At 00:30 2-6-01 -0400, John Giorgis wrote:
>But what I can't get over is why you and so many others insist on weighting
>all of the bad things that the US has done *equally* with all of the good
>things that the US has done? Why can't you admit that the US has been a
>net force of good in the world? Indeed, why can't you pay attention long
>enough to actually notice when I acknowledge all of our bad things, and
>moreover, why do you insist upon caricaturizing my position as declaring
>the US to be all good and wonderful, instead of simply a net force for the
>good and wonderful?
>
>So again, I ask - because the question is very important - Do you consider
>the US to be a net force of good in the world?
How do you calculate a net good or net evil?
To do so, you would need to give points for every good deed, and subtract
points for every bad deed. How will you do that? How many points would the
US score for helping Europe in getting rid of the Nazi's? How many points
would a country score for toppling an other country's government? Who is to
decide how many points (either positive or negative) a certain deed is
worth? Come to think of that, who is to decide whether a deed is "good" or
"bad"?
As an random example, the US would claim positive points for defending
Israel, while much of the Arab world would give the US negative points. If
the Soviet Union would have invaded country X, the US would say it was a
"bad deed", but if the US had invaded country X, the US would consider it a
"good deed".
So, who is to decide?
Jeroen
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