Why do people hate America?

[kelpdiver 2]

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At the present time we are fighting an illegal war in iraq. Why is it illegal? The Pres. did not have Congressional approval, the US did not have UN concensus to go to war. The very reason the UN was formed (Yesterday, 50 Years ago) was to keep any country from declaring war on another country without consultation with every country who is a member of the UN.

LOL - Righto - consult with those you wish to war against, get their permission. Bullshit. The UN was formed to foster peace, but your fantasy...nope. If we view it like intelligent adults, the purpose of the UN was to favor the winners of WWII. It sure as hell didn't stop any of them from continuing to beat up on the smaller nations in their proxy wars against each other.

Wars aren't illegal, and let's not ignore the fact that Congress did in fact approve it, by overwhelming numbers.

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When Sadaam gassed the Kurds, he killed approx 10,000 people. Hitler was personally responseable for killing 6 million Jews, and 7 million Russians. Kind of puts the 10,000 Kurds in perspective, doesn't it?

So if I kill your mother, that's only one person, and I should get a UN medal, right?

10,000 people is 10,000 people. That's more than the number of Americans kill in NYC and in fighting in Iraq. Are you bold enough to say that this is insignificant? I'd love to watch you tell this to a Kurd in person.

BTW, it's much closer to 30M Russians killed in the Nazi fight. And Saddam killed more than just Kurds - throw in the Iranians, the Kuwatis. And then think of the global warming he caused when he set all the oil wells on fire in the loss in 1991!

[kelpdiver 2]

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5) That dispite making up something like 2% of the world population america consumes 25% of the world resources.

5%, actually.

I'm not sure a subject of the nation that once ruled over an empire where the sun never set really should comment on the question, though history suggests they know the answer better than anyone. Jealousy/fear of those one on top is a big component of it all.

[likearock 2]

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5) That dispite making up something like 2% of the world population america consumes 25% of the world resources.

5%, actually.

Um, link to back that up please?

FWIW, 25% is an accurate number if we're talking about oil.

[shropshire 0]

Possibly, but your average American is no different from any other world citizen (generally their wants and desires are the same). If people were to use knowledge instead of perception, then there would be fewer problems.
If you live a comfortable life in America, Europe, China etc.. then you'd have very little to complain about (but you still would )
But be a poor person in any of those countries and the world would look a whole lot different.

I'm not too sure exactly what my point is except that people are pretty much the same the world over. What they don't realise, is that they would be just as poor if they lived in any of the other countries - probably. - Some people have either bad luck or no drive, no matter what language they speak.

People hate America.... because they can.


Does this make any sense at all?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[kelpdiver 2]

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5) That dispite making up something like 2% of the world population america consumes 25% of the world resources.

5%, actually.

Um, link to back that up please?

300M people, 6B on planet.

[SpeedRacer 1]

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5) That dispite making up something like 2% of the world population america consumes 25% of the world resources.

5%, actually.

Um, link to back that up please?

300M people, 6B on planet.

So USA is 5% of the world, not 2%.


But as for the second number (% of "world resources")
I've heard percentage numbers all over the map for that one. How the hell do you quantify something so vaguely-defined as "world resources"???

Speed Racer
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[kelpdiver 2]

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But as for the second number (% of "world resources")
I've heard percentage numbers all over the map for that one. How the hell do you quantify something so vaguely-defined as "world resources"???

oil production/consumption is pretty easy to measure, as is power generation by other means. It gets a bit fuzzy when you add them together - if a country uses more nuclear power, are they better? Fissionable material is becoming more scarce now.

however, most first world nations aren't going to look too good on this analysis.

[SpeedRacer 1]

OK, fine for oil Natural gas, etc.

But "world resources" is so vague & open ended, it would cover all raw natural resources, plus manmade products and services. It's so vague and open-ended that there's no way (that I can see) that you can pretend to slap a number on it.

Let's face it: The people who say that America uses 25% or 80% or 90% of "world resources" are pulling that number right out of their asses without even wiping it off.

Speed Racer
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[kelpdiver 2]

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Let's face it: The people who say that America uses 25% or 80% or 90% of "world resources" are pulling that number right out of their asses without even wiping it off.

Well, politically motivated would be the fair descriptor.

But there's no doubt that US consumption is high. We drive more than just about anywhere - in part thanks to geography, but just as much due to urban planning. Tract housing is not good from an energy conservation standpoint. Certainly the older ones (and most of the new ones) don't include retail outlets in the center, it's always on the edge of the development.

Office buildings leave their lights on at night. Few at house use CFLs which are more efficient (though have significant pollution concerns wrt mercury).

When you go to a hotel in Shanghai - the room key completes the circuit for the power. If you're not there, nothing is on.

Take a look at the many charts available on the citation listed for our oil usage. Can't validate the numbers, but it gives a lot of different energy consumption measures. Electricity use per capita is quite different than I expected. I think industrial use is the hidden element. We're #9.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_ele_con_percap-energy-electricity-consumption-per-capita

[likearock 2]

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Take a look at the many charts available on the citation listed for our oil usage. Can't validate the numbers, but it gives a lot of different energy consumption measures. Electricity use per capita is quite different than I expected. I think industrial use is the hidden element. We're #9.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_ele_con_percap-energy-electricity-consumption-per-capita

In fact we're only #15 in oil consumption per capita:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_oil_con_percap-energy-oil-consumption-per-capita

What do you know, Canada is #13!