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[Loud Whispers]

I dunno, if the US imploded their own economy by embargoing everyone and subsequently collapsed, it might be a net positive for the world.

Can you give it a break?

Only if the USA stops world hunger

[Max™]

Incidentally, I don't think there are many who really believe the US would just keep trucking along like nothing happened if it went full isolationist, but those who do tend to have so much dumb that it just keeps roaring out of their mouths like a jet engine unfortunately.

I wonder if we could find some way to tap it as a power source...

[Loud Whispers]

Incidentally, I don't think there are many who really believe the US would just keep trucking along like nothing happened if it went full isolationist, but those who do tend to have so much dumb that it just keeps roaring out of their mouths like a jet engine unfortunately.

I wonder if we could find some way to tap it as a power source...

Not glassing the Middle East every Sunday sounds like a smart idea tbh

[Reelya]

I'm wondering about US attitudes here.

Is it common (maybe in the Trump circles) to view USA as the "makers" and everyone else as the "takers"? That would play into a sort of Going Galt narrative for the USA.

I sort of see that attitude to foreign trade regardless of whether the prices are high or low. OPEC takes your money, because they're sneakily expensive. China takes your jobs, because they're sneakily cheap.

[Max™]

If I were locked in a room with Ayn Rand, Hitler, and a gun with two bullets, I would shoot Hitler twice and bludgeon Rand to death with his corpse, slowly. I'd need to use the corpse because I wouldn't want to touch her, honestly. It still disgusts me to know that some people take the awful shit she spewed into the world seriously, but I digress because it isn't the point of this thread and I don't like being angry over worthless shitbags.

[Loud Whispers]

If I were locked in a room with Ayn Rand, Hitler, and a gun with two bullets, I would shoot Hitler twice and bludgeon Rand to death with his corpse, slowly. I'd need to use the corpse because I wouldn't want to touch her, honestly. It still disgusts me to know that some people take the awful shit she spewed into the world seriously, but I digress because it isn't the point of this thread and I don't like being angry over worthless shitbags.

Edgyyyyyy - (why does everyone use 'I digress' yet not return to any original point, if I was locked in a room with Ayyy Rand lmao and Grammar Hitler with a gun and two bullets, I'd shoot myself in the back of the head twice)

[Max™]

If I were locked in a room with Ayn Rand, Hitler, and a gun with two bullets, I would shoot Hitler twice and bludgeon Rand to death with his corpse, slowly. I'd need to use the corpse because I wouldn't want to touch her, honestly. It still disgusts me to know that some people take the awful shit she spewed into the world seriously, but I digress because it isn't the point of this thread and I don't like being angry over worthless shitbags.

Edgyyyyyy - (why does everyone use 'I digress' yet not return to any original point, if I was locked in a room with Ayyy Rand lmao and Grammar Hitler with a gun and two bullets, I'd shoot myself in the back of the head twice)

That would be a valid choice, and I meant that I had gone wide from the point of the thread so I wasn't continuing any further. Though it was supposed to be the "I'd shoot Toby twice" bit.

I am still baffled at Trump being accepted into the Republican fold, since--as has been covered in the thread--his positions are all over the place even if you limit them to whatever he is currently jawing about. It's sad that the "Going Galt" stuff seems like it is likely a significant part of his appeal right now.

One of those Farnsworth moments.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Loud Whispers]

Yeah I was just quoting that one reporter who busted the CIA hooking up Floridian gangs with Central American cocaine cartels, famously committing suicide with two bullets to the back of the head. Just like nailgun suicide guy, or that one time the financial people kept falling off buildings

We do what we can with what we have in our hands, and I'm surprised a Trump has not arisen sooner - the GOP hasn't really offered its voters any results in exchange for their support, it's no surprise then that the candidate they pick runs on the slogan "my policies are WINNING."

Charlie Sheen could have won this nomination

[NullForceOmega]

I'm wondering about US attitudes here.

