Why America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

[Wing]

[YOUTUBE]VMqcLUqYqrs[/YOUTUBE]

Thoughts?

 

[Brandon Rhea]

He's not wrong.

 

[Lucid]

He's not wrong.

Basically this.

 

[Wing]

This came from an article that the in most states, one of the top highest paid public servants are collegiate athletic coaches in football and basketball.

 

[Vindictive]

Honestly, no country is the greatest country in the world. Each one has its own separate, or even similar problem to some other nation out there. As long as there's political parties and rulers who are more concerned with their paycheck, position, and how much land they can conqer, there will always be problems. It's the human condition.

I'd personally like to see a world unified under one sovereign and one flag, but that's just wishful thinking. As long as prejudice and pride survives, humans will always war with themselves.

 

[Tank]

Panama, Panama is the greatest country in the world.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

He had me and than he lost me when he was saying what we used to be. I don't remember about 85% of what he was talking about being at any point in history of the brief 200 plus years the united states has been a country, from conception as a colony to our now gradual decline as a hegemony. But it does make for a good speech ending so I don't mind cutting that part slack.

To me, we've been like this for a long, long time, always have been, and that in itself is not a problem. I think a problem occurred when we stopped learning about our own history and started to idolize it, and ourselves by extent, and when we started to have more and more people aware of life outside the united states in order to compare ourselves to them and put some of the claims to the test.

 

[Livgardist]

I like America. >_>

It has something for many people, including myself (ironically, considering the UN considers the people of my country one of the happiest in the world), that our own home countries do not. Opportunity. :CScool

 

[Brandon Rhea]

I like America. >_>

It has something for many people, including myself (ironically, considering the UN considers the people of my country one of the happiest in the world), that our own home countries do not. Opportunity. :CScool

There's really not that much opportunity in America, not like their used to be. Unemployment has been steady around the same number for the last few years. Economic mobility is non-existent. Economic security is virtually non-existent. Etc.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

He had me and than he lost me when he was saying what we used to be. I don't remember about 85% of what he was talking about being at any point in history of the brief 200 plus years the united states has been a country, from conception as a colony to our now gradual decline as a hegemony. But it does make for a good speech ending so I don't mind cutting that part slack.

To me, we've been like this for a long, long time, always have been, and that in itself is not a problem. I think a problem occurred when we stopped learning about our own history and started to idolize it, and ourselves by extent, and when we started to have more and more people aware of life outside the united states in order to compare ourselves to them and put some of the claims to the test.

Of all the measurements he gave like mortality rates and so forth, we used to be very high towards the top, if not the top. The people who studied those things were always aware of what things were like in other countries. I'll give you this: we haven't changed that much. The rest of the civilized world is simply passing us by.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

I can understand that, I was talking more the majority citizenship than I was people who actually study the issues. I just think most, or at least a good chunk, of the united states decisions in the past weren't out of morality, but either political or economic gain. But I tend to be incredibly cynical when it comes to politics and social issues, and optimistic in almost any other area.

 

[Livgardist]

There's really not that much opportunity in America, not like their used to be. Unemployment has been steady around the same number for the last few years. Economic mobility is non-existent. Economic security is virtually non-existent. Etc.

Maybe it's a matter of perspective, so let me give you mine, and you'll understand why I think the way I do.

When I was in the US last year to meet with my girlfriend, I had no less than two job offers. Granted, they were both from good friends that I met during my stay there, but just the same. Both were very good jobs in the very field I wanted to work, namely casino security. Of course I couldn't take either job since I had no greencard. When I got back home to Sweden, I couldn't find a single job for over eight months. I couldn't PAY someone to give me a job. The only ones who took me on were the Army.

So, I guess that's why I think of America as a land of opportunity. At least from my perspective it's way more so than Sweden.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

Maybe it's a matter of perspective, so let me give you mine, and you'll understand why I think the way I do.

When I was in the US last year to meet with my girlfriend, I had no less than two job offers. Granted, they were both from good friends that I met during my stay there, but just the same. Both were very good jobs in the very field I wanted to work, namely casino security. Of course I couldn't take either job since I had no greencard. When I got back home to Sweden, I couldn't find a single job for over eight months. I couldn't PAY someone to give me a job. The only ones who took me on were the Army.

So, I guess that's why I think of America as a land of opportunity. At least from my perspective it's way more so than Sweden.

That's annecdotal evidence. It's good that you got those offers, but opportunity in the United States is declining significantly.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

I've been looking for a year now and still haven't gotten a single interview, because I made the mistake of focusing entirely on my college courses instead of trying to find a job when I was in my teens. No one wants to hire a 22 year old for their first job offer, and frankly I don't blame them.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

I've been looking for a year now and still haven't gotten a single interview, because I made the mistake of focusing entirely on my college courses instead of trying to find a job when I was in my teens. No one wants to hire a 22 year old for their first job offer, and frankly I don't blame them.

Depends on the employer. There's something to be said for knowing there's at least some work ethic, but I also wouldn't care if someone worked at a supermarket when they were 15.

 

[Livgardist]

I thought it was the other way around in the US, that employers didn't hire those who haven't gone to college? o_O

Anyway, I guess employment is down all over the world, but I still get the feeling it's easier to find a job in the US than in most countries. At least, easier than in Sweden. But maybe its more that people (friends) are more willing to help you with finding a job in the US than in Sweden. I never heard anything from any of my Swedish friends when it came to finding a job. >_>

By and large, I found American people much nicer than my own countrymen, when I visited. Swedes are assholes. <_<

 

[Brandon Rhea]

I thought it was the other way around in the US, that employers didn't hire those who haven't gone to college? o_O

Anyway, I guess employment is down all over the world, but I still get the feeling it's easier to find a job in the US than in most countries. At least, easier than in Sweden. But maybe its more that people (friends) are more willing to help you with finding a job in the US than in Sweden. I never heard anything from any of my Swedish friends when it came to finding a job. >_>

By and large, I found American people much nicer than my own countrymen, when I visited. Swedes are assholes. <_<

Most jobs need a college degree. Not all, though.

Sweden's big problem, as I understand it, is not just unemployment, but particularly youth unemployment.

 

[Tribunal Power]

What is this clip from?

 

[Livgardist]

Newsroom, or something like that. It's a TV show about some random news anchor, methinks.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

The Newsroom. It's the first scene of the first episode.