Proud to be American?

First, I would like to let it be known that I am a native US citizen. I have lived here all my life.

The overall question:
Are you proud to be American?

Why do I ask this? It is because if you look at America, there is not much to be proud of. I don't personally feel proud to be American, and quite frankly, I do not consider myself American.

We have invaded Iraq who had little to no affiliation with the 9/11 attack. Our government contradicts itself, and our own constitution isn't straight forward. America has been a show off ever since WWI.

America has gone away from freedom and and has turned the amendments into bondage. They have become restrictions.

Celebrities seem to have special privileges that the average American doesn't have.

The Department of Education stuffs Democracy down our throats. As well, a lot of the curriculum is focused on the Democratic Party. It isn't very common that I see anything Republican based.
Personally, I am neither Republican or Democrat. I think that this "bipartisan" nation is a hoax.



Tell me, are you proud to be an American?

If you were an American, would you be proud to be one?

If you were an American, would you be proud to be one?

Yes, despite it's MANY faults the United States is still one of the most free and developed societies on the planet.

As Hanson put it,

We are free, hold elections, tolerate dissent, are religiously diverse, and demand a level of clean water, sewage, honesty in government, and basic utilities not found elsewhere. Americans are a naturally generous people, who are open, friendly, and industrious and so reflect the decency of their culture. Americans judge people on who they are and what they do, not where they came from, what God they worship, or where their parents went to school. The daily squalor and random cruelty of the Third World are mostly absent here, and we are far less cynical, conniving, and dour than the grim European utopians, whose social network is subsidized by an American military that patrols their fairyland Shire like Aragorn's quiet stealthy rangers.

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating: Mexican intellectuals damn us as their own dispossessed risk their lives to cross our borders; Palestinians cheer news of 9-11, but are furious they can't fly out of Tel-Aviv to reach Brooklyn or Detroit; Canadians dub us culturally imperialistic as everyone there from Peter Jennings to Neal Young and Dan Ackroyd seeks fame and fortune in America, even as Haitians think us racist as they die trying to float in through choppy seas. A mad, mad world it is.

---------- Post added at 12:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:26 AM ----------

We have invaded Iraq who had little to no affiliation with the 9/11 attack. Our government contradicts itself, and our own constitution isn't straight forward. America has been a show off ever since WWI.

There was nothing wrong with the invasion of Iraq, save the fundamental lack of planning.

Saddam Hussein was a homicidal dictator responsible for genocide, less than such fine individuals such as Pol Pot and Stalin only by his smaller number of victims.

I'm proud to be an American. I like the principles the nation was founded upon. I like the land and culture.

Doesn't seem to be much else to elaborate on, and I didn't leave anything out. Though @OP, certain people having privileges is by no means limited the the US.

Definitely is one of the freest, albeit, it shall be for long. Pay attention to these nations. These nations don't get involved in many conflicts around the world, and most importantly, they mind their own business.

You do realize that references economic, not political or social freedom?

I.E: How easily a corporation can get filthy rich without the government interfering?

I'm waking up tomorrow morning, before sunrise, to fish a clear, beautiful stream with a buddy of mine that I work with at my well-paying job. The next day I'll worship my god, without government interference, at the church of my choice. Then I'll retire to my modest home.

Yeah. Very proud.

Originally Posted by Bartimaeus Sex

I'm proud to be an American. I like the principles the nation was founded upon. I like therefore land and culture.

Doesn't seem to be much else to elaborate on, and I didn't leave anything out. Though @OP, certain people having privileges is by no means limited the the US.

Yeah. The LRA was formed on a relatively nice idea, too.

Originally Posted by Cor Sicarius

Yeah. The LRA was formed on a relatively nice idea, too.

The LRA was founded as a syncretic mix of African mysticism, Acholi nationalism, Islam and Christian fundamentalism.

Tell me what there is a "nice idea".

Can't say I'm particularly proud to be American. I'm definitely grateful to be living here as opposed to, say, a small village in Mongolia or in one of the many war-torn nations of Africa.

I think America has many flaws and I'm certainly not proud of things that it does. But, at the same time I believe a lot of these things are prevalent in other countries as well, such as an unequal distribution of wealth and corrupt politicians.

Would love to see the USA improve, but I don't feel I can look at it like I would a poem I've written or accomplishment and feel a sense of pride over it.

Originally Posted by Great White North

The LRA was founded as a syncretic mix of African mysticism, Acholi nationalism, Islam and Christian fundamentalism.

Tell me what there is a "nice idea".

Lets stay on topic, now shall we?

Originally Posted by mattj

I'm waking up tomorrow morning, before sunrise, to fish a clear, beautiful stream with a buddy of mine that I work with at my well-paying job. The next day I'll worship my god, without government interference, at the church of my choice. Then I'll retire to my modest home.

Yeah. Very proud.

I do believe this can be done in England, too.

Yes, I agree that they are good things, but does it can be found in other nations too.

Nationalism and patriotism are both ridiculous concepts. No one can choose where they are born, so it's ridiculous to be proud of where you happened to end up in. Honestly, it makes me sick when people talk about 'Nation X's' accomplishments. Nation X accomplished nothing; it was the individuals in Nation X. Am I proud that America was one of the very first nations to set up something resembling a democracy? No, I'm not, as I had nothing to do with it, so I can't be proud of it or hold patriotic sentiments. In my opinion, pride is purely something that can only be felt by the individual of their own accomplishments. That being said, I am thankful that I live in a relatively democratic nation, as there are many worse nations (as far as civil liberties go).

