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The reason the founder's placed the "natural born" requirement in the US Constitution seems kinda obscure at first, but it's very relevant now.
The first several Presidents obviously had to be grandfathered in, because they were all born as British Subjects in American Colonies.
The intent was to ensure that our top leader had allegiances and dedication to our nation and our nation alone. If you think about it, how many second generation Americans have been influenced by their parents in some form or fashion. It could be as subtle as displaying your parents home nation flag in your car (read any of the Central and South American versions of this) or be as open as someone who would have a conflict of interest with respect to issues like trade, immigration, human rights, etc.
I personally feel that Obama was handed the Nobel Prize because everyone sensed that he would be more a World leader rather than an American leader.
We could debate the merits of both all day long and our responsibility as leaders of the world. I didn't give much attention to the rampant accusations about "apologist" sentiment Obama was spreading, but it does have an impact and play a part.
I personally feel that Obama has ideals and philosophy that were shaped by his particular circumstances and experiences (as we all do) which make him prone to supporting socialist ideologies and world government ideologies.
You can apply this to everything from Cap/Trade, which is basically global redistribution of wealth hidden under an environmentalist argument....all the way to our stance when it comes to Europe, to free trade agreements, all the way to the UN, the IMF, our policies on the World Bank, foreign aid....etc.etc.etc.
We certainly want a President who does what's in our best interest....always....both short AND long term. I don't necessarily think that means being a warhawk or supporting manifest destiny (which is detrimental in long term aspects) but I don't think we should be running around the world apologizing for who we are either.
This concept ties into the post above about what the rest of the world must think. Who cares? It's not their direct concern and I really could care less what some latte drinking, beret wearing, sniveling wimp from France thinks about our politics and our internal ongoings. If it were up to them, they'd totally destroy our way of life in an effort to spread peace and love around the world...which would benefit everyone for 5 seconds and then the golden goose would be dead.
People don't like Americans, in much the same way that they don't like any "dominant" figure...whether it's in sports, economies, militaries, whatever. They get sick of being faced with the notion that they're inferior.
To tie all this in, I don't feel that Obama looks at our international concerns with quite the same perspective as someone who had both American parents. I think he feels more a citizen of the world, rather than a citizen of the US. Some may argue that's a good thing, but again, when people start losing their jobs, because he wants to adopt Coppenhagen accord policies which hamstring our industries, it becomes clear why the founders intended for our greatest leader to be "natural born."
Good comments and well thought out. It is really a matter of differing philosophical views.
One of 'I work hard, I get mine' and another, "I work hard, I am willing to share".
Until we all marry the same political system, we will be in disarray and of course socialism doesn't work or even close to work due to corruption. But, neither does capitalism in a sense and 'founding fathers' probably had little idea as to where these laws would take them.
Just in my limited lifetime, I see a distinct polarization of policies that swing from one extreme to the other with little basis or fact. Just mainly out of fear and laziness.
I believe that we are all world citizens and it is our duty to work towards peace and prosperity for all. Not just those lucky enough to be born in the USA or other 1st world countries.
I am curious on your background @RM99. I wonder what life experiences you have had to shape your beliefs. You are obviously well educated in the english language and my guess is you have spent time at the University handling Political Science. But, maybe a bad guess is that you have not made the journey to try to see the other side of the spectrum.
If anyone has or can do this, then I suggest they give it a shot. There is a '30 days' show that the guy from super-size me put together a few years back. There is an episode where a 'minuteman' from cuban descent is adamant that those damn Mexican's had better stay out of OUR country.
Well, he has to go live with them for 30 days. Boy, what a powerful episode that was and it forever changed my life when thinking about "Mexicans". The thing that scares me is the nationalist Mexican feelings of "Vote them out" and 'them' being us, and I think you get those extremes no matter which is sad. But, at least they are expressing some rights according to our constitution which is great.
We all don't like change, we all believe the way we think, we eat, we do IS the way to be. Being a student of life, I truly understand more of how all this is just insignificant in the long run. A bit depressing, but in my opinion the world already has a trajectory and I will be leveraging that.
