Does the U.S.A. Suck?

[lookin4sum1icantrust]

I think the USA sucks right now. I wish I was in another country sometimes.

 

[thisisinteresting]

Yes, it does. Then again, when you compare it to some other places, you realize it doesn't suck as much as it seems. I guess to sum it up, the place is nice but the people in charged are fucked.

 

[syntax]

No, it blows.

 

[cityboy-stl]

The U.S.A. does not suck. The current administration sucks big time though.

However, if the people elect George W McCain in November I might be inclined to start agreeing with you.

 

[vauxhall-and-you]

OK, here's a European perspective.

I'm a student of American literature. This year I've read from American beginnings (William Bradford et al.), right the way up to the present day.

I think it's moronic to say, "American sucks! Bush sucks!". Are our memories so short as to remember only the last eight years? Are we really so stupid as to believe the USA is actually responsible for all the world's problems?

I visited New York and thought, my God, Americans are arrogant but they have a lot to be arrogant about. This is the capital of an empire, the world, just like London was in the 19th century.

America has given the world some of its finest authors, artists, and thinkers. I've found that a lot of Americans have a cultural inferiority to Europe. I don't understand why.

I for one will still say, "USA! USA!"

 

[chillyboi]

Question should be rephrased
does our leader suck
i'd have to say yes

 

[flood22]

Lot's of Americans find it hard to see past the last 8 years, unfortunately. America is a wonderful place as a whole.

I wouldn't say Americans are as arrogant as they are ignorant of the world at large. We have a very thick culture that's hard to hack through. I really do wish my country's citizens would get out more, and by that I mean, leave the country at least once in your lifetime to see what others are going through and how others perceive us.

It's understandable people will hate a superpower, a very powerful nation that apparently can't do everything yet wants to influence international affairs at will. I am looking forward to mending diplomatic ties with the next administration in office. They can only improve...

 

[chatolandia]

it sometimes does, but it sometimes surprises you

 

[lookin4sum1icantrust]

OK, here's a European perspective.

I'm a student of American literature. This year I've read from American beginnings (William Bradford et al.), right the way up to the present day.

I think it's moronic to say, "American sucks! Bush sucks!". Are our memories so short as to remember only the last eight years? Are we really so stupid as to believe the USA is actually responsible for all the world's problems?

I visited New York and thought, my God, Americans are arrogant but they have a lot to be arrogant about. This is the capital of an empire, the world, just like London was in the 19th century.

America has given the world some of its finest authors, artists, and thinkers. I've found that a lot of Americans have a cultural inferiority to Europe. I don't understand why.

I for one will still say, "USA! USA!"

One of the problems I have with being tired of the U.S.A. is a lot of close minded people. I hate you can't get them to change their minds about things, and it's other things but that's one problem. Also how people here in the USA won't really help people in need. I'm glad that we have some people who helps people in the USA, but a lot doesn't, which is sad .

 

[Croynan]

Lot's of Americans find it hard to see past the last 8 years, unfortunately. America is a wonderful place as a whole.

I wouldn't say Americans are as arrogant as they are ignorant of the world at large. We have a very thick culture that's hard to hack through. I really do wish my country's citizens would get out more, and by that I mean, leave the country at least once in your lifetime to see what others are going through and how others perceive us.

It's understandable people will hate a superpower, a very powerful nation that apparently can't do everything yet wants to influence international affairs at will. I am looking forward to mending diplomatic ties with the next administration in office. They can only improve...

you are so right. every college student should be required to spend a complete summer outside of this country as a part of his /her requirements for graduation.

i shall feel much better when this adm. is gone and a new one is in place and it is not a McCain one either.

eM.

 

[kevbo]

I know Wisconsin doesn't suck... so maybe it only has a 49/50 suckitude factor...

 

[star-warrior]

I'd visit the USA. I can get 2 dollars to my 1 pound, and supersizing. I can buy one regular sized meal and feed my whole family, and maybe have some to spare. We have servings that are just piddly here.

 

[ckMich]

THE USA does NOT suck its the politicians - every last one of them that suck.
Just think in the next election we have a couple idiots and a moron, all three liars, you figure out which is which, running for president. The country is in big trouble

 

[sabot3ur]

every college student should be required to spend a complete summer outside of this country as a part of his /her requirements for graduation.

rofl, and who all's going to pay for that?

I can't complain much. all politicians are screwy, but I'm focusing on my life.

 

[thisisinteresting]

I like the US, though some of my friends don't.

