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The hoariest and most oft-repeated cliche in American politics may be that America is the greatest country in the world. Every politician, Democrat and Republican, seems duty bound to pander to this idea of American exceptionalism, and woe unto him who hints otherwise. This country is "the last, best hope of mankind,'' or the "shining city on the hill,'' or the "great social experiment.'' As if this weren't enough, Jimmy Carter upped the fawning ante 30 years ago by uttering arguably the most damning words in modern American politics. He called for a "government as good as the American people,'' thus taking national greatness and investing it in each and every one of us.
Carter was speaking when Watergate was fresh, and government had been disgraced, but still. The fact of the matter is that whenever anything really significant has been accomplished by our government, it is precisely because it was better than the American people.
Think of World War II, America's entrance into which was strenuously resisted by the populace until Franklin Roosevelt carefully laid the groundwork and Pearl Harbor made it inevitable. Think of civil rights, which Lyndon Johnson pressed despite widescale opposition, and not just in the South. Even then it took more than 100 years. Or think of the current health care debate in which Americans seem to desire some sort of reform, just not a reform that would significantly help people in dire need, while the Obama administration is pushing to provide that assistance. In the end, government has inspired Americans far more than Americans have inspired their government. They are too busy boasting.
There is nothing wrong with self-satisfaction or national pride. But the incessant trumpeting of our national superiority to every other country in the world is more than just off-putting and insulting. It is infantile, like the vaunting of a schoolyard bully that his Dad is better than your Dad. It is wrong. And it might be dangerous both to ourselves and to the rest of the world.
Consider what it means. By what standard is one nation any greater than any other nation? Yes, the United States has vast material resources - we rank eighth in gross domestic product per capita - but we also have, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the "highest inequality and poverty rate'' in the world, outside of Mexico and Turkey, and things are getting worse. Nothing to boast of there.
Yes, we have a relatively high median income, but our standard of living as measured by the Human Development Index of the United Nations ranks us only 15th in the world, behind, among others, Norway, France, Canada, and Australia. Are they better than we are? Even our home ownership rate trails that of the citizens of Canada, Belgium, Spain, Norway, and even Portugal.
Yes, the United States has the best system of higher education in the world, but, according to an Educational Policy Institute report, we rank 13th in the affordability of that education, and we are much less successful with lower education - 11th in the percentage of the 25 to 34 population with a high school diploma and 22d in science education.
And though Americans love to crow about the "best health care'' in the world, the fact is that according to the World Health Organization Index, we actually rank 37th in the quality of our health care. And we are still the only industrialized country in the world without a national health care system.
Even when one considers anecdotal evidence - "If this isn't the greatest country then why do so many people want to come here?'' - the case isn't particularly persuasive. Mexicans cross the border to the United States for economic opportunity. Turks go to Germany, Indians and Pakistanis to Great Britain, Arabs to France. This isn't a sign of our special greatness, just a sign that desperate people seek a more powerful economy for their betterment.
The point of all this isn't that America doesn't have a lot to be proud of. It does. The point is that just about every country has a lot to be proud of, and America has no more right to assume it is the greatest nation in the world than does France, Switzerland, China, or Russia.
None of this would make much difference if the self-congratulation was just harmless bragging. But there are consequences. A country that believes it is the greatest in the world is also less likely to be constrained by that world. One could argue that the Iraq war was a direct result of a sense of national infallibility. So was our willingness to torture, our reluctance to admit our mistakes in Afghanistan, our culpability in the global recession, and our foot-dragging on global warming. Such a nation is also less likely to introspect or to strive for true greatness because it believes its greatness has already arrived.
There is something bizarre about a country whose leaders have constantly to toady to their constituents and in which any criticism is tantamount to a lack of patriotism, but that describes America today. Every politician feels compelled to ape Jimmy Carter's old words to the point where our alleged greatness has also become our national mantra.
It seems eons ago when Bobby Kennedy, a politician who didn't like to stroke even his own supporters, actually scolded a rally for booing Lyndon Johnson because, Kennedy said, Johnson couldn't have done what he did in Vietnam if he didn't have the American people, including Kennedy's audience, as his facilitators.
We aren't going to hear that sort of honesty from political leaders any more because the American people are too thin-skinned and arrogant to tolerate it. Arrogance in an individual is unbecoming. It is no more becoming for a nation. The Greeks understood that the gods punished mortals for their hubris - for feeling that they were godlike. They knew that overweening pride preceded a fall. One suspects that nations are no more immune to punishment than individuals. A nation that brooks no criticism, a nation that feels it is always better than any other, a nation that has to be endlessly flattered and won't face the truth, a nation whose people think they possess some special moral exemption and wisdom, a nation without humility is a nation spoiling for calamity.
We've been living in a fool's paradise. The result may be a government that is as good as the American people, which is something that should concern everyone.
173 Comments so far
Show AllWE'RE #1!!! WE'RE #1!!! WE'RE #1!!! ...
repeat this mantra until you commit suicide.
My words! I've never understood how Americans arrived at that conclusion.
There is no "greatest country in the world", only thoroughly uneducated people would ever claim such a thing.
The "greatest" - whatever that is supposed to mean - country would be a mix of "best of" in various relevant areas.
But, ok, this claim of still living in the "greatest" country - which even any homeless in any of the many slums in the US happily repeats, which is of course remarkable and could only be compared to something people in a society as closed to the outer world as North Korea might utter - or most likely still might not - is a great propaganda tool to keep your own population down.
Over here in Europe, our politicians would love us to gush - wherever we live - that we're the greatest country in the world, and not constantly ask them: "Hey, so how come country X and Y could figure out how to do (insert anything you want) much better than us and we can't, EH??? HOW COME??"
But that of course presupposes that one has an interest in and an idea of what happens in other countries.
Which is the kind of thing I've hardly ever caught any American doing. Even Canada is too far away for most of them.
And - see North Korea - if one has no clue about what life is like other places, one can lazily assume that one is the best and need not improve. Of course.
