Is America Great?

[Barrett]

Some would read into Trump's campaign slogan and think "does he mean we are not a great nation". So yes or no...Are we great? If no, when were our greatest times? Can we ever be great again?
I tend to think we are still a great nation, however, I also realize that every civilization cannot last forever. In my opinion we are on the downward trend in just about every aspect that serves as a foundation for a functional society.

[dawgkllr]

There is a video on youtube that answers your question clearly. For the life of me I cant recall the title and I hope someone can link it to this thread. I believe that we are still a great nation however we need to lose this mamby pamby, political correctness nonsense attitude and behavior that is rampant right now. Look at how well it has worked (NOT). We have become more racially divided in the past few years than I can recall in my lifetime even from back in the 60's. We have allowed 3rd world countries to hold us hostage thru fear and intimidation. We are told that we have to be kinder and gentler, cant discipline our children as it will harm them mentally, the list goes on and on. It's time America shimmied out of their little lace panties, put on their big boy drawers, stand up and make a change! Don't just stand around demanding a change, make the change! America is already full of people demanding........demanding free cell phones, demanding free benefits, demanding this and demanding that.

[BigWes]

I believe we are still the greatest nation in the world. We have our problems, no doubt about it, but our problems are much different than those of other nations. What other developed nation has the freedoms that we enjoy here? It feels like every day we notice another attack on those freedoms, but we still have them. What other nation has the amount of people coming in for financial opportunity? What other nation gives their people the freedom to practice their religion of choice in peace to the degree we enjoy here? What other nation acknowledges the freedom we have to voice our opinion to the degree we enjoy here?

Freedom and prosperity are a double edged sword. They have skewed the sense of social justice for many and given many more a sense of entitlement. Self governance has both a beautiful and ugly side. The ugly side has always been there, but it seems as of lately that ugly side has become stronger. I do not believe it has overtaken the beautiful side. It will continue to try and we must continue to fight against it. But I believe we are still the greatest nation on Earth.

[Tommyh]

We are still a great nation IN SPITE OF attempts by this administration to make us rank lower in the world. With the right leadership, she will return to the top.

[Landrover]

Greatest ever and still is........take a look at the others as I surely do! Hiccups over the last few decades are snowballing. Just gotta get the wheels outta the proverbial ditch.

[Stoof]

Yeah, we are still great. When I look around at the world I feel blessed to have been born in the good ol USA and that I can raise my kids here too. But as they say, "It takes a village."
It seems to me the village can't agree on anything and is becoming more and more divided. We have always been a nation of left, right and everything in between but as the checks and balances get bought and paid for everybody loses, both sides of the aisle.

PS-
How's the new lease looking?

[Landrover]

Yeah, we are still great. When I look around at the world I feel blessed to have been born in the good ol USA and that I can raise my kids here too. But as they say, "It takes a village."
It seems to me the village can't agree on anything and is becoming more and more divided. We have always been a nation of left, right and everything in between but as the checks and balances get bought and paid for everybody loses, both sides of the aisle.

PS-
How's the new lease looking?

Yep, really boils down to the ole saying...........FOLLOW THE MONEY!!!

[TB80]

Kind of applicable clip from the Newsroom tv show (which I highly recommend):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zabb3fxGTPk

(warning...has some foul language)

[TimH]

comparatively speaking, yes.

[jruss]

We are not as good as we once was but were as good once as we ever was.

[Tommyh]

Kind of applicable clip from the Newsroom tv show (which I highly recommend):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zabb3fxGTPk

(warning...has some foul language)

the funny thing? this guy is a flaming liberal himself.

[stickerpatch59]

Yes America is great, we just have a severe lack of leadership in this country.

[TimH]

at least we still have a great constitution, even if it's been trampled on a bit.

[Sneaky]

Oh man, this topic. I see it all the time...

Our country is NOT great, and actually is not "the best" at much of anything. However, what we do have is the POTENTIAL to be great. Now don't get me wrong, I love living here, and most especially I LOVE being a TEXAN. I've travelled the world and seen the way people live life in Europe, Central and South America and Asia. From rich countries to third world countries, I've seen a great many beautiful cities, places and peoples, but I would not trade being a TEXAN for anything.

That said, many (but not all) of those who blindly follow the whole "MERICA IS BEST!" thing often tend to be the ones with the least education and least experience seeing the world as a whole. It's easy to think nothing's better than 'Merica when you've never left your back yard.

If you look at the cold hard facts, and see how we compare to other countries in numerous different key metrics, we rank very poorly in many of them.

Here's a great compilation of some reference material:

https://rankingamerica.wordpress.com/page/4/

To summarize some of the more salient metrics (aka tl;dr):

24th in Literacy
1st in Incarceration and Prisoners
14th in Education
44th in Health Care Efficiency
2nd in Ignorance
66th in Religious Diversity
23rd in Gender Equality
33rd in Internet Download Speeds
46th in Freedom of Press
26th in Child Well-Being
17th in Happiness

and the list goes on...

