Is USA the Greatest nation in the World???

[Yankee Empire]

Yes it was worth it in my opinion, division would have only led to more wars the way I see it.

That, and you have to remember that many families were literally torn between the two sides. Plus, the South was pretty much crumbling economically (because of slave labor, the unorganized mess that the Confederacy was, and the war of course). They don't go bankrupt, and our economy improves because there was a LOT of goods in the South (mostly cotton, but tobacco and other crops) at the time.

Wealth always helps heal wounds...

[Death Metal]

stop bringing up war capabilities, im not parading that around so enough of it already

France, you have been to France and you think it's better, tell me please how you think France is a better place to live than the US(not sure why your not living there then either)

Well, it depends on where you live.

For me, I thought Paris was just beautiful, as was the Burgundian countryside. And the boat rides on the Seine... ahh... :3

+ #1 healthcare
+ much better education system than the US
+ president promised no more homework
+ prevalence of socialists and communists
+ Oceanic and Mediterranean climate all over the place
+ Buddhism is popular, with numerous sympathizers
+ Laicite
+ prevalence of non-religious people
+ doesn't invade countries as often as the US
+ women's rights aren't at risk
+ lower wealth inequality
+ lots of other things

Wait, #1 healthcare? Sorry, that's Japan bro. Most of that stuff also applies to Japan tho...

[Zaras]

Well, it depends on where you live.

For me, I thought Paris was just beautiful, as was the Burgundian countryside. And the boat rides on the Seine... ahh... :3

+ #1 healthcare
+ much better education system than the US
+ president promised no more homework
+ prevalence of socialists and communists
+ Oceanic and Mediterranean climate all over the place
+ Buddhism is popular, with numerous sympathizers
+ Laicite
+ prevalence of non-religious people
+ doesn't invade countries as often as the US
+ women's rights aren't at risk
+ lower wealth inequality
+ lots of other things

Wait, #1 healthcare? Sorry, that's Japan bro. Most of that stuff also applies to Japan tho...

It's still better than the USA.

[Death Metal]

Wait, #1 healthcare? Sorry, that's Japan bro. Most of that stuff also applies to Japan tho...

It's still better than the USA.

Same with Japan (albeit Japan still has some vestiges of the old racial superiority dogma, but still, some parts of America are worse in that respect too...)

[Arumdaum]

Well, it depends on where you live.

For me, I thought Paris was just beautiful, as was the Burgundian countryside. And the boat rides on the Seine... ahh... :3

+ #1 healthcare
+ much better education system than the US
+ president promised no more homework
+ prevalence of socialists and communists
+ Oceanic and Mediterranean climate all over the place
+ Buddhism is popular, with numerous sympathizers
+ Laicite
+ prevalence of non-religious people
+ doesn't invade countries as often as the US
+ women's rights aren't at risk
+ lower wealth inequality
+ lots of other things

+ good public transport
+ popular perception of French language
+ Daft Punk, Air, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Taxi Girl, Jean-Michel Jarre

+ Parapluies de Cherbourg
+ Michel Legrand
+ Francoise Hardy
+ gay marriage is about to be legalized

We could go on and on.

[Yankee Empire]

How is it a Delusion?

Suggest y'read Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities.

Metanarratives are no less real than individuals perceptions of each other, just less researched.

Punk? You have a a problem with punk?

Jesus...

I don't, but name calling is against the rules. You know, the ones you have to follow? Those ones.

And I thought I was the Authoritarian....

[Zaras]

Suggest y'read Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities.

Metanarratives are no less real than individuals perceptions of each other, just less researched.

I don't, but name calling is against the rules. You know, the ones you have to follow? Those ones.

And I thought I was the Authoritarian....

Nope, Max Barry is.

[Arumdaum]

Well, it depends on where you live.

