Ron Paul vs. the Neocon Cowards

Mercor · Sep 29, 2007

Quote from Haroki:

Or how about this one?

Any better, Mr Zero?

End U.S. Imperialism Now!

Can I just take another quick second of your precious time to put this one to bed once and for all?

It is a staple of the left to accuse the US of âImperialism.â That so many people can level such a charge with a straight face is a testament to the efficacy of forty years of standards-free education reform here and around the world.

An âEmpireâ is defined as a nation state that has political control over other nation states, and uses that political control to extract the wealth and resources from the subjugated country.

The United States of America does not have any political control over any other sovereign nation on the face of the Earth. We have influence, but influence is to control as a rich uncle is to a prison warden. Thatâs all you need to know. The entire idea of American Empire and U.S. Imperialism is dead on its face after that. No control means no empire. Period.

But we do have a large footprint in the rest of the world, and have military bases all across the globe. Is that a form of empire?

Look, the whole point of having an empire is to take the wealth out of the colonies and return them to enrich the home country. The US not only does not pull in the resources of other nationsâ¦it does exactly the reverse. We pump billions and billions of dollars annually into those nations that host our facilities, and the minute any one of those nations decides we are no longer welcome, we pack our bags, leave and turn those billion-dollar institutions over to the host country. (Look up Subic Bay and Clark Air Base in the Philippines for some recent examples)

This is not âimperial behavior.â It is, in fact, the precise opposite of imperial behavior. I guess somehow STOP U.S. ANTI-IMPERIALISM just doesnât have the same snap somehow for the North Korean-backed International A.N.S.W.E.R. crowd. Color me shocked.

There are millions of people â actually, probably billions now â who genuinely believe that the wealth of the US was stolen from third world countries. This is one of the great perks of living a life free of the ability to think critically and do a little research. I have heard this slander repeated so many times I decided to look into some actual numbers to see if there is anything to this charge. This is a perfect example of how critical thinking allows you to see the unseen. That attitude, Google and ten minutes is all you need to shoot lies like this down in flames.

Okay. The US Per capita income is $41,300. That of a poor, third world country âDjibouti, say -- is $2,070.

Now it gets interesting. The US gross domestic product â the value of everything we produce in a year -- was last measured as $12 trillion, 277 billion dollars (hundreds of millions of dollars being too insignificant to count in this economy).

The GDP of Djibouti is 1 billion, 641 million US dollars.

A little basic arithmetic shows me that the US has a GDP 7,481 times greater than Djibouti. A 365 day year, composed of 24 hours in a day, yields 8,760 hours per year. Hang on to that for a sec.

Now, letâs suppose the U.S. went into Djibouti with the Marines, and stole every single thing thatâs produced there in a yearâ¦just grant the premise and say we stole every goddam thing they make. If we hauled away all of Djiboutiâs annual wealth, how long would it run the U.S. Economy, which is 7,481 times greater?

Well, 8,760 hours divided by 7,481 gives you an answer of 1.17 hours. In other words, it takes the U.S. 1.17 hours to produce what Djibouti produces in a year.

If the US really did go in and steal everything that the bottom thirty countries in the world produce, it might power the US economy for two or three days.

Conversely, the billions and billions of dollars the US spends annually in aid, rent, etc. â plus uncounted billions more from private American charities â would supply the entire GDP of Djibouti for hundreds of years.

Whereâs your Imperialism argument now?
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I agree with the premise of your point(or whoever you ripped this off from).

To say that Djibouti is only worth its GDP is false. It has raw materials and a labor force when developed will provide much greater GDP. GDP needs a strong consumer and/or business market to consume the products being produced.

A traditional Imperialist would steal the raw materials. The USA just wants to pay a non-corrupt free market price for it. Our military the UN and other international groups are there to keep rouge nations from stealing or blocking the movement of raw materials for profit or political reasons.

Haroki · Sep 29, 2007

Quote from I.Q.:

Cut and paste loser.

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Ron Paul vs. the Neocon Cowards

Dr. James N. Herndon
Lew Rockwell.com
Friday September 28, 2007

Letâs say it straight out: Virtually every architect and supporter of todayâs neo-con-game of endless war is a coward.....

etc

etc

Yes, this describes you exactly

I.Q. · Sep 29, 2007

Quote from Haroki:
Letâs say it straight out: Virtually every architect and supporter of todayâs neo-con-game of endless war is a coward.....
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Yup, that about sums it up. I'm glad you and I finally agree on something. LOL

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Ron Paul vs. the Neocon Cowards

Mercor

Haroki

I.Q.