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Is America the greatest Country anymore? Or do you agree with Will?

Is America the greatest Country anymore? Or do you agree with Will?


  • Total voters
    57
But that is not an objective thing, it is an emotive/emotional thing, a feeling of pride and love for your country. So Will might be right that "objectively" there are countries who are also great, but from a feeling, it is wrong, for your feeling it should still be option one, the greatest country ever.

I differentiate between a statement that a country is the greatest based on some sort of objective criteria and a statement based on a feeling of pride or emotion. I mean, I can see that a Guinea-Bissauan might announce that Guinea-Bissau is the greatest country on the planet, but objectively I would say that's a false statement. It's sort of like trying to define a word such as "evil." Yes, it's ill-defined and somewhat subjective, but I still know it when I see it.
 
limited or unlimited?

Limited, unlimited sharing of wealth would be insane IMHO. I am a social democrat, not a communist ;)

And in times when the economy is performing very well and the budget is balanced and the debts of the government are being paid off in a sufficient manner then everybody will see their tax levels dropped, the rich more than the lowest incomes.

Because I am of the economic "school/opinion" that in times of crisis the people with the broadest financial shoulders have to bear more of the weight of the government finances and in times when the economy is doing really well they should be rewarded for their "heavy lifting" during the crisis so that they are compensated for paying a bigger piece of their income during the crisis.
 
America is the greatest America on earth, I **** you not. There's just no place in the world that's quite so American. That really ought to be enough for an American.

If it's not, then consider that times change and competition is an inbuilt feature. The Chinas of this world weren't gonna stay ****ed forever.
 
I don't believe USA has ever been the greatest country except to Americans. It's certainly one of if not the most arrogant about "being the greatest" though, that's rarely been in doubt.

TBH I've never heard claims for the nation being 'the greatest' anywhere other than the US. It's just not the way people I've lived amongst tend to view the world. I've lived in 4 different countries in my life and that expression has never been made in my hearing.
 
The US is, by a wide margin, the most sought immigrant destination in the world.

The EU as a whole receives more than double the number of immigrants per annum than the US.
 
globalization is the new form of imperialism in this century.
UK and Ottman empire were the greatest ones of their eras if you take it as imperialism .but US is not an empire ,it is rather a more democratic domination over the world countries in international political arena if you just ignore its interventions in military coups and overthrowing the foreign governments as we have seen in the process of so called arabian spring
 
The EU as a whole receives more than double the number of immigrants per annum than the US.
How many people Emigrate from the EU to the US and how many from the US to the EU?
 
How many people Emigrate from the EU to the US and how many from the US to the EU?

Looking at just a single migration route doesn't really tell us anything, does it? Migration in general strikes me as a very poor metric for anything except...migration. Not everyone who migrates from a country wanted to leave; not everyone who arrives in a specific nation likes it or rates it as 'the greatest'. So how are migration stats helping us in this discussion?
 
The EU as a whole receives more than double the number of immigrants per annum than the US.

I said most sought, not most achieved. And the EU is 26 countries or so. The question was greatest country, not greatest trading community or supra-national body.
 
America may not be THE greatest, but it is certainly the favored destination for those seeking opportunity in a relatively safe environment.
Sadly, even the criminals of other countries know that.
 
The EU as a whole receives more than double the number of immigrants per annum than the US.

from? those seeking to escape the middle east subscribe to the idea of "any port in a storm"....
 
That video is beyond ****ing stupid. Anyhow, yes. The most powerful military and economy for starters. The world leader in tech/innovation, exports of arts and culture, the largest humanitarian contributor, the best sports scene and the list goes on. Don't think I'd rather live anywhere else :shrug:
 
TBH I've never heard claims for the nation being 'the greatest' anywhere other than the US.

Then the answer should be obvious by now. I mean, if you don't think you're great then you're probably not.
 
The EU as a whole receives more than double the number of immigrants per annum than the US.

And people are flocking to Bulgaria because it's so receptive to foreigners or what? How many immigrants does the EU permit entry based on a desire to admit them versus how many just come in because they're fleeing war or famine?
 
