Greatest nation on earth
Re: Greatest nation on earth
Life in big countries is worse than life in small countries, because big countries are much harder to control, have many nationalities living in them, have much smaller population density and more problems in general. If you compare life in USA, Russia or China to life in Europe or Japan you can clearly see this. At the same time small countries have no political weight and are largely influenced by big countries. Small countries have no natural resources so they have to be very technologically advanced to sell their technologies for natural resources. So you can't really say what nation is the greatest.
- CelticCrusader
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Re: Greatest nation on earth
It depends on what you define as 'Great' . Some people may define great as military conquest, others may see it as living standards and health and others may see it as who invented the most important things that changed the world.
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- Ninja
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Re: Greatest nation on earth
I guess incog just wanted a discussion on what we thought would make a country great and instead everyone is giving these vague, sensible answers that don't really say much of anything.
- dietschlander
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Re: Greatest nation on earth
there can't be any doubt: Dietschland ------------>>>>>>>>> rest
Theres going to be a dam, the great dam and we'll let the beavers pay for it - Edeholland 2016
Anyway, nuancing isn't your forte, so I'll agree with you like I would with a 8 year old: violence is bad, don't do hard drugs and stay in school Benj98
Anyway, nuancing isn't your forte, so I'll agree with you like I would with a 8 year old: violence is bad, don't do hard drugs and stay in school Benj98
- Hidddy_
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Re: Greatest nation on earth
Papist wrote:Hidddy_ wrote:American exceptionalism is what our government wants you to believe in (it distracts from the government's detrimental ventures). I would say our people are not too bad, but our government is filled with crooks. The main reason for that being that our government is not democratic at all, it's legacy based. You have politicians/CEOs here paying their son's/dauighter's way through ivy league schools with "sizeable donations" to the law/business departments of their respective schools. And future CEOs alongside future congressmen in the same classes in these ivy league schools, cheating/scamming their way through college together. No wonder they cheat and scam together when they grow up and inherit daddy's position in life.
I think you're making it out to be a lot more complicated and conspiratorial-sounding than it actually is. These are the biggest problems as I see them, and they have nothing to do with higher education.
1. Money has polluted our political process to such a degree that politicians are more accountable to big campaign donors than their constituents . This is reflected in the disparity between what voters want and what Congress actually accomplishes.
2. Heightened polarization is resulting in gridlock at all levels. Politicians feel that any compromise is a defeat, and that every single issue is "make or break". Any time a new party takes power, their number 1 priority is dismantling all the work the other has done, good or not.
You're completely right but I didn't really intend to make it sound like a conspiracy. It's pretty well known that the rich in this country are able to buy their way into office and are able to buy their kids way through university (cmon did George Bush Jr really earn those Yale and Harvard degrees through hard work and intelligence?). But that's aside. The two points you made are very true, though I wouldn't necessarily say they are the two most important points to focus on. Our education system has lost its credibility because of the lack of funding that goes into it (which is also what allows people to buy degrees). This leaves children poorly educated and generally uninterested in pursuing higher education. The reason why our government does not fund education and does not incentivize people to become educators is because they benefit from an uneducated public that has no higher purpose than to consume. They don't care to develop their youth into a functioning work force because the government can simply import graduates from other countries to fulfill the workforce needs. Also, properly educating the youth would make it more difficult for the government to be corrupt (catering to donators rather than the public). But how are you going to cater to a public that is generally uninterested in real politics and voting?
De Funk
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Re: Greatest nation on earth
Gendarme wrote:@AOEisLOVE_AOEisLIFE Do you want me to spank you or spank your butt?
didnt read thread but im always down for sum spanking
Re: Greatest nation on earth
deleted_user wrote:I guess incog just wanted a discussion on what we thought would make a country great and instead everyone is giving these vague, sensible answers that don't really say much of anything.
I find 'everyone' offensive! But hey, please take your time to fully appreciate my posted video
Re: Greatest nation on earth
AOEisLOVE_AOEisLIFE wrote:Gendarme wrote:@AOEisLOVE_AOEisLIFE Do you want me to spank you or spank your butt?
didnt read thread but im always down for sum spanking
my twitch account does the spanking here thank you
- KoenigRother
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Re: Greatest nation on earth
dicktator_ wrote:I don't really put much thought into which countries are the best or how good or how bad my country is. I'd still be the same person with the same problems regardless of which country I was born in (barring third world countries).
i disagree with you on that Statement,
it don't really know what your current Problems are, but it seems to me that you are in Transition from youth to adulthood.
If we compare Germany and the US on that matter, there are huge differences. For example your economical prospects. I am not sure about the Basic educational System works in the US but in Germany you basically pick out of 2. University (completely tuition free , no Money required you even can get paid if you are poor) or apprenticeship but more detailed than in the US (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeship#Germany).
In Addition you mostly grow up with a Sport you do yourself in Germany and they are not gathered in High School Teams unlike the US but local Clubs. These are just small examples but they make the gerenal Life building experience different i guess. But maybe i overestimate the environmental influences.
the poorer you are, the more rely you on welfare and thats where the US and others go apart i guess.
notoric treehugger
Re: Greatest nation on earth
@KoenigRother You're late to the party, if you scrolled up a little you'd know that's already clarified
- KoenigRother
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Re: Greatest nation on earth
@Jesus k then i will resume protesting against german cars
notoric treehugger
Re: Greatest nation on earth
Just read the newspaper of today in Belgium and it says we're one of the worst countries in Europe about 'student social mobility'. Meaning rich parents kids go further/higher in education then kids from whome to parents are poor. I'd say that's a fair definition of a great country: to give everyone equal chances. Eduction in Belgium is pretty cheap/free, but apparently that's not all there is to it. What school you go to etc...
