What do you hate about America?

No, you are not on the 24th place, you are on the 6th place. Proof:
www.nationmaster.com...
But let's say that that isn't bad about you.

Atheix - the key figure would be per capita. Not total.

Total reflects the population count - it goes without saying that a population of 255 million will have more murders per year than a country of 25 million people.

The per capita rate would be a better reflection of the society.

It's not truth that you have contributed more in your 200 years than almost any other country has in all of history. Do you want me to compare your country with other countries?

I'm not an American, but I'd be very interested to see what countries you think have contributed more to the world than the US in the last 200 years.

China
Rome
Greece
Egypt
Are just a few countries that have provided more to the world as a whole (throught history that is) than the US.

They have influenced our languages, technologies, sceinces, and yes even in our belief systems

Not true.

Apart from Rome - no, they haven't.

AtheiX,
How can you actually say that?
The language that we are using is based a great deal off of Latin which was used by the Romans. Many elements of our language is also based off of Greek words. Language as well as numbering system are just a couple of major contributions that Italy and Greece have given the world.

China contributions include..... Gunpowder as well as many medicinal remedies.

Scientific / mathematical contribution include Geometry as well as Algebra. The Hypocratic Oath which medical practitioners take is from Greece.
Basis of many of the sceintific terms come from Latin an Greece. As well as the basis from scientific methodology.
As to religion... you may want to check out the libraries to see just how much religion has been influenced by Rome and Greece. Remember the Bible? Guess what, they were origionaly treanslated into those languages! A number of RCC holidays are based off of Roman and Greek holidays.

The contributions of these countries are so ingrained into our society today that it is very easy to miss just how much of an influence that they have had on the world in which we live in (and take for granted) today.

Edited to correct the source of Algebra. It looks like I attributed it to Greeks but in reality, Algebra has Arabic origions. The word Algebra is from Latin for an Arabic word al-jabr sorry

[edit on 8-8-2005 by kenshiro2012]

The true impact of America on the world will not be seen in our lifetimes, nor those of our grandchildren. All those countries mentioned as having given more to the world than the US are long since dead, and their existance was far longer than a paltry 230 years.

Currently what America is giving is but a flash in the darkness. The true test will be in 1,000 years, seeing if anything still glows from America. I hope it will not have fallen by then, but history has shown that other nations don't like a superpower.

Already, America is driving technological development to levels and at speeds unheard of in the history of the Earth. America developed a revolutionary form of government, as well. True, the concept existed before, but to go from a land where monarchy was the rule to create a representative democracy was a radical idea indeed. The influence of such a government has been felt around the world. Human Rights, as well, were repioneered by America at its foundation and to this day. Many of those decisions have had rippling effects through the world as well.

However, what will last? Did the Romans or the Greeks think, back in their hayday, that their biggest influence in the world so many years down the line would be in archetecture? I doubt it, yet the arch revolutionized the world, and many buildings are made in the Greek style. Did the Chinese expect that the thing they would best be remembered by was their fireworks? So the biggest influence America might have in the distant future could be something we don't think anything of. Who knows, maybe George Washington Carver will be the best known name from the US in 2,000 years for some discovery he made in agriculture which is taken to a completely unheard of level by new technology. More than likely, we will never know the impact America had/has/will have on this world.

[edit on 8-8-2005 by junglejake]

No.
Greece didn't give the world the language. And they didn't have their own numbering system.

But most of these basis come from English.

IT WASN'T! ROME AND GREECE WERE PAGANIC! AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES, THEIR RELIGION WAS DESTROYED! CHRISTIANITY WAS INFLUENCED BY JEWS!

The countries I meant that they have bigger contributions than the US are Germany, France and GB.

The US has contributed more than Rome, Greece and Egypt combined.

[edit on 8-8-2005 by AtheiX]

So what exactly have Germnay, France and GB done which surpasses the US in the last 200 years ? Apart from of course getting themselves into fights which dad across the Atlantic had to sort out

AtheiX,
I suggest that you review history. Look into the subject by going to any library.
You will quickly discover just how incorrect your statements are.
Take a quick look at the dictionary for starters.

As for the religious basis, please research the origiona of most RCC hoildays. you will discover that they are not from Jewish holidays but from Roman, Greek, as well as many other sources.
Examples, All Saint's day, Easter, Christmas etc. The dates on which these holidays are based came from other sources.

As to your english reference, I again refer you to the dictionary as it will inform you of the roots of many of our words came from. As for the Greek numbering system, need to check your facts

Well.. I'll tell you all what I hate about America...

