Favorite thing about USA
 

Inspired from another thread, I'd like people to say what their favorite thing is about the United States, as some people seem to be under the impression that a lot of folks on this board hate the US. Here's your chance to prove otherwise. *grin*

Relatively huge amounts of freedom.

The ability to watch Monday Night Football at 3 PM in Hawaii. (*I enjoyed that very much while over there*)

(*Part Deux*) -- the freedom to laugh at our President when he falls off of his Segway© and not get in trouble for it. :)

Phantom freedom and equality for blacks and other groups.

Our ability to get things done, when we put our resolve to it.
The resourse this nation has is incredible.

Freedom of speech is the best thing about this country.

After thatI would say, I love that I feel relatively safe. I can drive from coast to coast and not have to worry about a bunch of guy’s road blocking the road so they can rob me. Our worst neighborhoods are not as bad as the main streets in a lot of countries.


The other thing I really like is the variety. You can get anything here. I am a man who loves food. Not American food, that stuff is crap (most of it :) ). I like Asian, Middle Eastern, African, European, Mexican, and Spanish, all of it! I can get all of it within a 20-minute drive of my house and I don't even live in a highly populated area.

I like the diversity. I feel more comfortable around many types of people. When everyone looks like me I start getting freaked out. :)

I am sure I could go on and on about things I love, but then again, I could go on and on about things I don't love about the US. We have a great country here; it just needs a little work.

University of Texas - Austin

The fact that everything's legal! So long as you don't get caught :D

to question athority and to question our leadership(or until ashcroft has his way)

Its a tie for me

1 - Article [I.]

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

2 -Porn :D

Freedom and tolerance man. I wish more Americans appreciated what we have. We live in the most diverse and free society on the planet. There is of course sometimes friction between people, but no one in history has achieved what we enjoy today. And of course free speech, free trade, etc. The fact that everyone wants to be like us, and the fact that the US has the power, politically, economically and militarily, to defend ourselves and ensure stability for the rest of the world.

Downside? I wish there wasn't so much loneliness and disconnection among people, and that media culture didn't make people feel so bad about themselves.

Since I am the one that asked the question I suppose it is my turn to respond. We have the privilege of living in a nation that is powerful enough to exert its will on anyone - and doesn't. We live in a nation of which most of us are very proud! We are proud of our heritage, we are proud of where we came from, and proud of where we have been. We have proven that we have the ability to go places and do things that no other nation has been able to achieve - like the Moon for example. We are a nation that started with the cast-offs of European nations, melded them with native populations (often not by their choice) and produced a nation of people that do not have to envy those of any other nation. We have had problems and dealt with them -often with much pain involved - slavery and eventually civil rights issues. We have been a nation that has led and seldom followed. I can go on for hours but this is enough.


No brag - just fact!

Great posts! So many reasons and people, one big blanket for all of us. Thanks guys!!

I love the USA because of the freedom and the American way of life.

No wait. I'm Swedish. I'm supposed to hate you for it, right?
Rumsfeld said so.

Well, to be honest, the USA isn't too different from other Western countries. In general, people hate your government. They do not hate you, or your country.

My favorite thing about the USA was getting free "US Census" refridgerator magnets. Because of the US Census, I had a magnet to hold a "Buy Tool tickets" reminder on my fridge, therefore helping me remember to buy concert tickets after a night of too much drinking. Thanks US Census!

Could somebody please enlighten me as to what freedoms exist in the USA that doesn't exist in Sweden?

I can drink clean water from my tap, and I don't have to worry about taking my clothes down to the local stream.

Aw crap. Seems the USA will soon have one over on Sweden. The Minister of Justice has just proposed to ban P2P-programs...

I think my favorite thing about America is the diversity. Diversity of landscape, of people, of opinion. Glorious.

I love my freedoms,
And I love the fact that if I have a problem with something, I can do something to change it.

