<p>Reagen…</p>
<p>definetly ronald reagan. the best.</p>
<p>The way to help others is not to give them your own money. Instead, start a business and employee people, produce goods and services that improve the standard of living, etc
Do you know why there is such a big money gap between rich and poor in the U.S.? Ideally I would say it’s because the rich got there from hard work, but really its mostly through exploitation. The government collects taxes (hard earned money from people) and pours it into useless military contracts and useless works just to give money to big business. This is the true problem with America, big business drains the wealth of the people and bribes all the politicians to continue the cycle. Another large problem is the stock market; stocks are sold at the ipo to large financial institutions before the stock goes out on the market. These institutions then wait for the price to jack up and unload all their stock, the average person knows nothing about the stock market and gives up his or her money unwittingly trusting in the system. Just look back to the late 19th century, all the railroads built were made with free government land and subsidies, and all the railroad barons made a huge profit out of it. Where did this government money come from? The people, that’s right. Okay now a more present day example. What is the most valuable substance in the world to American business? What substance did we go to Iraq for? Oil. This oil has been bought at the expense of American lives and the tax money of the American people. The money made off this oil is stained with the hands of our soldiers, this is not an honest buck.
I want a society where any individual is given the right to make honest money. I want money to be a measure of productivity rather then a measure of exploitation. I want to put people such as Bill Gates or Pierre Omidyar or Tesla on a pedestal, because ability is everything…</p>
<p>Ever since I said Reagan was my favorite president, everyone else had to copy me(just kidding) 
I really liked Reagan. I believe one of the main reasons the Soviet Union collapsed was because of Reagan(SDI, bolstering the military, etc)</p>
<p>SDI…the best example to prove longday’s point.</p>
<p>the Soviet Union collapsed due to economic reasons. Reagan increasing the army didnt cause the Soviets to throw up their hands and say "we’re done. those americans have 300,000 more troops!'</p>
<p>SDI was never implemented, so I don’t see why you two are bickering over it. The arms race had something to do with the Soviets collapsing. America could afford to spend more on weapons, etc. The Soviets obviously could not. But it does boil down to economics. Their command economy was destined for failure, as is any command economy. No exceptions.</p>
<p>During the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union both possessed nuclear weapons. When Reagan began an initiative for SDI, the Soviet Union could not threaten us with nuclear capabilities. This brought about a major blow to Gorbachev and the gang.</p>
<pre><code> And yessir, the bolstering of our military greatly brought about the Soviet Unions fall. It has nothing to do with numbers of soldiers(Russia probably had more troops due to its size), but our technology outcompeted theirs, giving us an edge.
</code></pre>
<p>SDI would have never worked, the point is moot. Reagan had no idea what he was talking about during his speech according to his chief scientific advisor.</p>
<p>W1cked, I know that SDI was never completed. But the point of the matter was that thought of SDI scared the Soviets to death. They now were at a disadadavantage. Any ICBM could be blown out of the sky thanks to this initiative. I still believe that the SDI program threatened the Soviet Union, and showed Americas great strength.</p>
<p>longdaysahead, get off your damn soap box and start contributing to this thread.</p>
<p>first bobX3 counters your statement
</p>
<p>then you say
</p>
<p>you are in no position to call anybody a hypocrite.</p>
<p>Ha! Its all good and well with regards to donating money until YOU have to do so. As Trump says,“If you can’t walk the walk, then don’t talk the talk.”</p>
<p>I didn’t say that first thing… and I never called anybody a hypocrite…</p>
<p>Also I don’t see what SDI or Reagen’s military spending had to do with Communism’s failure Communism failed because it’s a bad system in general; everyone is equal in that they have very little. There is no reward for invention, so the economy stays relatively stagnant in comparison with the western capitalist economy. Why work hard if the state reaps all the rewards? The Soviet Union fell not because of military reasons (The US and the USSR never actually fought because of fear of mutually assured destruction) but because their economy couldn’t compete with the United States, and people grew angry that their standard of living was so far behind.
As for SDI, maybe if Reagen had spent that 9 trillion dollars on scientific research and education then we might have it right now…</p>
<p>Its funny how after I proved him wrong, CC Runner faded into the abyss.</p>
<p>
[quoteThe Soviet Union fell not because of military reasons (The US and the USSR never actually fought because of fear of mutually assured destruction)endquote/]
</p>
<p>You just proved my point. Up til the point of planning SDI, the Soviet Union and America were at a stalemate. Both sides possessed nuclear capabilities; at any rate, if either side decided to drop a bomb on each other, destruction would have ensued. With the near genesis of SDI, ICBMs of the Soviet Union could have easily been blown out of the air. At that point, the US had reckoning power, because they could use nuclear force on the Soviet Union without risk of being bombed themselves. It is quite simple, you see.</p>
<p>SDI is scientifically unfeasible (at least at this point)…you’re acting like they had it or were on the verge of inventing it. I mean, the United States supposedly dropped the bomb on Japan to prove to the Soviets that they had it. Do you really think a single speech by Reagen without proof would have done anything?</p>
<p>FDR… he stood up to big business, got us out of the Great Depression, and led us to victory in WWII, eventually causing us to become the World’s superpower.</p>
<p>Longdays: Every negotiation with Gorbachev involved Gorbachev requesting our dismantling of SDI in trade for them disarming somewhat. The ywere scared.</p>
<p>Chobo: /lol.</p>
<p>Thanks Neverborn. As I said, the SDI scared the living day lights out of Gorbachev and the gang.</p>
<pre><code> And SDI was partially completed. I think that this initiative should be continued; it would protect us from Bio terror and nuclear threat. I truly hope that America will continue SDI.
</code></pre>
<p>I stand by my word; Reagan was the best president. Point, blank.</p>
<p>how would shooting missles out of the sky protect us from bio terrorism?</p>
<p>You dont use nuclear ICBMs to deliver anthrax or ricine.</p>