Avangi

“

Cool Breeze

“    I wouldn't dare to set foot on US soil at the moment. For a tourist, the USA is more dangerous than the Soviet Union used to be. ”

  Funny, that's the way I feel about the state of Texax.

”

Texas? That's a good one!  Avangi, are you sure you are American? But honestly, think of the situation from a foreigner's viewpoint. Foreigners have been taken to an American prison and told they have no rights, nor will they necessarily be charged with anything. That will keep anybody with a working brain outside the country!

CB

Hi CB,

There is no doubt your interpretation of the United Sates is not one that I would consider favorable. This is what I see. Most European countries are founded on a socialist platform and almost all have social health care and generous benefits where as the US is completely different. Whether these points have anything to do with our political discussion could be debatable.  However, I will say this. We can’t use the behavior and action of one inept president against the people of  the US.

My point is, social and political values are affecting our moral judgment and ethics.  When someone harms another human being without regards of his life and he is proven guilty, to me, his has lost his human rights in my book.  When these folks are crying foul for the repeated child molesters released from prison for being tagged with an electronic devise, they call the act inhumane, even when some of the pedophile had admitted that they would be likely to perpetrate the crime again.  Have they considered the lives of many young children which they ruined ??  Some lawyers defended their clients by reasons of chemical imbalance causing physiological desires that make them carry out these crimes. How about castrating their desires to keep them from harming others!  The list goes on and on for this kind of ridiculous justice and I don’t think we can reach any conclusion by discussing it on this forum. I know I most likely can’t change a thing.  I am just letting out some of the frustration bottled up in me for a long time.

Goodman

“Thanks to the dollar depreciation !

”

I can only speak for myself, Goodman! I also do avail myself of the weak dollar by buying things online from the States. And Amaricans visiting Helsinki think a beer is expensive if they have to pay three euros for it. We need not agree on everything, do we? I think the world would be a boring place if there were only one opinion about everything.

To Avangi: I think your opinions and attitude are very reasonable and understandable. Less than 40 percent of Americans approve of George Bush according to some opinion polls. I don't think anybody could have caused more damage to the US than  he has done. No doubt a new president will improve the image of the US in the eyes of the outside world. It simply can't get any worse. I, for one, sincerely hope the USA will live up to its ideals and forget petty politics.

On the other hand, the future of mankind is very bleak regardless of what the most powerful nations do. Mankind is committing an unavoidable suicide. I'm not blaming anyone; I'm as guilty as everybody else in the developed countries. For everybody to have the same standard of living as people have in the rich countries, there would have to be five earths. We only have one. Catastrophes are bound to increase in the next few years. All terrorists and "terrorists" will be forgot in about 20 years. There will be more pressing issues.

Cheers, CB

Because no one taken to Guantanamo has any rights  -  and anyone the US authorities suspect of "terrorism" can be taken there  -  I wouldn't dare to set foot on US soil at the moment. For a tourist, the USA is more dangerous than the Soviet Union used to be. In that country only its own citizens needed to fear being taken to prison camps. Stalin had at least 15 million Soviets executed and times were bad for the locals even after him. However, a tourist had nothing to fear in the USSR. There wasn't even the slightest chance that a foreigner could be arrested on any false charges  -  let alone without charges. 

Going to the USSR involved a lot of red tape but the country had absolutely no prisons where foreigners were kept for years without being charged with anything.

I find it utterly amusing and ludicrous that George W. Bush should discuss human rights in China with Chinese leaders, something he did a week ago in China. That proves how self-contained the leader of a superpower can be. No doubt Bush believes everything he says. A president with such a limited vision and understanding and a large nuclear arsenal at his disposal is a big threat to world peace.”

Cool Breeze

“Whatever you mean by "compare", I haven't really done that. I have just mentioned a few points that are important from a tourist's point of view.”

You used your perception of the relative safety of a foreign tourist visiting the former Soviet Union to contrast your perception of the relative safetly of a foreign tourist visiting the present-day United States.  You specifically stated, "For a tourist, the USA is more dangerous than the Soviet Union used to be."  That's a direct comparison.  The issue you decided to highlight was human rights in the United States, and (in dramatic fashion) you chose the Soviet Union to highlight perceived differences.  Therefore, my usage of the term "compare" is utterly correct in reference to your points.

You then went on to say, "I find it utterly amusing and ludicrous that George W. Bush should discuss human rights in China with Chinese leaders, something he did a week ago in China."  The implication here was clearly that you feel that human rights in the United States are lacking to the point where George Bush sounds hypocritical when chastising the Chinese for not respecting them.  While the comparison here was not direct, it was clearly implied.

Anyway, I don't know why you're playing games with semantics unless my spelling out of the subtext of your post makes the points therein sound ridiculous.