S/o Foreigners opinion of US politics

zohar

Tue, Jan 09 2018, 11:16 pm

The reason America is so different than other countries that it was founded in a way to insure the individual's freedom from government. And put in checks and balances to make sure that the government does not become totalitarian. I remember being surprised that other Western countries do not grant their citizens some rights that Americans look at as basic. Namely, freedom of speech. In countries like the U.K. and Canada, citizens can be prosecuted for "hate speech". And I'm surprised that so many Americans are so eager to give up their rights for handouts.

Also, as an aside, Canada can only afford their entitlement programs because they know they don't have to invest much in their military because of the U.S.

amother

↑ Coffee ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2018, 11:18 pm

zohar wrote:

Until recently, America also had laws or at least procedures in place to protect against corruption in government and conflicts of interest. Some Americans are very eager to give up protections against corruption for the sake of an economy that's "doing well" and someone who will fight their culture wars, whatever they may be.

amother

↑ Silver ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2018, 11:27 pm

zohar wrote:

Well then add that to the list of reasons living in Canada provides good quality of life - America is our neighbour.

Have you read the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

↑ Chana Miriam S ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2018, 11:32 pm

"Also, as an aside, Canada can only afford their entitlement programs because they know they don't have to invest much in their military because of the U.S."

This is also pretty ignorant. The Canadian Armed Forces are proportionate to the number of people we have in our country which is TEN TIMES less than the US. In addition, our troops go all over the world both to fight and to peace keep. WE were in WW2 before the US. My great uncle was killed in the Dam Buster's raid bombing the Mohn Dam in Germany. ALL of my US great uncles fought in that war, but AFTER the Canadians were in (not to make their contributions any less great!)

How dare you assume that we are not capable of defending ourselves and others?

Miri7

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:03 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

We’re grateful to live in a country that protects our rights and has historically been the best country for Jews in the past few thousand years. I’m not sure what privileges the women on this forum are lacking that they would automatically get if they lived in a socialist country.

I believe that many of the countries that people are referencing which you called "socialist" are actually democracies with a stronger social safety net/social programs.

So a few things would be:

- universal health care (often with option to pay for private in addition if you so choose). Health care is not tied to your job as it often is here, so it's portable and doesn't effect your career decisions.

- Included in health care is drug addiction treatment, which benefits everyone, not just the addicted person. I so wish we had this now as we suffer during this opiod crisis.

- maternity leave - much longer AND with job protection for long periods.

- much more expansive benefits for housing and food programs for the poor (a number of imas on here would benefit from that!)

- many of these countries also have more vacation, sick time, etc, than in the USA, both as government employees and then into the private sector (which isn't really a gov't benefit, but part of the cultural norms which are related to how much vacation government workers get)

- various random social support programs which benefit people across the board - like the newborn baby boxes they get in Finland.

↑ mommy3b2c ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:10 am

amother wrote:

To you, anyone who disagrees with the statement that "America is the greatest country on earth" is bashing America.

Ummm,no. Saying- “what’s so great about America? They have the lowest quality of life of all western countries is bashing.”

amother

↑ Silver ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:24 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

Ummm,no. Saying- “what’s so great about America? They have the lowest quality of life of all western countries is bashing.”

Or its measuring an objective standard against a subjective standard - and looking for an explanation for the discrepancy.

amother

↑ Coffee ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:26 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

Ummm,no. Saying- “what’s so great about America? They have the lowest quality of life of all western countries is bashing.”

Nobody said lowest, just that they rank low. Which is a factual statement. Telling that you interpret a true statement as bashing.

Also, if you're going to assert that America is the greatest country on earth, be prepared that some people might have a different view.

amother

Smokey ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:34 am

amother wrote:

Also, maternal mortality, education, wealth gap, poverty levels, access to healthcare, to name a few more.

I remember when I first moved to the US I was working at an ivy league university and couldn't believe when a graduation senior told me, in all seriousness, "everyone wants to be American". I couldn't believe the parochialism.

These items are mostly incorrect and based on unequal comparisons.

amother

↑ Smokey ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:37 am

amother wrote:

I know that this belief is inculcated in American children from birth. It is a beautiful sentiment and I think the USA can teach others about the value of patriotism, but it is most definitely not true. The USA ranks disappointingly low on quality of life indexes, among other variables.

