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America is wonderful country for its freedoms. It allows people to live in the country and enjoy their life, people to live in the city and enjoy their life, or choose suburbia. Our diversity is what sets us apart from other countries.
When you get right down to it America only has one measurably valuable distinction, and that is our Constitutionally protected freedom. When you look back over the last century, those freedoms led directly to our prosperity and the generation of our enormous wealth. Wouldn't/didn't happen anywhere else in the world. That's why we should be extremely cautious in eroding those freedoms with the justification that we need to be made "safer". To trot out an old proverb, do you really want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg?
I have a feeling that some people have never been out of the county they live in, much less the state.
I have been around the world 3 times and in over 60 countrys including a 3 month stint in the Saudi Arabian desert and the jungles of Viet Nam. Coming back to the United States is one of the best feelings in the world.
It is hard to imagine just how much you take for granted in the USA until you spend just one day in a third world county.
I've never been to a third-world country, I've been to Canada and most of the United States. Though I've only lived in about six states.
I agree that "coming home" is a good feeling. But that even applies within the United States.
I've lived in many parts of this country, and in many cases, I never even want to go back, not even to visit.
As someone who has lived, fought in wars, gone to school and worked in other countries, the thing that always struck me when coming back to the States was wealth and consumption. It was unique in all the world. The big cars, big houses, restaurants and shopping everywhere, malls, theaters, and well-fed people. Wealth was our national identity compared to anywhere on the planet for most of the last century.
We screwed up though. We failed to adopt policies to stop the inevitable flow of wealth to the few. In many cases, we did the opposite. So, now we are in the situation where so many are broke, out of work, in debt, and convinced our national identity has been lost. For them, it has been.
I guess the whole question hinges on what one considers "America's identity." If it's nothing more than a collection of tastes, interests, or fashions, it's doomed, because all those things are subject to change, and none defines us as a nation.
Hunting and BBQ, art museums and a night at the opera, hot dogs at Yankee stadium and crawfish etouffee in New Orleans, Chinese food and tacos and pizza, Amish women in long skirts, girls in bikinis at the beach, and yes, women wearing hijab, are all part of our identity. But our identity is so much more than any one of those things: it's our ability and willingness to accept the part of America that is not part of our own experience. America, and its identity, is as broad and vast as the land between the oceans, and as diverse as the people within its boundaries. We will only lose our identity when we try to limit it to the familiar.
As someone who has lived, fought in wars, gone to school and worked in other countries, the thing that always struck me when coming back to the States was wealth and consumption. It was unique in all the world. The big cars, big houses, restaurants and shopping everywhere, malls, theaters, and well-fed people. Wealth was our national identity compared to anywhere on the planet for most of the last century.
We screwed up though. We failed to adopt policies to stop the inevitable flow of wealth to the few. In many cases, we did the opposite. So, now we are in the situation where so many are broke, out of work, in debt, and convinced our national identity has been lost. For them, it has been.
This is gradually happening on a global scale.. the influx of refugees into Europe are part of an effort by the soros and other big billionaires and corporations to bring in inexpensive labor and reduce the costs to increase the bottom line, funneling more wealth up to the top. They also need population growth to sustain their pyramid social schemes (like US social security) but they are not going to get it.. eventually they'll have to redesign the fractional reserve currency so it's capable of sustaining itself without constant population growth... their attempt right now is using zero interest rates, which is actually having some success...
What happened was the strong dollar, low interest rate credit bubble happened. Combined with cutting taxes for the top, it allowed wealth to flow to the top and/or leave the country, as it became cheaper to produce goods in foreign countries with comparatively "weak" currencies though the credit bubble did have many benefits as well.. it allowed investment in new technologies that might not have been possible without the ability to garner capital.. pharmaceuticals and medical technology to name a few...
The top seems to want to strip everyone around the world of cultural identity... if that's what you mean by losing identity, you are partially correct. I'm getting by just fine personally.
