Talk Elections

Opinion of this great country of mine?


Split by American or not!

Freedom Country, most definitely. :D

Freedom Country! Yay.

Freedom country! :D

I love how only Americans think it's a horrible country, aha.

Edit: At time of posting.

Foreigners are too polite to criticize.  My reaction to the place is rather visceral.

Have you considered becoming a naturalized Thai subject?   

FC, but not near as much of one as most Americans like to believe.

horrible country (american)

No, of course not.  What would be the point of that?  Nothing about changing citizenship would make the Bad Place any better, or make me any less the product of it.  I'm quite happy merely avoiding it, and warning others of its deleterious influence.

In any case it is very nearly impossible (the only people who become Thai subjects/citizens are very rich people who have very important friends in Thailand - it would certainly be impossible for me).

It isn't the "greatest country in the history of the earth" as rahrahrah nationalists love to think, it is imperfect, it has tons of problems and it has way too many morons; but America is still a great country.

The epitome of middleness. Neither great nor horrible.

Definitely not a statistically significant difference.

Hmm.  I don't see that.  If America isn't extreme, I don't know what is.

Neutral (American) for me, on the whole leaning somewhat more toward FC than HC.

Absolutely fantastic, yet flawed beyond repair.

I love America. It's unapologetic, strong, and free.

Canada could be up there, but I am unpatriotic towards Canada because it seems like other Canadians are unpatriotic towards Canada. Maybe that's a contradiction, I dunno. We need to be more proud up here.

I am definitely am an 'unpatriotic' Canadian, and I'm damn proud of it.

Want to trade countries?

Neutral, my love/hate relationship with my homeland is really strange.

They probably won't allow him....another reason why America is better.

Well, what do you get when you average two polar extremes?

Despite its flaws, it is a really magnificent country on many aspects.

Lots of flaws, certainly not infallible, but has a lot of very good people and certainly a net positive influence on the world.

Could tone down the nationalism a little... frankly, I'd rather be part of a good country as opposed to a great one (or one that feels the constant need to remind themselves about it)...

One of my favorite countries.

To clarify further: It's certainly a better country than the vast majority throughout the world. But it's not unique, and certainly not best. 95% of the freedoms and rights American nationalists go on about are equal or stronger in Western Europe and Australia. Disregarding that, it's the only "rich" country that provides no serious universal welfare state.

What's bulls**t is the American Dream/exceptionaliam nonsense. Economic mobility is (at best!) on par with other Western countries.

That said, yes, America is a good country. Some things, like immigrant integration, actually work better than in most other places. And xenophobia (although it's gotten worse over the years) is comparably low.

Economic mobility is higher than in most Western European states, although I'd agree that it probably isn't what it used to be. The "American Dream" is largely a holdover from the 19th century.

Clearly FC. Despite some flaws.

The most desirable country club is the one you can't get into, not the one you can.

It has some issues but I think it's one of -- if not the -- best countries in the world. And every country has morons, guys.

Still a Freedom Country (the conduct of our leaders not withstanding), though not the greatest anymore.

We would be the greatest if we cared to obey our Constitution and quit spending ourselves out of existence.

Neutral (Non-American)

No, Blue Dog, that's not true or at least this is not what statistics say. According to them the American Dream, i.e., the economic mobility is a sort of myth. Of course the dream is possible, but if you were born in a bad place usually you have less oportunities to develop yourself at educational, social and economical levels than in Western Europe.

I declare myself neutral, albeit I admire a lot of things in the US society and culture. The political system has its good and bad things.

I'm surprised to see Freedom County winning, among both Americans and non-Americans.

It has its flaws, but there's something about it which makes me see it as the best country in the world.

The quality of its political leaders is not something you can separate from the appreciation of a country.

So I guess that makes North Korea the greatest country in the world?

And no, the best country club is the one that the most people want to get into. That club may or may not be highly restrictive, but that's irrelevant except to the extent that it effects the number of people who want to enter.

