Andrew Cuomo says "America was never that great" Do you agree?

[RINO Tom]

America has never been great. The genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement and subsequent second class citizenship applied to African-Americans are not the actions of a great nation. Everyone doesn’t see the country through the prism of white nationalist propaganda.

Ignoring how ing dumb your last sentence is, great nations can do horrible things.

[Xing]

I don't subscribe to the idea that criticizing certain aspects of this country and having an honest conversation about history is "unpatriotic." America's never going to improve as a nation if we blindly believe that we're #1 in every way. Also, believing that we can utilize some ideas that work very well in other countries =/= thinking badly of America.

Also, as others said, policy is more important. Anyone can say that they love America, but it takes more than patriotism to lead a nation.

[Dr. Arch]

I don't subscribe to the idea that criticizing certain aspects of this country and having an honest conversation about history is "unpatriotic." America's never going to improve as a nation if we blindly believe that we're #1 in every way. Also, believing that we can utilize some ideas that work very well in other countries =/= thinking badly of America.

Also, as others said, policy is more important. Anyone can say that they love America, but it takes more than patriotism to lead a nation.

[CookieDamage]

He has a point. A lot of even the most belligerent and extreme criticisms of America, with people saying the country doesn't have a right to exist, aren't really all that "wrong". I disagree vehemently with the concept of America not having a right to exist nowadays or Americans not having the right of self-determination, but European settlers settled and murdered Native Americans and built the infrastructure and society of modern day America using violent slavery. The only reason we have a right to be here is because of violence, murder, genocide, and slavery. We have a "right" because we killed and enslaved millions for it.

That fits well into the definition of "not that great".

[RINO Tom]

He has a point. A lot of even the most belligerent and extreme criticisms of America, with people saying the country doesn't have a right to exist, aren't really all that "wrong". I disagree vehemently with the concept of America not having a right to exist nowadays or Americans not having the right of self-determination, but European settlers settled and murdered Native Americans and built the infrastructure and society of modern day America using violent slavery. The only reason we have a right to be here is because of violence, murder, genocide, and slavery. We have a "right" because we killed and enslaved millions for it.

That fits well into the definition of "not that great".

This is just as simplistic of a take on relations with Native Americans in early America as the White washing that is slightly more prevalent.  We didn't really have a "right" to be here as Europeans, but Native-European relations weren't a one-sided genocide as many of you seem to try to depict the situation.

[Bidenworth2020]

He has a point. A lot of even the most belligerent and extreme criticisms of America, with people saying the country doesn't have a right to exist, aren't really all that "wrong". I disagree vehemently with the concept of America not having a right to exist nowadays or Americans not having the right of self-determination, but European settlers settled and murdered Native Americans and built the infrastructure and society of modern day America using violent slavery. The only reason we have a right to be here is because of violence, murder, genocide, and slavery. We have a "right" because we killed and enslaved millions for it.

That fits well into the definition of "not that great".

This is just as simplistic of a take on relations with Native Americans in early America as the White washing that is slightly more prevalent.  We didn't really have a "right" to be here as Europeans, but Native-European relations weren't a one-sided genocide as many of you seem to try to depict the situation.

If your point is that natives tried to do the same thing to Europeans and just and just didn't succeed, it is 1) a much more nuanced reality and 2) why does that give Europeans an excuse? They still did horrible things to the natives, even when they backed down.

[pbrower2a]

It depends on what demographic you were in. Technologies of entertainment are vastly overrated, as live music is typically better than recordings, and live theater is usually more fulfilling than cinema. Before there were radios and phonographs, people typically read books and got more out of them than one gets out of the idiot screen today.

Travel? It is far better and easier today with the Interstate Highway system and cheap flights. Insipid as the Interstate experience is, with predictable chains of fast-food and casual-dining restaurants along the way, it is safer. 150 miles on the Interstate in rural America is easier than 60 miles on the horrible Blood Alleys that the Interstates supplanted. Anyone who waxes nostalgic about taking the whole old course of Route 66 is nuts. You use the freeways and two Oklahoma Turnpikes to get to the most interesting parts.

