I think the point was that this was intended to be a thread commenting on why people play the sim, and their preference for Atlantic or Pacific theatres.
Having said that, you're entirely correct in saying you've a right to express your views on the matter, including your own perspective on 'social' matters in the USA.
Just on that, there are any number of things one might observe:
* a 'pension' for ex-presidents was introduced as a result of President Truman leaving office without much in the way of personal assets. Given every president since has been a multimillionaire, this is somewhat ironic.
* the US has (indeed pretty much every society throughout history) always had a 'tradition' of the materially disadvantaged fighting the wars of the advantaged. In the civil war it was possible to avoid the draft if one had $300 dollars or an 'alternative' to fight on your behalf. There were cases of people sending slaves to fight instead of going themselves.
* you can add race to the mix. 'Non-white' groups tend to be materially disadvantaged so make up a disproportionate level of armed forces compared with their proportion of society at large. The US Army had separate blood transfusions for african american troops during WWII......
* most of these things boil down to the inevitable consequences of 2 related factors: human nature, and a system in which aggregation of personal wealth is seen as a worthy end unto itself (and I would apply that to any society, not just the USA, although it varies by degree depending on which society you consider). The fact is that the USA, as the richest nation on earth, could readily alleviate the sufferings of the majority of its citizens were there the will to do so. That it fails so egregiously to do so (consider the fact that there are something like 40,000,000 people without access to health care in the USA!!!!) is a direct consequence of a society preferring to place individual wealth and advantage over a sense of community. Do some research into what are even conservative estimates of the expenditure on the war in Iraq and then consider what that might have achieved in areas such as health and education and one is left with the inevitable conclusion that the USA feels it is better served killing people abroad than looking after its own citizenry. I find it hard to reconcile that with the stated position of being "the last, best hope of mankind on earth" or words to that effect.....
* none of this is intended to discount the many good things the USA does across the globe, for which it recieves scant recognition. It does, however, point out the many inconsistencies able to be found in such apparently contradictory behaviour.
* I once attended a function at which President Bush (the elder) was the featured guest (it was sponsored by my employer at the time). I asked him how he reconciled the fact that, in the last census, approximately 96% of respondants identified themselves as Christian, yet there persisted - domestically and internationally - no end of behaviour/policy/attitudes that were anything but reflective of what a really 'Christian' society might be expected to exhibit. They couldn't get the microphone away from me quickly enough.....
Anyway, without intending any disrespect to Flamingboat or any other poster, perhaps we're better served discussing the sim than these other issues. I'm happy to discuss these issues, mind you, but that is probably a discussion better conducted elsewhere.....
Cheers all!
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