America IS the greatest country in the world

Okay okay okay slow down.

I'm not going off on a flag-waving, rainbow-vomiting, God-Bless-The-USA-ing tirade.

America has problems. BIG problems. Leadership problems, money problems, integrity problems, trust problems, crime problems, discrimination problems, ALL SORTS of problems.

Go to Italy. I lived there for 5 years BTW. There are help wanted signs there that say that they are only going to hire young beautiful girls to work there. You would get your head cut off over here for advertising in such a way.

Saudi Arabia still cuts off peoples' hands for stealing.

Iran kills gay people. That's why they claim they don't have any gays in Iran.

Russia still has organized crime that pretty much has free reign over the rural areas and certain select inner-city sectors.



Anyway, I'm not trying to go on an Everybody-Sucks-But-Us Rant either.



What I want to say is, even though we have sooooooooo many problems, even if our President - The Leader of the Free World - has been voted the Worst President Ever... the country is still running.

I work at a federal facility. Government employees are lazy and stupid (I am not employed by the government). Government jobs are just welfare programs in disguise. I work withi a guy who was in the military and has served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. I asked him if the government runs things the same everywhere. He said it does indeed.

The American government is 99% employed by incompetent lazy sacks of sith, and for some miraculous, inexplicable, fleeting reason... we are still at the top of the food chain.

The European Union will never deteriorate, but its ties will not always remain as strong - Europeans are too racist. They are THOUSANDS OF TIMES MORE RACIST THAN ANY CROSS-BURNING-GOOSE-STEPPING-BANJO-PLUCKING-KLANSMAN here in the US. They won't let Turkey join the EU because they're too dark-skinned and they don't pray to Jesus. Of course, the cover story is different, but if you've ever met a western European, just take off his shirt and you'll see the SS lightning bolts emblazoned on his chest.

By the way, read the book "The Willing Executioners." Germans (and the rest of Europe) already wanted to commit mass genocide of Jews. Hitler just came up with a system. All Germans are Nazis. All Germans before the Third Reich were Nazis. All Germans after the fall of the Third Reich are Nazis. They still hate Jews, they still hate black people, they still hate gypsies. We just have too many military bases over there for them to act on their hatred.

What? You think all that hatred goes away after two generations? Look at Georgia (the State, not the Republic) or Alabama, or Mississippi. On your way into town, count how many cars you see with a Confererate Flag in the window with the depiction "The South Will Rise Again." Then grab ***ANY*** white guy and point at a black guy and ask him what he is. He will 100% ***ALL*** of the time answer with the N-Word.

So, even though slavery ended over four generations ago, people still are embittered about it, even though public education exposes slavery as an evil thing. Nazism fell two generations ago. NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU TRY TO EDUCATE IT AWAY, NAZISM IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL IN EUROPE, EVEN IF THEY DON'T CALL IT NAZISM.



Anyway, that was a tangent. The point I'm trying to make is despite its follies, America manages to keep itself way ahead of the game. It is the greatest country in the world because it manages to keep on top of things regardless of what logic would predict.

America is far from the worst country in the world, but no country is the "best" country in the world.

It all depends, really. If you go by military and economic power then we are the best in that but thats not all that counts.

If you go by quality of life, Norway is the best country.

Now if you go by culture? Well, thats all a matter of opinion.

But really one of the reasons foreigners hate us is because of arrogant Americans like you. Just keep quiet; be patriotic to a sane extent but don't go all "AMERICA IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!!111"; thats just nationalistic and simply obnoxious.

He's not an arrogant American and he's perfectly sane. There's nothing in his post that would indicate that he's not. He's a realistic American and he can view things from both sides of the spectrum.

I agree with the OP. Sometimes, people tend to focus too much on that bad aspects of things instead of the good. Mainly because it's more sensational to blame other people and criticize them for their mistakes than to praise them for the good they've done. The media feeds off of our downfalls and we feed off the media.

I don't agree that America is the greatest country in the world. In fact, no country is the greatest country in the world. But that's just me.

Originally posted by AChE_Inhibitor

I work at a federal facility. Government employees are lazy and stupid (I am not employed by the government). Government jobs are just welfare programs in disguise. I work withi a guy who was in the military and has served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. I asked him if the government runs things the same everywhere. He said it does indeed.

I can confirm that with you. Every single government in the world is probably that way. Public sector is always not as competitive as the private sector, simply because there isn't any competition to begin with.

Originally posted by Paresthesia
Sometimes, people tend to focus too much on that bad aspects of things instead of the good.

I'm going to paraphrase something a member here, LoganCale, once posted because it is so true.

The reason the bad things are highlighted is because it needs to change, attention's got to be brought to it. When things are good, then there's no problem, so no complains.

