I am not conservative. I am not liberal.

I am fiercely proud of my country. I believe it is unique in the present and unique viewed through the lens of history.

Let's discuss the exceptional aspects of the United States of America ITT.

4/17/2010 11:02:24 PM

We have pretty sweet reality shows.

4/17/2010 11:09:43 PM

I am woman, hear me roar?

4/17/2010 11:16:26 PM

We can dumb down Japanese games pretty well.

4/17/2010 11:19:31 PM

We have the best movie riffers.

4/17/2010 11:23:39 PM

We have the fattest fatties.

4/17/2010 11:36:00 PM

We have the largest Limbaughs.

4/17/2010 11:38:40 PM

We invented crack.

4/17/2010 11:39:05 PM

This thread has not turned out the way I had planned.

4/17/2010 11:39:31 PM

we invent awesome shit - like pizza, spaghetti, tacos, and sushi - america fuck yeah!

4/17/2010 11:43:05 PM

We have the awesomeist threadskews.

4/17/2010 11:43:10 PM

We will beat the shit out of you in Halo.

4/17/2010 11:46:23 PM

4/17/2010 11:46:34 PM

Our Doctor Who is better than their Doctor Who.









... wait, am I doing it wrong?

4/17/2010 11:47:39 PM

suck it, world

4/17/2010 11:49:02 PM

I think we made him mad.

4/17/2010 11:59:39 PM

^^ ALL PROTEIN ALL THE TIME


POWERTHIRST

4/18/2010 12:02:46 AM

but you know, in a way, the responses in this thread still embody the american spirit.


i'm proud of my nation and its sassy ways

4/18/2010 12:34:16 AM

You can't pull us back on topic that easily.

4/18/2010 12:35:57 AM

4/18/2010 1:02:22 AM

correction in light of the posts in this thread:

Quote :

"but you know, in a way, the responses in this thread still embody the american spirit. i'm proud of my nation and its sassy fatty ways"

4/18/2010 4:39:08 AM

free refills

Quote :

"END OF THREAD"

4/18/2010 6:55:35 AM

Jazz, Hip-Hop, I'd say we get most of the credit for rock

We have some of the best (and most) standup comedians in the world. We lead in plenty of sciences. We're also pretty race-conscious and have come a long way with respect to race relations; just look at the bullshit in France, Denmark, Italy, etc lately for evidence of that.

We have the best beer in the world, hands down. Highest highs and the most variety, I'd be willing to bet my bottom dollar on that.

Fucking blue jeans. Going to the motherfucking moon. Internet.

4/18/2010 8:55:03 AM

We set the most land speed records.

4/18/2010 11:17:15 AM

We have the most Texans. God help us.

4/18/2010 11:22:18 AM

We invented sexting.

4/18/2010 11:55:17 AM

I don't "get" national pride. If you say you're proud of your country, does it mean you're proud of everyone in it, even the idiots and violent criminals? If not, are you only proud of the good people, while conveniently ignoring the bad ones? Or are you just appealing to some vague notion of patriotism or "the spirit and resolve" of the American people?

4/18/2010 1:12:26 PM

It's all about winning the war against "them," dude.

4/18/2010 1:17:24 PM

why is a father proud of his children? Are they really so much better than every other child? If pride in something was merited only on the base qualities of that thing, then he should be proud of some other children that are more intelligent, kind, and successful than his.

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 1:45 PM. Reason : s]

4/18/2010 1:44:14 PM

Quote :

"I don't "get" national pride. If you say you're proud of your country, does it mean you're proud of everyone in it, even the idiots and violent criminals? If not, are you only proud of the good people, while conveniently ignoring the bad ones? Or are you just appealing to some vague notion of patriotism or "the spirit and resolve" of the American people?"

Taking pride in your community can mean being dedicated to improving it. It's not always empty chest-thumping. It can be about identifying with the people around you and working with them to make things better.

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 2:13 PM. Reason : Sometimes, working in spite of them.]

4/18/2010 1:44:28 PM

^^ in this case, i think there's a pretty strong case that it's also pride in merit. that doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of faults, but holy shit, it's pretty tough to argue that America doesn't rock.

