>>if they need to suck the world dry of capital to boost the defense budget<<
The capital is free to leave, we don't have capital controls. It's here because it thinks it's getting a better deal. Maybe interest rates are low, but tax rates are low, too. And the economy is very stable compared to most.
>>on the other side there can not be any stability, given you live next door to a family with a history of family violence and your doors have no keys<<
Is that the problem, or is it that with cheap foreign labor comes the violent family? You invited them in and they won't behave?
Ya'll have to shoulder the burden of civilizing them.
I think most of the people in the US and Canada are here because our ancestors couldn't handle the violence anymore. Draw concentric circles around the areas of permanent conflict and I think we are about as far away from it as you can get, in either direction. Everyone on the thread is. We had peace-loving ancestors.
But ask yourself, would there be a refugee problem if the region had peace? No. Take a look at the situation between the US and Mexico. Mexico is a peaceful area, but we get economic refugees. They don't really want to live here, it's too cold and we are too standoffish and demanding. They just want jobs, schools, roads, hospitals, in their own countries. The ones who run away want peace, too.
The >>defense budget<< would be better spent on >>jobs, schools, roads, hospitals, in their own countries<< but what do we do about the Middle East? And what do we do about China? (Sorry, Jay - as you say, just is). And what do we do about narco-terrorism in South America?
If the US were not armed to the teeth and ready to fight, would the world still be at peace? It's called the Pax Americana, and we all benefit from it, including you. And China.
China is eating our lunch because they don't have the burden of peace-keeping outside their own borders, nor a lot of other burdens that comes with being the hegemon, nor the burdens that come with the kind of social welfare structure the Europeans have elected to provide themselves. It's kind of a free ride.
Maybe we should all take a page from China's book, forget the pax, forget the social welfare, just shrug it off. |
