What do you think is America's biggest problem?

[cantdrv55]

Help out a political noob here please. In your opinion, what do think is our biggest challenge? The thing that'll topple the US eventually. Is it the trade deficit? Is it the bickering between the parties, the blame game? Is it terrorism? Is it our reliance on foreign oil? Is it our arrogance? Is it gay marriage (just had to include this one for grins)? What am I leaving out?

Do you have any ideas on how to fix it?

I just want to see if we can come to an agreement about what's really troubling us and how to fix it. Thanks.

[kstylianos]

Obesity. If self image would improve, so would outlook.

[dd74]

Intolerance.

[on-ramp]

Stupidity.

[widebody911]

Apathy, followed by ignorance, with flatulence for the hat trick.

[bryanthompson]

too many retards

/s/retards/liberals

[dd74]

Originally posted by bryanthompson
too many retards

/s/retards/liberals

Intolerance (again).

[mikester]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
Lack of personal responsibility.

Bingo!

[Mulhollanddose]

socialism and the socialists who promote it

[RANDY P]

We are now a highly litigious society. Rampant consumerism, political correctness, and the belief that the freedoms we enjoy today are granted and not earned.

Like the album title goes - "give me convienence, or give me death" Words to live by in the 21st century.

rjp

[Mulhollanddose]

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From Bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."

Alexander Tytler

[jyl]

Failure to invest in the physical and human resources and infrastructure needed to support our ambitions.

If you want to invade, occupy, and remake other countries, you need a much larger military. Don't rely on fancy weapons and conquered peoples passively kneeling at the feet of their liberators, because they'll eventually figure out that you only have 50,000 actual combat soldiers to control a country the size and population of California.

If you want to dominate the world's knowledge industries, you need a world-beating educational system producing a highly-educated workforce. Don't rely on borrowing highly-educated workers from India and China under H1B visas, because they'll eventually figure out that they can bring technology and knowledge home to start companies where their families live.

If you want energy independence, you need a major program to develop sources of alternative energy and major changes in your own energy consumption. Don't rely on ekeing out very last drop of global oil production, band-aid fixes like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and scattered disorganized alternative energy programs that live and die at the whims of the global oil price and changing tax policy.

If you want a financially sound and strong economy, you need national income to equal national expenses. Don't live on trillion-dollar credit lines and constant borrowing from your economic rivals, because eventually they'll run out of reasons to deficit finance your economy.

[cool_chick]

I've noticed in the past 15 years or so an increasingly angry society. An increasingly violent society towards others, whether it be verbal or physical. There seems to be a lack of civility in people.

It is demonstrated in the form of road rage, in line at the store, people are rude to others, no consideration for others, on the internet, on their children's soccer field.....

[nostatic]

hubris

[CamB]

Originally posted by Mulhollanddose
socialism and the socialists who promote it

Haha. The French are socialists. You still don't get that there are not really any socialists in the US.

www.politicalcompass.org

I reckon your countries biggest challenge (and mine) is echoed throughout the western world - aging populations, insufficient birth rates and a lack of (direct) saving by either private individuals or (most) governments means that there could be some serious pain - or major changes - in a decade or two.

I also wonder what the impact of China's and India's populations increasing desire to be middle class will do to the cost of goods and services (and hence the buying power of the western world).

[Mulhollanddose]

Cam, I know you love that "politicalcompass", but it is as inaccurate as the person who contrived it...S-I-S-O.

I obviously do not think we are as socialist as France, but that is the direction we are moving in...Remember Katrina?...France lost over 10,000 in a heat-wave, what last year?...Now that is utopia for ya.

[cool_chick]

Originally posted by CamB
Haha. The French are socialists. You still don't get that there are not really any socialists in the US.

www.politicalcompass.org

I reckon your countries biggest challenge (and mine) is echoed throughout the western world - aging populations, insufficient birth rates and a lack of (direct) saving by either private individuals or (most) governments means that there could be some serious pain - or major changes - in a decade or two.

I also wonder what the impact of China's and India's populations increasing desire to be middle class will do to the cost of goods and services (and hence the buying power of the western world).

Actually I would say there is no country in the world that has no aspects of socialism in it. And it's impossible to have that....the country wouldn't survive for long....

Let me state, I don't agree with being a socialist country, I think capitalism in general is a better system, but a society with zero socialist-type programs would fail fast.

[dd74]

Originally posted by Mulhollanddose
I obviously do not think we are as socialist as France, but that is the direction we are moving in...Remember Katrina?...France lost over 10,000 in a heat-wave, what last year?...Now that is utopia for ya.

No, that's Mother Nature, my friend - in both cases.

Listen to your president: "The storm didn't discriminate..."

Safe to say, political partianship can be lumped into that statement as well as skin color...

[CamB]

Socialist is not defined by your viewpoint - it is defined by history and fact. The fact is that the political compass presents an arguably accurate breakdown of the political spectrum. Your baseless assertion that it is innaccurate is just that - baseless.

I might change my mind if you could provide (non-partisan) proof that the Democrat party is socialist. A laundry list of some of their policies isn't gonna cut it either - they have plenty of right wing policies too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_spectrum

[Mulhollanddose]

Originally posted by CamB
The fact is that the political compass presents an arguably accurate breakdown of the political spectrum. Your baseless assertion that it is innaccurate is just that - baseless.

The FACT is that a majority of the questions on your politicalcompass are framed and worded in typical liberalese...Their conclusions that fascism is to the extreme right is indeed arguable, in fact equivocal...Fascism is more appropriately and logically situated ever so slightly to the right of communism...Anarchy is to the far right, so far right in fact that it touches communism, and both result in dictatorship.