I base my ideals upon the American constitution and the belief my desire as well as right to live is universaly applicable to all people of this nation and all others. I understand the founding fathers werent so great, they were biggoted people who wrote those words only in the belief it applied to rich white men. But the true universal meaning it has slowly been trying to fulfill cannot be denied. My beliefs are both Republican and Democratic in origin. So here I would like to put up some Q&A. Ask me any political question, healthcare, education, national defense, civil rights, whatever and Ill tell you what how I believe this country should act. Ill take questions via PM or here. (btw if you dont care what my opinion is, then the least you could do is be respectful and shut the hell up)

__________________________
When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.
Member of Shadow Industries
Insurgency

Do you think that the most powerful nation in the world has the predefined right to act as the global police force, whether asked for or not? Its a difficult decision for any leader to make, but when said leader bypasses the checks and balances, is this still ok?

__________________________
The only monkey in a stetson....
....rounding 'em up for....
THE SPACE COWBOYS

Just one question before I answer, federal checks and balances? or international as in the UN security council?

__________________________
When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.
Member of Shadow Industries
Insurgency

federal!

__________________________
The only monkey in a stetson....
....rounding 'em up for....
THE SPACE COWBOYS

The question you asked was an international politics question though.

most powerful nation in the world

And it has always been that way. The most powerful nations come to a compromise of their interests and enforce them as universal law in all international territories, as well as, in certain circumstances, in other countries, much like the human-rights actions in politics.

Now, what you were asking about the federal government I have NO idea what you want, but if you mean is it okay for a leader to go over checks & balances, I say it depends on the situation. For instance, if it is like the antebellum years of America where more than 50% of Congress is on the verge of going into rebellion, than I think it is in the nation's best interest to have its leader go to martial law and ensure the people's safety and longevity of the country over protocols and regulations set forth during peace times, as they were meant to be used in peace time. But the more intelligent Framers of Constitutions include clauses for cases in war in which the leader is given greater powers in order to make snap judgements at the breaking point to ensure the safety of his people.

Hence, my reasoning. And before you ask, no I dont think it through, that is just what comes to mind as Im typing.

__________________________
Dont underestimate us, that would be a mistake. In war there is no second chances, and every mistake is a victory for your opponent.

-Former New Players' Forum Moderator
-Veteran of Shadow Industries
-Forever the Leader of The Maxwell Brigade

To your first question on the global police force, no America is powerful, but that does not give us the right to interfere in other nations business, weve been taking on this task in greater proportions ever since the Monroe doctrine of the early 1800's in which we declared that we were the police of the western hemisphere. Additionaly there already is a global police force, its called the UN and if powerful nations such as US, Great Britain, China, and Russia(somewhat) back it, then the world would be a much safer place. I admit the current security council is outdated, France is not exactly a world power militarily or economically and it still has a veto. Hell, Japan or Saudi Arabia are better candidates as they add a great amount of economic wait to any decision. In the case of the war on Iraq we decided that our (poor) intel was reason enough for us to bypass the opinion of the worldwide community and people who if they thought merit was in it would have acted. The rest of the world is not conspiring against America, though with each act of disregard a few more do.
As for federal checks and balances, no, no single branch of the government should ever grow to big for its britches. Luckily no branch has ever gotten to out of control in that sense, Duo's example of antebellum reconstruction, the state of marshall law was not throughout the nation so much as in the South or the rebelling states and this was mostly a result of the Force bill passed allow the federal government to protect the voting rights of black citizens. So this state of marshall law was really just to protect the rights of the newly freed blacks from discrimination, intimidation, and violence. Defending the rights of its citizens is hardly against the constitution. An example of the executive trying to become overly powerful was during the great depression and world war 2 when FDR tried court packing as a means of rigging the supreme court in his favor, the public outcry almost cost him the election. If your referring to Bush skipping the checks and balance system in Iraq, he clearly did not. In an undeclared war such as this the president can send troops in for 60? or 90? days without the approval of congress, however before the invasion had begun he had the approval of nearly all of congress to invade, whether on purposely false pretenses or not is yet to be determined.

Recap we shouldnt police the world by ourselves, its costly both economically and in personnel, and its morally wrong. Just because were bigger than someone doesnt mean were better. Now dont get me wrong, America is the best, but its people arent. We're just lucky, but citizens of Mexico, Lithuania, Great Britain, India, wherever are just as important as we are. Playing this game alone should tell you that people of other nations arent inferior, they're people and no amount of jingoiism can change that. Finally checks and balances both internationally and at home are the only thing that saves the world from tyranny. Nobody wants Bush, the supreme court, or even Congress to have supreme power. Thats why we have the constitution to keep em in check and internationally every nation deserves a voice and no nation should reign supreme, even if it has the capacity to. Sorry if this is mixed up its 2 am and Ive been playin Halo 2.

__________________________
When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.
Member of Shadow Industries
Insurgency

The most powerful nation is a dynamic status. When a nation becomes proud and feels invicible, it is heading towards trouble. The Spanish Armada did not last. The British Empire once ruled roughly half the world. China was once so strong they destroyed their own Navy as they felt there was nothing the rest of the world had to offer.

The USA is strong today. However, we (I am an citizen of the USA, although I am living in China now) are also a country with some serious weaknesses as well. Our current account deficit is nearly out of control. Our trade balance internationally is in serious negative turf. Our support from allies is weak internationally due to our seeming indifference to global concerns.

