Is the U.S. just one big Potemkin village?

[Zkribbler]

Are we USAians just fooling ourselves as to how well off we are? Take a look at reality:

(1) Largest national debt in the history of humanity
(2) Gigantic national deficit, which is only slightly smaller than past record deficits run up by the Bush administration.
(3) Largest trade deficit
(4) Largest amount of personal debt

As a nation, we are financing outselves with debt, debt and more debt, running up ever-larger charges on our national "credit card." Someday, our financial house of cards will come crashing down.

[DanS]

Good God. Just go wait out on the beach for the Apocalypse.

[Elok]

Luckily, we used all that money to buy the best military on the planet. And then we used that military to create a colossal fustercluck in the ME that will likely spill over to make life hell for Europe and Asia alike. Plus we have the existing fustercluck in the DPRK keeping China and our other east Asian rivals on their toes. We're creating instability in other countries so we don't have to fight instability at home. Yay!

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

[Tattila the Hun]

Bloody brilliant plan, I say. Reminds me of the home cure for headache. Just find the nearest concrete wall and kick it hard, multiple times with your naked foot. Headache wont bother you anymore, for sure.

[SlowwHand]

The answer to the thread question is No.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
No.

,,,because...??

[DinoDoc]

Did you get dumped recently?

[GhengisFarb™]

WTF are Potemkins? Are they some doll-like cat people in World of Warcraft?

[DinoDoc]

I thought it was a car.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by GhengisFarb
WTF are Potemkins?

Once upon a time, Catherine the Great's army conquered the Crimea. She wanted to take a tour of her new conquests. Her minister, Potemkin, arranged for a set of phony villages to be built along her route, filled with happy villagers, fat cows, etc. Once she passed, the villages were torn down, shipped ahead of her, rebuild, re-filled with the same happy villagers and the same fat cows.

The term Potemkin village is now used to refer to a self-inflicted illusion of prosperity.

[GhengisFarb™]

Well using word derivation. -kin is something similiar, like Dragonkin are closely related and appear similiar to dragons. Potem sounds similiar to totem so I guess a potemkin is a big walking logcritter.

So, he's saying we're a Logcritter Village.

Which I'm not sure I agree with. :S

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Did you get dumped recently?

Kinda. The Dems took over Congress. I had the delusions that maybe sane government would take hold...at least for awhile.

Then Nancy Polosi went out and got herself a personal plane the size of Air Force One. Who the Hell does she think she is...a Republican???

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Then Nancy Polosi went out and got herself a personal plane the size of Air Force One. Who the Hell does she think she is...a Republican???

She wanted one bigger than the Republicans had IIRC.

[Tattila the Hun]

Penis envy, I'd say.