Is the US the greatest nation the world has ever seen, hands down? Or are there things we can approve upon based on the example of other countries?
No, I don't believe the USA is the greatest nation the world has ever seen. Over the millennia, great empires have risen, lasted centuries, then fallen. In their time, many were greater, more powerful, more encompassing than the USA. Can we improve based on the examples of other countries? Sure we could. We could learn a lot about covering even the poorest with adequate healthcare, we could also learn the dangers of runaway cradle-to-grave welfare systems that have begun to bankrupt some European nations.
I'll take flack for this, but I admire the UK's CCTV system. I know, I know, a lot of Americans scream "privacy!!!" but when one is out and about in public, there is no legal expectation of privacy in a public place, and CCTV's crime fighting/solving value is immeasurable. Someday, probably in this century, each child born will have DNA posted in the global population data base, and I think that's a great thing.
America can learn about the pitfalls of expansionism, over-aggressive "imperialism" (for lack of a better word), and militarily meddling in the affairs of others by emulating policies of our European neighbors, who have already learned the hard way lessons that we don't seem to believe will apply to us.
Anyway, don't want this to be too wordy, so I'll shut it down before I start to ramble. On the Poll I selected Heath, Drugs, Prison and Other.