Medicine? The problem with medicine today is the profusion of profiteers in the business. But that is the medical-industrial complex and not medical practice.

Working conditions? The forty-hour workweek has been in existence since the mid-1930s as a means of spreading the work around more and keeping employers from inducing workers to work for nothing so that their employers can make a special profit. Around 1900 the typical industrial worker worked 70 hours a week and lived for 40 years; by 1950 the typical industrial worker worked 40 hours a week and lived 70 years. That has changed little. Workplaces are safer than they used to be. (Of course people on adequate pay can avoid malnutrition). Grinding poverty used to be the norm for industrial workers.

Crime? Crime rates were very high in the white 'ethnic' ghettos of recent immigrants of southern and eastern European origin. "Little Italy" used to be a cesspool; it's a nice place to live now. Crime may have peaked around 1970, only to decline -- probably reflecting the disappearance of leaded gas and lead residues going into the respiratory systems of people along commute paths. Lead is an insidious poison that causes learning disabilities and poor impulse control -- a perfect duo for wasting people.  

Education? The 'solid eighth grade education' was once adequate, but it isn't now. Kids used to drop out of school to help put food on the table. It's better that the family get food stamps that eliminate food insecurity, don't you think?

The only thing that one could wax nostalgic about in the old days was cheap real estate. I'm not convinced that a McMansion is better than the old Victorian houses... and unless one wants the ostentatious show, one might as well spend money on something other than an ersatz castle or palace. But for people not in the market for McMansions, housing is certifiably more expensive in real terms unless one is where there are no job opportunities. But we have 328 million people in 2018 instead of the 179 million people in the 1960 Census, and we are more concentrated in areas where the opportunities are. Real estate may still be cheap in the High Plains that people are leaving, but if you are in certain places you may pay $3000 a month in rent for an awful studio apartment.

...OK, things were supposedly better for the economic elites when nearly everything was cheap, including domestic workers. Cheap industrial help ensured that anything manufactured could be inexpensive to make. Taxes were low. Paradise?

Hardly. I wouldn't want to go back to those times. I'm only about a thirteenth-cousin of the Rockefeller family. (I do genealogy, and I fount the connection). It's not enough of a connection.    

 

[Bumaye]

Yeah he is right for the most part. The US are the masters of self-promotion (or were, it is getting harder in the age of the internet) and not much more. Things already mentioned in this thread are just the tip of the iceberg of horrible US crimes. Yes there were quite some accomplishments for humanity made by individual Americans but the nation as a whole has been an a-hole for the most part. Admitting that there is a problem is the first step in fixing the problem. And yes that will have negative impacts for Cuomo because muh patriotism (=believing nation X is the best because you are born in it)

[MAINEiac4434]

He's right.

[Yellowhammer]

America is a good nation that has done some terrible things in the past, and it's still unjust on many levels today. I will be the first to admit that America has never been perfect, but we've been the best this world has seen throughout our entire existence. I love America, and more importantly I love the ideas that our founding fathers used to build it. America is too precious to lose.
We're a flawed country founded on great ideals, and it would do us a lot of good to not waste time bashing ourselves over sins of the past and instead address the issues of the present.

[Mr. Morden]

Cuomo tries to clean up the mess:

https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2018/08/17/as-trump-and-republicans-rage-cuomo-admits-comment-was-inartful-562925

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[Progressive Pessimist]

I agree with him and it won't harm his re-election. But this does no favors for him if he wants to run for President in 2020. This will be what ends his campaign before it even begins. The Republican ad machine will rip him apart. It's ironic since Trump won in 2016 based on a campaign of negativity about America. Oh but a Democrat was the President then, so it's okay. Democrats can't do that under any circumstance though. Typical double standards between the parties.