Change.

• Navy wrote on 2010-12-22 07:58
  Okay a lot of people complain about how Obama promised change.
  He's only been in office a bit over 2 years.
  "I missed it back in the good ol' days when he could make us believe things were about to change"
  A lot of people think that the president can simply snap his fingers and change laws and the way things are.
  It doesn't work like that and if it did we would be a communist country when we're suppose to be free.
  Things are starting to change for the better but it takes time.
  I'm not "omg I love Obama" but more on the side of "Let's get real"
  
  - What do you think the biggest problem with the United states is?
  - How can it be fixed?
  - What are some things that REALLY need to be changed?
  
  Even if you're not from the U.S you can add input from anything you know.
  
  Anyway, mine is that if we would stop having a "WHOS BETTER REPUBLICAN VS DEMOCRAT" war then we would get things accomplished, things would change. But at the moment everyone cares about trashing the opposing side.
  
  Bonus : what's your definition of freedom?
  what are the limits?
• 12y4jv wrote on 2010-12-22 08:06
  Maybe it's the debt
  
  EDIT: And this really reminds me of History in high school
• gentrone wrote on 2010-12-22 08:18

  What do you think the biggest problem with the United states is?

  
  Federal reserve.
  

  How can it be fixed?

  
  There is now way back. It will explode soon. The financial crisis isn't nowhere near to being over yet.
  
  

  What are some things that REALLY need to be changed?

  
  The way people see the Government. As you said, the president can't just snap his fingers and change things. In fact, the president is a meaningless instrument.
  
  

  Bonus : what's your definition of freedom?
  what are the limits?
  

  
  
  Many things can be said about this. However, America is of course a country that embodies this concept since it was created.
• Navy wrote on 2010-12-22 08:38

  Quote from gentrone;257314:

  
  
  Many things can be said about this. However, America is of course a country that embodies this concept since it was created.

  
  A lot of things has changed since then, so what a lot of people would call "freedom"
  no longer applies.
• Osayidan wrote on 2010-12-22 12:07
  One big problem I have is that Obama wanted to get the troops out of the middle east. Now they're going to be there even longer, and they dragged canada in it too.
  
  There's tons of problems internally too. For one, the US$ isn't even backed by anything, it's literally just paper. The federal reserve is holding tightly onto america's balls.
  
  Then you have the government system as a whole. It just fails, but the same can be said about pretty much any political body in the world, america just happens to be worst than most. Probably the worst of the "free" world.
  
  Education and public health is also a huge problem. Both are ridiculous at best. There's certainly worst out there, but mostly because those countries don't have the means. America is fully capable of having the best education and health in the world, but they're pretty much on the bottom of the list
  
  I don't think it can be fixed anymore. Maybe 50 years ago. It's too late now. America is going to keep slipping.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-12-22 17:36
  Well people say theres no change because unemployment is still down and it feels so bad.
  But truth be told, unemployment is probably the ONLY remaining factor to our "recession" that by economic definitions, was fixed about a year ago.
  
  Obama has made more changes to America than most other presidents ever could in two years. His major downfall is that he sucks at letting people know about it. Other presidents have been very connected with their citizens. Obama fails in doing so, and he ends up distancing himself quite a bit.
  
  Overall, the Economy has been fixed. Unemployment has always been the slowest lagging indicator of an economic cycle, so its to be expected that we still have less jobs than we'd like.
  
  Whether Obama's actions have been favorable for you or not, whether you agree with it or not, to claim he hasn't made any changes and that he's been sitting around doing nothing is absurd. Not only that, but during his presidential campaign he clearly said that it would take a full term or more to get everything he wanted done.
  
  

  Quote from 12y4jv:

  Maybe it's the debt

  
  
  Every country is in debt. Some more than others. But its natural to be in debt.
  Its not our biggest concern right now, though we should start chipping away at it or at least stop it from going higher soon...
  
  In any case, what people need to realize is that we have really advanced as a society since the start of democracy, and frankly told, "Presidency" is just too much of a job for just ONE person. Its impossible to juggle so much, yet we rely on them by dumping all our burdens, and blame them when things go wrong.
  
  Its a sad job I would never want to be a part of. You're practically a scapegoat for the people.
  
  Give the man his credit. Whether he's fixing America or not based on your views, he's probably working a hell of a lot harder at his job than any of us are right now.
• gentrone wrote on 2010-12-22 18:23
  Kitae, the financial crisis isn't over yet. The stimulus of 2009 was, in economic definitions, 'not so good'. It certainly helped creating more jobs but (as I said earlier) the problem is The Federal Reserve, who just borrowed funds from the public, transfered them to local governments who then used these funds to stop borrowing from the public! The impact on aggregate economy (macro) is null. It's a limited countercyclical effect. On the other hand, as I said in oanther thread, tax cuts is a better policy that actually works.
  