Which puts American politicians into a very, very enviable position, compared to all other politicians in the world.
Because their voters tend to know about other places and compare and demand improvements since they know that others are able to solve a few problems more intelligently.
One of the main points which you missed, is that IF American government is able to work as it should, THEN government IS the people.
Another main point which you missed is that as things currently go, those with the overwhelming power are those with the most money.
If those with the least money had as much power as those with the most, THEN the result of government would be substantially different.
(and better)
This includes the information which is spread throughout America. If those with the most money had NO MORE power than the poorest among us, then the news on television, radio and newspapers would be substantially different.
(and better)
All people would have the factual information which is the same, or very similar, to that which is here at CommonDreams.org. Think of what our society would be like if almost all people had and believed the information given at this web site.
Think of the type of politicians who would be elected.
Think of how those politicians would, therefore, govern.
Gabler credits LBJ for the civil rights progress of the '60's without even mentioning the millions of people who worked toward the achievement. This error encapsulates what is wrong with the article.
He does say, however, that civil rights were opposed by the people.
So, the marchers (and millions of sympathizers) and those who devoted much of their lives to the cause are not the people, but segregationists are the people.
If this is not playing into a phony set piece, I don't know what is. It seems to be compulsive among some people and not just on the right.
Now wait a minute: In LBJ's case it was the marchers but in Obama's case, he's supposed to do it all by himself since the progressives are definitely NOT marching?
Oh dear. What great logic.
What are you talking about? Are you saying Gabler is correct in not mentioning the people who really constituted the civil rights movement? Are you disputing that point? That was my point and it had nothing to do with Obama.
Do you think I support Obama and think he is anything other than a corporate front man? I don't expect him to do anything. (I supported and voted for McKinney.)
Please explain your point of "logic".
Are you able to read?? Looks like you aren't.
You are mentioning the civil rights movements and say that they influenced LBJ but at the same time you guys are bashing Obama all over the place for not accomplishing anything - and, yes, you are NOT marching again.
Has it ever occured to you whining couch potatoes that he can't do anything you want to the backdrop of that right-wing country of yours UNLESS you do the same thing people did in the 1960s??
Jeez.
0bama stands in fairly precise opposition to anything worth marching for. He's pro-war, pro-military, pro-coal and petrol, pro-nuke, pro-Wall Street, pro-corporatocracy and empire, and against genuine healthcare reform.
Marching might get us something, but not because we 0bama's support, secret or otherwise.
Marching would involve bashing 0bama harder.
0bama will never measure up to LBJ -- and no, I was not a fan.
Did it ever occur to you Araquin,
That Obomber hasn't asked us to do anything?
He's a fake. He's the son of an Oil Man. He's former CIA Bank (BIC front corp). He's a graduate from the very den of despotism: Harvard University. His record shows he hasn't even tried to stand up for anything but Banks and the Fortune 500.
A man can't be a credible progressive leader if he won't stand up and sound a battle cry.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
So, what did you think about my criticism of Gabler's article?
Never mind...
The reason I was confused (jeez) is that you are playing a little skit in your mind and I'm not a mind reader. I'm just going along pointing out a major fault in the article and out comes this dog biting at my tires talking about, what?, Obama is supposed to do it all by himself since progressives are not marching...bark, bark...
You should have let me know you were an "assumer". You see, I never said Obama's supposed to do it all by himself. I didn't say anything about Obama at all. You were assuming. (Your "Oh dear. What great logic" seems to indicate that you were talking directly to me and not simply making a general statement.) Another assumption you apparently hold is that Obama needs help in something he that he wants to do but can't. I see no indication of this as he appears to be kind of a Friedmanite to me. LBJ was a full-fledged New Dealer. But I'm willing to discuss.
Then there is the matter of what we would be marching for. "Progressivism?" Against the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan? Do you see a civil rights equivalent that would focus our energy? Environment?
But I'm all for marching and civil disobedience, so your, "Oh dear" seems kind of meaningless and the assumption stands out in its silly glory.
I turned to full-time activism in 1997. (I had been devoting part of my life to it from the late '60's.) I tried to build a strong third party (Greens) for close to a decade. I focused on civil liberties and wrote an Anti-PATRIOT Act resolution, the wording of which you will find in many of the stronger resolutions throughout the country. I worked long hours on impeachment. As I strongly believe that decentralization is essential, I worked on issues of local self-sufficiency and still do (and always will.) And, yes, I marched.
Three years ago, a family member became very ill requiring full-time care. I did what I had to do for her, but I was reduced mainly to discussing things on the net and in forums like this one. I consider the talk quite useful, actually. It might even be essential.
She died some months ago, and after a longer period of grief than I expected, I'm chomping at the bit to get in full-bore again. My hope is that the opening up of possibilities for me can coincide with a blossoming of a serious movement.
Hope this meets with your approval. I'm stating these facts to discourage unwarranted assumptions which take up too much space and degrade the conversation.
Arry --- you are an incredible human being. and I am sure there are so many others , everywhere and in america with such humanity as yours.
Thanks teddy -- Your words mean a lot to me as I appreciate and respect your intelligent posts, and your own humanity comes through unmistakably.
Nothing can touch the lofty prowess of the intellectual elitist. We are sublime.
Great article. People from the older generations who are less globally educated and brought up to believe that America was the greatest nation on earth will probably never change their thinking. People like Neal Bortz & Rush Limbaugh, who are stuck in the old ignorant way of thinking are still trying to spread an outdated and dead message. Fortunately, there is so much data available at our fingertips that Americans are starting to come to the realization that we may not be as superior as we thought we were. We are evolving.
500 elected officials controlled by 22000 lobbyists control the lives of 300,000,000 million Americans and one of the worlds richest economies.
The fortune 500 problably employ half of all lobbyists.
The main stream media is owned by the fortune 500.
America is is the greatest corrupt nation in the world, start with the IRS control, Taxes, the 500 elected circus ring show masters , and the fortune 500.