I've been to all but about 10 states (lived in 4 of them, including both coasts), and probably about 10 other countries. There are plenty of people better-traveled than I am, but I feel like I've seen enough to form a solid opinion. I like almost every place I've been (except Mexico...everything I saw there was shitty, but they have some cool stuff that I just haven't personally been to). Hell, even the middle eastern countries I've been to have plenty of things to like.

That said, America rocks, dude. If you think otherwise, either you just haven't seen enough of America, haven't seen enough of the rest of the world, or are an idiot...or some combination of those three.

There's TONS of natural beauty in the States, and wide varieties of it. the beaches of the south and gulf coasts, the Appalachians in the fall, NC's Outer Banks with horses running around on them, the Rockies & Cascades, red rock hills in AZ and UT, painted desert, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Black Hills in SD, Yellowstone, the Everglades, Badlands. FL Keys. Holy shit, dude, what more do you want?

You like cities? We've got cities. Badass ones, in fact. Hell, we've even got New York Motherfuckin' City...it's the city by which all cities are measured. There might be bigger ones, but there is nothing more impressive when it comes to cities.

Culture? We sure as shit have a bunch of culture-less buffoons who strive valiantly to reject any semblance of culture other than whatever flavor of 3rd-class trash they are...but I challenge you to find any other country with a wider variety of cultures. By definition, you can't. We have fuckin' all of 'em...and even if you just want to count the ones we have in significant proportion, that would handily defeat any other country I can think of. On top of all that, our culture is--by orders of magnitude--the most widely emulated and influential culture on the planet. I just saw a Krispy Kreme in Doha, Qatar...and let's not even start on McDonalds. Music? The whole world listens to our music. Soviets were sneaking that shit under the Iron Curtain. Movies? We make pretty much all of them. The whole world wears our clothes. They don't always get the emulation of our culture exactly right, but it sure as hell isn't for lack of trying (and it often has some humorous results).

You like money? We've got money. We've got so much damn money that even our poor people are fat. Hell, they're fatter than the rich people. We're so rich that what we consider destitute would pass for "pretty well off" in a whole lot of places. We're the financial yardstick of the world. Hell, we're such a financial monster that we can sit here in debt up to our eyeballs, and the rest of the world takes our dollars--on credit, even--just because they're dollars.

Military might? Jesus, talk about having something in spades. We do dumb shit with it sometimes, but we do great stuff with it sometimes, too...and at any rate, nobody else even has the option on the table the way we do.

We invented the airplane, the mass-produced automobile, the first airplane to break the sound barrier. First to fly across the Atlantic. First to fly around the world nonstop & non-refueled. Invented the Internet...invented GPS...We had motherfuckers WALKING AROUND ON THE MOON over FORTY YEARS AGO...just because we could.

Technology? Still the world leader. We have tons of awesome scientists, researchers, and engineers, plus a bunch of everyone else's.

Education? There are a few (relative to the entire world) countries with better education systems at the grade school level, but look at our universities. Harvard, Yale, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Duke, Princeton. Even our 2nd-tier universities are pretty impressive, and there are TONS of them.

Economic and personal freedom? As we all know, I'm an advocate for more of both, and don't like the directions we've taken with either, but in the grand scheme of things, we're pretty good.

We've got Madison Avenue, Hollywood, Wall Street, Times Square, Playboy, Las Vegas, a mountain that we dynamited to look like our Presidents, Disney World, Disney Land, Bonneville Salt Flats,...you name it. We brought you both hippies and cowboys, the Corvette, Harley-Davidson, pickup truck, Woodstock, Google, Microsoft AND Apple.

We pretty much kick ass in the Olympics. We invented baseball and basketball, and we have football, Indy cars and NASCAR, plus most of the sports the rest of the world has.



There are plenty of countries that are better than us in one or two regards, but there's nowhere that competes across the board. I love to travel. I enjoy pretty much everywhere I go, and have great respect for pretty much everywhere I go. Yep, even the places I've been deployed to...they have plenty of things to hate, but they have things to like and/or be intrigued by, too. I'm not advocating a cocky, holier-than-thou attitude...and I will be among the first to acknowledge (and complain about) our numerous faults...but you're a fucking moron if you don't recognize that the United States is pretty damned exceptional, and you're fortunate beyond your wildest dreams for lucking out and being born in it.



