What makes America great?

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: complacent

Originally posted by: bamacre
Exactly.

Back to topic...

If you will add "It's people," I'll vote. Because to me that is what makes the US great.

Umm, "ITS PEOPLE," because it shows posession, is correct. It's is a contraction for it is. If you can replace its with it is, then it should be it's.

From: http://www.stormloader.com/garyes/its/#top
It's is a contraction for it is or it has.
Its is a possessive pronoun meaning, more or less, of it or belonging to it.
And there is absolutely, positively, no such word as its'.

Thanks for the English lesson :roll:

 

[complacent]

Originally posted by: bamacre
Thanks for the English lesson :roll:

Ahhh, you underestimate the importance. I have actually not purchased items from websites because of incorrect grammar and english. I also know that employers, when inundated with job applications, will actually toss out job apps with misspellings and bad grammar because they want attention to detail.

You speak the language, learn to use it correctly.

 

[MisterCornell]

Originally posted by: complacent
None of these things make America great. I live here, and probably would be just as happy living in any other developed country. What makes it great to us is that it isn't too bad, and that we live here. We are used to it. Its people aren't very nice, its government is terribly inefficient, there isn't as much freedom here as elsewhere, and anyone who chose "I hate America" is an idiot. What makes America great is that it isn't a 3rd world country. America is just as great as Canade, Australia, and Britain.

Why do people want to come here? Because it is easy to come here and not be noticed, we are easy to get to, we have close proximity to many third world nations, and it isn't that bad.

I love America, but it is important to realize that there are other places just as good.

I immigrated here. I used to live in India and also for 7 years in the UK. The difference between the U.S. and the UK is like night and day. I have a cousin who works as a psychiatrist in London, and he said the same when he came to visit last year. Needless to say, he's now taking the U.S. medical licensing exams so he can immigrate here as well.

 

[mwtgg]

Originally posted by: MisterCornell

Originally posted by: complacent
None of these things make America great. I live here, and probably would be just as happy living in any other developed country. What makes it great to us is that it isn't too bad, and that we live here. We are used to it. Its people aren't very nice, its government is terribly inefficient, there isn't as much freedom here as elsewhere, and anyone who chose "I hate America" is an idiot. What makes America great is that it isn't a 3rd world country. America is just as great as Canade, Australia, and Britain.

Why do people want to come here? Because it is easy to come here and not be noticed, we are easy to get to, we have close proximity to many third world nations, and it isn't that bad.

I love America, but it is important to realize that there are other places just as good.

I immigrated here. I used to live in India and also for 7 years in the UK. The difference between the U.S. and the UK is like night and day. I have a cousin who works as a psychiatrist in London, and he said the same when he came to visit last year. Needless to say, he's now taking the U.S. medical licensing exams so he can immigrate here as well.

Well, what made you come here? I think this ties in to my poll.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Your poll indicates a complete lack of understanding of the function of government.

Human beings were born free.
Freedom is the natural state of man.
According to Thomas Jefferson, man is a political beast.
Man, as a political beast, roamed freely, but needed to work with other men to achieve goals - like killing animals.
Man developed bigger and bigger projects than killing animals, and needed a means of organization - enter government.
Government provided social order, at a cost to freedom. It was a trade off. (See Rousseau's Social Contract)
Since government exists at the expense of liberty, it can never be a good, since it exists in opposition of man's natural state.

The only reason that the American government is seen as a "good thing" is because it sucks less than all other forms that have been previously attempted. It exists at less cost to individual liberty than others existing before.

 

[DragonMasterAlex]

I'm going to say it's CULTURE. America's culture was founded by immigrants and outcasts from all over the world who came here seeking the freedom to be able to make a better life for themselves and those they love. Because of that common bond among people from all over the place, America became the place who's culture is best identified by an optimistic spirit that dares to shout in the face of adversity, "I CAN be better tomorrow than I am today and I CAN achieve the dreams I cherish."

Jason

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

The opinion of the American people that they are great of course.

What defines "great"?

Then again, what is this need of Americans to be "great"? Are the British great? The Russians? Chinese? Japanese?

Chances are many there think they live in the greatest land ever. Nationalism is the root cause. A common background in which they take pride. A common language.

This is not to say America isn't great, however I was broading the topic to allow that other people are permitted and indeed DO think they are the greatest.

What makes America in particular great? IMO the spirit behind the Constitution and the will of the people to live by it's principles.

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: MisterCornell

Originally posted by: complacent
None of these things make America great. I live here, and probably would be just as happy living in any other developed country. What makes it great to us is that it isn't too bad, and that we live here. We are used to it. Its people aren't very nice, its government is terribly inefficient, there isn't as much freedom here as elsewhere, and anyone who chose "I hate America" is an idiot. What makes America great is that it isn't a 3rd world country. America is just as great as Canade, Australia, and Britain.

Why do people want to come here? Because it is easy to come here and not be noticed, we are easy to get to, we have close proximity to many third world nations, and it isn't that bad.

I love America, but it is important to realize that there are other places just as good.

