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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alexandermf who wrote (38763)	9/21/2000 11:11:50 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

We are very far from the conditions of rough social equality and cultivation of democratic institutions that would permit the contemplation of a world confederation of states. Even the road to European Union has been very bumpy, and can barely move beyond a customs union. I assure you, the use of the Euro is not widespread, and there is a great deal of ambivalence about even giving up national currencies. Nor is there any eagerness to move beyond the already committed member states to incorporate the underdeveloped states of central and eastern Europe. We are fortunate that we have been able to keep the United States committed to the security of Europe through NATO, and have been able to commit, in principle, to the incorporation of the most advanced states of the former Eastern Bloc. Even so, there is immense pressure to reassess the terms of the NATO commitment, and there is no real willingness to integrate Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary into our force structure in the near term. Nor is there any inclination to look ahead to further extension for the moment. The most promising means to promote globalization is through treaties breaking down trade restrictions such as NAFTA and GATT. Only through the development of free trade is there any real hope of solving the so- called North-South problem, because the need is for the the specialization of labor, so that capital may be efficiently allocated and every nation may contribute to general prosperity through the utilization of its particular market advantages. If labor is cheap and relatively unskilled, then it should be making cheap clothing to cover the world's nakedness. If labor is expensive and relatively well- educated, then it should be developing the emerging Information Economy, not making widgets. As the world market is increasingly integrated, the underdeveloped world will gain more local and social capital (indigenous assets, and higher levels of health and education), and will be able to progress to higher incomes and more diverse economies. As this process takes place over the next century, assuming that it is accompanied by the development of the rule of law, civil liberties, and civic participation in most countries, we may, at the end, be in a position to think of a closer confederation of world states. It will take a long time. As for taxes, well, one of the reasons that the United States is better off than most countries is that it does not have tax rates that are sky high. The country was built by people pursuing their personal aspirations, of course with a sense of civic duty, but one mostly directed to their neighbors in the town or county. Washington did not settle the prairies, nor build the railroads, nor pan the gold, nor raise the capital for the great industrial enterprises. It helped with some of these things, by providing cheap land and soldiers, but the work was done elsewhere, by financiers and entrepeneurs and inventors and working men and women, mostly trying to do the best for themselves and their families. We don't really need a bold new path, what we need is the commitment to individual freedom and enterprise, civic spirit and patriotism, and other elements of common decency that have animated the country throughout the centuries. We need to reaffirm the culture of responsibility, where people take care of their families, help their neighbors, and take pride in their work. We need enlightened nationalism, a desire to see our nation take its proper role in the world, and help shape the future of mankind. We need American leadership in the future, in cooperation with its allies, and with due sensitivity to the limits of power. We need to finish what we began in the 20th century, with resistance to Fascism and Communism: the promotion of global prosperity and the spread of democratic institutions........

To: Alexandermf who wrote (38763)	9/21/2000 11:35:56 AM
From: kvkkc1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

What a weak, emotion-based argument you make. I don't personally know one elderly person who is choosing between medicine and food. If you do and you don't make them aware of help, you are no better than us MEAN Republicans. The other parts of the world have every opportunity to improve their conditions, but either they or their communist trained dictators choose not to help themselves. How hard can it be to educate people against disease? Does it take billions of dollars. I don't think so. I read in the paper this morning that some big world organization is pissed off because not enough condoms are being produced in the west. What an argument. Screwing themselves to death. I guess there are worse ways to go.knc