Wow, I admit I was ignorant to all that. It's sad that the middle east is the way it is, It's beautiful some places there.

Yes it is. There are some truly breathtaking places there. Which is why we need to learn our facts and history and politics before we point fingers at governments or groups. It is very easy to get swept away with rhetoric but intelligence will truly grown when we question everything (including the claims of the anti-establishment-question-everything powerhouses). I'm glad you learned something new though. Hopefully this will encourage you to read / investigate more on the topic.

Quote from Impious

This is correct. I only used ebola as an example. The way the US government works is ridiculous, i mean they start wars for oil. They can control the media too so who knows whats really happening behind closed doors.

It's funny because the US is actually an exporter of oil, not an importer.

But hey "Politcal and long-lasting stability of key resource producing regions" isn't as catchy as "Oil", but I wouldn't expect you to know the difference because Coldplay didn't write a song about it.

Quote from Captain Cook

It's funny because the US is actually an exporter of oil, not an importer.

why are gas prices so damn high then? Explain the way that works to me ...

I slightly disagree with Cook on facts. The US is a huge exporter of crude oil petroleum based products, but more than half the Crude oil itself is imported into the country. It is also worth noting that the US has a large supply of oil, and will have a much bigger stock than the Middle East in 15 years, and are simply biding their time.

Having said that, Impious, I'm afraid it isn't a simple case of "If we have lots of oil, prices won't be high." Also, because the export of oil-based products is so profitable, there is less of it around to be used locally. Gas prices are based on federal taxes on the product, sheer speculation by Oil companies, increasing refining costs (you don't just take oil out of the ground and put it in cars, its much more complex than that), Supply costs, the crankiness of oil producing countries (they fix the prices which which oil is imported) and even weather.

Quote from Nish

Changed to what, though? Her line of questioning was essentially about the government covering up lies.

Oh, I thought it was centered around the ebola thing more than anything else. And since Exilement cleared all confusion, the original topic seemed dead.


So the real topic is whether or not the U.S government/media is, for the most part, truthful on political affairs. But it seems its a topic for discussion rather than debate

It is a topic for debate because they were two sides of it that needed to be hashed out.

She seemed to think the US Government DOES lie about everything. Some of us felt that maybe they lied a lot but not about everything.

Regardless of ebola, which was 100% legit by the way but people got too panicked over it.

The US government isn't all that bad, but one thing I'm sure off is that they are greedy, and wouldn't give a single fuck about the results of their actions if it meant profit for them. Throughout history most of their action in the Middle East and many other countries in the world has given them some sort of profit, which on it's own is fine, but the fact that it was at the cost of stability in the area and the lives of many people is the main issue here.

Afghanistan for example: The US fund and train small guerrilla groups to fight against the USSR, which is in both sides' interests. But hey, these guerrilla groups just happen to be not liked by the current government and people of the area, but the US don't give a fuck as long as they get what they want. USSR is kicked out, US pulls out and lets chaos reign in Afghanistan, then later send their troops BACK in to fight the groups they funded. By then a lot of lives have been lost.

They lie, a lot. Not about everything, but they definitely lie and it's all to cover up the shit they do.

Quote from Salt

Regardless of ebola, which was 100% legit by the way but people got too panicked over it.

The US government isn't all that bad, but one thing I'm sure off is that they are greedy, and wouldn't give a single fuck about the results of their actions if it meant profit for them. Throughout history most of their action in the Middle East and many other countries in the world has given them some sort of profit, which on it's own is fine, but the fact that it was at the cost of stability in the area and the lives of many people is the main issue here.

Afghanistan for example: The US fund and train small guerrilla groups to fight against the USSR, which is in both sides' interests. But hey, these guerrilla groups just happen to be not liked by the current government and people of the area, but the US don't give a fuck as long as they get what they want. USSR is kicked out, US pulls out and lets chaos reign in Afghanistan, then later send their troops BACK in to fight the groups they funded. By then a lot of lives have been lost.

My problem with this argument is that it makes it look like a specifically US Government problem rather than a problem with greedy politicians. Trust me guys, if the Filipino government or Chinese government or Slovenian government or New Zealand governemt had the kind of power and resources that the US government had, they'd do the SAME fucking thing.

Other, smaller government do equally fucked up things given the scale of power that THEY have. But the US have the resources to affect things on a global level so people start complaining about it.

Quote from Nish

My problem with this argument is that it makes it look like a specifically US Government problem rather than a problem with greedy politicians. Trust me guys, if the Filipino government or Chinese government or Slovenian government or New Zealand governemt had the kind of power and resources that the US government had, they'd do the SAME fucking thing.

Other, smaller government do equally fucked up things given the scale of power that THEY have. But the US have the resources to affect things on a global level so people start complaining about it.

It IS greedy politicians, and yes many politicians from many countries would do that. I was specific to the US as per the thread's criteria. European countries would and have done terrible actions in the past. Russia and communist countries have done terrible things. African governments have done terrible things.

The thing is you'd expect a country that is the most powerful and claims to stand for all that is right and freedom for all that etc. not to do that.

This world is getting screwed over by greed and only huge public awareness and action will stop it.

Well they became No.1 because of that take-no-prisoners and police-the-world policy. Their claims for freedom are also pretty well backed up by their actions in some cases.

If they go soft now, the USSR or worse, China will step in to rule the world. Frankly speaking, I'd rather it be the devil we know.

Quote from Nish

Well they became No.1 because of that take-no-prisoners and police-the-world policy. Their claims for freedom are also pretty well backed up by their actions in some cases.

If they go soft now, the USSR or worse, China will step in to rule the world. Frankly speaking, I'd rather it be the devil we know.

I'm not saying go soft, but don't rob other people their rights.

Quote from Salt

I'm not saying go soft, but don't rob other people their rights.

They don't rob rights for the sake of it. There is normally a justification, even if an extremely WEAK one. Unlike African or Asian dictatorships that don't even pretend.

I like how Salt is describing behavior characteristic of pretty much any nation on the planet

If you don't know, the Government is much bigger than you think. It's not a group of people who like to just do whatever they want for money or something. The Government has a Central Bank which is operated by faceless giants who hide behind the curtains and pull the strings. They control the US Dollar worth, just as they purposely dropped gas prices for a bit and began jacking them up immediately.

You'd think we own our Government just because we essentially control it given enough time. From overcoming prohibition to gay marriage to legalization of marijuana, we seem to control our Government however we want. Except, the thing is, we all don't know we're mindless sheep who arrogantly think we have a say in our lives when in reality it's being run by people who have more digits in their balance than Constitutional Amendments you can name. Just like how PAC's can run elections, they run our lives through money. They control how much money you have and they control Congress through poisonous graft. It's not our Government. It's these faceless giants who control the strings with money.

The US had the best Government that has ever, and most likely, will ever exist when it was first founded. Things began to turn sour as soon as Andrew Jackson came along and riled up the crowds into parties, and it's turned to shit as soon as the Gilded Age came along.