USA! USA! WE’RE NUMBER ONE!

[Cyrano]

Just how ignorant does anyone have to be to shout out that crap? Well, then again, perhaps we are number one in:

International aggression;

Reigning down death from drones in the sky;

Murdering countless innocent civilians in wars of choice;

Impoverishing and destroying the American middle class;

In the denial of universal health care;

In arrogance;

Letting bought and paid for whores puke out hatred over radio and TV 24/7;

Silencing voices that speak truth - (Assange, Keith, etc.);

Letting the super wealthy buy and own our government, our media, and us.

So for all you brain-dead creatures who chant “WE’RE NUMBER ONE,” haven’t you yet noticed the shackles on your wrists and ankles? Can’t you wake up and realize you’re well down the path to being enslaved and that you’re helping those who own you?

If I sound totally disillusioned with what I once considered my country, I’m far beyond that. I’ve crossed over into disgust, a sad longing for what we’ve lost, and what we could have been.

[ileus]

1. And we're #1 in many other "good" categories

[Cyrano]

3. Perhaps you'd be kind enough to share a few of them with us.

[Sonoman]

7. #1 in Fundamentalist "Christians".

Is that good enuff fer ya, Cyrano?

Wait....

Nevermind...

Sonoman

[gateley]

43. ...

:spank:

[dmallind]

11. Well GDP. manufacturing output, paved roads and direct foreign investment spring to mind.

but yes plenty of bad stuff too, even actual objective metrics which the op was a bit sparse on. Debt, oil usage, incarceration, erc.

[Cyrano]

17. Sparse by necessity. I defy anyone to enumerate even most of the

things in which we have declined so shamefully from what we once were.

[dmallind]

22. What were we once?

I don't know of any period when most of your complaints were not valid, nor when the US ranked #1 in much more than we do now.

Incidentally my list was sparse due to being from recall. There are many more #1s good and bad no doubt. Personally neither case worries me much, as absolutes matter more than relative rank. I care what GDP IS or what debt IS much more than how it compares to other nations.

[Cyrano]

26. We were once a country in which most people who wanted a job

could find one.

We were once a country in which a sizable middle class existed.

We were once a country in which unions were not demonized and people could earn a decent wage.

We were once a country in which higher education was affordable to the the masses.

We were once a country in which military veterans were sufficiently cared for.

We were once a country in which food, prescriptions, and clean water were available to most.

We were once a country in which the government was not (completely) owned by lobbyists.

We were once a country in which having a job meant having medical coverage.

We were once a country which the rest of the world didn't laugh at.

We were once a country in which yelling "We're number one" wasn't a joke.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

[dmallind]

47. Yes- VERY "sparse" on objective data

and long on subjective opinion

[TheBigotBasher]

33. GDP per capita

US is not at the top

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

[dmallind]

46. Good job I didn't write or claim "per capita" then

....by the same token, China's per capita exports are lower than ours. Want to use that metric per capita too?

[lsewpershad]

41. Oh yes?????????

[DirkGently]

2. Perhaps if we'd stop yelling about being great, we actually could be. (+1)

[Jack Rabbit]

4. You left out childhood obesity, personal debt and mortgage foreclosures

and frankly, I'm less concerned about the bought and paid for whores on radio and television than the ones running Congress.

[Cyrano]

5. I did mention that they own our government.

[Jack Rabbit]

10. Oh, you did and I saw that

But Congress is supposed to be our representatives, not their whores. It's a special case that needs a special mention.

[rko_24550]

25. +1

[MineralMan]

6. Emigrate, then.

That's my advice.

Sorry, but that's all I can offer.

If you don't emigrate, then continue to work for positive changes.

[DirkGently]

13. "Love it or leave it" fails to note there can be no positive change without honest criticism.

[MineralMan]

14. Honest criticism is good. Bashing is not so good.

I didn't see any honest criticism in the OP. Did you?

[DirkGently]

16. I saw harsh. Which part wasn't true?

[MineralMan]

18. Well, for example,

the one about the right wingers on the radio. Yes, they are, but have a look around. We truly do have freedom of the press in this country. Anyone (and almost everyone does) can publish themselves at a moment's notice. Your very own free political blog is just minutes away over at blogger.com. Seems like everyone has one these days. Freedom of the press at work.

Balance is the key to criticism. Harsh is a good word. It is an accurate description of the criticism in the OP. Unbalanced is another good description.

I don't know, but long lists of negatives without balance are rarely very effective.

[Cyrano]

29. Perhaps you would like to supply your list of our current positives?

[MineralMan]

31. No. I would not like to do that. It's your OP. When I want to

write an OP, I do that. Yours stands on its own for what it is, and it's not one of the areas where I want to spend a lot of time.

My comment is that your OP is universally negative. I reject that negativity. That is where my participation in this particular discussion begins and ends.

[Cyrano]

39. Fair enough. Read my post #26 above. There are the positives.

[Lorien]

40. A blog isn't "the press". The Press is entirely owned by large right wing corporations

the Left has been muzzled for decades now because we CAN'T get our message to the masses as effectively as they can.

[Lorien]

38. I see plenty of honest criticism in the OP

what part is incorrect?

[gateley]

44. OT -- LOVE your username! nt

[Lorien]

37. I'm trying to, thanks.

[Kievan Rus]

50. I'm looking to emigrate to Europe as soon as possible

[GSLevel9]

8. hyperbole perhaps? nt

[Tansy_Gold]

9. R-A-I-N-I-N-G. n/t

[WiffenPoof]

12. I Completely Agree With Your Post...

I'm beyond cynical and firmly past disillusionment. I will not live long enough to see our country return to its former greatness.

