not need to be produced in a factory necessarily.
     
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  11. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    May 22, 2000
    You can thank the Monroe Doctrine for that.

    I think the United States spends $1.2 Trillion annually on defense in comparison to $141 Billion on Education.
     
  12. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Aug 16, 2002
    The Monroe Doctrine was just the President saying "You Europeans can't interfere in the Americas." The (Theodore) Roosevelt corollary was "The U.S. has the right to interfere in the Americas." While it's a part of U.S. imperialism, it doesn't dictate U.S. imperialism generally-- it has nothing to do with Europe, Asia, Africa, et al.
     
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  13. Obi-Zahn Kenobi

    Obi-Zahn Kenobi Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 23, 1999
    http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/year_spending_2015USbn_16bs2n_2050#usgs302

    Your numbers are wrong. $923 billion on education and $816 billion on defense.

    The federal government does not contribute nearly as much to education as state and local governments.
     
  14. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

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    May 22, 2000
    True, but it's also the basis for the U.S. modern foreign policy which is to promote democracy and foreign interest. It was the first time the US became a global player and other countries on notice. It was the basis for Roosevelt Big Brother/Big Stick policy and the US future foreign policy.
     
  15. Obi-Zahn Kenobi

    Obi-Zahn Kenobi Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 23, 1999
    Seriously it's like you just read a high school history textbook chapter on the turn of the century.
     
  16. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    May 22, 2000
    So, is the Federal Government only spends $149 Billion on education and the rest comes from State and Local Governments, right?

    I think the $816 Billion you referenced does not include the FBI, CIA or Homeland Security as part of the Defense Budget. I think if you add their totals and other government agencies such as Border patrols protecting the US the amount will be closer to $1.2 Trillion as I originally noted.
     
  17. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

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    May 22, 2000
    No, it was actually elementary. The US foreign policy has been on promoting democracy and protecting its foreign interests. Even JFK used the Monroe Doctrine in the Cuban Missile crisis.

    Saying the Monroe Doctrine is irrelevant today is like saying the Bill of Right is as well.
     
  18. Obi-Zahn Kenobi

    Obi-Zahn Kenobi Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 23, 1999
    The FBI is not military.

    But anyways, yes, the point is the amount that we spend on education and on defense are comparable. It just so happens that the federal government doesn't do the bulk of the spending, because education was never in the federal government's initial mandate.
     
  19. Chancellor_Ewok

    Chancellor_Ewok Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004

    And the problem with education isn't really funding any way, its that in some cases you have complete idiots setting cirriculum and teaching kids utter nonsense. Like that Jesus rode a dinosaur. :oops:
     
  20. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    May 22, 2000
    So, you were skewing the numbers to make it look like the US Federal government spending nearly the same amount of money on defense and education?

    CIA is not military either. All US intelligent agencies spends enormous amounts of money on National Security and I believe the FBI is all about National Security, right?
     
  21. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    The FBI functions as a counterintelligence agency (watch The Americans!), among other things, but it also investigates federal crimes.
     
  22. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    May 22, 2000
    Did you go to the same public school as I did? Not only was I taught that Jesus rode a dinosaur, but Noah parted the Red Sea and Ben Franklin built the Ark.

    I think the last of funding is part of the problem as the student to teacher ratio have increased to about 30 plus students to one teacher and teachers' salary aren't attracting the non-idiots to the field.
     
  23. Sith_Sensei__Prime

    Sith_Sensei__Prime Chosen One star 6

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    May 22, 2000
    All in protection of National Security and the American People, right?
     
  24. Darth Guy

    Darth Guy Chosen One star 10

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    Aug 16, 2002
    No. There are many crimes not related to national security that the FBI deals with. For example, if a kidnapper takes his victim across state lines, it falls under the FBI's jurisdiction. The Bureau also enforces Federal civil rights legislation.
     
  25. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001

    lol