For me, I thought Paris was just beautiful, as was the Burgundian countryside. And the boat rides on the Seine... ahh... :3

+ #1 healthcare
+ much better education system than the US
+ president promised no more homework
+ prevalence of socialists and communists
+ Oceanic and Mediterranean climate all over the place
+ Buddhism is popular, with numerous sympathizers
+ Laicite
+ prevalence of non-religious people
+ doesn't invade countries as often as the US
+ women's rights aren't at risk
+ lower wealth inequality
+ lots of other things

Wait, #1 healthcare? Sorry, that's Japan bro. Most of that stuff also applies to Japan tho...

Japan's generally considered #1 in life expectancy if you take out countries like Monaco.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heal ... th_systems

I was just explaining to him why someone like me would consider France greater than the US. I really like Japan, and would love to live in Sapporo for a few years, but I have a few problems with the place including

- conformism
- popularity of K-pop
- conformism
- school uniforms
- conformism
- subtropical and humid continental weather in Tokyo, Osaka, and other large cities (although Sapporo lacks this )
- conformism
- prevalence of far-right parties (although France also has this D:)
- conformism
- death penalty
- conformismmmmm D:

[Zaras]

+ Parapluies de Cherbourg

I dunno if I'd count musicals towards the "awesomesauce" score of any country, tbh.

But hey, Emilie Simon! Jane Birkin! Bunch more musicians I'm forgetting!

[Arumdaum]

+ Parapluies de Cherbourg

I dunno if I'd count musicals towards the "awesomesauce" score of any country, tbh.

But hey, Emilie Simon! Jane Birkin! Bunch more musicians I'm forgetting!

I normally don't like musicals, but I loved Parapluies de Cherbourg, hehe.

Maybe it's because it's I grew up watching it a lot and I'm a really nostalgic person. :<

[North California]

>_> wasn't referring to that...

You were stating that, overall, the US is the greatest nation on Earth. The only things I can think of that the US actually excels in are having the biggest club and the most horded gold.

Everything else the US is average to mediocre in, which translates to poor when taking into account that it's the world's only superpower and has the money necessary to excel in those things.

We have the biggest water parks, biggest cars, biggest roads. We've got spray tans, toddler pageants, and country music. We've got baseball and apple pie.

Therefore, we win!

In all seriousness though, our culture dominates the planet. There is a reason why everywhere you go in the world, you can hear an American song, or see Coca-Cola, but you can't do that for let's say, Serbia.

Now whether this is a good or bad thing is left open to interpretation.

[Yankee Empire]

^That.

I'm only saddened at the fact that it seems the major "cultural" things we export aren't really cultural but economic, lack food/drink chains, bad mainstream music...

I'm all for Hegemony, just wish it were of better quality.

[Zaras]

I dunno if I'd count musicals towards the "awesomesauce" score of any country, tbh.

But hey, Emilie Simon! Jane Birkin! Bunch more musicians I'm forgetting!

I normally don't like musicals, but I loved Parapluies de Cherbourg, hehe.

Maybe it's because it's I grew up watching it a lot and I'm a really nostalgic person. :<

Musicals aren't usually to my taste, so I haven't tried whatever Legrand's been involved in. You might know more of what you're talking about there, hehe.

In all seriousness though, our culture dominates the planet. There is a reason why everywhere you go in the world, you can hear an American song, or see Coca-Cola, but you can't do that for let's say, Serbia.

WE'RE ALL LIVING IN AMERIKA
AMERIKA IST WUNDERBAR
WE'RE ALL LIVING IN AMERIKA
AMERIKA AMERIKA

[Astrolinium]

No. This is one of the few things people say on here that legitimately pisses me off.
It'd hardly have the right to call itself the USA anymore if the country kicked us out, since the South includes 5 of the original 13 states, not counting those states formed out of other states that were founding members of the Union.
Also, Washington would never go for it, considering where the Mason-Dixon line is.

The USA without Jesusland would be a better place in my view. So, yeah. Plus, the south only starts in Virginia, not Maryland!

