So, Yeah, About the Whole Republican Projection Thing

Spoken like someone who was raised in and completely indoctrinated in The American Way of Life.

Hey! FF is arguably a very talented historian!

















It's not an argument anyone's ever likely to WIN, mind you.

What can I say? We have a far superior education system here to either of you.

You each have unique failings, but the effects on all but the privileged classes aren't all that different.

Like, you not only have more people incarcerated as a percentage, but also as an aggregate number.

As shown in the photo Paladin provided, even your correctional facilities are of a lower standard than China's.

Spoken like someone on the internet without any restrictions or fear of the government coming after you, giving you an unfair trial and locked away for merely speaking your mind.

And yet, I am. Don't say "bomb". Don't say ... a whole list of shit that will have men in black knocking on your door.

It's like you don't even live on this planet.

spoken like a trust fund kid who's never "fit the description"-let alone done three months dead time for it.

And yet you are. I guess the point escaped you. In China things would be a lot different and Wordforge would likely not exist.

OMG. You just can't not fall for propaganda, can you?

I'm sorry, are you seriously suggesting that China is better than America? In what measure exactly?

I'd go with both suck for similar reasons, but have different methods to achieve those ends.

You totally got me, China is a free nation and the Chinese people are free to discuss whatever they want on the internet and elsewhere.

Neither are my favorite - I've travelled extensively in both - but if I had to live in one it's America and it ain't even close

Although I would say Hong Kong if China hadn't taken it over, that used to be a great city

Shut up.

Propaganda aside, you cannot possibly believe the US is the shining beacon of light in an otherwise dark world that you were taught to believe. Stop looking at the splinter in China's eye, and do something about the log in your own eye.

China is a one party state where they are literally harvesting the organs of prisoners, committing genocide on their Muslim minority the Uighurs, have armed occupation of Tibet and destroyed democracy, the right to protest and freedom of speech in Hong Kong. Those freedoms we take for granted haven't existed in China proper since the tanks rolled in Tianamen Square. Some of their factories have netting on the outside to stop the consistent suicide attempts of their workers.

The US is far from perfect, but it sure is fuck isn't that. We are fighting our slide into authoritarianism. China has been there for 80 years already. Hell, Xi is President for Life.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/china/report-china/

Yeah, that's what I thought. Also, suck a fart out of my ass

China, in this discussion, is a red herring provided by FF to misdirect your attention in an attempt to absolve wrongdoing. So, it doesn't matter what China is or isn't doing. It's not part of the discussion.

Then don't take the bait, but if you do, certainly don't promote falsehoods. China is objectively worse than the US.

That being said, the Republican party would like us to devolve further along that path, supports an ex-President who tried to overthrow the rule of law in the United States, is actively attacking human rights across the board, and is attempting to suppress any positive change to making our society better.

Well, there is an upcoming vote, but yeah after that he will be.

Putin and Xi believe the people serve the state, not the other way around.
Trump and his billionaire buddies feel the same way.

I wasn't taught that,I was taught to believe that at the time of the founding that the US. was a shining beacon of light in an otherwise dark world. That light spread and in at least one country directly, our oldest ally, France. It's safe to say that as a result of that light, every country in the Western world has some form of democracy.That's what I was taught and that's what I believe because it's the truth, not propaganda.

There is absolutely a large degree of truth that the enlightenment philosophy of Europe led to America's 'Great Experiement,' and the fact that it was successful helped propagate democracy across Europe and further out into the world.

It's also absolutely true that the US treated it's minorities abominably and launched several wars of aggression during its expansion.

Liberals focus on the later, Conservatives on the former. The truth is both. That's why I'm a centrist.

I focus on the latter because it needs focus.
The "yip, yip, USA!" shit doesn't need help, it'll take care of itself.

That's fine,but some people here and out in the real world act as if no progress has been made since 1865.

Yeah, they're racists.
And they vote.
And we have scum that want those votes.
We just had one for president.

Yes indeed - far left, anti capitalist folk like @Diacanu would have you believe that people are worse off now than they were before the industrial revolution

Show your work.

Neither extreme helps. Too far on the right and you stop all meaningful change, and there needs to be a tremendous amount of reform. And if they need to overthrow our government to do so they will.

Too far to the left and the nation itself splinters because no one believes in it. And then it's going to be the ones with the most organization and guns that win.

Both things are possible right now, in this moment.

We need to acknowledge that we need to do better, while realizing that the nation is something worth saving.

I always go back to Sherman.

"You people of the South don't know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. It is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization! You people speak so lightly of war; you don't know what you're talking about. War is a terrible thing!"

The difference is this time I hear constantly from the left that the only way to change the system is through violence. Both sides need to be reminded of this.

I'm still not seeing that huge a difference.
America has a pretty substantial black market for transplant organs, continues the slow genocide of First Nations, have invaded and overthrown elected governments the world over, the right to protest at Standing Rock or Minneapolis... and let's not even get started on the increase in contracted prison labour in the face of a %500 increase to the prison population in the past 30 years.

Tinfoil.