Comment by gizmo

10 years ago

Moderate? Hardly.

- The war on drugs is utterly radical, as well ineffective and brutally oppressive.

- Assassinating people (including Americans) by Drone strikes, based on "meta data". No due process or oversight.

- Disregard for the Geneva Conventions (Bombings of hospitals and other civilian targets)

- Torture. Including public defense of torture.

- NSA. Privacy used to be an inalienable right.

- Military bases in 200+ countries.

The list goes on, but I think I've made my point. The US is only "moderate" for the most creative definitions of "moderate".

Yeah, those things you quoted don't seem like counterexamples. Compare to: assassinations as regular political tools, enslavement of minorities, internment camps, genocide, religious warfare, an utter lack of rule of law, hereditary rule, ..

I think we're doing pretty well compared to civilizations of yore.