^ That's true, but how often do people actually strive to change? I've read articles that are anything but constructive criticism. When you hear people writing negative articles from bashing Britney Spears to how Bush has slipped up, do people really strive to change these things? Or do they just want to continue to put blame and criticism on the perpetrators?

What Logan said may be one way to look at it and it may be true, but the way I look at it is that people always want something or someone to blame their problems on because no one likes to take responsibility. Gas prices are up. It's Bush's fault! People aren't getting treated fairly after Hurricane Katrina. It's Bush's fault!

Also, people always want something or someone to compare themselves to and say "Wow, I'm glad I'm not that person" because we have low self-esteem and enjoy seeing the downfall in others.

But then again that just may be my pessimism speaking.

reply to post by Paresthesia


In that sense you are right. Journalism today is crap. But it's also because people aren't thinking enough. An article that is objective and rational rarely gets any attention because people just don't respond enough to that sort of writing. As a result, the writers themselves eventually resort to sensationalism to get ratings.

I am no fan of sensationalism, so my threads tend to be as balanced as possible in its writing. You can just look at the threads I've opened. The only ones that get any decent response are those that are borderline controversial.

It's just human behaviour I guess. Even at the most basic level, in this case gossip, only the most scandalous stories get perpetuated and pushed further down the grapevine. In news reporting, this same concept translates to better ratings. Better ratings mean better profits and that's where journalism breaks down.

There needs to be a change in journalism. It has to return to the objectivity it once held dear. But such a change would be hard if the people themselves don't change. And speaking of change, most people find change difficult to deal with. We are comfortable with the familiar.

You can't win. Damn.. your pessimism has infected me

reply to post by AChE_Inhibitor



Depends on your perspective i guess, but you couldnt pay me enough to live in the US.

We have everything you guy's have got plus better beer.

Oi OI OI.

America the greatest country in the world.......well it does depend upon what your looking at and at which angle. I have lived in several different countries and I am currently doing so.

I have found that every single one of them is the greatest country in the world for one thing or another and the worst due to other things, America is no exception.

If you want to go by what America stood for in the beginning, then you have hit the nail on the head. Though now it has fallen from grace and come woefully short of those ideals.

Could America be great again, well yes it could but that requires a complete 180 in direction.

We once stood for freedom but now if someone want to come to America and be free the answer is no. Please remember America was built with immigrants.

Glossing over some history here, aren't we?

First off, while Europe was indeed built on slavery, imperialism and expasionist ideology, so was America. So is any 'great nation' in the world. As I recall, your government had a policy which could roughly be described as genocide towards the natives of your fine continent, wrapped up in an idea called 'Manifest Destiny'.

Secondly, religion has very little to do with Turkey's EU entry. If it did, Turkey would have entered a while ago, since the Army have repeatedly stepped in to ensure the secular values of Kemal Ataturk are upheld. Its not like any of the European nations are faithful either. Hell, France has a secular culture that would astound Richard Dawkins, one the Turkish military approve of.

No, Turkey has problems precisely because it lets its army have too much of a say in politics. Furthermore, entry into the EU is based on human rights records and treatment of minorities too. You do know what Turkey has been doing to the Kurds, yes? And how its government still denies the Armenian genocide to this day? That has a much larger effect than lingering religious sentiment, especially on the European side.

I also certainly hope you weren't implying every single Western European is a neo-Nazi in your post, either. That sort of blase generalization could easily be answered with a similar one about Americans, but I have principles to uphold. In fact, your entire post seems to be based on claiming America is the best by dragging out the worst in every other country that you can. If we dragged out the worst in America, I can assure you it would look little better than some countries you named. After all, the moral lapses of the American government are quite well documented...

[edit on 15-10-2007 by Kaliayev]

no country is the "best" country in the world.

oh..on the contrary, Norway is easily the best country in the world, well, take away the whole day and night thing is a little weird.. but you can get used to it…so….easily the best….

I'd prefer to live in Europe over the USA anyday.

reply to post by AChE_Inhibitor

All Germans are Nazis. All Germans before the Third Reich were Nazis. All Germans after the fall of the Third Reich are Nazis. They still hate Jews, they still hate black people, they still hate gypsies. We just have too many military bases over there for them to act on their hatred.

WTF!!

Seriously,what the hell are you going on about?!?

Only a small percentage of Germans before and during the war were Facists,even less were Nazi's.
Hitler came to power through violence.He then kept it by giving people what they needed;jobs,homes,money etc.Then the persecutions really began,and by that time it was too late.Fear had spread through the country.

1000's of Germans lost their lives because they opposed Hitler and his regime.
100's of soldiers were killed because they refused to take part in acts of slaughter and genocide.
1000's of Germans helped those on the "hit list" to escape the wrath of Hitler and the SS.
1000's of Germans helped Allied Soldiers escape,as well as housing and helping spies from the Allied Nations.


To make the statement you have is gross ignorance along with an extreme lack of knowledge of the subject!!

