What is right with America

I've been meaning to post this for a while.

I recently crossed the 49th parallel again and pretty much without exception every time I do American's have always been very friendly, helpful and decent. America often takes a kicking in international media but I would ask which other country wants to take their role/responsibilities in world affairs. All nations can and do screw up at times but I'm pretty dam sure right now I wouldn't want China, Russia, North Korea or Iran to be the dominate power in the world. All nations complain about their politicians, any time you want to exchange your President, past or present for our Prime Minister just let me know (well maybe not Nixon). It is so easy to focus on negatives as they certainly are easy enough to find but the big picture is America is defending the freedoms of the west and in many other parts of the world and does not receive the praise it should for doing so.

Dave

There are all kinds of great things about the USA.
Freedom of speach, so anyone can tell me an idiot for thinking we live in a wonderful country.
Equal rights.
Still the land of opportunity.
Great natural resources.
Freedom of religion.
2nd ammendment.

BTW, thanks Dave for bringing the topic up.

I have traveled internationally quite a bit in my career. If you think there is a lot wrong with the USA, you've never been to some of the places I have. It's easy to complain about things wrong here, but we are orders of magnitude better off than many, many countries in many, many ways. We complain about things that people in many countries can't even fathom. Could things be better here? Yes. Could they be worse? Yes, worse than most people can even imagine.

Cheers,
--Hawk

Thanks for giving us a chance to say good things about this country
It seems there are too many willing to talk bad about this country. People will paste their failures on anything other than their own self. Yes, all countries have bad about them and the US is no exception in that area. But where would the world be had not America been here last century? If not speaking German, Japanese, or some mix of it, who knows.
If America is so terrible, why are so many willing to come here? Not just for the handouts, because not all that come stay on any they get. Even our "poor" are better off than just about anywhere else yet here they can advance above their current conditions.
The Idea of America is inherent in all humans at birth. We have to learn to be subservient.
motojoel points out some of the best reasons for our success. But there are many others.
Those that would rather talk down the country (there are far too many, but here they are not shut up for it. Try that almost anywhere else) only see what they want or have been propagandized to know. We have lost our reason with teaching the next generation. They are being conditioned to only see any bad. Real or imagined!!
I'll watch and see if we get many points of good from this thread. Be interesting to see how others feel about our greatness. We already know how the detractors feel.

Exactly, rebhawk,
I am very happy I got to see how people have to live in other countries. My time in uncle sams touring company gave me an outlook I might not have gotten had I dodged service to this country.
People should see an Philippine jail if they think it's so bad here.

I've been in the USA many times and in all honesty i've never met or spoken to any American that seem as antagonistic, rude or narrow minded as some of the members in PM

It's had me wondering for some time if I've just been lucky or is the fact that they are anonymous in the internet that they feel they can just write anything with little or no consequence? I write as I talk but how many can say the same? There's a few that if they talked like they write would be statistics in violent "accidents".

In Texas last Easter I was involved in a car accident (my fault and I didn't try and deny it and I had full insurance) but the driver of the car I hit and the policeman taking the report both shook my hand and wished me a safe and pleasant vacation after we got the paperwork sorted out. Where the hell else could that happen?

Gordon

Gordon B. Clarke said:

I write as I talk but how many can say the same?

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I guess that means you talk a lot, but have nothing to say. And the jokes, my god the jokes...

My general response when somebody starts to "smack talk" on America to me is: STFU! (esp. about guns. OMG am I tired of hearing about gun control)

I generally don't follow all the internet political B.S. because that is what 90% of it is, B.S. I don't know enough about politics, or current affairs to voice an opinion, so I keep my mouth shut.
The reason I don't stay up on current affairs is because I am busy taking advantage of all the opportunities this country affords me, and don't have time to keep my nose glued to the internet.

We really do have it pretty good here. I do agree people tend to focus on the bad. It irritates me, and that stuff is contagious, so I ignore it and go about my business.

Right here in the GOOD OLE' USA!!!

Whats sad is America could be way way way better if not for the mega corruption.

Hopefully there will be a revolution at some point and the parasite scum will be exterminated. (world wide)

It's too bad people fall for the whole left - right thing all while the real enemy is screwing them. Divide and conquer, oldest trick in the book.

ewlsey said:

I guess that means you talk a lot, but have nothing to say. And the jokes, my god the jokes...

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It's inspirational how much you had to say with that post

While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant and resumed their trip.

When leaving, the elderly woman unknowingly left her glasses on the table. And, she didn't miss them until after they had been driving about twenty minutes.

By then, to add to the aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.

All the way back, the elderly husband became the classic grouchy old man. He fussed and complained and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive.

The more he scolded her, the more agitated he became. He just wouldn't let up one minute. To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant.

And as the woman got out of the car and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her, ...... "While you're in there, you might as well get my hat."

John Welden said:

Whats sad is America could be way way way better if not for the mega corruption.

