America was never great

[dnsmith]

Successful in the genocide of the Ukranians, the Great Purge, the invasion of Poland, the butchery of the intellectuals, the forced deportations to Siberia of millions, the enslavement of eastern Europe, among other things....

Estimated Stalin kills range from a low of 10 million to a high of 40+ million.....

Black Book of Communism, Martin Malia suggested a death toll of between 85 and 100 million people.[1]

 

[Fledermaus]

More like 100 million.

Within the Soviet Union and directly because of Stalin most historians go with the 10-40 million...

 

[RetiredNSmilin]

I'm not one of those hyper patriotic types but idiotic things like that make me want to be. Of course America is great. It's the only superpower, we drive global culture and policy, we have the most liberal freedoms.

Objectively America is great.

Well said,...I would also like to add it is US Dollars that have become the universal currency of the world.

I learned this when I was staying at a hostel in Australia, and talked with young people all over the world. They said the first thing they did before their travels is to convert their money into US dollars because it is accepted almost everywhere in the world.

 

[RetiredNSmilin]

The bolded statement is marginal, IMO.

There is no doubt America was the free-est country, and still ranks highly, but she is no longer the leader in many categories.

As a summed whole she's still a good deal, but has specific trouble areas. If you believe the many rankings we see showing the slide are inaccurate, feel free to provide your evidence.

If you don't see real problems with the War on Drugs and NSA usurping your Constitutional rights, I'm not sure what else to say to this effect. There's everyday examples in every day's newspaper stories.

Since I was a kid in the sixties I've seen a never ending litany of government intrusions upon our freedom & liberties. We may be relatively free, but we are not as free as we once were, nor free as we should be!

As another kid of the 60's I have to agree with you 100%.

We were both free to ride our bikes all over our neighborhood with no issues at all. Not so today.
No kid got killed for their tennis shoes.
No kid got killed in a driveby.
I played with my toy guns all day long with my friends outside and not one of us got shot by a cop.
A "nickel bag" was a small plastic bag of BBs I could buy at 7-11 for 5 cents.

However...(and I am sure you can back me up on this, Chomsky)

We only had three (3) TV channels and all were in black & white.
If the phone rang and you were not home...you missed the call.
Nekkid natives in National Geographic & the Sears underwear section was the closest thing to porn I ever got.
What is this thing called "air conditioning?".

Every time and era has its tradeoffs.

I will take the present as the best time of my life.

 

[Chomsky]

As another kid of the 60's I have to agree with you 100%.

We were both free to ride our bikes all over our neighborhood with no issues at all. Not so today.
No kid got killed for their tennis shoes.
No kid got killed in a driveby.
I played with my toy guns all day long with my friends outside and not one of us got shot by a cop.
A "nickel bag" was a small plastic bag of BBs I could buy at 7-11 for 5 cents.

However...(and I am sure you can back me up on this, Chomsky)

We only had three (3) TV channels and all were in black & white.
If the phone rang and you were not home...you missed the call.
Nekkid natives in National Geographic & the Sears underwear section was the closest thing to porn I ever got.
What is this thing called "air conditioning?".

Every time and era has its tradeoffs.

I will take the present as the best time of my life.

Amen to the bolded!

So,

No color TV.
No cable.
No internet.
No cell phones.
No air-conditioning.

What *ever* did we do then? And on hot summer nights?

As a family we hung-out on our porches, stoops, or at the parks - and sipped cool drinks while we talked to our neighbors and got to know and help each other, thereby establishing a sense of community!

And how did we *ever* keep ourselves amused?

We read books, learned musical instruments, picked-up a hobby, played cards or board-games, but most importantly: used our c-r-e-a-t-i-v-i-t-y!

It wasn't so bad at all, I think. :thumbs:

 

[Hypothetical]

I didn't say it was unique

what is somewhat unique is the system we have in place which allows us to correct those wrongs, and espouses the freedoms the people above all else.

 

[americanwoman]

The same can be said for those who cite slavery, Native genocide and other atrocities that happened centuries ago and completely ignoring the amazing leaps this country has made to becoming a country where people of all races, gender and lifestyle are equal and free. Of course we still have our problems - we'll never be perfect -- but America IS a great country, for the most part.

Free and equal? Until a gay Christian wants to join a Christian dating website eh? Then who cares about equality, it's cool to discriminate.

 

[nota bene]

No one has taken rights away from women. Women now have rights in excess of men.

Oh, please. :roll:

 

[Henrin]

Oh, please. :roll:

They actually kind of do.

1. Women have the legal right to opt out of parenthood, while men do not.
2. Women have the legal right to bodily integrity, while men do not. For example, Involuntary FGM is banned, while involuntary MGM is not.
3. Women get preferential treatment in family court.
4. Women are now in areas of the military and yet still not required to sign up for the draft.
5. Women get lesser sentences than men for the same crime.
6. Women get more services by the state.

 

[tres borrachos]

Andie
‏@hrystyIes
#AmericaWasNeverGreat for women, for black women, for black men, for black people, queer black people, and queer POC, and POC women/men

(tweeted this morning)

Luffy Fiasco @ErrareAngelus
#AmericaWasNeverGreat for anyone not straight, white, male. Congrats on escaping UK just to implement the same ****.

tweeted just now

Andie is an idiot. I'm a woman, and America has been great for me. $50 says if you ask the black fellow sitting in the Oval Office today and he's say America's been pretty good. I'll bet the black woman named Oprah who owns the media world is pretty happy with her nickzillions of dollars and fame and fortune.

