So just what is so bloody great about America anyway?

[BigJim]

What is great about America? What stands out in it's uniqueness as a place? I've got a couple that I'll start off with, then y'all can take the ball and run with it.

1/ The ideal country to be in, whatever vacation you want to have!

Whether you want to go hillwalking, mountaineering, hiking in the rugged wilderness, sunning yourself on a beach with a giant theme park nearby, or shop in a massive metropolis, America has it. Whatever vacation you want from deep water diving to parachuting, it has somewhere to go. no language difficulties, no passports needed, no significant culture barrier. Shit hot!

2/ Seek and ye shall find.

America has something of everything. Culture, people's, landmarks, terrain, weather and glitz. Whatever you want to find that is to be found somewhere in this world, America will have it. Permissiveness or Amish-like prudeishness; noise and glamour or quiet and peace; it's there. Anything and everything and anyone and everyone is to be found. From tickling gatherings, to prayer groups.


Don't let me down now! Make this thread the 4th of July all year round and let's hear about all things American that are worth celebrating! 🙂

 

[milagros317]

My short answer is that we often live up to these ideals, and we have expanded them since they were written in the 18th century to include all human beings.

Thomas Jefferson wrote:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --

In most times and places, the rulers did not even pretend that their powers came from the consent of the governed.

PS If you wish to debate the actions of the current or any prior administration in the U.S., please go to the P&R Forum.

 

[KoocheeKoo]

What is so great about America? FREEDOM....personal freedom....freedom to choose, and freedom from goverment harrassment.

If I choose to worship a head of lettuce, and pray to the God of Rumplestilskin....as long as I don't infringe on the freedom of others, it's legal from coast to coast. I'm free to worship the god of my choice...or free to worship no god at all. There are many countries where just possessing a bible or saying "God bless you" could get me thrown in jail....or worse.

If I don't agree with something the president or state governer says or does, I can express my disagreement without fear of being arrested or worse. I can say, write, or post "George W Bush is wrong" or "Sonny Purdue should resign"...and don't have to worry about the secret police kicking down my door at 3 a.m. and hauling me off to a torture chamber or firing squad.

That's whats so great about America. I can leave my home in Georgia and drive to my sister's home in Oregon...2600 miles and a dozen states away without worrying about being harrassed as I cross state borders. I'm free to think and say what I believe. If I'm accused of a committing a crime, I'm guaranteed access to legal counsel....guaranteed the right to a fair and unbiased trial by a jury of my peers. There has to be "probable cause"...evidence presented to a judge and/or grand jury to even obtain a warrant to arrest me.
The authorities can't just throw me in jail because they feel like it.

In America, no one can sieze my private property without legal justification nor search my property without a legal search warrant...a warrant based based on evidence I've broken the law. If arrested, I'm guaranteed the right to contact my loved ones....I won't just dissapear in the middle of the night to never be seen by them again (i.e.- as occurred to so many in the Iraqi torture camps while Saddam ruled).

America isn't perfect...there are problems here. No nation ever has been or IMO ever will be perfect, but when I look around the world, I'm so very thankful to the God I worship that I was born in America....the land of the free....and home of the brave 🙂

 

[TklDuo-Ann]

So just what is so bloody great about America anyway?

I live here. What more do you need? lol 😛

Seriously, though... The greatest things we have here are our freedom and diversity. Without those, we're fundamentally the same as every other country...in spite of the vast array of things to do and places to see.

Ann

 

[Mitchell]

Although there is much wrong with this country, the one important thing I can think of off the top of my head that is great about America is it's diversity. This country truly is a melting pot of all races, religions, and sexual orientations. Although we do suffer from too much racism and prejudice, it still does not stop us from being probably the most diverse nation on earth. We have White, African American, Asian, Hispanics, as well as people from all different countries in the world, and all different social and economic backgrounds living in this country. This makes our citizen base interesting, as we have perspectives from so many different backgrounds. I would say that if I had to pick one thing that is best about the United States, this would be it.

