America, not the greatest country anymore

[MPClinton22]

Just to be clear I don't really agree with the video, I've just seen good, intellgient debates on this site and really wanted to see what everyone's reaction to it would be! I think talking about this is essential to keeping America where it is and should be.

 

[irish4ever]

Greatest country or not, I'd rather be here than anywhere else.

Ditto!

 

[Grahambo]

Haters gonna hate.

 

[phork]

Neg rep the Canadian

Do that and I'll cut off your oil. And real beer. And not in that order.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

Do that and I'll cut off your oil. And real beer. And not in that order.

Went to school in Buffalo and drank a ton of Labatt's and Molson***.. I'm sure those are compared to Bud up there but I enjoyed them.

 

[Buster Bluth]

Yeah, we were rolling, everything was just perfect, until Obama came along and destroyed the good stuff we had built. He totally 100% changed the direction this country had been heading in for the previous 200 or so years. Some things you say...intelligent, some things you say...

If you believe all this venom you spew at the president I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you, it is in pretty good shape it was impervious to time and weather up until 2008. You should be able to appreciate that.

smh lol

 

[IrishInFl]

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[AvesEvo]

Lol, if you like to watch students get yelled at/ put in their place, watch this.

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[AvesEvo]

Greatest country or not, I'd rather be here than anywhere else.

I don't understand this, besides ND football, if the US isn't the greatest country (defined by what, I'm not sure), why wouldn't you want to live somewhere else?

 

[connor_in]

The United State has NEVER EVER BEEN FIRST in most if not all of those meaningless statistics. EVER. Period. It's like that first Obamacare thread where people tried to justify the need for socialized medicine because we have "shorter life expectancy" while not appreciating all of the demographic and socio-economic factors that makes those generalized stats worthless.

Threads like this irritate me beyond belief. Don't like the US of A? Then tell me what other country you'd move to and why. (Not a rhetorical question, I'm sure there are valid answers... but the point is that we should all be THANKFUL for the opportunities we've been given in this country that many in the world dream of rather than bitch and moan. Next time you want to complain, instead think about the sacrifices US citizens made on the beaches of Normandy to even give you the option of complaining about the Government/country).

This comment reminds me of sales of products/services...people always ask which is best, the answer lies in the consumer not the product/service. I know people that will swear BY certain products/services and I can present you a list of people who will swear AT those same things.

It is all about what is important to you and your outlook and what you make of it. IMHO, that is especially true of this country (at least over its history). We, more than anywhere else in the modern world, have the ability to rise above where we started. Easy, heck no...a struggle, you better believe it...but its there.

I know the speech by James Earl Jones at the end of Field of Dreams is about baseball as the constant, but pay attention to what it says about America. Basically, we remake ourselves as needed, how we need to, and continue moving.

Yes, I consider this the greatest nation in the world without going into statistics because there are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics. I took my stats class and know stats can end up meaning very little without proper context.

So, tomorrow, I will celebrate Old Glory, pray for its future (and my famliy's future in it), and remember and pray for those that fell giving it birth, growing it, and protecting it.

God Bless America and Happy 4th of July to all of you!

 

[TDHeysus]

one thing USA has dead wrong, k-12 education. Kids nowadays have a serious sense of entitlement. In speaking with quite a few 7th grade teachers and a 7th grade counselors, this last year of 7th graders was the worse class yet. Kids not doing homework/classwork, kids not having the motivation to complete coursework, or be competitive. They know they wont be held back (in my day it was called flunking), and they know if the school applies any pressure on them that their parents will come down and bitch, moan, and complain about how 'little johnny, saint of the world' is being unfairly singled-out by the school.

k-12 is beyond broke, sometimes I feel as if its almost too big to fix. In CA, it almost requires something on the scale of a government bailout in order to right the ship.

 

[Grahambo]

one thing USA has dead wrong, k-12 education. Kids nowadays have a serious sense of entitlement. In speaking with quite a few 7th grade teachers and a 7th grade counselors, this last year of 7th graders was the worse class yet. Kids not doing homework/classwork, kids not having the motivation to complete coursework, or be competitive. They know they wont be held back (in my day it was called flunking), and they know if the school applies any pressure on them that their parents will come down and bitch, moan, and complain about how 'little johnny, saint of the world' is being unfairly singled-out by the school.

k-12 is beyond broke, sometimes I feel as if its almost too big to fix. In CA, it almost requires something on the scale of a government bailout in order to right the ship.

You fail..you don't move on..it was pretty simple for me when I went through K-12.

