Why is America's Greatness a Running Joke?

I've since seen two examples of this that sort of bothers me.

I was watching the NBC Comedy Superstore right after the Olympics and in there was a scene where Glenn the store manager starts telling his employees that America is the greatest country in the world. Everyone in the multi-cultural cast looked at him oddly and questioned him, "What is America the greatest at?" His character being the idiot that he is, fumbled through the question, and though he could have easily pointed out America's medal count currently standing at the Olympics. Since the episode dealt mainly with the Olympics that would have directly addressed their concerns.

One of my top ten favorite shows is The Newsroom. Where a loud-mouthed Jeff Dainels plays a Bill O'Reilly type news host who goes all out in order to get ratings. I'm sure you've seen the clip below:



This video went viral on social media before the show aired, and still occasionally pops up now and again. Despite the success of this video. The Newsroom was cancelled after three seasons due to low ratings

We even have a Presidential Candidate who seems to be saying that America isn't as good as it once was. Then you get people on both sides attacking this slogan by pointing out all the ways America is or isn't great.

Now I am not saying that both shows didn't make good points, but to what end? They all live in America!!! If these people really felt that America wasn't great, wouldn't they want to be doing everything they can to leave it? It's much harder to change a country than to leave the country. This is on top of all the immigrants legal or otherwise that ARE coming to this country! If you ask any of them, they say that America IS indeed better than any country that they came from. So what gives? Why is America's greatness a running joke? Thoughts?

another useless thread

katzgar said:

another useless thread

Click to expand...

Another useless comment.

ModerateGOP said:

I've since seen two examples of this that sort of bothers me.

I was watching the NBC Comedy Superstore right after the Olympics and in there was a scene where Glenn the store manager starts telling his employees that America is the greatest country in the world. Everyone in the multi-cultural cast looked at him oddly and questioned him, "What is America the greatest at?" His character being the idiot that he is, fumbled through the question, and though he could have easily pointed out America's medal count currently standing at the Olympics. Since the episode dealt mainly with the Olympics that would have directly addressed their concerns.

One of my top ten favorite shows is The Newsroom. Where a loud-mouthed Jeff Dainels plays a Bill O'Reilly type news host who goes all out in order to get ratings. I'm sure you've seen the clip below:

This video went viral on social media before the show aired, and still occasionally pops up now and again. Despite the success of this video. The Newsroom was cancelled after three seasons due to low ratings

We even have a Presidential Candidate who seems to be saying that America isn't as good as it once was. Then you get people on both sides attacking this slogan by pointing out all the ways America is or isn't great.

Now I am not saying that both shows didn't make good points, but to what end? They all live in America!!! If these people really felt that America wasn't great, wouldn't they want to be doing everything they can to leave it? It's much harder to change a country than to leave the country. This is on top of all the immigrants legal or otherwise that ARE coming to this country! If you ask any of them, they say that America IS indeed better than any country that they came from. So what gives? Why is America's greatness a running joke? Thoughts?

Click to expand...

America IS great...but probably not for the reason you think. First, go read Rudyard Kipling's "White Man's Burden", (which was not at the time considered racist) which his way of passing the torch of world leadership from England to America. And then read "The Judgement of Peers", which was my reply to Kipling's poem.

Then come back and tell me if you think about America's greatness is still a running joke.

TheGoverness said:

Another useless comment.

Click to expand...

a useless thread deserves a useless comment. how is that hard for you.

You're Not The Best

ModerateGOP said:

One of my top ten favorite shows is The Newsroom. Where a loud-mouthed Jeff Dainels plays a Bill O'Reilly type news host who goes all out in order to get ratings. I'm sure you've seen the clip below:

Click to expand...

That's one of the best TV scenes ever.

ModerateGOP said:

I've since seen two examples of this that sort of bothers me.

I was watching the NBC Comedy Superstore right after the Olympics and in there was a scene where Glenn the store manager starts telling his employees that America is the greatest country in the world. Everyone in the multi-cultural cast looked at him oddly and questioned him, "What is America the greatest at?" His character being the idiot that he is, fumbled through the question, and though he could have easily pointed out America's medal count currently standing at the Olympics. Since the episode dealt mainly with the Olympics that would have directly addressed their concerns.

One of my top ten favorite shows is The Newsroom. Where a loud-mouthed Jeff Dainels plays a Bill O'Reilly type news host who goes all out in order to get ratings. I'm sure you've seen the clip below:


This video went viral on social media before the show aired, and still occasionally pops up now and again. Despite the success of this video. The Newsroom was cancelled after three seasons due to low ratings

We even have a Presidential Candidate who seems to be saying that America isn't as good as it once was. Then you get people on both sides attacking this slogan by pointing out all the ways America is or isn't great.

