Which Party do you feel will "fix" America's problems?

[Cynthia]

The best of course, as it's impossible to fix all of the "problems".

Which political party, whether one of the two big ones, or third party, do you feel has a better idea of how we should "fix" some of the "problems" we're having in this country? This is an educational discussion, so it does no good to just say something like "DEMOCRATS/REPUBLICANS WILL FIX IT ALL JUST VOTE FOR THEM", state how they plan on doing it, and why it would work, and of course you support that party.

If you don't feel any party will help anything, then state what could be changed about a party to help them. State something you feel should be changed about a political party, and not just something like, "less stupid," as that isn't descriptive or relevant. Saying something is stupid with no reason is just an insult and is in no way constructive. The children of today could be the leaders of tomorrow, so if their view on what their party should do is altered, there's always the possibility it could alter it in the future. Good ideas spread like wildfire.

A third installment to my previous two topics. First political views, then how you feel this country needs to be "fixed" and now, who do you think can fix it?

Also optional but: How do you feel about the current leader and legislature's attempts to correct some problems? (Remember, constructive.)

[burning_phoneix]

Currently none I'm afraid.

[Raven]

Get rid of one problem somehow and another one is sure to rear it's bitch of a head. No government will ever truly "fix" a country because of this.

[Phoenix Wright]

You speak of fixing all these 'problems.' America is fucking fine. The only problem that needs fixing is the education system from K-12th grade. We've got some of the best universities on the planet, our states and country just need to find out how to get more of us there.

Children must, must, must have more discipline! It's a fucking horrendous image to see a bunch of snot-nose, spoiled, whining brats who think they're "the shit," and think they have everything planned out. They're jokes. We need to find a way to make that "not cool," and find a way to say that being educated "is cool." Obama is trying, but he can't do it alone.

[Jyosua]

You speak of fixing all these 'problems.' America is fucking fine. The only problem that needs fixing is the education system from K-12th grade. We've got some of the best universities on the planet, our states and country just need to find out how to get more of us there.

Children must, must, must have more discipline! It's a fucking horrendous image to see a bunch of snot-nose, spoiled, whining brats who think they're "the shit," and think they have everything planned out. They're jokes. We need to find a way to make that "not cool," and find a way to say that being educated "is cool." Obama is trying, but he can't do it alone.

Uh, fucked up economy? Hello? Yes the education needs to be fixed as well, that's another big issue, but so is healthcare and the economy, in particular the housing industry.

[quanta]

Eh, economic cycles are normal. Sucky? yes. Long term issue? (in the sense of having an effect for decades) Probably not quite as much unless you count indirect effects from changes in government behavior.

[Agro]

America needs healthcare. It also needs to stop teaching so much American History.

[Jyosua]

Eh, economic cycles are normal. Sucky? yes. Long term issue? (in the sense of having an effect for decades) Probably not quite as much unless you count indirect effects from changes in government behavior.

Cycles are natural, but not completely separate from government influence. If the government just sits on it's rear and does nothing, it will only prolong the current economy, which is something we don't want.

[quanta]

Cycles are natural, but not completely separate from government influence. If the government just sits on it's rear and does nothing, it will only prolong the current economy, which is something we don't want.

Debatable. It's far easier for government to do stupid things which make the recession last longer than it is for it to make a recession shorter. Bailing out failing corporations, banks, and pseudo-government entities creates a drag on the economy (this happened to 1990s Japan) and encourages future stupid behavior by rewarding recklessness, which could increase the frequency of economic cycles.

I haven't seen the U.S. government do a single thing yet that theoretically ought to shorten this recession outside of the Fed cutting interest rates. Arguably, they've done the opposite. Bailing out the automakers was a colossal waste of money and will probably remain so, the cap and trade scheme is an indirect tax increase on tons of industries, and the stimulus bill was a pile of crap. Not to mention Keynesian economics and the so-called multiplier for government spending have been known to be nonsense for a while now. It didn't work in the Great Depression; it won't work now. The government deficits and debt look puny compared to what they were under Bush (which is sad really) and they're projected to keep growing a ton even given tax increases and rollbacks of every single Bush tax cut.