I voted "Neutral", though that's not really a good description. There are a lot of really great things about America, but there are also some things about it that are rather awful. So this mixture of good and bad things makes me have a "Love/Hate" relationship with America, which is why I voted "Neutral" :P.

Perhaps. I like to believe if more of my fellow countrymen were better informed, or just cared enough to pay a little more attention, they'd be eager to vote for people who'd fix things.

As someone who studied in the US... and was, honestly, horrified by how myopic so many Americans were, I think a broader perspective is definitely needed.

A friend of mine who's a teacher in IL, is really disturbed by how they teach the American Revolution as purely, democracy vs tyranny... rather than be honest, that it was actually incredibly complex and doesn't go into the background as to why Britain did what it did etc etc...

America is a great country, full of really good people, the story about American social mobility is increasingly a myth, America is as strata-fied as any European or Western Country for that matter. I think what might irritate people abroad is the idea that the US is the pinnacle of democracy... last time I checked... most western countries have free and fair elections... freedom of the press etc etc...

Just because you're flawed, as all countries are in their own ways, doesn't mean you aren't great... you're just not the best at everything... some countries do do things better than you... but you do other things better than them... it's not a contest.

You listen to conservative pundits too much...

Two reforms would move America much closer to being a true freedom country in the sense that everybody had a fair chance. Universal health care and governemt paid tuition at all state colleges. The lack of free education to the poor and the lower middle class is the number one problem for social mobility and a giant waste óf human potential.

Another negative factor in regard to freedom is the US authorities tendency to not use common sense when dealing with various problems and adapting a "get tough" attitude even in situations where its counterproductice.

But genereally the strong liberalistic and democratic tradition makes for one of the most free countries in the world, so voted freedom country.

No, I hang around this forum too much. :P

Also, your words on America seemed like a touching get well card for this country. I liked them.

Why would a non-American join a forum about American politics if he didn't like at least certain aspects of the USA ?

Sometimes I just feel there's a certain amount of hate goin' around.

Y'know, there's a lot about this country I don't like and I wish could be improved, but I still love this place. We still do good, even if we're not the "greatest country on earth".

Buddy, 'most people' or 'the most people' liking something is virtually a guarantee I will despise it - and the idea that good taste is a characteristic of a minority is a truism.  'The most people' like a Macdonalds - does that make it the best restaurant?


Good suggestions - but putting in place a confiscatory income tax on the wealthy is actually necessary as well in order to reduce stratification ('opportunity' simply won't do it, you have to knock the permanent aristocracy down a peg).

Commenting on opebo's and politicus's latest comment, free tuition for public higher education for everybody is a net subsidy to the better off. It would increase inequality, not decrease it. Carefully crafted subsidies for those who cannot afford the same, and would benefit from such an education (many in the system are not benefitting), is another matter. In some ways, the Left agenda will facilitate an ossified class structure, not mitigate it. But I digress.

If you really want to facilitate class mobility, you need to get at kids early in the educational process, starting about two years of age, and really focus on that, so that the ability of kids when they hit first grade is more equal. When you have upper middle class kids by the first grade, having five times the vocabulary of kids not read to by their parents, who also have little or no education, it is almost game over before it begins. And to repeat a point that I have made about 500 times on this forum, starting with grammar school, the poor teacher quality for kids in down market zip codes is a national disgrace, and evil. Just why there is not more outrage about that on the Left, puzzles me. Do they really care about poor folks, vis a vis giving them the tools to compete, or do they just want to make them a handout constituency, which as time goes on, is less and less affordable, as medical service demands, and old people subsidies, chew up more and more of the pie?

No kidding... The disconnect between reality and traditional world views held by many is astounding. Maybe it has something to do with the fact the U.S. is the world's dominant power. There are just so many people who say, "I'm right because I say so, and everybody around us has to live their lives like we do."

Honestly, then-Governor Bush said it perfectly in 2000:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9SOVzMV2bc

America's gone from being by far the best in a field of two to being clearly the worst in a field of one.