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Originally Posted by draggar  The death penalty is a different issue, but we don't put people to death for saying they don't like the government, only severe actions like murder, mass rape, treason, etc. Before the US revolution (and French Revolution)
the world was run by a few dozen monarchies that didn't tolerate their people speaking out aganst them. How many wifes did Henry VIII behead and for what? |
yes. on the death penalty issue, we dont have it as strictly speaking any country (eu) that adheres to human rights bills cant.
this is a never ending discussion in itself lol, but the majority of people want it for paedophiles etc, quite rightly.
the Henry 8th thing, yes lol, well history is littered with psychopaths, even in our very own Royal Family
That was about 500 years ago though, hundreds of years before your 'young' country earned its stripes
. lol, had to get that one in.
i am in no illusion dude, my own country has on the one hand a brilliant history, on the other hand a despicable one.
lets just take the Native Americans. look what you did to them, look what we did to them. look how you're still treating them?
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Originally Posted by draggar Go to North Korea, Iran, or several other countries and speak out against the government and let me know how it goes, if you survive.
There are still "ethnic cleansings" going on today, people are fighting (and killing) based on religion. |
i am well aware of all of that, and ethnic cleansing was a lot closer to home and was happening recently very close by in Europe no less.
i'm all for helping the world and intervening where necessary. i wish the UN would have a force to be reckoned with rather than being 'observers' and standing by and watching massacres which they have before in the old Yugosalvia
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Originally Posted by draggar I'll have to agree, but many of the conflicts today were also created by colonization policies set by England, Spain, France, Italy, and other colonizing nations. Look at the Middle east, different ethic groups are all struggling for power. Small ethic groups were put into power and had control over much larger ones who had no voice and then the UN (or was it the League of Nations?) allowed Israel to form in the middle east. India / Pakistan issue with Kashmir issue is also a result of that (at least that's what we're shown in school here). Borders were set up based on colonies, spheres of influence, and trade routs, not ethnic groups.
(And yes, the Middle East has historically been a hot spot for war even going back thousands of years). |
i agree, and am aware of many of the past and current mistakes being made. The UK has a lot to answer for too.
Unforunately the world is so small now, but some cultures are worlds apart, i'm not sure if they will ever be bridged, nor need they be, as long as we can live side by side.
What seems to make that impossible is religious hatred and differences.
Political differences and bad policy from outside the area often only make things worse.
tbh i think we are coming from same place on many things but the US resembles somewhere now ironically as one of the places it loves to hate.
Guantanemo, cia flights, 'illegal wars', from a 'neutral's' point of view, if i can be, being British, not sure lol , i am looking at America aghast in many ways, sorry to say that.
I have travelled widely and plan to do much much more but the US is way down on my list of cultural treasures i'm sorry to say. I also have reservations about your country, in the same way i would be thoughtful visiting the philippines or somewhere, that may seem crazy to you, but get used to it, the US reputation on the world stage is piss poor.
You obviously keep your eyes open on world affairs, but unfortunately your media has its head up its own *** too, which doesnt help the general knowledge of the masses.