United States�Third World Country

United States�a Third World Country

And it�s our fault! I no longer believe that we will disappear in a mushroom cloud, where only those crouched under their school desk have any chance of survival. No, just a long, slow meltdown. We see it all around us every day, and approve it with our indifference.

Like the melting of the icecaps, we become smaller and more isolated as a country, as a people. We are much too busy multiplexing our lives to pay close attention to the governance of our government. We want to believe that individuals holding office, or places of influence, will always serve the interest of this country and its citizens�.not the interest of others. We rely almost totally on a corrupt electoral system, controlled by a spider web of financial, political, foreign, religious, and business interest.


The newspapers and cable news organizations, have become little more than �info commercials� for these same interest. Confusion is the smog that hinders our abilities to see what is really happening to this country. The subliminal effects dull the normal reasoning and response that would come from the populace. Make no mistake about it, the campaign of lies, and disinformation, is like Madison Avenue on steroids. Regrettably, it�s an easy sell. They don�t want your money, they just want you on the sidelines.

Once the illusion of protection from our three branches of government is determined to be only a concept, and in fact the three are manipulated in ways to undermine their very being, and your personal freedom, maybe then you will understand. Ideologies that want to control the world must first control you and this country, and they are relentless in their pursuits.

Lowering our standard of living, diluting our freedoms, destroying our wealth, undermining our sovereignty, lessening the influence of our religions, these are a few of their goals�..and they are winning.

comment.cio.com...

Respects,

Ihave said this before...there is a time for everything nad everything has it's time. Nothing stays on top or on bottme for ever...there is always change......soone or later, the fall of America will happen, and yes, I think it will be from our own doing......or rather from the government and the ultra rich....the average person, you and I, have no control over anything happening.......

What constitutes a 3rd world country?

Tis true, one day America might not be the power anymore, it would be a little ignorant I believe to think otherwise, hopefully not in our lifetime. ALTHOUGH, I think it would be interesting to see what the whiners of the world would whine about then, hahaha. We'll have to wait and see whether they're better off with America as the power or without. I for one, although she's far from perfect, believe America has been repectful compared to former world powers. This is the land where dreams can come true, but dreams can also be lost here too. Many people right out of the womb, have little chance of success without fighting the good fight. I think that's one our problems, calling them losers, it's wrong. Being rich, famous, popular, highly successful and etc.. isn't all it's cracked up to be, but people think it is. I thinks that's why people here lose hope and turn to violent crime and deception. If we ever go down it's our own fault.

[edit on 1-8-2004 by livenlearn]

Coined by French demographer Alfred Sauvy in the 1950s, "third world" refers to economically underdeveloped countries. Sauvy was making an analogy between pre-industrial nations with the poor of pre-Revolutionary France, who were considered part of the "third estate."

When the concept became popularized, it was extended to include "first" (industrialized or westernized) and "second" (communist) worlds. These distinctions have become less useful with the end of the Cold War.

The concept of the "third world" still rings true as there are many nations with high infant mortality, high rates of poverty, and dependence on industrialized nations.

I don't believe that America will fall quite that far, instead I think the United States will follow a model more simmilar to the British Empire in the first half of the 20th century.

America's military is topheavy and ineffective against unconventional attack, much as the British army was in the opening of WWI. Eventually we will see less emphasis upon large forces and a gradual shift towards economic warfare.

The American economy is rather overrated and current talk of a recovery and boom is unfounded according to many economists. The only major reason they believe that the economy will improve is because it hasn't in a while. Meanwhile China is experencing growth that outpaces even America's biggest boom, and since they're so far from their production and consumption fronteers, they can sustain their growth for years to come. The European Union is technically more powerful than the US's in many markets and it's probably the most sound on the planet.

America's light is fading, soon they will be just another country, not incredibly powerful but not third world. The title of superpower will be passed on, every empire eventually dies. Probably eventually America will join a mega-bloc country like the EU or ASEAN, but that's a good while in the future.

