certain aspects of socialism have worked...just look at the way Russia deals with their oil reserves, which is basically a big fuck you to the western capitalist ideology/washington consensus ideology. they are pretty much on their own however.
Americans are so petrified when we start to move away from privatization of industries. Right now, that's our best option. As far as GM goes, Obama is not bailing the auto industry out, b/c it has failed and is bound to disintegrate even more. Its the law of comparative advantage---successful businesses succeed, while unsuccessful ones fail. He's making a much smarter move letting it die now vs when things would start to get even more fucked in that department.
I really don't follow politics very closely, but from reading most of these threads, i get the impression a lot of you think you do when in reality it sounds like you are repeating your family dinner republican conversations verbatim. take one international relations and your skewed perceptions should change around.
In terms of Obama, bowing down in Saudi Arabia; i do not see anything wrong with that. Remember that Obama has to establish rapport with the muslim countries that the US has had such egregious relations with in the past. He may be acting obsequious but he really has to. These countries need to be on better terms with us before any progress in int'l relations can be made. He has a long road to travel.
And that shit about the US doesnt have to bow down to anyone! That's an ignorant and dated perspective if I have ever heard one. America is not the hegemonic power it once was anymore. The world has moved into a multipolar system and our power has been steadily declining since the 1970s. Now it comes full circle and we just have to accept that and work to rebuild the global economy...it will never be the same as what it once has been though so you better get used to that and drop the american ego bullshit attitude. DUDE
