Is America great?

[Renew Deal]

12 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	6 (50%)
	No
	3 (25%)
	Other
	3 (25%)
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[whatchamacallit]

1. Great for some

not for all.

[uppityperson]

2. Define "great". In what way?

[Renew Deal]

5. Great question

I have no idea how to quantify it. But that's Trump's slogan. Does he think America is not "great?"

[LittleBlue]

3. Yes

Arguably the world's first hegemonic power. Superpower militarily, economically, technologically, and culturally. Our only rivals in those areas after the fall of the Soviet Union and before the rise of modern China were Europe and Japan, which are both under our direct military control.

No other power has ever had that on a global scale. The Roman emperors and Mongolian khans couldn't dream of power like that.

[Uncle Joe]

4. We are great in some ways, not so great in others.

Thanks for the thread, Renew Deal.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. "Patriotism is the passion of fools and the most foolish of passions." Arthur Schopenhauer

[MohRokTah]

9. To hell with Arthur Schopenhauer. eom

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. To hell with nationalism.

[MohRokTah]

14. To hell with anti-nationalism.

There are times when your nation is more important than others.

[uppityperson]

15. When is that?

[LanternWaste]

16. We certainly place a lot of blind faith in imaginary lines on a map

"your nation is more important than others..."

Which is little more that "some people are more important than other people" is nice gift-wrapping. We certainly place a lot of blind faith in imaginary lines on a map and from the imaginary, and further pretend worth is predicated on that.

[whatchamacallit]

38. I'm happy to

highfive you on this, LanternWaste!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. Thomas Paine

[whatchamacallit]

29. "To hell with him too!"

(just in case)

[Uncle Joe]

36. To hell with sarcasm!

[daleanime]

28. I have to admit that I'm curious.....

what times are those?

[el_bryanto]

7. It has been and it can be. nt

[irisblue]

10. ^^this^^

[MohRokTah]

8. It's great, but I would prefer it become greater. eom

[KamaAina]

11. Yes, but it could be greater still.

And must be.

[Scootaloo]

12. Great how? In comparison to what?

[Starry Messenger]

17. More like a kid who gets "shows potential" on their report card.

We were founded on advanced ideals. The follow-through is often shaky. We can and should do better. Lately there have been some advances that are cause for optimism.

[Reter]

18. It doesn't suck, but isn't even good let alone great

Last edited Mon Jul 13, 2015, 08:00 PM - Edit history (1)

n/t

[ileus]

19. Eh...great enough I suppose.

[NRaleighLiberal]

20. Can't answer without the implied definition of "great"

although in a country that has so much wealth and potential, the huge numbers of people who are struggling in so many ways pretty much negates an overall rating of "great"

[hunter]

21. We are the top banana of the banana republics!

What damage we inflict on other nations... austerity, union-busting, covert-surveillance, "black-ops," drug wars, authoritarian violence, corrupt-government-for-hire... we inflict on many of our own people too, and usually with greater finesse!

[0rganism]

23. sometimes, in some ways

sometimes we're the pioneers, the world leaders, the cutting edge, the ultimate economic powerhouse, we can be great indeed

other times, we're a bunch of derivative, dull, racist assholes who couldn't be trusted to tie our own shoes, let alone lead the world to freedom and prosperity as we fondly delude ourselves

going to the moon? that was freaking great
having a significant share of our population think the moon landings were faked? not so great
having an even larger share of the population deny evolution and climate change, popular to the point they can make policy? not great at all

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. better than most countries by a Long shot. ask all the people trying to migrate to America

[bemildred]

25. Other: "was great". nt

[daleanime]

26. Change the 'is'....

to 'could..be'.

And then the answer would be yes.

[MADem]

27. It's not perfect (what place is?) but it's pretty doggone great.

I feel I have enough time abroad (nearly half my life) to compare fairly. I like going away, and I like coming back.

[hifiguy]

30. The correct answer is that the US is a great idea,

the founding premises of which has never actually been tried.

[cloudbase]

31. As Sir Winston Churchill said,

You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing. After they've tried everything else.

[TheKentuckian]

32. Great marketing and snake oil sales.

[TacoD]

33. Great meaning large or immense

[Blue_In_AK]

34. America just "is"

Some aspects are great, others are horrific.

[etherealtruth]

35. In some ways yes, in some ways no

For some people yes, for others no

[Inkfreak]

37. Yes. And I'll critique it when needed to continue that greatness.

I am not a citizen of the world. I know this because I'd be distinctly unwelcome in some areas of the world. Meanwhile, everyone is welcome here.

[Bettie]

39. There are and have been many great things about the USA

there are and have been some terrible things.

Great is subjective, but objectively, there is good and bad in any country, any people, any individual.

Even the greatest men/women have flaws.

[moondust]

40. Too much blood on its hands. n/t

[Recursion]

41. Better than a majority of countries. "Great"? Actually, sure

"Great" is an ambiguous enough word that it is probably a good choice. It implies size and power while leaving morality unaddressed, so it's probably a good choice.