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And an electorate that's happy to live in blissful ignorance of our part in world affairs, as long as they can continue to enjoy the highest standard of living in the world at the expense of 2/3 of the world's population.




Maybe if the rest of the world embraced free market capitalism rather than rallying around socialist kleptocrats like Kofi Annan or property confiscating thugs like Hugo Chavez or Robert Mugabe, they'd live better? Nice to see White liberals like you condescending to the majority of the world's population: "Poor babies! The reason you don't have indoor toilets isn't because of your lack of initiative! It's BUSH...and AMERICA! Let me whine for you while I drive my SUV to my Greenpeace meeting!"

If you have problems with the U.S. standard of living, perhaps you should sell your computer and buy a yurt on the plains of Mongolia? After your third day wiping your ass with leaves, you'd be swimming across the pacific to bask in the "land of capitalist exploitation".



First of all, I'm not white... but I "type white", so I can understand the mistake. Secondly, I don't own an SUV... but nice try. Finally, I have absolutely no problem with the standard of living in America. I thoroughly enjoy the standard of living I enjoy... and I'm not about to sacrifice two-ply toilet paper and HSIA for the sake of uplifting the downtrodden and opressed. However, I also don't delude myself into believing that the high standard of living I enjoy so much is simply the result of "good old fashioned plucky American ingenuity!"... and not the ill-gotten gains of neo-colonialism and the hypocrisy of a nation that extols the virtues of liberty, but refuses to share said liberty when it conflicts with our strategic and economic "interests". Oh yeah, they just lack the "initiative"... that's the problem! That's some keen political insight ya got there Mr. Alger. We have no problem with "kleptocrats" and thugs, as long as their willing to take the payoff and exploit their own people so we can strip-mine their country, pay their workers 5cents/hr to make $80 sneakers, and sell us a few cheap bananas. And god help the soul who really does show "initiative" ( Viva Arbenz! ). Who maaaaaybe tries to organize a union or some form of populist movement to uplift his people... 'cuz he'll be "disappeared" faster than an 8ball in the Oval Office. And we'll probably supply the guns to the secret police... just to discourage any "communist" insurgents. And god help the tinpot dictator who gets a little too big for his britches and starts acting like he really RUNS things in his own country! We might have to invade his piece-a-shit desert real estate just as a "preemptive" measure ( honestly, it'll just prevent a wider conflict in the future! ).
So I can live with the exploitation... just spare me the hypocrisy of all the pseudo-patriotic, masturbatory sermons about how much we value "human rights" ( unless they're being violated by a major trading partner ), and the "free market" ( as long as we can continue to profit from slave labor ). Just call it what it is; pure Machiavellian self-interest... and stop trying to dress it up as something more noble.

"Ask 'em when they're running out. Ask 'em when there's no heat in their homes and they're cold. Ask 'em when their engines stop. Ask 'em when people who have never known hunger start going hungry. You wanna know something? They won't want us to ask 'em. They'll just want us to get it for 'em!"
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"We had part of a Slinky - but I straightened it."