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Is the USA the greatest country in the world? (1 Viewer)

Is it?

  • I am a conservative and I say yes.

    Votes: 12 11.8%
  • I am a conservative and I say no.

    Votes: 2 2.0%
  • I am a moderate and I say yes.

    Votes: 28 27.5%
  • I am a moderate and I say no.

    Votes: 22 21.6%
  • I am a liberal and I say yes.

    Votes: 17 16.7%
  • I am a liberal and I say no.

    Votes: 21 20.6%

  • Total voters
    102
  • Poll closed .

Juxtatarot

Footballguy
Rank “greatest” and compare on whatever factors you think are important.  

I’m adding political leanings due to my own curiosity.

 
When you factor in...

  • We pretty much drive the world economy + the power of the US dollar
  • We are still seen as the global police (for good or bad)
  • We have the most powerful military in the world
  • We have some of the greatest universities and colleges
  • MLB, NFL and NBA leagues among other sports and athletes
  • technology and leading industry companies we have
  • the power of our people - we truly are a melting pot
  • We Have some the greatest charitable organizations and people in the world
  • Hollywood, TV, movies, entertainment
  • Farmers and our agricultural capabilities 
  • the diversity of our land - Alaska to Hawaii to Florida to New York
  • Some of the greatest cities in the world
  • Museums, national and state parks and vacation destinations 
I vote yes.

 
In terms of impact to the rest of the world, no country even comes close.  Innovations in science and engineering, medicine, economic impact, spread of democracy and freedom, entertainment.  We may not have the greatest lifestyle (overworked, eat crappy, overly burdened with defending the world).  Still the greatest country in the world in terms of accomplishments despite our imperfections. 

 
When you factor in...

  • We pretty much drive the world economy + the power of the US dollar
  • We are still seen as the global police (for good or bad)
  • We have the most powerful military in the world
  • We have some of the greatest universities and colleges
  • MLB, NFL and NBA leagues among other sports and athletes
  • technology and leading industry companies we have
  • the power of our people - we truly are a melting pot
  • We Have some the greatest charitable organizations and people in the world
  • Hollywood, TV, movies, entertainment
  • Farmers and our agricultural capabilities 
  • the diversity of our land - Alaska to Hawaii to Florida to New York
  • Some of the greatest cities in the world
  • Museums, national and state parks and vacation destinations 
I vote yes.
This. We're going through a terribly embarrassing time, but there's a big difference between "perfect" and "the best."

Our country is deeply flawed (rampant corruption being the biggest flaw), but it's still leading the world in most aspects.

 
America was lucky in that its frontiers bore great wealth & opportunity,but became a great country and hero of the world because it had a code, a beautifully realized code which sought to provide a framework for what may come. I have never been as proud of humanity as i was to grow up in a country which became an empire while assimilating indigent immigrant populations. There has never been a country in which to dream like America. Yet we dare to ignore the codes which made it so.

 
Is the U.S.A the greatest country in the world?

Based on the things I've learned here, let's break it down:

If you're an African American male, you run the risk of being shot by law enforcement. Even if you make it through alive, you're probably going to be incarcerated. So, that percentage of the population doesn't believe that the U.S.A is the greatest country in the world.

If you're a woman, you're not paid at the same rate as your male counterpart, even for the same job. You're the target of assault through sexual advances and rape. If you end up pregnant, you have to fight for the right to control your own body and have an abortion. So, that percentage probably doesn't believe that the U.S.A is the greatest country in the world.

If you're an immigrant, you're detained for days or weeks because you tried to flee the turmoil of your home country. If you have children, they are removed from you and placed in cages.  That percentage of the population probably doesn't believe that the U.S.A. is the greatest country in the world. 

If you're a democrat, you're upset that half the population thought enough of Trump to elect him POTUS. You've come to the realization that nearly half the people in this country are the completely opposite of you when it comes to the most important issues. That percentage probably doesn't believe that the U.S.A is the greatest country in the world. How can they be when half the country is dragging things down?

If you're a republican, you're upset that half the population wants to give away you're hard earned tax dollars to people that do nothing to earn it. You're probably still angry that everyone got a participation trophy. You're angry that people kneel during the National Anthem. You too are surrounded by 50% of the population that doesn't agree with you, probably hates you, and would just as soon spit on you instead of conversing with you. That percentage of the population probably doesn't believe that the U.S.A is the greatest country in the world. 

If you're over the age of 50, you're upset that the government has been screwing you for more years than you have left on this planet. You'd like to dream about retirement, but you lost your middle class job to overseas competition over a decade ago and retirement savings is down the list, behind food, clothing and shelter for your family. You're also hearing that Social Security may run out right around the time you might need it. That percentage of the population probably doesn't believe that the U.S.A is the greatest country in the world.

If you're one of the 1 million people that have diabetes (or many other diseases), you're trying to figure out how to pay for food and insulin each month. You play Russian roulette trying to balance a healthy diet and skyrocketing prescriptions. If you're one of the unlucky ones that end up in the hospital, you find yourself in a financial hole that is impossible to get out of. But, thankfully candidates like Elizabeth Warren are going to forgive tuition and not medical debts. That percentage of the population probably doesn't believe that the U.S.A. is the greatest country in the world.

So, who's left to think that the U.S.A is the greatest country in the world?  

 
On another note - being #1 in per capita incarceration rate, is that great? I mean, it does make us demonstrably number 1 at something, but...

 
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The Scandinavian countries are better. 

Canada is better. 

Probably a lot of tropical, resort type countries are better. 

Now cue the posters who will tell me I’m unpatriotic and need to leave. 

 
The Scandinavian countries are better. Maybe. 

Canada is better.  Maybe.

Probably a lot of tropical, resort type countries are better. You're out of your mind.

