But that is not an objective thing, it is an emotive/emotional thing, a feeling of pride and love for your country. So Will might be right that "objectively" there are countries who are also great, but from a feeling, it is wrong, for your feeling it should still be option one, the greatest country ever.
limited or unlimited?
I don't believe USA has ever been the greatest country except to Americans. It's certainly one of if not the most arrogant about "being the greatest" though, that's rarely been in doubt.
The US is, by a wide margin, the most sought immigrant destination in the world.
How many people Emigrate from the EU to the US and how many from the US to the EU?The EU as a whole receives more than double the number of immigrants per annum than the US.
How many people Emigrate from the EU to the US and how many from the US to the EU?
The EU as a whole receives more than double the number of immigrants per annum than the US.
The EU as a whole receives more than double the number of immigrants per annum than the US.
TBH I've never heard claims for the nation being 'the greatest' anywhere other than the US.
Wow! Now that is shocking!No, and yes.
The EU as a whole receives more than double the number of immigrants per annum than the US.
I'll say up front that I didn't view the link - I don't listen to anything celebrities say about politics or world affairs - they are no more relevant to me than "man-on-the-street" interviews.
Secondly, I didn't respond to your poll because I didn't have an option that suited my view. Depends on your definition of "great".
For me, America is a great country - has been, and likely always will be, at least for as long as I'll be alive. But I'm Canadian and I believe Canada is also a great country with remarkable people, stunning and varied landscape, seemingly boundless resources, and a tremendous future. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. That makes Canada the greatest to me.
from? those seeking to escape the middle east subscribe to the idea of "any port in a storm"....
And people are flocking to Bulgaria because it's so receptive to foreigners or what? How many immigrants does the EU permit entry based on a desire to admit them versus how many just come in because they're fleeing war or famine?
I think we have a long and dishonourable history of claiming to be the best in the world for many years. And there is of course the word "Great" in "Great Britain" which endures. But I have to hand it to the USA - it's definitely the best and claiming to the best in the world, judging by this thread. Here's my (slightly-biased) best in the world list:Then the answer should be obvious by now. I mean, if you don't think you're great then you're probably not.
I don't believe USA has ever been the greatest country except to Americans. It's certainly one of if not the most arrogant about "being the greatest" though, that's rarely been in doubt.
Yes it is. Glad to help.I think we have a long and dishonourable history of claiming to be the best in the world for many years. And there is of course the word "Great" in "Great Britain" which endures. But I have to hand it to the USA - it's definitely the best and claiming to the best in the world, judging by this thread. Here's my (slightly-biased) best in the world list:
Democracy - Scandinavian countries - New Zealand/Switzerland
Food - France - Thailand
Style - Italy - don't know what that is
Music - Austria - eh? you mean Mozart, Haydn and Mahler? How about something from the past century. Conchita Wurst?
Pomp and ceremony - UK - Vatican City?
Sitcoms - USA - they got anything to rival Fawlty Towers or Blackadder? Don't think so.
Wine - very hard to choose and USA is up there (UK is not) - Chile, Spain, France, Australia, Argentina, USA - tough call.
Sports - UK - Australia, SpainThere was a time when Spain simultaneously held the world championship in basketball, Formula One, Motorcycling, Cycling, Football and had World No.1 in tennis.
Cars - Japan - Germany, surely. Not by quantity, but quality
Washing machines - Germany - Korea - LG and Samsung can't be beaten
That's enough for now!
Hey I am Dutch and I love/respect a lot of things the US was and is to itself, it's citizens and to the world as a whole. I may love my own country more but any self respecting person should be saying that of his/her own country.
And yes, sadly politicians in the US think that a limited bit of sharing the wealth around is an evil and bad word. Taxes is a curse word and local government use proceeds from tickets and court fines to balance their budgets because they do not have the guts to do it the proper way around, by taxes, fees and balancing the budget.
Thank you. Seriously, thank you. I did watch the video and I couldn't really argue with what he said, though I still have no clue as to where he stands on the issue or what he thinks went wrong. I do want for all to be able to say they live in the best place for them and that they love it wherever it is. That is a great thing. If all seven billion people on Earth looked for the same thing as the ideal, some place is going to be really crowded.
So for me, the United States is the greatest country because I don't want to live anywhere else. I couldn't answer the poll because 'greatest' means so many different things to everybody.
At the same time, I have already lived a long life and have a lot more of it behind me than I can expect to be ahead. And I can remember when just about everybody, black, white, brown, other, saw this as the land of opportunity and possibilities and we weren't afraid of much of anything. I can remember when we expected good old fashioned American hard work, ingenuity, and resourcefulness to solve our problems and did not expect or want the government to do much about that. For me, that was a much better time in America.
I do think we Americans lost some of our greatness when we exchanged a live and let live attitude for so much judgmentalism, blame, partisanship, and expectation for others to provide what we want. Such has always existed, but it was very limited 50-60 years ago. I think we lost a lot of greatness when so many started giving the responsibility to government to order society instead of doing that ourselves and, IMO, that is when we started losing so much ground in all those stats he rattled off in that video whether he got them exactly right or not. He was speaking extemporaneously so can be forgiven if he got some of the numbers wrong. He is right that we have lost a lot of ground.
But I still don't want to live anywhere else.
Most people from outside the USA are not going to agree with any American that America is objectively the "greatest country" in the world, if it is sincerely believed. You just open yourself to being knocked down on an endless number of issues. Sure, be proud of your country, and I'll be proud of mine. I can also admire your country, but I won't bother telling you what I admire about it if you keep telling me that it's the best.I don't think you understand why America is great. We originally became the economic and technological giant we are because our system is, or at least was based more on free enterprise then socialism. Our success is based on realizing that economics is not a "zero sum game". Raising taxes is not and should not be the default method of creating more tax revenue to run a government. There have been at least three times in my lifetime that lowering taxes has resulted in more tax revenue.
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