nice planet

Neither. Tell me though, when was the USA last not at war with anyone? It's same in business there; conquest justifies anything.

e. "

I am running across more and more of them who think they know what is best for the US.

I've lived in England and the Netherlands as well. My impression is that th e planet includes a lot of different environments. Classifying the whole p lanet on the basis of those bits that I have seen wouldn't be a particularl y bright idea, but it does seem to be sort of mistake that John Larkin woul d go in for - maybe he really does think that the world revolves around him .

It was the USA who wiped out 20% of NK population with carpet bombing. And then you wonder why they're mad f*cks who hate you.

You manufacture war, because you need it to feel important.

No. It means that there is enough profit and productivity without having to resort to amoral business behaviour. Like I said, live and let live.

They haven't even deported Pauline Hanson. Like me, she was born here, which makes it difficult.

Been spending too much time reading the National Enquirer or the Guardian ?>:-} ...Jim Thompson

Australia is about survival. Difficult environments always are. It's the states with highly productive and prosperous environments that tend to be most warlike.

New Zealand was so easy to live in that Maori treated war as sport. One village on an excessively easily-defended Auckland hilltop actually moved the village to the bottom of the hill, because life was too boring when no-one would attack. Nowadays, they funnel that into rugby, and you have the All-Blacks!

We were defacto administrators before NG got their independence. It would be a terribly difficult bit of geography for anyone to conquer however.

I think you might be surprised what we could do if we had the will. But we don't, thankfully.

Not to mention the rest of the Islamic world who would take their side.

I suppose you're going to say that, when NoKo lobs an ICBM at us, and we retaliate by wiping their ass off the map, we're war-mongers ??

Whether we like it or not we've been saddled with being the Policeman for the world. Trump is trying to back us out to an equal level with all the NATO signatories... why all the folderol? The rest of the world is just a bunch of pansies seeking a free ride.

"It's same in business there; conquest justifies anything." implies that you are a socialist, n'est-ce pas ?? ...Jim Thompson

You said it. Bombing indiscriminately was a hallmark of the last two admini strations. Hopefully less under this one, but we'll see. It does seem to be a bit of a hobby of the deep state's.

But re: Australia--it's easy to be superior about your lack of imperial amb itions when you haven't got the option. You folks could probably conquer Pa pua New Guinea if you wanted, but that would be about the limit of your str ength. Who but the locals would notice? ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

(We Canadians are in the same sort of place as you, and a lot of us throw t he same pointless rocks. It just gets old after awhile. )

sample. "

hink. I am running across more and more of them who think they know what is best for the US.

t.

If your diplomats couldn't find a face-saving mechanism to bribe North Kore a into not lobbing an ICBM at you, you may not be war-mongers, but your dip lomats would have to be less competent than than they ought to be.

Having Trump as the leader of the diplomatic effort wouldn't seem to be hel pful there.

You haven't. You've got the biggest stick, but that doesn't make you a poli ceman - for that you have to be acting at the direction of the UN security council to protect all your neighbours.

That's one point of view. Another says that the US political system spends a lot of money buying more weapons from the US military-industrial complex than the US actually needs, and the US military-industrial complex spends a lot of money supporting US politicians who will keep the US buying more we apons that it really needs.

That makes you suckers, rather than the rest of us pansies.

Jim, you do realize that the US has about 800 military bases in over 70 countries worldwide?

Sorry, it is Time magazine and probably fake news in your mind, but you can find lots of references to US military bases online.

Read point #4. In many cases they are not that popular with the locals.

Why DO you folks have all those bases?

Don't they describe an Imperial Power?

Isn't it time to bring the boys home?

John

PS, Trump is a symptom of US imperial power, not the cure.

nistrations. Hopefully less under this one, but we'll see. It does seem to be a bit of a hobby of the deep state's.

mbitions when you haven't got the option. You folks could probably conquer Papua New Guinea if you wanted, but that would be about the limit of your s trength. Who but the locals would notice? ;)

We've already got a whole continent - which is less densely populated than any other (excluding Antarctica, which is a special case).

We did administer New Guinea for many years. The western half of the island - Papua - is still an Indonesian province, and the Indonesians have fought a couple of small wars to hang onto it and adjacent provinces. We might be able to win a war against Indonesia, but they do have a lot more canon-fod der than we do - 250 million inhabitants versus 24 million Australians - an d it is unlikely that it would be a cost-effective exercise.

Such as the Spartans and Mongols and the Cossacks and the Vikings. Riiiight.

For examples closer to home, I invite you to read about the less fortunate (or less wise) among the Polynesians. Easter Island for instance. See e.g. Keegan's "A history of Warfare."

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Jim, you do realize that the US has about 800 military bases in over 70 countries worldwide?

Sorry, it is Time magazine and probably fake news in your mind, but you can find lots of references to US military bases online.

Read point #4. In many cases they are not that popular with the locals.

Why DO you folks have all those bases?

Don't they describe an Imperial Power?

Isn't it time to bring the boys home?

John

PS, Trump is a symptom of US imperial power, not the cure.

(PPS, for some reason my original reply message went out as blank - odd!)

Their hatred of the USA mostly manifests as mass starvation and torture of their own population. Weird sort of revenge.

The USA was engaged in a very real cold war, and the Chinese were out to overrun and communize the entirety of Korea. If they had, both North and South would now be the uniform worker's paradise that the North is now.

Let Kim starve and torture his population? And build ICBM nukes?