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I would compare it to a once great company selling out it's name for a little extra profit now.
What is tribal about us separating kids from their families and holding them in overcrowded pens in inhumane conditions? It’s shameful.
I know it's not going to easy for them. But I have more hope that me kids will actually fix things, instead of just talking about it.
Gotta disagree on the food. There isn’t a country in the world that has close to the variety this country offers. Although several countries have great local cuisines, I’m usually ready to get back to the states for Mexican, a steak, sushi, favorite coffee shop, etc. after a week or so of travel.
That is awesome unless you are one of the 40,000,000 or so Americans going hungry on a regular basis.
By all means, let’s make sure to eliminate nuance.
I hope so but I don't have much confidence in the direction this country is going. More and more will rely on government to take care of them.
And aside from maybe the steak, much much better in those other countries.Which is funny cause most of the food is from other countries
Agree with most of this, though income inequality and xenophobia are leading to our decline. Rome was pretty great back in the day, too, but being the best isn’t guaranteed to last forever.jon_mx said:
I'm not ashamed, but it's not a ridiculous stance to suggest we aren't currently the best country for the happiness of the average citizen. Our track record of innovation and promoting peace is unparalleled, to be sure, but that doesn't automatically rank us #1 into perpetuity.
Happiness of the average citizen is only one of thousands of possible measuring sticks.
I'd say it's the most important individual metric. Although subjective, it encompasses a lot of things which contribute to overall quality of life.
But for who? Inject tens of thousands of Latin American immigrants into each of those Northern European countries and see how the overall "hapiness metrics" move. Why aren't Southern European nations on those lists? I can tell you almost assuredly it is due to their cultural history and immigration issues from Africa and the Middle East.
Yes, but you look at the enormous eloborate castles and churches built around the world over the centuries prior to our existence, and understand the conditions the typical peasant lived in vs. royalty, and the US did a heck of a lot in advancing the living standards for the lower classes. Despite still not being ideal and perhaps now going in the wrong direction, we moved the bar to an enormous improvement where the common folk have it pretty darn good. Some countries may be better today, but it is our system of governance which lead the way for more countries to advance.
Nobody said it was a fair comparison. And I'm not a fan of the unsubtle suggestion that unhappiness is a function "immigration issues".
I generally agree with your post, but the bolded is not true, since it ignores how we treated (and still treat) Native Americans.
Japanese internment camps?
Do immigration issues contribute to the true unhappiness of a nation? Probably not and it is definitely not a certainty.
I said "major" flaw and I don't think any of those would qualify.
It wasn't, the question was are you proud of your country. It's a very American thing to go straight to the "we're #1!" stuff. It's what's struck me most reading this thread, there's no middle ground between "best country EVAH!#!#!#"... and "I don't have pride in my country"
I think I very much struck a middle ground and I think other posters did, too.
It is impossible to fairly rank and compare countries. Look at the populations of the countries on that first list that are ranked above the US:
Don't make the mistake of reading the posts and letting that be your understanding of the overall views on the subject. If you look at the poll data, it clearly shows that the majority of people are "mostly proud of America" (which was my vote) and there is a steady decline toward the number of people that are ashamed. The fact that there aren't that many people vocal about the middle ground is endemic of the nature of people in the middle ground: they just aren't as passionate about the subject.
Yeah, I wasn't trying to say that slavery and our treatment of Native Americans were the only negatives, just pointing out a second example to disprove the original premise that slavery was the only blemish.
It's also possible immigration contributes to the happiness of a country, is it not? Not all immigrants are impoverished refugees. Even if some of them are, I disagree with the concept their utilization of resources outweighs tangible benefits they bring to a community - jobs/services they perform, culture/cuisine they introduce, etc.
No, it was the question I was addressing in my post, in response to multiple people saying America is the best . I realize the OP was different, but occasionally threads wander to related topics. It's not like its an unreasonable tangent.
Again, I see no reason why the comparisons must be fair, as each country has a unique set of circumstances. You can still pick the one you like best, by whatever criteria you value most.It is impossible to fairly rank and compare countries. Look at the populations of the countries on that first list that are ranked above the US:
The US population is almost as large as the combined populations of the 7 countries ranked above it on this list. And on top of the sheer size difference in the populations, the population diversity is not remotely comparable. One in 7 US residents is foreign born, which means the US has more foreign born residents than 4 of the countries ranked above it in this list.
- Switzerland - 8.5M
- Japan - 126.8M
- Canada - 36.7M
- Germany - 82.7M
- UK - 66.0M
- Sweden - 10.1M
- Australia - 24.6M
- US - 325.7M
I also looked at the ranking methodology, and it is unclear... it appears that the US should rank above the UK on their list, which would put the US at #7.
Regarding "no middle ground", while many posts in this thread support that, the poll results here do not.
I suspect the typical American may be less aware of how things work outside our own country than are people of other countries. If so, that could affect our judgment regarding whether our country is the "best" or not, and the degree of "pride" we feel about this country as it is currently.
This, so much this. If people were to stop looking at everything, and in particular everything they can find to be offended by (on both sides of the aisle), most of which has NO effect on their lives and they have NO ability to change anyway, and hunker down and worry about themselves and those in their immediate sphere of influence that they can have an impact on, this country would be a much better place.KCitons said:
Nice soundbite to show angst over something that is so insanely complex that you can't possibly fathom all that goes into our actions abroad and the results of those actions. But that sure looks good in a four sentence rant. Do you feel better now? Or do you need to go to your safe place and lament what this nation has done. And if it's such a problem for you, let me help you with your bags.
