Why Can the Europeans Do it?

[ghettopalmetto]

The passage below is wholly my own opinion based on my own thoughts and observations.

I personally believe that the US suffers from an affliction of American Exceptionalism. Somewhere along the way, probably after World War II, we got complacent. We became convinced that just by virtue of being American, we were somehow blessed with Divine Providence. While we've spent the past 5 or 6 decades looking in the mirror and thinking about how incredible we are, we got fat, lazy, and stupid. In the meantime, we sent buckets of money to Europe and Japan to [[rightfully) rebuild their infrastructure and economies. They took the ball and ran with it, and have been working their asses off to catch up.

The Sarah Palins and Joe the Plumbers you see on television represent the American Exceptionalism mindset. The people who think like this love their country, and the principles for which it stands. Of that, I do not deny them. But their fatal flaw is that they are largely uneducated, and many of them do not have passports, let alone have ever left the United States. Thus, they never have the opportunity to learn from ideas presented elsewhere. They can't imagine that anything could *possibly* be improved upon the way it already is in the good ole U S of A. Why? Because America is #1, that's why! Their love of their nation is not a mature and responsible adult love, accepting flaws and shortcomings, but the immature love that a child feels for its mother. It's a love based not on respect and understanding, but a love that results from only knowing one way of existing, and having someone responsible always there to wipe your ass.

And that's all and good. Every nation has it's lot of poor and working-class folks who aren't particularly worldly. There's nothing wrong with that. The problem we have in the US is that we let these people dominate the discussion. Otherwise-smart people allow the Sarah Palins to dictate which issues are important. These people should have books thrown at them, and instead we give them pens and paper to write the agenda [[and rewrite history). They get pissy about the "disrespect" that they receive, and like an insecure parent, we coddle them.

It's only until we start demanding better of ourselves that we'll see any improvement. We cannot continue pandering to the Lowest Common Denominator and expect to have an educational system on par with Asian nations, or the standard of living enjoyed in Europe, or even the level of health enjoyed by our Neighbours to the North. We need to stop making excuses for laziness, and stop living off the laurels of our grandfathers. It's time we get our asses moving and start challenging our neighbors to do the same, lest they get left behind.

I personally have many friends who have not just moved to other states, but have outright given up on the United States. They grew sick and tired of the culture of selfishness and stupidity--the culture of guns, cheese doodles, and Busch Light. The culture where driving a car really really fast is considered a "sport". And these hard-working, educated young people permanently moved to places like Germany, South Korea, and Spain, because they feel there is no place for them in their own country. Frankly, I don't blame them one bit, and it may not be long before I follow suit.

[Whitehouse]

The passage below is wholly my own opinion based on my own thoughts and observations.

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Most excellent to read. Thanks, you really gave it some thought.

[ghettopalmetto]

Most excellent to read. Thanks, you really gave it some thought.

After returning from Poland last year, one of my colleagues asked me what it was like.

I said, "We are a proud nation. They have pride."

[firstandten]

The passage below is wholly my own opinion based on my own thoughts and observations.

I personally believe that the US suffers from an affliction of American Exceptionalism. Somewhere along the way, probably after World War II, we got complacent. We became convinced that just by virtue of being American, we were somehow blessed with Divine Providence. While we've spent the past 5 or 6 decades looking in the mirror and thinking about how incredible we are, we got fat, lazy, and stupid.

The natural by-product of this attitude is the "Ugly American" persona that we project across the globe. And we wonder why other countries particularly the third world kind hate us.

[ghettopalmetto]

The natural by-product of this attitude is the "Ugly American" persona that we project across the globe. And we wonder why other countries particularly the third world kind hate us.

You don't even have to go far to experience the Ugly American persona. It's amazing how many Americans look at the U.S. Capitol and say, "Look, there's the White House!" Pull out a $20 bill, ass, and look at the picture on the back.

I think my sentiment is that for all of our talk about how great our nation is, it's all just hot-air puffery. Look at us. The way we dress. The food we eat. The way we expect tax cuts, rather than growing a business, to succeed. The SUVs we buy, and then bitch when gasoline dares to cost $4 a gallon. As a culture, we have no self-esteem. Our concerns don't extend beyond ourselves, our checking accounts, and our homeowners associations. Then we pray to Jesus to fix everything for us. Bullshit. A lack of self-respect amidst our self-promoting bloviation is EXACTLY why Europeans thumb their noses at us.

We sell ourselves way too short. We need to start expecting and demanding better out of each other.