Brass Tacks

[irosie91]

the last days of rome were actually marked by GASTRONOMIC EXCESS and there is some
evidence that too much lead got into their systems rendering them a bit lethargic and stupid. ----somehow related to their really fancy cooking and eating vessels The FANCY was a big issue-----I am intrigued now by the GASTRONOMIC interests that galvanize
a plethora of cooking contests and TV programs. The romans also traveled far as wide
just to get VERY EXOTIC ---stuff to eat

 

[georgephillip]

Our economy is not based on war as you claim and Lilla's conclusion is that the we can't fix what is wrong with the Mosque-based legal systems which are so prevelant in the Arab Middle East. Unless and until the Arabs themselves decide to separate Mosque from State their spasms will continue. We can only defend ourselves and our interests from the fallout and if that requires making war with them, so be it.

We've maimed, murdered, displaced, and incarcerated millions of innocent Muslims in the last 22 years, and you've convinced yourself it was all done to "defend ourselves and our interests from the fallout."

What "fallout?"

Are you worried about the moral fallout the US is facing?
How do Empires die?

I certainly am concerned about moral fallout in America but I don't consider there to have ever been an American empire so I am not particularly concerned with how empires die.
The tragic collateral victims of our global policies are not a function of America's "evil" nature as you seem to assume but rather of legit conflicts and mistakes. America makes mistakes.
How many Syrians have been maimed, murdered, displaced, and incarcerated in just the past few months?

Far fewer Syrians have been harmed lately compared to Korea between 1950-53, the first post WWII "mistake" made by the benevolent, but ham-handed, US Empire. Some estimate one of every three Koreans living north of the 38th Parallel died from direct and indirect effects of US bombs. If you're keeping score, please remember to factor in the profit margin on each bomb.

Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia added millions more to the dead, maimed, and displaced toll, all US "mistakes" to those unworried by moral doubt. Afghanistan and Iraq compound the war crimes, but I'm glad you're sure US hearts are in the right place. We have over 700 military bases scattered around the globe which sounds to suspiciously like Empire, to some.

If there's no Empire involved in all these "mistakes," maybe those elites in society who get rich and richer from war and the debt it demands are just plain EVIL?