Carlin's dead

Mostly because I am an American and most of the members are as well. My neglect for non-American issues is more due to lack of familiarity. If you have an idea for a topic-of-the-day that I'm clearly missing, please send me a message!

It might ease up once the election shakes out. Your point is part of why I try to do stuff that's more universal.

@Admin Do you travel much? Have you ever been abroad? You appear to be insular, which is not a good thing if you wish to promote this site internationally. If your neglect for non-American issues is more due to lack of familiarity, then make posts that invite views and opinions from non-American members so that you can learn from them. As simple as that! I am non-American myself and some other non-Americans messaged me in the past and asked how I'm managing to stay on this site so long, and expressed that they feel a little alienated and feel obliged to "fit in". Not good.

@Naomi

The U.S. has a first amendment, in theory the bill of rights offers protections citizens of other countries do not enjoy. If we win the battle against tech censorship the possibility exist that the intellectual dark web will see the light of freedom. There is little hope at the moment that this battle can be fought in countries that do not have a bill of rights. There will however be a ripple effect win or lose.

@Naomi, @wolfhnd It isn't the fact that the US has a bill of rights that make it uniquely capable of fighting back. Most western countries have some form of a bill of rights as a founding document. It is where those rights come from - who grants the rights. The US is the only jurisdiction that formalizes the notion the rights come from the fact that a person exists and not from a governing gang or any other mob with guns. Canadians, for example, get their rights from the ruling party and they can be curtailed at any moment by the ruling party.

@wolfhnd I'm talking about the members of this community who live outside America. Not sure if you're aware of any of them. They live in India, The Philippines, Thailand, Denmark, Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Korea, Ireland. Italy, Spain and many many more. We hardly hear from them. This site is so America-centric that it doesn't provide an international environment - the environment where these members feel welcomed to contribute their views.
Anyway, my point is irrelevant to Admin's original post. I stop now.

@Naomi

I'm aware of them, they have every opportunity to discuss anything they want.

There is a German language group that I participated in to encourage it but since I don't speak German I don't visit it very often. I hope that other language groups get started because the ideas behind the intellectual dark web are for everyone.

The suggestion that people in the U.S. are disinterested in the rest of the world is historically valid. Strong isolationist sentiments are part of U.S. history. It took attacks on U.S. citizens to change public opinion enough that the U.S. could enter both World Wars. It's both a good and bad thing. The U.S. is the only dominate military power in history without a significant empire. Only after the disasters of two World Wars did it take a strong interest in World events. It is what it is but it is also the most ethically diverse country in the world. It's problems reflect that diversity to some extent. Including perhaps it's disinterest in the affairs of other nations.

@Naomi
We (and I'm ) are emotionally invested in this US election because it affects us more than you realize at the moment. Should the US turn Marxist and the Marxists get the windfall of a superpower's war machine, we little 3rd world countries would be easy pickings. America Marxist equals NWO in a year or two.

Hello dd54. I'm not miffed. It's a simple observation. People like you and me and timon-phocas are fine because we have natural outward interest in the first place, and in that case, it is easy nowadays to link ourselves to foreign sources online. Many people are insular. That's fine if they are happy being insular. However, if you're running a business, like Admin running this site, and your products and services are intended for an international audience, lack of familiarity with international affairs (especially when this site attracts political animals) is a weakness of yours as the operator of that business.

@wolfhnd If you're running a business, like Admin running this site, and your products and services are intended for an international audience, lack of familiarity with international affairs (especially when this site attracts political animals) is a weakness of yours as the operator of that business. And if this site is supposed to be a "community", and Admin and we really mean it, we have to make a conscious effort to make our community more inclusive. Like govols and others say, it is probably to do with the US election, and once it's over, there will be more room for discussions on international affairs. We'll see. Over and out.

@Naomi

That's the problem with democracy, the mob rules.

Here we have a "bill of rights" that allows the minority to speak. To be heard they may have to speak often and loud enough to drown out the mob.

The central question this brings up is why do we always turn to authority.