Is it common (maybe in the Trump circles) to view USA as the "makers" and everyone else as the "takers"? That would play into a sort of Going Galt narrative for the USA.

I sort of see that attitude to foreign trade regardless of whether the prices are high or low. OPEC takes your money, because they're sneakily expensive. China takes your jobs, because they're sneakily cheap.

I'm going to address this, and I'm going to try to remain calm about it.

Most US citizens feel as though they have little to no power over their daily lives, while we 'enjoy' some of the highest standard of living in the world we have almost no ability to actually 'live' due to our obscene legal and work environments.  You can say we brought it on ourselves if you like, but the corporate interests in the States have a stranglehold on the government, and fanatically oppose any attempt to improve worker protections i.e., improved wages, standard benefits, paid leave, etc.  Because these forces have total functional control of our system and media sources, they can create whatever narrative they desire, so while OPEC has held their oil prices at a reasonable level for years now, they still get blamed for rampant futures speculation driving the prices insane.

Then we get told by these sources that we have to engage in foreign adventures in order to secure the future of democracy and ensure that peace and freedom still reign supreme throughout the world, when in reality those same corporate entities are manipulating policy and the media so they can increase their holdings and obtain resources more cheaply.  Then foreigners who are supposedly our allies call us 'imperialist', 'terrorist', 'murderer' and a vast assortment of other insults, leading us to hate them for being assholes when we can't even actually exert any control over our government.

TL/DR: We can't do shit about the government and their corporate masters, but foreigners who insult us make good targets for our repressed hate.

[Amperzand]

Basically, yeah. Except I'm largely okay with the insulting foreigners, but yep.

[Wolfhunter107]

Snip.

That's a pretty massive exaggeration, there.

E: it is a fairly accurate look into the mindset of some of the more extreme anti-establishment, though.

[NullForceOmega]

It is a simplification, not an exaggeration, while it doesn't cover the specifics, it does present the fundamental facts of the situation very clearly.

[Max™]

Kinda silly though, I mean, LW is a britbong right? Whether they wanted my life to be better or worse, there is nothing they can do to further either goal really. Blaming them for shit the politicians and corporations are doing is not only absurd, it's counterproductive, but somehow the spin that "the people in power/rolling in dough obviously got there honestly/fairly/etc because AMERICA, and You Could Too, if it wasn't for those meddling foreigners" struck a chord with enough people to acquire a semblance of legitimacy.

That's kinda the difficulty facing Sanders. It's hard to sell "we're the problem, but you should still kinda like, vote for me so I can try to fix it" as readily as "we're not the problem, THEY are!"

[Rolan7]

I'm going to address this, and I'm going to try to remain calm about it.

Most US citizens feel as though they have little to no power over their daily lives, while we 'enjoy' some of the highest standard of living in the world we have almost no ability to actually 'live' due to our obscene legal and work environments.

[snip]

TL/DR: We can't do shit about the government and their corporate masters, but foreigners who insult us make good targets for our repressed hate.

Particularly when it's Europeans who enjoy better labor rights, education, and actual representative democracy.  Thanks in part to our extravagant spending on world peacekeeping.  But no, sure, we're the big bad assholes.

[Orange Wizard]

Particularly when it's Europeans who enjoy better labor rights, education, and actual representative democracy.  Thanks in part to our extravagant spending on world peacekeeping.  But no, sure, we're the big bad assholes.

To be fair, WWII ended half a century ago, but the US is still prepared for total war tomorrow. It doesn't help kick the habit of invading countries to spread DEMOCRACY before leaving them to be unstable and spawn terrorists.

TL/DR: We can't do shit about the government and their corporate masters, but foreigners who insult us make good targets for our repressed hate.

I bash America a lot, but I'm bashing the people in charge and the people who support them. I'm not bashing the residents who want it to change, that'd be silly. Stop assuming I'm insulting you because I'm insulting your country. Unless you mean the extreme nationalist insult is actually wholly accurate.