 

[BGIF]

one thing USA has dead wrong, k-12 education. Kids nowadays have a serious sense of entitlement. In speaking with quite a few 7th grade teachers and a 7th grade counselors, this last year of 7th graders was the worse class yet. Kids not doing homework/classwork, kids not having the motivation to complete coursework, or be competitive. They know they wont be held back (in my day it was called flunking), and they know if the school applies any pressure on them that their parents will come down and bitch, moan, and complain about how 'little johnny, saint of the world' is being unfairly singled-out by the school.

You're gonna make Jayhawk cry again.

k-12 is beyond broke, sometimes I feel as if its almost too big to fix. In CA, it almost requires something on the scale of a government bailout in order to right the ship.

Schools took No Child Left Behind literally. "See how effective teachers we are, 100% of our students move on."

 

[ClausentoTate]

The only statistic that I really care about is the amount of people incarcerated. The war on drugs needs to stop. Make pot a multi-billion dollar cash cow for the government and save tons of money on inmate costs. Not one reported incident of overdose, doesn't cause violent behavior and alcohol is so much worse on so many levels. Don't even get me started on how misleading MADD is.

Most of these statistics we will never be able to be much closer to the top than we are. We'll never be #1 in exports, for instance. If more people realized how much we spent on national security I think there would be a bigger push for less military spending and ending the wars.

We do really need to reform our school systems. I went K-12 in a public Texas school and turned out fine, but a few of my friends from HS couldn't figure out how to use a calculator and graduated with me anyway. Legitimately couldn't add on the thing. More than one of my friends. My older sister legitimately doesn't believe in dinosaurs and that evolution isn't correct. She is one of millions.

I also tend to disagree with rants that only present one side of the picture. I don't think many would say that the USA isn't a place they'd want to live. I've yet to meet one person that aspires to live outside the US, save to a beach in Italy/France somewhere. Maybe London.

 

[tadman95]

Under any measure we pretty damn good. Greatest country, hard to quantify but I think our sum is greater than our parts.

Our economy is the greatest but China and India will pass us. Technological achievement is key, we have to work hard.

It wouldn't hurt if some of this partisan bickering would step down a notch. I don't think either side has a High Road to take.

 

[BGIF]

Under any measure we pretty damn good. Greatest country, hard to quantify but I think our sum is greater than our parts.

Our economy is the greatest but China and India will pass us. Technological achievement is key, we have to work hard.

It wouldn't hurt if some of this partisan bickering would step down a notch. I don't think either side has a High Road to take.

Both sides have a High Road that neither has ever travelled.

 

[tadman95]

Both sides have a High Road that neither has ever travelled.

I can live with that.

 

[TDHeysus]

Schools took No Child Left Behind literally. "See how effective teachers we are, 100% of our students move on."

there are some great teachers in the district I work in, but there is also the other side of the coin. I think 'powerpoint teaching' was recently discussed on IE and I can tell you first hand that 'powerpoint teaching' is encouraged district wide and teachers are looked at as being efficient, and 'using technology' when they are powerpoint teaching. The focus appears to not be necessarily on what content is delivered, rather the focus is on 'using technology to deliver content.' im at work, I have to cut this short, sorry for the cut-off

 

[mgriff]

This is great. Mainly, the whole book is great, but visual effects seem to have a more lasting impression nowadays as opposed to the written word.


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[RDU Irish]

If not U.S. then who? And just because we are the best does not mean we cannot be better! Great athletes are inspired from within to be the best, not marginally better than those around them and then I'll go eat cheeseburgers until they catch up, then I'll try again. Well we are the world class athlete eating cheeseburgers while the competition catches up.

I think we mistake moving backwards with those around us getting closer, not that we are not handicapping ourselves in the "race." A sizeable portion of our population are very quick to trade opportunity for entitlements and pretend that they are not giving anything up.

We are an egotistical society and it hurts our egos to see the rest of the world getting their fill of Big Macs and Buicks when we like to think they are living on one grain of rice a day.

 

[RDU Irish]

The only statistic that I really care about is the amount of people incarcerated. The war on drugs needs to stop. Make pot a multi-billion dollar cash cow for the government and save tons of money on inmate costs. Not one reported incident of overdose, doesn't cause violent behavior and alcohol is so much worse on so many levels. Don't even get me started on how misleading MADD is.

Most of these statistics we will never be able to be much closer to the top than we are. We'll never be #1 in exports, for instance. If more people realized how much we spent on national security I think there would be a bigger push for less military spending and ending the wars.

We do really need to reform our school systems. I went K-12 in a public Texas school and turned out fine, but a few of my friends from HS couldn't figure out how to use a calculator and graduated with me anyway. Legitimately couldn't add on the thing. More than one of my friends. My older sister legitimately doesn't believe in dinosaurs and that evolution isn't correct. She is one of millions.

I also tend to disagree with rants that only present one side of the picture. I don't think many would say that the USA isn't a place they'd want to live. I've yet to meet one person that aspires to live outside the US, save to a beach in Italy/France somewhere. Maybe London.

