What's so special about America?

I'm not posting this to troll or anything, this is merely what I've been feeling lately.


The older I get, the more I feel like everything that I've been told is a lie. Everything about America having so much freedom and this and that. What freedoms do we have here in America that they don't have in say, Europe or Canada? I used to be so patriotic being a 2nd generation American with all of this opportunity, but now I really feel like there's nothing special about our "opportunities". I also feel like we have our priorities wrong. Our lifestyle is so money and job-oriented. Europeans hold money on a pedestal obviously, but they also have a more "enjoy life while you can" mentality.


I'm completely expecting flames, but I'm really not trying to hate on America...it's a great place. I just want to have a good discussion here with someone who can give me solid points on why America really is the best country..because I really don't have that view on things anymore.

Fuck America. Let's have glorious sex with care-free Italian hookers and then drink the finest champagne from Champagne in a quaint little German Medieval town while listening to the vibrant sounds of Austrian violins that just scream "joie de vivre", ok?

>>2
sounds good.

Americans are too in love with the sound of their own voice to speak the truth.

Fuck america, that country filled with bunch of pussies and red-necks, GOOOOOO INDONESIA!!!!!

>>1
Yeah, I am from Europe(Finland) and when the USians talk about all their freedomns and stuff and standard of living like they are the only place on earth that have these things I am like "WTF?!?". I have more freedomns here than I would have in the US. For example, I can play DVDs using linux without violating the law (DMCA anyone)... there are no "Free speech zones", I have better healthcare and access to better education than the avarage american. It's amusing when some pissed off americans tell other americans "go to in north korea/some 3rd world country if you don't it here" like those were the only options available.

>>1-6
All Americans.
>>7
Not American.

>>1
IF IT WASN'T FOR AMERICA THE WORLD MAY OR MAY NOT BE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT IT IS NOW.

>>7

Fuck that, i'm not fucking amerikkkan, that fucking country fucking banned child porno, fuck i dont wanna fuck with fuck fucking fuck fuck fuck

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>>1
        Look, you can disagree with any administration you want.  You can disagree with any path the government is taking.  you can disagree with the government itself.  you can hate everything about how it's run.  Don't confuse that with hating america.  Unless you have an underlying love for your nation, the land, and the people of them, you can't improve upon their faults.  Hate whatever you want ABOUT your nation, just don't hate your nation, whether it be America, Solviet Union, or Nazi Germany.  Don't deface your own nation by spewing Amerikkan just to get a response from people.  Point out solutions instead of problems.  Get beyone arguments of "my asshole politican is better than your asshole politican".  Your nation is the best because you are there, and it is the only nation that has you.  That is the underlying strengh of any nation, it's people.  Unless you can devote yourself to your nation, don't bother.  Unless you are willing to give life and limb for your nation and the people of it, don't bother.  Unless you are prepared to do more than just bitch, don't bother.  You need that patriotism in order to truely feel that you can better your nation, because unless you believe that it is the best, unless you belive that the problems are minor and can be solved, unless you have faith in the underlying greatness of your nation, you are useless to it.  You can be revolutionary, you can be downright hateful to the leaders, you can outright revolt, but unless those actions are led by love of the nation itself, it is wasted.  The love of the people is any nations greatest strength, power, and weakness.

>>11 You disagree with >>1 in points he didn't even mention. Good job.

>>1
You are simply taking freedom for granted. Things could be very VERY different. In fact the current state of things is very unlikely, the world was almost bound to consist of a patchwork of warring despotisms with no hope of democracy or anything like it in sight. Imagine if Hitler allowed the Panzer divisions to destroy the British army at Dunkirk and the luftwaffe ignored London and continued to neutralise the RAF allowing for a 2nd blitz? What if the aircraft carriers were at pearl harbour when the japanese attacked? What if the american revolution failed? What if the King John never went to war with France and had the military clout to avoid signing the Magna Carta?

>>1 he's talking about the present situation. And America isn't any  more "free" than, say, europe. Well maybe more free in the sense that it can do shit all over the world and get away with it.

>>1
The American lifestyle is definitely money and job-oriented (mostly money, because I've seen far too many people who have yet to understand the value of actually earning what you have), but the ugliest aspect of it all is the fact that here in America, people won't think twice about stepping on someone just to make a buck.

Socialism sounded good on paper, but when put into practice, the factor of human nature lead to a perversion of the actual idealogy. The same thing is happening, so far to a lesser extent, with the form of capitalism as seen in the United States.

Everyone's out for themselves, and they seem to have forgotten that being born here doesn't automatically imbue you with the American values that so many nationalist Americans like to brag about. People are starting to care less about everyone around them and much more about themselves, to the extent that they would even hurt those around them for their own personal gain.

>>13
Winning wars doesn't automatically mean that you're more free than the losing country/regime/etc. Your rationale would interpret China's "victory" over Tibet, or to a lesser extent, over the United States during the Korean War, or even North Vietnam's "victory" over the United States during the Vietnam War as being due to the fact that they hold more admirable values than the losing side.

People don't come to America in droves because they're in awe of its military might and its ability to win wars.

Your narrow-minded interpretation of American values not only shows that you take them for granted, but that you don't even understand what they are.

The American lifestyle is about money, cheap gas, NASCAR, and ignorance.

I'll take Spain, Italy or Germany (for example) over the USA anyday.

Germany rocks man. Living in Europe is not so bad; except that if you move there from the US you should expect to pay a lot of taxes from the United States: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/index.html

What makes America special?