I immigrated here. I used to live in India and also for 7 years in the UK. The difference between the U.S. and the UK is like night and day. I have a cousin who works as a psychiatrist in London, and he said the same when he came to visit last year. Needless to say, he's now taking the U.S. medical licensing exams so he can immigrate here as well.

You need reasons...
"it's like totally different"..."and one other person agrees with me"...real convincing.

His poll is about reasons...not vague ambiguous comparisons with no meaning 😛

 

[mwtgg]

Originally posted by: WinstonSmith
The opinion of the American people that they are great of course.

What defines "great"?

Then again, what is this need of Americans to be "great"? Are the British great? The Russians? Chinese? Japanese?

Chances are many there think they live in the greatest land ever. Nationalism is the root cause. A common background in which they take pride. A common language.

This is not to say America isn't great, however I was broading the topic to allow that other people are permitted and indeed DO think they are the greatest.

What makes America in particular great? IMO the spirit behind the Constitution and the will of the people to live by it's principles.

I'll help you out,

great

9. Powerful; influential: one of the great nations of the West.

 

[JacobJ]

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

 

[mwtgg]

Originally posted by: JacobJ

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

All I'm asking is what made America so powerful. Why are we the only superpower left in the world? Why did others decline while we flourished?

 

[raildogg]

America is great because the heroes of WW2 paved the way for this country to lead the world. We should all be thankful of them.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: complacent

Originally posted by: bamacre
Thanks for the English lesson :roll:

Ahhh, you underestimate the importance. I have actually not purchased items from websites because of incorrect grammar and english. I also know that employers, when inundated with job applications, will actually toss out job apps with misspellings and bad grammar because they want attention to detail.

You speak the language, learn to use it correctly.

Does the subject of this thread read, "bamacre's spelling and grammar are teh suck?" Please keep things on topic. You have an account here, learn to use it correctly.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: JacobJ

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

All I'm asking is what made America so powerful. Why are we the only superpower left in the world? Why did others decline while we flourished?

Why didn't you ask why we are powerful? Great implies something positive. Power is neutral.

We have money because of natural resources. They were effectively developed. With the event of WWI we developed our military. We had the population and the material. With WWII we further increased production of war goods. Then we first developed the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb. That allowed us to extend our sphere of influence further, hampered only by the USSR, and then seriously only in Eastern Europe.

Why are we great by your definiton then? Because we developed the atomic bomb before the Nazis.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: JacobJ

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

All I'm asking is what made America so powerful. Why are we the only superpower left in the world? Why did others decline while we flourished?

The prevailing theory is that the United States made the right investments in infrastructure, at the right time - while making the right investments abroad in imperialist ventures.

America was able to fuel its growth at the turn of the century with cheap raw materials from Asia and Latin America mostly. American industry added value to these products through manufacturing, and sold expensive finished goods worldwide - at a tremendous profit. Enter the importance of infrastruture (rail, shipping, etc.)

The prevailing theory is that America's growth came at the expense of 3rd world nations, who never indutrialized, instead relying on a subsistence economy based on harvesting low cost, low profit, raw materials. These nations never made the investment in their own infrastructure - largely due to internal corruption. So, they never really "took off."

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: biostud
Its size.

I like being able to spread out 🙂

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: JacobJ

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

All I'm asking is what made America so powerful. Why are we the only superpower left in the world? Why did others decline while we flourished?

#1 land
#2 guns
#3 resources
#4 land
#5 population
#6 resources
#7 land.
#8 gulible and backward native population

Not this:

Originally posted by: raildogg
America is great because the heroes of WW2 paved the way for this country to lead the world. We should all be thankful of them.

 

[raildogg]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: JacobJ

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

All I'm asking is what made America so powerful. Why are we the only superpower left in the world? Why did others decline while we flourished?

#1 land
#2 guns
#3 resources
#4 land
#5 population
#6 resources
#7 land.
#8 gulible and backward native population

Not this:

Originally posted by: raildogg
America is great because the heroes of WW2 paved the way for this country to lead the world. We should all be thankful of them.

dont piss on the WW2 heroes, without them many of us would not be here.

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: raildogg

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: JacobJ

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

All I'm asking is what made America so powerful. Why are we the only superpower left in the world? Why did others decline while we flourished?

#1 land
#2 guns
#3 resources
#4 land
#5 population
#6 resources
#7 land.
#8 gulible and backward native population

Not this:

Originally posted by: raildogg
America is great because the heroes of WW2 paved the way for this country to lead the world. We should all be thankful of them.

dont piss on the WW2 heroes, without them many of us would not be here.

Do have any factual basis for this? of course not because they is none. Where would all these americans gone? hmmm?

Neither german nor japan posed a real threat to the american continent. By the time we actually bothered to invade europe, the germans had already all but been defeated. We invaded to prevent the USSR from taking control of all of europe.

 

[raildogg]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: raildogg

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: JacobJ

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

All I'm asking is what made America so powerful. Why are we the only superpower left in the world? Why did others decline while we flourished?

#1 land
#2 guns
#3 resources
#4 land
#5 population
#6 resources
#7 land.
#8 gulible and backward native population

Not this:

Originally posted by: raildogg
America is great because the heroes of WW2 paved the way for this country to lead the world. We should all be thankful of them.

dont piss on the WW2 heroes, without them many of us would not be here.

