The Blue Board

Because you don't have to because your economic interest around the world fall under our protection. Rich countries have strong armies or else they aren't rich for long, fortunately for the rest of the West, and several others, their military is our military so they can spend money on other things while relying on us to protect economic interest and keep trade flowing around the world. Must be nice.

I don't do that, I never understood it either.

Here's the thing:

You can't legislate based on a libertarian pipe dream. You have to legislate based on reality.

Would it make sense to remove taxes on tobacco products as long as people who get sick from making that choice can't receive any taxpayer money for their care? And insurance companies can't be forced by the government to cover them? Yeah, on paper, that would be 'fair.' Until people start showing up in the ER when they start coughing up blood. And it's not just about the healthcare costs. Millions of people dying from cancer and disease is not awesome for society or the economy.

Your decisions that you feel are individual choices that don't affect anyone else actually do affect other people. A lot. The government doesn't make you wear a seatbelt because tucking you in at night and watching you while you're sleeping gives them a hard-on. They do it because people dying from stupid preventable shit hurts everyone. Orphaned children are bad for society. People with traumatic brain injuries are a drag on the economy. It's 'your personal choice' to not wear a seatbelt until you're lying in a hospital bed in a coma and someone else has to wipe your ass for twenty years while we all pick up the bill.

This is spot on... I have a buddy who works in disabiltiy claims. You all would be amazed the ammount of money that goes to pieces of sh** that refuse to stop smoking/eating. Morbidly obese people that find it better to be a blob because uncle sam gives the handout.

Luckily for us he is one of few that calls out that bs and prorate/decreases their "allowances"

Excuse any speling im in an airport on my phone

That's cool my tbb brother I understand your frustration. I feel the same way its just I feel that being being reckless with your health don't only include being overweight or a smoker. I was just a little touchy and you kinda hit a nerve. You just have a lot of people being reckless with their health but most of the time the only people that seem to taking a hit or called out when it comes to insurance wise is the fat people.

Completely understand.

Your comments on the need for a strong military are erroneous.

But you are absolutely correct that the US indirectly subsidizes "health-care" and "entitltement" spending in Western Europe because those countries don't spend money on the military because the US already does that for them.

Every one of those demilitarized countries fall under the protection of stronger countries or groups of countries, most of those fall under the protection of the United States to some extent or another. Globalization would have never gone as smoothly if it weren't for the strength of our military and our insistence, with our military at our backs, that trade flow freely around the world.

If not for our military commodities such as oil would be much higher and the prices far more volatile.

Could our military use a hair-cut? Absolutely, and probably a significant one. But don't think that our military capability is not a major component in our economic success these past few decades.

We have to have a strong military because there is nobody that will protect our economic interest we don't have that luxury and never will. Same with China, just why do you think that they are in such a rush to improve their military? It's because major world economies have to be able to throw their weight around to sustain their economic success.

Also because of our military it is accepted that we can't be invaded, conquered, toppled etc. That does play a part in the stability on our currency. Rich countries either have strong military's or are tied to them, there has and never will be an exception to that.

I think you may be on to something here... A war with China would solve all our problems.

You are misunderstanding me. It is our CAPABILITY that gives us our power and advantage economically. When we sit at the table to work out trade agreements, diplomatic agreements etc. we bring a lot to the table and part of that is our military capability.

How do you think all these agreements stay in force, where do you think the IMF, World Bank etc. get there power from? You think it all just happens?

All of these agreements we work out, you think they just happen because the state department is chalk full of skilled orators that charm other countries into trading with us and on our terms? Although we do agree to bad terms fairly often, lol.

You are naive man. The current world economic system came into effect because of the Wests military might and stays in place because of it.

Do you think the rest of the world just accepts the Western economic system just because they like us so much and think we have it all figured out?

The world has always been this way...ALWAYS. It hasn't changed.

Stay in force? Any trade agreement and association with any NGO is essentially non-binding. No one is forced to do business with us. No one is forced to accept our terms. No one as accepted free markets because we sit there with guns. All those things are because of the markets, not because of us. For someone who considers themselves a free market libertarian, you sure have a very Neo-con view of geopolitical policy.

Exactly. China isn't going to crack down on copyright infringement of US products because we build more aircraft carriers.