To see a world in a grain of saind, A heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of you hand, And eternity in an hour
- William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
Hold infinity in the palm of you hand, And eternity in an hour
- William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
Re: Greatest nation on earth
@Harsha Most of your points are just empty phrases as you present them, but there are indices making exactly those things measurable. But then there's also the widespread problem of definition of terms. For example "freedom" and "democracy" and some indices (e.g. Freedom house) use a US-Definition of both so e.g. China scores very low but that doesn't incorporate the cultural background and efficiency. The relation of variables is much more complex than "democracy = wealth", many factors are in bewteen that equation and not every system works the same for every country
Re: Greatest nation on earth
People underrate a bit the millitary advantages for a country. Sure its better to have nice life in peace but who would be able to stop Kim Jong type of guys conquer the world if noone invest into millitary? Its important to have.
Re: Greatest nation on earth
Dsy wrote:People underrate a bit the millitary advantages for a country. Sure its better to have nice life in peace but who would be able to stop Kim Jong type of guys conquer the world if noone invest into millitary? Its important to have.
Re: Greatest nation on earth
Harsha wrote:jesus3 wrote:@Harsha Most of your points are just empty phrases as you present them, but there are indices making exactly those things measurable. Also there's the problem of definition of some terms. For example "freedom" and "democracy" and some indices (e.g. Freedom house) use a US-Definition of both so China scores very low but that doesn't incorporate the cultural background and efficiency. The relation of variables is much more complex than "democracy = wealth", many factors are in bewteen that equation and not every system works the same for every country
Them being measureable doesnt change the fact that those factors are important for any country and I didn't write those factors keeping any specific country in mind(except in a few sentences).So,there is little to dig deeper into.Maybe thats why they seem empty phrases to u.And as for the differences,I get what u r saying but governing ppl with no freedom at all no matter what their cultural background is,is like sitting on a ticking bomb cuz with perpetual change in thinking of ppl in favour of democracy,it won't be long before suppressing ppl will backfire.And u r right about the variables and i never said that my factors alone comprise a simple equation the way I tell them to,but what I can tell ya is that dictatorship and suppressing ppl have a -ve value in that equation.
(As I have some semesters of statistics, sociology and political science on my back) I just got a little grossed out by the vagueness of your points, no hard feelings there.
But let's go with the orignal topic again: What do you think your country does well?
Re: Greatest nation on earth
Taj Mahal
- KoenigRother
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Re: Greatest nation on earth
@Harsha India is one of the countries that frightens me the most, since if the middle class develops as rapidly as it did in China, the average (per Person) and total amount of co2 release is going to be dangerous. Let's hope for technological advance...
notoric treehugger
Re: Greatest nation on earth
KoenigRother wrote:@Harsha India is one of the countries that frightens me the most, since if the middle class develops as rapidly as it did in China, the average (per Person) and total amount of co2 release is going to be dangerous. Let's hope for technological advance...
Yeah
Re: Greatest nation on earth
Money has also polluted, among other things, media and education. There is extreme tunnel vision enabled by the sorry state of the media, in some cases it's arguably straight up propaganda. Getting educated means having massive debt. And then there's the common attitude that being smart isn't "cool", that science is bad (after all, it keeps telling us we need to invest money into things that don't seem to affect us). Ultimately, for the USA to go from oligarchy to democracy, the people have to come together and say in no uncertain terms that it's them the government should be working for. And that means doing more than voting the right president into office. I don't know if America is there yet, or will be for a good while to come. I do think Trump's presidency, an alarming symptom, helps in the long run because it will be a wake up call for some. Alas not for many, due to the aforementioned tunnel vision.Papist wrote:Hidddy_ wrote:American exceptionalism is what our government wants you to believe in (it distracts from the government's detrimental ventures). I would say our people are not too bad, but our government is filled with crooks. The main reason for that being that our government is not democratic at all, it's legacy based. You have politicians/CEOs here paying their son's/dauighter's way through ivy league schools with "sizeable donations" to the law/business departments of their respective schools. And future CEOs alongside future congressmen in the same classes in these ivy league schools, cheating/scamming their way through college together. No wonder they cheat and scam together when they grow up and inherit daddy's position in life.
I think you're making it out to be a lot more complicated and conspiratorial-sounding than it actually is. These are the biggest problems as I see them, and they have nothing to do with higher education.
1. Money has polluted our political process to such a degree that politicians are more accountable to big campaign donors than their constituents . This is reflected in the disparity between what voters want and what Congress actually accomplishes.
2. Heightened polarization is resulting in gridlock at all levels. Politicians feel that any compromise is a defeat, and that every single issue is "make or break". Any time a new party takes power, their number 1 priority is dismantling all the work the other has done, good or not.
Point being, it felt like your 2 issues weren't quite identifying the problem as I see it. How about:
1. Unchecked free market
2. Anti-science movement
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