The rest of us have become throw away labor. You dont need health care, you die or cant work, you are replaced by the next guy.
"... whenever anything really significant has been accomplished by our government, it is precisely because it was better than the American people. Think of World War II, America's entrance into which was strenuously resisted by the populace until Franklin Roosevelt carefully laid the groundwork and Pearl Harbor made it inevitable."
*gasp* *choke* *splutter*
Let's ring a few changes on that, shall we?
"Think of World War I, America's entrance into which was strenuously resisted by the populace until Lord Balfour carefully laid the groundwork and the Lusitania incident made it inevitable."
"Think of the Vietnam War, America's entrance into which was strenuously resisted by the populace until Harry Truman* carefully laid the groundwork and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident made it inevitable."
"Think of the Afghan War, America's entrance into which was strenuously resisted by the populace until Papa Bush** carefully laid the groundwork and 9/11 made it inevitable."
"Think of the Iraq War, America's entrance into which was strenuously resisted by the populace until George Tenet carefully laid the groundwork and Nigerian yellowcake made it inevitable."
Conclusion: The most important thing in war is victory, preferably a crushing victory. If you are widely perceived as the victor, you can write the history of the war as you please. Annoyances like James Bacque can always be dumped down the Great Media Oubliette.
Notes:
*Ho Chi Minh asked Harry Truman no less than eight times for help in making Vietnam independent. He was refused. He then went to the competition. Suddenly he was the Phantasmagoric Menace.
**The Taliban government was quite welcome in Washington until it rejected the terms Papa Bush demanded for a pipeline across Afghanistan.
the greatest granfalloon ever!
Amazing. Many of the comments about this article confirm its point: even the purported lefties can't stand to see their country straight: it's got to be just a tad [or more] superior to every other nation. Arry's straw men of pickpockets, bombers, etc. really makes the case against [not]. Some baseline standard he uses. I don't care where Gabler's from: he's got it right.
Actually, my post clearly indicates that the U.S. is not an exception. Surprised you don't see that.
IMO, people are better that their governments everywhere and therein lies the central problem of political life.
What a nonsensical article. In my opinion, it is hopelessly confused. This is not to say that I don't shudder when I listen to pompous talk about the "greatness of America". But I shudder not because the statements are wrong but because they are used for such a blatantly hypocritical and self-serving purpose. In fact, they are a crude (but historically effective) means of selling a product...USA, Inc. or, in earlier years, "manifest destiny". In both cases, the power elite conflated a phony moral case with greed for wealth and power...its own wealth and power. It's an old story and an old scam (a lot older than the U.S.) and it generally works.
Carter was actually right, although his motives may have been less than pure. Very few people in my acquaintance would step up to a wedding party and blow it to bits. Would people you know pick your pocket while calling you a great American? Would they pollute your garden with their seeds and then sue you for infringement of their patents? (Not government but close per se.) Would they pummel and gas you when you tried to state an opinion? (And doesn't the author know of the strong public support for a single-payer health system?)
It's amazing to me how so-called leftists take the Fox News propaganda about the views and motives of "American people" hook-line-and-sinker (although, of course, drawing different conclusions) and thereon base their arguments.
We should actually be working toward a "government as good as its people". That would be a "great" thing.
Being a citizen of a country is like being in a family. You should love your family and help them any way you can, consistent with moral values. (Not that everyone aspiring to that kind of family achieves it.) If you belong to a nation, you should love its people and try to help them any way you can, consistent with moral values.
Family love includes a big measure of forgiving. Same with country. But just as you wouldn't let a beloved family member "get away with murder," you shouldn't let your country.
Love of country, like love of family, demands dealing with problems rationally. When that love turns to hate, the first casualty is rationality.
Are you kidding! Whenever I talk to my friends and try to explain welfare or healthcare for all issues to them………….they go crazy. They do not want to help anyone else they are so afraid that someone else is getting something and they are not. They have no concept of what their taxes SHOULD BE USED FOR, or that they have the power to demand how their taxes are spent.
I have never in my life run up against such selfish people. All my folks ever did was try to teach me to share what I had with someone else.
Wow Dogface. You actually associate with people of this mind set?? and refer to them as friends??? Been there done that. The first thing I did was change my social circle and dumped these folks, even the ones I'm related too. Trust me, company like that is bad for your health.
In the general scheme of things, there is exceptionalism everywhere. Everyone thinks that their nation, country, tribe, family, self are exceptional.
Everything is just such a special case.
As we explore the global environmental and evolutionary space,
Of what is possible to exploit for our immediate benefit in any way however.
But just because something is possible, does not mean that the consequences are benign, or that good times will last forever.
So enjoy our brief time in the sun,
at the top of the food chain.
Consume until its gone.
Ask why evolution provided us a brain.
The universe has a plan for us and its called ex-tinc-tion.
The Right is too thin-skinned and arrogant, and when the Left constructively criticizes this country, they are called America-haters for their trouble.
From Canada....this is one of the best articles I've read in a long time, I couldn't agree more with Neil Gabler!!
Hello from Canada's Wet Coast!
I think we could agree that our own government is definitely less than stellar at this point in time too.
How can you write a whole article about American perception of itself and never mention the role property ownership in creating those perceptions? We are victims of engineered ignorance, and this piece doesn't help much.
...And of course, it offers no solution. That is because there is no solution within its reformist paradigm, which at its core supports nationalism and capitalism. From a scientific perspective, there simply is no capitalist way out of this, nor the wars and poverty that are forever assured by this form of economy. There are ONLY communist solutions. If you are not working for international communism, you are in the American army of fools whose ignorance justs happens to reinforce the eternal rule of imperialist knaves. It is really that simple.
