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Wed 27 Nov, 2002 11:51 pm
Ok, to counter talk accusations about incessant negativity this is a thread in which you must state good and bad things about America at a 1:1 ratio, if you have only good or only bad things to say don't post until you can think of something to fill out the ratio.
I start.
Bad: Due to things like anti-Americanism and immigration I think we have a higher level of xenophobia than do other countries
Good: Despite our faults we are a nation born with a tremendous culture of justice. In America we don't srug and say "that's life" if there is injustice, we speak up and change it. I think this is reflected in the amount of litigation we see.
Your turn.
Bad: We have this built in desire to "fix" things whether they are broken or not so we bitch and whine to much about stuff that's way to insignificant in the grand scheme of things..
Good: When the poop does hit the fan (i.e. great human tradgedy) we tend to put aside the petty and act with true compassion. (sometimes misguided but well intended anyways.)
Maybe I'm reading too much into your post fishing but are there any cases of bitchin' about "not broken" on the previous discussions that you are referring to?
Bad: We are a very polarized people.
Good: We are a very polarized people.
--
I know I just pulled an "answer a fool according/ answer not a fool according" but I think the above has both good and bad aspects.
bad: you have a deep and influential tradition which denigrates the intellectual and which lionizes the uneducated man (see Richard Hofstadter)
good: you have managed to achieve feats of imagination, creativity, scientific investigation and engineering which the future may properly consider a golden age.
bad: our people are an agressive people (a generalization of course) with a very competitive society
good: this agression often translaties into excellence through competition
Good -- Almost everyone has enough to eat.
Bad -- We use food as a weapon to manipulate hungry countries.
_________
Good -- We have a choice of many foods.
Bad -- We make poor choices in what we eat.
Good -- We give money to poorer countries.
Bad -- We charge unbearable interest on that money.
Good: Low taxes
Bad: SUVs
good: great riches
bad: possessed by too few
I knew that would get some attention but it is true compared to most of the world. Actually I have a theory that the people who complain the most about taxes are really just bragging about their income.
Good -- Universal Education
Bad -- Poorly trained, undereducated teachers
Good -- Vast Natural Resources
Bad -- Wasteful production practices
Bad- Very controling government
Good- The friends I left behind
good: freedom of opportunity
bad: unfair distribution of wealth
good: it´s a great distance from Denmark.
bad: the TV shows still manage to get here.
Craven de Kere wrote:Maybe I'm reading too much into your post fishing but are there any cases of bitchin' about "not broken" on the previous discussions that you are referring to?
There may be some posts out there that fit but I wasn't directing the comment at anything specific or even here on A2K. I mean, hell, people around my area bitch about the time it takes for traffic lights to change color. If they won $10 million in the lottery they'd complain that they have to take the check to the bank themselves. It's just a comment directed at the general negativity.
good: nationalist fervor
bad: nationalist fervor
Good: We have great respect for the rights of the individual.
Bad: We go to great lenghts to protect the thugs of society but
let the victims suffer with no protection and no recourse.
Good...This country has a reputation of immediately coming to the aid of anybody that has suffered a natural disaster (Yangtse river floods 1930's..earthquakes all over the world,,,etc.)
We also will tax ourself into the poor house to rebuild former enemies (The Marshall plan,the way we rebuilt Japan)
Bad...We have a bad habit of supporting dictators and others that seem to place little value on the rights of others.
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