Hunting and BBQ, art museums and a night at the opera, hot dogs at Yankee stadium and crawfish etouffee in New Orleans, Chinese food and tacos and pizza, Amish women in long skirts, girls in bikinis at the beach, and yes, women wearing hijab, are all part of our identity. But our identity is so much more than any one of those things: it's our ability and willingness to accept the part of America that is not part of our own experience. America, and its identity, is as broad and vast as the land between the oceans, and as diverse as the people within its boundaries. We will only lose our identity when we try to limit it to the familiar.
You said a whole lot of nothing. Based on your silly argument, why not unite Western Europe, America, and Canada as a single nation?
You fail to address the question, "Why does America, as a country, exist?"
If we aren't the same people, then why would we want to be part of the same country? With as divided as America has become, what is it that even holds us together?
The truth is, nothing, except fear, greed, and force. Just look at what is going on around you for christ's sake.
Its like the woman who stays with her cheating husband, because she doesn't want to be alone. She doesn't know what she will do without him, she is comfortable, its all she knows, and she is scared she won't find anything better. She might even be afraid of what other people might think.
What would you say to that woman? You would tell her to leave him. That it might be rough for a while, but in the end, she will be happier without him.
You said a whole lot of nothing. Based on your silly argument, why not unite Western Europe, America, and Canada as a single nation?
You fail to address the question, "Why does America, as a country, exist?"
If we aren't the same people, then why would we want to be part of the same country? With as divided as America has become, what is it that even holds us together?
The truth is, nothing, except fear, greed, and force. Just look at what is going on around you for christ's sake.
Its like the woman who stays with her cheating husband, because she doesn't want to be alone. She doesn't know what she will do without him, she is comfortable, its all she knows, and she is scared she won't find anything better. She might even be afraid of what other people might think.
What would you say to that woman? You would tell her to leave him. That it might be rough for a while, but in the end, she will be happier without him.
Good advice.
I was under the impression that countries exist primarily to protect their citizens. It is my fondest hope that what holds Americans together is a shared love of freedom and tolerance. I'm sorry if you find this silly.
What, precisely, are you proposing as a solution to the problem? What do you mean when you say "the same people?" A reply free of insults and swearing would be deeply appreciated.
Hunting and BBQ, art museums and a night at the opera, hot dogs at Yankee stadium and crawfish etouffee in New Orleans, Chinese food and tacos and pizza, Amish women in long skirts, girls in bikinis at the beach, and yes, women wearing hijab, are all part of our identity.
Let me add, most of the people you mentioned here, don't want anything to do with each other. The Amish want to live as far away from us as possible, they fight with the government all the time, and they don't even vote.
A large portion of this country would love to get a deportation force to throw out probably tens of millions of Hispanics, Muslims, among others(including liberals). Lets not even discuss the racists.
Something like 25% of the population wants their state to secede from the union.
This rosy picture you painted, ain't reality.
When someone says they love America, they love their own backyard, and not much more than that.
A large portion of the population have never even left their state. They have no love for this country. They don't even know what this country is.
This is gradually happening on a global scale.. the influx of refugees into Europe are part of an effort by the soros and other big billionaires and corporations to bring in inexpensive labor and reduce the costs to increase the bottom line, funneling more wealth up to the top. They also need population growth to sustain their pyramid social schemes (like US social security) but they are not going to get it.. eventually they'll have to redesign the fractional reserve currency so it's capable of sustaining itself without constant population growth... their attempt right now is using zero interest rates, which is actually having some success...
What happened was the strong dollar, low interest rate credit bubble happened. Combined with cutting taxes for the top, it allowed wealth to flow to the top and/or leave the country, as it became cheaper to produce goods in foreign countries with comparatively "weak" currencies though the credit bubble did have many benefits as well.. it allowed investment in new technologies that might not have been possible without the ability to garner capital.. pharmaceuticals and medical technology to name a few...
The top seems to want to strip everyone around the world of cultural identity... if that's what you mean by losing identity, you are partially correct. I'm getting by just fine personally.
Good points.
I'm afraid we're both on a list somewhere now for endorsing such thoughts though.
You sound like one bad ass mfger! Wanna hang out some time and shoot guns at random crap in the yard then shotgunn a couple beer? I got a 50cc dirt bike we can crash over and over it won't die!
Sometimes people overcompensate.
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