I liked this clip from Newsroom(HBO) on why America is not the greatest country... what do you think?

dazed but not confused

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI7Oq8y-jXA

dazed but not confused

We lead the world in believing angels are real. Nearly 8 in 10 americans belive this according to Huffuingtonpost.... Crazy

dazed but not confused

james woods- maybe a few issues, but certainly alot of time on my hands

james_woods

I understand. America is not really all that bad.

I loved the anchor's reaction b/c it is true. It would have been nice if the character were not so grouchy and focused on the "We can" part. As he was citing all the reasons America is no longer great, I noticied that his vision of the past was foggy. He did not mention slavery, de facto segregation, class based education, or the traditional role of women, or limited suffrage.

Overall, I agreed with his sentiments. We can do better. Roman once ruled most of the world. Italy is not a leading country today. England had a very large empire. Now, they have a "special relationship" with the United States. If the "special relationship" did not exist, they would not be world leaders. We can also descend.

I loved being American at the time of America's greatest. In Roman times, I would want to be a Roman.

We have pressing matters that need to be addressed. I don't want to live in a has been country. With our natural resources and can do attitude, we should be the greatest by any measure. We can never achieve what some homogenous cultures can, however, because we are so different. Yet that diversity is also a great strength.

Did you like the show? I wasn't excited about it. Perhaps one the plots develop, I will enjoy it more.

botchtowersociety

This place is shitty, which explains why the lines to get in are so long.

And a lot of the stats he cites are, basically, bullshit. 178th in infant mortality? Other countries don't count dead premature babies in their stats, along with stillbirths, or underweight babies, or deaths only a few days after birth. We do. That makes the comparison apples to oranges.

We're 7th in literacy? With a large population of recent (illiterate) immigrants (knocking the door down to come in, incidentally), that's a ridiculous comparison. Even so, we have a 99% literacy rate (even the liberal educational establishment hasn't been able to fuck it up that much) the difference between the US and whoever is up the list is hair splitting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate

And #4 in labor force? Seriously? That is a function of population.

If we are so damned shitty, then why have we been so wealthy and powerful? Why have the ideals of our revolution served as inspiration around the world?

But, most importantly, that douche totally misses the fact that we are number one in cheese production.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/07/the_greatest_country_in_the_world_the_usa_is_tops_in_cheese_production_and_these_23_other_categories_.html

panhandlegirl

I think America is the greatest but I am afarid for our country now. I love America, but I feel that some of us have become lazy and take things for granted. I feel that we have so much that we have forgotten how we were able to obtain everything we have. I don't like war, but sometimes we have to defend the counntry from those who want to destroy/or take away our freedom. Although I also believe that at times we have gone to war when we should not have, such as when we went to war against Irag. I think we have a lot of problems that need to be fixed and if we don't fix them, we are not going to remain the greatest country. I hate it when I see that everything I buy is made in another country, like, don't Americans know how to do make anything. I have a thermos bottle that my Dad used to have. It was made in the US. It is heavy and thick. I also have a themos bottle made in China and it is not made as well as my dad's old one. I just don't understand why things are like that. I guess it has to do with money, but it is very bad for us.It reminds me of the song by Bruce Spingsteen, I think that's how you spell his name, anyway the song is 'My Hometown." I would not want to live anywhere else, but I am sure others love their country as well.