Now I am not saying that both shows didn't make good points, but to what end? They all live in America!!! If these people really felt that America wasn't great, wouldn't they want to be doing everything they can to leave it? It's much harder to change a country than to leave the country. This is on top of all the immigrants legal or otherwise that ARE coming to this country! If you ask any of them, they say that America IS indeed better than any country that they came from. So what gives? Why is America's greatness a running joke? Thoughts?

Click to expand...

There have been variations of this debate from time to time, and my pickup from them is that we really can not agree on how you rate "great" or "not great". It is incredibly subjective. SO I cannot really say if America is the greatest or not by any objective criterion. I can say that America to me is the greatest country on Earth. That when I saw the world while in the navy, I never failed to look forward to being back in America. We may not be the best at everything, but we are near the top in most ways.

Now, I think alot of these people talking about America not being great are really trying to say that America is not living up to it's potential. That we can be greater. I can agree with that, and disagree with that at the same time. I think we can improve in alot of ways, that we can be better than we are now, but I also think part of what makes us the greatest country on Earth is how hard we try to be better, how we strive for ever higher levels of greatness. I am not sure that makes alot of sense reading it, but it makes sense in my head kinda thing, and is how I feel.

America is great... too.

A wise fellow once said that he who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. He was right about the first part, at least :lol: Unless you're a billionaire presidential candidate or a black boxer a lot people tend not to respond well to claims of being "the greatest" (and I've actually heard rumours that some people don't like the former!); even when they're made on behalf of their own country.

katzgar said:

another useless thread

Click to expand...

katzgar said:

a useless thread deserves a useless comment. how is that hard for you.

Click to expand...

Moderator's Warning:

If you don't like a thread, don't post in it... as opposed to making snarky, trolling statements. I hope that's not hard for YOU.

ModerateGOP said:

Why is America's Greatness a Running Joke?

Click to expand...

Perhaps because USA's political principles gradually have floated away from the principle of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, which once upon a time made USA great.

ModerateGOP said:

Why is America's greatness a running joke?

Click to expand...

I have a few ideas here.

#1) "America is great." Nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all.
#2) "America is THE GREATEST!!!" Could lead to some debate.

I think a lot of the issue is just how arrogantly and obnoxiously condescending "we" can be when shouting out to the world how f'n great we think we are.
The implications of course being that other countries obviously suck.

We shouldn't have to shout to the world how great we are.
If we're truly great, the world will see it without needing to have it shouted at them.

Why must our "greatness" be proclaimed?

Why must we worry about what others think?

Maybe part of our "greatness" is the ability to laugh at ourselves?

Also, a little self-criticism and humility is never a bad thing. Admitting when you make mistakes is a good thing.
Admitting that, some times you're not "great", is a good then when it is in fact quite true.

Is it wrong to admit you could be "better"?

America was great but the liberals are doing everything they can to reduce us to the lowest common denominator.

blaxshep said:

America was great but the liberals are doing everything they can to reduce us to the lowest common denominator.

Click to expand...

You seem to be doing a better job at that tho. Maybe we can come to you for lessons on how to reach the lowest common denominator. Plus you can teach us how to demonize others instead of debating actual issues, and you seem to be one of the great masters of mindless hyperbole, so please shisho, teach us.

When someone says that the U.S. is the greatest country on the planet, it invites any rational person to give reasons why that may not be true. When I was growing up, the U.S. had the highest standard of living in the world; we were the best educated, the most innovative, the healthiest, and ensured freedom not just for ourselves, but our allies through military and economic strength.

How much of that is true anymore?

We still provide global stability through our military. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves. Go ahead Other Nations: talk as much **** about U.S. military power as you want, but the day we pull our navy from the seas and our army from bases around the world is the day the next World War starts. That said, without anyone to really counter-balance us, we've engaged in military adventurism that's been horribly mismanaged and unnecessary. Instead of being a picture of stability, we're the bully to be feared. We were the much less scary bully when the Soviets existed, but now? Now we're the angry fat kid in 5th grade kid taking lunch money from the 2nd graders.

And as other nations have progressed by acquiescing to its citizens' desire to have a better day to day quality of life by making things like vacation time mandatory, we work more than ever and earn less for it. Vacation time in America is a joke and pensions are a ghost of the past. Most of us will work well into our senior years, often until the day we die. There are people who, on their deathbed, will wish they could have spent just one more day at the office, but for most of us, the idea is repugnant. Still, that's what most of us face--life at work until we can't physically do it anymore. Then? Well, hopefully we've saved and invested properly enough to provide for ourselves until they put us in the ground. But for millions in every generation, their savings get wiped out by some catastrophe or another. Suffice it to say the margin for error is thin.

