As an outsider I think America is becoming more and more right wing oriented and some of the laws you people have are already on the line of fascism. Still a lot of things in America are much better than in the rest of the world and if you could change few things in your system , then USA would trully be #1 by far.

As much as I will complain about stuff related to America, I have to say I think its an awesome place to live. Whether I'm more happy living here than I would be in Germany or New Zealand, I don't really have any idea, I'm sure everywhere has major pluses and negatives. Although for the sake of the people who aren't as fortunate as me, I would like to see America do a couple things more similar to a place like Germany.

I think America is the only developed country in which you are more likely to be killed by a stranger than someone you know.

cite? I have a hard time believing this is true

re: the OP, I've often entertained the idea of moving to Europe, as I feel it is much more in line with my social views. However, it seems like the economic opportunity there is bad and getting worse, so I'll stick to the USA.

And +1 to the argument that it's not really fair to compare a 300 million person behemoth to a country with like 2-20 million people. Something tells me California, New England, and NY/Virginia would all be pretty boss countries.

Excellent topic.

Being "exceptional" is one of those qualities that mean a whole lot more if others use it to describe you. In other words, you don't get to loudly and shamelessly trumpet it about yourself and have that become truth - it doesn't work that way.

Whenever I hear someone claiming American exceptionalism (or the exceptionalism of any other country for that matter) I think their chances of being a stone-cold moron are pretty exceptional too.

Being proud of your own country is one thing; claiming an innate superiority over other humans is quite another.

Try to get people to explain how their country is exceptional - it's quite illuminating. What does it mean to be exceptional?

Does it mean that the rules that you insist must apply to others somehow don't apply to you?

Exceptional, how?

The following seems a pretty starting point / framework to determine a country's "exceptional" status:

Freedom? (kind of hard thanks to the long list of erosions to liberty e.g. indefinite military detention courtesy of Mr. Hope and Change)
Best healthcare? Nope.
Highest income per capita? Nope.
Education / literacy rates? Nope.
Quality of life? Nope.
The most compassionate society? What about the world's highest incarceration rates?
Literacy rates? Nope

The idea of America nobly and selflessly fighting for democracy and human rights around the world - past and present - might be sustainable in some parts of the States but the victims of bombings, invasions, overthrow of democracies and support for dictators, torture, murderous sanctions etc throughout the world - think Iraq, Vietnam, Latin America, Africa etc - likely have other opinions on the matter.

As Chomsky points out, the idea of exceptionalism is universal to empires throughout history - the Japanese were bringing an "earthly paradise" to the Chinese during the Rape of Nanking; the French were on a "civilising mission" while committing genocide in Africa etc etc.

I know I am coming across as a little harsh, but the idea of "exceptionalism" is truely dangerous and needs to be kept firmly in check.

I found this.It shows how American states compare with other countries by GDP or population. It's from 2009

http://www.economist.com/blogs/daily...ates_countries

Not exactly, I toss these guys a lot of good business, and by good business I mean execs who order from them the night before at the hotel, they're pleased, so next day they order the entire meetings lunch through them.

And they'll come OTP, you just gotta be willing to pay extra. For the right price they'll also go anywhere.

I love living in the south, but God help us if we were our own country (granted based on the flags people fly, a lot of folks still think the "War of Northern Aggression" is still going on...).

I think this has some relevance to your feelings:

This right-wing Second Amendment thumping is really scary. The cops and the military industrial complex obviously have a lot more guns than any organized group of pissed off Americans. DBJ, you seem like a smart guy, but you have admitted to trolling people in other threads (the gun rights thread) and I can't help but think this is the same thing.

Yea seems I am not correct for USA as a whole. Maybe it was true for Louisiana were I spent my exchange year due to gun crime.

So well put.
Also add the fact the country is so divided Republicans/Democrats.

Semi.

I mean in all seriousness, I don't think violence would be required to end the war on drugs, I believe it could be ended peacefully.

However, that being said, I do believe in the original intent of the 2nd Amendment, which is defense from tyrannical government, not to go hunt deer.

Also, last stats I heard, there's like 300M operational guns in the hands of private citizens out there. That's ~1 per citizen, evenly spaced out. In the current state of possession, 50% of US males own a gun.

fyp


go 'merica!

b