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A reader named feste left the comment below in my entry. Hey feste, thanks for stopping by and commenting. All comments are welcome even if I don't personally agree with them. I noted some points in your post that I'll refute or expand upon.
His complete comment was as below:
hello,
I find your relentless critisim of Canada and constant praise of the US quite interesting. The strenght of ones military is no longer a significant factor in the power or status of a state. Most modern states realise this. The reasons that the US keeps such a strong military are: 1) political and business interests who gain from the US military industrial complex are the most powerfull interest groups in the US 2) it gives US citizens a false emotional sense of pride and security which the elite use to manipulate them. A states ability to manage the factors which create a strong market is the new standard by which states are ranked. This should be no news to a financial profesional that presumably understands globalism.
I find your relentless critisim of Canada and constant praise of the US quite interesting. The strenght of ones military is no longer a significant factor in the power or status of a state. Most modern states realise this. The reasons that the US keeps such a strong military are: 1) political and business interests who gain from the US military industrial complex are the most powerfull interest groups in the US 2) it gives US citizens a false emotional sense of pride and security which the elite use to manipulate them. A states ability to manage the factors which create a strong market is the new standard by which states are ranked. This should be no news to a financial profesional that presumably understands globalism.
1) Relentless criticism of Canada? No. Relentless criticism of the Liberal Government that has ZERO opposition and has screwed up left right and centre without being called on it? Yes. Hatred of the shrill Sheila Copps? Yes. Pissed off at the one party system we've got in Canada right now? Yes. I WANT A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE. That is not hatred of Canada as an institution because you say it is.
2) Constant praise of the U.S.? There are some, no many things that I think the U.S. does better than we do. And I'll point them out when I see fit. That's my right for living in a great, free nation like Canada. I can speak my mind and talk about how shitty some things are. Like the thought police at the CRTC deciding what I do or don't see.
3)
"The strenght of ones military is no longer a significant factor in the power or status of a state."
You're joking right? You have to be...
"Most modern states realise this."
Really? Name me ONE of these magical powerful nations. Just ONE. Many nations may not have strong militaries and might do well economically. But that's usually because their security is being guaranteed by someone else who HAS a strong military.
Japan and Germany don't have huge armies because all the countries in proximity to Japan FEAR a re-armed Japan and the Germans are just too damned guilty about WW2. The USSR was all about the big military presence, but couldn't convert that into any sustainable power over the long term because they didn't understand economic realities and were strangled by terrible inefficiency.
4) You mention "powerful interest groups" and the "elites" as the reason for the big military. Typical. I dismiss that as the usual paranoid nonsense. Next you'll tell me about the "zionist conspiracy" that's popular in lefty circles. Whatever. The truth is that the U.S. military exists as the global safety guarantee. Most nations are happy it's there so they have something or someone else to blame if things don't go their way.
Picture a world without the U.S. military. Happy flowers and patchouli-stinking peaceniks dancing in a wonderful peaceful world? Or the swastika flying overhead? Or the hammer and sickle? Love them or hate them, they are necessary to the world we have today, which is a damn sight better than if the results had gone the other way.
A states ability to manage the factors which create a strong market is the new standard by which states are ranked.
States are ranked using many different criteria for many different reasons and DING! for the one you're using guess who ranks highest? And that also depends how you define the term "power" as well. Which you didn't bother to do by the way. Because guess what? The answer will be the same no matter how you slice it.
This should be no news to a financial profesional that presumably understands globalism.
And here's your presumed triumph. You make a whole bunch of unsubtantiated "points", claim victory and then turn it into a question mark about my professional competence.
Sorry, economic power is only one aspect of a nation's power. And most financial professionals know this.
And that is why you are wrong.
If I was wanting to speak to you only about this I would probably be wasting my time. Your cute little "presumably" shows what little regard you hold for people who hold my opinion.
But thanks for giving me a topic to write on.
Stop back with any other "revelations" you wish to grace me with...
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And Lastly...
There are a lot of people that DO like the U.S. That doesn't mean that specific actions can't be questioned and praised/condemned.
I'm just pissed that so many public statements in Canada are made just to be contrary to the U.S. position so that we can say "see, we really are different from them! We're not their lapdogs!" without actually taking the time to THINK about the topic.
You can still be a patriot and love your country while disagreeing with some of its assinine policies.
Interesting six page article in the Sun yesterday by Graham Turner of The Daily Telegraph entitled "The US Empire". It tries to explore why their is such deep distrust of the US by the rest of the world.
It's main points are:
1) It's a different type of empire. One whose footsoldiers came from Hollywood, instead of the battlefield. And instead of taking over countries, it lets countries "choose" their own path. However many foreign leaders or top business people have attended US schools, and received their indoctrination into the US way.
2) Many in the US can't understand that their are other ways of conducting business or doing politics. They are convinced that their way is the best, and all that is needed is to convert people into their way of thinking, much like the Catholic missionaries of old.
3) Many in the US believe that their country is God's chosen land. They believe that they are doing God's work and are not acting in their own self-interest.
4) The current Government is very much on the far right, and has been using 9-11 in an Orwellian fashion to stifle dissent. By keeping the terrorist bogieman out there, they have been able to clamp down on personal freedoms, and have turned some in the media into jingoistic supporters of the Gov't agenda instead of dispassionate observers (eg. Fox news' coverage of the Iraq war).
5) Ironically enough it is the US Military that is doing the best at gaining an appreciation for the rest of the world and their points of view, as they realize that they will be used as the "Worlds Policeman" and know that to be the most effective in a given country they will need to relate to those citizens in a way that makes the citizens the most comfortable.
1) I always thought that most foreign leaders point to a British schooling in their background rather than the U.S.? I don't know for sure...
2) I've seen this firsthand. Sometimes they're right, other times...
3) Remember too though that the U.S. was one of the first major powers ever to entrench seperation of church and state. That should not be undone, no matter how many Falwell's or Robertson's open their yaps...
4) I would love to see Fox News firsthand myself to judge this- no wait, I can't. The CRTC won't let me because it might make me "less Canadian". But I'll agree that the media I have seen has done a lousy job of being "balanced." That goes for the CBC by the way, too.
5) Makes sense.