How Does America Fare to You?

[Krantos]

People should no longer be allowed to be career politicians. Politics was ideally supposed to be a sort of civic duty, like Jury duty.

It used to be that politicians were community leaders who occasionally ran for office. Then, when their term ended, they went right back to work. Now, if you're a senator, that's your career.

There is also the issue that it's impossible to be a politician in this day and age unless you're already wealthy, meaning that the top 10% or so of our country's SES demographic is making policy for the entire country. Couple that with the fact that a lot of big corporations make regular "campaign contributions," and it's no surprise that Washington has no idea what it's actually like to be poor in the US.

It's actually pretty funny when you think about it. The worst thing you can be in the US is a poor white male. Minorities and Women get a lot of support since they have their own lobbying groups, but you will never see a poor lobbying group because (lets face it) they can't afford it.

Overall, America gets about a 6/10 and falling.

 

[Kathinka]

once uppon a time, there was a glorious america. the america of mark twain, abraham lincoln and benjamin franklin. a country made to advance the right of men, a beacon of freedom.

unfortunately, these days are long past. this america made room for the new one, the america of teddy roosevelt, george bush and the superpatriots. the america that exploits, cheats, frauds, murders, starts unjust wars of conquest and lies to the international community about it, maintains concentration camps, disposes of undesired people without any justification, topples democraticly elected leaders and governements to replace them with bloodthirsty dictators.

america today has turned into exactly what it's marvelously wise founders once fought against, a stronghold of opression and exploitation that now is one of the major backwards forces in the advancement of mankind. if george washington could see the america of today, he would probably explode in his coffin like an egg in a microwave.

thus, a 1. 0 is reserved for really obnoxious shit, like saudi arabia hacking of womens hands for painting their nails. one of the closest allies of the u.s., by the way.

 

[liquidsolid]

I'd give it a 9. I live a comfortable life here, there aren't any riots, war, and I'm not afraid to walk the streets at night. It isn't perfect here, but I'd say that this is the best, most free place to live in the world today.

In the United States of America, we have everything. Mountains, oceans, tropical, deserts, arctic, plains, hills, etc. We have access to all consumer goods that don't come from Cuba (or Iran). The people who live here are incredibly diverse, with representatives from all over the world. It's like a global nation.

I don't really like contemporary politicians, but I do like our style of government. A system of checks and balances to make sure our "President" doesn't become "Evil Dictator for Life" and similar scenarios. It's stable, I vote, and pay taxes. I really like the philosophy behind the founding of our country, which is Classical Liberalism.

On the downside, people here are quite fat, many aren't that smart, and even more are apathetic. I don't really blame America for the smartness or the apathetic side because I just assume that is human nature. However, obesity is a huge problem here. It causes just as many problems as smoking, but unlike smoking there isn't some feel good campaign underway to curb obesity.

It isn't perfect (thus no 10), but I do like living here. If I had to pick any country in the world to live in, it would be here in the United States, it would just be in Florida this time instead of New England.

EDIT: I just read a bunch of negative comments about America referring to us as a bunch of Flag waving, gun touting religious fanatics. Let me say this about that: Sarah Palin is NOT representative of the majority of Americans, AT ALL. There are a great deal of us who are reasonable, anti-war, and secular.

 

[Jarlaxl]

It's big enough that I can find somewhere to flee from all of the people disagreeable with my temperament. Yeah, there's some stupid stuff that goes down, but welcome to human society. These are growing pains. We're never "done," and people are a wonderfully diverse bunch, so they're going to butt heads until the last one dies.

Can't give it a number, but I'm content. I'm not opposed to testing the waters in other countries, but I'm not fleeing any time soon.

 

[Woodsey]

once uppon a time, there was a glorious america. the america of mark twain, abraham lincoln and benjamin franklin. a country made to advance the right of men, a beacon of freedom.

I sincerely hope you are fucking joking.

America has had the reputation for being a beacon of hope for almost the entire world for more than 100 years.

No it hasn't.

Anyway, its alright. Too much religion (politicians shouldn't be finishing speeches with "God Bless America"), and often too right-wing for my tastes though.

 

[Kathinka]

once uppon a time, there was a glorious america. the america of mark twain, abraham lincoln and benjamin franklin. a country made to advance the right of men, a beacon of freedom.

I sincerely hope you are fucking joking.

well, you have to admit that there WAS a time when america offered an ammount of freedom and philosphical progres pretty much unthinkable anywhere in the world back in the day.
if you've read my post entirely, you will realize that i believe those days are long over.

 

[rokkolpo]

If it wasn't for your media I'd say you were doing just like the rest of us.

 

[k-ossuburb]

Meh, I'll give it a 4.5.

It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there what with the way that atheism is still culturally frowned upon, the complete lack of free health care, the active gun culture in most places, the rampant materialism, the complete lack of environmental responsibility, bad education and the strange tendency to butt into other people's business (speaking from about 10 cases of personal experience from various visits).

Also, that whole "beacon of hope" thing? Yeah, that's a little insulting considering that most countries have their own cultures and histories that reach a lot farther back into history than the U.S.A. does.

EDIT: A few more things I forgot. Intolerance of homosexuality, right-wing politics, politicians using religion to get ahead in the polls or sway public opinion, the lack of an unbiased media outlet, the enforcement of the death penalty in some places, the weak currency, the rampant levels of obesity from bad diet and lack of excise, the overly processed food and the lack of decent milk/cheese/tea/bread.

On the other hand, you can still smoke in bars, so +1 for that.

 

[Danny Ocean]

not even Rome or Great Britain enjoyed such economic or military superiority/domination

Nyeh, not quite so.