I love what America purports to be, but not what it really is. For instance: American ideals are wonderful, but mostly empty rhetoric; the American people are wonderful, but politically dumbed down and apathetic; the Bill of Rights is wonderful, but has been marginalized. Freedom of the press is wonderful, but the MSM has become a tool of the war mongers. Our brave military men and women that are willing to die for our freedoms is wonderful, but they are getting killed and maimed for the wrong reasons. Like the song says: " maybe someday when they learn, America will return ".
Great post Paul,
Maybe like all empires who have ruled the Earth for long, Democracy was never really cherished or valued by the candidates who took office. They come from an American Royalty, schooled in Ivy League castles, wined on Wall Street payoffs, and sheltered by shadowy Unconstitutional new power structures like Skull and Bones, CIA and the Pentagon.
None of this is how this country started. None of this would have been acceptable to the founders. We started as smugglers and gun owners. We started as Private Militias who would not let Redcoats take away our liberties or our voice. The Boston assembly was repeatedly dissolved by the Royal Governor and British Parliament, so the Boston Assembly members met in secret in defiance of those slights against Englishmen and loyal subjects of the crown.
To all: We meet here on CD in spite of illegal gov wiretapping and surveillance without a warrant. We need to get back to our roots and refuse to give up on the Bill of Rights. Use all ten of the first Amendments. Get loud. Complain bitterly. Whine. To your neighbors, to you preacher, to your co-workers, to your kids. Turn off the TV and ask them to boycott it also. Pledge a 1770 boycott of everything the empire makes. Join a Union or circulate NMB cards to start one. Join the third parties and put some signs up in your yard. If you don't have a yard put some bumper stickers on. If you don't have a car, wear a protest T-shirt. Don't keep any money in their banks. Become frugal. Become defiant. Lock arms with your neighbors who have had enough also.
Tj
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
Reading through all the negative remarks here, I can hardly believe I am reading a progressive forum.
I'm not one of those American exceptionalists, but the US has done MORE than its share in contributing to positive advances in humanity.
Yes, the US has been responsible for a lot of very bad things in the world, but no-one can deny all the good that America has done.
And I'm not even American.
You are confusing constructive criticism and the truth for negativity. Calling the statements here by progressives negative is true, what would you like them to say: war is peace, war is great; killing is just peachy keen ect. Sounds like you want the posts to lie like the whore media. Sounds to me like your calling the posts here WTF negative, is a non sequitur.
"And I'm not even American." –(WTF)
–Consider yourself lucky, if not blessed, for if you were an American it would be difficult to categorize you as anything but a fool.
Reading through "all the negative remarks here" I could not find one that was negative enough. Not one comment spoke so severely as to capture how horrid the truth of America's depravity actually is.
And you feel the commentary was harsh?
That collective failure–to think 'harshly' enough to hold what is true self evident– remains a singular problem which inhibits–if not preempts– serious oppositional politics.
The grim task of 'describing' America must be left up to artists and poets.
The horror of America has transcended the prosaic.
"Stop shaking the tyrant's bloody robes in my face, or I will believe that you wish to put Rome in chains." –(Maximilien Robespierre)
–(Jill Bains)
Dude, you need to get out a little more often. US "depravity" is no worse than in any other country throughout the world. Its just that US warts get a lot more press coverage AND internal dbate than elsewhere. Police state? Check out the dozen or more dictatorships for prisons. Equal rights? Look to the several dozen states that practice the equivalent of the Indian caste system. Killing civilians in so-called wars? Count almost all African, South American and Russian cross-border conflicts. Abuse of women? Exists in almost every non-western state. Out-of-control capitalism? There are dozens of states run by gangstas, including almost every east-European state.
Dude, pull your thumb out of your arse and get to work improving things, rather than whining like a cry-baby. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Being part of the solution means recognizing America for its greatness, and recognizing that it got there through trial-and-bloody-error and a lot of difficult work, often against powerfully opposing elements.
For whom is the United States of America Great?
Was it the railway barons? Is it the Corporation suite?
Is it those few that own the wealth of nations?
Well funded politically self-satisfied patrons?
Is it great for those below the top condemned to toil?
Victims of the get rich schemes called war and spoil.
The great masses just breed children for cheap employ.
And are denied long term security to enjoy.
A network marketing scheme only works as well,
If new plunders maintain the top swell.
Economic growth in the land of the free.
Is a body churning war machine on a feeding spree.
We are a plague of peoples that have too much grown.
Now we ruin the land, air and sea of our shared home.
There is more blood to be sacrificed on the freedom stone.
So that the real power people can still play and own.
For whom is the United States of America Great?
Was it the railway barons? Is it the Corporation suite?
Is it those few that own the wealth of nations?
Well funded politically self-satisfied patrons?
Is it great for those below the top condemned to toil?
Victims of others get rich schemes called war and spoil.
The great masses just breed children for cheap employ.
And are denied long term security to enjoy.
A network marketing scheme only works as well,
If new plunders maintain the top swell.
Economic growth in the land of the free.
Is a body churning war machine on a feeding spree.
We are a plague of peoples that have too much grown.
Now we ruin the land, air and sea of our shared home.
There is more blood to be sacrificed on the freedom stone.
So that the real power people can still play and own.
'I'm the best because everybody else is only worse.'
Mother of God!
What a deadly dark way of seeing the world -- for a person, let alone a nation!
But this is exactly how so many individuals and nations still primitively 'see' each other.
Wilhelm Riech called such species solipsism The Emotional Plague:
a shadowed fear and hatred of one's raw existential vulnerabilities, thrown-off and projected onto fellow huumans.
In today's world, Taliban males are the leading edge of this human sickeness; followed not far behind by average Americans.
All of the sicknesses and evils in the world are the result of perceptions.
Perception is what determines outcomes, and it is perception that must be changed in order to realize desired outcomes.
The ability to sort what is true from what is false is crucial. The only judgment or discernment we need is to sort what is true from what is false.
Each and every thought, with no exception, has a basis in love, or not. Every thought is loving, or not. Only loving thoughts are real and true.
I agree, donnalou. I do not believe that 1% of this country espousing corporate greed and imperialism represent the majority of people.
