Is America a third world country?

Rich said:
As to having the very best equipment, may I suggest you do a Google search concerning where the government is sourcing $900 million to convert the Qatari 747 into an additional Air Force One? I dare not say more to prevent violating the ban on political posts.
Click to expand...
I was under the impression that Qatari was donating a 747 to the U.S. and from there, the U.S. taxpayer would pay for refurbishing the interior and equipping it as necessary.
 
Rich said:
One would certainly hope so. The U.S. military budget stands at roughly $900 billion annually. When you divide that by the 153 million tax returns filed in 2022, it amounts to approximately $5,882 per taxpayer. The figure might shift slightly depending on how many returns represent joint filings, but the takeaway remains clear: American taxpayers shoulder a substantial financial burden to fund our military.
Click to expand...
I guess if we divided the military budget among each taxpayer the number you stated would be correct. However, budget items are not equally divided among each taxpayer. Some taxpayers pay tens of thousands of dollars in tax while others pay very little. The budget deficit runs about $2 trillion. If we had to run the country using only the money the treasury collects, a lot of our programs would suffer.

The average cost of an F-35 is around $100 million. The lower price of the plane, which is the F-35A is around $85 million, while the cost of
an F35 B is around $105 million. I know some of these very expensive planes have had failed takeoffs from carriers and ended up in the drink, or ocean. The Navy makes every effort to recover any plane that goes into the ocean to keep our advanced technology out of foreign hands.
 
Been There said:
I guess if we divided the military budget among each taxpayer the number you stated would be correct. However, budget items are not equally divided among each taxpayer. Some taxpayers pay tens of thousands of dollars in tax while others pay very little. The budget deficit runs about $2 trillion. If we had to run the country using only the money the treasury collects, a lot of our programs would suffer.
Click to expand...
Agreed, the number I showed would be an average. Some will pay more, some will pay less.
As to the $2 trillion deficit, how long do you think we can continue to borrow $2 trillion per year before we can no longer afford to pay the interest on the (currently $37 trillion dollar) debt? That sort of deficit doesn't seem compatible with a long term economic strategy.
Your contention that "if we had to run the country using only the money the treasury collects, a lot of programs would suffer" seems to me to be spot on. We would also have low to no inflation, and a much stronger dollar.
 
Rich said:
Agreed, the number I showed would be an average. Some will pay more, some will pay less.
As to the $2 trillion deficit, how long do you think we can continue to borrow $2 trillion per year before we can no longer afford to pay the interest on the (currently $37 trillion dollar) debt? That sort of deficit doesn't seem compatible with a long term economic strategy.
Your contention that "if we had to run the country using only the money the treasury collects, a lot of programs would suffer" seems to me to be spot on. We would also have low to no inflation, and a much stronger dollar.
Click to expand...
If we are adding $2 trillion a year to the debt because we spend that much more than we take in from tax revenue that means when the president leaves office, the debt will rise by another $8 trillion to the debt? And the same for each succeeding president.

Congress knows the government must make the interest payment each month, which is somewhere between $80-90 billion.
 
Been There said:
If we are adding $2 trillion a year to the debt because we spend that much more than we take in from tax revenue that means when the president leaves office, the debt will rise by another $8 trillion to the debt? And the same for each succeeding president.

Congress knows the government must make the interest payment each month, which is somewhere between $80-90 billion.
Click to expand...
Exactly... not a sustainable financial plan.
 
VaughanJB said:
I assume you say so in jest. :D
Click to expand...
This is a political thread, started by a zealot tossing out a provocative question designed to call forth America haters. It was a huge success as it always is.
But America, as is true the world over, is overflowing with good people, I mean common productive people.
Moral corruption and depravity are fast overcoming us all, not just misguided Americans. Presently we have zero control over the ambitions of the elite and those who govern.
 
gruntlabor said:
This is a political thread, started by a zealot tossing out a provocative question designed to call forth America haters. It was a huge success as it always is.
But America, as is true the world over, is overflowing with good people, I mean common productive people.
Moral corruption and depravity are fast overcoming us all, not just misguided Americans. Presently we have zero control over the ambitions of the elite and those who govern.
Click to expand...
I'm glad that you are recognising that the vast majority of people, poor and rich alike, are basically good hearted. That is not to say that they do not carry within them the seeds of avarice and violence.

I try to remember the saying, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." If I had been born into a different family and had not the opportunities that I had as a young person growing up, I might have been tempted to steal from and possibly assault somebody. I might have taken illicit drugs to escape the realities of my life.

Poverty is hard.

What was that other saying about walking a mile in someone else's moccasins?
 
Warrigal said:
I'm glad that you are recognising that the vast majority of people, poor and rich alike, are basically good hearted. That is not to say that they do not carry within them the seeds of avarice and violence.

I try to remember the saying, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." If I had been born into a different family and had not the opportunities that I had as a young person growing up, I might have been tempted to steal from and possibly assault somebody. I might have taken illicit drugs to escape the realities of my life.

Poverty is hard.

What was that other saying about walking a mile in someone else's moccasins?
Click to expand...
Poverty is hard, but there is peace in death. Good people do not enter gates not their own with nefarious intentions.
 