Many of our country's greatest men and women have come from the South. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Mark Twain, Martin Luther King Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune, Helen Keller, Bill Clinton, Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks, and Dwight D. Eisenhower spring to mind. Furthermore, if your concern is religion/culture, you'll be wanting to indiscriminately get rid of all rural areas and change the Union's name to the United City-States of America, because the north-south divide is today somewhat mythical and is largely an urban-rural divide.

[Arumdaum]

You were stating that, overall, the US is the greatest nation on Earth. The only things I can think of that the US actually excels in are having the biggest club and the most horded gold.

Everything else the US is average to mediocre in, which translates to poor when taking into account that it's the world's only superpower and has the money necessary to excel in those things.

We have the biggest water parks, biggest cars, biggest roads. We've got spray tans, toddler pageants, and country music. We've got baseball and apple pie.

Therefore, we win!

In all seriousness though, our culture dominates the planet. There is a reason why everywhere you go in the world, you can hear an American song, or see Coca-Cola, but you can't do that for let's say, Serbia.

Now whether this is a good or bad thing is left open to interpretation.

somewhat relevant

[Zaras]

Many of our country's greatest men and women have come from the South.

True, people like Tennessee Williams!

Mark Twain, Martin Luther King Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune, Helen Keller, Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks, and Dwight D. Eisenhower

Yeah, them too!

Bill Clinton

You're talking to a leftist here.

Furthermore, if your concern is religion/culture, you'll be wanting to indiscriminately get rid of all rural areas and change the Union's name to the United City-States of America, because the north-south divide is today somewhat mythical and is largely an urban-rural divide.

Or better: redraw the map so that the cities will always outvote the rural areas. It'd be no less artificial than the current state borders.

[Death Metal]

WE'RE ALL LIVING IN AMERIKA
AMERIKA IST WUNDERBAR
WE'RE ALL LIVING IN AMERIKA
AMERIKA AMERIKA

COCA COLA, WONDERBRA

[Zaras]

WE'RE ALL LIVING IN AMERIKA
AMERIKA IST WUNDERBAR
WE'RE ALL LIVING IN AMERIKA
AMERIKA AMERIKA

COCA COLA, WONDERBRA

DIS IS NOT A LAHV SAHNG

[The Anglo-Saxon Empire]

No. We are more or less the same as everyone else. The difference is that we have the potential to be. We need to march into this century and make it ours, the way the British did with the 19th. Right now, we have the opportunity to reshape this world more to our liking, and we should seize the chance before the window closes.

The idea that any one state has more potential to be great than any other is stupid. Most states that have become great have become so despite being a backwater. What was Prussia besides an East German duchy that had a big enough ego for its ruler to crown himself a king and whose descendants later united Germany, what was England except for an impoverished island nation that was able to take advantage of Spanish weaknesses, what was Spain except for several kingdoms united over centuries that decided to invest its efforts into creating colonies instead of continental wars, what was Japan but a backwards island nation that hadn't had any significant relations with the outside world until Commodore Perry forced them to trade with the US?

America doesn't have any more potential to be great than Portugal or Sudan, the only reason it is better is because people went out of their way to make it so. Men like James Monroe claimed that the Americas belonged to America, not to Britain or France or Spain, men like Polk who expanded at the cost of many lives, men that sought power, whether for personal gain, or out of a nationalistic view of destiny.

As for whether or not America is the best country, it is, anyone who disagrees is just trying to compensate for the fact that they aren't American or that they have a crappy personal ego. We have the most powerful military, we have the highest GDP, we lead the most powerful alliance on earth, and despite being seen as a country that hates the poor (pro-tip, we do) we have the fourth highest HDI in the world.

[Zaras]

As for whether or not America is the best country, it is, anyone who disagrees is just trying to compensate for the fact that they aren't American or that they have a crappy personal ego.

Yeah, it's such a great country when you can't even fucking take care of your own citizens like Canadians or Europeans.

