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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 4:12 pm
(December 10, 2015 at 4:00 pm)wallym Wrote: Best country for who? If a well-educated white person with money can pick anywhere's in the world to live, the US is a pretty good one.
A poorly educated black person without money, you could probably find somewhere else that still isn't recovering from slavery, that'll do a better job keeping you afloat, while educating your children.
This is a reasonable point. Although the USA is #5 in the basic HDI, if you recalculate an "inequality-adjusted HDI" the US falls to #28.
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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 4:14 pm
A rant about the negatives, makes for fine drama but little else. Fine, the US has some things it needs to fix. Don't all countries?
BTW, I don't often hear of a mass exodus from the US. Am I missing something?
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 5:58 pm
That'll be right!
The rest of the world always sees Australia as one big number 2!
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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 6:12 pm
(December 10, 2015 at 3:47 pm)Quantum Wrote: Charming, Boru, charming
Yes, I'm angling for a diplomatic posting to the US. The above should clinch it for me, don't you think?
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 6:16 pm
Is not being patriotic an atheist thing or something? Lol.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 6:20 pm
Does "patriotism" mean pretending that everything is fucking wonderful?
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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 6:33 pm
(December 10, 2015 at 6:16 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Is not being patriotic an atheist thing or something? Lol.
One would think there's a difference between a patriot and the Muhammed Ali approach of "I am the Greatest". One is loving one's place of origin or home, the other one carries certain dangers. Foremost the danger of overestimating one's importance and thinking that everyone has to bow before you.
The latter is the nationalist approach, which gave us the beauties of the 20th century.
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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 6:43 pm
(December 10, 2015 at 2:30 pm)Pandæmonium Wrote: To be honest, whilst the west has its drawbacks, can you think of anywhere else you'd rather live?
Mars.
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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 6:49 pm
(December 10, 2015 at 6:16 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Is not being patriotic an atheist thing or something? Lol.
Atheism is a small subset of critical thinking.
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Know God, Know fear.
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RE: Is America the greatest country
December 10, 2015 at 6:58 pm
(December 10, 2015 at 6:16 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Is not being patriotic an atheist thing or something? Lol.
Is it unpatriotic to rightfully criticize one's own country with the aim of improving it?
I kind of thought it wasn't. The "my country right or wrong" attitude is jingoism, not patriotism.
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