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[wierd]

look more closely at the portfolios of those on the right who drumbeat for war.  Many have such august investments as Lockheed Martin and pals among their investments.

That is to say,  they drumbeat for war, because they are heavily invested in the military industrial complex, and that industry needs an endless supply of combatant to continue to "grow" and "expand."

[SalmonGod]

Not just that.  But one fundamental thing to understand about American foreign policy is that we have zero track record I'm aware of for actually caring about the well-being of people elsewhere in the world.  Because when things are shit somewhere else, that gives American leadership the ability to point at that and go "Trying to have nice things leads to that!  If you don't listen to us and swallow harsh reality, you'll end up like those guys!"

[smjjames]

Isn't that same tendency true for every other country in the world? It's pretty much politics 101 to care for your own people first, it's just more obvious due to the US being a superpower these days since we're generally powerful/influential enough to do something about it, and thus, attention gets paid to our actions.

[wierd]

It also reinforces the "America is NUMBER ONE!!" domestic populism that many politicians on the Right consider their bread and butter.


I am perfectly OK with seeing the US as just another industrialized nation; We dont really NEED to be a hegemon. We only do so because we are decadent and (as a culture) simultaneously lazy and programmed to be slaves to large interests-- (However strange that may seem.)  Complacency more than anything drives domestic (citizen-level) views about foreign policies, and financial interests drives the political will behind our foreign policies.  That complacency in the first is driven by the public being simultaneously drenched in a propagandized narrative in the mainstream press, and overall saturated in idle entertainments while at home as a balm against the brutish reality that most americans work more hours and get significantly less vacation or leave time than other industrial nations, and it is costing them in both mental and physical health.

The combination of intellectual laziness + attention saturation + physical exhaustion results in a public that just rolls over for whatever is going on in congress.  As long as they can get beer and football during superbowl season, and the cable bill is not too high, they are OK with whatever.  Invade Canada?  Ok, fine. Sure.

I really hope that getting some socialist programs in to seriously curtail the workplace exhaustion front, along with better regulations to curtail the propagandized media front, will result in a more interested and active voter demographic, which will take a keener interest in foreign affairs... But this is probably a vain hope of mine.

[Folly]

Remember a few days ago when Trump gave Mexico a 1 week deadline to fix America's illegal immigration crisis or else he would close the border? Well, today Trump shifted his plan slightly...

It's now a 1 year deadline for Mexico to stop smuggling chinese drugs into America, or else he will place tariffs on Mexico's cars, and if that does not fix everything then at some unspecified date further in the future he will eventually close the border.

[Il Palazzo]

Wait. Mexico makes cars?

[wierd]

Yes.  GM and various other "American" makers have factories there, because it costs too much to abide by US environmental, health, and safety regulations, as well as US levels of pay.

https://offshoregroup.com/industries/automotive-manufacturing-in-mexico/


You will find similar with aircraft manufacture, with varying degrees of "Seriously, you expect to put this on an aircraft and not have if fall out of the sky and kill hundreds of people?" involved.  BOEING and co have tried for decades to get mexican plants running and producing quality product, but it turns out that cutting regulations for cost savings directly results in inferior products.  Who knew? /s

[Il Palazzo]

Oh. So it's about placing tariffs on American cars, just made abroad?

[wierd]

basically.

[JoshuaFH]

- I deleted the post I thought I was in the WTF thread.

[hector13]

For a man who thinks it’s smart to not pay taxes, he sure likes taxing things.

[Starver]

Be thankful (@Joshua). I tend to get a version of this whenever I decide to binge.

Flat Eartherism (pro/rebuttal), {American/British} opinions about living in {Britain/America}, Late Show clip compilations, trucks, the {best/worst} {tanks/planes} ever used by <country>, fractal mathematics, classic comedy of various eras and nations...  That was only what I remember from last time.

And not even one cute animal!

[Zangi]

For a man who thinks it’s smart to not pay taxes, he sure likes taxing things.

It is smart as long as the consequences are avoided/non-existent.  And in his current position, it is also smart to make sure other people get taxed and pay it.

[Iduno]

Which countries government shutdown? I don't remember anything like that for the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%80%9319_United_States_federal_government_shutdown

Yes.  GM and various other "American" makers have factories there, because it costs too much to abide by US environmental, health, and safety regulations, as well as US levels of pay.

I mean, it's in North America, which would mean they are American.

[Folly]

Good news everyone, Trump just cracked that world peace thing. It turns out that all we have to do is get the world leaders together and make a deal to stop building weapons, and instead spend that money on 'other things'.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Commander in Chief.