not many european people in this \'heated discussion\', so I\'ll take that side
Two points that holds almost all my hate for the average american people, and that I use to construct my thoughts about that country:
First point: US has the media system of a dictatorship, so try not to believe what you read or see on TV too easily. Most of your views are biaised, try to read news from other countries, I guess you could get some from canada or UK or australia...
Second point: US\'s economy is strong because US accumulated lots of money with slaves, then with World Wars, keeps a high rate of people (when I mean high rate, I mean a rate that would never be accepted in Europe) in poverty, have a big population managed by the same media corporation making a big market easy to control, and dont give a f*ck about environment.
Nowadays, Europe is in crisis, not because of oil, but because UK, France and Germany have national political problems to solve before being able to handle the new Europe, that also makes the US stronger, but that wont last for more than 5 years. I also read somewhere that Canada had some trade agreements with US that will end in a few years, making Canada a threat for the stability of US, so dont think you have the uber economy of doom, you just have the media to show you how strong you are.
As for the gas problem, dont worry, Europe, Canada and South America have big stocks of refined oil that is being shipped to US (it\'s called strategic ressources or something like that). Talking about oil, dont whine too much you seem to have the cheapest gas in the world
Someone said something about meat not being shipped far away because it\'s perishable (<- however you spell that), that\'s crap, a big part of french meat is from Argentina and Chili.
Now back on topic, about the people dying in Louisiane, that\'s really sad, but it was predicted, look at what happened in Japan, although the cyclon wasnt as strong as the US one, they were prepared, and they spend a lot of money, strenghtening the-things-that-hold-the-sea-back which wasnt the case in US. Sure you have money, but you use it to go to war instead of taking care of your people ... that\'s sad. And you know, many many more people die each day in Africa, and you dont make a thread for it. Ouganda gives $200k to US to help for the cyclon, it seems a ridiculous amount but it\'s enormous for them, and in the past, america helped them by lending them money at very high rates, which partly explains why they cant get out of poverty, they give two third of each dollar they produce to pay their debts... that\'s how you\'re rich, be proud of it.
As for sending people armed with M16 instead of shovels and food, that\'s exactly how I would have seen america behave in a Simpsons episod, you guys arent even originals :/
Good luck to people in need, I\'ve donated to the red cross, hope that helps