Great post. London is damned expensive though.

 

[Cackalacky]

The fact that any country on this planet can choose to be "America" and do what our fore fathers did is what makes being an American great. The place is inconsequential. I do not equate living in the US as being an American rather I equate upholding the ideals of our Constiution as what defines being an American. That and the fact that a whole lot of people died preserving those rights and giving those rights to others around the world.
Happy Independence day y'all.

 

[Cackalacky]

You fail..you don't move on..it was pretty simple for me when I went through K-12.

I got paddled too. That went away. I think a few kids could do with a paddling....

 

[RDU Irish]

I got paddled too. That went away. I think a few kids could do with a paddling....

Yes sir. I never got paddled but I admit that paddle on the wall was noticed and respected. My dad had his hanging on the wall most of his career (retired about five years ago) and used it rarely. Usually they had a choice between the paddle and some other punishment that cramped their style, one or two would pick the paddle. Some he would tell them to say they were paddled and how bad it was, built a bond with those kids that just wanted to be seen as tough guys anyway and they knew the next time across the line would not be so easy.

 

[Mr. Larson]

A point that resonated with me, and should have with many of you, was “We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election”. This statement is a clear indictment of mainstream media (I'm looking at you Fox News and MSNBC for driving the wedge deeper) and left vs. right partisan politics.
A famous man once wrote:

The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society. A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as well of speculation as of practice; an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good.

Nostradamus? Nope...James Madison (Federalist Papers #10).

Madison had a great suggestion to combat factions…vigilance of the citizens.
Federalist Papers #57:

If it be asked, what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer: the genius of the whole system; the nature of just and constitutional laws; and above all, the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America -- a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it.

If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate any thing but liberty.

In today's terms: stay informed and hold your representatives accountable or prepare to get f*cked. Left, right, doesn't matter...we're still on the same team people.

Consider the source when taking in the news.

Have a great 4th everyone!

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Nostradamus? Nope...James Madison (Federalist Papers #10).

Madison was a boss.

 

[ulukinatme]

I fail to see how this country is still not the greatest. We have American football, damn it.

 

[phork]

You wouldn't believe what we can do with and to the internet. It isn't about what we have, as much as what we can take if we had to.

You know I just re-read that. This is why you are the jerks in the global school yard.

 

[Irish YJ]

Stats like education, incarceration, how can you ignore.....

Abandoning the space program, the fact we buy instead of invent, all sad things.

Read somewhere that a school district was polled. One of the questions.... what's the most important invention in the 21st century. The most common answer..... FACEBOOK. Are you kidding me.

Family structure, if you say we're better today than years past, I don't know what to say. I grew up poor, improved my situation dramatically, and now live in a very nice neighborhood. Why could I leave my doors unlocked at night in the inner city crappy neighborhood I grew up in, and not the nice area I live in today. My neighbors looked out for each other when I was a child. Today, most neighbors don't know names 3 doors down. Entitlement is off the charts these days. If you disagree, maybe you deserve a better board to read.

All my family that particiapted in WW1 and 2..... they fought and sacraficed. Guess how they feel about America now. Doesn't mean they lack love for America. Just means they are unhappy with the direction and think we can do better, and be the best again...

TT posted a great thread about UGA Cornelius Washington's Facebook post, and reply from a UGA fan. I finally found a UGA fan in GA that I like. Take a read.

 

[Grahambo]

Stats like education, incarceration, how can you ignore.....

Abandoning the space program, the fact we buy instead of invent, all sad things.

Read somewhere that a school district was polled. One of the questions.... what's the most important invention in the 21st century. The most common answer..... FACEBOOK. Are you kidding me.

Family structure, if you say we're better today than years past, I don't know what to say. I grew up poor, improved my situation dramatically, and now live in a very nice neighborhood. Why could I leave my doors unlocked at night in the inner city crappy neighborhood I grew up in, and not the nice area I live in today. My neighbors looked out for each other when I was a child. Today, most neighbors don't know names 3 doors down. Entitlement is off the charts these days. If you disagree, maybe you deserve a better board to read.

All my family that particiapted in WW1 and 2..... they fought and sacraficed. Guess how they feel about America now. Doesn't mean they lack love for America. Just means they are unhappy with the direction and think we can do better, and be the best again...

TT posted a great thread about UGA Cornelius Washington's Facebook post, and reply from a UGA fan. I finally found a UGA fan in GA that I like. Take a read.

Failbook is on the down side of pinnacle achievement. I've come across more people who don't have it/don't use it then I have the opposite. Kids get a real shock when they hit the real world and it's sad when they don't get back up on their own two feet to punch life right in the jaw.

As much as I love technology today, I long for the '40's, '50's, '60's.