John,
Quote:

I re-iterate that the US is becoming a fortress. OK, why?



God, I wish I knew. My biggest answer would be 'FEAR.' But, that is simply an easy answer, and there is no easy answer.

A lot of boils down to common sense, or lack thereof.

/me bows head and whispers 'Rest In Peace, you are missed.'

Funny? Well, it was supposed to be some sort of levity, but the truth is that I do believe that whatever that thing that we used to call 'common sense' or 'horse sense' or whatever has galloped out of the pasture and hiding, grazing, on the other side of the hill, waiting for people here to get their heads out of their arses and back on their shoulders where they belong.

Then, along with the lack of common sense, you have the rebel-rousers, and fear-mongers who will tell you that every terrorist is going to bring a nuke bomb in from Canada, packed in inexpensive drugs and wrapped in maple leaves...or maple sugar. At that same instance, they're also telling you that the terrorists are coming in across the Rio Grande, or under it, or under the border in Arizona, and then have videos to prove it.

Hey, maybe if there wasn't a huge demand from illegal drugs, then we wouldn't have this issue! Let's find a way to stop illegal drug use, and no, I don't mean by legalizing it.

Whatever it is, paranoia, people with IQs that are the inverse of the decibels they can reach with a bull horn, or just plain 'I don't give a damn' attitudes, we are driving ourselves insane...or, are allowing ourselves to be driven that way.

How many years does it take an established society to go from the top of the heap to the bottom of the pile? Two hundred, three hundred, maybe four?

How long was The British Empire (where the sun never set) in place? How long from when Britian was at it's glorious peak to have fallen to where it is today? How long for the U.S.? I would say that our country peaked in the mid 1950's and early 1960's, and from there, we have been going downhill all the way. Who will be the next power to rise up to be the big person on the street? Not China, at least as she is now, not until she has true Democracy, but she will make a run for it. Canada is tied too closely to the U.S., in mores and ethics, no South American country with their petty squabbles. Japan has passed her prime, Russia is in worse condition than China for many reasons, mostly corruption. India? I don't think so. The Middle East? Not likely.

In the next 25 years, probably a lot less, I see our civilization going through a huge change, a new world order, but not the shining star that so many talk about. We will see a ruthless, cruel and powerful dictatorship on a world level, with individual countries falling in line. Freedoms that we've spoke of in this thread, gone for everyone. Oh, it may get better with time, absolute power corrupts absolutely, but it won't be for a while, and out of the smoke and rubble of that disaster, we'll either have a new and better world, or we'll have darkness unimaginable.

I pray that I am not here to see it.

Gary

I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!