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[Judas Maccabeus]

That because people in Haiti can't afford to build better house's it's the US's responsibility to go down there and pay for everything to meet California building codes?

In essence (and more in general than that)?  Yes, when and where we have the ability to do so.

Look, if you want industrial nations to out-of-pocket absorb poor countries into charity states, then just say so,

If we're absorbing them then we did something wrong along the way.  Though, I suppose, if the people of the country (and I mean the people, not just the government) wanted something like that I wouldn't be opposed to it, no.  In all actuality something like this would be better as a UN or other sort of multinational initiative, assuming people would actually start funding those sorts of things... having a single country do it probably would result in absorption, but for exploitation, not charity.  But yes.  Countries should have responsibilities to other countries, not for historical reasons or as "reparations", but simply in general.  Idealistic, perhaps, but it's an ideal we desperately need to move towards.

[Duke 2.0]

 Alright, screw this.

 Americans rally behind me. We shall stand behind the spirit of Woodrow Wilson and become self-independent. We shall make our own factories and farms, and be responsible only for ourselves. We shall make no wastes dumped to the rest of the world. We will be held responsible for none of the world problems.

 Except the war on Mother Nature. This is one fight we shall gladly help achieve. My first act on this war plan is to change the "Endangered Species List" to the "Almost Won" list, and send out hunters to make sure we achieve complete victory.

[Cthulhu]

America can't afford to be the developing world's crutch.

Duke, on the other hand, Duke has an idea.

[zchris13]

I agree with Duke.

[KaelGotDwarves]

I mostly agree with the first part of Duke's statement, not so much the second.

Call me a hippie if you like, but the part of me that's studied biology just rages because the ecosystem is built on various balances that we've fucked up not only through pollution, but for our food and out of convenience. You can't just say "fuck endangered species they aren't doing enough to survive" when we're the ones who are essentially stewards of the planet. The reason life on Earth survived disastrous ice ages and plagues and meteor strikes is because of diversity.

Going along with that, the countries of the world have developed co-dependency on each other, so we can't simply say "fuck everyone else" and isolate ourselves like we attempted to do before the World Wars.

If you want to do your small part in making America less dependent on other nations, don't drive, use public transport or bike so we don't have to resort to getting oil from countries that hate us. Don't buy anything made abroad (like China) and support American industry. Good luck with that.

Power... responsibility... etc.

[JoshuaFH]

Darn you Kael and your REASON and PERSPECTIVE!

[Duke 2.0]

 It was mainly made in response for everything being blamed either on actions we have done or actions we have not done. So screw it, we will make ourselves completely uninvolved in the world so everything is lumped in the "Actions we have not done" category. All military funds will be placed into various defensive missile batteries and ICBM shields. Foreign Aid will be converted to programs to help our poor, impoverished and abused lower class. We will provide no funding to any international scientific organizations and funnel all this funding to discovering ways to bore into the earth so we may strike at the planets heart. All of our shipping vessels will be hooked together to form a great oceanic wall, preventing ships from entering our waters. If a small nation is taken over via hostile forces we shall not care, as we don't have any reporters to check out the event. Pollution shall be ceased, because those are good resources we could purify back into products instead of letting the rest of the world capitalize upon it. Also, we are taking our sections of the ISS with us back down to Earth. I hope you don't need 'em. We shall create a great wall to the north to prevent the Canadians from entering. A great pit shall be dug to the south to prevent any immigrants from South America. Our international jets will be converted into a system for influencing weather so the various climate winds will be exactly the same exiting the east coast as entering the west coast. In fact, a great cloud shall cover our skies to make the global effect of our continent being there zero. Our energy will come from the form of harnessing the lifeblood of the planet 'till she bleeds out.

 REASON and PERSPECTIVE have no place in my Utopia.

[Earthquake Damage]

That because people in Haiti can't afford to build better house's it's the US's responsibility to go down there and pay for everything to meet California building codes?

In essence (and more in general than that)?  Yes, when and where we have the ability to do so.

Surely a responsible government should first ensure that its own people all have adequate housing, aid, services, and so forth before it spends money on other countries?  Disaster relief aside, why do Haitians deserve better homes than America's own poor?

Since I feel the need to spell it out (I shouldn't, but unfortunately people sometimes see what they wish to see), I'm not saying they have or are getting better living conditions than America's poor.  I'm simply addressing your response to Aqizzar largely at face value.

[Aqizzar]

A point I hoped would be made.  To head off the likely response of "Well obviously, governments of wealthy nations should provide for all their own people and have enough left over for poorer countries", let's think what exactly 'wealthy' means.

On a more serious note, Duke Duke He's Our Man.

[redacted123]

-

[Cthulhu]

It was mainly made in response for everything being blamed either on actions we have done or actions we have not done. So screw it, we will make ourselves completely uninvolved in the world so everything is lumped in the "Actions we have not done" category. All military funds will be placed into various defensive missile batteries and ICBM shields. Foreign Aid will be converted to programs to help our poor, impoverished and abused lower class. We will provide no funding to any international scientific organizations and funnel all this funding to discovering ways to bore into the earth so we may strike at the planets heart. All of our shipping vessels will be hooked together to form a great oceanic wall, preventing ships from entering our waters. If a small nation is taken over via hostile forces we shall not care, as we don't have any reporters to check out the event. Pollution shall be ceased, because those are good resources we could purify back into products instead of letting the rest of the world capitalize upon it. Also, we are taking our sections of the ISS with us back down to Earth. I hope you don't need 'em. We shall create a great wall to the north to prevent the Canadians from entering. A great pit shall be dug to the south to prevent any immigrants from South America. Our international jets will be converted into a system for influencing weather so the various climate winds will be exactly the same exiting the east coast as entering the west coast. In fact, a great cloud shall cover our skies to make the global effect of our continent being there zero. Our energy will come from the form of harnessing the lifeblood of the planet 'till she bleeds out.

 REASON and PERSPECTIVE have no place in my Utopia.

We should just build a huge dome around the country, line it with solar panels on the outside and hologram-projectors on the inside.  After a hundred years come outside and see how everyone else is doing.  If they're doing great, go back inside and never come back out.  If they're doing awful, put on your trollface and say "I thought America sucked, huh?"  Then go back inside and never come back out.

[Duke 2.0]

  Americans rally behind me. We shall stand behind the spirit of Woodrow Wilson and become self-independent.

Uh, Woodrow Wilson was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the League of Nations. He was far from isolationist and believed that the US should wholeheartedly involve itself in foreign affairs.

Sorry, I remembered the guy who got USA involved in WWI was the 28th president and when I looked up the guy before him I must have gotten them mixed up.

 So change to Taft. What a swell guy.

[Neonivek]

Why does this thread just fill me with dread?

[JoshuaFH]

Why does this thread just fill me with dread?

It's all in your head, you should go to bed.

[Vester]

  Americans rally behind me. We shall stand behind the spirit of Woodrow Wilson and become self-independent.

Uh, Woodrow Wilson was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the League of Nations. He was far from isolationist and believed that the US should wholeheartedly involve itself in foreign affairs.

Sorry, I remembered the guy who got USA involved in WWI was the 28th president and when I looked up the guy before him I must have gotten them mixed up.

 So change to Taft. What a swell guy.

Best governor-general we ever had. Bit big, though.