America

[Commodore Axilon]

Then what, pray tell, is the problem?

[wiizard]

It is just an observation because calling yourselves Americans is generalizing too far what America really is.

[DW]

North America and South America do NOT make up America. Never once have I heard these two completely seperate continents combined into a supercontinent.

[collaboration]

I like America.
Being an American citizen means that I'm not an Iranian sub-citizen. It means that Turks, Kurds, and other excitable Moslems are not raiding my village and brutally slaughtering my family and friends in front of me. I really appreciate this fact. Not to ruffle your collective feathers because I said "Moslems" (gasp), but there really is a big difference between here and there. Where I am here in the US, it isn't looked well upon if you get killed or stolen (if you happen to be a good looking girl that somebody thinks they might have a husband for, yes, it happens, take your PC-ness somewhere else and suck it up)  because you're another religion and speak another ("barbarous") language. When it happens in the US, people go looking for the person or people who committed the crime. In Iran, when several million of my ethnic group, you call it, as well as others were wiped out because of the aforementioned reasons, they said, "good riddance." Turkey still doesn't want you to know about it. Violently doesn't want you to know about it. Threatened the United States for considering making a memorial about it.
And they're still doing it. It does happen. It's not a myth from "the man." It's truth straight from me.

Anyhow. The U.S. has very obviously got problems. Lots and lots of problems. They're all over the news, they're everything our leaders and potential leaders argue about, and they hit right down to the local level. Yup. Problems.
Problems are in every country. It's all a matter of preference, I think, where citizens decide which problems they'll accept and bear and which ones they won't. Well, maybe not preference, but perhaps something more like culture and what you're used to. What seems right, so to speak.
I personally prefer the problems here to the problems in many other countries. For example this: if the healthcare in Canada is so wonderful, why is it that the ones who can afford it still ship over to the US to get work done? So that means it isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Somebody's still only settling because they have to. I suppose you could say, at least everybody gets something. Just so long as you don't mind what you get. Likewise, I've heard of people in several European countries complaining that they've got to get dental work done, but they've got to wait months to get in. By that time, what of their medical/dental conditions? And another thing was mentioned-- many medical tools are out-dated. Yikes. Another thing a friend from Voronezh, Russia (now living in the US) tells me: in Russia, there's a mandatory period in the summer time during which the government works on the water piping. They shut off your water. Not so bad, right? Well, guess what-- you don't get to make a complaint about it until it's been off for over two weeks. And another Russian woman who rented our upstairs? She had some trouble but wouldn't go to the police and we couldn't figure out why; later she told us that she was scared. She went to the police once in Russia and they told her to get out with her problems, and that they'd rape her and kill her if she ever came back.
Really nice.

So I look at what I have, look at what I could have, and all around I'd say I'm pretty content right here in the States. That doesn't mean I don't get furious with the politics, and that doesn't mean I don't passionately press issues that I see that mean a lot to me. It also doesn't stop me from scowling at American culture, its various facets, and things that generally aren't to my approval. It just doesn't stop me from enjoying them, either.

[LadyNintendo]

It's truth straight from me.

Why does this sound so incredible funny?

Although I do not agree with Zoratunic that one can't judge a country (s)he has never been to when talking about their business with the rest of the world, I do agree you can't judge a country on how it handles its own problems, unless you have been there. Well, I guess it isn't required, but it definetely makes that person's opinion more credible.

I do not judge America on how it handles its own problems (except for death penalty, which they, btw, also have used on more than one occasion on people not from the USA; and the right to bear arms). I can't, because I hardly know anything about America's inner workings. And I certainly am not going to assume I know something of a country based on one random source.

As for the first part, I'm tempted to say that even green/white spotted bread must taste jummy compared to poo. You're really looking for the worst examples. It's absolutely fantastic that you are happy with what you got, because you know it could be far worse/less. But I bet even in those regions the citizens will be happy they still have it better than (random country). Doesn't mean anything. Besides, the stories about "slaughtering" and "raping", it's not like our armies have been prime examples of humane behaviour. I'm pretty sure that when this is over, the accusations will come (more than there are coming now).

Back to the diplomacy and terrorists; I wasn't talking about the terrorists. America should have looked farther than the army. It should've talked with the countries they now dragged along to war about how to handle the situation. Who knows, maybe isolation would've done the trick as well. If war would be considered the only solution, at least it would be something we would all agree to and not just America. International law would be applied; those rules don't exist for nothing. At least a more organized war wouldn't have made the gap between teh islam and the rest of the world (so much) bigger, driving thousands, millions of muslims and formerly not-muslims to groups like Al-Qaeda.

[collaboration]

It's truth straight from me.

Why does this sound so incredible funny?

I don't know. You explain it to me, because it sure isn't making me giggle.

It's true that in those regions people will be glad they have better than other places worse. Hence where I said

It's all a matter of preference, I think, where citizens decide which problems they'll accept and bear and which ones they won't. Well, maybe not preference, but perhaps something more like culture and what you're used to.

