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Guam: The America that Americans forget

nytimes.com

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Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#71

Post by jcranmer »

mc32 wrote: post #16
macintux wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because we benefit disproportionately from world peace, uninterrupted shipping, and the world economy using the U.S. dollar as its reserve currency.

The dollar became the world currency by accident after the OPEC started pricing petroleum in dollars. We're starting to see a slow departure from that. If we did not spend those extra tens of billions per year in projecting power, we could better serve our students, workers, retirees, infrastructure, etc. Instead, they go to ensuring Japan, Korea, Philippines, etc. don't have to spend so much on defense. As China asc…

> The dollar became the world currency by accident after the OPEC started pricing petroleum in dollars.

OPEC was formed on September 14, 1960. The definition of "world currency" is somewhat nebulous, but for the purposes of determining when the "dollar became the world currency", perhaps the best date to use is the Bretton Woods conference, which set up the main international financial system, establishing that everyone would peg their currencies to the US dollar, as well as the existence of the IMF and the World Bank. This was done--on purpose, not "by accident"--in June, 1944, 16 years before OPEC ever existed. The Bretton Woods system itself collapses in the 1970s.

Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#72

Post by TMWNN »

cscurmudgeon wrote: post #67

> As tensions with China mount, the U.S. military continues to build up Guam and other Pacific territories — placing the burdens of imperial power on the nation’s most ignored and underrepresented citizens. Oh NYT never change. If the country never did, you would bet the NYT would have something like below: > As tensions with China mount, the U.S. military continues to ignore Guam and other Pacific territories — enda…

[flagged]

Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#73

Post by TMWNN »

givemeethekeys wrote: post #27

Forgetting what is America is one of the reasons Americans lost the Philippines as a territory.

On the contrary, independence for the Philippines was official US policy as of 1916, less than two decades after winning the islands from Spain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_Law_(Philippines)>

Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#74

Post by TulliusCicero »

anonym29 wrote: post #69

No taxation without representation. Stop charging the inhabitants for any and all U.S. taxes. Hell, decolonize and let them have their freedom and independence.

I doubt a majority of Guam residents want independence at this point. Being part of the US is economically useful, compared to being a small independent island.

But yeah, statehood would solve the representation issue.

Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#75

Post by alistairSH »

throwawaaarrgh wrote: post #35
wayne wrote: post #25

The article touches a little on flight costs, but as someone who'd love to visit sometime and never has, it annoys me how flights to Guam work. Given its location most airlines don't fly direct from the mainland, so many flights to Guam are from Asia. But, you can't buy a ticket from the US with a layover in Japan from JAL or with a layover in Korea from Korean Air because any flight with a US origin to a US destinat…

Dude. Just buy two separate round trip tickets.

And pray neither is delayed, causing you to miss the next leg.

Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#76

Post by yongjik »

triceratops wrote: post #30
wayne wrote: post #25

The article touches a little on flight costs, but as someone who'd love to visit sometime and never has, it annoys me how flights to Guam work. Given its location most airlines don't fly direct from the mainland, so many flights to Guam are from Asia. But, you can't buy a ticket from the US with a layover in Japan from JAL or with a layover in Korea from Korean Air because any flight with a US origin to a US destinat…

Can't you buy 2 separate tickets?

That's going to be at least twice as expensive as one ticket with a layover.

Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#77

Post by interrupt21h »

whalesalad wrote: post #34
wayne wrote: post #25

The article touches a little on flight costs, but as someone who'd love to visit sometime and never has, it annoys me how flights to Guam work. Given its location most airlines don't fly direct from the mainland, so many flights to Guam are from Asia. But, you can't buy a ticket from the US with a layover in Japan from JAL or with a layover in Korea from Korean Air because any flight with a US origin to a US destinat…

United goes direct from Honolulu

This. Used for American Samoa...just make damn sure to make your connection. If it's anything like American Samoa, there are only a few flights a week. The smart move is to arrive a day early in Hawaii and spend the night

Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#78

Post by Rebelgecko »

alistairSH wrote: post #75
throwawaaarrgh wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude. Just buy two separate round trip tickets.

And pray neither is delayed, causing you to miss the next leg.

Just space them out out or even take a couple days to visit Japan. Some airports even have programs where they'll take you on a field trip during your layover

Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#79

Post by jcranmer »

rufus_foreman wrote: post #60
outworlder wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why do we have to be the world police and take all the blowback? Because that's what superpowers do if they want to keep their position as superpowers. You can, for example, stop policing shipping lanes. But then can't complain once shipments start disappearing as other countries don't take the slack. There is less justification to keep warships near 'interesting' countries in that scenario too. You get to keep the…

No. The United States was the world's superpower on December 6, 1941. It did not get to that position by keeping the military machine well oiled. On December 6, 1941, the US vs. rest of world might have been a fair fight. Maybe. That didn't happen by being the world police.

> On December 6, 1941, the US vs. rest of world might have been a fair fight. Maybe.

No, it wouldn't have. The US would likely have lost the fight, especially if you consider that in such a counterfactual world there probably wouldn't have been a WW2 going on for the past few years.

While it is difficult to be more precise about when the US became the top world power than "during WW2", it is pretty clear to most knowledgeable observers that the answer is definitely not before WW2 breaks out (it is at best at parity with Britain). And honestly, I'd be skeptical of putting it before the Guadalcanal Campaign, where the US throws battleships into a cruiser battle because it has run out of cruisers. The point I'd go for is when the Essex carriers start coming online, which is 1943.

Re: Guam: The America that Americans forget

#80

Post by TulliusCicero »

wayne wrote: post #25

The article touches a little on flight costs, but as someone who'd love to visit sometime and never has, it annoys me how flights to Guam work. Given its location most airlines don't fly direct from the mainland, so many flights to Guam are from Asia. But, you can't buy a ticket from the US with a layover in Japan from JAL or with a layover in Korea from Korean Air because any flight with a US origin to a US destinat…

I wish we'd get rid of this rule entirely. Just seems like naked protectionism, no?

If a non-US carrier abides by local regulations, I don't see an issue with letting them run domestic flights.

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