It is a declining empire. Life expectancy is down. Many of the young will not have better lives than their parents. Democracy is seriously threatened. The Christotaleban is exerting their dominance. Healthcare is for the affluent. Education is not respected in favor of stupid conspiracies and silly opinions.
Wall Street and big business are happy. And there is a overly bloated military.
@Crazywaterspring re: healthcare is for the affluent. Gee, I don't see dead bodies all over the streets, unable to get health care. How could that be if health care is only for the affluent? Should be like the "Bring out your dead!" scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, no?
Almost every patriot thinks their country is the best but if you want something impartial you need to look at the data and then it depends on what you measure.
From my own point of view I look at which country produces the happiest citizens as a measure of the 'best' country. After all, what is the purpose of any government if it can't look after [b]all[/b] of its own citizens and make them feel happy.
There are Polls done listing which Countries are best in what categories. (Somehow I get the impression they don't announce these poles in America.) Which is probably why so many Americans were shocked by this Newsroom episode:
[media=https://youtu.be/bIpKfw17-yY]
These Polls come out yearly and no country excels in everything. The rankings fluctuate. So don't get upset by it. You have a thriving movie and TV industry. Half of it is any good. And you have some good music. And very good Bourbon.
I'm not American and i have no desire to live there. But even despite my criticisms of the place it is an amazing country that has so much to offer in terms of landscape, culture, opportunity.
If you really want to know how "good" a country is, just check how many foreign people will try anything in their might to get into that country. These are elections where people use their [u]feet[/u] to vote.
@Synyster it is how he wants it ,,, i think he has dictator ambitions ,,, and he runs the country like his billionaire islamic friend tells him to ,,,,
The United States is the best. U don't see any other country helping as much as the US does. I will admit the health insurance isn't the greatest in the world. but I will admit the health care is the greatest. Schools and college's are the best in the US.
@smileylovesgaming Never underestimate the value of luck. Right place and right time got us both good careers and both kids married settled and secure. And some miraculous grandkids..😷
@snofan "What do you do?" "Who do you work for?" "What's their vacation package like?" We literally identify ourselves throughout our lives by the tasks we perform for others. And here in the US, the man with the most toys wins ('cause it'll never be a woman). Quads, bikes, boats, trucks, RV's, tickets to Nascar - anything but a sense of giving and compassion over compensation.
I think when it's all said and done and America is history, 20 or 30 years from now, we will be remembered as the worst thing that ever happened to this pitiful broken planet. Greed, greed, and more greed. The difference we could have made but all we accomplished was to make it possible for a few wealthy people to live lives based on comfort and pleasure while walking around on the suffering of billions of people.
I'd imagine our view of Americans as freedom loving, loud and overly religious probably gives way to the average US being close to any citizen in the Western Hemisphere. That's the thing about propoganda, how can we really know the truth?
Having never been to a country hardly qualifies you to have an opinion on it.
We are #1 in power, true. We’re also #1 in agility, the ability to adapt, progress and find solutions. #3 in cultural influence. #2 an entrepreneurship. We are the largest in terms of gross domestic product. We’re #1 in space exploration, aerospace and aviation, hands down. Not to mention jazz & blues, Motown, food, guitars, corn, entertainment, beef and higher education.
As another user pointed out, much is betrayed in your last sentence. It’s one thing to state a belief; it’s another to do so with antipathy and venom. Sorry if you don’t like the US. We’re having a bit of a crisis at the moment, but don’t count us out. Look all you like at lists. Some that qualify as the happiest nations in the world are among the poorest.
[i]sources: US World News & Report Business Insider Pew Research[/i]
#1 destination of immigrants worldwide, despite endless fake news about the US being a supposed unjust racist hellhole. Millions of people of color know it's the greatest as they risk their lives flooding into the USA. Even Ozzie Osbourne has changed his mind about leaving.