[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 2:48 PM. Reason : ]

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 3:19 PM. Reason : ]

4/18/2010 2:21:57 PM

^ there's all that, and there's also the idea that McDanger referenced (although he couldn't bring himself to admit a love of country, just love of "community") that comes about from contributing to its success.

I'm sure that those of us who voluntarily and actively contribute feel a sense of raw pride simply because we've had a hand (albeit small) in our country's success.

4/18/2010 2:31:20 PM

I didnt get a 'harrumph' outta that guy

4/18/2010 2:31:24 PM

^^^ AGREED!

Just some technical nitpicking:

Quote :

"Movies? We make pretty much all of them."

India makes 3x as many movies as Hollywood every year. And if you combine the rest of the world, you will get another 1x Hollywood.

However, your unstated point is valid in that when it comes to money made, Hollywood is FAAAAAAAAAAAR ahead of all the other film industries combined. In terms of viewership, of course if we look at our generation and below, probably Hollywood movies are the most watched, even more than the others combined. And this trend will only continue. (if you count viewers of all ages, than Hollywood won't be #1)

4/18/2010 2:56:26 PM

Quote :

"We invented baseball and basketball"

I was going to call BS, since James Naismith was Canadian, but he invented the game in Massachusetts.

theDuke866 makes very excellent points.

4/18/2010 3:06:58 PM

Being an "American exceptionalist", thinking that America is in a class of one, is no sin or anything to be ashamed of. It doesn't mean that you think that you're better than anyone else. The real sin--the real thing to be ashamed of--is not recognizing and/or refusing to acknowledge how fantastic of a place you live in, and how the vast majority of the rest of the world would do almost anything to trade places with you. That's not some America-centric view of the world...that's just reality.

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 3:14 PM. Reason : ^^ interesting, and noted...though i maintain--and i think you'd agree--that my point stands]

4/18/2010 3:09:18 PM

I don't know what the fuck is going on in this thread

But no one really knows who "invented" baseball

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 3:56 PM. Reason : bseablal]

4/18/2010 3:56:04 PM

I too support America. And to prove it I have some friends who are Americans.

And also here's a pic of me in front of an America flag.

4/18/2010 4:11:49 PM

We help you up after we get done kicking your ass. That's an exceptional level of polite. We fought England twice and now we're all warm and fuzzy. We fought Germany twice, then immediately protected them from the Commies and readmitted them to the human race. We nuked Japan and then promised to protect them forever, and taught them how to make a decent car.

Find me another country with comparable communities representing people from every single point of origin on Earth.. In a dump like Greensboro, North Carolina you can see big groups of Vietnamese, Mexicans, and Greeks before lunch. Drive to Raleigh and find masses of Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Arabs and Africans of various stripes. And stop in Cary if you want to hang out with white people from England, Scotland, and France. And all of this is in a relatively backwards state with no major port of entry that's about as far as you can get in the Continental U.S. from another country.

4/18/2010 4:25:11 PM

There are at least hundreds, and maybe thousands, of Afghan Jews in America.

You know how many are in Afghanistan?

One.

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 4:41 PM. Reason : sometimes i think we totally kick ass despite ourselves, though]

4/18/2010 4:41:08 PM

so for starters

-you're proud of slavery
-you're pround of the trail of tears and driving natives out in general
-you're proud of using the bomb...twice
-you're pround of pinochet, bin laden and several dictators

supporting america and wanting it to be the best it can be is one thing but being proud of it insinuates some sort of content or approval with everything it has done. I love my students but I am proud of them after putting in hard work and getting a good grade. I am not proud of them if they cheat to get 100 on a quiz, even though I still love them.

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 4:49 PM. Reason : don't confuse love with pride. don't be content. ]

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 4:50 PM. Reason : IM ASHAMED OF AMERICA]

4/18/2010 4:46:16 PM

I'm proud that our country still thrives and utterly dominates the world due the merits of many others, despite there being people in our country who somehow slipped through the university system and go on to teach our nation's youth, without even the slightest capacity for rational thought or reading comprehension.

4/18/2010 4:55:03 PM

Quote :

"supporting america and wanting it to be the best it can be is one thing but being proud of it insinuates some sort of content or approval with everything it has done."

Everyone makes mistakes. I guess that means you can never be proud of any child that has ever gotten angry and broken a toy or a vase or said a bad word?

4/18/2010 5:10:41 PM

I wasn't even talking to you but now that you've got your panties all into a bunch thinking I was, I'll go ahead and keep it from being a waste.

