That's a matter of numbers, because I'm quite sure I've never heard of a Danish lynching.
[lolololitics]America not greatest country ever?
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That's a matter of numbers, because I'm quite sure I've never heard of a Danish lynching.
Now this sounds like hypocrisy. Professing to be a good person, then wanting this to happen.
"The death penalty is bad!" next sentence, "Kill all who want the death penalty!".
You sound like a religious zealot who claims to love life and then bombs an abortion clinic killing innocent people.
And yes, their are perfectly reasonable ways to have an opt-out system that would work, you just aren't smart enough to figure it out.
PS
In actuality, I would not mind any of the taxes that we pay, even the "protect you from yourself" ones, if the gov could be trusted to run it correctly. The fact is though, they can't. For every dollar that goes in, what, maybe a couple cents come back to us, our roads, schools? Dems bitch and moan that more money is needed for our schools, Repubs bitch and moan to much is being spent on them. The money is not the problem, it's the school system that is broken, far to many money leaks. Neither group, when in power, actually does anything about it. They get in office and spend the whole term just trying to stay in power.
Lizard Of Oz
Demented Avenger
Delusional by nature? I think the fact that people are willing to die to come here says a lot about what American has to offer the world. Did we see millions of people migrating to Denmark, China or other countries in the late 1800s and into the 20th century? Hell no.
You guys can cite all sorts of specific examples of other countries' offerings, as well as examples of failure in America's systems and society, but the overall effect of what America has to offer is hard to beat by anybody's standards. Sure, our country, to include both the people and the government, has plenty of faults and there is lots of work to be done to make life better for all of us. I guess I just do not understand why some people tend to focus on all the negatives. I mean, I am a pessimist by nature, but even I can see that American is still a great place to live. And no, I am not brainwashed into thinking so.
Speaking of brainwashed, I keep seeing some of you post that Americans who think our country is exceptional have been brainwashed to think so miss the point. As I stated earlier, pride in ownership is vital to the strength and prosperity of a nation. I have to wonder if some of you "anti-exceptionals" have been brainwashed in some way to think that it is somehow wrong to show pride for any person's or group's accomplishments that we identify with. The desire for identity is a human trait. The desire to identity with and belong to a group is not just human nature, but occurs in other animal kingdoms as well.
I'm going to nitpick. #6 is out. We elect ALL of our leaders. Denmark has a monarch as its head of state. Hey, you guys are nitpicking my points, so this is all fair and square.
Is Denmark home to literally every type and branch of religion known to man or does it just have a lot of mosques?
Ah, the old "one crooked tree makes the forest worthless" syndrome.
How do I know I would be interested in this person's perspective? How do I know it isn't tainted? How do I know the book is unbiased?
There are exceptions to every rule. Please find me one single country in which this does not occur.
Again with the exceptions to rules. Our prisons, by and large, treat its populations more humanely than some countries treat their citizens. Rwanda much?
True, but did these countries guarantee all of these personal freedoms concurrently? No, they did not.
Really, even the guy running for city council? I had no idea.
The freedom still exists, regardless of whether economic conditions stifle opportunity, all Americans have that freedom to take opportunities when they arise or they make those opportunities happen. Blaming "the man" for lack of opportunities is a copout.
And in many countries, children do not have opportunities for basic education unless they come from aristocratic families. Here in the states, people want to blame the government for what they call a crappy education system, when in fact, most of the parents for the failing kids simply do not get involved in their childrens' education. It isn't only the system's fault we test lower than other countries.
Yeah, I see corporate logos on our SC justices' robes alright.
Not, actually not. You missed the mark...by a mile.
Shot at brown people? Hardly. When the Mexican president came to speak before our Congress, he had the nerve to call our laws inhumane towards his countrymen; you know, those same countrymen who are dying to get the **** out of his pissoir infested country.
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You are missing the point. Everyone thinks that there country is the best country. It's called nationalism. You're right, people want to identify with something bigger than them, it's natural and people do it all of the time. American Exceptionalism is the belief that America is supremely different, that is we take over the Native American lands, it is our manifest destiny and not a form of imperialist conquest, and things of that like. It says that we are governed by a separate set of rules because we are different from everyone else (even more than everyone is different from each other) and the rules just don't apply to such a divinely inspired City on the Hill.
It is a delusion. America is not something outside of the rules, it is not divinely mandated by God and it is no eternal beacon of a unique set. This isn't to say that the US isn't great and it isn't to say that I personally think some other country is better, but rather that what makes a country great is a subjective set of measurements that can never really be tallied because we all use different ones.
~Jason
Jason, I'm not missing the point. I simply see this through a slightly different perspective. Although we have committed injustices, we have had to answer for them. We have grown as a people, perpetually struggling to better ourselves and our nation. It is a bit unfair to say that our mistakes behold us to a lower level of accomplishment. America is a fairly young nation compared to most in the world; considering the young age of America, look at how influential we are in the world today. We resolve our differences through dialog and debate; older nations such as some in the southwest of Asia and the Middle East resolve their differences through violence and force. While we struggle every to overcome our own self-imposed adversity, other countries continue down their centuries old paths of internal destruction.
