X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f996b,1ba428dc9524af3e X-Google-Attributes: gidf996b,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-09-16 11:59:07 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.tele.dk!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!not-for-mail Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 21:00:51 +0200 From: Christian 'CeeJay' Jensen User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.5b) Gecko/20030901 Thunderbird/0.2 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art Subject: Re: [PIC] Kite References: <3f5ba662$0$48887$edfadb0f@dtext02.news.tele.dk> In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 95 Message-ID: <3f675d7a$0$48905$edfadb0f@dtext02.news.tele.dk> Organization: TDC Internet NNTP-Posting-Host: 80.161.50.86 X-Trace: 1063738746 dtext02.news.tele.dk 48905 80.161.50.86 X-Complaints-To: abuse@post.tele.dk Xref: archiver1.google.com alt.ascii-art:24907 >>The insinuation that America is somehow becoming an imperialist State, >>you know, like Germany was in the first half of the 20th century. To understand this (english is not my first tongue) I had to look up "imperialist" .. I had a good idea about what I thought it was but i wanted to be certain. "Imperialism" : 1. The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations. 2. The system, policies, or practices of such a government. Hmm .. I next had to look up "hegemony" "Hegemony" 1. The predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others. If I'm not mistaken the US *does* exert match the second part of imperialism (1.) "or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations" The US does police the world .. in all the cases it have something to gain from that policing .. mostly financiel gain or political stability. Afganistan = Revenge for 9/11 , Iraq = Revenge for 9/11 + the US felt they needed a stronger military staging point in the middle east and the relationship with Saudi Arabia wasn't going too well (still isn't) + They didn't really like Sadam and saw him as a potiential future threat (They were most likely right in this asumption but there was no imediate threat) The effort is not always military .. often this is done by playing other parties against each other. This is really what most of the people that hate America is angry about. They feel that America is aiding their enemies and so America is also their enemy. I can it see the situation from their point of view. F.x My gf have an aunt that was totured and imprisoned for many years, because she was part of a communist movement to overthrow the opressive dictatorship in their country. America hates communism so they supported the opressive dictatorship .. that ultimatly won and slaughtered the opposition and imprisioned and tortured thoose that didn't die or fled. I don't hate the US , the US likes to be in control and it makes me think sometimes that all that power in one place could be a disaster if the wrong people ruled it. That's how the problems with Germany in the past started .. a big powerful country .. with bad leadership - Germans weren't and still aren't bad people. People are already making comparisons of Hitler and Bush .. pointing out that the same thight security and measures taken to "protect the country and it's citizens from terrorism" can be turned upon the citizens themselves Americans are already beginning to loose rights and have their privacy invaded in the digital world (heck we europeans are too) .. its just happening little by little so nobody complains too much. And as we speak the US are pressuring other states to sign treaties that exempt America and Americans from being prosecuted for warcrimes .. many have already signed .. and thoose that haven't are being threated with financial punishment if they do not comply. To me .. trying to obtain imunity from crimes is a tell-tale sign that you either have or are planning to commit them. ( BTW the Italian president did this too for himself .. I have a feeling that he's not squakyclean) > Well, I know quite well about the terrible crimes my ancestors have > committed, you are taught to remember them from childhood on over here. > But what do you think has current Germany to do with something that has > happened 60 Years ago? We are no more a nazi state! But as far as I can > tell, the rest of the world just does not recognize it. As far as I can tell David , here in Denmark we know that you are no longer a nazi state. Nobody I know blames the germans of the present for the warcrimes of the past. Cheer up :) > But I guess this discussion will not lead to any end ever. All the > arguments for one side or the other one have been told in some hundred > thousands of discussions over and over again, and I have never seen one > side to give in to the arguments of the other one, the case is just too > sensitive for doing so. So, let's settle this OT discussion for now, I > will accept that you consider the way America does it right, and you do > accept that I hold the Middle East to be a lot more fragile that your > foreign "politics" could handle. OK? Good point .. most people in theese kind of arguments are like fanatics "Fanatic" (as I and not the dictionary define it) A person unable to see other points of view than his/her own and unwilling to stop telling others of their own.