Greatest Threat to America

[Hobgoblin]

Please discuss what, in your opinion, will most likely be the greatest threat to America in the next four years. Which of the above do you fear the most and why? Yes, the Obama and McCain options are serious. Many of you have time and again explained how you distrust one or the other. Please, dont answer one or the other just to get a rise out of someone else.

Personally, my biggest worries are the economy, the energy crisis and the environment. They are all so tightly woven together. Oil effects so much of the economy but where will we get the oil from? And how long will it take before its on the market? Will it be in time to stave off a serious recession? What steps will be taken to protect the environment? Choosing one of these over the other is unacceptable, IMO, but it is almost inevitable.

Russia is posturing but still not a Cold War level threat. Iraq needs to end but I think it will be in a few years. Both candidates have said as much. Terrorism seems to be under control.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Superman4ever]

Bush, McCain, Neo-cons, Christofascists, the Fed, greed, Greedy ass corporations, lobbyists, false security, "patriot" act, MSM, Military-industrial complex, apathy, materialism (to an extent, but this ties in with apathy)...

Mainly a love for money and a love for war because it make MORE money.

 

[Matt]

Definitely the economy. As the Soviet Union proved, external threats mean jack if your country falls apart from the inside.

 

[The Battousai]

^ Agreed

 

[bunk]

League of Shadows.

 

[The Senator]

The economy. It leads to most other factors.

Our consumerism has led to an environmental crisis, and will continue to degrade the environment in the considerable future.

Our corporations and small businesses have decided to cut costs wherever necessary, and have therefore provided foreign workers an incentive to enter the United States illegally in search of work.

Our high GDP and governmental expenditures have allowed us to fund wars and build bases overseas, therefore 1) giving the terrorists a reason to attack us, 2) forcing nations such as Iran and Russia to go on the offensive.

Our decades of economic growth has allowed us to stay reliant on oil as a fuel, therefore keeping our dependency on all oil prevalent.

Neither presidential candidate knows how to handle the economy, so we should expect four more years of chaos following the election.

And if we do experience a crash, or a depression, we can anticipate some sort of vast social backlash, the likes of which we have never seen before in our nation's history.

Yep... it's the economy, stupid.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Environmental Crisis.


New Orleans thinks it's bad now? Just wait.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I also have to wonder, what might happen if Obama wins and then is assassinated? Would it create riots or more Barack Obamas?

The economy. It leads to most other factors.

Our consumerism has led to an environmental crisis, and will continue to degrade the environment in the considerable future.

Our corporations and small businesses have decided to cut costs wherever necessary, and have therefore provided foreign workers an incentive to enter the United States illegally in search of work.

Our high GDP and governmental expenditures have allowed us to fund wars and build bases overseas, therefore 1) giving the terrorists a reason to attack us, 2) forcing nations such as Iran and Russia to go on the offensive.

Our decades of economic growth has allowed us to stay reliant on oil as a fuel, therefore keeping our dependency on all oil prevalent.

Neither presidential candidate knows how to handle the economy, so we should expect four more years of chaos following the election.

And if we do experience a crash, or a depression, we can anticipate some sort of vast social backlash, the likes of which we have never seen before in our nation's history.

Yep... it's the economy, stupid.

And how likely is this to happen?

 

[Franklin Richards]

Yes and yes.

 

[Morg]

The economy, either president, I really don't think they grasp the full ideal how bad things are or really care.

I see small business going under and large ones too, food and fuel going up and people really worried about winter and bills and cost of other things that have double and even triple

 

[luke1234]

You forgot to add china possibly betraying us and becoming the new elite world power in the world. Its highly unlikely but it could happen. Were basically a parasite to them and their economy is flourishing. Could China turn on us?

 

[Hobgoblin]

You forgot to add china possibly betraying us and becoming the new elite world power in the world. Its highly unlikely but it could happen. Were basically a parasite to them and their economy is flourishing. Could China turn on us?

I thought about that but decided against it. They won turn on us, they own us. They need us to pay them back for the gazillion dollars we've borrowed from them. Its the same reason why the Russians didnt want us over throwing Saddam: he owed them too much money. Money they wouldnt get back if he were out of power. We're China's prison b****. Owned yet protected.

 

[danoyse]

The economy, without a doubt.

 

[Gilpesh]

Bears.




Or that the economy is. Or wait... bear is bad right or is bull bad... damn animal metaphors.

 

[luke1234]

I thought about that but decided against it. They won turn on us, they own us. They need us to pay them back for the gazillion dollars we've borrowed from them. Its the same reason why the Russians didnt want us over throwing Saddam: he owed them too much money. Money they wouldnt get back if he were out of power. We're China's prison b****. Owned yet protected.