America does have a rather 'Merican centric view of the world, and a "We're better than anyone else in the world" kinda arrogance that smacks of a superiority, bully complex but I'd still like to move to LA, or somewhere in Southern Cali.

I have friends and relatives there and as individuals, I like Americans. As a mob mentality...well. And I must say, even living down there, I'd never beCOME an American. Current administration, and right wing fundie zealotry notwithstanding, I like the place, more or less.

From the opposite perspective, when I visit vancouver and stuff I'm literally amazed at how nice everyone is. I fucking love canada and it's citizens. I actually feel slightly depressed coming back from there, knowing that I can't just converse with any random person like I can up there. Everyone's so helpful, too - even if they have NO IDEA what you're trying to find, they'll give you directions anyway! It's a start, I guess.

 

[Circe Infuria]

There are certain people and things that suck but I still say the U.S.A. is one of the better countries there is. We have freedom that other countries can only dream of having.

 

[metta]

Poll: More disapprove of Bush than any other president



http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/01/bush.poll/index.html

"No president has ever had a higher disapproval rating in any CNN or Gallup Poll; in fact, this is the first time that any president's disapproval rating has cracked the 70 percent mark," said Keating Holland, CNN's polling director.

 

[GL]

i don't think we suck so much as we are a nation who has lost its way.

its easy to blame the politicians but we have to remember that we are the ones who voted them into office either by actively deciding on that individual or being apathetic to not even show up to the polls.

i am hopeful that with this election americans will go to the polls and if they vote with their pocketbook instead of their pocket bibles we will have a complete change in washington. perhaps then we will see many of the wrongs of the current administration righted.

 

[valis23]

One of the problems I have with being tired of the U.S.A. is a lot of close minded people. I hate you can't get them to change their minds about things, and it's other things but that's one problem. Also how people here in the USA won't really help people in need. I'm glad that we have some people who helps people in the USA, but a lot doesn't, which is sad .

I assure you that people are just as loathe to change their minds, regardless of where they live.

As for the USA not really helping people, I don't know what you've been smoking, but you need to slack off.

US More Charitable Than Any Other Country
topped giving in 2005, which saw a surge in aid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and the Asian tsunami.

Total American donations last year amount to an estimated $295.02 billion, which is a 1% increase over the 2005 amount ($283.05 billion) when adjusted for inflation. Of the 2006 amount, individuals accounted for 75.6%, or $223.03 billion.

Not impressed? Consider it from an alternative perspective, the percentage of GDP given to charity. In this case, the U.S. more than doubles the second place country, Britain. The U.S. ranked first at 1.7%, Britain was second with 0.73%, while France, with a dismal 0.14% rate, trailed countries such as South Africa, Singapore, Turkey and Germany. Who says stereotypes aren’t true?



Bible Belt Residents Most Charitable in Country
PORTLAND, Maine — New Englanders remain among the most tightfisted in the country when it comes to charitable giving while Bible Belt residents are among the most generous, according to an annual index.

For the fourth year running, New Hampshire was the most miserly state, according to the Catalogue of Philanthropy's Generosity Index. Mississippi remained at the top for generosity.

The index, which takes into account both "having" and "giving," is based on average adjusted gross incomes and the value of itemized charitable donations reported to the Internal Revenue Service on 2003 tax returns, the latest available.

However, its methodology has been criticized and has helped give rise to new studies of charitable giving.

"We believe that generosity is a function of how much one gives to the ability one has to give," said Martin Cohn, a spokesman for the Catalogue for Philanthropy, a Boston-based nonprofit that publishes a directory of nonprofit organizations.

Using that standard, the 10 most generous states were, in descending order, Mississippi, Arkansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Utah, South Carolina and West Virginia.

 

[Joshua_me]

The U.S.A. does not suck. The current administration sucks big time though.

^ Ditto...^

Listen, I feel....well, not so much 'proud' but very *lucky* to be an American.
Most of us have it pretty good here, but that number dwindles everyday.

Of late, I fear that most of the rest of the world views us as selfish bullies. This is in part due to our current administration that is hell bent on oil and profit and domination and not much else, but also on short-sighted and remarkably
xenophobic American citizens, who seem to feel that the world begins and ends at our borders.

I think most Americans fail to realize that we are still a *very* young country that could easily collapse under the weight of our own seemingly endless selfish needs. The way we are raping the earth and it's treasures cannot go on forever, but so many seem to be more concerned with what Britney Spears is doing today that they just don't care.

A very large part of my pride of being an American is steeped in worry over what is coming just down the road.