America

yesfan88 wrote: sleeper wrote: I'm confused, isnt Socialism different to communism (one being more left than the other).      Yes, they are different. Although, I don't think a true communist government has ever existed because the "revolutionaries" end up becoming totalitarian like the government they overthrew. Socialism is successfully employed by several European countries. I, by the way, am a socialist also.

I know there is a difference between Socialism an comumunism, but some of the posters here dont seem to notice the difference.

BTW: Religion and Socialism are incompatible.

Atkingani wrote:   Iván, what happens today (say in the last 30-40 years) is that the Social-Democracy, most notable in the Scandinavian countries, is considered, by many, a "synonim" of Socialism (which isn't).    Agree with you Social Democracy is not Socialism it's more a center movement.   Other people mention the experiences in some Israeli kibbutzim years ago, which for me is much more a type of Cooperativism than Socialism, but pardeus there are so many approaches to the issue that confusion is unavoidable!   Exactly Israel was a Cooperativist Government but there are power groups based in plain capitalism, a weapon industry in hand of private investors, Israel is by no means a Socialist Government.   Yes, you had to work in Kibutz for the benefit of the community  but you could own land also if you have enough money.   The Kibutz was the only option Israel had to create a country, to colonize the land, but if I'm not wrong today most Kibutz are based in private property and differencial salaries.   Socialism has to be Marxist or at least based in Marxist ideology, being that Marxism considers "Relgion as the opium of the masses" and a vehicle of oppression, saying I'm a Christian Socialist is contradictory.   Iván

Edited by Ivan_Melgar_M - November 18 2006 at 21:41

America is already on a decline.  I'm not sure if it'll break, as such, but it'll slowly become less powerful.

I'm not sure if Europe and Asia are catching up, or America is diclining, but the gap between sportsmen and women is closing.  I was watching athletics earlier in the year and noticed a lot fewer Americans doing well in events they normally excel in.

I wasn't just using the sport analogy, Stonie, but that is one thing I have noticed recently.

Sport is quite important to many Americans and if you're not doing so well as usual, then surely that is a sign of possible problems?

Anyhow, I think the world itself is more likely to die, before America does.  Not only is there global warming to consider, but El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

It's been proved that ENSO is much more of a problem than we initially thought.  It can cause problems all around the world and isn't just isolated to the coast of South America.  ENSO could infact be the cause of much more than we currently know.  There just isn't enough information yet on it.


Edited by Geck0 - November 19 2006 at 00:42

stonebeard wrote: I don't think you can measure much of a country by how well they do in sports.

1. USSR supported proffesional soccer players who won alll the amateur championships (because they never were paid in cash).
2. Cubans don't have enough to eat but they are N° in pseudo amateur box.
3. Perú had the best football teams during the Military Government of Dictator Velazco.

The explanation is simple, if you can't give the people bread...give them circus.

Edited by Ivan_Melgar_M - November 19 2006 at 00:49

Edited by Australian - November 19 2006 at 00:55

It's the end of the world as we know it... and I feel fine!

Geck0 wrote: I'm not singling it out, but its intensity could increase and serious floods/draughts could occur more often around the world.   Oh please James, it may cause some problems in the northern hmisphere, in Perú several thousand persons died buried by avalanches produced by rain or drowned by flods.   Millions live of fishing, forget about fishes when El Niño is here, there are floods in the mountains and jungle but the coast suffers worst because after El Niño it doesn't rain here for years.   So please man, we are the ones who suffer with El Niño. Global warming is probably a bigger risk to be honest and they haven't ruled out a link between Global Warming and ENSO yet (no evidence yet, you never know though).   They haven't ruled a connection betwen El Niño and global warming,  but the disasters in Perú are clearly produced y El Niño. Hurricanes, tsunamis, comets, nucleur bombs and all sorts are obviously a huge risk also.  The thing is, we don't know when something major will happen.   Comets LOL, the chances are very small and nuclear bombs are not the shadow of a problem than it was in the 60's and 70's when Kruschev or Breznev on one side with Johnson and Nixon in the other had enough power in one finger to destroy the workld 10 times. But it's true, we don't know when something really big is going to happen. Ivan: good point, the UK have always been useless at sport!   LOL   Iván

I'm aware of the problems in Perú, so I understand that your country suffers the worst and I am sorry to hear that.  It does have a lesser affect in Australia and Africa though.

Oh of course, I luckily didn't live in the '60s during the Cuban Missile Crisis and when that hand was looming on the button.  It still could be a risk.

As for comets, well, we're more likely to know about them in advance, but whether we can doing anything about it, is yet to be known.

Aliens could come from planet Betelgeuse and zap as all with their photon beams.