@graphite lol, Ozzy isn't any example to follow, as much as I love his music both solo and with Black Sabbath, the man is brain dead, what few brain cells he ever had have long ago been burned out 🤪
I'm FROM The USA, and I LIVE in the USA. And Voted Overrated. I have been outside the United States before, but not in over 2 and half decades. Still, Canada was too nice to feel like it was somehow exceptionally worse than the United States.
The thing is that I'm not a believer in American exceptionalism- no matter where I live. The USA is just one country among many beset by its own problems like every country.
I don't think any Country is perfect, they all have their good and bad points. I have had the privilege of visiting more than 100 Countries and can't say that any one Country is perfect... America may not be the "best" Country in the World but it is [u]one[/u] of the best. Full disclosure, I'm an American who was born in Canada.
It has the best military by far in the world. Healthcare, education, and infrastructure, compared to other Western countries, take a back seat bc we have the best military, whereas other countries put more money into those sectors than defense.
@eli1601 Yes.. I agree.. But maybe you could opt for a replacement game that the whole team can play without body armour and that doesnt spend more time stopped than actually playing.. Although a number of our footballers do make a nice living in your teams after they get too old and slow for our game..😷
@eli1601 Yeah . Thats where we get your old players coming out here and a few of our young hopefuls going there where the big money is.. (Shaq even does ads here for sports betting) Baseball on the other hand we just export your best young players. The game isnt that big here..😷
Before I traveled and I was young I may have said yes. It’s great for people who are well off, have great insurance and do what they enjoy doing. But the roads are in much better shape in Europe. Everyone has access to healthcare. And people seem happier overall. I love California, the nature is beautiful, weather is great, the cities have everything, amazing mix of cultures. But I guarantee some idiot is going to say something bad about California. Lol. The anger and ignorance in the US is hard to take at the moment.
@DearAmbellina2113 I think the only real competitors regarding quality of life are the other "anglo-saxon" countries (Kiwiland, Aussieland and UK), and Western Europe.
The founding principles that everyone is created equal and have God-given, unalienable rights was earth shaking. That's pretty much been forgotten nowadays though so, no, it's no different from anyplace else.
@Soph03 It depends on whether you think technology has improved people's lives. While there are benefits to living as a hunter/gatherer, most of us would prefer our technological world.
Your question wasn't about value; many people would say that the U.S. military, while very effective, hasn't necessarily had a positive influence.
While our military is certainly the most expensive in the world, that's partially due to the fact that the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world, so anything we do is going to be big and expensive. If you go by percentage of GDP, our military spending is sixteenth, below Saudi Arabia, Israel, Oman, Morocco, and others.
America is certainly a great nation with a proud history. Its rise to twentieth century dominance cant be denied. It was a strong power in WW1. The dominant power in WW2 and all the way to the Moon landing (which DID happen) the worlds leading (more or less) democratic nation. But as empires rise and fall it has gradually been replaced, mostly by Asian nations..And it is now decaying internally from the head down.. History is a pretty good teacher on these things..😷
@Soph03 I did. You have not provided specific criteria other than "I can't think of anything it does better..." nor provided specific examples, yet you ask others to provide them in comments. Basically, you made a statement and are asking others to do the work of substantiating it. Very lame.
Well I'm one American who would rather live in the EU ... unfortunately every country has its warts and I need to be careful of "grass is greener" syndrome, butttt ... looking through my rose-colored glasses and ignoring any warts, I'd rather live in France, or Italy if Italy could overcome a few things ... like periodicially getting in trouble with the EU over pollution levels, violence against migrant farm workers, the seemingly perennial issue of regional organized crime syndicates (which for example poison the environment in Campania and threaten to turn Sicily into a literal desert in this era of climate change), some undying level of pining for Benito, a significant lack of public investment in protecting historical sites in some regions, and the wealth/infrastructure/et al. disparities between northern and southern Italy, among others
I hate it when I idealize a place, look into it, and that erodes my idealized notions ... but literally every country has problems I am guessing, I suppose it is a matter of how much can you live with, in order to be around the aspects you appreciate
