In the past 24 hours I have been hearing and reading many people make a statement which really ticks me off. While the wording changes, the over-all sentiment is the same: “Now that Obama has won, I’m proud to be an American again.” I have news for those people (including Michelle Obama). You should ALWAYS be proud to be an American, you moron! This is the greatest country on earth and it always has been. That doesn’t change just because of who is in the oval office or because of our current policies. The fact that those same people were able to be sickeningly disrespectful to President Bush without being arrested is testament to that. In many other countries you would simply disappear for something like that. For you to sit around and whine about stuff (while others are out fighting for your freedom to do so) is one of the things you should be thankful for.

As a conservative, I endured the eight long years of Bill Clinton. I didn’t think much of his personal character or his politics. But guess what…I was still damn proud to be an American. That doesn’t change. That’s like saying that you only love your wife when everything is going well, or you only love your parents when they buy you stuff.

I will now sit back and watch the most liberal pick possible take the reigns of the country. Am I happy about it? Hell no. I will probably disagree with many, many things he says and does, but I will still love my country and be VERY proud to be part of it.

So for all you liberals who are now “proudly” waving the American flag, I hope to see that continue even after Obama is out of office and even if the next president is a Republican. THAT my friends is true patriotism.

 

Well said, but there are plenty of conservatives posting things like "the end of the united states as we know it, "communist states of america", "quit my job so i can live off the poor", "here comes socialism/marxism" and other crap basically saying they arent proud to be american anymore... and it makes me sick hearing things like that, having no faith in their country. i sit a little to the left, and obama is a lot further left than i would ever want, but i will also be sitting back and watch, hoping for the best, keeping faith, and be happy im american.

 

While I can certainly understand the dissapointment and concern that many conservative feel right now, any of them who would say that they are not proud to be an American are just as guilty as the liberals who I mentioned above. There is absolutely no reason to ever feel that way. I may not like the current administration or certain laws we have, but I have the right as an American to voice my opinion against them and work to change things. Many people simply don't know how good we have it here. They need to experience what many other nations have to offer. They would be thrilled to come back here again.

 

You are very correct. A lot of people complaining about how "crappy" it is here have never left the country at all to even compare. I have been to some cities far, far away were the sewage runs down the ditches on the side of the road, and people only make about $100 a month to support a family on. And when I came home, it took a few showers to get the smell out of my skin. people have no idea.

 

It's because we're spoiled. We've had it too good for a very long time. We now have entire generations who have no idea what it's like to work hard, respect authority, or do without something. A spoiled kid who gets everything he wants doesn't appreciate any of it. If you suddenly say "no" or things don't go his way he pitches a fit and gets hateful. We (both sides) have become those spoiled kids. We need to take a step back and thank God we live in this country. I hope Obama does a good job. I plan to support him as much as I can without compromising my beliefs or principals. But even when he is doing the exact opposite of what I would want, I'm still going to love this country.

 

I think this country is far too arrogant for its own good. That's all I'll say on the matter.

 

The biggest cause of trouble in the world today is that stupid people are so sure about things, and intelligent folks are so full of doubts.

Just look at us. Everything is backwards; Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality.

To say that America is the "greatest country on earth" is ignorance and arrogance at its finest.

 

Cheers Matt! I couldnt have said it better myself. Thank you

Oh and just to clear things up: Dissent is NOT racism!

 

Maybe so but, there is arrogance and then there is confidence. We are, after all, a super power and we do most of what we do better than anyone else. Do we have flaws? Heck yes…tons of ‘em. But the basic principals of how and why we do things are sound. You are correct; there really is no place for arrogance. But we also have no need to display false humility or pretend that we aren’t as good as we are. After weighing the good and the bad, I would still rather live here than anywhere else in the world.

 

I stand by my statement. Show me any place better over-all and I will change my tune.

 

Im not trying to change your opinion Matt as I don’t feel we should apply silly titles to any nation. But I will expand on my thoughts a bit:

The majority of Americans have a very insular perspective on the rest of the world. They dont care. Apathy and ignorance reign supreme for the average American in regard to what is going on in the rest of the world. Most americans would not be able to tell you who the prime minister of Canada or president of Mexico is, and theyre the nations that border us! This translates to arrogance - our belief that were the “best”.

We rank 37th worldwide in quality of healthcare. That is not where "the greatest nation on earth" should rank in an area that is so incredibly important. France and Italy are #1 & 2. We’re behind nations like Oman, Colombia, Saudi Arabi, United Arab Emirates and Costa Rica, and Cuba is just 2 spots behind us.

