5 years for $32 worth of salvia?!

[Nickatina]

If the military was turned upon the citizens of this country - with the current state of distrust and dissatisfaction with the government, yes... more people would rise and fight.
And I'm guessing many military members would desert or turn on their superiors

You know, from some of the people that I have talked to that have been in the military, a lot of them become disillusioned with the position after serving time. One I talked to recently shared almost all of my sometimes extreme libertarian positions. However, and I know I might be a pessimist, but the military operates on the weak-minded and brainwashes them to their advantage. For as many former soldiers I have talked to that change their views, there are just as many that are extremely loyal to their leaders and their blind orders. Not only that, but money talks, and if it's not the active military it's Blackwater and Halliburton's mercenaries-for-hire that would be happy to do the job for the right price.

But I think that is the only thing I have hoped in case things get out of hand, that the tools of the oppressors would come to their senses and turn against them. It's about the only thing we could hope for. But if this were the case, then our countries defense would be weakened and we would be ripe for the picking for Russia or China to come and scoop us up ... I really don't like to consider myself a pessimist, just a realist, and this is the way I see it.

 

[Kalash]

Maybe I'm delusional but I don't see Russia or China as a threat.
No one (in their right mind) wants WWIII.

China owns us already - there's no reason for them to spend money coming and attacking us - and they wouldn't want that image to spoil the "new" image they're working so hard at achieving. This would be counter productive to their current goals.

Russia... Why? What would be the point? If we're revolting, the LAST thing we're going to accept is some sort of socio-communistic rule.
They could come, and try to take the country, but they couldn't hold it. There would be too much resistance.

Honestly, I don't see the point in any of it. Why support some non-contributing entity that lays claim to an area based on imaginary lines drawn on a map?
Nationalism is a type of brainwashing as well...
"My nation's better than yours! You should come here!"
Or...
"My nation's better than yours! Come here and we'll kill you!"
Or...
"My nation's better than yours! And We're not gonna stop till all of you are dead!"

How can the place one happens to be born be superior to another place in every possible way? The world operates because resources are shared between places they are abundant and places they are lacking. Shut down the trade, and the place stopping that trade suffers greatly.

Sure - you can "fight" for resources, but you ALWAYS lose in the end. Wars ALWAYS cost more in resources than you recover.
And the world is slowly waking up to this...
I don't know that insurrection in America would lead to external forces coming in. They know we're all self righteous pricks that don't think any other country is worth @#^%.

It might look like an easy war to win with our weakened defenses (though, with 1/2 our military spending, we'd still have the largest military in the world - so we can lose a good bit before anyone'd have a chance...) but it would take generations to win the war for our minds.
Look at Iraq. How long are we willing to occupy their country in an effort to break their minds and spirit?

America would be MUCH harder to convert to the new ideals of the conquering nation. We're hard to convert to new ideas suggested by our own government. Foreign invaders? They wouldn't have a chance of winning us over.