See, it's simple. We have to support "shitty regimes"..it's always been that way. That's why we are the "land o' plenty" and why you and I can live here and have a great quality of life compared to most in the world.
Alternative energy? Great idea but are you willing to live a Third World lifestyle and ride a bike? Until other energy sources are available we have to deal with the evil oil companies, it's that simple.
Heckler, I think you meant to post this in the "Is America Arrogant" thread as a "yes" answer.
We have to support "shitty regimes"..it's always been that way. That's why we are the "land o' plenty" and why you and I can live here and have a great quality of life compared to most in the world.
What you're saying is that we have to have other people suffer in order that we live in more material comfort than anyone else. That's a pathetic thing to be proud of, or to make excuses for. It's the quivalent of getting rich off shaking down other neighborhoods. And to the degree that we do this, we are arrogant and immoral. What's more, it doesn't have to be that way as you suggest. The picture you paint, that the alternative is to live a third world lifestyle, is absurd. To sacrafice comfort for principle and respect for the rights of others is an American value, and it makes us a great nation. But to sacrifice the lives and rights of others for material comfort is greed, and any comfort we gain from that behavior, we don't deserve. The American population makes up 6% of the world's population, yet we use 25% of the world's energy, and contribute 25% of the world's polution. You can't tell me that the US can't use less and still be the greatest nation. That's what these "bleeding hearts" like me are suggesting; that we make policies, like raising the CAFE standards on fuel efficiency that haven't been changed in over 20 years, so that America does not use so much energy that our leaders have to conduct foreign policies that undermine America's principles, cause us to be resented and even hated by others, and inspire terrorism against us. If you think we can't make those sacrafices without becoming a third world nation then you don't think much of America. But your "it's simple" statements make me thinf that you don't really know what you're talking about. Our foreign policy is anything but simple. I think you're just not willing to take the time to understand it and instead you just defend every aspect of it as necessary. That's a shame, because that's what enables leaders to sacrafice our principles for comfort in the first place.
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my point exactly