America is a bad country?

Question

In a recent question, "laotzu4272" said outright what I believe a lot of people think: (quote) "...without America the world would be a better place." How pathetic. Here are a few truths:
1) America was the main power that defeated Nazi Germany
2) America wrote a constitution with a bill of rights at a time when the world was ruled by Czars, Kings, and Emporers
3) Americans give more to charities AROUND THE WORLD than all other peoples combined

If you want to meet people who like America, try a Starbucks in Beijing, Cellphones allow fishermen in poor countries to check the market price for their catch. It’s U.S. military power that helps keep order in the world. Overwhelming U.S. might is what keeps the oil flowing. Oil is the lifeblood of every nation’s economy, and without it they’d collapse. America has waded into trouble spots—Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia—where others fear to tread; not because it had anything to gain, but because it wanted to restore order and get out.

Meantime, American-style democracy is spreading—look at Central and South America. In one generation, that continent has undergone an astonishing transformation from dictatorships to democracies. Democracy (even if only in name) is now the form of government preferred by most people in the world. People today aren’t just richer than their grandfathers, they have more political power, too.

But perhaps the greatest gift from the United States to the rest of the world is its enormous dynamism, inventive genius and human talent. From cellphones and the mainstreaming of the Internet to life-saving medicines, America is the motherlode of transformative technologies. It attracts and nurtures the best in nearly every field, turning knowledge into new products and processes that enrich our lives. It’s the place where a geeky university dropout became the richest man on the globe and then decided to give US$25 billion away.These stories are not fashionable, but they're true.

Comments anyone?

Answer 1

I too think the best of America is it's people. The common man in America will reach out and help whomever he can....the common man in America is at his best when things are at their worst....the common man in American is the one the rest of the world relies upon to do what is right. Now if we could only rid ourselves of the the criminals in our government, we would be paradise.

Answer 2

I'm a bit biased, since without America, a large chunk of my family would still be second class citizens in a Japanese colony, but I still have great love for the U.S.

Even if I criticize the place now and then, that's one of the best things about the country--I can criticize anyone I want here!

There's an old joke that goes like this:
An American and a Soviet are debating the relative merits of their two countries. The American boasts, "In my country, I can stand outside the White House and insult the American president!"
The Soviet counters, "Same in my country. I, too, can stand on the steps of the Kremlin and insult the American president."



Plus America has by far the best university system in the world, as well as some of the best economic conditions. There aren't many other places I would want to live.


Those who say America is an uninhabitable hellhole are generally those who haven't seen anywhere outside of the country. Try living in Eastern Europe for a while (as I did, though not for very long) and then say that America is such a bad place. Every country has its problems, but we tend to focus on our own.

Answer 3

I think too many people do not distinguish between persons, and a people. America is not Bush. No matter how much you hate the individual, he is no the country. I believe that there is both good and bad in everything. The statement ""...without America the world would be a better place." " is absurd for many reasons. First and most importantly, is that this is reality we have, and we have no way of knowing that it would be better if America didn't ever exist That is a very arrogant statement. Many of the greatest technological advancements came from America. I do agree yes, alot of bad has been done in the past, but this is true of every modern country.

Answer 4

i'm sorry but american is not the all perfect nation you think it is. We by choice are a lazy, violent nation . We have higher murder rates then any other country in the world and more violent crimes. We put out 32% of the world's carbon dioxide into the atomsphere. More then any other country. We're so in debt there is no way we will ever get out of it. Our government pretty much is a dictatorship. We can't even offer gay and lesbian citizens the right to just be equal cause this country is full of bigots. I think the whole country needs a huge overhall. So what if we invented a bunch of crap look at the big picture people.

Answer 5

The USoA has done some wonderful things in the world (already listed in this thread), it also has done some rather evil things (Hiroshima comes to mind). I don't think the world would be a better place, just a different place. I do, however, think it's arrogance to assume that simply because it comes from the USoA that it is better and that everyone else will want it. Or even, that they need it. I think on a whole the American population is made up of good people. Unfortunately the people who perform the actions that create the world's perceptions of the USoA aren't always good people.

Answer 6

There is a lot that is wrong with America, I'm sure you'll agree with me. But calling it a bad place, and saying it would be better without is a bit extreme.

So you guys have your fake President, huge gun crime rates, and education's nearly dead...

But everyone I've ever spoken to from America has been loving, caring and quite charming. Not to mention the accent(s) is so cute.

It shows how the actions of the few get placed upon the many.

Answer 7

Buddy, who do you think put the dictators into power in South and Central America. Why do you think people are so angry at America in those Countries.As for that idiocy about Oil. Anybody who tries to trade Oil in anything but US dollars gets invaded. Saddam was not attacked because he killed a few Kurds. He was attacked because he offered to sell his county's oil to Europe using Euros instead of US Dollars.
The Iranians did not revolt to put Khomeini into power. They revolted to get rid of a US supported Dictator called Reza Shah Pahlavi who used USA trained death squads to rule by terror. Pahlavi came to power in a US sponsored coup against their democratic government.
They made the mistake as a Democratic self governing nation of creating a national oil industry and selling their own oil instead of giving it to USA.
If you look at every American Supported government in Central America and the middle East over the past 60 years it will be a dictator ship or a military outpost. Israel is the largest single recipient of foreign aid and gets more than all of Africa does. It is also a military camp serving US policy in the Middle East.
You likely really are ignorant enough about your country's history to actually believe what you posted, and that is frightening.

Answer 8

America has it flaws and its culture has become blind to the world's pain. BUT it's still a damn good concept! And you're right. America has been kicking *** since 1776. We get off course sometimes, but over all we are a good group of people.

Answer 9

You know, we started off with the good ideals, and the desire to do the right thing by the rest of the world, by got corrupted by the power we wield as a country.

We're not bad...yet.

Answer 10

You might bear in mind that America has also meddled in the governments of other sovereign nations, installing puppet governments, and then removing them when they were no longer useful. America has also fomented war between Colombia and Panama, in order to obtain the necessary real estate to build the Canal.

America is an institution full of people. People are notoriously unreliable in terms of ethics and morals.