The biggest reason we go bankrupt is over medical bills, a thing that simply doesn't exist in other modern nations who's healthcare costs are often half what ours are. And we tolerate it why? It is so utterly opposed to every interest we can possibly have as living, breathing individuals and as a society, that it's no wonder other nations look at us like we're insane. Who sold us on this idea that we should value the profits of insurance companies over the health of ourselves and our kids? More importantly, why do so many Americans still buy it? We could have free health insurance NOW, but we don't. Complain about Obama Care premiums all you want, but you did that to yourself. Be American and Take Responsibility for voting against you and your family's best interests.

America is not the greatest nation in the world. We are the most powerful, no doubt about that; but when we don't take care of our elderly and our sick, including ourselves, then what's there to brag about? "We can bomb anywhere on the planet within hours."

Yay.

Redress said:

You seem to be doing a better job at that tho. Maybe we can come to you for lessons on how to reach the lowest common denominator. Plus you can teach us how to demonize others instead of debating actual issues, and you seem to be one of the great masters of mindless hyperbole, so please shisho, teach us.

Click to expand...

Sorry but your liberal utopia will never materialize, all people will never be equal and the only way you are going to reduce us all to the lowest common denominator is by winning a global war. Nature rewards the strong survival of the fittest. No amount of liberal nonsense will ever change that. It goes against human nature.

A fratboy swimmer with a stunted intellect kicked in a bathroom door in some third world country and therefore America sucks.

Should put that on the back of our money.

blaxshep said:

Sorry but your liberal utopia will never materialize, all people will never be equal and the only way you are going to reduce us all to the lowest common denominator is by winning a global war. Nature rewards the strong survival of the fittest. No amount of liberal nonsense will ever change that. It goes against human nature.

Click to expand...

blaxshep said:

Sorry but your liberal utopia will never materialize, all people will never be equal and the only way you are going to reduce us all to the lowest common denominator is by winning a global war. Nature rewards the strong survival of the fittest. No amount of liberal nonsense will ever change that. It goes against human nature.

Click to expand...

I do not believe in utopia, I do not believe all people are equal and I am not trying to reduce any one. See how easy it is to totally ruin your bull**** narrative?

Redress said:

I do not believe in utopia, I do not believe all people are equal and I am not trying to reduce any one. See how easy it is to totally ruin your bull**** narrative?

Click to expand...

Equal opportunity will never happen unless we all have no opportunity. See how easy it is to ruin the liberal dream.

blaxshep said:

Equal opportunity will never happen unless we all have no opportunity. See how easy it is to ruin the liberal dream.

Click to expand...

Dude, srsly, every post you make here, you show complete ignorance. I know equal opertunity is not possible. How about, instead of making up positions for liberals, you learn what liberals actually think? It is painful to watch your self-ownage...

Excellent OP.

We have America the people and culture and values, and then we have the government of America, two separate entities.

America the people created the government in 1787, and ratified its founding document 2 years later. It is important to understand that the federal government is NOT America. It would be accurate to say that America actually includes 2 continents, one North and one South.

The US is not as great as it once was because its government has become criminal. Pardon the broken record statement, but we torture folks and talk about it, but we don't prosecute it, except for a handful of low ranking enlisted men.

We overthrow legitimately elected governments, and make war against others under fraud, and the rest of the world sees this.

With government support, we boo Russian athletes at the supposedly non-political Olympics for their steroid use, and then act like poor white trash in the hosting company, whose government we covertly destabilize.

There are many reasons why America's Greatness has declined, and none of it makes me happy or proud.

ModerateGOP said:

I've since seen two examples of this that sort of bothers me.

I was watching the NBC Comedy Superstore right after the Olympics and in there was a scene where Glenn the store manager starts telling his employees that America is the greatest country in the world. Everyone in the multi-cultural cast looked at him oddly and questioned him, "What is America the greatest at?" His character being the idiot that he is, fumbled through the question, and though he could have easily pointed out America's medal count currently standing at the Olympics. Since the episode dealt mainly with the Olympics that would have directly addressed their concerns.

One of my top ten favorite shows is The Newsroom. Where a loud-mouthed Jeff Dainels plays a Bill O'Reilly type news host who goes all out in order to get ratings. I'm sure you've seen the clip below:



This video went viral on social media before the show aired, and still occasionally pops up now and again. Despite the success of this video. The Newsroom was cancelled after three seasons due to low ratings

We even have a Presidential Candidate who seems to be saying that America isn't as good as it once was. Then you get people on both sides attacking this slogan by pointing out all the ways America is or isn't great.

Now I am not saying that both shows didn't make good points, but to what end? They all live in America!!! If these people really felt that America wasn't great, wouldn't they want to be doing everything they can to leave it? It's much harder to change a country than to leave the country. This is on top of all the immigrants legal or otherwise that ARE coming to this country! If you ask any of them, they say that America IS indeed better than any country that they came from. So what gives? Why is America's greatness a running joke? Thoughts?

Click to expand...

The only certainty is, it's NOT Obama's fault.