When was the last time you took time out to appreciate the United States of America?

Question

Saturday afternoon I visited Federal Hall on Wall Street and went down the street to Fraunces Tavern (the oldest building in Manhattan) where George Washington gave his farewell speech to his officers.

There I went on a tour of the early days of our nation. They actually have a lock of George Washington's hair on display there. (No, not that powdered wig thingie, but his actual hair).

Despite the grim outlook most people have of this great nation (even I get discouraged when I think about where this country is going), I was just glad to get a first hand look on how this country was founded and it makes me glad to live in the greatest country in the world.

http://www.frauncestavernmuseum.org/

If you are ever in the New York area please stop by this museum. It is only $4 to visit and it is very well worth it.

Answer 1

Every time I have to listen to some bleeding-heart Liberal spouting crap on T.V. about 'National Security' or the 'War on Terrorism', or when I hold one of my many firearms in my hands, or go for a long ride on my Harley! ! !

Answer 2

There is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for having been born in the USA and for having grown up during the late 40's and 50's.

I watched the industrial revolution come to a peak and witnessed the beginning of the technological revolution .

Since 2001 my wife and I have traveled the eastern United State's coastal and inland waters via the Great Lakes. Going where we wanted when we wanted. Meeting the many people that make the US such a popular place to live in.

Answer 3

WOW..seeing where Washington actually gave the Farewell Speech. I always thought it was given in DC! The pub must have been very crowded, I hope everyone signed a ROSTER whether an officer or not!
People do not realize the sacrifices of the Signers of the Constitution, either. John Hancock observed the British shelling his property and said words to the effect," Let this just cause be fought on, though it makes John Hancock a pauper."
Several signers were hunted down by Tories/British soldiers and hanged. Most lost all their homes, property and most family members. Sons, daughters, relatives...were rounded up and jailed or hanged outright. Some escaped with the clothes on their backs, hunted.

Answer 4

Born and bred in NY, I can appreciate your sentiment.
I live in DC now and have had similar experiences.
I think if I lived a hundred years I wouldn't get a chance to see and absorb all the places and things that have made us the fastest growing, most productive, most compassionate society in history. But, I'm going to try anyway.
Soooo, the answer to your question is......I appreciate how lucky I am to be here every minute of every day and do so no more passionately than when I visit other countries. Although I enjoy the trips, I can't tell you how happy I am that this is where I come when I go home.

Answer 5

I do it every day. I just love this country.

We don't have sectarian violence. We don't have government death squads roaming around killing opposition leaders. We don't have soldiers and secret police patrolling the streets extorting bribes from everyone. Our religious tolerance is well established and well founded.

That being said, when you have as good a place to live as we do, some people (like me) are born troubleshooters. Even if we are doing nearly perfect, we're going to focus on that 1% until it's just right.

We're also the kind of people that tend to not stick our heads in the sand when you are afraid of a little controversy. I like Al Franken's statement about how we love America.

Republicans love our country like children love their parents. Unconditionally. Never believing that we have done anything bad or could ever do anything bad, and will ignore or lie about it when asked.

Democrats love the US as adults do. We love it despite it's many flaws and realize that it's not perfect, but it's what we have and it happens to be repairable. If it can be fixed, then you should fix it and fixate on those things until it IS fixed.

Answer 6

Please pardon an aside to make a point. I am not poor now, but years ago was considered wealthy. A few years of my own immoral foolishness squandered that wealth. I don't go back to those places because it reminds me of the fool I was. Those places remind me of how very much my foolishness cost me and I'm not just talking about material wealth, but that most prized treasure of all, my family. My point is that in not too many years from now, we may likely feel the same way about our nation's historic treasures. Re-visiting them may well remind us of the wealth and treasure we have also lost as a nation because of our great foolishness. One of our Founders said, "I give you a republic, if you can keep it." I don't think we can and evidence is all around that seems to verify my suspicion.

Answer 7

Every single day.

Yes, we have millions of poor here, but I'd sure as hell rather be poor in America than any other country. Our idea of poor is pretty well off compared to a lot of other places!

Everyday I don't have to wear a burkha, I'm appreciative. (I tried one on once...HOLY CRAP! Instant claustrophobia!) When I pray as I see fit, I'm grateful. When I come to campus and see women getting educated, I'm grateful. Whenever I freely express my opinions, I'm grateful.

But what really makes me grateful? Whenever I see military personnel. I thank them at every opportunity. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have very damned much to be appreciative of.

