It is worrying that the 2 main political parties (why have there never been more than 2?) appear to be close to civil war in the US, and the health care appears to amount to having a drug for everything (the opioid situation is no accident) rather than cures like they used to try to develop. I am slowly dying from the treatment of my schizophrenia, and other disorders because it amounts to taking medicine which I’m glad exists but I wish they had vaccines for instead. I also wish we had a better public transportation system outside the oldest cities in the Northeast.
But I will say this. When I was first in a Psych Ward I was amazed at the effort they made to help those of us who were among the sickest and least productive citizens and I am also amazed at how they discovered that one of my nieces was a genius and reached out to her to contribute as well as she can. I also must say that her school has a high minority representation primarily based on being genius level ability and in spite of the dismal race record in my country they at least don’t ignore the best among us. A declining society would not. I wish we didn’t incarcerate so many people (especially men who need to be helping to support their families.)
Certainly there are many ways in which the United States can improve, I’ll not argue against that. This discussion is interesting. It is slowly becoming similar to the “China surpass U.S.” thread. Without getting to political, it would be interesting to see if people were willing to share a pros and cons list.
One thing I chose not to mention in that other thread is something you mentioned. The incarceration of minorities and the amount of time they are more likely to receive for similar offenses even for nonviolent crimes. Mass incarceration and a failed rehabilitation system is something that definitely can be improved. There is the whole military and prison industrial complex thing going on. Those are interesting debates.
One one hand the U.S. has a volunteer military filled with brave men and women who are willing to risk their lives in the line of duty, on the other hand you have weapon manufacturers who make billions if not trillions during times of war especially. And on the other we have basic freedoms but if you’re a minority especially one who does not have a caucasian appearance, you’re more likely to lose certain civil liberties. I was hesitant to write the “caucasian appearance” part though if we are to be realists here, it is absolutely true.
The whole discussion of that contains a lot of murky and gray areas. It might border on politics. So I won’t press futher.
On a side note, Dave Chappelle in his most recent stand up comedy routine mentioned having the solution for gun control. I’ll paraphrase so forgive me if I come off as disrespectful, Dave Chappelle indicated all people of African ancestry in the U.S. who could legally own a firearm, should purchase one because then (according to him) you know they’d [government officials] would get something done. It was quite funny in his routine but as they say there is often some truth behind comedy.
Yes. It did. It tore the nation apart.
Also, my grandmother is a survivor of the Korean War.
So petty chauvinism and jingoistic rhetoric are OK on this site? What a brain-dead thing to do to defend your “favourite superpower”.
It is not without its criticisms.
Care to elaborate yours?
Although I’m deeply sorry to hear that. Your honesty is much appreciated. I’ve always wondered what point of view people in Korea have from the divide between North and South.
You mean my criticism to the idea that morally myopic, tunnel visioned chauvism is probably a bad thing? Or are you asking me to state what my favourite superpower might be?( I anticipate that none). I’m dismayed at the level of the discussion.
I’ll be honest, people in Mexico talk so bad about certain aspects of the U.S. and I generally agree with those sentiments but people there often want to come here to make a better life for their families as well. I mentioned the exploitation of my undocumented countrymen working in agriculture in the U.S. in another thread.
No, pardon me for not making it clearer. Your criticism. Though I do find some humor in your retort heh. In a good way. The way you flung those insults. 9/10. Might make one of my old professors either laugh or grow furious. Reminded me of a friend I have.
A world where you have to earn royalties.
Yes, I am insulting the chauvinistic mindset, others settle for insulting other people’s intelligence.
I’m going to have to play the English is my second language card here, if you don’t mind…
Could you explain what exactly you meant by this?
“my criticism to the idea that morally myopic, tunnel visioned chauvism is probably a bad thing?”
In trying to gauge your own comment I asked you, sarcastically of course, whether a critique of chauvinism should be regarded as a bad thing.
Hah the sarcasm was lost in translation. I was more expecting your criticism of the U.S.
To answer your question, nope. In my opinion it is fine to critique chauvinism.
“Sarcasm is anger’s ugly cousin.” - Anger Management (a movie. Though I am guilty of sarcasm at times myself. Who isn’t? I just find humor in that quote.)
Some politician said something like not what your country do for you but what can you do for your country.
And then came the shot. That dude had the right of it in that speech at least when talking about big corporations.
Getting shot for your country?
I edited my previous post for clarity. My apologies. It is late here.
I appreciate your good opinion of my country, but I would like to see a few other countries share more of the burden of policing the world. When you talk about any country you are not talking about a monolith, but rather an wide variety of beliefs, creeds, and political parties. Just a short while ago President Trump attacked Greta Thunberg on her campaign to stop global warming. We could use some help solving the problem of global warming. I’d also like to see Germany and Japan share some of the burden in restraining China and Russia. I’d also like to see Japan talk sense to China about the South China Sea. I’d like to see more rule by consensus than by the decree of a single superpower.