What is America?

[johnny]

What's wrong with patriotism ? Can't a nation be proud of what they have achieved and for what they stand ?

[Faceman]

Originally posted by johnny: What's wrong with patriotism ? Can't a nation be proud of what they have achieved and for what they stand ?

I remember an article some years ago in German weekly "DER SPIEGEL" (it's like Time or [i]Newsweek, a bit more volume and a bit more seious though IMHO)
It was about "good patriotism" and "bad patriotism" which boils down to.

Good: My country rocks!
Bad: My country is better than yours!

They did a huge survey and it turned out the US were leaders in "bad" patriotism, meaning that in the US majority of the population considers their nation/country better than others and/or thinks that making all coutries lke the US would be for the best, etc.

Especially after Bush's diplomatic disaster with the Iraq war anti-Americanism here in Europe is on the rise.
The common stereotype Europeans have of Americans is being uneducated, following their politicians blindly, being gung-ho on going to war and being invasive on forcing their "culture" (which stereotypically Europeans think of in quotation marks) on others.

The main problem here IMO is that the average European perceives two things of the US:
1. foreign policy (which isn't that great at the time)
2. TV shows (which don't necessarily convey a very accurate image)

On this note I want to give a kudos to Michael Moore, who (regardless what opinion one may have in his political stance or the quality of his work) has managed to convince many Europeans, that Americans are the same people as Europeans, face the same or similar everyday troubles and aren't one-sided unpolitical followers of whoever shouts the loudest.

I figure, that a lot Europeans are critizising among Americans is the result of processes currently going on in Europe. It's easier to despise the result, than to work against it.

[Chewbacca]

Originally posted by Firestormalpha: I think I know what you mean Bozos. I forget the word for it but it means patriotism to a fault or extreme.

Jingosim maybe the word you are looking for.

[JrKASperov]

Patriotism is always bad in my opinion because no single country is even good. EVERY country has MAJOR flaws, such flaws that no citizen could ever be proud of their own country. For example, my ocuntry, Holland, is cursed with bureaucracy, everytime you want to do something serious, like building a new house or start a new business, or simply get subsidized because you do not have the money to pay your own rent, you get held back by a mutitude of rules. The rules even contradict themselves from time to time! Now, back on the main subject, this makes me extremely set back by my own country. I do think that everyone who seriously thinks his country is really good is simply blinded by patriotism.

[Chewbacca]

America is vast, diverse, beautiful, imperfect, unique, annoying, perplexing, and great.

America has so many hidden gems: natural beauty, friendly people, and history both strange and wonderful.

It is quite fun to drive across, if you have all the time in the world to enjoy and drink deeply of it.

I highly recomend the book "Walk across America" It was written in the late 70'a so it is a bit dated, but still offers a very unique perspective of America.

[Zuvio]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: quote: Originally posted by Firestormalpha: I think I know what you mean Bozos. I forget the word for it but it means patriotism to a fault or extreme.

Jingosim maybe the word you are looking for. [/QUOTE]
I think it's chovinist.

[Megabot]

U.S.A is for me a great country i have been there three times two times in Florida and one time in California and the peoples is polite and wery nice those i have met [img]tongue.gif[/img]
It have all kinda nature all from deserts to snowy mountains and i think all things is possible to do there without be killed by the goverment with taxes and stuff like that, that is my two cents! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 11-15-2003, 07:16 AM: Message edited by: Megabot ]

[eindride_II]

ive lived in ny. i like the country and im considering studying there.


pros: nice people, probably the most diverse country in the world.

cons: machiavellian foreign policy ( but thats unfortunately true about almost every country in the world ), religious fundies and ultraconservatives have too much power and the class differences are too big.

[Megabot]

Hi eindride_II since you are a Norwegian like me you should know that all major things get spelled with BIG letters like Trondheim it is not trondheim and so on lol [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 11-15-2003, 11:16 AM: Message edited by: Megabot ]

[Lady Blue03]

After living here my whole life I can say the only other places I'd even consider living besides America would be Australia or NZ, and chances are I'd get homesick and come back [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Plus, no matter how bad people run our country, it's still great, and people keep pouring in. California is the 5th largest economy in the world for a reason [img]tongue.gif[/img]