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lukewarmwater82

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    The End of the American Century?

    in Politics, Economy & Current Events

    Posted · Edited by lukewarmwater82

    I am not a big fan of Obama. Observing US politics as an "outsider", I wouldn't pick any side - democrat or republican. I think both of them are more or less the same.

     

    However, to be objective, I don't think Russia took Crimea because Obama is weak. It's just that Putin doesn't have to think about Obama (or any American president sitting) whenever he makes a decision. Same logic when USSR intervened in Hungary in 1956. They didnt do it because they thought Dwight Eisenhower was weak. More recent examples are Russian interventions in Moldova (1990) and in northern Georgia (2008). The Georgian invasion was even more severe, it was an actual war involving Russian tanks, troops, and warplanes. The Russians didnt intervene in Moldova in 1990 because they thought George HW Bush was weak. The Russians also didn't invade Georgia in 2008 because they thought George Bush was weak. It is just that Russia doesn't need to ask America to make a decision.

    The End of the American Century?

    in Politics, Economy & Current Events

    Posted

    Ok, the number of Americans on welfare is 12.8 million or 4.1 percent of the population. (http://www.statistic...are-statistics/)

     

    So that means about 5 million blacks are on welfare and 4.96 million whites are on welfare? Almost the same absolute numbers?

     

    That's 12.5 percent of the back population being on welfare versus 2.2 percent of the white population being on welfare.

     

    Someone help with the math please?

     

    You are right. Based on your source, in absolute numbers, Blacks and Whites have the same number of people on welfare. I have some doubts about your source though. They claim to have obtained their data from the US Dept of Commerce, but they didn't explain how they got to the actual numbers and didn't provide any link to the Dept of Commerce website.

     

     

     

    • Like (+1) 1

    The End of the American Century?

    in Politics, Economy & Current Events

    Posted

    "...by relegating more and more African-Americans to a state of constant dependency on government welfare."

     

    I'm not sure where you got this information, but the data from USDA which implements the Food Stamp Program (now known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP) tells a different story (link to data here: http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2012Characteristics.pdf) . If you look at Table A.21 which shows the demographics of "food stamp" recipients, the majority are white (37.6%). African-Americans on the other hand account for 23.6% of the program.

    The End of the American Century?

    in Politics, Economy & Current Events

    Posted

    Makes me wonder though why the USA needs to import the chemicals needed for lethal injections from Europe. I understand that Europe refuses to sell these chemicals to the USA because European countries are against the death penalty.

     

    Why can't the USA produce it's own chemicals instead of considering returning to execution through hanging, firing squad, electric chair, etc.

     

    That is a very good point Maxiev. You would think the most powerful country on Earth can manufacture their own chemical for lethal injection. The reason for this is that there is only one distributor of that chemical in the US, and they stopped selling it for lethal injection purposes (company press release here: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=175550&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1518610&highlight). Also, death penalty is not a federal law. And recently more states are abolishing death penalty (Illinois abolished it in 2011, Connecticut abolished it in 2012, and Maryland abolished it in 2013).

    The End of the American Century?

    in Politics, Economy & Current Events

    Posted

    I don't think the "American Century" will end soon. Despite all the negative things you hear about the USA, it is still the most innovative, diverse and productive country in the world. It is still a very attractive destination for all the smartest people in the world. The engine that drives the US economy is not Wall Street. On the other hand, it is the innovation (Science, Research, Engineering) that takes place in its topnotch universities and companies. There is a reason why China is now investing a lot in its research universities. But China still has a long way to go. In my opinion, not even Japan or Korea or Europe comes close to US in terms of innovations and scientific discoveries.

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