I kinda wonder about that too. I think it's because citizens of the US are told from childhood that they are more free than anyone else in the world. No doubt they have more freedom that a hell of a lot of countries, but many other countries offer the same freedoms that they enjoy. It's just that the other countries don't go on and on about said freedoms.

The one thing that comes to mind is the freedoms of choice we have over the many socialized programs Sweden has and the price they have to pay to support those programs. Sweden is a beautiful country with some of the nicest people I've ever met. In many areas Sweden is way ahead of the U.S. The biggest drawback I see is the very large union membership - some, however; might see that as an advantage. I basically don't care for Socialism in any form.

My favorite thing about america is that if you apply yourself, and work hard. You can go so very far regardless of your status in society.

Major beefs w/ the country.

Inefficent government, however, our nation is now what i like to call an ultra-power because we could pwn a super-power. Therefore i feel that the governmet is in good shape, as it doesn't have to abide by the same laws that private industry do.

Another major beef w/ the country, is the media. The media is fuled by the capatlistic machine that is our nation. Our GDP will bust into outerspace soon, however at what costs.

I'm not sure i need all the stuff i have looking around my room...

sometimes wishes things were simpler...

Overall though our country is currently the best in the world to live in if you ask me. The only problem is that people used to come to this country to work hard and build a life for themselves.

the ameican dream

these days nobody wants to work hard anymore, and the people that are comming into this country want a free ride too.

Free Ride = downfall of society

the ability to sue whomever you want for whatever you want.

well actually, thats a pretty stupid thing.

the fact that you can become whatever you want in the u.s. (but if you want to be prez, you have to be rich)

I have to second this as my favorite with only one slight correction, you can go as far as your intent to.

Also the fact that poeple from all aspects of the planet are here.

My favoritye thing about this country is that our armed forces do (or at least try to - usually succeeding) pretty much what the civilian government tells them to, even when the civilian government is headed by a clinically retarded, verbally obtuse, financially incontinent moral cripple, such as it is today.

My second favorite thing is that, so long as I the only threat I give the aforementioned son of a syphylitic nutria and a colon polyp is the threat to convince people not to elect him for the first time, I can say pretty much anything I want about that molester of livestock (I have pictures) without being taken legally to task for it.

220 years ago a bunch of rich white elites sat down and figured out a blueprint for the perfect nation. They didn't know anything about the future, but they knew themselves and they had seen plenty of both the greatest and the basest humanity has to offer, especially in the previous seven years of civil war.

Their design for a perfect democracy has survived the invention of aircraft, cars, computers, automatic weapons, and the atom bomb. New schools of economic thought have come into being, new political ideals have come and gone over entire continents. And still, the basic structure of their design remains intact, and the unquestioned envy of the world. For all the spite and ire levelled by the world at this or that particular administration, our government remains, as Churchill put it, "the worst system of government ever devised - with the exception of all other systems of government ever devised."

Even as we citizens of the USA bicker back and forth, and even as the pendulum of opinion swings wildly left and right in the popular debate, I wake up every morning in America positively convinced that the ideals and ideas of the framers of the Constitution are going to weather any storm we throw at them. Ashcroft isn't going to dismantle our freedoms, certainly not in perpetuity. Rumsfeld and Bush and Fleischer can only poorly REPRESENT our country to the world, they cannot change what the system IS or how it works in any significant degree.

And so, the process continues, and slowly, jerkily, sometimes a little retrograde on one front or another, sometimes leaping forward on one front or another, this Nation continues to march forward, tending toward better lives and more freedom and a richer promise of tomorrow for all, even when we have to scrap and fight and march and risk for it. Even though it is sometimes hard to see from the perspective of the individual awash in the minutiae of the moment, this is what I love about America.

Oh, also the fact that I don't have to buy a license for my TV (UK, I'm looking in your direction here...) :D

I would have to agree with you, at least partially. Some of the unions are still truly needed - many professions in the public sector are still severely underpaid - but for most professions within private companies, the unions have become more interested in their own power than their members. Some of them hold everybody back.