Kindness is the basis for a life that most people want with freedom from hunger, poor health, lack of housing. These are simple rights that all people deserve and there is no reason the U.S. cannot deliver.
If we see past the rhetoric and hollow words of our candidates for public office and vote based on actions, it is not unreasonable to expect a more positive outcome.
The author missed the mark entirely!
The only problem with American Exceptionalism is that it's gone! The real American Exceptionalism was the passion for making an honest living, the passion to live in a country free of corruption, the passion to get it right no matter what... The fact that the media and political parties pervert the notion doesn't mean it's a bad thing.
Without the real American Exceptionalism we have become just another corrupt third world banana republic, ruled by a very un-American elite, educated by a corrupt un-American system of education and informed by a no more American and no less corrupt media.
None of this is traditionally American or even European. Traditions have been replaced by a pseudo culture generated by corrupt academic and media windbags, self-described best by John Swinton: "We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."
Is Neal Gabler one of them? Who cares. What matters is the nonsensical nature of constant blame shifting, practiced by people like him. Yesterday was the turn of "capitalism"... as if before it there was no corruption. Today it's the "American Exceptionalism"... Heck, tomorrow lollipops could be a fair game... in the presence of enough GRANTS.
Arktig,
Thank you, your comment is beautifully stated.
Yes, the passion for making an honest living, the passion to live free of corruption, the passion to get it right no matter what are universal, not just American. America was started, in the mind of some, to put us all on this path, however something has gone awry ... and here I believe it is perceptions which DEPEND on awareness, constant awareness and vigilance and attention to actively seek truth. The opposite of awareness is avoidance (most probably with an origin in fear) and there are consequences, such as manipulations.
As well, the blaming feeds avoidance and ignorance.
What is also universal is that deep down each individual is searching for truths in life; each one is human, and commonly, humans have forgotten how to find the truth of themselves. This hurts everyone, including the powerful of the world who forget the truth.
We all know the U.S. has lots of warts, but let's try to pick a few really great things the country did. Hey even your drunk uncle Rudy has does something right in his life once in a while.
I'll go first.
Landing a man on the moon in 1969. Yea I know we did it for political reasons, but man that WAS seriously cool!
Hubble Space Telescope. Once it was launched, and fixed in space because we screwed up the mirror on the ground, that thing has produced some pretty amazing images that furthered our understanding of the Universe.
Credit Default sw... (Whops scratch that one),
OK whose next?
Tom
the moon landing was monumental, if only for showing the courageously possible, and the realistically impossible...the mars landings have been even more so, although without the dramatic human component...yet...(has anyone out there read Mars Direct?)
as for the hubble, I have been truly astonished at the incredible wealth and diversity of the universe captured thereby, and consider the hubble one of our crowning achievements...
sadly, the hubble might not be such a big deal if it weren't for the fact that so many of us rarely, if ever, view the night sky at all, and, when we do, do so free of ambient light and pollution, much less without magnification...
the multitude of stars and planets are an incredibly humbling reminder of the vastness of existence, and our own, minute place within...perspective...and appreciation...we must not allow our precious little blue water-jewel to become a footnote in the universal records...
Exactly,
If we could just throw off the shackles of religion and tribal warfare and embrace pure science again with population control, we'd be the dominant species for a very long time indeed.
But our fate, if we keep this elite robber baron class in charge, is: a mass extinction event including us.
I cite religion, because it gives the masses false hope. False hope someone's going to save them from their own destructive war and overpopulation. Until you are ready to fathom the possibility that there is no tooth fairy and that after you grow up you will be alone, successfully dealing with reality is not possible.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
And we can make a list of awesome contributions made by every nation. :)
The only "space" that matters is the one here on Earth. This is where MY bread is buttered. I am tired of spending my money to blow fools out into "space" so that someone can have bragging rights or a better position from which to shoot.
jazz, Marilyn Monroe, George Gershwin, the Marshall Plan, Yellowstone, Constitutional government, Charlie Chaplain, Robert LaFollette, Woody Guthrie, hunting and fishing licenses easy to get, people take turns in allowing cars to enter the traffic flow, beatniks, Mark Twain, the Great Lakes, free education to age 18, community colleges, Frank Lloyd Wright--a few of the things I like about USA.
We have many wonderful national parks but the country can hardly take credit for the natural beauty of Yellowstone and the Great Lakes (which we managed to pollute so badly at one point you couldn't eat the fish from Erie, cheap fishing licenses notwithstanding). Chaplain was born in England; lots of problems with him being on the list since he was accused of being a Communist sympathizer and was exiled from the US for his political beliefs. However, old Hollywood films would be on my list.
Free education to age 18 is sweet but many would argue the quality of it here leaves much to be desired. Some countries have free college too, and I'm all for lots of education in a country that depends upon an educated citizenry in order to function properly. I think it's sad that our public schools are eliminating subjects like music and art and I'm sure you agree since almost half of the things and people you mentioned concern one or the other.
My favorite thing about the US is its public library systems. Pity the one in my county has suffered budget cuts to the point of having to reduce its hours of operation.
Helena, your "nom de net" is one of the funniest I have ever seen!
Thank you, donnalou! :D
I agree on the Apollo Program. The HST is really a piece of outdated junk. Thanks to Ronnie Raygun's starwars, we have been producing better images from ground-based stations than HST. We keep using the HST because all the ground-based observatories are doing real work and have no time for sight-seeing.
Writing a list of exceptional US achievement will take a veeery long time. Just off the top of my head, consider: Harnessing the atom, GPS, TCP/IP, Jarvik, almost anything the NSF does, adaptive optics, Excel, Cobol (used in ATMs throughout the world), USAID, a society that largely accepts equal rights and animal rights, publicly-owned NASA, ad nauseum.
The US has done more than its fair share of positively advancing humanity.
But don't get me started on it's warts, which are enormous!
First off, I reject your examples!
What's great about that?
