what does America stand for in your eyes?

[oktiri]

Quote from karol88:

for some things freedom (or at least freedom of speech) in America is an illusion.
Europe has lots of laws against freedom of speech (for example you can't talk bad about gays, the jews, be racist etc...all punishable by law)...BUT you can go out and express your opinion privately and most of the people would be up for a debate, instead of being offended...
it's different here....no laws, yet expressing certain unpopular views is a crime in the eyes of most people....call black man a 'black man' (I'm not even mentioning the banned 'N-word') and you end up with a "racist" tag....

also, what about the whole drinking ban before 21? you can get married, have kids, drive a car, even own a gun before you're 21...but you can't get drunk?! I remember by the time I was 21 I was pretty much done with drinking

I lived both in France and Germany for a few years, and I'll gladly enlist if any plans are drawn to bomb the fuck of them again, Dresden style.
The "Europeans" have been surfing on their reputation now for more than 30 years.
I found Europeans to be Snobbish, pretentious, hypocrites, self righteous preachers, systemic racists with as much ignorance about the US than what they reproach the US masses.

The weather, food are depressing in Germany, people never stop whining in France.... ... .....

Geez, somebody puts them out of their misery, what a pathetic continent.

 

[karol88]

Quote from oktiri:

I lived both in France and Germany for a few years, and I'll gladly enlist if any plans are drawn to bomb the fuck of them again, Dresden style.
The "Europeans" have been surfing on their reputation now for more than 30 years.
I found Europeans to be Snobbish, pretentious, hypocrites, self righteous preachers, systemic racists with as much ignorance about the US than what they reproach the US masses.

The weather, food are depressing in Germany, people never stop whining in France.... ... .....

Geez, somebody puts them out of their misery, what a pathetic continent.

wow, I agree about the weather, food and snobism...but the rest really shocked me...to me the Europeans are far less miserable than Americans (despite all the anti-depressants)...also people in France and Germany have a reason to be whining...look at the prices and the average wages compared with the US...it's less than half...not to mention the unemployment rate...

 

[Gringinho]

There were some interesting comments from traditional and mainstream conservatists on Fareed Zakaria GPS today, and denouncing the extremist neo-conservative views ... but it revolves much about "the US being exceptional" - and it clearly is not. When it comes to quality of life, education etc - the US is way down there... and for freedom, Europe has far less serious crime and has more secure personal freedom. Sure there are problems everywhere, but some really important things are truly fucked up in the US, and it has mostly to do with religion and moralistic attitudes ruling people's minds.

 

[seriousNews]

Quote from 151:

Is it that vague American dream?

Or maybe equality?

Or maybe opportunity?

Or is it quality of life?


Well, for me it stands for one thing and one thing above all else.



FREEDOM.

I hope that everyone will keep that in mind as history unfolds before us.

Look at every choice from the viewpoint of freedom and make your decisions.

I am starting to feel that

"ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country"

may have been one of the worst statements ever.


After all are we here to serve our country or is it here to serve us?

FREEDOM first.

the massive amounts of resources america puts into marketing the US say and sell the idea that; US stands for Freedom, Opportunity, Equality and etc

I know countries that offer more freedom, equality and all that shit, plus it's different from person to person, for instance depending on the position you have in the country you live in, one country may be more preferable than the other, for example if you are the owner of a profitable company in argentina, you have a better life, more freedom and get more respect than most millionaires in the US, but if you are an argentinean who just got out of prison for killing his sister, then living in america and just working whatever job is your better option

in the end all countries suck, they really have nothing to offer the normal human being, they even offer less than what nature has to offer a man, basically the cons of all countries exceed their pros

america is good for a few things; if you hold a masters in an engineering degree, though still underpaid you will most likely make more money (in respect to expenses) in the US than almost any other country in the world, or if you are a loser in your country and have nothing to do, and just want to run away from your family so they forget the loser you are, you come to america or go to similar countries like canada, australia and new zealand

in the end, america runs like a big corporation, the enviroment is good for working and making money, but sucks for living

 

[seriousNews]

Quote from 151:

Sorry I didnt elaborate.

