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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dave rose who wrote (17903)	4/8/2003 8:19:38 PM
From: sea_urchin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81209

Dave > What country in the world are most people trying to emigrate ? I suppose it's the US but I think many are going to be very disappointed with the prospects. gooff.com >>>With an external debt estimated to be around $2.8 trillion at the end of 2002 and a balance of payments deficit of $500 billion—some 35 percent bigger than the defence budget—the US needs a foreign capital inflow of around $1.5 billion a day. As Grant notes “unilateralism” in military affairs is one thing, but “the relationship of a debtor nation to its creditors is necessarily multilateral.” An article in the Guardian of March 26 by its business editor Mark Tran cites a report by Independent Strategy, a financial research company for institutional investors, which claims that the US is showing “many symptoms of an empire that is cresting.” It predicts a rise in terrorism as a reaction to US unilateralism, warns that military spending will add to the expanding budget deficits and points out that the Washington consensus—the support for free market economics and deregulation—is breaking down.<<< >what country can you name that has been as generous with with their resources and yes, even their power as the US. None. There I fully agree with you, but remember that that was in the past when the US was the industrial power-house of the world and the world's biggest creditor nation. Today, it is the world's biggest debtor living beyond its means to the tune of $1.5 bn per day. Perhaps you are not aware of this but the world is giving, or rather lending, the US this money. The support which the US gave to the world in the past is, in fact, being repaid in kind. > we implemented the Marshall Plan, gave the Philippines independence, saved the ass of Europe from Hitler, gave Japan the makings of a democracy, encouraged the demise of apartheid in SA, prevented Stalin from taking over the world, prevented the takeover of the Saudis, helped in catastrophes all over the world with money and supplies--need I go on? Again, I agree with you. The US has an unequalled history of generosity, and I'm not being sarcastic. In fact, what is happening now, to many observers, including myself, simply doesn't make any sense in view of its overall past behaviour. From being a "benevolent uncle", the US now appears to have become a "rapacious tiger". That is why I continuously blame the "think tanks" and the pro-Israel lobby for this because the new American policy is by no means typical of what we have seen previously. And, this is what I maintain --- this new policy is not even in America's own best interests. In my opinion, the US should have enforced the land for peace deal in Israel/Palestine as per Oslo and Camp David Accords and should have attempted a peaceful resolution of the impasse with Iraq, at least UN inspections for however long it took. What is Iraq? Who actually needs it? The idea of an American "Empire" and an American-imposed peace on everyone, "Pax Americana", is just so foreign to most people's understanding of America that the world is actually shocked by what is happening. Frankly, I am amazed how angry and warlike the US has become --- to the point that the average American is no longer prepared to even question anything his government says or does. In turn, the administration will not tolerate any criticism. In fact, 911 appears to have evoked an amazing transformation and, if you don't mind me saying it, a complete over-reaction to whatever it was about. So much so, that the US is not prepared to listen to reason or any argument from anyone, including friends and old allies, that its current aggressive policies may not be in its own best interests, let alone anyone else's --- except the right-wing government of Israel, of course.. From the above article again: >>>No doubt one of the motivations for the eruption of US militarism is the belief in ruling circles that this will help maintain the economic dominance of American capitalism over its rivals. While victories on the military front may provide a short-term economic boost, the mounting problems of the US economy, whatever the delusions of the occupants of the White House and the Pentagon, cannot be overcome by war. This is because they arise from fundamental processes within the capitalist economy, in particular the falling rate of profit and the consequent growth of financial speculation, over-capacity and intensified competition on the world market for resources and profits.<<<