Do all you fellow Americans appreciate this wonderful country and it's freedom that we share?

Question

It's not perfect but I think it's a darn good place to live. I don't want to live anywhere else. I think it's great the freedoms we have and the rights we share. How many other Americans out there agree with me?

Answer 1

America is a great country, there is no denying that. But let's be real for a moment. America has the same freedom as Canada, most of Europe and Australia. That's a crapload of other places with similar freedoms.

The biggest problem I have with this blind love for America is that it can mask some of the social and economic problems we have and make people too complacent to fix them. Here are some examples:

1) America is 33rd in the world for infant mortality, because we don't have a universal health care system. The rate among African Americans is close to some third world countries.
2) We don't have a proper news service in this country, so many Americans are woefully under-informed about the world around them.
3) We have not increased minimum wage since 1997, making the rich/poor divide wider than ever before.
4) We give our employees less paid vacation than most of Europe, often half what they get.
5) Apart from Australia and Japan we are one of the hardest working countries in the world (in terms of weekly work hours), meaning less family time and more stress.
6) In most states workers have almost no real rights.
7) The law is draconian in many areas and is dictated by corporations. In California you can go to jail for using a camcorder in a movie theater. If a landlord steals cable and gives it to his residents he can go to jail for longer than if he raped one of his tenants.
8) We have more people in jail per capita than any other civilized country.
9) Our higher education is so inaccessible to the poor that many are prepared to sign up into the armed forces just to get an education. In effect they have to risk dying in a war zone just to get an education. Many other countries provide free education for their citizens.
10) We talk about supporting our troops and veterans, yet we are continually cutting back on benefits and funding for actual help for them.
11) Our media is more censored than most civilized countries in terms of language and sex, yet is far more graphic in terms of violence.
12) Our homicide rate per capita is still very high compared to other countries.
13) Our high school education is so bad that in a recent survey 11% of Americans aged between 18 and 24 could not find America on a map of the world.
14) We are getting a reputation around the world for putting people in jail without trial and torturing them indiscriminately.

I know some people will think I am just trying to bash America here, but this is not the case. I love America and love living here. I just get very concerned when I see blind love for a country which seems not to acknowledge that we have problems that need to be addressed. We are a great country, but with the right political will, less corruption and some effort we could be twice as good.

Answer 2

While this is more of a political question I do agree with your sentiments. I think that too many people are jumping on the hate America band wagon. No country has accumulated more power and abused it less than the USA. So Libs put that in your tambourine and whack it.

Answer 3

I actually don't like it. I would prefer a society in which I was not a wage slave. I would prefer a society in which there were not homeless children on street corners and people living in mansions with more rooms than people in the house. I would prefer not to live in a society where some people are worth $6 an hour and others worth $20 million a year.

But that's just me.

Answer 4

You can answer any question that contains the words "Do ALL people" by yourself. The answer is 99.99% of the time-- no.


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Uhm lilmissykato-- Canada does NOT have "free" healthcare and you're fooling yourself if you think any such thing is "free".





"Another Nice Dude"-- nice little dream world there-- it's called communism and in case you didn't know-- it doesn't work.

Answer 5

feel blessed and honored that america is my home and that we do have so much freedom and also am so grateful for the men and woman who serve in the military to help keep it free.

Answer 6

This has nothing to do with religion, but america has the same rights as england and canada..... canada has free health care...... hmmmm.

Answer 7

I'm behind you 100%. It's not perfect, but God has sure blessed us.

Answer 8

God bless America!!

Answer 9

Tell me, what other countries have you been to?

Answer 10

the country is nice. the people in it suck