How we gonna overthrow America?

Great Debates
1

Not that I want to, please understand.

But what if it became necessary at some indeterminate time in the future for some indeterminate reason to overthrow the Government of America.

Bin Laden’s attack has only served to make Americans pull together but BL is a nutjob.

What if it wasn’t just one nutjob who had a problem with America? What if it was the whole rest of the world?

For example (this is just a hypothetical you understand):

At the moment times are pretty good economically in America and in the west generally. But what if times get bad (real bad) and there is widespread poverty and starvation all over the world, even in Europe.

Wealth would start to concentrate into certain places, mainly the US.

Therefore the world would see the US as the enemy whereas US people would consider that they were just defending themselves. So this is a potential situation where we could see American people believing one thing and the rest of the world believing another.

Lets say (just for the sake of argument) that the rest of the world are actually right but that most Americans believe they are wrong.

The rest of the world decides that it is overly ruthless capitalism that is to blame and therefore the American system must be changed, forcibly if necessary. It’s in America’s best interest because the poverty that has spread all over the world will eventually and inevitably hit America as well.

The US would presumably use nukes, if all else failed, after which the rest of the world would keep on coming.

Either the US would win the war or the rest of the world would win the war but, either way, it’d be a mess.

So I was wondering what would be the best way to overthrow America, if the rest of the world really had to for some reason?

2

The US could never hold out under complete economic blockade. Wealth in America depends on the openness of foreign markets. Cut these off, and poverty in America, just like the rest of the world. A few years of that and the requisite reforms would take place.

3

Yeah, think you could be right edwino.

So that’s that Great Debate sorted then.

:slight_smile:

4

Like the reforms to address the current poverty in the US? Oh, wait . . .

5

Umm…how about voting? That’s what it’s there for.

Presuming that your scenario assumes an America with the same system of government as it has now.

6

msmith537 is mostly correct. The reason that there are not revolutions in democratic republics is that there should be open voting that will prevent the populus from becomming so dissatisfied with the government that they would risk their lives in a revolution.

I don’t think that it would come to the point you have given us of total starvation vs. the US. We have foreign policies that give at least a little aid to almost everyone in some form or another. Also, what starving hoard of people could stand up to the US Military? They would be like the Russian peasants in WWI…a sad thought really.

–==the sax man==–

7

The OP seems to suggest change needs to come from one of two sources: External or Internal.

As posited in the OP there is no internal pressure for change or at least not enough to satisfy the rest of the world. As SMUsax and msmith537 pointed out democracies are built to allow change without a revolution occurring. If enough people internally want to see something done then even our beaureaucrats would get off their ass and make the necessary reforms (this assumes the democracy hasn’t been entirely co-opted by something like big business such that the voters are squeezed out).

If change is to come from the outside then there are a variety of things they can do but none of them can force a change without military intervention. Just as friends, family and co-workers can influence you so to can other governments influence the US through discussion, cajoling or even various sanctions. The US may or may not pay heed to the outside requests for change although realize the pain others can cause through economic sanctions and such may get the populace to force change from within.

In the end if outside countries feel the need to force the change beyond mere sanctions then they have to invade and defeat the US to setup a government more suited to them. As it stands right now the US has 10x the military budget of the next closest (Great Britain). The military budget is bigger than the next five spenders combined. Europe and Russia are nearly an entire generation behind in weapons technology now. Everyone else is still playing catch-up to even European levels. In short, no country stands a chance against the US militarily. It is hard to even conceive of a coalition of governments managing to stand up to the US (say all of Europe). While at some point a coalition could be formed that could overwhelm the US military actually taking us on our own ground would be insanely difficult. A great many Americans are well armed in their own right so an invader would have to deal with an armed populace as well as the US military.

Of course, none of that takes into account nukes which is the ultimate trump card dissuading others from invading and the US still has plenty of those as well.

8

Depends on whether or not Kathleen Harris is in the area. :wink:

9

i recommend television

10

Overthrowing America would be a cinch. Many years ago (back in the late 60’s I think) there was a movie starring Peter Sellers called “The Mouse that Roared” about an unknown little country invading the mighty U S of A, so they could lose, claim war reparations and become a viable nation. Unfortunately, they won and America lost.

See? Easy as pie.