loghead11

That's a very interesting answer.

How much of a d-bag was this guy ?

What do you know about him ?

A Canadian reporter did a back of the envelop study on this. The results were interesting. Have a read.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/08/28/how_panhandlers_use_free_credit_cards.html

Some of the helicopter guys do make a living off it, but it is very rare. The money certainly isn't in the piloting.

Given two options.

An America that is diminished in the world, but where people have freedom and privacy.

An America that is powerful over other nations of the world, but entertains a certain level of fascism and privacy isn't certain.

Do you think this a choice we are currently making, or am I being too simplistic ?

My logic is that a lot of the things we do that are unethical make us as a nation powerful. Given a truly ethical society the US would be hamstrung in relation to other more unethical nations.