American Exceptionalism: Reality or Just a Myth?

[Yagoda]

On 11/30/2024 at 9:36 PM, NanLaew said:

 

You do realize it cost Churchill a bloody fortune to get the Japanese to bomb you off your wall of isolationist indifference at Pearl Harbor.

Yeah, we should have listened to him and Patton in 1945 too.

[Ben Zioner]

6 hours ago, bendejo said:

Pick up the book instead, it also has an explanation of how it came to that.

Good suggestion, thanks.

[jimmybcool]

On 11/30/2024 at 4:03 AM, Jingthing said:

I'm with Obama on this one.

Every country thinks they're exceptional. 

America does have differences.

It has pros and cons like every other nation.

It's not the best place to live in the world, and it's also not the worst.

Countries and civilizations tell stories about themselves. The stories don't need to reflect truth but stories are important in human culture.

 

True.  I think the idea many American's have that the USA is the greatest nation on earth is the result of the period between 1940 and 1970.  In that era the USA was the worlds leader in so many ways that we began to believe nothing else was close. 

 

While I don't fall into the jingoistic path of the USA is the greatest in everything now it still does offer much to it's citizens.  And is a better than average place to live.  But some are insular and don't recognize there are lots of other places that offer wonderful lives as well. 

 

What does sadden me is because we yanks have a bit of a chin up we are great attitude and because in fact we HAVE done so much in the last 80 years many people cop an attitude and want to knock us down a peg or two for no reason.  This forum for example has many members that clearly have issues with America.

 

Whatever.  I am not ashamed of being a yank and feel my nation has given the world much.  We might be nearing the end of greatness now but we had a hell of a run.

[Old Croc]

22 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Well yes, of course I made up my post based on classic African stereotypes.

Have you heard of a Surinamese citizen named Nesty?

 

How many Americans could indicate where Suriname is on a map?

[Yagoda]

On 11/30/2024 at 5:12 PM, MalcolmB said:

Exceptionally stupid people in general. 

The land of alternative truth, WWE, weird religion, gun freedoms, fentanyl use in open, terrible health care if you have no money, racial tensions, Trump, Diddy, Epstein, Weinstein, Michael Jackson, obesity, high rates of incarceration, daily mass shootings, conspiracy theorists

LOL you cant point to anyhting in the USA that is worse than anyplace else.

 

Alternative Truth? Al Jazeerra. The Guardian.

 

Wierd religion? Like Islam?

 

Gun freedoms? Thank god. Jealous that your lot are defenseless.

 

Fentynl use in public? Ever been to Frankfurt or Berlin.

 

Terrible health care if you have no money? Really? Got some facts to show that, other than from your alternative truth sources. Love the teeth on you guys, arent dentists covered by Socialist health care?

 

Racial tensions? says who? ever been to the USA?

 

Ill see your Trump and Michael Jackson, etc and raise you Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Gary Glitter, Robspierre, Petain, Lenin, Bela Kun, Walter Honecker, Gilles de Las Rais, Jimmy Saville, the EU, Jewish children harassed on the streets, football violence, blatant racism, Socialism, limits on speech, high taxes, small houses, little cars, burkhas everywhere, groping of women, grooming gangs, daily knife crime, riots, water cannon, body odor, public prostitution, anti semite mobs, terrorism, ethnic conflicts, monkey noises directed to black people......

 

I could go on. You would beg for a Green card LOL. 

 

 

[NanLaew]

24 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

Have you heard of a Surinamese citizen named Nesty?

 

How many Americans could indicate where Suriname is on a map?

No I haven't.

 

Suriname isn't in Africa. I know this for a fact because I worked there.

 

What are you struggling to say?

[NanLaew]

32 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Yeah, we should have listened to him and Patton in 1945 too.

 

Ironic that your chosen leader's plan is to get USA firmly back on the fence of global isolationism. Maybe just hunker down behind that great big beautiful wall of his.

[mdr224]

4 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

Ironic that your chosen leader's plan is to get USA firmly back on the fence of global isolationism. Maybe just hunker down behind that great big beautiful wall of his.

Given how ungrateful the rest of the world is, about time america helped itself

[Yagoda]

8 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

Ironic that your chosen leader's plan is to get USA firmly back on the fence of global isolationism. Maybe just hunker down behind that great big beautiful wall of his.

Whats wrong with Isolationism? You guys all hate us and dont appreciate us so f y'all as we say. Make sure you tell Vlad and Xi what your pronouns are.

[NanLaew]

6 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Whats wrong with Isolationism? You guys all hate us and dont appreciate us so f y'all as we say. Make sure you tell Vlad and Xi what your pronouns are.

 

There you go again. The myopic inability to see any contrary opinion outside the frame of everything you've been told or read about the Democrats in your comfy wee affirmation echo chamber. But, if the cap fits, wear it.

[NanLaew]

15 minutes ago, mdr224 said:

Given how ungrateful the rest of the world is, about time america helped itself

Ah yes, this "ungrateful world". Straight from 45's play book (that didn't work).

[mdr224]

7 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Ah yes, this "ungrateful world". Straight from 45's play book (that didn't work).

