Actually, Harlem has been revitalized, but your point is well taken.sogood said:Poor and quite poor. So what's the reason why the US was so eager to elevate China out of its 3rd world country status for FTA negotiations? In any case, the poors in the slums of Harlem and New Orleans aren't much better.
I guess the thing that urks me is when people bash other countries without even really seeing them or experiencing the people and resort to formulating an opinion based on the media propaganda, and for the record, the US media is just as bad as any other.
Rhetoric aside, here in the US we also hear that our freedoms are disolving, we hear that Bush wanted to take Iraq's oil, we hear that we are getting fat, we hear that there is no democracy because of the government. This is all propaganda and over reaction to elicit a reaction by the media.
I am in my 50's, I travel extensively both in the US and abroad and have grown to be quite aware of the world situation. I find that probably 75% of what I read in the media (all media worldwide) is not factual and slanted to make a point one way or the other.
I will say one thing, there are criminals, psychopaths and sociopaths in all countries and all walks of life, each country has varying laws on how they deal with prisioner. Sometimes here in the uS people are unjustly accused or arrested, but the process of law requires that they be treated innocent until proven guilty by a jury of their peers. Eventually people like our friend the sheriff will be prosecuted, they will be held accountable.
I will also say that I have not lost one single freedom that I have had due to the resulting 911 changes. The Patriot Act which has received such widespread publicity is not well understood. It has had some tenuous and perhaps illegal clauses, but there is a congressional oversight committee that reviews all Patriot Act cases monthly. The Supreme Court has ruled soem provisions unconstitutional and changes have been made.
My point is, the US system of government is not perfect. It is a federal republic the believes in democratic prncipals and not a democracy as such. A federal republic that has checks and balances designed to correct abuses if not prevent them. The US as also airs it's laundry publily in front of the world, and opens itself up to criticism. Let's not misunderstand or confuse the actions of a few criminals or renegade law enforcement officials for human rights abuses.