Watch the show and see if you think it has any value. I didn't mean to say you are only this or that, but just curious.
I am working on a development project right now in Hawaii.
Some of our buyers have 3 jobs (both parents) and make a whopping 40K a year in one of the most expensive places on the planet. They also have 3+ kids and struggle just to have the dream to own a house etc...
The ONLY thing that is working for them is the opportunity for UNION wages. Now, I am anti-Union to the core, or at least I used to be. On this latest project (of which I have done quite a few), I am truly seeing how this economy is impacting the poorest of the poor and our buyers @ 40K per year are considered rich(er) compared to some.
Now, seeing all this and my good fortune of being born in a good country 'usa', 'white', growing up 'healthy', being 'educated' makes me want to sing out to the heavens and thank someone.
These people never really have a chance. AND they are born in the USA! They are not 'lazy', but they do not have the mental capacity to do much more that what they are doing.
So, there comes the argument, is a good life only for those with a high mental capacity IF born into a disadvantaged family/situation?
Most people whom I see complain the most is middle class, white and white color. Makes you think hmmmmm...
My experiences have shaped me just like anyone. Yes, I'm college educated. I graduated from college and spent 5 years of military service in repayment. I had academic and athletic scholarships, but I chose to take a "safer" route and I had a propensity toward military service anyway (I'd decided that option before the other options were made available to me).
I come from a family that's pretty diverse. My mother is a yankee (according to my father) and my father's side is pretty typical Southern redneck. My father is not what anyone would consider to be an "educated" man in the traditional sense, but what he lacks in instutional learning, he makes up for in hard work and wordly knowledge. He makes more money than I ever did working for someone else (although he obviously has decades of experience as an edge). I graduated from college before my mother. I watched her receive her diploma several years after I did.
I went through tough times and good times (economically) as a child. My parents divorced and I wouldn't consider us to be in "poverty" but times were pretty rough. I can remember turning off the heat in the mornings to save money.
The point that turned my life was a job as a dishwasher when I was 15. I worked at a large, high end restaurant that had gone through 10 or so dishwashers in 6 months (at the time, I wasn't wise enough to recognize that meant it was a crap job). I slaved away at minimum wage for 6-8 hours a night, only to end up taking home less money a month than I can easily make in a day now. At that point, I decided "I can't do this forever.....I won't do this."
That's when I decided to go to college. I knew my parents weren't in a position to send me, so I knew it was up to me to make it happen. I made decent grades, was an exceptional athlete, but having seen injuries to teammates and knowing how competitive academic scholarships can be, I decided to take the sure route and go to the school of my choosing and joint the service.
I've traveled enough to have seen parts of the world that make me appreciate being American. I've spent a year in Korea, traveled to Canada and Mexico, Thailand, spent 6 months in Kuwait, some time in Qatar, etc...etc.
I can honestly say that my travels abroad did more to make me capitalist than anything. No one who lives in America has a right to bitch or whine about just about anything. If you can't make it in America, you can't make it ANYWHERE. There are people all over the world who would give ANYTHING to have the opportunities that lazy, incompetent people here squander every day. THAT is why I'm a staunch libertarian and capitalist.
My time in the military taught me that anyone with the right attitude and the willingness to work hard can do just about anything they want. The military is full of the entire spectrum of people, from all walks of life.
I'm as much a fan of humanity as there is. I truly believe that anyone has the ability to be successful, it's largely a matter of will or necessity.
If someone is poor, it's because they CHOOSE to be poor, or have made a series of decisions over time that put them in that situation.
I've rarely seen someone who can't afford healthcare, that doesn't spend money on cigarettes, and rims, stereo equipment, itunes, cell phones, soda from the gas station, etc, etc. etc.