Yet, the US is relied on by much of the world for support, both financial and military, as well as for leadership in world events.

amother

↑ Smokey ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:39 am

amother wrote:

This is a spin-off of the Oprah thread.
I hold American citizenship but have never lived in the US. I follow US politics for the entertainment factor since most of it is not relevant to me personally. Canadians really admire and love our southern neighbors and that hasn't changed at all. Yet I don't know a single person who thinks that the election of Trump was a wise move. Most people just shake their heads in bafflement and say "what were they thinking?". To be honest, he is a laughingstock here. We had our own wannabe Trump when Kevin O'Leary ran for leadership of the Conservative party, he didn't get very far.

Do the Trump die-hards really not care?

The question you're asking is, What's more important to voters? A president's ability to implement policy, or to appear and sound "presidential"?

Question. Is he a laughingstock because people think his actual policies are silly?

Many people are happy with what he's actually accomplished, in just one year. Economically, foreign policy, etc.

amother

↑ Smokey ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:45 am

Maya wrote:

How do the 300 million people living in this country benefit from being the supposedly most powerful country in the world, when so many things in our basic day-to-day lives need fixing by the government?

Many are of the belief that the more power and control you hand over to government, the more the government protects and grows itself, and the less actual problems are resolved.

After 8 years of a presidency that believed in the nanny state yet left many people far worse off, people were ready to shrink back government a bit.

amother

↑ Silver ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:49 am

amother wrote:

Yet, the US is relied on by much of the world for support, both financial and military, as well as for leadership in world events.

Yes the US gives a generous amount of foreign aid. No, its not even close to "much of the world" relying on it. As for leadership in world events - can you provide a recent example?

amother

↑ Smokey ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:51 am

Miri7 wrote:

The problem is that this is simply unsustainable long-term. That's why many of these systems are now imploding, with governments deep in the red to other governments. The money has to come from somewhere; just keep borrowing is not a long-term plan for a country's financial stability.

amother

↑ Smokey ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 12:55 am

amother wrote:

Yes the US gives a generous amount of foreign aid. No, its not even close to "much of the world" relying on it. As for leadership in world events - can you provide a recent example?

To respond to your request for an example, nothing significant or meaningful can happen at the UN without US backing.

Disagree; much of the world relies on the US for aid or support. For instance, the US has troops stationed in 150 countries, including Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, etc.

I could go on but it's late.

↑ Chana Miriam S ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 1:03 am

amother wrote:

Sure, go on making stuff up about Americans being deployed in Canada!!! Lllllooollllll!

You know what we have at Toronto airport? The ability to take a domestic flight to the us because there is a border patrol there. For convenience! Oh my god I’m still laughing!

amother

↑ Silver ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 1:03 am

amother wrote:

Which of

Switzerland
Australia
Norway
Sweden
Denmark

are imploding from debt?

amother

↑ Copper ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 1:11 am

It is human nature to attempt to defend one's country, but facts don't lie. Your average American Joe is worse off than your average Swede, Canadian or Dane etc...

This very forum is full of threads started by women who had to go back to work at 6 weeks postpartum, who want to know which doctor will accept their insurance, who are afraid to take a job with a slightly higher salary and lose all benefits, who are not making ends meet despite being on welfare, who weigh going back to work vs. staying home due to the prohibitive cost of childcare.....

etky ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 1:30 am

To me, a proud US citizen- although living in Israel - the statement that America is the greatest country in the world means something completely different. To my mind, it reflects the fact that the US was and still is the greatest political experiment that mankind has ever known. The first nation to be established on the basis of man's innate right to political self-determination, the first nation to draw up and implement a governmental and legislative blueprint - based on the tenets of liberal and humanist political theory - with enough built-in flexibility to enable that system to survive through centuries of political and social change. The US was the first nation to define the preservation of civil liberties as its raison d'etre and to enshrine these rights and liberties as a core value in its foundational laws.
The political system and culture of the US has inspired many other countries and has served as an international model for the blessings that a democracy can bestow on its citizens.
There is more but that is what I have time for now ...

amother

↑ Silver ↓

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 1:35 am

etky wrote:

Thank-you for the thoughtful commentary.