To be perfectly honest, the economic data on recessions over the past two centuries in America is really noisy, and most evidence seems to be that you can't really distinguish between what happens to the length of recessions and severity when fiscal policy stimulus occurs. In other words, either no one has done it well enough yet to make a difference that could be distinguished from noise in the data or no one can. And given that, I'd prefer we didn't pile up ridiculous debts to try something that most likely accomplishes nothing significant.

[Jyosua]

Cycles are natural, but not completely separate from government influence. If the government just sits on it's rear and does nothing, it will only prolong the current economy, which is something we don't want.

Debatable. It's far easier for government to do stupid things which make the recession last longer than it is for it to make a recession shorter. Bailing out failing corporations, banks, and pseudo-government entities creates a drag on the economy (this happened to 1990s Japan) and encourages future stupid behavior by rewarding recklessness, which could increase the frequency of economic cycles.

I haven't seen the U.S. government do a single thing yet that theoretically ought to shorten this recession outside of the Fed cutting interest rates. Arguably, they've done the opposite. Bailing out the automakers was a colossal waste of money and will probably remain so, the cap and trade scheme is an indirect tax increase on tons of industries, and the stimulus bill was a pile of crap. Not to mention Keynesian economics and the so-called multiplier for government spending have been known to be nonsense for a while now. It didn't work in the Great Depression; it won't work now. The government deficits and debt look puny compared to what they were under Bush (which is sad really) and they're projected to keep growing a ton even given tax increases and rollbacks of every single Bush tax cut.

To be perfectly honest, the economic data on recessions over the past two centuries in America is really noisy, and most evidence seems to be that you can't really distinguish between what happens to the length of recessions and severity when fiscal policy stimulus occurs. In other words, either no one has done it well enough yet to make a difference that could be distinguished from noise in the data or no one can. And given that, I'd prefer we didn't pile up ridiculous debts to try something that most likely accomplishes nothing significant.

The issue is indeed debatable, and I agree that the policies put forth so far, barring healthcare, have been stupid and wasteful, but in my opinion I feel that the existing policies left over from the previous administration has doomed us to an eternal deficit unless we do something to fix it. I was hoping that the Obama administration would do something good about that, because I felt that McCain would have just made things worse, however, the Obama administration is currently failing to meet my expectations and it's very disappointing.

[Phoenix Wright]

You speak of fixing all these 'problems.' America is fucking fine. The only problem that needs fixing is the education system from K-12th grade. We've got some of the best universities on the planet, our states and country just need to find out how to get more of us there.

Children must, must, must have more discipline! It's a fucking horrendous image to see a bunch of snot-nose, spoiled, whining brats who think they're "the shit," and think they have everything planned out. They're jokes. We need to find a way to make that "not cool," and find a way to say that being educated "is cool." Obama is trying, but he can't do it alone.

Uh, fucked up economy? Hello? Yes the education needs to be fixed as well, that's another big issue, but so is healthcare and the economy, in particular the housing industry.

Eh, economic cycles are normal. Sucky? yes. Long term issue? (in the sense of having an effect for decades) Probably not quite as much unless you count indirect effects from changes in government behavior.

This is the reason why I didn't state anything about the economy. Besides, who ultimately fixes the economy, huh? The people do.

America needs healthcare. It also needs to stop teaching so much American History.

This is funny. Not many kids KNOW American history. You gotta start somewhere. I'm surprised to see people not even a little bit interested in history. Too many people think it's boring.

Besides, we only dedicate 2 years to American History, and one to government. 8th grade and 11th grade. Of course Elementary schools teach it, but come on.

[Jyosua]

This is funny. Not many kids KNOW American history. You gotta start somewhere. I'm surprised to see people not even a little bit interested in history. Too many people think it's boring.

