America: The Police State

Canada fucking rules!

 

I am glad I voted no instead of on it's way.

 

I almost want to say On it's way because of some of the internet stuff, which I would be upset if it got out of hand, but still there are privileges to being a westerner. As I tried to explain to you in that thread about the upset Iraqi woman, living in the west is more than materialistic freedom, and many people in her country and others across the world worked their heart to get to the west. Now maybe that motivation might dwindle but the melting pot culture of America has had positive influences, including equality, and more socially responsible attitude, including the will to help strangers. So many people choose to remain ignorant, but that doesn't paint an accurate picture. If you are really thinking about a Day of Rage in the west, you seriously oversee the differences.

 

I agree.
The USA has hardly any manufacturing jobs left, gotta keep the prisons full to make that $$$.
Oh, and make weapons for all the endless wars.

 

The US manufacturing sector produced about $3.1 trillion worth of stuff in 2009, not far behind China when using PPP, and if using official exchange rates still above China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_sector#List_of_countries_by_industrial_output

and the manufacturing sector still makes up around 20% of our economy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_sector_composition
quite the norm.

We're a post industrial society thanks to education where services and finances have replaced the old. Trying to keep old manufacturing jobs that are no long profitable in a globalized world is not only an expensive waste of money, not only unfair to other countries trying to develop, not only ignoring the inevitable, but it's most importantly a step backwards.

 

but what percent of that industrial output is boeing and lockheed and numerous other military industrial complex hootenannies. what percent is high dollar luxury items like private jets etc. for the ultra-rich.

also, since when is a 25% gap "not far behind"

 

Output is output, it's goods being produced, people making them, money being transferred, ect.

Would you prefer if we made toy guns and t-shirts? Yes lockheed and boeing are huge in manufacturing, yes they build military aircraft, only problem with that is most of both their international and nation orders are for passenger planes. No matter what airline you fly anywhere outside of the former communist countries there good chance is you're flying on an American built plane.

We also have a large natural resource sector, a huge chemical manufacuting base, despite the woes of Detroit we still build a huge amount of cars, still have a large steel sector, large engineering, telecommunications, product assembly, food production, ect.

In fact on top of it all:

We've lost jobs, we haven't lost output. Things change, there will always be losers on some end of it.

 

They are charged criminals, by virtue of the rights they were stripped of I do not see how them working is a problem. Considering I know I would personally not like to know that tax dollars are being spent on incarceration for them to just sit there all day.

Would you rather they just chill all day, and be even more of a burden of the state?

I can not believe people actually believe America is a police state though, that is a laughable accusation. There is a bit of corruption everywhere. No government is without its slips. You cant just point at past faults and say "SEE! AMERICA IS BAD!" Especially with how huge, powerful, and influential the entirety of the America government is, of course there are going to slip up sometimes. And when something that powerful slips, it makes a pretty big whole in the ground. However bottom line is you still live in a free nation. When was the last time police crashed through your window for logging on to hip forums and denouncing the US? When was the last time a friend of your was black bagged in the middle of the night right from their home? How often do you run home before the street lamps come on and curfew takes effect?

Enjoy the civil and political liberties you have, be a little grateful, it could be much worse.

Toronto G20 Summit brought all this up in Canada lately, and I could not believe how stupid people were, just jumping on the "blame the government" bandwagon. People watch a few youtube videos of what the video posters say is happening and suddenly everyone is aware of this police conspiracy. Bull-Shit

 

A Canadian defending America? Whaaaaaaaaa???

 

No one is defending the US prison system, people are defending not paying inmates $8 an hour.

 

Wow one random murder.

Actually Americans are friendly, overly friendly by some accounts. Apparently in some countries it's not normal for random people on trains or at bus stops to strike up conversations with you, or for cashiers to talk to you if they're not going to try to sell you something.

Also, we give more to charity than other nation
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-06-25-charitable_N.htm

Ironically the calling card of every arrogant American. You know a country right next to us that shares nearly every single cultural and media aspect, where 90% of it's population lives within 2 hours of our border can't possibly know US history that well.

 

Your argument has stopped being the police state and has gone to Americans just being terrible who don't help strangers.

FYI, I go to NYC constantly, and New Yorkers are actually among the friendliest people I've ever met since they're so use to tourists being lost.

 

As I said in my previous post Skip. Pointing at faults of the past does not mean that everything is terrible. Ok, so you point at a murder in America and say "see, there is no love here" I ask you, how many major cities in our world have NOT had murders? Mistakes are everywhere. After such mistakes, action is taken, in many forms. Back to the G20 Toronto example, things got out of hand, mistakes were made, new laws began to be discussed to prevent future mistakes. For your example, regarding Kitty Genovese, the murder happened, it was terrible yes, but then as an aftereffect, fountains and fountains of research in the field of psychology followed that gave us incredible insight and many new concepts to explore.

I am not lecturing you on American history, I am trying to tell you not to take so many liberties with it

 

Yeah it does, that is in fact being friendly. Did you live in NYC during the crack and violent crime epidemic? The fact cars won't pick up hitch hikers doesn't mean Americans as a whole aren't friendly, it means you can look deeper into the issue and realize the US does in fact have a high violent crime rate due to gang/drug violence and there's not legions of hippies hitch hiking anymore and it makes people wary.