Mitch

 

[buggs]

Whats great about America

Without us, there'd have been Airplanes. No football. No Bugs Bunny. No Daffy Duck. No Spiderman. No comics. No discovery of electricity. There wouldn't have been alot of things without people who were instilled with that crazy American spirit to do things that seem crazy, but ended up changing the world. As I had said in another post, Hitler didn't want us to enter into WWII because he knew we were crazy, and once we got started, we would never go away. Brittian wanted us in WWII because they knew we were crazy, and once we got started, we would never go away. We may be fat, lazy, and rude. But when a fight comes toa calling, we never shy away. Because people come to it's shores every day to take a stab at attaining "THE AMERICAN DREAM". People take cars and make them into boats. People take couches and make them into rafts. People risk their lives to come here for a reason. I think William Shatner said it best on the Aniversary of 9/11:

When I was in Canada growing up, the United States always represented a goal to me: the challenge of coming to America and being successful as an actor. Moving around the country as though I belonged, which I did in my college year, hitchhiking from New York to San Diego, Seattle to Miami, and ultimately realizing that the United States of America was not only the greatest country in the world but was the most humane.

Every challenge that America faced she rose to meet and eventually overcome. What a marvelous and wondrous land this is. With it's emphasis on people, humanity, freedom and justice. And when America falls short it's because of people's inadequacies, not because of dreams and desires.

http://www.williamshatner.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=7

That is why I am proud to be an American, and extremely lucky to have been born in it's great land as one of it's citizens.

 

[BigJim]

That's the ticket. Keep em' coming. 🙂

 

[kurchatovium]

In addition to all that we make great marmalade. 😀 😀 😛

 

[BigJim]

🙄


Wanker. 😀

 

[red indian]

Oh my lord!!!.......

.....so Dr William Gilbert and Michael Faraday were American?

 

[red indian]

Americans.........

.....invented football??

 

[red indian]

Americans.......

.....invented the motor car? much as it pains me i think you will find that was down to a chap called Daimler or was it Benz? and then there were some French blokes as well. All as American as apple pie no doubt.

 

[Traveler]

It's not the UK

 

[buggs]

not the football that you guys do.

I should have said American football, with the shoulder pads and the helmets and the hitting. Walter Camp (1859-1925) invented American Football (http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=d-to1889). Okay, I take that car thing back. It was invented by non-Americans and internal combustion was invented by two Parisians. hey, I had been up all night when I wrote that first post. Airplane-Wright brothers. Bugs Bunny and Daffy duck-Warner Brothers. Spiderman-Stan Lee. I am talking comic book comics-Action comics Number 1, 1st issue with Superman. Okay, wrong on Phone-Alexander Graham Bell (A Scot, sorry), but I found an article that says that a German guy named Philipp Reis (1834-1874) may have invented it 13 years before. Electricity-I should say that Thomas Edison officially discovered it in 1752, but Micheal Faraday was the first person to generate electricity later on, and he was an Englishman. This is unless you count all of those poor buggers throughout history who got hit by lightning and thought "What the heck was that?". Or the caveman getting hit by it and thinking "Unk?" My bad again. I said invented when I should have said discovered. I have amended my first post.

 

[tickleboynyc]

The fact that the US is the only TRULY multicultural country in the world, and although we're far from achieving the goal of equality and equal opportunity for all regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, etc. at least there's a very powerful tendency towards achieving that goal ( even though some are trying to turn the clock BACK to more discrimination, segregation, less opportunity... ).
Also, the fact that this country is very much still a work in progress. The US is not hampered and weighed down by centuries of tradition and convention like Europe.
Just exactly what 'America' is and what it means to be 'American' is still very hotly debated. Personally I think that's a good thing.

 

[BigJim]

So do I. While something's definition is always up for grabs, it will never become bogged down in mediocrity.

 

[natural tickler]

That question is simple. What is so great is because even though we have problems with racism and all, this is still the one country that you could start out with nothing, and end up with a lot. Freedom that we have other countries would love to have. No, we are not perfect. Far from it, but we have he resources other countries doesn't have. Hope that answers the question🙂

 

[Deleted member 2452]

, ok, all together now...

EVERYTHING!




steve
p.s. jim, you have got to try harder to imagrate.

 

[BigJim]

Bear with me Stevie. 😀 Bear with me...