I didnt know either, until i read the opinions of the non americans here. Im all in on trump cutting everyone else off

[newnative]

Reality, not myth.

[bubblegum]

Yagoda the great defender of everything (right wing) Usa lives in Cambodia.

[bubblegum]

 

[NanLaew]

23 minutes ago, mdr224 said:

I didnt know either, until i read the opinions of the non americans here. Im all in on trump cutting everyone else off

 

Most of the "non-Americans" posting on this thread are being mistakenly identified as Democrats.

 

Too funny.

[mdr224]

6 minutes ago, bubblegum said:

Yagoda the great defender of everything (right wing) Usa lives in Cambodia.

Hes in the minority of folks here who leave the west but still care about it, most here just wants the west to collapse already

[FriscoKid]

8 minutes ago, bubblegum said:

Yagoda the great defender of everything (right wing) Usa lives in Cambodia.

Could never work out why any Westerner from a developed country would want to live in that turlet unless they're a sex pest or somebody like Ron Jeremy or Steven Seagal. 

[jas007]

14 minutes ago, FriscoKid said:

Could never work out why any Westerner from a developed country would want to live in that turlet unless they're a sex pest or somebody like Ron Jeremy or Steven Seagal. 

A lot of people these days look for places they can live and work remotely that don't break the bank.  Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Bali, Vietnam, maybe some European cities.  All you need is a nice little condo or house, cheap rent, and good internet.  Ands good food, of course.

Edited 2 hours ago by jas007

[jvs]

On 11/30/2024 at 5:58 PM, TedG said:

 

Free speech is not overrated. 

You should have quoted the whole sentence and not just part of it.

I explained why i feel this way.

Please read again and see what i said.

[Patong2021]

I used to watch Cops religiously when it  first came out. And then there were America's  high speed pursuits, and then  Jail, a series that profiles the Las Vegas jail intake. There was nothing exceptional about the people who were shown.

[Lacessit]

31 minutes ago, jas007 said:

A lot of people these days look for places they can live and work remotely that don't break the bank.  Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Bali, Vietnam, maybe some European cities.  All you need is a nice little condo or house, cheap rent, and good internet.  Ands good food, of course.

Places like the US, UK and Australia are OK for people still in the workforce, and earning good coin. People on minimum wage, not so much.

 

Unless a pensioner in Australia owns the roof over their head, they will be shelling out 60 - 70% of their pension in rent.

 

 

[Yagoda]

26 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

There you go again. The myopic inability to see any contrary opinion outside the frame of everything you've been told or read about the Democrats in your comfy wee affirmation echo chamber. But, if the cap fits, wear it.

Who said anyhting about Democrats? The Republicans have spent waaaay too much time and money on you pathetic squabbling little children too. 

 

The American taxpayer is tired of paying for ingrate losers who cant get your own houses in order.  You Euros cant feed or power or heat yourselves, your tax structure is not conducive to innovation, your economies are stagnant, you are ruled by unelected woke bureaucrats, you have no enumerated rights, you're full of sectarian and religious and political hate, your population is sheep, you have airs of superiority even though the sole source of your power is the mere fact that you are "Europe", and you are the source of all the wicked ideologies in this world.

 

You say that America is "violent" simply because we have more of an underclass than you, yet you riot at football matches to the point that fans get banned, why your gangs cut off heads in the streets.

 

You say that America is racist when those same Euro football fans toss banannas at blacks, while your intellectuals deny the holocaust and give homes to terrorists.

 

You sniff and look down on America because YOU Brought slavery here, ignoring the fact that your lot were slavers before we ever were a nation.

 

You call us genocidal colonizers? Really? 

 

You blame us for wars and the way we conduct it, even though it BENEFITS you. Hell, what little industrial base you have makes weapons for us.

 

You laugh at our lifestyle and espouse socialism while we pay the freight to keep the Russians off of you, not even mentioning the fact that we kept you all from speaking German..

 

I refuse to accept a holier than thou attitude from a bunch of folks who are responsible for more death and hatred than any other group in history. Your bunch make Genghis Kahn look like a piker. 

 

Ill give credit to the Poles and Hungarians for beginning to learn how to act.

 

[Yagoda]

1 hour ago, mdr224 said:

I didnt know either, until i read the opinions of the non americans here. Im all in on trump cutting everyone else off

Dude ya ought to get into the backpacker crowd, OMG, I had one frothing the other day, he grabbed his hacky sack and firesticks, adjusted his white boy dreads and walked off in a huff telling me I was a fascist when I told him I couldnt wait to see screaming and sobbing illegal aliens being herded back across the border.  Ve are all vone vorld, ja? Well Hansel, your lot already tried that, ja?

 

 

[newnative]

22 hours ago, jas007 said:

It doesn't have to be awful.  Everything is there if a person wants to work and has talent.  Today's American kids were all sold the fantasy that is they had a college "degree" they could simply leave college and step into the American Dream.  When they find out no one is hiring, they drop out, or a lot of them do.  Some adapt and start their own businesses. Others work three jobs and save what money they can to invest of start their own businesses.  Anyway, if you take a look at the average yearly incomes for the various ethnic groups in America, you'll see that Asians outperform Caucasians.  My guess is that the Asians are successful because they work harder. The people you see on You/Tube living in tents are there of their own choosing.  Or, perhaps, they have drug problems or mental issues.  Mostly, you see these problems in the big cities on the East or West Coast.  Expensive areas. 