As for the public health-care, and such; some people actually see it as a freedom in Sweden. I'm stuck in between.

As for the US; it is very difficult to generalize. The differences in culture and style are huge within the country, even if one just looks at the anglo-caucasion population.
While the politics, and the religious pressure I've encountered in some smaller US towns would drive me insane, I really like the thought of hard work paying off. Liquor Dealer probably understands what I'm talking about, since he's been in Sweden. On the US' political scale, most Swedes would rate as flaming liberals.

And while I dislike the American style of patriotism, I really like the tendency to look at each US citizen as an American. In Europe, immigrants and their children are often stuck with the title "immigrant", like if it was a homogenous group of people.

As I've said before, I haven't met anybody that seriously hates the US and it's population. Your government and certain policies, on the other hand, are not liked. This isn't only G.W. Bush' fault, though. Madeline Albright's claim that Americans are worth more than everybody else because they are more enlightened, kind of made her impopular...

I don't get it. Don't mean to hijack this thread, but seems to me like everyone in the U.S. is convinced they've got tons of freedom and that all other countries are oppressed. Not true. I haven't been to the U.S., but many times I've been under the impression that a country like Belgium, Holland or Germany gives its citizens much more freedom than the U.S.

But hey.

hlprmky - Churchill was commenting on democracy in general, not the US version.

My favorite thing about the US? Baseball!! And the fact that Red Bull is legal to drink. (Unlike here in Canada.)

what i like about the USA
- by bundy

Katie Couric
Soledad O´Brian

the chick here have tits of all sizes
our money is green
and the beer is always flowwin
lol no seriously, ummm

life in america can be however u want it to be, and you can change it, if you want.

:D mmmm...Soledad :D

Seriously, the greatest thing about the United States of America is the Constitution which contains a little section called...can you guess it? That's right!! The Bill of Rights! This dynamic little document is what makes the United States all that it is. It <b>is</b> the United States.

things I love about our country:

we have almost complete freedom of speech.

as many stated above, we have people from everywhere and it is wonderful.

a lot pf people here in the US are very good people, especially if you can convince them to try and look past the politics.

we have a strong militant force - which is wonderful if used as defense...

you will rarely find a person being tortured for a belief. we do not gang rape and kill a woman because she dressed as she wished.


the cons:

Freedom of speech exists. if you're not physically close to people in power.

our news sources are excesively biased.

our educational system (look at my spelling for example heh) is shit. our tax money can buy a $2k curtain to cover an old statue because its breast but when educational money is need you get looked at like you've lost your mind.

we have tax cut after tax cut... for the rich.

our cops are becoming more like bouncers.

health care is going down quick, a mostly unfelt problem for many but those of us who require it to continue are terrified.

CEOs seem to be silently praised by people in power. like the CEO of k-mart who shut down, i believe it was 500 k-mart.... and then he got a $2m bonus.

people in power allow businessess to exit our border for tax reliefe.

we almost murdered an entire race to move here and live and we shit ourselves when people sneak in.

we have hundreds of thousands of fake patriots.

we are selfish

this is not a flame or troll.

Freedom from fjords. We also have freedom from Finnish fjords. Freedom from fancy Finnish fjords. FINALLY!!

My actual favorite though is probably the diversity. Diversity of land, culture, climate, people... everything. That first amendment thing is nice too.

Ahem, I also like the fact that the biggest controversy right now seems to be whether to allow gay marriages.

We aren't worried about whether we will starve to death next month, or get executed, etc. And this has become a topic of discussion all the way up to the highest levels of the government.

I like how plastic our government is, it changes and grows (maybe a little too slow, but still) and in fifty years has gone from being an increidibly anti-deviant institution to one that tolerates almost any expression of individuality and sexuality.

The Bill of Rights...

Damn. Totally forgot about those damn fiords.
What we need now, is a War on Fiords.
You're either with us or against us.

I'm a dirty repenting threadjacker.