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think you mean mega corporations

Still a place where you can live a comfortable life if you are willing to work hard. Foreigners do it all the time. Problem is, many Americans THINK they know what it is to work hard. Most can't hold a candle to the work ethic of their forefathers. Many are also unwilling to take the jobs available today. Hate to say it, but this particular line of work is not very popular, but there are also some legitimate reasons for that too.

Like it or not, America can print money endlessly and demand seems to remain constant. That's a HUGE economic boost, and affords great flexibility. Most countries have to export goods or commodities to import money in. We make it appear out of thin air, and the world seems to like it that way. That is the ONLY reason America stands a chance at operating with a "service based economy". Simply couldn't exist under any other circumstances.

The world depends on the strength of the American economy. That ties in with the point above, and why we can get away with printing trillions of dollars without serious ramifications (yet).

The productive class was born and breed to be a working machine. We work longer hours with fewer vacations compared to most 1st world nations. Unfortunately, this productive class is carrying the weight of the parasitic class, along with the leisure class who is demanding an ever growing piece of the pie. The incomes for the working class have been stagnating/dropping for decades as a result of the expanding welfare state, and loosened regulations at the top. Middle class will be flat lining in another decade or so at this rate.

We are a central hub for innovation and cutting edge design. We aren't constricted by the confines of rigid cultural boundaries. In many ways, pushing the envelope and challenging conventional wisdom in America is viewed as a good thing.

God bless America. With all the challenges facing her today, both internal and external, we're still one of the best houses in the worst neighborhood.

Mebfab said:

think you mean mega corporations

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Those fuckin' bastards.

I mean the nerve of companies like Hallmark. Where you can work yourself silly for thirty years and all they give you is a 1.3 million dollar pension.....Fuckin' looser assholes.

Or Ford, holy crap. How could ANYONE work for them?
I mean you work the line for thirty years, and all you get is 85% of your salary as a pension. What a bunch of cheapskates.

Why would anybody want to work for the railroad?
After thirty years, you get 90% of your last year's salary......fuckin' cheap assed sons of bitches.

smalltime said:

Those fuckin' bastards.

I mean the nerve of companies like Hallmark. Where you can work yourself silly for thirty years and all they give you is a 1.3 million dollar pension.....Fuckin' looser assholes.

Or Ford, holy crap. How could ANYONE work for them?
I mean you work the line for thirty years, and all you get is 85% of your salary as a pension. What a bunch of cheapskates.

Why would anybody want to work for the railroad?
After thirty years, you get 90% of your last year's salary......fuckin' cheap assed sons of bitches.

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Pretty sure I can choose not to give Hallmark or Ford or.....whatever company you name any of my money.....other than those that the current Emporor feels that he owes money to for helping get him elected.....The politicians are the ones who are a bunch of Fucking losers.......the bet thin about America are the people who actually work every day and still want to stand on their own 2 feet rather than wait for th asshole politicians to put another check in the mail

Yeah, hallmark, thats what I really meant.

smalltime said:

Those fuckin' bastards.

I mean the nerve of companies like Hallmark. Where you can work yourself silly for thirty years and all they give you is a 1.3 million dollar pension.....Fuckin' looser assholes.

Or Ford, holy crap. How could ANYONE work for them?
I mean you work the line for thirty years, and all you get is 85% of your salary as a pension. What a bunch of cheapskates.

Why would anybody want to work for the railroad?
After thirty years, you get 90% of your last year's salary......fuckin' cheap assed sons of bitches.

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I don't know where you got your information about the Ford retiree but I am guessing that you heard it on right wing talk radio. Better check that one somewhere else.

Big B

Today was a good day down here in our small town , a lumber yard that has been slow for years was buisy , they hired new help ( folks I have known for years ). It feels like one small step , my buis. has been growing a little also , I have had a chance to hire part time guys in , and the noise in the shop is like a old ship at sea .

smalltime said:

Those fuckin' bastards.

I mean the nerve of companies like Hallmark. Where you can work yourself silly for thirty years and all they give you is a 1.3 million dollar pension.....Fuckin' looser assholes.

Or Ford, holy crap. How could ANYONE work for them?
I mean you work the line for thirty years, and all you get is 85% of your salary as a pension. What a bunch of cheapskates.

Why would anybody want to work for the railroad?
After thirty years, you get 90% of your last year's salary......fuckin' cheap assed sons of bitches.

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Car factory retirement 37 years=about $23k a year for perhaps $230k total for 10 years if one should live that long.
Nice money for sure but not a fortune, and it was paid for with in lue of wages so it was actually paid for by the worker.

Buck

And on the subject of politicians

Here (and we're probably not alone) we have them in two categories.

A) Those that go into politics because they believe they can make a difference and

B) Those that go into politics as a way of life for all the benefits and perks.

The sad part is that Group A very quickly joins Group B.
The ironic part is that so many of group B get constanty re-elected.

Gordon