America has got a lot of good things about it. Or well, it did.
America used to be dynamic, inventive, unafraid of change and willing to be all it could be. It had unshakeable self-confidence, a believed the future would be bright, and well, was optimistic.
I'm not sure if it still is that nation. Somehow that self-confidence mutated into arrogance, and its optimism degenerated into a deep-seated fear of not being better than everyone else at everything. Its respect for science and education and technology has been replaced by respect for "hoo-ah" macho culture and religious fundamentalism.
That is the fault of both the Right and the Left. The Left have decided that there is nothing good AT ALL about the US and have degenerated into non-constructive criticism, self-flagellation, and a culture of paranoia and pseudo-science , while the Right have become so intensely reactionary and fearful of anything not pulled straight out of 1955, that they've become a laughing stock unable to change with the times. In short the Left are a bunch of naive, idealistic and ignorant hippies, and the Right have become a bunch of snarling, angry old white men afraid of having equals, and desperately believing that they can somehow get Ike back into the White house.
But there are still some really good things about the US:
1) Its culture and business practices have been copied so widely, because they are both very attractive and very practical.
2) Americans still have a sense of "we can do it" about themselves, so sorely lacking in many parts of the world.
3) You're not HALF as evil as you could be. The US has, by far, the most military, political, cultural and economic power in the world. You're not invincible by any means, but you could be messing with the world far, far, far more than you are.
4) Your constitution is really, REALLY good. Even by today's standards, which is remarkable given that it was created 200+ years ago. Your founding fathers were great
5) Your history is incredibly interesting (if a bit bloody, but then again who's isn't?)
6) You're incredibly tolerant. Yes there's a lot of hatred by both the Left and the Right. Christians hate atheists and atheists hate Christians and what not. But your government allows both to exist. Even if intolerance exists within the US, you're loads more tolerant than most countries.
I mean, sure racism exists within the US. But racism exists EVERYWHERE and in many cases it's worse overseas. I mean, what about China? Don't get me wrong, I'm half chinese myself and my mother is not racist (I wouldn't exist if she was), but I've been around Mainland Chinese culture a lot, and the sheer amount of hatred, absolute hatred they have for black people or for Non-Han people is really scary and alarming. They don't tend to hate white people, but anyone else they have very little respect for. Chinese who have been living overseas are not racist, but my lord, if you go to Mainland China and ask for their opinion on race, it's like stepping back in a time machine to Victorian era England. It's that bad. It's not really their fault, unlike Americans they haven't really had to deal with a mixed race population, so they are behind the times, and surely a lot of Chinese people are not racist at all, but their culture is so steeped in stereotypes and exaggerations that they can't help but think that way. It's like in 1950's America where being casually racist was just the culture of the time. So it currently is with China. I can tell you right now, Black people in China have a hell of a lot of problems. Sure if you're visiting and speak English they'll be polite to your face, but if you try to live there, if you can't speak English or if you're poor, your in for a hell of a bad time.
And what about France? There's a hell of a lot of racism in that country as well. Germany and Japan are also incredibly racist. And in Africa the racism is so bad that warring tribes of the same state will kill each other if the other gets elected (Look at Nigeria and the recent election that took place in that country). In both India and Pakistan the racism is really, really bad. Again, in my lab I know a lot of Indian students (not many Pakistani students), who are really nice and will get along very well with Chinese and Arab students, but they tell me that in India itself, especially in the rural areas, the racism and religious intolerance is getting out of control, descending into active violence with Hindu extremists attacking Christian missionaries, and Muslim Extremists attacking Hindus and Christian extremists burning up Hindu villages. It's a very sad state of affairs, and many Indians DO want to live in harmony with one another and the government is doing its best to cultivate a harmonious culture, but there are a heck of a lot of problems and violence. Not so much in the cities, where the people are advanced and cultured and intelligent. But good god, go to the rural areas in India and it's just a bloody awful situation.
The US is a pretty tolerant place by comparison. Yes it has a lot of problems, it is far, far, far from perfect, but no nation is perfect. It is good to criticise the US for its faults, but to ignore the faults of any other nation is just being stupid.