The whole reason I made the post was because I have been thinking about Obamas civil defence mandantory 3 months of service.

I do not think that the country is here to serve me directly but to serve the people.

How long is it going to be before "what you can do for your country" is used to force us or our children into making sacrifeces that are not required to live as Americans, only required to live as an American taking care of all the free loaders that have run over our society?

Socialism??? Certainly not. Anarchy?? maybe

america is turning into a crappy country like iran, each president that comes into office signs more laws that set the stage for them to achieve their goals, bush signed the patriot act, now obama will set the next step for them to climb over your heads

that 3 months will eventually turn into 18 months just like in iran

and obama will set the stage for the next president to ban guns, after that america will be no better than hell

 

[seriousNews]

Quote from nutmeg:

You can get off your chair right now and do anything you can possibly think of or go where ever you might want to go. You can learn anything you want to learn. Someone will teach you. You can earn money in unimaginable ways. Nothing can stop you.

There are layers upon layers of doing and being from the novice to the advanced. There are groups of like minded people everywhere, nothing is stopping you from participating.

On the flip side, you can be alone as you want, to explore and self examine or surround yourself with millions all interacting day to day. You can be a part of it or not. Plenty of choices.

You can be a leech or a giver, we are generous and forgiving.

You can die alone if you wish or die among strangers who care, if you have no family.

America is a great country.

and you can't do those in any other country? you must be one sore loser

 

[seriousNews]

Quote from Gringinho:

I think Europe is much more free than the US of today. In the US, someone who is an atheist is less trusted in general than a gay person, criminal, muslim etc. The US is philosophically/individually a very constricted place nowadays, and there is very little regard for privacy rights in the US - which means a whole lot less freedom when it comes to today's technological society and information age. The US is very "moralistic" and people are enforced moral views through the media, arts, politics and religion. In the US people are very much followers of their leaders, and not seeing their political leaders as their servants - as in Europe. People are more indoctrinated with this whole "celebrity craze" and fascination in the US, especially about the president persona as something half-deity like... The US is governed with a lot of political symbolism and emotion - which is rather unconcerting.

yesterday there was this black girl on CNN saying; now Obama has infinite possibilities before him and he has infinite power

funny even God doesn't have infinite power

Americans are so naive not because they are ignorant but because they lack the intelligence to understand anything or think it out, no wonder they are targets of legal scams

 

[CaptainObvious]

I don't know what it stands for now, and I'm not sure it ever stood for anything other than offering a new opportunity for those that felt disillusioned with their current lot in life. To some degree that's still true for immigrants, but for those of us that are already here we've become further disillusioned that the fruits of our opportunity are now not our own. In short, our government has decided to be all things to all people, foreign and domestic, and we the people are to pick up the tab. A recipe for failure if there ever was one.

 

[Fractals 'R Us]

America is great if you get real busy and take advantage of the freedom and capitalistic opportunities. I always hated working here however except when I worked for a German corporation. To American managers people are throwaways, Europeans have a completely different outlook on labor that makes a huge difference in quality of life...

 

[iceman1]

Quote from seriousNews:

yesterday there was this black girl on CNN saying; now Obama has infinite possibilities before him and he has infinite power

funny even God doesn't have infinite power

Americans are so naive not because they are ignorant but because they lack the intelligence to understand anything or think it out, no wonder they are targets of legal scams

serious news ... guys like you should be shot on sight to put them out of their misery.. and stop the cancer from spreading to the millions and millions of good people in the USA! !

I have had it with this message board and ET 's P & R in particular... I can't stand being among losers like you that have serious emotional problems, but don't know it! Good luck sucker... keep having that deep negative attitude and maybe you'll die young... although after reading your crap I'd say you are already DEAD!

I prefer to be among the living... and the positive thinking! !