Besides, we only dedicate 2 years to American History, and one to government. 8th grade and 11th grade. Of course Elementary schools teach it, but come on.

That doesn't change the fact that the kids don't know ANY world history.

[Crystal Shards]

This is funny. Not many kids KNOW American history. You gotta start somewhere. I'm surprised to see people not even a little bit interested in history. Too many people think it's boring.

Besides, we only dedicate 2 years to American History, and one to government. 8th grade and 11th grade. Of course Elementary schools teach it, but come on.

That doesn't change the fact that the kids don't know ANY world history.

Speak for yourself. World History was required in both middle school and high school for me, and American History was only covered for one year, if you didn't take AP US History (and even then, many who took the AP class didn't take the normal one). The problem, if you can even call this a problem, is that different places have different expectations, so some kids come out better on some subjects while other kids come out better on other subjects. Some schools really focus on math proficiency, while others focus on communication and language proficiency. Some don't really have a focus. Some try to accomplish everything. There's really no consistency.

[quanta]

I feel that it's probably a bad assumption to assume one party or the other will "fix" America's problems. Citizens can't just let one party do it. Citizens have to actively monitor both parties stance and their own representatives and vote for who will do the best job, whether they are Republican, Democrat, or a Head of Lettuce.

[Phoenix Wright]

This is funny. Not many kids KNOW American history. You gotta start somewhere. I'm surprised to see people not even a little bit interested in history. Too many people think it's boring.

Besides, we only dedicate 2 years to American History, and one to government. 8th grade and 11th grade. Of course Elementary schools teach it, but come on.

That doesn't change the fact that the kids don't know ANY world history.

No, it doesn't. Honestly, I don't see where you're going with this. I think it's much more important to teach/learn about your own country's history first. 1 year dedicated to world history is good enough to me. A student can go into independent studies after that.

How long do other countries spend learning world history?

Edited August 28, 2009 by Old Snake

[Agro]

This is funny. Not many kids KNOW American history. You gotta start somewhere. I'm surprised to see people not even a little bit interested in history. Too many people think it's boring.

Besides, we only dedicate 2 years to American History, and one to government. 8th grade and 11th grade. Of course Elementary schools teach it, but come on.

That doesn't change the fact that the kids don't know ANY world history.

No, it doesn't. Honestly, I don't see where you're going with this. I think it's much more important to teach/learn about your own country's history first. 1 year dedicated to world history is good enough to me. A student can go into independent studies after that.

How long do other countries spend learning world history?

Australians generally drop Australian history (it's kind of uneventful) after Year 7. From there, it varies; most of the history taught is world history from there, but VCE subjects can be chosen; there's World History, Renaissance, Revolutions, etc. After Year 9, you don't have to do history as a subject ever again.

[Celice]

No, it doesn't. Honestly, I don't see where you're going with this. I think it's much more important to teach/learn about your own country's history first. 1 year dedicated to world history is good enough to me. A student can go into independent studies after that.

As long as the native history isn't biased. Many American textbooks that schools endorse paint far too pretty a picture of one of the most belligerent nations on Earth, especially so in regards to moral and cultural series--its people endorse this.

[Phoenix Wright]

This is funny. Not many kids KNOW American history. You gotta start somewhere. I'm surprised to see people not even a little bit interested in history. Too many people think it's boring.

Besides, we only dedicate 2 years to American History, and one to government. 8th grade and 11th grade. Of course Elementary schools teach it, but come on.

That doesn't change the fact that the kids don't know ANY world history.

No, it doesn't. Honestly, I don't see where you're going with this. I think it's much more important to teach/learn about your own country's history first. 1 year dedicated to world history is good enough to me. A student can go into independent studies after that.

How long do other countries spend learning world history?

Australians generally drop Australian history (it's kind of uneventful) after Year 7. From there, it varies; most of the history taught is world history from there, but VCE subjects can be chosen; there's World History, Renaissance, Revolutions, etc. After Year 9, you don't have to do history as a subject ever again.