How can anyone claim we have "poverty" here in the US when the very subjects of that term have color television and are overweight? How can you POSSIBLY be impoverished and be overweight. It doesn't make any sense. I'm one of the few people who have TRULY prayed to God and thanked him for the food I was about to eat. Anyone who's ever experienced something like Ranger school can tell you, that after going under-fed for a few days, you truly begin to be thankful for the small things you do receive.
I believe that everyone has the right to choose their own path, which also means they can choose failure.
You cannot have a social safety net and be truly free.....to be truly free (and not infringe on others property) means the risk of failing. We HAVE to let people fail in order to give them the truest sense of necessity and motivation.
MOST of our social systems create a tar pit of dependency rather than a springboard to prosperity.
Unlike socialists, who believe that your station in life is largely due to circumstance or luck or fortune, I believe that our station in life is what we make of it.
I've seen way too many people who buck the system and end up fabulously successful to believe that it's a matter of luck. I've also seen WAY too many lazy people who are content to simply mooch off others as long as they possibly can (after all, why provide for yourself if someone is going to provide for you.).
This is hardly proof. I am the first one to say, if Obama is a fake and this is a farce, he should be thrown in jail.
However, as someone who works with photoshop, fireworks and other programs, but definitely not "Rob" the expert with a college degree (chuckle chuckle) thats dependent upon how it is recorded (Scanned) will record different layers. So, I can take a paper, write on it, then scan it and put it into fireworks. Then, I will actually be able to remove some of it as it was scanned and it will look just like what they are saying is 'forged' etc...
The other post was interesting about using different numbering and a good point about a long form not being available. It could be fraud by the State of Hawaii as they LOVE Mr. Obama and his Union politics, so.... You never know.
I hope for Obama's sake that the obviously right hand weighted individuals on this video are not correct or he is in deep doodoo.
That is a good post. I had an option to go to Ranger school and to be honest, I didn't feel like starving myself for 20-30 days to get some land navigation and tactics that didn't suit us at the time.
I went to Airborne and US ARMY Freefall school and I have to say, having to buy my own toilet paper was interesting moving from the Navy side to the Army side. Different worlds and a different composition of people as well which I found interesting.
Libertarian is a good approach, but gosh, I don't know how to fit it in without complete chaos.
I agree w/ the hand up, not out philosophy, but riddle me this...
You grow up and you look at the color of your skin and you are 'not white' and everyone around you looks at you funny or talks down to you because you talk funny or lack the same form of education.
You sound to me a middle class (not wealthy) individual if I am not mistaken and have found a comfortable level of success. The thing I want to impress upon you is how much harder that could be if your skin color, education level and other things were not supporting you.
Have you ever been to a place on your own where they truly hated you just because the color of your skin or the way you talked? Solo, nobody else, and criticizing you or keeping you out of opportunities because of nepotism or racial bias etc..?
Most people haven't. Most people have NO IDEA what racism really is (well, most white people that is...) and they truly don't understand the obstacles that one just must overcome to become 'middle class'. The only thing we have to do is be born into it and voila the USA portion takes care of the rest.
However, for a great many, they have to learn the language (our way), the culture (hard sometimes), change their appearance, play the part etc...
We don't have any of those obstacles... Poor is not a 'race' or a 'species' and I to believe it is a mindset for a great many.
But, to do a little bit of calibration in my opinion that unless you have $5M cash in the bank, then you haven't made it the same as an immigrant with a net worth of $250K.
My goal would be to equalize and level the playing field and Government unions are terrible, but honestly I never thought I would be saying this, but PRIVATE UNIONS (socialism) are just about the only way for some to get a 'fair' wage. As far as handout programs... Yes, those suck and are abused... But so are tax credits and laws by the ultra-wealthy... I guess it all evens out in the end.....
---One more thought...
All of us are not lucky enough to have parents who show us anything but poor habits and limiting beliefs. I think that is where you stand out from the pack even though you went through tough times like many families did growing up. I would rather lend a hand, then push people back and if it means I have less material means, then so be it. We all die, we all end up in the same place (well depends what you believe) and none of this physical stuff really matters in my opinion, but what you do to help others does.