      I agree regarding Asians and I saw one example of it first-hand.  After the Vietnam war some Vietnamese were brought to America and settled in different areas.  One area was northern Virginia.  I worked at a community college there and the campus I was at set up special classes to teach these Vietnamese English.   There may have also been some acclimation sessions. 

     Most of these Vietnamese worked very hard, often at two jobs or more.   Many of the jobs were blue collar--gardeners, restaurant workers, office cleaners, etc.   They did the long hours of hard work, saved their money, and in a few years they had started their own garden service, restaurant, office cleaning company, and so on.  The goal was for the next generation, their children, to go to college and have a better life than they did--and many achieved it in one generation. 

     Although life had dealt them a bad blow--their country had fallen and they had ended up in an alien country across the world--there wasn't a 'woe is me' attitude.   Instead, it was, ok, this bad thing has happened, we've been given a new opportunity, let's get to work.  

[gamb00ler]

On 11/30/2024 at 4:31 PM, novacova said:

In the US anyone and everyone has absolute freedom to express their political opinions and can even flip the bird and yell FU! to the cops without fear of being arrested or plugged full of lead.

Let me wipe the Trump spittle from your glasses so you can see this:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/06/cyclist-fired-for-flipping-off-presidents-motorcade-wins-local-office.html

 

[Yagoda]

1 hour ago, mdr224 said:

Hes in the minority of folks here who leave the west but still care about it, most here just wants the west to collapse already

Thats because I have a Tadpole that lives and works in the West. And I like America, I would just rather be in an Asian country while I am still able to be in one. Plus I am in no snow mode at this point in my life. Plus see below.

1 hour ago, FriscoKid said:

Could never work out why any Westerner from a developed country would want to live in that turlet unless they're a sex pest or somebody like Ron Jeremy or Steven Seagal. 

I live in Siem and I have a free pass to the Angkor complex. For $4, I can have my driver ride me around the temple circuit while I smoke weed and kief, grab me a chicken, or one of those rice things in the bamboo, and I dont have to walk anywhere, I just ride around like a Pasha in a cart for .75 cents a ride, door to door, and they help me in and out of the cart, and everyone smiles at me and calls me Papa, and everything is cheap, and the hostels are filled with backpacker eurogirls in thongs  and sooner or later I will get one with Daddy issues who wants a shower and the nice selection of creams and emollients I have and Eurogirls are very dirty, especially the German ones, and yes, I am like Ron Jeremy not only in his ugliness (I would best be described as a creamier white, bloated hairless version) but in that which many of you only dream of possessing, close your eyes and think about that now, and for a bargain price of $75 i can leave my home and 6ish hours later be sitting in Billboard in Nana plaza sucking on a Live Resin vape with a smashburger from Nana burger festering in my stomach.

 

So while I still can, Ill stay here. The air is cleaner, the food is cheap, I have easy access to Bangkok and yummy hardbodies, I never have to screw with the govt and I save a ton of money while doing it. No need for a car, car insurance (my next quote will be about $400 a MONTH), no mowing the lawn, no oil changes, no cottage cheese encrusted fat biatch with saggy bazooms yelling at me, no driving, no hassle and loads of stuff to see.

[Yagoda]

42 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

I used to watch Cops religiously when it  first came out. And then there were America's  high speed pursuits, and then  Jail, a series that profiles the Las Vegas jail intake. There was nothing exceptional about the people who were shown.

Got it. A heavily edited reality show concerning the human garbage found in all criminal justice systems no matter where is the basis for someones view of America.

 

I like being shallow myself, but really dude, how could you even humiliate your anonymous self like that?

[novacova]

8 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Let me wipe the Trump spittle from your glasses so you can see this:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/06/cyclist-fired-for-flipping-off-presidents-motorcade-wins-local-office.html

 

Silly. My post made no reference to Trump whatsoever yet your glasses are full of Trump obsession.
& yet he was free to do so without the government infringing on his right to do so. 

[Patong2021]

Just now, Yagoda said:

Got it. A heavily edited reality show concerning the human garbage found in all criminal justice systems no matter where is the basis for someones view of America.

 

I like being shallow myself, but really dude, how could you even humiliate your anonymous self like that?

 

Excellent entertainment. The visits to the trailer parks. The arrests of criminals in Republican  dominated and controlled states like Kentucky, Florida, Alabama etc. was revealing

There was also a show on A&E called Live PD. It was a great demonstration of American culture. You know all those mass swarmings of retailers and the plague of shoplifting in the USA,  is it exceptionalism that it seems common in the USA, but a rarity in the UAE,  Japan, Thailand, Singapore and other places?  I also like to peruse the mugshots of the mostly white US criminals at https://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots    They are very exceptional  😉 The USA is so exceptional that it has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. It also is characterized by its school shootings and a culture that puts the right to carry firearms in public places above the right to peace and safety.