I agree with many of the points but, fucking hell, we get it

balderdash@lemmy.zip to Memes@sopuli.xyz – 202 points –

Every country has problems. Maybe let's shit on those too.

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Every country has problems but for most of these countries it's to be expected. A small country with unstable politics and a developing economy is bound to have issues. The USA is a global superpower with immense influence on the world stage and quadruple the money of the next richest country, yet it struggles with problems most advanced nations have a handle on.

Women dying during childbirth. Adults being illiterate. Cops killing and abusing power. Most of America's peers don't have these issues. America is ranked next to small third world countries in these stats and many more. America isn't mocked because it has problems. It's mocked because it has problems it really shouldn't have.

We’re all envious of their freedom though. Their freedom… it’s just so much freer than ours.

It's not free, though. It costs a buck o' five.

In a thread full of emotional, simplistic opinions, I’m pleasantly surprised to come across one that’s so well put.

And none of this will ever get fixed in the current US political climate. MAGA has taken over the Republican party, and Democrats can do whatever the fuck they want because people will defend them with "Doesn't matter because Trump exists."

The MAGA cult wants us to return to Biblical times and values, while Democrats pretend to be outraged at Republicans while they're doing the same damn shit (like racism and bailing out the rich).

Every other developed country has universal healthcare, while the best we could do is impose a tax on people who can't afford health insurance.

People are too afraid to call out their own side's bullshit.

We need to do better than this.

And of course someone had to come and explain it again in the meme post. Paid actor over here

2 more...

Most of the other countries with problems don’t have their citizens walking around loudly declaring as a matter of average discourse that they are the “greatest country in the world”.

Ever seen Europeans on the Internet act like the way their country or continent does things is the only correct way, and North America is too stupid to realize it?

thing is: US-americans obviously ARE too stupid to realize it.

Have you ever actually met an American

Several and they all sucked, acting like they are the only ones in the space, being loud, obnoxious, and arrogant

Oh then you have met every American my bad. I should have known your personal experience equals everyone else's and shows what every American is like rather than a shitty group that can be found in any country.

Yes, many Americans act like you describe. However, many other Americans are embarrassed by (and ashamed of) the ones you describe.

Sounds like you met Americans with money and time to travel internationally. That’s… not very many of us. I’d posit they’re some of the worst… most financially successful… but the worst.

Have you met a European, Chinese or Russian person on here? Holy shit they (we) are annoying.

I AM a European.

I've never heard any German claim that this should be a good country by any means.

"We've kinda got some industry" - "yeah, but china got more"

"We're relatively good at healtcare and social security" - "have you ever even heard about nordic countries?"

"Uh, freedom of religion?" - "france does it better"

"We're claimed to be exact and punctual?" - "No, that's the swiss."

"Beer and Bread?" - "That's more like the polish?"

This is an obvious bad example because German nationalism died with Hitler. Of all European countries, Germany hates itself the most.

German nationalism died with Hitler

Oh, how I wish this to be even remotely true!

so you claim that portuguese run around, claiming theirs is the best country?

How about the austrians? Irish? Scotts? Danish? Polish? Czech? Croats?

Note: I wouldn't ask about Netherlands or nordic countries (because imho IF they'd claim that, then they just might kinda have a good point) or the swiss (they can claim similar, I just wouldn't follow their reasoning in the slightest).

Well, and there's the English too…

But still: what is a good example in your opinion?

Finn here. We're really good with suicides and domestic violence and alcohol abuse

It is remotely true. Waving German flags at soccer games was essentially non-existent. Germans are more likely to identify as European rather than German, compared to other EU nations. If you ask Europeans "is your culture superior" people like Greeks say yes but people like Germans say no.

A good example would be the UK or France .They believe they are top dogs but, by US standards, they are impoverished.

Huh?

Soccer games are like the only* socially accepted events where you can proudly bring out a german flag without looking like a nationalist. At world championship the whole city is a sea of black-red-gold.

I'm quite surprised.

Tho I'm not a soccer fan and therefore don't know how that looks abroad.

