Gorbachev: 'Americans Have a Severe Disease'

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The former general secretary of the Soviet Union Communist Party accused Americans of arrogance and trying to impose their way of life on other nations.

"Americans have a severe disease — worse than AIDS. It's called the winner's complex," he said. "You want an American style-democracy here. That will not work."

-snip-

The former Soviet leader had severe criticism for two of the most important people in the Bush administration: Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

"They are just hawks protecting the interests of the military — shallow people," he said.


http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2182020&page=1


So far as I'm concerned, the GOP is the disease and taking back the House and Senate is the cure!


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Yes GorB is correct. America has an illness. A mental illness that somehow has allowed American values to have been degenerated into a perverse creature. No longer is America a sign of hope, but instead a signal for unrest. If you see America coming at your shores, it is a good guess that they aren't arriving with hope but instead bring despair.

America's disease has another name. A single word.
It's called Arrogance!

In the early 70's we were shocked that we could actually lose a war!
Bush the Old went to war and killed that self pity for good.
Now, America is about to once again learn just how much they can lose by being arrogant!

Fucking self important, ignorant, right wing bastards!

I dunno. I don't think America has ever been a sign of hope. We like to believe that it once was a guiding light unto the world, but I think most of our American ideals and values have been phoney garbage from the get-go. The Land of the Free, with slave labor. Anti-imperialists fighting wars to take Indigenous Persons and Mexican land and spread our empire from sea to shining sea. A society that celebrates as role models "war heroes", whoever makes the most money, celebrities, and Jesus Christ, oh, I don't want to forget to give props to J.C.

The US wasn't as bad under the Democrats as it is under the Bush administration, but it was still bad. Clinton, Carter, and LBJ were no saints. Honestly, I can't think of a time in our entire history when the US has behaved less than arrogantly, believing that this was the mostest special nation in the world.

Of course, I'm not saying a Democratic government isn't preferable, but they won't cure us of our arrogance.

I think the arrogance lies in the fact that America would even start a war.
Right wing bastards are not the only ones who start wars, sky.
Remember Vietnam.

Americans also suffer from another disease , more real , and worse than arrogance.
Arrogance is the disease of our leaders.
But DENIAL is the disease of we the people, the average American.

Our school history books teach about what our leaders have done, without a real judgement call if it is good, bad or indifferent. In public school religion cannot be taught , but I do not know if at least an ethics class would be allowed, without a grading system , just a discussion class that is appropriate for each grade level, and on a voluntary basis by parental consent. While the kids who are in ethics class go , the kids whose parents don't want them there could go to the library or study hall.

If kids go through an entire school life without learning to question their leaders ethics, this is the end result.


Also, our press has to be held accountable... this Yellow Journalism has been the disease of the American press. They have had this Yellow Journalism disease for the past 5 1/2 years & it has been appalling and has cost lives and treasure . We have been doing their job for free when they are paid to supposedly keep us informed in order to keep us a free democracy.

Mr. Gorbachev is a great man, and he hit the nail right on the head.

However, due to the fact that I don't hold a US passport and have been accused of being a rabid anti-American here, I'm not going to offer my opinions on this topic.

Given both your perspective, and your ability to exagerate as well as our sensativity to this issue,
that's probly quite wise.

Thank you.

America's disease is called exceptionalism. American Theocracy charts the fall of the last few superpowers - Spain, then Holland, then Britain, then us. Each one thought God was on their side. Each one saw themselves as doing God's work. Each one got arrogant, overspent their means, and eventually had to admit that God was not particularly on their side and they could not run the world.

Sometimes, people have this irritating habit of forming thier opinion of a people from observing thier government officials, this can be misleading. It IS misleading.

It is no more accurate to judge the American people of being arrogant due to observing our government officials than it is for us to judge muslims as violent based on our observations of Al Queda, Hamas or Hezbollah.

No more accurate than judging Russians as being drunks in pursuit of creature comforts through bribing government officials, or from observing Bresznev etc....

When I was in southwest asia, of the muslims I met, and I met plenty of them, from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Iraq; none of them turned out to be the christian hating monsters that they have a reputation for being.

Strange, actually, how different a people can turn out to be from your perception, from your observations as to how your media portrays thier leaders.

I think we can all agreee that your observations are very correct, Captain. I also think, that in general, a very large majority of the American people do, in fact, have the disease that has been described above.

True, but in a democratic society, the electorate must shoulder some responsibility for their choice of leaders... even when they manipulate and steal votes. Besides, Democrat or Republican, the Washington Consensus is supreme when it comes to foreign policy. And that foreign policy, which was viewed as a success for its first 10 years, has been abyssmal failure for the last 35.

Really? You think that? I'd put it at about 50% I think.