 

[tickleboynyc]

That question is simple. What is so great is because even though we have problems with racism and all, this is still the one country that you could start out with nothing, and end up with a lot. Freedom that we have other countries would love to have. No, we are not perfect. Far from it, but we have he resources other countries doesn't have. Hope that answers the question🙂

start out with nothing? how about LAND and plenty of it-that was stolen from Native americans? That part of US history always seems to be conveniently forgotten...
nope, i disagree, that's not what makes america great. in fact the way this country was founded- on the genocide of native americans and the slavery of africans- is one of the darkest chapters in US history.

 

[Deleted member 2452]

sorry nytickleboy

but you are wrong. the settlers didn't steal anything.
some of the land was just settled on, as even the indians didn't claim ownership. some of the land was bought (bravat empter). and some was taken in war. sure some of the beads were worthless junk, but that's the fault of the indians for accepting it. sure the white man broke more of the treaties than the indians, but the whites were forging a nation, and room was needed for the vast imigration that was comming from europe.

as i think john wayne put it years ago, "if we haden't taken the land where would america be?"

steve

 

[tickleboynyc]

oh, ok! so it wasn't genocide after all? Nor the destruction of an entire culture?
Thanks for clearing that up for me..!🙄
Hey, anything to make a buck, right?

 

[mgctouch]

While tickleboynyc does raise some valid points, this thread is not about how America got its start. This is about what America has done with itself since it's independence.

And while it is true that the Native Americans were screwed many times by the government (Way back then), it is also true that some concessions and reparations have been made since then. Here in California, there are several Indian Gaming Casinos which are owned and operated by legitamate indian tribes. Here in San diego, we have the VIEJAS Casino (Viejas Indians) We have the BARONA Casino (Barona Indians), the Harrah's RINCON Casino (Rincon Indians) just to name a few. These casinos bring in lots of revinue to these tribes and to the local community.

I believe that America in great because it is young. When we set out for independence, we were guided by some very wise men who sought to create a land of freedom and and land ruled by the people - not a king, dictator, or other single entity. They created a polital system which relied on a series of Checks & Balances to insure that no one man was able to wield his power to rule the country.

They had the foresight to hammer out an incredibly effective guideline called The Constitution. I believe that our Constitution is the primary reason that we have become the world leader as a wealthy nation, a humanitarian nation, and a free nation. It is the main reason that America has become the great nation she is.

Having said that, I would also like to stress that I am not one of the "stuck-up" Americans who feels we are better than everybody else. America does have her share of problems and I belileve that some of them stem from a lack of culture.

I believe that the family unit in America may be weaker than the family unit in Italy, for example. A deteriorating family unit tends to lead to more crime and violence.

America is not perfect but she still is a great country. I am proud to be an American.

 

[BigJim]

Re: sorry nytickleboy

sure some of the beads were worthless junk, but that's the fault of the indians for accepting it. sure the white man broke more of the treaties than the indians, but the whites were forging a nation, and room was needed for the vast imigration that was comming from europe.

as i think john wayne put it years ago, "if we haden't taken the land where would america be?"

steve

That is actually quite chilling. Rephrased it comes across as "so what if they were worthless, we were more intelligent than them so we had the right to con them" and "so what if the land was theirs? We had more people so we had the right to conquer it".

 

[BigJim]

And while it is true that the Native Americans were screwed many times by the government (Way back then), it is also true that some concessions and reparations have been made since then.

They're being screwed today as well. Unnaccountable government bodies are deciding (with no input whatsoever from the tribe involved) whether a certain tribe has the right to it's land, because they don't cross it a pre-set amount of times a year. If this commission decides against them, they forfeit the land, which duly will get sold to developers.

we were guided by some very wise men who sought to create a land of freedom and and land ruled by the people - not a king, dictator, or other single entity. They created a polital system which relied on a series of Checks & Balances to insure that no one man was able to wield his power to rule the country.
They had the foresight to hammer out an incredibly effective guideline called The Constitution. I believe that our Constitution is the primary reason that we have become the world leader as a wealthy nation, a humanitarian nation, and a free nation. It is the main reason that America has become the great nation she is.

I can't. I just can't...