What is America?

Letsrun I guess, but presume the mods are American

I came not on the Mayflower wrote:

Which movie is that?

"Thank You for Smoking". Based off a political satire book about Washingon Lobbying. The first 45 minutes or so is classic. IMO the movie stalls in the latter part. But the first part of the movie alone is well worth watching.

the ridge runner wrote:

I'm a high school student too but I have some free time, so I'll answer.

I think America would be better if it were more conservative on economic issues (economic liberalism) and more liberal on personal freedoms. I think the role of the government (especially the president) should be reduced and follow the guidelines established in the constitution more closely.

Sooooo many people feel this way, but they vote based on their priorities. Do they value economic strength more? Vote republican. Value social freedoms more like being able to smoke weed, gay marriage, get an abortion, then vote democrat.

It's so stupid that you have to pick one box of beliefs or another box of beliefs. We need a serious shakeup in political parties, find a way to get rid of them to prevent people from always voting amongst party lines instead of by what they actually believe.

Again, thanks to everyone who has bothered to answer and help me with my little project/assignment. It has been interesting to read your answers and certainly, I've noticed a lot of differences in your answers. I'm actually an exchange student from Finland, spending this school year here in the US. Finnish mentality, attitudes, and values differ in many ways with the general ones in America, and it would be interesting to hear more of your opinions on certain topics.

America is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't provide its citizens with universal healthcare. It is also one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Why do you think this is the case and would you change it?

As a Finnish, I've been shocked by the tuitions that some colleges require their students to pay. This certainly leads to inequality of opportunities among teenagers, since the costs for some of the best schools are incredibly high. Why, for example, US don't spend little less on military and rearmament and help its citizens to get rid of student loans?

I can imagine that it is hard for a Finn to wrap his head around American "logic".

American's think that everybody has to pay it's own. That thought that somebody is paying for somebody else's healthcare would be mind boggling.

Instead everybody pays a lot more for very crappy healthcare. It's a win win. Ohh wait, it's not.

The same with public education. American's still don't like their kids to be with poorer kids in school. What ends up happening that the poor kids go to public schools and the rich(er) kids to private schools. That can be $30,000 per year for the whole time the kids are in school.

Not that the education is worth that much. Again the rich(er) people loose out on this one too.

I have a running friend who probably spend at least $500,000 for his two kids for schools and college. He had a blank stare at me, when I told him that my father just payed for some books for myself and something like $50 a semester while studying.

My take away is that. It is not only the poor people who get the short stick here. It's almost everybody.

Yeah, your notion about the low quality of healthcare is true. The United States actually spends a lot on healthcare, about 18% of its GDP, yet it is one of the most inefficient healthcare systems you can find from western industrialized countries. This makes my mind blow. If someone has explanations as to what makes it so inefficient, I would happy to hear.

It’s a cesspool. Where you’re likely to be shot to death whilst in school.

How rude, hes a highschool student.

Guess what America means to you is to be an asswhole.

White, Male, 26, Engineer

Do you consider yourself American? Why or why not?

Yes. I was born here and have lived here my whole life.

What about America do you admire or appreciate? Explain.

Stability. We have a lot of issues throughout the country and a lot of failings but at least I don't have to worry about getting my throat slit by some cartel.

What about America do you think should change or be better?

I think the government and media encourage an artificial feeling of patriotism (flag salute, anthem before games, idolization of police/military personnel, "God Bless America") that doesn't fall in line with reality. I find it hard to listen to our leaders and media heads because their actions and words are full of cognitive dissonance. There is also an insidious glorification of work life (pulled up by bootstraps, side hustle, whatever overtime you need to get the job done, etc) that seems designed to keep people down and encourage them to accept lower pay, minimum vacation time, etc. I wish we could have more integrity in our discourse because as it stands most of the messaging is blatantly tied to corporate and military interest.

To you, what does it mean to be an American?

That you're a legal citizen.

Do you consider yourself a “patriot”? Why or why not?

I do. I imagine I don't sound like one due to my prior answer, but I do like it here and I would be willing to fight for the country. I just think we've had to deal with decades of bullsh*tters, right and left, shaping this country's discourse to fit their self-interest. Just because I'm willing to defend people doesn't mean I'm willing to stand behind our overinflated military's saber rattling to justify its own existence.

HSStudent,

Most of these issues come from the same source-America is owned by corporate interests. The worse something works, the more money you have to throw around to get it to bare minimum functionality. If we had an efficient universal healthcare system insurance companies would lose out on hundreds of billions a year while media sources would lose millions in ad revenue from these firms while policy makers would lose millions in lobbying (bribe) expenditures. Due to this, gov't and media tends to come together to sway public opinion towards keeping our current model, it's a revenue generator for them.

Same goes to our military spending, education spending, etc. The more the average citizen spends, the more the people who decide what you need to spend it on get. It's a touch dystopian.

Thank you for your answers! Are you able to include The state that you live in?

NJ friend. I guess that automatically makes me a dirty lefty to some.

If someone has a background in the US military or belongs to a different religion than Christianity, and would like to answer these questions, it would bring a lot of interesting perspective and disparity for the interview assignment.

TN

Greg wrote:

America is cencorship and fear.

Two of my posts from this thread were reported and removed due to someones insecurity.

That was a good post and should be reinstated. It's possible a bunch of losers reported it and it was automatically deleted without the mods' intervention.

Hardloper wrote:

Greg wrote:

America is cencorship and fear.

Two of my posts from this thread were reported and removed due to someones insecurity.

That was a good post and should be reinstated. It's possible a bunch of losers reported it and it was automatically deleted without the mods' intervention.

Hey thanks. Yes like I said in the deleted posts, I think America is about opportunity. Anyone who's followed my posts knows about the opportunity I want to create for myself. I really want to feel like I'm part of the US. America to me is a funny thing. Full of opportunity but can be an arm and a leg to get in there. And you're right I can't say forsue it's the mods fault, I don't know exactly why it was deleted.

Hardloper wrote:

Greg wrote:

America is cencorship and fear.

Two of my posts from this thread were reported and removed due to someones insecurity.

That was a good post and should be reinstated. It's possible a bunch of losers reported it and it was automatically deleted without the mods' intervention.

Remember when you called me a troll for arguing with Rojo's claim that by picking up the phone you could "reach [them] in seconds" and pressing for clarification about the process? Well, Greg called them yesterday. They did not respond in seconds or anything close to it.

HSStudent wrote:

Thank you for your answers! Are you able to include The state that you live in?

I have lived in Illinois, Texas, and Virginia and spent significant time in California, Utah, and Montana. I currently call Virginia home.

Interesting thread. I am a liberal politically, my mom’s European, I’m a caregiver specializing in violent cases, living in Arkansas.

I’m American, I know there are many negative stereotypes about us that are often true, but also positive ones.

I like the freedom & opportunity I’ve had; not enough Americans have as much. Our biggest problem is complacency.

I’ve become more patriotic as I’ve aged. Humans are a heavy burden on the planet. With all our faults, America is still well positioned to lead the fight for a more sustainable way of life.