[The Anglo-Saxon Empire]

As for whether or not America is the best country, it is, anyone who disagrees is just trying to compensate for the fact that they aren't American or that they have a crappy personal ego.

Yeah, it's such a great country when you can't even fucking take care of your own citizens like Canadians or Europeans.

Why would we want to? You should take care of yourself.

[Yankee Empire]

No. We are more or less the same as everyone else. The difference is that we have the potential to be. We need to march into this century and make it ours, the way the British did with the 19th. Right now, we have the opportunity to reshape this world more to our liking, and we should seize the chance before the window closes.

The idea that any one state has more potential to be great than any other is stupid. Most states that have become great have become so despite being a backwater. What was Prussia besides an East German duchy that had a big enough ego for its ruler to crown himself a king and whose descendants later united Germany, what was England except for an impoverished island nation that was able to take advantage of Spanish weaknesses, what was Spain except for several kingdoms united over centuries that decided to invest its efforts into creating colonies instead of continental wars, what was Japan but a backwards island nation that hadn't had any significant relations with the outside world until Commodore Perry forced them to trade with the US?

America doesn't have any more potential to be great than Portugal or Sudan, the only reason it is better is because people went out of their way to make it so. Men like James Monroe claimed that the Americas belonged to America, not to Britain or France or Spain, men like Polk who expanded at the cost of many lives, men that sought power, whether for personal gain, or out of a nationalistic view of destiny.

As for whether or not America is the best country, it is, anyone who disagrees is just trying to compensate for the fact that they aren't American or that they have a crappy personal ego. We have the most powerful military, we have the highest GDP, we lead the most powerful alliance on earth, and despite being seen as a country that hates the poor (pro-tip, we do) we have the fourth highest HDI in the world.

[North California]

^That.

I'm only saddened at the fact that it seems the major "cultural" things we export aren't really cultural but economic, lack food/drink chains, bad mainstream music...

I'm all for Hegemony, just wish it were of better quality.

It used to be of better quality, especially right after World War II. America was loved by everybody, and people willing embraced our culture (which back then, American culture was pretty different). Now, we kind of have to force a run-down version of our culture that no one likes down everyone's throats.

[Arumdaum]

Yeah, it's such a great country when you can't even fucking take care of your own citizens like Canadians or Europeans.

Why would we want to? You should take care of yourself.

Incredibly subjective, and taking care of yourself =/= not taking care of others.

[Arumdaum]

No. We are more or less the same as everyone else. The difference is that we have the potential to be. We need to march into this century and make it ours, the way the British did with the 19th. Right now, we have the opportunity to reshape this world more to our liking, and we should seize the chance before the window closes.

The idea that any one state has more potential to be great than any other is stupid. Most states that have become great have become so despite being a backwater. What was Prussia besides an East German duchy that had a big enough ego for its ruler to crown himself a king and whose descendants later united Germany, what was England except for an impoverished island nation that was able to take advantage of Spanish weaknesses, what was Spain except for several kingdoms united over centuries that decided to invest its efforts into creating colonies instead of continental wars, what was Japan but a backwards island nation that hadn't had any significant relations with the outside world until Commodore Perry forced them to trade with the US?

America doesn't have any more potential to be great than Portugal or Sudan, the only reason it is better is because people went out of their way to make it so. Men like James Monroe claimed that the Americas belonged to America, not to Britain or France or Spain, men like Polk who expanded at the cost of many lives, men that sought power, whether for personal gain, or out of a nationalistic view of destiny.

As for whether or not America is the best country, it is, anyone who disagrees is just trying to compensate for the fact that they aren't American or that they have a crappy personal ego. We have the most powerful military, we have the highest GDP, we lead the most powerful alliance on earth, and despite being seen as a country that hates the poor (pro-tip, we do) we have the fourth highest HDI in the world.

IHDI is a much better index for what you were talking about, and the US falls down nineteen positions to #23.