*(hyperbolic; guess if we think more than a few seconds we could find more, nut that's not that important of a point here)

They believe they are top dogs but, by US standards, they are impoverished.

o.0

No, they are not.

Median wealth is way better. and that doesn't even take into account that you can get way better housing/healtcare/whatever for less money.

What are you even talking about?

The problem is that the American model expands, its capitalism, the disinterest in safeguarding humanity and preferring money.

The roots of that problem are as old as greed itself, and callousness has existed for much, much longer than America has.

yes, the roots are old.

but previous to capitalism we didn't all scream about how these things are virtues and we should all strife to be MORE selfish.

the disinterest in safeguarding humanity and preferring money.

Don't know that the models the American style system replaces have a good record on that one either.

It's easier to be the good guy when your competition is the British Empire.

Or the French, or the Spanish, or pre-modern systems. But yes, it's not a high bar, simply pointing out that US-style capitalism is not any sort of exceptional offender in this area. Planned and market socialist states both had accumulation of power and pollution as major problems, as did mercantilism, as did feudalism, as did classical despotisms and republics. Short of 'return to stick', there's not really any immediate alternative to systems that pollute and encourage the grotesquely disproportionate accumulation of power for personal gain. The systems that were replaced don't have an answer to these problems either.

Not to say that capitalism is even the best of those polluting and power-accumulating systems to choose from, just that, in those particular areas, it's... not exactly the tall poppy. Right now what we must do is look forward, to the future, to new solutions, or at least new variations of old solutions.

Easy to be the good guy when its literally any country on the planet.

America is the only country's flag that makes me ill when I see someone waiving it around.

Mainly cuz it's usually a bunch of dumb racist redneck assholes waiving it around.

I'm an American veteran and I've even started having that reaction over the last few years. It used to be that some Americans who were pretty established and normal, usually vets of WWII or the Korean war, would fly flags in front of their house to show national pride and that was about it. But when trump entered the stage all these wackadoodles started using the flag like some sort of dog whistle. It's really upsetting.

Even here in Canada, after our all of our stupid convoy protests and parroting of American media, the Canadian flag doesnt mean the same to me anymore.
I'm not sure if they're proud to be a welcoming, morally righteous Canadian, or if those 4 ft tall and overly sized Canadian flags hanging from the back of that jacked up truck, just underneath the "FUCK TRUDEAU" flag, could potentially mean something else

It's really remarkable the level of anti-USA hatred floating around the fediverse.

Left leaning people can see the problems and the right leaning people won't admit they exist, so they come here to commiserate. Just how it goes.

Criticism of the US isn't hatred either, it can come from a desire for improvement.

There's plenty of legit hatred on Grad and PooBear tho. Just gotta block those people when they show up.

Criticism of the US isn’t hatred either, it can come from a desire for improvement.

While that's true, it also not what is apparently going on here.

It's far and away the most obnoxious part. Like I am a vocal and outspoken critic of the US but it's exhausting sometimes when you go into a thread about puppies or some shit and half the comments will just be like "wow this picture must not from the US, because nobody is kicking the puppy."

I just live here. Everyone keeps telling me the worlds ending and we are all living terrible lives but I'm doing fine.

Honestly America is fine. It was fine yesterday and it will be fine tomorrow.

Don't let the media get your all worked up over nothing.

The worst part is when they do this — play the victim and whine because they have the "right" to bear their fucking child killing machine against each other and other countries while singing a song with traditional values that their kids should do as they give their daily 99% of their bodies to the megacorp. But poor you! Your media and people are free and you get attacked for being too good! It's nothing like the other megastate that also oppress their people, it's way different

If you're referring to guns when you say "child killing machines", you should know we find that offensive. Guns are surprisingly ineffective due to the fact that children have such a small stature, and any real American knows that you'll achieve much better results with anti-personnel weapons like fragmentation grenades, mines, and claymores.

Idk, killing children with explosives sounds better left to the professionals of Israel and palestine.

I mean, I like it that you not gwt killed from our megastate if you critisize it.

And I mean, I dont see how anybody is praising China ?

So I dont get your point, because the media we consume is mostly western, the politics and society is mostly western. Why should we critisize eastern megastates for it?