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Originally Posted by Telluride
I don't think Americans need to "open their hearts beyond their borders", whatever that means. I think we need to get back to the ideas of minding our own business and keeping our hands to ourselves on both the national and international level. America abandoned it's founding principles of limited government and individual liberties long ago. Perhaps allowing this country to collapse under the weight of its own bureaucracy and corruption is the best course of action? I think America is too far gone to be saved, but there's plenty of potential for rebuilding.
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I think that the rest of the world would celebrate your "plan". Imagine the withdrawal from the "world stage" of a parasitic, militaristic U.S.....a country with less than 6 percent of the world's population that "sucks up" 25 percent of world petroleum output, and borrows, each year...the equivalent of ALL of the annual savings of the entire world:
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http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/r...ebt_histo5.htm
Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual 2000 - 2006
09/30/2006 8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005 7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004 7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003 6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002 6,228,235,965,597.16
09/30/2001 5,807,463,412,200.06
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPD...application=np
Debt as of June 4, 2007: 8,831,626,578,805.63
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....and here are the headlines, right now:
I don't think that you could fathom what your proposal, if literally implemented, would do to "our American way of life". An honest isolationist policy would remove $1 trillion of annual borrowing that finances trade imbalances and federal borrowing, and would leave the U.S. to consume the 6 million bbls of petroleum it produces per day, just 40 percent of it's current consumption.
The rest of the world would greatly benefit from your proposal, but in the U.S. itself, fuel rationing and economic depression would be the near and longer term consequence.
It isn't a practical alternative, it isn't going to happen. It's akin to a heroin addict staying home....no more "B & E's" to steal items to pawn to support the habit, no more trips into "the hood" to cop the next fix.
Consider shifting your political agenda to the real world where 50 percent of Americans own just 2-1/2 percent of the wealth, one percent own 33 percent, and nine percent own 36 percent, and examine why that is....how it happened, how government can be changed to sanely reverse the consolidation of political power, influence, and representation that facilitated the flow of wealth to so few people.
We have the votes to make the government work in the interests of the majority of us. IMO, your unrealistic political agenda stands in the way of most of our best interests, and what you support actually narrows the distribution of wealth and politcal power...into the hands of the folks who already enjoy control of most of it!