Your understanding of the universe has been furthered? I don't believe you.
COOL, by the way, is not a synonym of great.
I was curious if I would get anyone who could not bring themselves to acknowledge that this country has ever done anything great, and I did, just one, you.
I consider myself one very jaded and cynical individual but I don't hold a candle to you. If you could sit there like I did in 1969 and watch the moon landing and not think it was great/cool/amazing, whatever, then you appear to be an individual that has lost any wonderment of the universe around them.
FYI here are the top 10 Hubble discoveries.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/photogalleries/hubble/
As far as cool not being a synonym of great is a bit childish. I was just trying to lighten up the discussion on CD, which appears to be a pretty difficult thing to do. IMHO a lot of folks on this site need to lighten up a bit once in a while and along with that stop and smell the roses. Not everything in this world is world is rotten.
In 1969 I was very busy with other activites involving, among other groups, the Black Panther Party.
Din't have time for bullshit propaganda like having my tax bucks squandered landing on a rock out in space.
It's lightweights like you who have brought the species to the abyss.
Congrats! Really COOL.
I realize that you could look at spending money on the space program as a waste, but I look at it as money not spent on bombs and bullets to kill innocent people throughout the world.
I'm sorry to see that life has hardened you so. I don't know what pain you have gone through in your life but it must have been pretty severe. I hope somehow you can find some kind of peace in what remains of your life.
Good luck, and hang in there bud.
NC-Tom
I am not your bud.
It wasn't life that hardened me--it was racist whiteys like you.
And any pain I have had is clearly none of your business, as you are a part of the problem.
Find somebody else to look down on, you condescending creep.
Maybe if that phony moon money had been spent on food, medical care, education? Ever thought about that?
It is nice to see that prejudice works in blacks as well as whites. You have never met me, and don't know anything about me except for a few paragraphs I wrote. IMHO you are just as much part of the problem as you say I am. You want to fight with a little guy like me who is at the bottom of the capitalistic cesspool that is trying to do it's best to screw the both us and everybody we know.
The guys at the top love to see whites fighting blacks, fighting latinos, fighting gays, fighting straights, fighting aliens.... They know they have to keep us divided so they can pull their B/S, and I for one aint going to play that game.
You may want to watch the science fiction movie "They Live" it does a metaphorically nice job in showing how little folks fight amongst themselves as the guys at the top screw them.
"Maybe if that phony moon money had been spent on food, medical care, education? Ever thought about that?"
Oh yea I thought of that, but Id rather see the military spending be used for those areas, that is where the real money is at. What is spent on the space program is piddily compared to military spending. Plus when you divert money from the military you save the lives of people in other countries. You know, the ones they call "Collateral Damage".
Finally I really don't care what kind of vile you want to throw my way, I'm not going to get into some pointless argument with you. You as a person have never done anything to hurt me, so I'm saving my anger for those at the top of this B/S pile that is doing its best to screw us both over.
Of all of the nations to have ever existed the USA has the potential to be the one true leader; but only by example.
Without a major change in the application of its ideas, and a major change in its delivery of 'democracy' the USA will be remembered by history as a horrible warning, instead of the shining example they think of themselves.
For now there is no denying the very real fact that-----
"If the USA were another nation the USA would invade the USA to keep the world safe; and they would be justified."
The US isn't a legitimate country, it's a collection of united states. The land it occupies was stolen, its vast wealth was stolen from other nations through illegal invasions, wars and military coups. Even the name America was stolen from the Italians.
But the US nevertheless has a lot to be proud of: 95% of the world's serial killers live there, the US is the world’s greatest polluter, the greatest consumer of illegal drugs, the greatest exporter of arms, the greatest sponsor and financier of terror and guerrilla, the most brutal imperial force in history, but wait, there's more: the fattest, the least educated and the most sexually repressed (and repressing) people in the developed world.
It was also built by slaves.
and the great IRONY of Ironies:
the SYMBOL of American "freedom" and "Democracy" - its
CAPITOL - was built by SLAVES.
slave owners - to get extra profits were "contracted" - in a form of "outsourcing" by the US government to "release" their slaves at certain times from their plantation work - to "earn" working to build the CAPITOL - that giant monument to USA "governance" and "freedom" -
with the earnings remitted to the Slave owners.
and it was even a SLAVE that actually SOLVED the intractable problem of how to raise and then firmly, safely place the CROWNING statue of "freedom" atop the very tall Capitol Dome...because the "expert" engineers couldn't figure out what to do!
can you believe that?
the US Capitol is a MONUMENT to great Architecture and engineering
representing US HYPOCRISY for all the world to see.
great points.
what you mentioned about "sexually repressed" society is seemingly very true.
the USA - through its capitalism - promotes "sex" in all its aspects - ads, commercials, "power" , profit and success is "sexy".....loves to TALK about sex -- but IS sexually repressed and given to knee-jerk "horrified" reaction at much of the most natural functions of human sexuality.
i had a rather "mind-opener" experience of this many years ago - when traveling to italy and there for a week - i was surprised at how it seemed to be not at all a big deal to have REGULAR daily "talk shows" on their television, showing , for example:
a woman host of the talk show sitting there and interviewing guests and talking about issues , such as jobs, homes, cooking, etc...
and she and some of her guests as they chose, were COMPLETELY nude.
and it seemed to be "blah" . no BIG DEAL.
but then - the USA isn't the self=claimed "GOD FEARING Christian country" if it wasn't repressed , would it?
it seems to find its expression in other forms of living...and often comes "out" as VIOLENCE in WAR.
easy to ridicule, but, I, too, believe wholeheartedly that a more open relationship with our continual sexual urges would go far in restoring mental and physical health among the general populace...this would certainly be one of my primary hopes for a better future...the sexual drive and act are very defining, as individual psyches are concerned, and confirming...
a more enlightened view of marijuana would also be primary, in my view, as I believe it fosters many positive things, both physical and mental, including healthy recognition and expression of the above mentioned, natural sexual urges...
