>>>You make my point. I'm not saying we're perfect, we just happen to be at the top of the pile. I didn't have anything to do with that, and only by sheer luck was I born here. I am just thankful every day that it happened that way. I think we have a duty to the rest of the world to try to make things better, not worse, but that would be a whole other thread.
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>>I would agree the US is at the top of the military-power "pile". But when it comes to measures like Nobel prize winners it is more or less evenly split between the US and Europe for pole position. For the standard-of-living "pile" I think there are a number of European countries that could be argued as #1. For the debt pile the US is #1. So I guess it depends on what "pile" one is measuring. The specific article of this thread was about the military one. I think if you read it through then there is a danger and a caution that the author expresses which is not about Bush but about the spread of militarism in the US which extends back a long way, pre-Bush.
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>Ok, no argument as to the fact that you have to consider which "pile" you are talking about. One note though, you are comparing all of Europe to the US. Last I checked Europe was a continent, not a county. Of course, there is a move toward unification but, I think they still have sovereign countries.

Er, the USA practically IS a continent, a continental empire of separate states. cf Europe. (that way GB becomes Hawaii :-) And some of your states are bigger than some European countries, esp. Belgium, Holland, et al. Your army of independance was called the "continental army" wasn't it?

So how could any indiv. Euro. country hope to compete with an empire the size of the US, with all her mineral riches?