-PLA

On Edit: I'm almost positive that those that do not see how our country has been going downhill are of a younger age. They do not have the past experience to know what greatness we once represented. So everything is just fine, thank you.

-PLA

[Scruffy1]

19. I might not be there when it happens...............

but hell I'm a geezer. But the struggle for greater justice and equality is an unstoppable force. The very shrillness of the Neoliberal hate machine shows their fear it is the dying gasp of a wounded and cornered animal.
What amazes me is how many are willing to give up after they invested a few minutes in dropping a piece of paper in a box and they didn't get what they wanted.

The whole right wing thing makes me think of Pope Pius description of Nazis-"miserable plagiarists who dress up old errors in new tinsel." They have nothing to offer the many except bombast and hate so they use it. Arthur Blair (George Orwell) knew this well. This is what the two minutes of hate was about in 1984. He never stopped being a socialist because the Stalinist gave it a bad name. I just hope we don't have to go through some kind of violent bloodbath to achieve results.

The young people I work with today have progressed way beyond the narrow focus of Party and us versus them and have a genuine vision of a better world and believe it is within their reach. Teach your children well and set an example
of never giving up.

[WiffenPoof]

34. Excellent Response.

Inspiring. However...there are so many times that I feel like giving up. I know that it isn't the right thing to do. But I'm so tired.

-PLA

[Cyrano]

24. I too know what our country once represented.

It's all there for anyone who wants to read about it (as long as they avoid Texas text books).

And I too believe that, if our country once again comes to represent the greatness we once were, most of us will not be around to see it.

The dreams of my early years have long since faded. It seems that no matter how many times the forces of greed, cruelty and brutality are beaten down, they always rise up again to haunt and oppress us.

And no matter how many battles we've won in the past, the enemies of decency and humanity don't stay defeated for long.

Perhaps, one day, humanity will grow up. Or perhaps we'll destroy ourselves. Either way, the status won't remain quo.

[WiffenPoof]

35. Honestly...I Feel

...confused. Nothing really makes much sense anymore. I want what we all appear to want...a country of humanity and compassion. I simply don't see much of it in our country anymore.

Nice post.

-PLA

[JuniperLea]

15. I swear it's the "Yay team!" mentality that is at the root...

Of a lot of ridiculousness these days. I think it keeps the TeaBaggers firmly rooted in their rooting.

[Scruffy1]

20. Root hog root!

[el_bryanto]

21. Well Jingoism never goes out of style

There is still greatness in America, though. Just a lot of problems as well, some structural ones that will be very difficult to deal with.

Bryant

[Obamanaut]

23. Even with all the negatives in the OP, people continue to come here

from other countries to live, most of the legally, others not so much - and even some of these are willing to risk death by thirst/starvation/drowning to get here.

Imagine that. I'll stay. How about you.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. Immigration rates are actually down

but I am sure you did not know that.

[Obamanaut]

30. Actually, I did/do know that. Illegal immigration is down, as of about 2009,

to ONLY 300,000 per year. Legal is down to about 800,000.

If you would bother to read my post, it says something the effect that people continue to come here from other countries. One million (+/-) is still a bunch of people coming here.

Now, how many citizens are leaving to make up for those. I'm sure you have that number right at your fingertips, along with tidbits on every other subject ever conceived by man or woman. (For the snark challenged, that was some of it)

misspelled a word, now corrected

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. Also a personal attack, back to the iggy list you go

No will not bother alerting you... that never works.

[Lorien]

42. Down HUGELY. My doctor works for homeland security in their immigration dept

she says that many immigrants are now returning home.

If you want to see "where people are going" ; look at just about any major city in the EU. South America and Australia also have huge rates of immigration.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. WE ARE NUMBER ONE... is part of being an Empire

I am sure Roman Citizens would have said at well, IN fact we know they did from the writings of Pliny the Elder and his son Pliny the Younger. It was also a huge criticism from Cicero...

The same we know from France, England, Spain and the Netherlands.

I am sure China (no, not today, though that is starting, the Middle Kingdom) had the same issue.

It will NOT go away until the Empire dies. Or rather, let me correct this... it will survive in certain aging corners of people who dream about what was.

In order for social democracy to come to this country the empire first has to die.

[Lorien]

36. And percentage of our population locked away in prison. nt

[Cyrano]

45. Oh, damn, Lorien. You got me started again, and it's all I can do

to keep from adding to my OP.

For some reason, I just got an image of my forebears on a ship in NY harbor, sailing past the Statue of Liberty for the first time. We've all seen that scene in so many movies. I've often rode the Staten Island ferry and seen that statue as though seeing it myself through the eyes of my grandparents.

The country we live in today has not lived up to the dreams they brought with them. In recent years, American fascists have seized control of much of the public dialogue. And if we don't take it back from them and fulfill the promise of America, we might as well tear down that wonderful statue.

[Catherina]

48. We're number one in another thing. It's our biggest export, our #1 export - TRASH

TRASH.

TRASH!

http://economyincrisis.org/content/rome-us-americas-main-export-trash

I learned this from Femrap last week.



Just to make things even sadder, Canada's biggest export to the US is, you guessed it - trash http://madcanuck.blogspot.com/2005/04/canadas-biggest-export-to-america.html

[Kievan Rus]

49. The USA is the laughingstock of the industrialized world