-Right to bare arms (read: the right of citizens to protect themselves from the government)
-Innocent until proven guilty
-Right to an attorney
-Amalgamation of all races, religions, and cultures
-The opportunity for anyone who is poor to make it to the top (and vice versa)
-Still a sovereign nation (read: not anyone's bitch)


If you there's not difference between America's rights and those of other nations you should go to Austrailia and try to buy a shotgun or a pistol.  Or go to France or Italy and see how the police treat you.  Better yet, go to Japan with it's 99% conviction rate.  Go to the Czech Republic and see what happens when you tell the government, "No."  See what happens when you denounce Allah in Iran.

>>15
This is tupid, a goverment's job is to quell human nature as beast as it can, socialism does a very bad jhob of this, capitalism direct people's greed constructively and says "you can keep the money you make and do deals, but you can't hurt anyone along the way, sure;ly you can agree to that?". Socialism says "we expect you to be good, we expect you to work hard and make as much money as the guy who is supposed to clean a hospital but only cleans it superficially risking people's lives to pneumonia and doesn't get penalised for being a proletariat". Socialism doesn't give much of an incentive to get people to work hard and be good people.

>the right of citizens to protect themselves from the government
how well can they do that these days?

>>20 get sober please

you're looking at it wrong.. america isn't the "best" country, there is no "best" country. America is a lot like other countries, but in a lot of ways its helped the world move towards more democracy and freedom. You may look around now and say that theres no more freedom in america than anywhere else.. but where was america 200 years ago? America set out from its beginning to be a free democratic country where people are treated as equals, its had its fair share of troubles and made its mistakes, but its tried its best to be a good, hospitable country to its citizens, and on the global stage. I think that people are too quick to jump to their assumptions about countries, what they should be, what they are.. America isn't the best country, and there never will be a best country, but if all the good countries work together, they just make make a better world possible for everyone.

socialism is not communism. Socialism in my opinion is basically just making sure that everyone gets at least a certain standard of living. Capitalism doesn't go against socialism, in fact, in many ways capitalism goes hand in hand with socialism. Socialist communism was a complete failure, as it should be. I think people mix economic and political terms too easily and get confused about what types of government and economies they are talking about.

America is great because we have free health care and education which is the best in the world.

>>23 like the time when the constitution was set, when people were treated as equals? I mean everyone except indians, women and black people! Just gotta love that little fact in American history.

europe > america as far as quality of life goes IMO

>>26
 thats why I said we've made our mistakes. I'm not denying that part of our history, and I think everyone knows it was wrong now, but the equality that the government imposed wasn't like that. It was more about realizing that aristocracy, monarchies and the sort were complete bullshit and instituting a society based on accomplishment and not on who your father was, or who you happened to be connected to. They haven't done it perfectly, and no country could be expected to, but its the premise america was based on, and its the best way to set up any society.

>>26
Hey, remember that time in Europe when these people proclaimed "divine right," and subjegated the masses for thousands of years?

>>25
thats canada douchebag


america is fatass mcdonalds dickheads

>>If you there's not difference between America's rights and those of other nations you should go to Austrailia and try to buy a shotgun or a pistol.

for your information, our gun legislation is a matter of national pride.

gun ownership is neither the pinnacle result nor the primary  aim of liberal democracy, and america's mania for the instruments is immature.

Australians aren't savages like americans. We don't need guns.

>>32
lol okay, pussy.

>>32
Hahaha, a nation founded by all of Britain's rejects not savages.  Good one.

Ok, if americans aren't savages why do they need guns? What’s the point of having a concealed carry permit if you not a cop?

And if americans aren't savages, why is america so violent then?

Murders and rapes are a common thing in america, you guys are savages. Life is cheap in America.

Violence and greed is encouraged but things like sex is seen as evil. Australians have moved on from their convict days, we are far more civilsed than americans, and Australia is a much better place to live in than that violent shithole called USA.

>>35
Ahh yes, Australia, so civilized infact that your hospitals refuse to give aborginal women diapers for their newborns because, "they're too stupid to know when to change them."

Oh and don't forget, your lovely country is home to the most poisonous creatures in the world.  And most of your country is such a barren shithole desert that nearly everyone lives on the coast.


As for guns:  Even if I have no need for a gun I should still have every right to carry one (provided I'm not a criminal).  While you sit on your high horse applauding yourselves for moving past the need for guns, in reality you're just taking a huge step backward with regard to your civil liberties.

Oh, and Mr. Australia, isn't it interesting how Australian crime rates have been on the rise over the past decade, while in America, crime is actually going down?

http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/guncontrol_20010302.html

>>37

'My statistic plugs this leak in my great big sieve!'

>>36


Fails for more reasons than I can be bothered going into.  Probably a troll.

>>35 They very fact that americans are known internationally for owning and using firearms is a crime deterrent. Shall i go to the UK to rob people gun vs knife or shall I go to the US and rob people gun vs gun?

America is all about becoming the "self made man" - sure, lots of european and north american countries have better healthcare; provided free by the government. It sounds bizarre, but a hardcore american wouldnt see that as "yay help" but instead "so you are saying I NEED your help? fuck off!"

Then we have the other half+ of america that beleives that europe is "enlightened" and "if america were like europe, there would be no war, and everything would be fun fun legal because everyone likes everyone"
^liberals.

Owning slaves was a big deal for a long time - until the 1960s civil rights movement. Nowadays complaining about rascism/theorising that the US government has some interest in advancing the education of whites (quite the contrary actually) is just in poor taste.

Affirmative action is 1. fuckan retarded 2. totally rascist.