It sucks to see America's reputation stoop that low...bummer, better to be protected however especially in times like these with possibilities of nuclear warfare.

 

[Morg]

Bears.




Or that the economy is. Or wait... bear is bad right or is bull bad... damn animal metaphors.

what on earth Teddy has to do with the economy

 

[Hobgoblin]

It sucks to see America's reputation stoop that low...bummer, better to be protected however especially in times like these with possibilities of nuclear warfare.

I'm not too concerned about nuclear warfare. That generally doesnt do anyone any good. Nuclear terrorism is more worrying to me, but not by much. Too difficult to pull off. Iran would love to nuke Israel and then we'd have to respond. Iran would respond with terrorist attacks. That is, if they develop a bomb.

Al Qaida could try to get nukes from Pakistan, they are practically operating unopposed there. That still seems pretty hard to do, imo. How do you get that bomb to the US without being discovered?

 

[Gilpesh]

what on earth Teddy has to do with the economy

I think I may be using a market term for the whole economy... because I wanted to say BEARS.

I can't stop thinking of the Colbert Report when I see the title.

 

[Excel]

Definitely the economy. As the Soviet Union proved, external threats mean jack if your country falls apart from the inside.

Yup

 

[luke1234]

Yup

excel i love your quote on the bottom btw haha, but Matt said it right, its definitely the economy

 

[luke1234]

I'm not too concerned about nuclear warfare. That generally doesnt do anyone any good. Nuclear terrorism is more worrying to me, but not by much. Too difficult to pull off. Iran would love to nuke Israel and then we'd have to respond. Iran would respond with terrorist attacks. That is, if they develop a bomb.

Al Qaida could try to get nukes from Pakistan, they are practically operating unopposed there. That still seems pretty hard to do, imo. How do you get that bomb to the US without being discovered?

i actually meant nuclear terrorism, warfare is highly unlikely, i dont know demo goblin, if hundreds and thousands pounds of drugs get shipped in and out of the country who says a "suitcase nuke "snuke" jk, cant slip by? its highly unlikely but the possibliities are endless

 

[Hobgoblin]

i actually meant nuclear terrorism, warfare is highly unlikely, i dont know demo goblin, if hundreds and thousands pounds of drugs get shipped in and out of the country who says a "suitcase nuke "snuke" jk, cant slip by? its highly unlikely but the possibliities are endless

I'm far from an expert but it seems that a suitcase is an awfully small place to keep something so complex as a nuclear weapon. It would have to be broken down to its most basic parts in order to fit and that seems to run the risk of malfunctioning. If anything, if I were a terrorist, I would load it onto a ship and detonate it in New York Harbor, before customs can inspect the boat. That is, if my boat were the 1% that gets searched before entering the country.

 

[Franklin Richards]

A nuke will be like a firework display compared to what will happen when the arctic shelves start falling off and melting.

 

[luke1234]

I'm far from an expert but it seems that a suitcase is an awfully small place to keep something so complex as a nuclear weapon. It would have to be broken down to its most basic parts in order to fit and that seems to run the risk of malfunctioning. If anything, if I were a terrorist, I would load it onto a ship and detonate it in New York Harbor, before customs can inspect the boat. That is, if my boat were the 1% that gets searched before entering the country.

i was just kidding about the the snuke haha, but yeah i get what your saying, yeah national security can be somewhat pathetic in some aspects of their job. Hell i got away with carrying a knife on a plane, and i didnt even know about it till i landed in florida from PA

 

[The Senator]

I'm far from an expert but it seems that a suitcase is an awfully small place to keep something so complex as a nuclear weapon. It would have to be broken down to its most basic parts in order to fit and that seems to run the risk of malfunctioning. If anything, if I were a terrorist, I would load it onto a ship and detonate it in New York Harbor, before customs can inspect the boat. That is, if my boat were the 1% that gets searched before entering the country.

I have done enough research on nuclear weapons to know that if such a device did exist, the chances that it would inflict enough damage to render a city uninhabitable is slim to none. There is no way that a nuclear weapon could physically be compressed to fit in the space the size of a suitcase. A suitcase the size of a truck, perhaps, but not the type of suitcase one brings to the office.

Granted, fissile material can be compacted into a "dirty bomb" which could fit into a suitcase, but there are two "positives" which come from such a device.

1. A dirty bomb will not contain enough fissile material to destroy a city
2. A dirty bomb will not emit enough radioactive material to make a city "unlivable"

The most damage a dirty bomb could inflict-- at least one the size of a suitcase-- is comparable to the Oklahoma City Bombing.

Only a true nuclear weapon represents a threat to our civilization, and the likelihood that we will face nuclear war in the coming decades seems rather minute.