Y'see, you have a big military, but that doesn't mean you're powerful, because you also need to be able to effectively use it. That's something the USA can't do, unlike the UK at the time of Empire, which really didn't care. For example the UK full-on invaded China so we could keep selling them Opium and they'd keep selling us tea. The USA simply can't do shit like that.

 

[aba1]

8/10, sure the government needs some fine tuneing, but you wont get this level of freedom anywhere else on earth

This is what I was talking about eariler there are tons of countries with just as much freedom some even more so

 

[Woodsey]

once uppon a time, there was a glorious america. the america of mark twain, abraham lincoln and benjamin franklin. a country made to advance the right of men, a beacon of freedom.

I sincerely hope you are fucking joking.

well, you have to admit that there WAS a time when america offered an ammount of freedom and philosphical progres pretty much unthinkable anywhere in the world back in the day.
if you've read my post entirely, you will realize that i believe those days are long over.

It started with the sidelining and slaughter of the country's natives, and was then built upon slavery in this "glorious" time period; a "right" which a significant portion of the country fought to allow. Then it had rampant (and approved) racism running all the way into the 1970s.

The fact that it led to some good ideas floating around doesn't make its history any less soiled then its reputation today.

Note that this is not me saying its history is any better or worse than many other countries, but pretending it was all golden cornfields where a man could do whatever he pleased whilst the children played with gumdrop smiles is ridiculous.

 

[Kathinka]

once uppon a time, there was a glorious america. the america of mark twain, abraham lincoln and benjamin franklin. a country made to advance the right of men, a beacon of freedom.

I sincerely hope you are fucking joking.

well, you have to admit that there WAS a time when america offered an ammount of freedom and philosphical progres pretty much unthinkable anywhere in the world back in the day.
if you've read my post entirely, you will realize that i believe those days are long over.

It started with the sidelining and slaughter of the country's natives, and was then built upon slavery in this "glorious" time period; a "right" which a significant portion of the country fought to allow. Then it had rampant (and approved) racism running all the way into the 1970s.

The fact that it led to some good ideas floating around doesn't make its history any less soiled then its reputation today.

Note that this is not me saying its history is any better or worse than many other countries, but pretending it was all golden cornfields where a man could do whatever he pleased whilst the children played with gumdrop smiles is ridiculous.

hmm i haven't looked at it from this particular standpoint. you're of course right, i didn't consider this points. point to you, sir.
still i think that it was once uppon a time founded, if not glorious, then at least with some glorious ideas.

 

[redeemer09]

Compared to whom? And by what measure?

As developed first world countries go...I'd much rather live in Australia, New Zealand, Britain or Canada, somewhere in Scandinavia. Or maybe Ireland.

However, cross those off the list, and that still leaves plenty of room for the US to find someone to look down upon. There are entire continents of places I'd choose the US over.

australia!?now, i know your just trying to hang out with the cool kids of the escapist.

 

[Verigan]

It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there what with the way that atheism is still culturally frowned upon, the complete lack of free health care, the active gun culture in most places, the rampant materialism, the complete lack of environmental responsibility, bad education and the strange tendency to butt into other people's business (speaking from about 10 cases of personal experience from various visits).

Atheism may be frowned on in some places, but only if it's the militant variety. If you don't go out of your way to piss off religious people, no one should bother you. In more countries than not, being of a particular religion (including atheism) can get you killed.

As for free health care, it isn't free anywhere. It always has to be paid for by someone, and that generally comes in the form of taxes. In the US, our current system is a confusing hybrid of two conflicting systems, which often results in chaos. Obviously, that isn't ideal. However, if you look at the theories of a free market economic system (which is NOT currently in place) health care should fit perfectly well into it, making it just as successful as any other part of the economy. Free care simply is not the American way, but neither is allowing people to suffer and die needlessly, so that responsibility would (and to our way of thinking, should) fall under the auspices of individual communities, not a huge federal entity.

Regarding guns, that's an even longer lecture than the last one and I'm not going there. It's an integral part of our culture and makes plenty of sense when you understand all the facts behind it.

You're not wrong about the other stuff, although environmental responsibility is a much trickier subject that has no solid consensus to back up anyone's position.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Those cons are a bit unnecessary. every country has its group of racists and bad history, and idiots in the government.

OT, well, its my home. Its not perfect (no where is) but its home, and tahts all I can say. We've had the most stable and peaceful change of government in the history of any nation, and thats something. we have a living constitution which, for better or worse, I wouldnt change for anything. Sure, some of our population is bad, but most are decent people. I dont know, I enjoy it, and I think even if I was from another country, it would speak to me as a good country to live in other then my own.

 

[redeemer09]

8 but haters gonna hate.

im sorry but this post feels incomplete without... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWS-FoXbjVI

 

[the_hoffs_ego]

I'd give it a solid 8. It's my home, and I love my country. The government? not so much.

Ask me after the supreme court decision on Monday.

And this. 100 times this.

 

[snow]

I can't even vote that's how disgusted I am with this country. I always laugh at those that say in *hick voice* "If you dun'luv 'merica GTFO!"

Well genius... If I had the money to afford such a luxury, I would!

Ask me after the supreme court decision on Monday.

What decision is that?

 

[loc978]

'mericuh is like Star Wars. I hate most of it, the people involved with it, its current set of ideals and most visible themes... yet the idea of the United States (and Star Wars), the spirit in which it was created... that I love.

So, on the one hand it's a two, on the other it's an eight.

 

[loc978]

**edit** son of a...

double post on reload. I do believe this is my first. bah.