And the least healthy, too.
Militarism. It isn't about being the best nation on earth because we best everyone on every level. It's about being the most powerful. Militarily. We used to say economically as well, but now there's, well, China. Who owns us the way my bank owns my house.
We've got the guns. And the hubris to use em. That's what makes us not give a shit what any other nation thinks, or how we rank on education or healthcare or poverty or any thing else. It's about being the biggest gun.
Sort of like a gang leader. He may be the stupidest, but if he's got the firepower and the cahones to use it, he's likely to stay on top.
happiness is a warm gun.
Neil Gabler makes some good points.
"The result may be a government that is as good as the American people,.."
OUR government CAN be as good as I believe the majority of people to be.
BUT ONLY IF:
We COLLECTIVELY make INFORMED choices of who WE elect.
Taking BACK the POWER is the only way I see making this a better WORLD, not just a better COUNTRY.
Based on the FACTS, his voting RECORD, and the way he LIVES his life, his CONSISTENT devotion to reducing suffering in this world, I see no better candidate for President than DENNIS KUCINICH.
WHY can we NOT make that HAPPEN????
Sue,
You raise a really good question. Every progressive I know believed Dennis Kucinich was our guy, just as we believed Ralph Nader was our guy the last time. Nevertheless almost no one I know voted for either, including me. I guess we just didn't believe they were viable. Perhaps we don't think progressive candidates or causes are likely to have much success given the dreadful, anti-democratic, corrupt system of government now in place. I've been living in Thailand for a while now, and my European friends place a lot of the blame for America's political paralysis at the feet of our two party system, the lack of a proportional representation in our congress, which is present in countries like Holland, where members of government come from a much wider political spectrum. Some point out that the two countries with the widest disparity between the rich and poor, the US and the Uk, have the poorest indicators relative to the health and welfare of their general populations. For example, Coasta Rica has a medium yearly income of just $9,000, but still scores well in areas like infant mortality, crime, alcoholism, homelessness, etc. Pick any credible study in any area, read the best thinkers of our time, the results will be much the same: there is something profoundly wrong with America. Our system of government isn’t getting it done. And who in the hell cares about the “greatest country in the world” nonsense anyway?
While I agree with much of the criticism of Neil piece, I think what he says, in essence, is that all the indicators he sites suggests that our present system of government isn’t achieving satisfactory results in all of the areas progressives care about. That's true, it seems to me. Clearly it’s not any longer possible to think it’s about reforming health care, addressing the treaties that have gutted our manufacturing capacity, reforming banks, eliminating personhood granted to corporations, and so on. It’s about the country’s political paralysis, the inability to bring about progressive change period! I just can’t imagine anyone who has thought about it at all failing to see that getting corporate money out of government is the necessary first step to bringing about reform in any area. Correct?
Geese, what I really want to believe is that Obama is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers; that he will use health care as proof that something has to be done. Other solutions (to waiting for a hero to come and save us)? I don’t know. Marching, writing letters, making phone calls, volunteering--all that stuff—seems like a waste of time. Ralph Nader’s new book, which imagines a bunch of disenchanted billionaires coming together to lead and finance a top-down bottom up progressive movement, might work out. Perhaps Michael Moore will join the group and make a movie, perhaps “The Root of All Evil”? We'll see. I admit: I’m stuck here. I’m 68, so I’d consider doing something dramatic, like sitting myself on fire at the base of the Lincoln Memorial; such action burned brightly for a moment in Vietnam. But I don’t think it would have a big enough impact to justify my suffering. Besides: I’m still playing reasonable golf. Perhaps I’ll come back to this after the putting goes. How about setting aside a Sunday to stay at home instead of golfing? Probably not: I don’t think there would be much of an impact at local country clubs, the press wouldn't show up. You know: I’m alright mate, and then pull the latter up. Isn’t that how it works?
But I do think the cat’s out of the bag; clarity is important; the extent to which our country is dysfunctional has become pretty obvious. Of course, what we have now seems to work okay for rich people who want more money, and I suppose the promise of life ever after for the do-or-die right wing foot soldiers gives life a pretty heady sense of purpose, for them, but the way things are going doesn’t seem all that promising down the road for the rest of us.
Bob
Sue, I keep agreeing with you! :)
Thanks, donnalou. I am not trying to put Dennis on a pedestal but he is a rare individual in politics espousing a combination of feistiness and kindness which this world needs so desperately.
I wonder about that.
If true progressives recognize that they are marginalized, ignored, scorned--even mocked, than they actually are doing progressives a disservice by continuing to affiliate themselves with a political party where they are not welcomed and their views are shown contempt.
A million Americans could turn out on the street and call for a general strike and they would be ignored--it would be a news blackout, yet a handful of fools would show up at a town meeting and we would judge all Americans by that measure?
Again, the majority of Americans support single payer--are outraged by bailouts and tax-cuts for the criminally rich, want the US to participate in climate change and other environmental reforms, want out of Iraq, do not want escalation in Afghanistan and overwhelmingly elected Obama because they thought he represented the change in our political outlook. Before anything can change progressives must face the fact that Obama and those so-called progressives who continue to support him and make excuses for him and provide cover for him while not opposing his betrayal are standing in the way and preventing a clear perspective from gaining momentum.
And that includes Kucinich. Sorry.
I hear you, vern, I do.
The "democrat" party is a complete disappointment and will not support the people's wishes. Kucinich is locked into a "party" that no longer supports his values and genuine "public service". He has served the Cleveland community and has been a voice for the people of this country and the world through his campaigns for President. The government-run mainstream media and "democrat" party have gotten stronger in their suppression of voices not supporting their imperial-militaristic-corporate agenda.
I am in favor of a third party but I lack complete trust in Ralph Nader. I believe he admitted to accepting contributions from the Republican Party in his campaign.
The MSM would not allow Nader in the debates just as they shut Dennis out towards the end.