May Peace Travel With You
~Astral

Great post.

I refer 1amc, The Astral City and anyone else comfortable with the idea that the US economy can't slip into third world conditions, and fast, to my recent post on the economic situation: Conditions Ripe for Recession/Depression? Lots of information to digest there but worth the time IMHO.

Originally posted by 1amc
Lowering our standard of living, diluting our freedoms, destroying our wealth, undermining our sovereignty, lessening the influence of our religions, these are a few of their goals�..and they are winning.

I do believe they are winning in this endeavor. They believe that this is the way things will have to be in order to protect themselves from the �masses� once we reach the limits of economic growth. Third world conditions are going to become normal for everyone once the house of cards we have built since the discovery of oil and the application of industrialization come tumbling down.

The �industrial age� end-game is in play and over our generation we will be the witnesses and participants. We will either be on the side of the masses or on the side of the rulers.

I�m not a ruler, and I doubt anyone on ATS is, so we are with the masses. We need to wake up from our SOMA induced slumbers and fight the 1984 society complete with Newspeak, militarism, Goldstein, lives of servitude and security surveillance that is currently being imposed on us. Cause it�s not going to be pretty!

ATS is a pit-stop in the race to increase awarness.

Good post amc1, just a little overdramatic for my taste, but I understand what you are saying, maybe you are using "shock value" to wake up some who don't realize the situation.

Gools thread is an excellent one as well, I am weak on the workings of economic effects and appreciate the input from those stronger than I in these issues.

My point is that awareness is growing and while the outlook may look bleak, there is always time to make changes. If the citizenry pay more attention to the fact that they "are" the most important aspect of our political system and realize that they "can" effect what happens in Washington, the chance is there that "we" can stop the highjacking of the system that our nation was created for, "of the people, by the people, and for the people"

The sooner we remember that "we" are the people, the sooner "we" can make a change.

Originally posted by 1amc
United States�a Third World Country

I disagree. All good things are dynamic. This country is the most powerful republic in the history of mankind. It is not Rome. It will remain in power in spite of the Clinton's and self loathing democrats wishing to relegate America to third world status. We will conquer space and create machines which build future civilizations on the planet

We've had 45 years of liberal failures from the Great Society programs created by Lyndon Johnson in the 60's which took 4 trillion dollars of our treasure down the drain. For what? We still have as many people locked into poverty simply because they have no desire to look beyond the next 10 minutes. We have 95.5 % of America working. 94.5% of America no matter what, will never work. Is that a failure of this country ? No. It's a failure of what is known as the redistribuition of wealth. It's called "taxes" and stealing money from people who work to give it to those who don't.

Liberalism and touchy- feely half-ass solutions created the problems. Take heart, the US is changing dramatically over to conservatives. We have more republican governors, we control the senate and the house for the first time in 40 years. Most voters have been educated as to the liberal agenda. They all wear empty suits ! They have no vision and no plans for America beyond socialism, class warfare and health care. America is a living breathing community of it's working people. We pay our taxes, help our kids, find a way to get through hard times and somehow hold our families together against overwhelming financial odds. Sometimes it falls apart and we fail. Most of us get back up again bloodied and stronger than ever knowing we survived something bigger than us. We are America.

Others refuse to get up. They sit within their own squalor and demand to be taken care of by the those who make the engine work. My grandfather would always say "no work, no eat."

We are America. We make it work without holding our hand out. We make it work with a sense of entrepreneurship when we can't find jobs. We don't whine about global warming and hug trees. We don't have $8.00 to give Michael Moore. We need to buy the kid's clothes for school. We have to buy the spiral notebooks and pens and erasers. We are America.

We take the family out, occasionally,Bob Evans or McDonalds because we need to save for college for our kids. We pay the bills to keep the lights on on and worried more about just hanging on than thinking about two men or two women getting it on with blessings from liberal newspapers and supporters. We are the real America !!