After 9th grade (in Australia this is called Year 9, yes?) you don't need to learn any more history?

I wouldn't really like that.

From the history that students should actually remember: 11th grade US History, and 8th grade US History, since that's all we get.

No, it doesn't. Honestly, I don't see where you're going with this. I think it's much more important to teach/learn about your own country's history first. 1 year dedicated to world history is good enough to me. A student can go into independent studies after that.

As long as the native history isn't biased. Many American textbooks that schools endorse paint far too pretty a picture of one of the most belligerent nations on Earth, especially so in regards to moral and cultural series--its people endorse this.

I'll see how my US History book makes it when I get there next year. Chances are (99.9%) we'll both forget about this conversation though. Edited August 28, 2009 by Old Snake

[NinjaMonkey]

The Monster Raving Loony party. All hail president Sutch.

I hate to break it to you, but he's dead...

Anyway, given that America isn't even 300 years old yet, how much American History can there possibly be (apart from the American Civil War, of course)?

Edited August 29, 2009 by NinjaMonkey

[Phoenix Wright]

The Monster Raving Loony party. All hail president Sutch.

I hate to break it to you, but he's dead...

Anyway, given that America isn't even 300 years old yet, how much American History can there possibly be (apart from the American Civil War, of course)?

Are you seriously asking this question? We were involved in some of the biggest wars in human history. We became a rich, powerful, FREE nation when creating the Constitution. We went through the Great Depression, and so many other different things. And this is only in the 1900s! Seriously, America has a shitload of history. Obviously not as much as a country like China, but we do have a lot of history to tell. We were radically changing in those few hundred years. Some countries haven't become advanced after a few thousand years! Cough-Middle East-Cough.

History at it's finest, bro. To me anyway. I love learning about American history. I love learning about European history too, I'm just tired of learning about the Renaissance and the Reformation.

Edited August 29, 2009 by Old Snake

[Agro]

The Monster Raving Loony party. All hail president Sutch.

I hate to break it to you, but he's dead...

Anyway, given that America isn't even 300 years old yet, how much American History can there possibly be (apart from the American Civil War, of course)?

Are you seriously asking this question? We were involved in some of the biggest wars in human history. We became a rich, powerful, FREE nation when creating the Constitution. We went through the Great Depression, and so many other different things. And this is only in the 1900s! Seriously, America has a shitload of history. Obviously not as much as a country like China, but we do have a lot of history to tell. We were radically changing in those few hundred years. Some countries haven't become advanced after a few thousand years! Cough-Middle East-Cough.

History at it's finest, bro. To me anyway. I love learning about American history. I love learning about European history too, I'm just tired of learning about the Renaissance and the Reformation.

Aren't you a victim of the sort of brainwashing America loves to feed its population with to deceive them into thinking it's like, the greatest country in the world? I find America's history quite boring (not to say Australia's is any better) to be honest.

[Phoenix Wright]

The Monster Raving Loony party. All hail president Sutch.

I hate to break it to you, but he's dead...

Anyway, given that America isn't even 300 years old yet, how much American History can there possibly be (apart from the American Civil War, of course)?

Are you seriously asking this question? We were involved in some of the biggest wars in human history. We became a rich, powerful, FREE nation when creating the Constitution. We went through the Great Depression, and so many other different things. And this is only in the 1900s! Seriously, America has a shitload of history. Obviously not as much as a country like China, but we do have a lot of history to tell. We were radically changing in those few hundred years. Some countries haven't become advanced after a few thousand years! Cough-Middle East-Cough.

History at it's finest, bro. To me anyway. I love learning about American history. I love learning about European history too, I'm just tired of learning about the Renaissance and the Reformation.

Aren't you a victim of the sort of brainwashing America loves to feed its population with to deceive them into thinking it's like, the greatest country in the world? I find America's history quite boring (not to say Australia's is any better) to be honest.

