America is exceptional in believing it's exceptional.
It's infrastructure is shit - internet, bridges, electrical, rails. It operates inefficiently, due to money being wasted at all times (giving money to those who don't need it). It has crap political leadership, because it bends to the needs and wants of those who have money.
But, worst of all; the common citizen usually blindly follows liars and goes after/blames whomever or whatever the liars say.
So...pretty much like every country in history.
America is exceptional in that it has been a stabilizing force in the world since WW2. And has been able to outlast the other stabilizing force (USSR). The difference between the US and any other first world country are miniscule when compared with the differences between first world and third world countries. Drama queens who harp on how crappy they think the US is need to get out more.
You are completely right. I was talking to a guy from the netherlands the other day. Has been here 15 years. We were both saying one of the great things about America is how damn crazy it can be, and we weren't kidding. There's just nothing like the variance in people in any other Western nation I can think of. You can go all the way from uppity new yorker to backwoods Texan who truly believes the government is about to take him over--and by the way he's not a one-off, there are thousands like him.In the US you are allowed to be completely crazy. You can go to someone and start talking about how aliens abducted Elvis and killed Kennedy, and people are cool with that; "he's weird" is about as bad as you are going to be judged.
Great quote. But some truth to it. Any adult in the US, for example, can enter a gun store and inside of 10 minutes with no questions asked leave with a semi-auto shotgun. There are many thousands upon thousands of people at this very moment thinking about and seriously planning for the end of the world as we know it, and they are armed and supplied such that they can go months if not years in this Mad Max type world. But you know what, many of those people would make great neighbors, too. That's why there's nothing like 'Merica.Our downside is boredom, yours is madness.
That's an interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing it.here is how i feel about america and americans. premise: i'm european.
people in the US are better than in EU. and they can be worse as well, both come from the same difference between the two "worlds", the old world (EU) and the US.
in EU, you "are" the job you work at. At most, you are your degree, but even that is stretching it. If you are a plumber, then everyone thinks thats all you are. You are not allowed any dreams, aspirations, hobbies, or personality.
In the US, you can work at a starbucks, and you can introduce yourself to people as "i'm a artist" or "i'm gonna be a financial genius" and people will take your word for it.
Of course, then you have to come through; you gotta deliver. But no US person will say "you aren't shit because you don't work in any job related to what you want to be", while in EU that's standard for pretty much everyone.
In the US you are allowed to be completely crazy. You can go to someone and start talking about how aliens abducted Elvis and killed Kennedy, and people are cool with that; "he's weird" is about as bad as you are going to be judged.
In EU, if you don't follow a strict and expansive unwritten ruleset, you become untouchable. Having any complex conceptual opinion is considered dangerous and you will be warned that anyone who dares follow his dreams or ideology will "wind up in a bad way".
I've never been to a part in EU where 70% of the people invited bust out their own bag of kindbud, or a kegger. In the US, you can walk down the street, see a party, walk in, say "hi, i just walked in, can i get a brew" and people will just beer you. In EU, they would kick you out and yell furiously.
There is no casual sex in EU. Marriage looms like the spectre of death over every kiss. There's no working out, rocking out, copping out, dropping out. There's just study/work, keep your head down, and don't criticize your boss.
You are also practically not allowed to change jobs, ever.
We have stability. The US has freedom. Our downside is boredom, yours is madness.
(mind you, it's not legal freedom i'm talking about - it's social freedom)
This is exactly the type of response i was hoping for.here is how i feel about america and americans. premise: i'm european.
people in the US are better than in EU. and they can be worse as well, both come from the same difference between the two "worlds", the old world (EU) and the US.
in EU, you "are" the job you work at. At most, you are your degree, but even that is stretching it. If you are a plumber, then everyone thinks thats all you are. You are not allowed any dreams, aspirations, hobbies, or personality.
In the US, you can work at a starbucks, and you can introduce yourself to people as "i'm a artist" or "i'm gonna be a financial genius" and people will take your word for it.
Of course, then you have to come through; you gotta deliver. But no US person will say "you aren't shit because you don't work in any job related to what you want to be", while in EU that's standard for pretty much everyone.
In the US you are allowed to be completely crazy. You can go to someone and start talking about how aliens abducted Elvis and killed Kennedy, and people are cool with that; "he's weird" is about as bad as you are going to be judged.
In EU, if you don't follow a strict and expansive unwritten ruleset, you become untouchable. Having any complex conceptual opinion is considered dangerous and you will be warned that anyone who dares follow his dreams or ideology will "wind up in a bad way".
I've never been to a part in EU where 70% of the people invited bust out their own bag of kindbud, or a kegger. In the US, you can walk down the street, see a party, walk in, say "hi, i just walked in, can i get a brew" and people will just beer you. In EU, they would kick you out and yell furiously.
There is no casual sex in EU. Marriage looms like the spectre of death over every kiss. There's no working out, rocking out, copping out, dropping out. There's just study/work, keep your head down, and don't criticize your boss.
You are also practically not allowed to change jobs, ever.
We have stability. The US has freedom. Our downside is boredom, yours is madness.
(mind you, it's not legal freedom i'm talking about - it's social freedom)
Exceptional under the Gold Standard.
-After the industrialization post-Civil War, became the strongest economy in the world in 1871, surpassing the British Empire with manufacturing and voluntary trade of the free market, while the British gained their wealth by colonizing a quarter of the globe through violence.
-We had 100 years of price deflation until 1914, where grandparents used to tell their kids how much more money was worth as the economy became more productive, while wages rose at the same time.
-Fought the largest naval battles in world history against the Imperial Japanese Navy. By 1943 the United States naval shipyards were producing more tonnage of warships in 1 month than the Empire of Japan built the entire period between 1933-1945.
-Mobilized the huge number of private engineering subcontractors we had in the 1960s, hired over 400,000 engineers to built the Saturn V, a 363 foot tall, 3,100 ton rocket that generated more power than the entire power grid of the United Kingdom. Still the only country in the history of the earth to send men to the moon, and possibly the only country that ever will. This massive project was only 5% of the entire government budget in the 1960s. NASA in the early 2000s told George Bush they couldn't build a comparable heavy lift rocket in the Constellation program even with "unlimited funding" today.
-Became the world reserve currency because the United States was producing all of the world's durable goods and accumulated more than 90% of the world's gold through manufacturing (a peak of 28,000 tons).
Uhh, no.
You disagree with every point I made? So the Battle of Leyte Gulf was not the largest naval battle in world history? Please enlighten me about your knowledge of Greek naval history and why it's battles were larger.