Originally posted by JacKatMtn
... the chance is there that "we" can stop the highjacking of the system that our nation was created for, "of the people, by the people, and for the people"

I agree. And I hope it begins on Nov2 for the US.

In Canada we just voted in a minority government. If they cannot form consensus from a broad range of views they will be defeated and fall. Then it's back to the poles. If they want to govern for any lenght ot time they will have to listen to more than their own voice.

Originally posted by LadyV
Ihave said this before...there is a time for everything nad everything has it's time. Nothing stays on top or on bottme for ever...there is always change......soone or later, the fall of America will happen,

I don't know. We have had alot of debate on this topic (not here, but elsewere) part. comparing the US to the Roman Empire at its height. The one thing that may mitigate the US's power and role decline is the fact that we do have a diverse population base. While there are obvious issues and racial strife, at least in most states people have some measure of equality. That being said I live in Norther California, which is a nation unto itself so I don't claim to have the racial pulse of the nation by any means.

Diversity alone may prove the critical difference in preventing the decline of the US as a major power. The US may lose power over the long haul, but it is in very little danger of becoming say a France (all bark and no bite) anytime soon.

The one wildcard in this is oil. If oil runs out before alternatives are developed, then all bets are off. Our entire nation, our tech, our infrastructure is dependant on oil. Take that out of the equation, then every country in the world becomes a 3rd world state or worse. IMHO the highly advanced societies will fare the worst in this scenario.

Gools, you have a point about the industrial society being in twilight, but I feel it's just starting in Asia.

The main problem the United States is going to have is that oil is going to go away. America will be forced to adapt, and I, for one, will be watching from an appartment in Paris or Hong Kong.

If this were the America of the early 20th Century then I'd have more faith that she could adapt to the world, but she is not who she once was. China and the EU have much more flexible cultures and economies that could switch from an oil-heavy energy production system to one based upon alternative fuels. America is too comfortable with their energy use habbits. This was shown with the recient spike in gasoline prices, while prices jumped to the highest prices that I have ever personally seen in America, people just grumbled and paid it instead of taking mass transit or other modes of transit. Even when gas was more than double the price it was in 1999 I didn't see a big increase in the number of people riding the subway to work with me, and the offical numbers show it.

Europe can live with hydrogen cars, and fusion power, so can China and Japan, but I think the United States, well it will be the biggest test as to weather the Eagle can still be as dynamic as she once was.

May Peace Travel With You
~Astral

I believe that our long road twards devistation has just started. It will not be because there is no more oil left to drain, that is not what they are afraid of. The higher ups will milk that for as long as they can and then will find another solid source of income ( wich will probrably be another type of fuel ). WE are what they fear. Not many people take an intrest in politics, you can tell by the lack of voters going to the polls in recent years, and IMO the damage that has caused is now irreverseable (sp). Our country has come to a point where the only way to have any say what takes place in any branch of our government is if your already rich and powerfull, or if you know the right people, and we the people are getting screwd. Most middle and lower class americans dont understand what we are capable of if we put aside out diffrences and work together to acheve a goal but, more and more people are now becoming aware. Aware that the government is not working in our best intrests and aware that we can put a stop to them. We all have goal we want to be pushing twards, we have to start pushing in one direction. Just look at what the black community did 50 year ago, a group of people banning together to achieve a certain goal.

Lowering our standard of living, diluting our freedoms, destroying our wealth, undermining our sovereignty, lessening the influence of our religions, these are a few of their goals�..and they are winning.

If these are the things that we want changed then we must push the government into giving us what we want and deserve. I apologize for getting off topic, back to the third world country. This is just my humble opinion but, one day our people will push, hopefully soon, and the higher ups who are afraid of change will push back. This is the devistation will begin. America is a relitivly young country and we started out on the right track, democracy was a great idea that all out forefathers believed in. But like every other country in history corruption is taking place and once it gets to the breaking point a revolution will break out and the people will be what brings this country down. By that time the country will be so hevily devided and unequal that a revolution would be the only solution. This may not happen but I believe it is a good possibility