Why are you learning English?

[Jamie (K)]

[Edison_Chen_e_c]

[Jamie (K)]

[Ralf]

[Jamie (K)]

[Ralf]

[Yankee]

[Lost_Soul]

Speaking of human rights, I'd say that I have a pseudo-right to cast my vote because I dont have much to choose between. Those scumbags who after elections will keep on stripping my country of its wealth are no good. I have missed out on all the elections for several years because of that.
I'd say I'm sick of the bullcrap they been spitting for so much time. The promises made will never be even 10% fulfilled... Well I can go on and on and on complaining about it but I know better than that.

The point I was trying to make is that though I have the rights of free speech, of voting, it does not make my life any better

[Torsten]

Hi LS,

Do you believe that every country has the government it deserves?
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[Lost_Soul]

[Torsten]

Hi LS,

I think in any country it's just a small minority who make decisions for the majority simply because the majority of all people in all countries are not interested in politics. The majority of people will always complain about the government without actually doing something to replace that government. It is always easier to complain and say what you don't want. Complaining is always easier than doing something. That's why so many people complain. I don't think that there is any country in the world where the majority of its people are happy with their government.

Yet, most people will never try to govern themselves. Let the other guys do the job so we are not responsible if something goes wrong. And there is always something that goes wrong. So who wants to be a politician? Not the average person because they'd rather complain and they know exactly that nobody likes politicians. If I'm not a politician life is pretty easy because I can suffer and blame the government for my misery. If I'm a politician I don't have this option because everyone is blaming me for their miserable lives.

So the question is, do we need a government and politicians? Obviously we do because we have not been able to get rid of them. If we need a government and politicians then why is that we don't seem to be able to find the right people for the job? I don't think that those who complain about their government are any better than the government itself. As a matter of fact, the people who complain about their government saying that they can't do anything but complain are worse than the government. The government doesn't complain about its people. The government makes those decisions the people are not willing or able to make. If the people were willing and able to make their own decisions they wouldn't need a government and they wouldn't have anything to complain about.
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Ralf]

[Yankee]

Hi Ralf

It is also significant that both Jamie and I have lived outside the US.

It sure would be interesting to see some Brits (for example) carry on in post after post after post in this forum about how awful the British government is for a change.

I'm certain it's been clear to Jamie (and plenty of others) for quite some time that I often do not agree with him. Our politics are quite different. So I have no idea what you're trying to say when you talk about "the American Heritage Foundation".

Why not answer my questions? I have told you how I interpreted what you wrote and also that, for example, I find the "war for oil" criticism naive and simplistic. It doesn't really matter to me whether you make that statement or someone else does. No matter who might say it, I will find it to be an un-thought-out, naive phrase -- particularly if that's all that's said. To me, flinging that phrase around simply sounds like someone joining a chorus without thinking more deeply about what they're singing.
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[Jamie (K)]

Amy, it's a feature of European (and American) anti-Americanism that it relies on slogans more than thought or truth. The gaps between the slogans are filled with assumptions based on various sorts of prejudices and stereotypes of Americans, some of them dating back more than 150 years. Some of the stereotypes are simply projections of the person's own mentality onto some imaginary American they've conjured in their minds. Because people like this use slogans in place of thought, they usually point to other people's shorthand phrases as evidence of a lack of thought, even if the other person really is thinking more than they are. Also, because these people use slogans instead of thought or information, they can't answer pointed or complex questions like the ones you've posed. Their thinking doesn't go much deeper, and doesn't get more empirical than sloganeering.

[Edison_Chen_e_c]