VaughanJB said:
But if you understand San Francisco and the differences between neighborhoods, why do you not (seemingly) apply the same line of thought to Rayong? It may be safer in Rayong overall than it is in San Francisco overall. Setting aside - once again - an acceptance of corruption in the police force mean we can't be sure of the stats across Thailand. I sense you want to paint a rosy picture of Thailand, and have a bias to do so. I am glad that your experience has been good, and long may it continue. But to pretend it's just the "bars with ladyboys" that have crime (as you seem to have done) isn't correct. IMO. It is well known that homelessness is rampant in Thailand, for example. It may well be - not where you are. Again, I'm glad to hear it. I don't see homelessness where I live in the UK, but I'd not deny it exists. But yes, you may feel - and be - safer where you are in Rayong. That's great. But it's worth noting, when comparing, that there are some basic necessities that are in question. I'm talking about, for example, the quality of water supplies. Not to mention, when you return to the US, you are free not to return to those more dangerous areas of SF.
Click to expand...

Let’s be clear: I’m not painting a rosy picture, I’m painting a real one. I’ve said from the start that corruption exists here, it exists everywhere. The difference is that in Rayong I don’t have to step over tents, needles, and human waste to get down the street. In San Francisco, that became a daily reality.

Also, calling homelessness in Thailand "rampant" is absolute nonsense! You won’t find sprawling encampments here like in SF. I’ve lived in Rayong for years, and what I see with my own eyes is nothing remotely comparable to the chaos in my old hometown. And bringing up water supplies? That’s a red herring. I can filter my water in a minute. What I can’t filter out in San Francisco is being robbed at gunpoint or assaulted on the street, both of which happened to me personally.

So no, I’m not biased. I’m comparing lived reality to lived reality. In Rayong I can walk freely without being on guard. In San Francisco I couldn’t. That’s the bottom line.

I got the following off of Google regarding homelessness in Thailand and the USA.

"Homelessness is significantly higher in the United States than in Thailand, both in absolute numbers and per capita. While the U.S. had an estimated 771,000 homeless people on a single night in January 2024, Thailand's estimated nightly homeless population was around 2,500 to 2,700 as of 2022-2023. This difference is largely attributed to Thailand's stronger social networks and family support systems, which provide a safety net that is less prevalent in the U.S."
 
I have been to India, but not everywhere in India. I thought Surat was very nice, clean and most people on the street were dressed well.

I went through some small villages that were every bit as filthy as the pictures above. There were kids in the streets begging for money to buy food. They looked hungry and were dirty. I exchanged $50 for $5 in their money (Rupees) and handed out the 10 bills. I didn’t know how much $5 would buy in India, but I thought they would be able to get something good to eat. I have a soft spot for kids.

I spoke to our liaison and interpreter if India had a problem feeding their people. He said their was, so I asked if many children died from malnutrition and he said yes, many do. He said the country has plenty of food to feed people, but it’s mismanagement that causes the food not to be distributed properly.
 
Born_To_Lose said:
Speaking to some of the people living in that area told me they were very happy and wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.
Click to expand...

That's because they've never been anywhere else and have zero curiosity about the planet they live on. When I was a young man traveling around the globe in the 1960s, I met hundreds of my fellow Americans on the road, and over 95% of them were from California. The rest were usually from Oregon or New York, with the occasional Texan. In fact, I met only two Americans from the Midwest and just one from the Deep South.
 
oslooskar said:
That's because they've never been anywhere else and have zero curiosity about the planet they live on. When I was a young man traveling around the globe in the 1960s, I met hundreds of my fellow Americans on the road, and over 95% of them were from California. The rest were usually from Oregon or New York, with the occasional Texan. In fact, I met only two Americans from the Midwest and just one from the Deep South.
Click to expand...
Many southerners maintain a strangely powerful disdain for anything they're not used to, "city folk" being one of their main targets. It's odd seeing that, as you alluded to, they don't travel much and have likely not been exposed to much.
 
oslooskar said:
That's because they've never been anywhere else and have zero curiosity about the planet they live on. When I was a young man traveling around the globe in the 1960s, I met hundreds of my fellow Americans on the road, and over 95% of them were from California. The rest were usually from Oregon or New York, with the occasional Texan. In fact, I met only two Americans from the Midwest and just one from the Deep South.
Click to expand...
"... human nature is much the same everywhere, and, of course, one has opportunities of observing it at closer quarters in a village." --Agatha Christie
 
I can only think that people who live in poverty can’t be all that happy, but if what you are used to is a roof over your head, food, electricity and inside plumbing, maybe they wouldn’t want to live elsewhere and have to deal with all of life’s intricacies.

He worried constantly about the stock market. He would often say if the market crashes, we will quickly become a third world country. Constantly, he would check the market numbers throughout the day. He already had more money than he could ever spend. He was alone, like me, so I asked him what was he going to do with his money when he dies. He said half goes to the SPCA and half goes to his church.
 
Warrigal said:
I have never liked the idea of gated communities and would not want to live in one. It offends my sense of egalitarianism. I don't even have a front fence, let alone a locked gate.
Click to expand...
I specifically chose the place I live because it’s gated with 24 hour protection and another guard that drives through the community, which is something I never experienced and could do without. If anyone visits me, they need to tell the guard where they are headed and the guard will call me and flash your picture on my phone, if he calls the cellphone and not the House phone.

I had a friend from the military visit me recently and due to his plane getting in late, I got a call from the guard at 12:30 a.m. I wasn’t going to answer it, but I knew Zack was on his way, so I did pick up the phone. He asked the guard if he could park in the overflow lot and he told him he had to have a sticker from the office on the vehicle, or the vehicle would be towed. That was ridiculous at that time. I let him park in my driveway. Both of my garage spaces were filled. I will agree that HOA’s can be a pain.

My wife, otoh, doesn’t like the guards at all. She especially doesn’t like the guard that drives through the development.
 

Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top