McDonald's doesn't deliver.

Kenshiro says:



Rubbish.

China invented fireworks, silk, block printing and paper which meant absolutely nothing to the rest of the world until a Westerner (Marco Polo) was instrumental in introducing them to the rest of the world, and until other Westerners (e.g., Roger Bacon, Johann Gutenberg) made them useful.

Rome invented concrete and the arch. They did not give language to the rest of us; their empire spread their own Latin which evolved into other languages, just like any other language evolves. The most important language of today -- the world language -- is a Germanic language, English, which is the world language beause it is spoken and promulgated by the United States.

Greece gave us democracy, if you consider "democracy" meaning that each adult male who wasn't a helot or a slave could vote. Greece, although it could be said to have saved Western Civilization, also gave us fratricidal miniwars among the city-states. (And by the way, the "Saving the Western Civilization" brag would have to be shared with, at a minimum, Charles Martel at Tours in 732, and John of Austria at Lepanto in 1571.)

Egypt gave us large ruins, a fascinating but irrelevant written language in hieroglyphics, and the concept of pet cats.

If you want a culture which has influenced our belief systems, then it's hands down the Jews, whose religion is the foundation for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

For mass industrialization, it was England, which preceded the rest of the world by a half century.

For the concept of equality, it'd be a pick between the French philosophes and the English again, which gave us Runnymede in 1215, and the Mayflower Compact in 1620, both direct and obvious precursors to that world chef d'ouvre, the Constitution of the United States.

And finally, for the basis of a government of laws not men, the United States of America for its development and implementation of its Constitution, far and away the greatest document of the past 2000 years, which has spawned every single other constitution developed since then, and thus has expanded the rule of law (theoretically) the the entire world.

To anyone interested, there's a nice little page right here, documenting the timelines and originators of various inventions.

All of the information can be verified elsewhere too; it just makes it nice and easy to have everything in one place.

It does seem just a little outlandish to claim the US has contributed more in the last 200 years than the rest of the world combined contributed throughout history.

See for yourselves

Off_The_Street
Thank you for so eloquently proving my point!
The question that was put forth was what countries have contributed more to the world than the US, your attempt to negate my posting goes well with my examples instead of making them "rubbish Thank you!



Where is the US of A's part in this?





I did not say that the Romans gave us their language. Please re-read the postings, I said that many of our words used today have thier origions in Latin which is the language of the Romans


Are you actually trying to put forth an argument that the contributions of these countries in all of the centuries that they covered exceed what the US has been able to put forth in it's mere 230 years? Come on now



[edit on 8-8-2005 by kenshiro2012]

KenShiro, in the immediate sense, yeah, the US has more influence. It is, after all, the world's only superpower, and when America speaks, everyone at least listens, if they don't jump. The true test of the influence America has on the world will be after America is gone. Right now, it is a cultural and military juggernaught with its fingers in every pie across the world.

Right now, America is the most influential nation on the planet, past and present because of the lines of communication and the points I mentioned before. For good or for bad, America essensially guides the world.

The same could be said of Japan during their reign in the orient.
The Romans, the Greeks, The Egyptians etc. back in their day.
But to say that the US has made more contributions to the world than any other country in history is stretching it a bit.
I do agree with the earlier posting that in centuries to come our ancestors will have to decide who influenced the world the most. For all we know at the moment, the US could be just another flash in the frying pan, hot, bright, something to be noticed immediately but in the long run disappear quickly.

I myself an american but I will acknowledge the contributions that other countries / nationalities have made for us

That's my point. In their days of power, Rome was far more influencial than Egypt or Greece. Back in the day, the Mongol empire was a lot more influencial on the world than any of those other countries, though we discovered hundreds of years later that Rome's footprint remained after the Mongol footprint had faded away.

It is not true that China invented the printing, and Johann Gutenberg made it useful. Johann Gutenberg invented the printing.

That is because of Great Britain, not the United States.

No. They lost against the Persians in the end.

[edit on 8-8-2005 by AtheiX]

You're wrong, Atheix.

Please read this

"The Chinese invention of moveable type, credited to Bi Sheng in the year 1045 AD, did not significantly impact Chinese society. Three hundred years later in Europe, Gutenberg's development of moveable type revolutionized the Western world."

(Sorry, I might have missed your answer - did you ever comment on the "murder rate" information? IE, using per capita versus total number?)

[edit on 8-8-2005 by Tinkleflower]