Tell that to the native americans, african americans, latino americans, the people of iraq and afganistan, gays, the irish, union works, etc etc etc the lines of victims can stretch on for days those are just the ones that came immediately to mind. You can't be so gleefully ignorant of American history to really believe this
......or are you really suggesting we all pretend our history was columbus -> native americans love us -> james town-> independance -> civil war -> native americans and mexicans give us alot of land because they like us -> ww1 -> ww2 -> civil rights everything is ok now all is forgiven what do you mean americans did bad things?
Dear god people, it is simple, we all think our own country is great. Hence the whole argument.
*That being said, America came to power faster than any one of you bitchs!!!!
*sentence contains fun
*That being said, America came to power faster than any one of you bitchs!!!!
*sentence contains fun
You mean the same kind of dialog we had with Iraq? A country that had nothing to do with 9/11? Seems you have been sipping the Kool-Aid again.
Also, pride is one of the 7 deadly sins. I know right wing people don't really read The Bible, it's just a soapbox to stand on for them.
No, you're still missing the point. The point is: we aren't any different. Every country has committed errors and has had triumphs and we are simply one of them. The idea of American Exceptionalism is that we are so different that the same rules do not apply. Our mistakes don't lower our accomplishment, but they are mistakes. We are no different (any more than all countries are, obviously, different). This is a great country, but it isn't special in a way that demands special rules, special allowances or reprieves for error--we are no more special or blessed or righteous than France or Germany or Norway or whatever.
As for your wholly ridiculous argument that we resolve our differences through dialog and debate while other countries resolve them through violence and force, you would do well to read up on some recent history of un-provoked war and the toppling of democratically elected governments for the purpose of setting up a dictator who benefited us financially.
I love my country more than my life, but to believe that we alone are exceptional and that our reasons are somehow better or more justifiable or whatever is completely irrational delusion.
~Jason
Hey, it's AWWWWWWWRIGHT to sell arms to Iran in order to fund a certain Contra to dispose a certain regime (although the regime overthrew another regime, but in the end it is a moot point), right? It is neocons' dreams to do that! Also who was president during this affair? That's right, Regan!
(Semi-)Sarcasm aside, I feel that this painting should be brought up again:
[screenshot]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/American_progress.JPG[/screenshot]
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Anyway, to continue the Semi-Sarcastic comments above in a more serious tone:
The funny thing is, that with all of our "dirty little efforts" of changing the world around us, we often ally/fund/supply/support various groups of people who we, further down the line, get attacked by or we feel the need to put them down. See Iran-Contra support for Iran, Iran-Iraq war support for Saddam Hussein, then our involvement against Saddam Hussein in the two Gulf wars. Se also our involvement in the various civil wars in Afghanistan, which ultimately allowed the Taliban to gain control of the country, who then helped al-Qaeda gain safe haven, and we all know what happened after that.
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[M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54dNHUefbCs[/M]Lostsoul and most of this board's regulars and moderators. said:
Lizard Of Oz
Demented Avenger
Funny, this is generally the depth of the right-wing's argument against virtually any government program.
By reading it?
If he wants to venture beyond city council, he/she is not going far without vast personal wealth or corporate sponsorship. Just ask Meg Whitman! LOL! (Who, BTW, I’m related to).
I bet if they were Union logos you’d have no trouble seeing them.
No. We have a puppet for public PR.
The ONLY thing our Queen actually does, politically, is 'accept' any new prime minister into office.
Try again.
Actually, this is my bad for not keeping up with the conversation. You're right, American Exceptionalism is a farce. I have yet to hear anyone outside of political or corporate commentary use the term. But I do think we are at many times judged by a different set of standards by ourselves and the rest of the world. If we were not exceptional to some degree, then why would we be judged this way?
I'm hurt that you said my argument was ridiculous. I was talking about internal differences. Well, there was that pesky Civil War thingy, but there are exceptions to every rule.
I did not say we are alone in being a step above most of the world in many regards.
Wrong. It comes from comparing America's accomplishments to her failings, and concluding that the former outweighs the latter. You have the right to an opposing opinion, but I will maintain my position.
Oh, by the way, I like how you put union workers in there. If I were to nitpick, I would remind you that union workers today have better salaries and benefits than other similar employment groups in this country. It has little to do with non-union employees getting stiffed, but more like unions having legal power to strangle employers. Case in point: auto workers in a BMW plant in South Carolina earn about $32 per hour with about $24 per hour in benefits. UAW workers in Detroit earn about $31 per hour and receive about $45 per hour worked in fringe benefits. Just sayin'...
Seems you have no idea why we went into Iraq.You mean the same kind of dialog we had with Iraq? A country that had nothing to do with 9/11? Seems you have been sipping the Kool-Aid again.
Actually, the Bible never lists any sin as deadly. Sin is sin.
Is the queen elected by the people? Does this "acceptance" have any political bearing or is it merely symbolic in nature?
More like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
What if I just don't want to?
True, but it still does not preclude a person from running for or being elected into office based upon his "birthright".
Wut?
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