. December 7, 2009 SouthAmerica: Reply to Ricter Thanks for your posting. I really enjoy when Noam Chomsky is interviewed on the Charlie Rose Show. In my opinion, Noam Chomsky is a very smart man, and I enjoy listening when he shares his observations about most subjects. .
Your second paragraph begins to politicize the topic. Anyway, it might not cost the US anything to establish those bases. Could be a positive ROI.
. This thread was on the economics forum, but the moderator decided that this thread is about politics and not about economics and the thread was moved to the politics forum. I understand why the moderator has moved this thread to the politics forum - the Chinese continues to lend tons of money to the United States and the United States continues to waste the money every way they can including the new 7 military bases in Colombia. But at the end of the day the Chinese is just giving more rope for the United States to place around the neck of the US government and at the right time the Chinese will be glad to serve as the hangman in the future. The Chinese already has over 2 trillion dollars of US government debt and they are happy that they are placing the United States on its knees one billion dollars at the time. There is no war in South America today, can you imagine how many US military bases the United States would need if there was an actual war in South America? Only fools spend so much money for no reason - unless the United States has become insecure about the future threat to the United States from Venezuela, Ecuador or even the threat from Evo Morales and Bolivia. The Bolivians probably would attack the United States with their bow and arrows.... .
Why do you care? You are neither American, Chinese or Columbian. It's non of your business anyways. This is coming from a guy who posted, god knows how many times about what a super guy Chavez was until he attacked Brazil and then all of a sudden Chavez was now a bad guy. He is a Brazilliian living in the US hiding behind our freedoms and sucking off the teat of our system. If Brazil is such a wondeful place then why then you move back? Why is Brazil's murder rate that of Somalia or Ethiopia? Explain that professor.
For the same reason that we can see a similar murder rate of Somalia or Ethiopia in many areas of the United States such as in the border towns between Mexico and the United States - or in jungles such as in Newark or Camden (NJ), the Bronx in New York City, in Philadelphia, in Los Angeles, in Cleveland, in Detroit, and in many other cities around the United States. I used to go to Fordham University in the Bronx when I was attending their economics PhD program - and I can tell you that Rio de Janeiro was a safer place than the Bronx late at night. I also worked in Newark, NJ for many years and Newark was a very dangerous city as well. Many years ago I went to Columbia University in Manhatan to attend a lecture by a well known economist, and I got lost when I was close to that university - driving around in that area of Manhatan I had the feeling that I was driving around in an unsafe third world country. .
I worked in New york 10 years ago for 6 months and never had a worry, I recall staggering down 4th ave blind drunk,3am many a time, nothing to be proud of I know but hey, I felt a lot safer there than my home town in England....