Quote :

"There's TONS of natural beauty in the States, and wide varieties of it. the beaches of the south and gulf coasts, the Appalachians in the fall, NC's Outer Banks with horses running around on them, the Rockies & Cascades, red rock hills in AZ and UT, painted desert, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Black Hills in SD, Yellowstone, the Everglades, Badlands. FL Keys. Holy shit, dude, what more do you want?"

all of which was stolen either directly or indirectly. Its great sure, but nothing to brag about seeing how we obtained it and how we've treated much of it. We've destroyed much of this nations natural beauty.

Quote :

"The whole world wears our clothes. "

False. Thats funny seeing how I just watched a documentary on the subject last week. Since ronald regan, we've made less and less of our own clothes and now only like 5% of our clothes are made here

Quote :

"We've got so much damn money that even our poor people are fat."

That would be food. We've got so much fertile land to produce excess food that our poor people are fat. We make enough food to feed every starving person on the planet but then we burn excess food because it would cost money to donate it

Quote :

"and the rest of the world takes our dollars--on credit, even--just because they're dollars"

this is changing. the dollar is being slowly phased out of international trade.

Quote :

"Education?"

our education system is a joke when compared to other modernized nations. a joke.

Quote :

"We've got Madison Avenue, Hollywood, Wall Street, Times Square, Playboy, Las Vegas, a mountain that we dynamited to look like our Presidents, Disney World, Disney Land, Bonneville Salt Flats,...you name it. We brought you both hippies and cowboys, the Corvette, Harley-Davidson, pickup truck, Woodstock, Google, Microsoft AND Apple."

half of these are evil

Quote :

"We pretty much kick ass in the Olympics. We invented baseball and basketball, and we have football, Indy cars and NASCAR, plus most of the sports the rest of the world has. "

we suck at the premier global sport and our former slaves kickass in the olympics RARW!

and we brag about turning destroying the environment by burning fuel into sports.


In conclusion, I love america and am thankful to live in the situation I'm in. I also intend to continue moving it in the right direction but I am ashamed of our history and the fact that we got to where we are by stealing everything we have and we maintained our status at the topfor so long by stepping on everyone below us.

Right now we are only #1 in military which is an evil thing so the only thing there is to be proud of is that we are number one in entertainment. Several countries have surpassed us in quality of life, environmental impact and finance.

Its time we pay back what we owe the rest of the earth by starting to take care of our own people, land, and environment and stop meddling with other countries.

I'm thankful of where we are-ashamed of how we got here but I hope to be proud of where we will go.

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 5:30 PM. Reason : if the child becomes something noble, I'll be proud of it otherwise, I will just love it.]

Quote :

"Everyone makes mistakes. I guess that means you can never be proud of any child that has ever gotten angry and broken a toy or a vase or said a bad word?"

These aren't mistakes. We have a history of unrelenting systematic injustices.

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 5:32 PM. Reason : now we need to right our wrongs]

V
Not easy for americans to see the ugly truth considering history books glorify all the ugly things we've done and the propoganda machine constantly instills in our children USA#1 USA#1 USA#1

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 5:41 PM. Reason : V I know its a very hard pill to swallow v]

4/18/2010 5:28:29 PM

^ most of that was idiotic nonsense. Try again, this time with actual facts.

4/18/2010 5:33:09 PM

Don't ask her to try again, it'll just fill the page with something else just as stupid as that last post.

[Edited on April 18, 2010 at 5:36 PM. Reason : .]

4/18/2010 5:36:26 PM

Of course she needs to try again, we need even lore LOLs in this thread.

4/18/2010 5:40:19 PM

Snapped this shot about a year ago in Boston out behind the Old North Church.

4/18/2010 5:49:39 PM

Quote :

"False. Thats funny seeing how I just watched a documentary on the subject last week. Since ronald regan, we've made less and less of our own clothes and now only like 5% of our clothes are made here"

Just pointing out that you misunderstood him here. I believe he meant that the whole world wears the American style of clothes. theDuke is not ignorant... the whole world knows that 90% of the world's clothes are made in China or India.

4/18/2010 5:57:59 PM

so the whole world is really just trying to be like Iraq since they invented civilization. They win.

4/18/2010 6:12:52 PM