What do you want America to do?

Remove all ads!

I'm not hunting for scarecrows or flamers, so bear with me.

In another thread, Ragusa took US policy to task for not being willing to admit its mistakes or work towards a real solution. The mistakes are obvious (so obvious, anyway, that Americans hardly acknowledge them, except in endless congressional committees, media articles, bestselling books, and popular documentaries), but the solution less so.

So here's the scenario. Suppose after pouring LSD into America's drinking water, armed with a powerful ESP transmitter, you - yes, you! - get total mind control of the entire US population. Everyone and everything. You now run the government, you own Microsoft, you control Major League Baseball, and you even pick the American Idol winner. It's all up to you. You can do as little or as much as you want. Feel the power!

So what do you want America to do?

Here's a real-life example. In a July 4th column, Michael Moore said that he would feel proud of America again if we provided clean drinking water for the world's six billion people. Now, clean drinking water (besides the LSD-tainted American taps) is a worthy goal, and it seems a small price to pay to make Moore happy. This is exactly the kind of thing that I would never think of - not because it's a bad thing, but because it's so foreign to my way of thought.

Or take al-Qaeda. To judge from its propaganda, its only problem with the US is that it's involved in the Middle East. So bin Laden probably wouldn't want to annihilate the US - only ask politely that LSD'd Americans step out of the way and let the caliphate be reconstructed, Israel be wiped out, and oil hit $100 a barrel.

Those are far-out examples, but I'm not looking for necessarily political responses. Maybe you'd like to see Hollywood produce different movies - or stop outshining local competitors entirely. Maybe you want Wal-Mart to close down. Maybe you just want America to do everything it has been, but with an aura of humility. Be realistic if you want, or insanely ambitious - this is your chance to make Marxism work, reshape the computer world, put religion in its place, create a third party, or whatever. And I don't mean this thread only for non-Americans - I want to see what my fellow Americans want us to do, too.

So now you're at the controls. Give the order. 300 million people await your instructions!

 

I would ban baseball and I would rename american football to american melonball or something similar.

Seriously now, what I would like to see from US is:
1.Less intervention to other nations internal issues.
2.Respect of international laws.
3.The use of same standards to similar situations.
4.To stop the use of a moral cloak as a cover for their actions and intentions.
5.To become less conservative.

 

I think the USA should do something about its skyrocketing level of foreign debt (other than just issue more US dollars).

 

I'm no American, so it's not for me to decide wha's good and bad in your internal affairs. Just be yourself is all i can say.

Although that would be a little difficult while y'all are trippin' on LSD.

 

Throw the whole 'jury' concept out of the law system. That system does not make any sense...well in my opinion. Facts should judge someone not some slick talking loyar who can talk people into his vision/money.

Oh and I'd ban american football and introduce soccer as the nation's number one sport, it would make the world championsships a whole lot more interesting.

 

A 4-or-more-party-system. That democrat/republican spinning-wheel is getting on my nerves. One of those parties then should be a classic liberal party. Would make things a whole lot easier.

 

Damn you, Grey! I'm leaving for a two week vacation in an hour, and you bring this up now?

OK, short and sweet. I would like the current administration to stop pretending it is the moral compass for the rest of the world (yes, Grey, I said moral ).

And honestly, that is all I have time for. I'll be back in two weeks to do some damage control.

 

Iago has a good point, america needs more diversity with their votingballots. It's always Republicans and Democrats, Democrats and Republicans, don't you guys get sick of only having two options ?

I'd say make more room for people to express their political views. If someone wants to form a party that's all about hugging trees buttnekkid, all covered in peanutbutter, then let it be possible. He probably won't get many followers, but it's the idea behind it, more political options. It would make life a lot more interresting overthere.

 

Message from Canada to the US.

LEAVE OUR RESOURCES ALONE!

If we want to sell them to you, we will tell you. Then we will barter. And then we will trade.

WITH REASONABLE TARIFFS!!!

 

a better environmental policy

 

It's easy to see what would everyone would do and thats radically alter the way that the American administration views the world around them.
Actually admitting it must take the initiative alongside other leading countries in reducing pollution of the planet instead of claiming it should be allowed to produce more due to stupid reason is a nice start. Followed by not trying to get everyone to see the world thier way and trying to add more stars to it's flag, get rid of anyone in the government with an IQ of less than 130 and basically stop being the bullies of the world.
Go listen to Bill Hicks and you'll see what I mean. The best thing is all those Gulf War jokes and observations he made in the 90's are valid again today.
Just my 2 pence worth. A pity the dream will never come true i suppose.

