The New York Times has a video opinion piece today:
Please Stop Telling Me America is Great
The New York Times – By TAIGE JENSEN and NAYEEMA RAZA
Go here to view the video. An America bashing piece by the New York Times is only to be expected, but it did cause me to reflect why I think America is the greatest nation on Earth. Here is my list:
1. Home-The USA is my home. I wouldn’t give two pennies for a guy or gal who didn’t think their homeland wasn’t the greatest on Earth, at least in their eyes. Of course this sentiment is not popular among the self-proclaimed elites who make up the Times readership and who regard themselves as part of an international elite, above such things as patriotism which is only for the lesser breeds of their fellow countrymen they relish looking down upon.
2. Freedom-No nation on Earth places fewer restrictions on basic freedoms like freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right to bear arms than the US. If you like being a free man or woman, the US stands second to none on Earth.
3. History-But for the US the globe would likely consist of squabbling totalitarian states.
4. Friendliness-There are friendly people around the globe, but the US has a well-earned reputation as being perhaps the friendliest nation on Earth in person-person relationships, a fact often noted by visitors to these shores.
5. Independence-Too many countries around the globe are “forelock societies” where people bow to elites. Americans don’t, often to the dismay of many of our own elites who envy the type of deference that the elites in other nations enjoy. This can make the country hard to govern, but the Founding Fathers never intended this fair land of freedom to be a utopia for those who wish to rule.
6. Military Strength-The peace of most of the rest of the world is a gift courtesy of Uncle Sam, and would vanish like water in the desert but for the US.
7. Religion-In too many nations religious believers are treated like second class citizens, at best. In the US that is not yet the case.
8. Opportunity-If you want to be your own boss, the US is still the best place to be. In this nation you can succeed spectacularly or fail spectacularly, and that fact is worth a great deal to me.
America will never be mistaken for Utopia, but it is first in my heart, and the improvements that can be made to it does not diminish my love for it.
Don’t have a subscription, but I can only imagine what it’s arguments are.
I think #4 and #5 are related– it’s also why we piss people off.
We think everyone is our social equal; we think we’re the social equal of everybody else. 😉
Taige and Nayeema say: “Comparing the United States of America on global indicators reveals we have fallen well behind Europe — and share more in common with “developing countries” than we’d like to admit.”
I think there is much truth in this observation as it relates to places where the Democrats are in charge like L.A. with it’s safe illegal aliens, homeless and drug addicts. Democrats are anti-American in attitude, action and indifference.
Well, if you consider socialism as the sliding scale of good, we are way behind the EU….
We must be doing something right, since people are literally dying to get here.
Or is that a reason why we’re not great? Hard to keep the talking points straight when they’re constantly changing.
Why I don’t read the NYT.
Shh! Don’t tell the lying sacs of excrement.
All that, plus. Most American states are richer than most EU countries. “Most European countries (including Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium) if they joined the US, would rank among the poorest one-third of US states on a per-capita GDP basis, and the UK, France, Japan and New Zealand would all rank among America’s very poorest states, below No. 47 West Virginia, and not too far above No. 50 Mississippi. Countries like Italy, S. Korea, Spain, Portugal and Greece would each rank below Mississippi as the poorest states in the country.”
Tennessee is richer than Germany, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, Belgium, etc. Even richer than Japan. And, it’s not an especially rich state.”
Plus, Europe’s rich come to the US for their health care. Mick Jagger flew here for his heart problem b/c with the UK NHS he would be lucky to get on the waiting list and not told he’s too old to get any health care.
Source:
http://www.aei.org/publication/us-gdp-per-capita-by-state-vs-european-countries-and-japan-korea-mexico-and-china-and-some-lessons-for-the-donald/
Also, holy crud. It’s not until down below #38 that you get ANY other country.