I see the need for countries, and I do acknowledge that there are distinctive features of countries due to their differences in culture and governments (even if not everyone agrees with the values). Am I happy that I live in a nation where conformity is valued by the masses ('Average Joe' often targeted during elections) while they drone out how we're a nation of individualists? No, I'm not happy about that. Is it shameful that the US has it's nose in many places it shouldn't? Yes. Am I ashamed? No; I'm not because I'm against it.

Voters do hold a sense of responsibility for the leaders they elect, to an extent (a leader can say one thing and do the other, in which case the responsibility lessens/disappears altogether). American society, as a whole, has many flaws, such as being far too materialistic and selfish. It's obvious that it's going to HAVE to change it's ways if it wants to survive over the next few decades.

As for the conspiracy theory that public education is run by liberals, NO. What parts are you talking about? Tolerance? Anti-materialism? That relates to the teacher, and unless you're saying that conservatives are intolerant and materialistic, then no, education is biased. Actually, America's really been a 'show-off' ever since the Spanish-American War, assuming show-off means world power. We were just an isolationist nation (for the most part) until WWI, then we returned to isolationism with the return to normalcy under Harding, then we had WWII at which point we exited out of isolationism permanently (so far, anyways).

As for use of military and all of that, I believe that #1.) We need a restructured UN that actually serves it's purpose (preventing human rights violations) and #2.) Need to strip down our military to a purely defensive one that only sends the bare minimum amount of force (try diplomacy, sanctions, etc first) needed to stop genocide and such without an all out war (most genocides can be solved with little difficulty, especially if they're caught earlier on; it's more about the message and threat than the actual execution).

EDIT: I do think some countries, as a whole (not the individual citizens in the countries), are better than others, obviously. For example, I prefer Canada's cultural preservation system more than the US's, as the US's (while in theory, it's ideal) is too flawed in practice. Preferably, something in between a cultural mosaic and melting pot would be ideal for me. Plus, there are other governments that provide better care for it's citizens, though I still maintain the view that pride is purely an individualistic thing.

Lets stay on topic, now shall we?

Originally Posted by YOU

Yeah. The LRA was formed on a relatively nice idea, too.

You brought it up.

Now answer the question or get out of my SD.

I do believe this can be done in England, too.

And you know what's really cool?

The 2003 Invasion of Iraq (19 March – 1 May 2003), was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations.

Yes, I agree that they are good things, but does it can be found in other nations too.

And most, if not all of those nations are American allies.

Originally Posted by Great White North

Now answer the question or get out of my SD.

It was, from what I learned in school a couple years back, a group used to join people together.

And most, if not all of those nations are American allies.

And? That seems irrelevant. Care to explain the connection?

It was, from what I learned in school a couple years back, a group used to join people together.

Then check your sources.

It was, from what I learned in school a couple years back, a group used to join people together.

It probably has something to do with the fact that the United States is not considered "leader of the free world" for nothing, and many of these states have incorporated ideals from the American revolution and Constitution into their social fabrics and government institutions.

Well I'm obviously not that proud of being an American because of pretty much everything having to do with America. And a lot of people that I know seems to think that all countries besides America are third-world countries which is obviously untrue. I would've much rather had been born in some other place like Canada, England, or Switzerland.

Originally Posted by Great White North

It probably has something to do with the fact that the United States is not considered "leader of the free world" for nothing, and many of these states have incorporated ideals from the American revolution and Constitution into their social fabrics and government institutions.

To be fair, the US is considered 'the leader of the free world' because of the Cold War, not the revolution. WWII left Europe in ruins, the Marshall Plan helped save Western Europe and 'save' capitalism in those countries, thus America led the world in capitalism and democracy (not a true one, as the whole Civil Rights Movement hadn't achieved success/happened, but better than Stalin's rule by a long shot) until the end of the Cold War. Now, it's debatable about whether or not America still is the leader of the free world. As for the revolutionary ideas, there's no denying that America kick started that, but there is the question of how big of an impact the French Revolution had on Europe.

To be fair, the US is considered 'the leader of the free world' because of the Cold War, not the revolution. WWII left Europe in ruins, the Marshall Plan helped save Western Europe and 'save' capitalism in those countries, thus America led the world in capitalism and democracy (not a true one, as the whole Civil Rights Movement hadn't achieved success/happened, but better than Stalin's rule by a long shot) until the end of the Cold War. Now, it's debatable about whether or not America still is the leader of the free world.

I know, but that's what Obama was called by the international media when he was elected.

In addition, the general rule of thumb in interstate relations is that when Uncle Sam says jump, YOU BETTER ♥♥♥♥ING JUMP.

As for the revolutionary ideas, there's no denying that America kick started that, but there is the question of how big of an impact the French Revolution had on Europe.

Huge. But what France started, the United States refined and exported.

Silly nationalism and patriotism.

Getting tied up in either or both is silly, and leads to all sorts of fun things like entitlement and rivalries, where we should be working towards better relations between everyone regardless of nationality.

You can get citizenship in other countries, so I guess pride is warranted in that sense, but even so, there's no reason to be proud of a country as a whole as opposed to individuals since there are bad and good aspects to every country.

America has one of the highest rates of social stratification in the developed world.
Social stratification provides a direct correlation between the health of a society.

The bigger the gap between high earners and low earners, the worse a country's statistics on homelessness, mental health and literacy rates are.

I love my country, so I hate it when people look down on me for doing so.

I never said it was perfect though. There's always room for improvement. Especially when it comes to health care.