 

What I would want the US to do is to use the immense power they have and try to build a world of law and not of chaos and might makes right. A world where terrorists have no justification whatsoever and despots cannot hold their people in ignorance. This is a long process and one where force of arms are rarely needed and one which the US might not gain from in the short run but a calmer more "satisfied" world would gain them in the long run. Powerpolitics have wrecked this world since the dawn of history and the US has a golden oppurtunity now as sole superpower to lay a foundation where the realist school of thought is not needed.


Seeing as that pipedream is not very likely I would want that the US stop trying to coat their powerpolitics in morals and justifications. The US is doing what it think is best for the US (or rather what is best for the administration which is in charge and when it comes to this there is little difference between Republicans and Democrats, Bush has just been extremely clumsy in everything he has done) and dont give a rats ass about the suffering of people in Iraq, Sudan or wherever it may be. Like most nations have done for all time, the difference today was that in the past it was many nations who played the game on roughly equal settings, now the US rule supreme. Just stepping down from the usurped moral highground would actually do some to make the US look a little better.

 

i think countries have tried that in the past, the british empire tired that, they outlawed slavery, fought piracy and tried to bring their 'higher' morals and law to other countries.

it caused more problems then it solved

 

Dunno, hard to say without getting aquinted to the "culture" first. But maybe, and quite likely, I would start from reforming the currently ridicilous law-institution ("spill hot-coffee, sue of a million bucks") and somewhat corrupted juries (women getting special priviledges, for one). Then I would reduce the HUMONGOUS military budget and redirect that money to wellfare-programs (like monetary support for the jobless), city development (recycling and public transportation, to name a few points), and start a proper nature-preservation program (like the "Natura" program started in Finland/EU). Not to mention that the economy could use a hand ATM.

I think it is ludicrous to spend billions and billions of money to weapons that end up rotting in the closet, when so much more could be done with that amount.

 

No, the British empire did just as the Americans do now, and they were alot more brutal and their appearance of morality and justice was a lot shakier than the US of today.

My point was that the US should lead by example, showing the world that they, the most powerful state ever on earth is working for a world of law and safety which benefits everyone. Even if it doesnt appear to be in their short term best interest. Europe had their chance and screwed it up royally by only looking at the short term and in the end plunging the entire world into two devastating world wars because chaos and fear ruled international relations. The US has an even better chance now, especially since they are one reasonable homogenous unit and not a patchwork of selfish states like Europe. The US really has nothing to fear anymore except for a few crackpots, no one can threathen them with an all out war, invasion or conquest. Use that power to shape a world of law and trust and even the crackpots who fly planes into buildings will eventually disapear.

But this is just my two utopian cents.

 

I have only this to say.

Either it's worth doing by yourself, of it's own merits, or it's not. If someone offers to help, that's well and fine, but it's either worth it to do yourself or it's not worth doing in the first place.

That's describes the relationship between America and Europe.

Socialism mires you down in your own little world, and it's all you can do just to stay afloat. They'll look after their own backyard (Bosnia and the refugees that would flood into their own country), but that's all you can expect out of them.

New York, and taking a couple of skyscrapers off-line, is either worth our time or it's not. Either Congress declares War, or they don't. Either you go in as Conquerers, or you do not. And if they don't, then so be it. We've got plenty of social issues that we can be dealing with. We've got the FARC sending drugs up through Mexico, and using people like they were consumable parts on an automobile; to be used and disposed of. We've got gangs of all colors and races in the streets of Los Angeles and New York and Miami and the District of Columbia and Seattle and Dallas and Houston and Minneapolis and Chicago. We've got illegal immigrants who can't speak, much less read, English (or the contrary, we've got Americans who can't speak/read Mexican).

Plenty of things to do, right around our own home.

But.

America didn't get to where it was by errecting a firewall and trying to filter out all the bad packets. We got there by having wide open ports. Which means, shutting down the DDoS at the source.

Cast a charm spell in the back ranks of the goblins, preferably on a spellcaster, and let the enemy fight on two fronts. Or twenty. Or one hundred; whatever you can manage.

-------------------------------------------------
I can go either way on this one. I'm just a little fish in the ocean; I am more likely to survive than get hit by a plane. I can ignore all the women being raped and murdered (and worse) in Columbia and Somolia and the Congo and Rwanda, just like the french do.

 

were they?
the US just killed 13000 estimated innocent people in their bombing of iraq (and that estimation was generous - british war field records 2004)
did the british really do that badly, they treated their prisoners badly, what have we seen from the US? camp x ray? prisoner abuses in iraq?

who's to say whats brutal?

 

No cause is so right that one cannot find a fool following it

 

Well, first off, the UK helped the US in their invasion of Iraq so bringing up that in a comparison between the two is rather moot. Secondly, Great Britain conquered every available piece of land to them with no other justification than they could and slaughtered countless "savages" in doing so. All for the glory of the Queen and the Empire.