  Debt in the US is nowhere near 'normal'. It should be our biggest concern, over fourteen thousand billion dollars (fourteen trillions)! [14,000*1'000'000,000,000], 94% of our GPD. In other words, we about the same amount we produce yearly (and it's estimated to be 100% next year)! Only 5 to 10% of the total amount of GDP can be used to pay a debt. Debt is growing in about 5% a year. Can you imagine how much time it would take to pay even 30% of the debt (to reach 60% which SOMEWHAT healthy)?
  
  What is worse, Asia is buying our debt (treasury securities) and the moment they decide to stop supporting our currency we die. Osay said earlier the dollar isn't backed up by anything, well, it's backed up by countries that buy treasury securities. If they stop, our money will be worthless. Of course, if the US dies, a big part of the world will fall as well. Most of European and Asiatic countries are in an even worse position: Japan owes 167% of its GDP, Greece 104%, Italy 112%, France 70%, Portugal 70%, etc.! Have you read the news about the bailouts Germany is paying so that Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal don't bring down the rest of the EU?
  
  So I don't agree that anything is anywhere near fixed. Read the numbers alone and you will see how bad it is now. Future looks grim for most countries and as I said earlier, the Fed is responsible. I mean, giving control of public funds to private banks? Really?
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-12-22 18:34
  I'm thinking shouldn't we worry about making more jobs so we can increase our GDP and therefore pay off the debt faster?
  
  Sorry but I only took two economics classes in college so I'm no pro here.
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2010-12-22 18:41

  Quote from Osayidan;257425:

  One big problem I have is that Obama wanted to get the troops out of the middle east. Now they're going to be there even longer, and they dragged canada in it too.
  
  There's tons of problems internally too. For one, the US$ isn't even backed by anything, it's literally just paper. The federal reserve is holding tightly onto america's balls.
  
  Then you have the government system as a whole. It just fails, but the same can be said about pretty much any political body in the world, america just happens to be worst than most. Probably the worst of the "free" world.
  
  Education and public health is also a huge problem. Both are ridiculous at best. There's certainly worst out there, but mostly because those countries don't have the means. America is fully capable of having the best education and health in the world, but they're pretty much on the bottom of the list
  
  I don't think it can be fixed anymore. Maybe 50 years ago. It's too late now. America is going to keep slipping.

  
  
  Cut military spending by like half
  and we're still the largest spending
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-12-22 18:44

  Quote from BobYoMeowMeow;257710:

  
  and we're still the largest spending compared to the rest of the world COMBINED

  
  
  Fixed
• gentrone wrote on 2010-12-22 18:59

  Quote from Cucurbita;257703:

  I'm thinking shouldn't we worry about making more jobs so we can increase our GDP and therefore pay off the debt faster?
  
  Sorry but I only took two economics classes in college so I'm no pro here.

  
  
  Sorry, didn't mean to sound pro :p. This is just my second year so I try to avoid giving recommendations because obviously there many things I ignore about Economics, so I just analyse the facts, which are scary. Economy of the US is just so big and complex I can't even begin to comprehend.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-12-22 19:02

  Quote from gentrone;257721:

  Sorry, didn't mean to sound pro :p. This is just my second year so I try to avoid giving recommendations because obviously there many things I ignore about Economics, so I just analyse the facts, which are scary. Economy of the US is just so big and complex I can't even begin to comprehend.

  
  
  Which brings me back to point, the President really is a job too huge for one man.
• Navy wrote on 2010-12-22 19:46

  Quote from Cucurbita;257723:

  Which brings me back to point, the President really is a job too huge for one man.

  
  
  But he's nothing but a puppet.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-12-22 19:57

  Quote from Humility;257769:

  But he's nothing but a puppet.

  
  
  Thats a bit of an exaggerated claim. The President still has a solid chunk of power.
  I mean, I won't deny he's a tool, but he's still got things going.
• Osayidan wrote on 2010-12-22 21:48
  I saw a documentary about some economist guy who investigated the total revenues of each city/state that he could get his hands on. I forgot the name of the document he requested from them but they usually don't just hand it out, I think he had to use some social engineering to get it, it has all the tax and other revenues for the city/state. He did the math with what he was able to get and the numbers were ridiculous.
  
  Just individual states like new york and california were generating more revenue than the GDP, but none of that revenue was reported. I think I fell asleep while watching it so I don't have much details D:
  Would be interesting to find it again.