We've still got the greatest military, the greatest cultural influence, and the greatest international clout of any country on the planet. Our economy, however, while still worldclass, has recently been overtaken by China.

Our social condition has been deteriorating for decades, and that is gearing up to come around and bite us in a big way.
 
I'll say up front that I didn't view the link - I don't listen to anything celebrities say about politics or world affairs - they are no more relevant to me than "man-on-the-street" interviews.

Secondly, I didn't respond to your poll because I didn't have an option that suited my view. Depends on your definition of "great".

For me, America is a great country - has been, and likely always will be, at least for as long as I'll be alive. But I'm Canadian and I believe Canada is also a great country with remarkable people, stunning and varied landscape, seemingly boundless resources, and a tremendous future. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. That makes Canada the greatest to me.

Thank you. Seriously, thank you. I did watch the video and I couldn't really argue with what he said, though I still have no clue as to where he stands on the issue or what he thinks went wrong. I do want for all to be able to say they live in the best place for them and that they love it wherever it is. That is a great thing. If all seven billion people on Earth looked for the same thing as the ideal, some place is going to be really crowded.

So for me, the United States is the greatest country because I don't want to live anywhere else. I couldn't answer the poll because 'greatest' means so many different things to everybody.

At the same time, I have already lived a long life and have a lot more of it behind me than I can expect to be ahead. And I can remember when just about everybody, black, white, brown, other, saw this as the land of opportunity and possibilities and we weren't afraid of much of anything. I can remember when we expected good old fashioned American hard work, ingenuity, and resourcefulness to solve our problems and did not expect or want the government to do much about that. For me, that was a much better time in America.

I do think we Americans lost some of our greatness when we exchanged a live and let live attitude for so much judgmentalism, blame, partisanship, and expectation for others to provide what we want. Such has always existed, but it was very limited 50-60 years ago. I think we lost a lot of greatness when so many started giving the responsibility to government to order society instead of doing that ourselves and, IMO, that is when we started losing so much ground in all those stats he rattled off in that video whether he got them exactly right or not. He was speaking extemporaneously so can be forgiven if he got some of the numbers wrong. He is right that we have lost a lot of ground.

But I still don't want to live anywhere else.
 
from? those seeking to escape the middle east subscribe to the idea of "any port in a storm"....

As opposed to those seeking to leave Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico. :roll:
 
And people are flocking to Bulgaria because it's so receptive to foreigners or what? How many immigrants does the EU permit entry based on a desire to admit them versus how many just come in because they're fleeing war or famine?

The same goes for all 3rd-1st world migration.
 
Then the answer should be obvious by now. I mean, if you don't think you're great then you're probably not.
I think we have a long and dishonourable history of claiming to be the best in the world for many years. And there is of course the word "Great" in "Great Britain" which endures. But I have to hand it to the USA - it's definitely the best and claiming to the best in the world, judging by this thread. Here's my (slightly-biased) best in the world list:

Democracy - Scandinavian countries
Food - France
Style - Italy
Music - Austria
Pomp and ceremony - UK
Sitcoms - USA
Wine - very hard to choose and USA is up there (UK is not)
Sports - UK
Cars - Japan
Washing machines - Germany

That's enough for now!
 
I don't believe USA has ever been the greatest country except to Americans. It's certainly one of if not the most arrogant about "being the greatest" though, that's rarely been in doubt.

We have a right to be arrogant. We are in fact the greatest country on the planet. However that could change if we elect too many more presidents like Obama who have no regard for separation of powers.
 
I think we have a long and dishonourable history of claiming to be the best in the world for many years. And there is of course the word "Great" in "Great Britain" which endures. But I have to hand it to the USA - it's definitely the best and claiming to the best in the world, judging by this thread. Here's my (slightly-biased) best in the world list:

Democracy - Scandinavian countries - New Zealand/Switzerland
Food - France - Thailand
Style - Italy - don't know what that is
Music - Austria - eh? you mean Mozart, Haydn and Mahler? How about something from the past century. Conchita Wurst?
Pomp and ceremony - UK - Vatican City?
Sitcoms - USA - they got anything to rival Fawlty Towers or Blackadder? Don't think so.
Wine - very hard to choose and USA is up there (UK is not) - Chile, Spain, France, Australia, Argentina, USA - tough call.
Sports - UK - Australia, SpainThere was a time when Spain simultaneously held the world championship in basketball, Formula One, Motorcycling, Cycling, Football and had World No.1 in tennis.
Cars - Japan - Germany, surely. Not by quantity, but quality
Washing machines - Germany - Korea - LG and Samsung can't be beaten

That's enough for now!
Yes it is. Glad to help.
 