No, I'm not. I said I like learning it's history. I also like how quickly it became advanced. By no means did I call it "the best." I'll admit, "history at it's finest" were not the best choice of words, but I said that was personal. You find it boring, I don't. It's that simple. History in general isn't boring to me, so I'd probably like learning about Australian history too. :P Edited August 29, 2009 by Old Snake

[Celice]

Such "advancement" wasn't limited to the U.S. nor a production of such a nation, really. It was more of the "at the right time, right place" kinda stuff.

Studying the details of everyday life during the Great Mortality is usually more fantastic and interesting than whatever American history is being written to accommodate egos and sheep.

[Gordon Freemeow]

Such "advancement" wasn't limited to the U.S. nor a production of such a nation, really. It was more of the "at the right time, right place" kinda stuff.

Studying the details of everyday life during the Great Mortality is usually more fantastic and interesting than whatever American history is being written to accommodate egos and sheep.

I love you right now.

Just a little fun fact: The industrial revolution happened in the UK before it happened in the US. Renaissance happened in the UK before it happened in the US. limited monarchy, which was a form of representative government happened in the UK before the US.

How exactly has the US "advanced" so quickly? By following others footsteps, so really I wouldn't call that an advancement, I'd call it an improvement. Sure, you blokes have made a few advances that others didn't have, but the basis of America is copied from other cultures. In fact when writing your own constitution, they looked at other nations laws, such as France and England.

A lot of America was based off of other countries. I dropped out of school and I still know that. I really detest this American centralized point of view...

[quanta]

Aren't you a victim of the sort of brainwashing America loves to feed its population with to deceive them into thinking it's like, the greatest country in the world? I find America's history quite boring (not to say Australia's is any better) to be honest.

Our public schools aren't anywhere near competent enough to brainwash people. "America" (by which you mean its government) brainwashes its citizens into loving it about the same amount that any civilized developed country does. You don't really have to brainwash someone into loving or defending the place they live in y'know. It's a natural human instinct.

And the U.S. is currently the most powerful country in the world, as well as one of the most free, prosperous, and ethnically diverse, so there are plenty of standards by which it's certainly at least in the running for "the greatest country in the world".

Such "advancement" wasn't limited to the U.S. nor a production of such a nation, really. It was more of the "at the right time, right place" kinda stuff.

Studying the details of everyday life during the Great Mortality is usually more fantastic and interesting than whatever American history is being written to accommodate egos and sheep.

Uhhh... who are you responding to exactly?

Also, it's generally not really the people who write the history books fault that Americans are patriotic (as if this was some sort of problem anyways; in general, people are patriotic). Some books are worse than others, but if you look through some of those books used in high schools, they record plenty of the ugly parts of American History. It's just written in a rather dry manner.

Just a little fun fact: The industrial revolution happened in the UK before it happened in the US. Renaissance happened in the UK before it happened in the US. limited monarchy, which was a form of representative government happened in the UK before the US.

How exactly has the US "advanced" so quickly? By following others footsteps, so really I wouldn't call that an advancement, I'd call it an improvement. Sure, you blokes have made a few advances that others didn't have, but the basis of America is copied from other cultures. In fact when writing your own constitution, they looked at other nations laws, such as France and England.

A lot of America was based off of other countries. I dropped out of school and I still know that. I really detest this American centralized point of view...

I'm pretty sure most people in this discussion so far know America's roots. And it's probably more accurate to say France looked at America which looked at what Enlightenment philosophers said (I can think of both French and English ones).

Also...

from wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

advancement- gradual improvement or growth or development; "advancement of knowledge"; "great progress in the arts";

or

from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvement

advancement- The act of advancing, or the state of being advanced; progression; improvement;

So cool, you agree it's an advancement.

You do realize the reason for an American centered point of view right? America is the only remaining superpower. How long that will last for? Who knows. And its also just a much smaller subset of a general focus that views history through the lens of Western Europe.