I don't have all the answers. I just know that Dennis Kucinich would use the power as President to serve the people. He is not a millionare or Harvard Business school graduate and these are positives.
Obama supporters must start demanding positive results from him. I don't know how successful theywill be.
Looking ahead, I still think Kucinich is our best option for taking back the power from the inside.
"Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination."
Exceptionalism: The Triumph of the American Imagination.
Another inspiring progressive food fight on Common Dreams.
If this included video we could put Fox out of business.
Yes, the USA is "special"...
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
"The fact of the matter is that whenever anything really significant has been accomplished by our government, it is precisely because it was better than the American people."
This is most refreshing in a political culture that routinely talks about politicians as if they were dogs.
What am I saying? No one would talk about a dog the way we talk about our politicians. It shows you just how much the Reagan Revolution--with its business-good, government-bad insanity--has affected all of us.
There is no dog doggy enough, no beast beastly enough, no abomination abominable enough to do what has been done in 2001:
Read “Collateral Damage” by E. P Heidner, part I and II.
>>> www.scribd.com/people/documents/2169400-ep-heidner <<<
and you will struggle to find words. The implications are BEYOND BELIEF.
Re Perry logan October 13th, 2009 2:30 pm, who asserts,
"No one would talk about a dog the way we talk about our politicians. It shows you just how much the Reagan Revolution--with its business-good, government-bad insanity--has affected all of us."
This is nothing new, most certainly not since Raygun. See selected works of Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken, for starters.
Besides, it's the extremely rare dog who behaves as mendaciously as the average politician.
“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”
-- Mark Twain
· Yr Obd't Servant
What about those NATO troops being sent into Afghanistan? What about those contracts Europe had with Saddham Hussein before the war? I didn't support the Iraq war but I know Europe isn't clean either.
As much as the author may be right that there's a lot of wrong that needs to be righted in this country, this USA bashing is getting on my nerves. Why aren't we giving credit to people who are trying to repair this nation? Why aren't we paying attention to our new generation of youths who are actually emerging from the ashes and trying to be helpful? Does it ever occur to some of you that there are some ills that cannot be controlled by you that you are trying to control while there are some ills that can be controlled by you that you just won't control? Let's start out with health care. You can have all the insurance you want and it will still be worthless if you're facing petty minded doctors and nurses who are either poorly trained or violate their jobs' rules by going personal against the patient. What good is insurance when you're facing modern medical equipment and medicine that could be seriously flawed. Does it ever occur to some of you out there that some of us are actually trying to make the case for non-profit alternatives? Is it really any better in Europe? Hell no. Businesses close so early on weekdays and there's virtually nothing open on the weekends. At least America isn't that stupid to deny critical services on a weekend for God's sake.
Bashing is about all that can be done. Reach change isn't possible, at least until a revolution happens. This time around maybe another FDR won't happen to save capitalism. Even the left wins doesn't mean a better world will emerge,
"The hoariest and most oft-repeated cliche in American politics may be that America is the greatest country in the world."
Jingoism is why we won't learn from successful countries like this one:
"Switzerland
Main article: Voting in Switzerland
In Switzerland, single majorities are sufficient at the town, city, and canton level, but at the national level, "double majorities" are required on constitutional matters. The intent of the double majorities is simply to ensure any citizen-made law's legitimacy (Kobach, 1993).
Double majorities are, first, the approval by a majority of those voting, and, second, a majority of cantons in which a majority of those voting approve the ballot measure. A citizen-proposed law (i.e. initiative) cannot be passed in Switzerland at the national level if a majority of the people approve, but a majority of the cantons disapprove (Kobach, 1993). For referendums or propositions in general terms (like the principle of a general revision of the Constitution), the majority of those voting is enough (Swiss constitution, 2005).
In 1890, when the provisions for Swiss national citizen lawmaking were being debated by civil society and government, the Swiss copied the idea of double majorities from the United States Congress, in which House votes were to represent the people and Senate votes were to represent the states (Kobach, 1993). According to its supporters, this "legitimacy-rich" approach to national citizen lawmaking has been very successful. Kobach claims that Switzerland has had tandem successes both socially and economically which are matched by only a few other nations, and that the United States is not one of them. Kobach states at the end of his book, "Too often, observers deem Switzerland an oddity among political systems. It is more appropriate to regard it as a pioneer." Finally, the Swiss political system, including its direct democratic devices in a multi-level governance context, becomes increasingly interesting for scholars of European Union integration (see Trechsel, 2005)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_democracy
These are all good points and interesting. But they do not provide any guarantees of rights.
Have a look at the date Switzerland adopted Universal suffrage for all it's citizens...women specifically.
"But they do not provide any guarantees of rights."
And sold out politicians will?
I wonder: when the sounds of this place are no longer the sounds of human industry, what will still be here?
Will there be any natural sounds to follow humans other than wind and wave?
The hoariest and most oft-repeated cliche in American politics may be that America has a government.
Americans don't have a government, but an organized band of thieves and murderers, yes.
It has been so for some time but not to the extent of the last eight years. When we become too poor to be able to pay taxes or too disgusted with the parasitic class to pay taxes maybe then we will have our country back.
The IRS is little more than a protection racket. None of the money we give them is spent on our needs, but something bad could happen if we don't pay up on time.
All this combined with climate change guarantees a change in the comfortable lifestyle of the ruling class. They seem to believe the shit coming down won't dare hit the likes of them. It is they, after all, who define reality.
"...America is the greatest country in the world."
According to FOX-R-nuts, America is actually the greatest country God has ever created in the entire history of the universe. Ever.
So - f@#k you, aliens! And your f@#king crappy countries - or whatever passes for crappy f@#king countries on your crappy f@#king planets in your neck of the f@#king universe! I mean, OUR f@#king universe!
Gotta problem w/that, E.T.?
Americans: racist, disdainful of education, provincial. Merkins get precisely the leadership they deserve, and, if there's justice, they'll get it good and hard.