Hey I am Dutch and I love/respect a lot of things the US was and is to itself, it's citizens and to the world as a whole. I may love my own country more but any self respecting person should be saying that of his/her own country.

And yes, sadly politicians in the US think that a limited bit of sharing the wealth around is an evil and bad word. Taxes is a curse word and local government use proceeds from tickets and court fines to balance their budgets because they do not have the guts to do it the proper way around, by taxes, fees and balancing the budget.

I don't think you understand why America is great. We originally became the economic and technological giant we are because our system is, or at least was based more on free enterprise then socialism. Our success is based on realizing that economics is not a "zero sum game". Raising taxes is not and should not be the default method of creating more tax revenue to run a government. There have been at least three times in my lifetime that lowering taxes has resulted in more tax revenue.
 
Thank you. Seriously, thank you. I did watch the video and I couldn't really argue with what he said, though I still have no clue as to where he stands on the issue or what he thinks went wrong. I do want for all to be able to say they live in the best place for them and that they love it wherever it is. That is a great thing. If all seven billion people on Earth looked for the same thing as the ideal, some place is going to be really crowded.

So for me, the United States is the greatest country because I don't want to live anywhere else. I couldn't answer the poll because 'greatest' means so many different things to everybody.

At the same time, I have already lived a long life and have a lot more of it behind me than I can expect to be ahead. And I can remember when just about everybody, black, white, brown, other, saw this as the land of opportunity and possibilities and we weren't afraid of much of anything. I can remember when we expected good old fashioned American hard work, ingenuity, and resourcefulness to solve our problems and did not expect or want the government to do much about that. For me, that was a much better time in America.

I do think we Americans lost some of our greatness when we exchanged a live and let live attitude for so much judgmentalism, blame, partisanship, and expectation for others to provide what we want. Such has always existed, but it was very limited 50-60 years ago. I think we lost a lot of greatness when so many started giving the responsibility to government to order society instead of doing that ourselves and, IMO, that is when we started losing so much ground in all those stats he rattled off in that video whether he got them exactly right or not. He was speaking extemporaneously so can be forgiven if he got some of the numbers wrong. He is right that we have lost a lot of ground.

But I still don't want to live anywhere else.

Good morning AO - I hope all is well with you.

I'm not in America, so I don't really see a lot of the problems you're referring to. Perhaps, the attitudes of some are similar to rich kids who grow up with the best of everything, being handed everything and anything they want, and then expecting that treatment all their lives. America has had the best of everything and many have had it handed to them. But now it's a little tougher and people are having to work harder for the same things and they perhaps feel cheated and want someone (government) to make it easier. I can blame my generation too because we've pretty much babied and coddled our children, given them everything and expected little in return and we've encouraged a sense of entitlement and everything becomes a right and nothing is a responsibility or an obligation.

Anyway, if I was born and raised in America I'm sure I'd never consider living anywhere else. It's how I've come to view Canada. But I'm not one of those Canadians who likes to claim we're better than America and Americans because essentially we're not and if anything we're pretty much the same.

Have fun and enjoy your day.
 
I don't think you understand why America is great. We originally became the economic and technological giant we are because our system is, or at least was based more on free enterprise then socialism. Our success is based on realizing that economics is not a "zero sum game". Raising taxes is not and should not be the default method of creating more tax revenue to run a government. There have been at least three times in my lifetime that lowering taxes has resulted in more tax revenue.
Most people from outside the USA are not going to agree with any American that America is objectively the "greatest country" in the world, if it is sincerely believed. You just open yourself to being knocked down on an endless number of issues. Sure, be proud of your country, and I'll be proud of mine. I can also admire your country, but I won't bother telling you what I admire about it if you keep telling me that it's the best.
 
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