People that say America is on the path to beling like Russia or China

[violiav]

So I'm fairly certain I'm the only liberal person at my work place, that's fine - can deal with that, but what gets me time and time again is when my co-workers go on about how American is on the path to being just like China and Russia.
What the what??? NO.
Granted, things aren't perfect, like we don't imprison gay people for being gay. Or have black jails - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_jails- to keep political prisoners. Or have a national intranet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_intranet. We don't stone rape victims or marry off children.
We're more likely to put someone in debt to save their lives at a hospital, rather than ask for cash up front (saw that on an episode of one of those Discovery shows about giving birth).
So guess what, it's exactly NOT like Russia or China or Nazi Germany.
I live freely in an unmarried relationship, there's places in the world where that would get me killed.

While no, it's not perfect here, but it's a heck of a lot better than several other places in the world.

To review, letting gay people get married and legalizing pot in a couple states does NOT equal becoming like Russia.

[s_stabeler]

small point- America DOES have black jails- its' what Extraordinary rendition was about. It's just that, like everything else, they have been outsourced to other countries.

[HYHYBT]

Indeed, on some of those, it's people on the conservative side trying to make us more like Russia, etc. than we currently are.

[Rageaholic]

Indeed, on some of those, it's people on the conservative side trying to make us more like Russia, etc. than we currently are.

Beat me to it, particularly on the war on drugs. A lot of these people who go on and on about how great America is want to take away rights of minorities and other people they don't like. (Ironically, when it comes to government programs that help people, they want to take them away).

[Pixilated]

Comments like that are designed to provoke a knee-jerk reaction: "OH NOOO! WE CAN'T DO THAAAAT!!" Never mind that if they actually were in Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany, most of the people making those comments would've already been taken out and shot.

[Dakhur]

Being on the outside looking in at you, I think you are frighteningly on the PATH to being that sort of society. You aren't there yet, but from what I see and read, your nation seems to be accelerating towards it.

That said, history says that this is how nearly all empirical nations go. The USNA is no different to anyone else in that regard. It was founded, rose, stabilised, became an empire, will collapse and fall, and someone else will rise. This is the nature of empires.