 

[tres borrachos]

I mean if you were a rich white christian heterosexual male... then yeah its been pretty great otherwise no not at all.

Mind-bendingly stupid.

 

[Andalublue]

I don't know what he thinks is, but I believe it is governmental usurping rights of the constitution, judicial legislation, and especially over looking the 2nd, 9th and 10th amendments.

That's not what I asked him. I asked what his personal contribution to America's greatness and/or decline has been. Unsurprisingly, I've had no response.

 

[Andalublue]

Andie is an idiot. I'm a woman, and America has been great for me. $50 says if you ask the black fellow sitting in the Oval Office today and he's say America's been pretty good. I'll bet the black woman named Oprah who owns the media world is pretty happy with her nickzillions of dollars and fame and fortune.

Yet still no one, not Andie, not Luffy Fiasco, not Josie...no one has defined what they actually mean by 'great'. What the hell does it mean?

 

[Henrin]

What makes a country great in the first place? Anyway, I think a country that doesn't even follow it's own law and has a considerable amount of citizens advocating the government fail to uphold its constitution is good for only being put down.

 

[Henrin]

I mean if you were a rich white christian heterosexual male... then yeah its been pretty great otherwise no not at all.

Since we're going for full butthurt, you forgot cis-gender.

 

[tres borrachos]

Yet still no one, not Andie, not Luffy Fiasco, not Josie...no one has defined what they actually mean by 'great'. What the hell does it mean?

It means whatever you want it to mean. That's like asking why someone thinks Disneyworld is great. Some like the weather. Some like the rides. Some like the food. Some think Orlando is the living end. Some enjoy hugging people in costumes. Some like the water rides. Some like the Tower of Terror.

There is no answer to your question because there are many answers and each one is a personal reason.

 

[Casper]

That's not what I asked him. I asked what his personal contribution to America's greatness and/or decline has been. Unsurprisingly, I've had no response.

Because you do not deserve one.

 

[Andalublue]

It means whatever you want it to mean. That's like asking why someone thinks Disneyworld is great. Some like the weather. Some like the rides. Some like the food. Some think Orlando is the living end. Some enjoy hugging people in costumes. Some like the water rides. Some like the Tower of Terror.

There is no answer to your question because there are many answers and each one is a personal reason.

Thank you. I completely agree, hence claiming that one country or another is 'the greatest' is just school-yard nonsense. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to stop so many of these navel-gazing burblings.

 

[Andalublue]

Because you do not deserve one.

In other words, "I've got nothing".

 

[Tigerace117]

What makes a country great in the first place? Anyway, I think a country that doesn't even follow it's own law and has a considerable amount of citizens advocating the government fail to uphold its constitution is good for only being put down.

Sure bud. I'll be sure to send the secret police to your house once America collapses. Would you prefer the Chinese or Russian variation?

 

[Casper]

In other words, "I've got nothing".

Correct: You have nothing.

 

[Henrin]

Sure bud. I'll be sure to send the secret police to your house once America collapses. Would you prefer the Chinese or Russian variation?

We had politicians sitting on the floor of the house demanding they be allowed to violate the second amendment not that long ago. We have states and the federal government looking for loopholes around the second amendment pretty much constantly. We have a federal government that will not be prosecuting a woman that released top secret information even if it is illegal to do. We have politician in office right now that didn't get arrested or even punished when he didn't pay his taxes. The supreme court quite literally changed the ACA and stated as a justification that it was always meant to be there. We have a supreme court that is perfectly fine with cops breaking the law if they had a warrant first. We have numerous laws and agencies that violate several amendments along with human rights like the right to privacy. Yet here we are talking about how the country is great.

 

[calamity]

The hashtag #AmericaWasNeverGreat is popular on Twitter today. Do you agree that there's nothing great about America and there never has been anything great about America?

No.

I think America is great. I also believe it is more great now than it was back when Blacks had to use separate facilities, women were chained to the kitchen and gays had to hide in closets.

 

[gdgyva]

See, this is the kind of shallow, fake, myopic patriotism that annoys people like me. Mindlessly vomiting the catch phrases without really considering them. Founded on inalienable rights? Sure. If you were white, male, and a landowner. The rest had to wait a bit. We're the greatest because FREEDOM? Like 90% of the world's countries have freedom. To steal from a comedian: in Amsterdam I can bang a hooker while smoking weed in front of a police officer. Now that's freedom right there.

What I'm saying is, "has freedom" doesn't make us stand out from the crowd.

our founders may have omitted some in writing the original documents....

the fact that it took women till the 20th century to vote is just one oversight

wrongs can, and have for the most part been righted in this country

are we perfect? far from it....as the line from a famous song says, "we have miles yet to go"

but, i wouldnt want to live anywhere else while we get those things fixed

we still are the place where you can go from rags to riches in one generation

we are still the place where opportunities abound for those willing to work and bust their ass

and we are still the biggest dog on the planet, with teeth that can bite when needed

perfect? no way.....a great country and getter better.....you bet

 

[American]

First, I don't even agree that you're portraying the hashtag accurately. You've extrapolated it into "there has never been anything great about America." Silly.

It's trending because angry idiots are mad that it exists in the first place. Like 99% of the (most recent) posts are "IF YA DONT LIKE IT GIT OUT HURF DURF." You are the reason its trending.

Of course you wouldn't agree with her, because it's people on your side that would put this **** out there looking like huge haters. Michelle Obama is probably one of these type that would support a hashtag like that, because it wasn't till her husband became Prez that she was proud of America. ****ing shameful. The hate America crowd is totally Left, and other countries. Own it!