Josh, with all due respect, I disagree. We are well aware that this country has some major problems - but we love her, regardless.

There are people literally dying to come here for a chance at the opportunities most Americans take for granted. That says a lot, don't you think?

Answer 8

There is no such thing as a United States of America. If history is your thing, read Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States." Read Barbara Tuchman's "March of Folly". Don't be naive, the US is not the greatest or the best, and in many measures that constitute a high standard of living, we are well below the rest of the industrialized world . The greatest failing of this 'system' of capitalism-run-amok, is the lack of domestic investment, a major contributing factor of which is the inattention paid to the education of the public, the best evidence of which is that someone like yourself could feel comfortable calling the US the 'greatest country in the world'. (By the way, which other countries have you lived in? Visiting them doesn't count!) I'm sure that if you were to go to any Western European country, and ask the people who actually live there, which country is the best, I doubt they'd say it was the US. Compared with what the British, European and Russian and former-Soviet countries' schools produce, our graduates are morons, who can barely spell, string a sentence together, and don't know much about almost everything else, including our own, much less world, history.

If you love your country, it's well past time for us to face some unpleasant facts: This country was founded by the rich, for the rich, with just enough goodies and stirring words trickling down to the masses to keep them confused and more easily duped and led, and willing to go die for one or another capitalist's profit.
George Washington was a slave holder, as were practically all the others who you wish to revere as 'founders', and the system of government they wished to found was to be made up of only property-holding white men. As John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said (and he was far from alone in thinking this), "The people who own this country ought to run it." The possibilities for riches, being limited to already-established guilds and incorporations, and further limited by the lack of available land in England, all that having been already taken, primarily by the 'royals' and their courts and aristocratic friends, these cunning and ambitious beneficiaries of a colonizing empire, rebelled against their country (what today we would call traitors), seeking to create their own kingdom in a land that was, not incidentally, already inhabited by others. However, after directed acts of genocide and the passing of laws which supported it, the rights of the 'natives' were soon a moot point, as the notion of 'all men being created equal' always had been. The upper classes never believed it for a moment, and have never trusted the masses, knowing as they do, that the reason the wealthy are so much better off than the rest of us is because they are better than us. The people who own this country know that they are the best judges of what is best for the rest of us, and that decisions that concern matters of substance cannot be left to popular vote. With wealth, you can control almost anything. The major exception is the vote, and the problem, as the rich see it, is that there are so many more poor people than there are rich people, and when it comes to voting, all the money the rich have can do is to try and convince the masses that the CEOs and the guy who sweeps the floors have similar interests and goals. For this, they use every trick in the book, and because we aren't taught history in school, we don't recognize that it's as old as mankind, and that tyrants throughout history, knowing how easily led an ignorant public is, hides the truth behind words of inspiration, nationalism, chauvanism, and patriotism. Just as an example, compare Hitler's speaches with those of GW, his acts of grabbing power with GW's, his burning of the Reichstag, and our 9/11.
So our current pack of oligarchs doesn't differ much from those of the past. In today's language, our founders were insurgents engaging in terrorist and traitorous acts, using weapons (including biological) of mass destruction against an innocent people. Would you have been a loyalist or a rebel, a conservative or an insurgent?
If we were invaded by another country, say Britian again, would your hypocracy allow you to support the cause of liberty? Rights are never granted from on high, they are only won by struggle and activism. Our rights do not flow from a document, and all people, being people, deserve the same liberty, no matter where they happen to have been born, but before we go off and bomb another country, making enemies as we go, we'd best put our own house in order, and extend real, practical, and meaningful (economic) human rights to the least among us.

Answer 9

RU Kidding, are you kidding? Boy, you got absolutely nothing out of the reading of this question.

I actually watched Ken Burn's film about Thomas Jefferson this weekend. He was an amazing man that we should feel lucky to have had involved in the forming of our nation.

Answer 10

Everyday. I have food, a roof, a decent job. I'm not wealthy but I live comfortably. Part of this is due to being fortunate enough to born in the U.S.A. In spite of all the BS floating around our country. Though I won't go as far as calling it the best country in the world. I'll wait until after the election to make that determination.

Answer 11

When I was able to call up my doctor and get an appt for the next day. In countries with nationalized healthcare that doesnt happen and people can wait months or years for operations they need like hip and knee replacements. Thats why wealthy foreigners come here for health care. Gotta love the US!