How don't they mean anything? They mean a lot. They're everything that gets argued over, including right here in this thread.
Those aren't really the worst examples, though, are they? They're commonalities, right down to the "rape" and "slaughter" you're pointing out. It's true our armies (I noticed you're from the Netherlands, but I think it's fairly accurate to say "our" in reference to both of our nations' armies) do terrible things. I hear a lot of horrible news about soldiers in Iraq raping women and young girls, and it's embarrassing and shameful.
My own slaughter story, as I've posted above? That's nothing you can compare our modern armies to. If you consider me an incredible random source, you might look it up for yourself if you're interested. Not trying to be the snide, "omg, you don't know?! look it up!!" kind of person, no, not at all. I'm making suggestions that defend what I know is true, which is for whatever reason humourous to you, and shouldn't be. Unless you're prone to jokes about genocide, I guess.
(Anyhow, keywords to search for: Assyrian genocide, Armenian massacre, Bedr Khan. Mostly you'll find things from the early 1900's, although it had been going on not only before that and continues on to this day. Enjoy.)

I don't believe in the death penalty, either. I don't think it's right for any group to decide who should die. That's personal business, but personal business has no place in the government. Besides, it's a breach of our Rights, which we're (supposed to be!) very proud of, am I right? Even prisoners have rights, including the right to life.
However, I do like the right to bear arms. It's obvious that trust in the government is waning; why wouldn't I want to be able to defend myself from the great body and arsenal that government, by nature, is?
Another fact is this: guns are easy to make if you know how to do it. A lot of people know how to do it. And there are people who traffic them, as so many things are. I live in a pretty crap town, and most people have guns. Those guns are illegal, and I could go out now with 50 dollars in my pocket and come back in an hour with one. Guaranteed. If the right to bear arms is gone, people will still...bear arms! People who choose to not blatantly disobey the law will have absolutely no protection, while criminals will still have everything they ever did.
Here's another personal example, this one here in the US: people used to try to break into the house at night, and one incident was a man trying to chase that woman renter upstairs through her door. Our own firearms came into good use here, for our personal protection. No, nobody got shot, but it saved us because they were scared.
I know everyone hears the "boiling frog" analogy.  I can't let a political system yank my only protection from IT right out of my hands. I don't find it right. I find it scary.

As for the diplomacy bit, I agree with you in regards to "looking farther than the army." It was a clumsy move that put many other nations in very, very awkward positions. On top of it, if the US really just had to do it? I'm sure we could have used a more strategic approach than pussy-footing around every which way. It seems we're spread irrevocably thin now, and less safe than ever because if something should ever happen directly to us, we doubtfully will be able to help ourselves.

[Mr. bubbles]

I hate america.

[DW]

Thank you for that long, thought-out explanation of what you disapprove of. My opinion has been changed a great deal because of that convincing argument.

[Vaati]

C'mon, Shika. I don't think he was trying to convince anyone, just let him express his opinion.
I like America, otherwise, if I didn't, what the heck am I doing here? Although, I don't agree with some of the things. I don't realy like those stuck up Ameircans. (I don't know many, but I do know some)
But the only ture Americans there are here are the native Americans, other than that, everyone has ancestors that came from somewhere else. Mine came from Ireland, Poland, and Germany. So we really are like their cousins.

[Gamefreak]

Point is, in the heat of this debate.  For that to come along is....a little odd.

Weetle, if you hate America so much, please explain why.

[Zoratunic]

Yes, please explain weetle. Do you hate it's people? It's government? It's supreme awesomeness?

[alical]

It's supreme awesomeness?

That's kinda impossible, what with it not being supremely awesome.

I don't believe any country is as good/can ever be as good as some of you make out America to be. You must be extremely blinkered to think that America is some sort of Utopia.
Yeah, maybe to you it's the best country, but that doesn't mean it is.

And you keep saying no one can dislike America if they don't live there, then how can you possibly believe it to be the best if you haven't been to EVERY other country.

Don't get me wrong America's probably a hell of a lot better than where I live, Britain sucks.
But no country is perfect.

Oh and by the way on the poll I voted Very Negative, I never mentioned that.  

[DW]

Here's the thing. I agree that there are a lot of problems in America. I complain about it a lot. However, I have to think, would it be any better if I lived anywhere else? At least in America I have freedom, I never go hungry, don't have to worry about being killed, and live a comfortable life. I think it has problems, but I also think it's about as good as it gets.

[Vaati]

It's supreme awesomeness?

That's kinda impossible, what with it not being supremely awesome.

I don't believe any country is as good/can ever be as good as some of you make out America to be. You must be extremely blinkered to think that America is some sort of Utopia.
Yeah, maybe to you it's the best country, but that doesn't mean it is.

And you keep saying no one can dislike America if they don't live there, then how can you possibly believe it to be the best if you haven't been to EVERY other country.

Don't get me wrong America's probably a hell of a lot better than where I live, Britain sucks.
But no country is perfect.

Oh and by the way on the poll I voted Very Negative, I never mentioned that.  

I have to agree. America isn't all that. And the UK seems like a nice place, but that's just me. I've never been to any other country other than Canada.

[Zoratunic]

Well, America is supremely awsome in my opinion.