Reply #60: think you missed my point about the Chinese [View All]

we have 500,000 in our Armed Forces (this is a WAG). We pay them an average of $30,000 a year (another WAG). Cost $15 billion (or thousand million in English). China has 2 million in their armed forces. They pay them an average of $2,000 a year. Cost $4 billion. China buys tanks, guns, bullets, jeeps, helicopters, boats, missles, etc., etc. with Chinese labour (although they may also use one of the world's leading arms suppliers) costing $1 an hour.

Anyway, I wanna know if people are comparing military expenditures based on Purchasing Power Parity.

Also, about Bill Clinton, just shows that maybe, possibly the influence of America on the world has not been all bad in the last 30 years, and about Blair that it might not have been so bad without the assistance of Britain (and Australia). Not to mention the frigging rubber stamping security council that some were hoping would prevent an invasion of Iraq.

It has been a long, long, long time since grade school for me, even if my reasoning/understanding does not show it, but back then in history classes we were lauding the French for their invaluable assistance even if they helped us not for our sake, but to weaken their English rivals.

If you want most people to stop deflecting the issues, you've gotta give them a better message than basically "you suck, your family sucks, your friends suck, and your neighbors suck too". Maybe try being like Nathan when he described a certain person to King David and David exclaimed "the man who has done this shall surely die!" and only then was told "you are that man".