Now cue the posters who will tell me I’m unpatriotic and need to leave. 

 
The Scandinavian countries are better. 

Canada is better. 

Probably a lot of tropical, resort type countries are better. 

Now cue the posters who will tell me I’m unpatriotic and need to leave. 
Leaving is next to impossible.  You can't simply move to Canada or Australia.  It's frigging hard.  

 
The Scandinavian countries are better. 

Canada is better. 

Probably a lot of tropical, resort type countries are better. 

Now cue the posters who will tell me I’m unpatriotic and need to leave. 
You can't. Those other countries have immigration laws. wait so do we.

 
The Scandinavian countries are better. 

Canada is better. 

Probably a lot of tropical, resort type countries are better. 

Now cue the posters who will tell me I’m unpatriotic and need to leave. 
Tropical resort countries?  You serious Clark?

As for the others - definitely possible but virtually all of them have cold weather climates which is a big NO for me.

Forgot to include climate in the list.  Lots of options there.

 
The Scandinavian countries are better. 

Canada is better. 

Probably a lot of tropical, resort type countries are better. 

Now cue the posters who will tell me I’m unpatriotic and need to leave. 
You had me until “tropical, resort type countries,” not gonna lie

 
When you factor in...

  • We pretty much drive the world economy + the power of the US dollar yes, being rich is good
  • We are still seen as the global police (for good or bad) true, but that doesn’t make us “better.”  I’d rather some other country do the job
  • We have the most powerful military in the world meaning we have the most military spending (and we’d still be the most powerful without most of that spending). Also, maybe if our military was smaller we wouldn’t be involved in so many wars
  • We have some of the greatest universities and colleges true, and a big positive 
  • MLB, NFL and NBA leagues among other sports and athletes other countries have their own sports, and can still watch ours
  • technology and leading industry companies there’s plenty of great companies around the world. Is our share disproportionate to our population?
  • the power of our people - we truly are a melting pot we sure used to be
  • We Have some the greatest charitable organizations and people in the world we’d need less charity if we weren’t world policeman and weren’t involved in endless wars
  • Hollywood, TV, movies, entertainment this is a mixed bag, and they get American media in most of the world 
  • Farmers and our agricultural capabilities I’m too ignorant to comment on this 
  • the diversity of our land - Alaska to Hawaii to Florida to New Yorktrue
  • Some of the greatest cities in the world true
  • Museums, national and state parks and vacation destinations true
I vote yes.

 
No fence needed to keep people from leaving, but millions risk their lives to come here, so yes it’s the greatest country in the world!!

 
I would say any country with a more robust social safety net is better.  As discussed earlier that includes Scandinavian countries and Canada.  Some other European countries too.  To me that’s way more of a factor than having a strong military.
Seems like there’s lots of other areas that should be factored in other than just social safety net.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a negative when compared to some of the countries mentioned but we do have a lot of social programs and honestly those countries don’t measure up in a lot of other areas - IMO.

 
No fence needed to keep people from leaving, but millions risk their lives to come here, so yes it’s the greatest country in the world!!
That doesn't necessarily speak to the greatness of the destination country, it may be a testimony to how bad the original country is.

Kind of a "would you rather" of countries. 

 
I love Canada, been all around up there for work but it’s like US light. 

Haven’t spent any time in Scandinavian countries. Had a Volvo though in college. Decent car. We should have them beat on food and music alone. 

 
Seems like there’s lots of other areas that should be factored in other than just social safety net.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a negative when compared to some of the countries mentioned but we do have a lot of social programs and honestly those countries don’t measure up in a lot of other areas - IMO.
The areas where they don’t measure up aren’t particularly important to me, at least I don’t think so.  What did you have in mind?

 
That doesn't necessarily speak to the greatness of the destination country, it may be a testimony to how bad the original country is.

Kind of a "would you rather" of countries. 
More people immigrant to the USA then any other country, I think that says it all how great we are!

 
More people immigrant to the USA then any other country, I think that says it all how great we are!
Still doesn't prove we are the greatest. It just proves we are better than where they came from. 

It's like saying Taco Bell is the greatest Mexican restaurant at 2am. But that's only because all the other Mexican restaurants are closed. 

 
The areas where they don’t measure up aren’t particularly important to me, at least I don’t think so.  What did you have in mind?
I gave a nice long list above  - some of them could even be seen as a negative but my take is if we are bothering to rank them then there needs to be a system for that ranking.  I definitely was remiss on social items - safety net, human rights, etc.  I’d say we’d do really well there too (compared to most countries).  Another one I left off is jobs and careers - you can pretty much be anything you want somewhat easily here and many times over.

 
It is impressive, even for a fictional character, to know all of those rankings off the top of his head.

The United States does have the strongest military. I think it’s important that the world’s major superpower isn’t eager to conquer other nations. If World War II had gone the other way, I think the planet’s population would be much worse off. The U.S. isn’t perfect — never has been — but on the whole it’s about as virtuous a world military leader as can be reasonably hoped for.

But in other important areas, the U.S. is mostly above average but not at the top — a glance at the Human Development Index, the Index of Economic Freedom, the Human Freedom Index, and similar attempts at measuring national well-being shows the United States to consistently lag behind a handful of countries like Australia, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands...

There are some important areas where we’re not above average at all, but are near the bottom of developed countries. Incarceration rate, longevity, access to health care, homicide rate...

I guess whether the U.S. is the greatest country in the world depends on how much weight you assign to its military might. If you don’t give that more weight than every other factor, I think it’s hard to rank the U.S. as the number one country overall, but still easy to put it in the top five or ten.

On the other hand, I think a strong case can be made that military might is extremely important because that’s what safeguards literally everything else we value as a nation.

 
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