Is America, Really as bad as people say? Options

[CrazayChristian]

I know, I'm an American, why am I asking this?

Well, I've heard both sides of the story, and I still don't see why people dislike America.

I came across this topic:

Click

And I realized that there must be some sort of prejudice involved.

In my opinion, we are doing alot already. We actually have more troups in the yugoslavian area than Iraq, and I think we lose more people there than Iraq. We have troups there to help stifle the fighting.
We have troups in Iraq so that we can help them to defend themselves.
We are the big brother of Isreal.

And yes we've had some bad moments, such as the bikini Islands. But, you're expected to make mistakes. Look at how the European powers did hundreds of years ago.

Some people blame the president for the problems, but put yourself in his shoes, to control the most powerful country in the world and try to make everyone happy. It just doesn't always work out.

So, I'm wondering, why do certain people (almost entire countries) dislike America?

(I'm curious about my facts, and I figured debate would be the best way to discuss diffrent sides)

[*mipadi*]

Japan is an interesting example to use. Japan got a kickstart after World War II when the United States funneled billions of dollars of aide into the country, in order to rebuild their industrial complex. So yes, Japan has performed admirably given the nation's stunning lack of resources, but they didn't exactly build their economy themselves; they had a lot of help from the United States. Prior to their military buildup around World War II, Japan was a relatively primitive nation; and they certainly didn't even begin developing until 1863, which shows that their lack of resources did in fact hinder their economic and technological development. Due to influences from the outside, especially the US and its financial resources, they were able to build their economy into one of the strongest today, and they are one of the most technologically-advanced nations on Earth. This happened due to a lot of outside influences, however, and was not completely built on their own natural resources; however, it shows that the country did have a fair amount of ingenuity, and just needed some resources (and yes, I am once again considering money to be a resource here, because it is--and I never specified completely natural resources) to get itself started. So yes, I think Japan supports the argument that a country and its economy fails not always due to a lack of ingenuity, ability, and achievement, but sometimes due to a lack of resources and opportunity.

[Spirited Away]

Japan is an interesting example to use. Japan got a kickstart after World War II when the United States funneled billions of dollars of aide into the country, in order to rebuild their industrial complex. So yes, Japan has performed admirably given the nation's stunning lack of resources, but they didn't exactly build their economy themselves; they had a lot of help from the United States. Prior to their military buildup around World War II, Japan was a relatively primitive nation; and they certainly didn't even begin developing until 1863, which shows that their lack of resources did in fact hinder their economic and technological development. Due to influences from the outside, especially the US and its financial resources, they were able to build their economy into one of the strongest today, and they are one of the most technologically-advanced nations on Earth. This happened due to a lot of outside influences, however, and was not completely built on their own natural resources; however, it shows that the country did have a fair amount of ingenuity, and just needed some resources (and yes, I am once again considering money to be a resource here, because it is--and I never specified completely natural resources) to get itself started. So yes, I think Japan supports the argument that a country and its economy fails not always due to a lack of ingenuity, ability, and achievement, but sometimes due to a lack of resources and opportunity.

First you say "imposed", now you say "help", so I want to know if by imposing, we helped?
Anyway, no, they definitely didn't build their economy on their own and yes outside forces helped the nation to be what it is today. So would you say that they did something right, or was the opportunity to be successful given to them?

Japan may have lacked natural resources, but are you sure about opportunity? If you say they lacked opportunity, how did they gained the opportunity? Was it given?

All these questions are asked with intent, please do not think I'm simple-minded for asking them... lol.

And you did specified. You said natural resources in a previous post and that is why I chose a country that lacked natural resources. Oh, here it is...

If I don't have gasoline, what good is a car? If I don't have gasoline, how would I even think of such a thing as a car?

The point is that other countries suffer not necessarily from a lack of a talent or motivation, but a lack of natural resources.

And please correct me if I'm wrong (since I've forgotten a lot of what I've learned in economics), money is capital, right? Yes, I know capital is a resource, but saying calling money a resource is kind of like calling pie a dessert instead of pie, isn't it?


Sammi, lol, we are not mauling! Well, I'm learning at least.

This post has been edited by uninspiredfae: Jul 13 2005, 12:19 AM