Do have any factual basis for this? of course not because they is none. Where would all these americans gone? hmmm?

Neither german nor japan posed a real threat to the american continent. By the time we actually bothered to invade europe, the germans had already all but been defeated. We invaded to prevent the USSR from taking control of all of europe.

you disgust me. right, and Pearl Harbor was on foreign soil I assume? well anway thats besides the point

Without American intervention, the war would have lasted for much longer and more people would have been gassed to death in the concentration camps. I believe Germany would have conquered most if not all of Europe, and Japan had China and SE Asia under its grip.

We should all be thankful to the great heroes of WW2, without them America isn't the superpower that it is today.

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: raildogg

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: raildogg

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: JacobJ

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

All I'm asking is what made America so powerful. Why are we the only superpower left in the world? Why did others decline while we flourished?

#1 land
#2 guns
#3 resources
#4 land
#5 population
#6 resources
#7 land.
#8 gulible and backward native population

Not this:

Originally posted by: raildogg
America is great because the heroes of WW2 paved the way for this country to lead the world. We should all be thankful of them.

dont piss on the WW2 heroes, without them many of us would not be here.

Do have any factual basis for this? of course not because they is none. Where would all these americans gone? hmmm?

Neither german nor japan posed a real threat to the american continent. By the time we actually bothered to invade europe, the germans had already all but been defeated. We invaded to prevent the USSR from taking control of all of europe.

you disgust me. right, and Pearl Harbor was on foreign soil I assume? well anway thats besides the point

Without American intervention, the war would have lasted for much longer and more people would have been gassed to death in the concentration camps. I believe Germany would have conquered most if not all of Europe, and Japan had China and SE Asia under its grip.

We should all be thankful to the great heroes of WW2, without them America isn't the superpower that it is today.

Pearl harbor was not on american soil at the time.

american did absolutely nothing to speed up ww2 and did nothing to prevent or slow the concentration camps. I can't understand how uninformed you have to be to think german EVER had a chance once they invaded russia. As soon as the germans invaded, the war was over. All that was left was bringing the war to its conclusion. Russia had many times as many troops under arms in europe than the US did.

Second, america would have been a superpower regardless if we were involved with ww2. The only difference would be that all of germany would have been in the russian sphere.

 

[MisterCornell]

You are a dumbass. Hawaii was not a state at the time, but it was a U.S. territory. Therefore it was U.S. soil. It was an attack on Americans on U.S. soil. It was an attack on America.

I bet you probably also think that Hitler wasn't so bad because he made the trains run on time.

 

[raildogg]

Originally posted by: MisterCornell
You are a dumbass. Hawaii was not a state at the time, but it was a U.S. territory. Therefore it was U.S. soil. It was an attack on Americans on U.S. soil. It was an attack on America.

I bet you probably also think that Hitler wasn't so bad because he made the trains run on time.

Hes a America hating troll. Let him be.

 

[raildogg]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: raildogg

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: raildogg

Originally posted by: miketheidiot

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: JacobJ

Originally posted by: mwtgg
Well?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Instead of what makes America great, why not ask
what great things can america still do? Action,
not stagnation. Where can you find it
in you?

All I'm asking is what made America so powerful. Why are we the only superpower left in the world? Why did others decline while we flourished?

#1 land
#2 guns
#3 resources
#4 land
#5 population
#6 resources
#7 land.
#8 gulible and backward native population

Not this:

Originally posted by: raildogg
America is great because the heroes of WW2 paved the way for this country to lead the world. We should all be thankful of them.

dont piss on the WW2 heroes, without them many of us would not be here.

Do have any factual basis for this? of course not because they is none. Where would all these americans gone? hmmm?

Neither german nor japan posed a real threat to the american continent. By the time we actually bothered to invade europe, the germans had already all but been defeated. We invaded to prevent the USSR from taking control of all of europe.

you disgust me. right, and Pearl Harbor was on foreign soil I assume? well anway thats besides the point

Without American intervention, the war would have lasted for much longer and more people would have been gassed to death in the concentration camps. I believe Germany would have conquered most if not all of Europe, and Japan had China and SE Asia under its grip.

We should all be thankful to the great heroes of WW2, without them America isn't the superpower that it is today.

Pearl harbor was not on american soil at the time.

american did absolutely nothing to speed up ww2 and did nothing to prevent or slow the concentration camps. I can't understand how uninformed you have to be to think german EVER had a chance once they invaded russia. As soon as the germans invaded, the war was over. All that was left was bringing the war to its conclusion. Russia had many times as many troops under arms in europe than the US did.

Second, america would have been a superpower regardless if we were involved with ww2. The only difference would be that all of germany would have been in the russian sphere.

well it belonged to the US, hence US soil.

Germany was fighting multiple wars. Not just the Russians.

Honestly you have to be really stupid or just hate America so much to believe that America made no differene in WW2. Like I said before, stop pissing on the WW2 soldiers.

 

[Stunt]

He's saying the US would be great without WW2...US is not great because of it...
Don't be so thick.