We are not "the best" at hardly anything, except incarcerating people and defense spending / military power.

We have the potential to be the greatest nation that ever existed and rank number one in nearly all of the key metrics, but before that can happen, we need to put an end to:

1. Ineffective, partisan politics (extreme right and left both need to go). A moderate approach to politics and a willingness to be cooperative with those we disagree with, and work as adults to find common ground on issues we disagree on is how grown-ups act.

2. Intolerance for differing ideologies. Wasting time arguing about abortion and what gay people want to do with their bodies or each other will do ZERO to make this country better. For all of you who are opposed to abortion - don't have one. For all of you who don't like gay marriage - don't marry someone of the same gender as you. But quit wishing you can enforce your beliefs on everyone else in this regard because the ship has sailed, and you're on the wrong side of history. Let's focus on the real issues.

3. Budget deficits - we shouldn't spend more than we make. Period.

4. Low pay for teachers. Teachers here hate their jobs because it's thankless and the pay is crap. Teachers are CRUCIAL to our future and they need to be paid accordingly. Look around you - every time you see a moron (they're everywhere), remember that bad education is one of the largest factors in that moron being there.

5. Lobbying. For too long, elections and laws have been a thing which can be purchased, as if it were at a grocery store.

6. Excessive Congressional benefits. If, along with doing away with lobbying, members of Congress get nothing once out of office (or at least, something sensible), if they had to pay for their health care like the rest of us, if they got NO SALARY if they can't agree on things and end up shutting down the government....I venture a guess that they'd act much more mature when in session.

Anyway, I could go on and on. We are a nation of great potential, and there's no state I'd rather live in than Texas, but we have A LOT of work to do if we EVER want to be able to claim we're the greatest nation there is.

[Landrover]

Oh man, this topic. I see it all the time...

Our country is NOT great, and actually is not "the best" at much of anything. However, what we do have is the POTENTIAL to be great. Now don't get me wrong, I love living here, and most especially I LOVE being a TEXAN. I've travelled the world and seen the way people live life in Europe, Central and South America and Asia. From rich countries to third world countries, I've seen a great many beautiful cities, places and peoples, but I would not trade being a TEXAN for anything.

That said, many (but not all) of those who blindly follow the whole "MERICA IS BEST!" thing often tend to be the ones with the least education and least experience seeing the world as a whole. It's easy to think nothing's better than 'Merica when you've never left your back yard.

If you look at the cold hard facts, and see how we compare to other countries in numerous different key metrics, we rank very poorly in many of them.

Here's a great compilation of some reference material:

https://rankingamerica.wordpress.com/page/4/

To summarize some of the more salient metrics (aka tl;dr):

24th in Literacy
1st in Incarceration and Prisoners
14th in Education
44th in Health Care Efficiency
2nd in Ignorance
66th in Religious Diversity
23rd in Gender Equality
33rd in Internet Download Speeds
46th in Freedom of Press
26th in Child Well-Being
17th in Happiness

and the list goes on...

We are not "the best" at hardly anything, except incarcerating people and defense spending / military power.

We have the potential to be the greatest nation that ever existed and rank number one in nearly all of the key metrics, but before that can happen, we need to put an end to:

1. Ineffective, partisan politics (extreme right and left both need to go). A moderate approach to politics and a willingness to be cooperative with those we disagree with, and work as adults to find common ground on issues we disagree on is how grown-ups act.

2. Intolerance for differing ideologies. Wasting time arguing about abortion and what gay people want to do with their bodies or each other will do ZERO to make this country better. For all of you who are opposed to abortion - don't have one. For all of you who don't like gay marriage - don't marry someone of the same gender as you. But quit wishing you can enforce your beliefs on everyone else in this regard because the ship has sailed, and you're on the wrong side of history. Let's focus on the real issues.

3. Budget deficits - we shouldn't spend more than we make. Period.

4. Low pay for teachers. Teachers here hate their jobs because it's thankless and the pay is crap. Teachers are CRUCIAL to our future and they need to be paid accordingly. Look around you - every time you see a moron (they're everywhere), remember that bad education is one of the largest factors in that moron being there.

5. Lobbying. For too long, elections and laws have been a thing which can be purchased, as if it were at a grocery store.

6. Excessive Congressional benefits. If, along with doing away with lobbying, members of Congress get nothing once out of office (or at least, something sensible), if they had to pay for their health care like the rest of us, if they got NO SALARY if they can't agree on things and end up shutting down the government....I venture a guess that they'd act much more mature when in session.

Anyway, I could go on and on. We are a nation of great potential, and there's no state I'd rather live in than Texas, but we have A LOT of work to do if we EVER want to be able to claim we're the greatest nation there is.

Pure blasphemy! !![emoji33] [emoji12] [emoji102]


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