China is a nation with a lot of problems as well. However, within less than 20 years, it is likely that the size of the China economy will be larger than the US economy, and China is becoming increasingly driven by their own economy for production and consumption of goods. I doubt China could do well in a war with the USA, if there were ever a direct conflict, but it is clear that China has the willingness to sacrifice more troops if needed in a conflict if such an occasion were ever to occur. I am also not certain how the US people would react to potential hostilities with China. Iraq has the potential to become as distasteful to the American people over the next few years as was Vietnam in the past.

The USA has only been an economic and military leader of the world since the period following WWI. Before that, Argentina was a strong economic leader, and has nearly as strong a level of exports and trade surplus as did the USA. Do not assume that current leadership either economically or militarily is sustainable long term. Empires come and go, and some last for nearly 1000 years, while other have less than a generation to live.

It is my sincere hope that the USA will remain in a position of strength for many centuries in the future, but I see many reasons to worry about our ability to sustain such a position. We can not spend and destroy and ignore the rest of the world's issues and concerns and hope to remain in a position of strength forever. We have lost much of our traditional work ethic and drive, and we are rich and happy now (mostly), but have much that is weak at the core of our culture and our economy. I worry about my children's future in the USA.

__________________________
Alpha Squad Private - Chaos in da Galaxy Clan

Of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most

Where were you when I was arguing that china was or would soon be the most powerful nation on earth?

__________________________
When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.
Member of Shadow Industries
Insurgency

Empires come and go, and some last for nearly 1000 years, while other have less than a generation to live

True, but it has been proven time and time again that the US is in no way imperical in its dealings, and the US is the first Democratic superpower since the Greeks, and their democracy was crippled from only allowing the male half of the population to vote, or participate in a position of power when there may have been others more fit.

I agree with you, however, in the issue of declining work ethic and gratefulness in what we have. We are all content, and many, like myself, have nothing to strive for because everything is fine the way it is. But, in this situation, I much like my little saying, "Do not be afraid to act, for you may be greater than the masses, simply because you acted."

If we follow such ideas as were proposed great leaders such as Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." then we would be much better off than today's society where if we want something done we throw it to the media to destroy the credibility of our opponent, despite what benefits they may have given to the community.

The one issue with China is that they cannot afford to industrialize because it really would keep their population out of work. Instead they keep their work force in the manual labor phase of development. The Chinese have great potnetial if they could just figure out a way to industrialize effectively and become more self-sufficient. As it stands, however, no nation can become self-sufficient because we are too reliant on certain rare resources, such as oil. Nuclear power is too risky to use in anything because of the possibility of meltdown or explosion. In this issue, the only solution for energy has not been discovered yet. Back to what I was saying though.....nations will not be able to be self-sufficient until we gain the ability of efficient and rapid interplanetary, and interstellar, travel. For no nation has the diversity in resources to sustain itself, and even with a multi-planetary nation, the resources of each planet would possibly be uniquely developed and with special properties not found naturally anywhere else, and self-sufficiency would once again be troubled.

Space travel is, in my opinion, within our grasp, if only someone like myself would figure it out. I have ideas on how I would do it, but I have many years before I can even attempt to apply my knowledge to those fields, which means many more years of trifling over our little blue sphere. The first step that needs to be taken for an effective space travel program is a united nation of humanity. Not the UN, not the US or UK, or Russia. No one nation overpowering the rest, but a unanimous decision by all people to become one nation with combined governments into the most effective establishment possible.

My idea for a unified humankind government is similar to our Senate.....two representatives from each region of the world, each representative elected by the residents of their district. Their one job is to watch national issues and local issues within their provincial area of influence. They make decisions in the best interests of their friends and family.

The one misconception of this plan is that people will say it is dividing into more nations, when it is moreso intended to be a single government of Council members who would meet once a week, or more often in crises. The one question of mine though is how we would accomplish such a feat without the use of military conquest or propaganda-influenced voting within the countries. The one thought I have on the issue is this....all it takes is the superpower to make the first step to disband its government and put up a request for a vote in every nation to motion for the same of all nations. Then, if the G-7 of the UN decide to do so, it is doubtful other parties would decline, because the chance for troubling nations like the Sudan and Zimbabwe, or the Korean countries, as well as nations that struggled for many years, since their creation, this would give them a chance to be pulled out of the deep hole they have been thrown into.

That said, do you think this is a sound idea, or am I ranting for no reason?

__________________________
Dont underestimate us, that would be a mistake. In war there is no second chances, and every mistake is a victory for your opponent.

-Former New Players' Forum Moderator
-Veteran of Shadow Industries
-Forever the Leader of The Maxwell Brigade

A noble idea yes, but due to human nature not feasible. Even in an event as extreme as an alien invasion in I highly doubt we could overcome our prejudices and unite.

__________________________
When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.
Member of Shadow Industries
Insurgency

You never know. We overcame slavery, this is just another step towards the fulfilling of our potential. A body could not function properly if it only used half its limbs, or 1/10 of its brain, and so we need to work as one body, one soul, and further our existence to the ends of the universe.

This is our destiny, or until our creator deems it as game over.

__________________________
Dont underestimate us, that would be a mistake. In war there is no second chances, and every mistake is a victory for your opponent.

-Former New Players' Forum Moderator
-Veteran of Shadow Industries
-Forever the Leader of The Maxwell Brigade