All countries have a "dark side"(being British i know all about it)But i'm sure i don't have to point out to you about how your country still treats black people,and how you still treat native americans(funny,how everyone forgets about them)and your attitude to muslims,and how little you know about europe and the middle east,but you want to be part of it and have a say in what goes on...the list is endless!

Don't big up your country by putting down others,you'll lose every time!!

reply to post by AChE_Inhibitor

By the way, read the book "The Willing Executioners." Germans (and the rest of Europe) already wanted to commit mass genocide of Jews.

Oh,and the work/death camps were not set up originally for the Jewish people.They were for the Nazi's enemies;Communists,politicians,free thinkers,gypsies,homosexuals,non-conformists.While these people were being subjected to torture and death,the Jews were being "exiled" from the country.It wasn't until 1942 that the "final solution" came about and the Holocaust truly began!

If the rest of Europe wanted to kill off the Jews WW2 was the perfect time,but it didn't happen.Why? because your statement is false.Italy and Spain had Facist dictators,not Nazi's,they are 2 different things.There were no camps in Spain,Italy,France Britain etc.But there were camps in the Soviet Union,and these camps were opened in the 1920's and closed in the 1970's!!

If you want to learn about the Nazi camps then read the book Auschwitz:The Nazi's & The 'Final Solution.' by Laurence Rees.

Holy crap.

When I first posted, I was merely responding to the title.

Now that I really read the OP post, seriously, is the OP out of his mind and generalizing?

Here are some responses from/to post-ers.


"I also certainly hope you weren't implying every single Western European is a neo-Nazi in your post, either."

No, I was not IMPLYING that. I was STATING it.



"1000's of Germans lost their lives because they opposed Hitler and his regime.
100's of soldiers were killed because they refused to take part in acts of slaughter and genocide.
1000's of Germans helped those on the "hit list" to escape the wrath of Hitler and the SS.
1000's of Germans helped Allied Soldiers escape,as well as housing and helping spies from the Allied Nations."

Yes thousands of Germans died fighting Hitler. There 69 million Nazi-babies in Nazi-Germany at the time (I more accurately refer to Nazi-Germany as just "Germany" because "Nazi-Germany" is redundant.) Even if 500,000 Germans died fighting Hitler, that is still less than 1% of the population.

How many Nazis, I mean Germans, in the 1940's?

Hitler to the Final Solution was like Tyler Durton to Fight Club... it was on the tip of everybody's tongue; he just gave it a name.



"oh..on the contrary, Norway is easily the best country in the world, well, take away the whole day and night thing is a little weird.. but you can get used to it…so….easily the best…."

Touche'



"Depends on your perspective i guess, but you couldnt pay me enough to live in the US.

We have everything you guy's have got plus better beer."

Double touche'

Hmmmmm looks like someones driving at night with the lights turned off.


Your agenda and bias have blinded you and the option of a rational debate with the opportunity to learn a few things. It's not an arguement their is no winners or losers or scoring the most points yet you don't quite grasp that by the looks of your responses.

What matters is not how many Germans died fighting Hitler,but that they did it.Therefore disproving your racist theory that all Germans were/are Nazi's.

If all of Europe was out to get the Jews then they would have welcomed Hitler and his screwed up view of life,this did not happen.The countries that were invaded and conquered by the Nazi's set up rescue programs to evacuate as many Jews from their country as possible to the safety of countries such as Britain & America.

As you seem to think that these things didn't happen how about giving us some evidence that all of Europe hated/hates Jewish people.


You may find this interesting,but upsetting,as it blows a great big hole in your "all Germans are Nazi's" bulls**t.

Germany’s relationship to its Jewish community is of profound importance to the country’s post-war reconciliation and the continuing process of coming to terms with its Nazi past. While no amount of war reparations will compensate for the more than 6 million Jews who were murdered in the wake of the Nazi Regime’s terror, there are substantial efforts to revitalize the German-Jewish relationship so that renewed Jewish culture may once again become a vibrant part of today’s Germany. These efforts stem from both the tens of thousands of Jewish people living in the country as well as from the German people themselves.

The Jewish population in Germany has tripled in the past decade, but there are still only one fifth as many Jews living in Germany today as there were at the beginning of World War II. Jewish sites – historical and communal – are being rebuilt around the country through the efforts of local communities, even as the Jewish community as a whole continues to face threats from small groups of right-wing extremists. Attempts to stamp out these groups for good are based on the recognition that Anti-Semitism and intolerance are attacks not only on individuals, but on the very fabric of democracy.

Germany is home to the third largest number of Jews and the fastest growing Jewish population in Europe.

Jewish life in Germany experienced a milestone on January 27, 2003, when German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder signed the first-ever agreement with the Central Council of Jews granting Judaism the same legal status in Germany with the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches.

[edit on 20-10-2007 by jakyll]