We rank 12th worldwide in test scoring for 4th graders, 28th for 8th graders and 19th for 12th graders. We rank 9th in the first world in the percentage of population with a high school degree, and 11th with a college degree (20 years ago we were 1st in both). Our education system is dismal at best, and the irony is we spend the 2nd highest amount per student (Switzerland is 1st), but the disparity between the top schools to the bottom is so great we end up with these awful rankings. This does not make us " the greatest nation on earth" . We rank 18th in the world in literacy. Cuba is 2nd. Honestly, I look at this and the ranking we have in healthcare and I wonder, does our government honestly want us to be a nation of sick and stupid people?!?! Think about it.

We are military imperialists. We spend 51% of our tax dollars on the military infastructure. We own 42% of the worlds weapons. Our military is present in roughly 130 countries with over 700 foreign military bases. This makes the British empire, or even the Roman empire, at their peaks look quaint. And this is usually one of the things that were supposed to see as positive, i.e. “we’re the toughest, so we’re the best!” nonsense. Being the military overlord of the world, imposing our might on whomever we please, bending others by force or coercion to our will for our benefit does not make us great, it makes us something we should be ashamed of.

We are only 6% of the world’s population, we consume about 30% of the earth’s resources and are responsible for a quarter of the world’s pollution.

The US is not a democracy. Our system - a constitutional republic - is much, much better than most in the world, without question. But in my opinion, only a nation that is a true democracy can make the statement “we are the greatest in the world”. The will of the people is ignored in this nation. Look at polls in regard to what Americans desire in regard to how our tax dollars are spent, how we act in the world arena and the focus of our foreign policy, hell, even who we want to be president! The popular vote doesnt matter. You vote, but the super delegates decide who the candidate will be. And in the presidential race you vote, but the electoral college decides who will be the president. Thats not democracy in the least. A nation whose government spies on its own citizens in direct violation of the basic concept of liberty via the patriot act cannot make the statement “we’re as good as it gets”.

 

I was going to just x2 burst's comment, but I see Heathen has already done it way better than I would have.

I stopped being proud to be an American seven years ago when my government labeled me a suspected terrorist. That's all I'll say about that.

 

i am proud of my where my family heritage came from from back in the day like great britain, russia, sweden, iran, and the only language i know is english

 

HeathenBrewing

 

If you read what I posted and think “love it or leave it!”, I ask you, what did the founding fathers do? They clearly did not love the system they were living under...did they leave? Did they flee? Did they run away? No. They stood and they fought for what they believed in. Thats a true patriot. Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Washington, Henry - these men were traitors to Britain. But we now revere them, rightly so, as the epitome of patriotism in this nation.

Desiring change and progress is not unpatriotic. Standing up against tyranny and an irreversably corrupt system that lords over you - and the rest of the world- is not unpatriotic. Saying that this is the first time in your life you feel proud to be American is not unpatriotic. I am not unpatriotic. If you just blindy accept what youre taught and told and you dont question whats going on, you my friend are the unpatriotic one.

 

^ Very well said posts.

Here's the thing. I respect everyone's differing opinions. I appreciate that, while Matt and I don't really agree, he presents his opinions in an intelligent manner.

What irritates me is when people throw around the terrorist stuff, etc...

But yea, I feel like our country has a huge number of shortcomings.

 

Well, I mean, why else would the government tell me they need to have the power to spy on me any way they like, whenever they like, without telling me when they're doing it? And furthermore, then telling me that these powers are given to them under the "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists Act", then going and following through on actually spying on me (and everyone else, via Room 641A).

They (well, the Bush administration) are unabashedly and very actively spying on all American citizens under acts designed for terrorists. Doesn't that mean that they assume everyone they're spying on (i.e. everyone with an internet connection) is a terrorist? It's just things like this that made me distrust our last administration, and thus, my country.

But now that's gone! Yaaaaaaaaay.

 

i think what you are talking about matt with the whole thing about ( “Now that Obama has won, I’m proud to be an American again.” ) this is all the non white people who feel that they now have a voice..im only 27 years old , imvery mexican looking ,my mom is white, blonde hair ,blue eyes ive never been to mexico but yet i get racilly profiled everyday when i go out to a store ....ive been followed, been asked if i understand english ,ive even applied for a job and was asked if my dl and ss card were valid...i feel the first thing we need to get rid of is racism and yes it still exist today ..ive lived in the midwest and plan to go back very soon but its a whole diffrent place than califonia ...the mentallity in the midwest is crazy ..the white guy can be dumb as a rock but hey at least he is not colored...and as others stated on here hit alot of the good points as well...i really dont care who wins as a president as long as the job that should be done gets done ....we should not focus on oo he is black.green ,yellow what not we should be focused on will he do what he says he will do.. i dont give ish if he is a alien that is bright orange ..just do what you promise..