american exceptionalism is funny
Shows how worthless the noble peace prize is.
EDIT: Wait, whats your point?
The . is that he says “they” did not do horrible things. But they are a GOD DAMN EMPIRE, claiming foreig land and resources literally ALL the time. (hence the Kissinger quote).
Similarily, like every empire, the Roman or the British, the U.S.A are built upon millions and millions of lives that were not given willingly most of the time. There is a gap as big as the Atlantic ocean between reality and his perception of the U.S.
Don’t get me wrong it’s not just an American thing.
Long live the little countries who never invaded their neighbors.
Such a country does not exist. Even if it does, It probably didn’t have the chance.
Poland.
Also US is hardly an empire in the modern world.
it pretty much is though, but overtly
Your views are skewed to the point of being silly. There really isn’t any point arguing my point with someone who adopts such a common steriotypical view of America so easily.
I have better things to do than talk to sheep.
the usa has functionally colonised every country that ever needed an imf loan. w. forced privatisation and financial deregulation that let US companies move in and buy everything
To be just, let me also say at this point that I deeply rever minds like Walt Whitman, Twain, Faulkner, Vonnegut, Pauling, Kucinich (off the top of my head). I know that there are as many honest, hard working people in the U.S as anywhere else; people who care about others and about their environment. My mother is in an LDS church, full of U.S. americans, and they are kind people.
MOST people, probably including me, don’t give a damn about what their government does, as long as their basic needs are satisfied; they don’t even want to know why their ham and gas is so cheap, they are glad it is.
Can’t imagine the caveman questioning the tree, “Why is your fruit hanging so low above the ground anyway?”
So don’t feel all offended. I just hate this back-slapping “We X are so flawless and awesome” attitude.
You moron. I claimed we were far from perfect and that I disagreed with most of our action in the Middle East. All I wanted to argue was that we aren’t douchebags like most of the world claims.
dat irony
Have you ever spent time outside the US?
I must admit I’ve never traveled out of the country. Lack of funds and time.
Only its not. Now, back up your claim.
yuo live within driving distance of a foreign country dude
Canada isn’t foreign. We only keep it around because we want more Olympic medals.
And it keeps America’s head warm during the winter.
I mean, I’ve been to Canada, but only briefly to see their side of the Falls.
OK - so you just have that one perspective.
It’s hard to get a good perspective from the inside. You know your own culture and society, but you don’t have anything which to compare it.
If you asked a thousand people from different parts of the world their opinion of the US, most of them wouldn’t be as negative as you may think, and I doubt any of them would use the term ‘douchebag’ (which is a good fuckin word in general BTW).
But forget about the rest of the world. If you asked Americans this specific question:
Are we douchebags?
I suspect that those that watch FOX News, listen to Rush Limbaugh, etc, would, in general, respond, "Yes, about 50% of Americans are douchebags.
And those that watch The Daily Show, Colbert Report, read NYT, HuffPo, etc, would, in general, respond “Yes, about 50% of Americans are douchebags.”
Personally, I don’t know if I would say that 50% of us are douchebags, but let’s face it, it seems like the percentage of douchebags in the American population is greater than the percentage of douchebags in the general world population. In other words, we have more than our share of douchebags.
It seems to be a cultural thing - we excel at douchebaggery. We’ve elevated it to an art form. We celebrate it. We love douchebags. We elevate them to the status of heroes. We give them wealth and power, fame and fortune We exempt them from law and taxes. We regard them as the pinnacle of our society. They run the joint and we emulate them.
The real definition of a hero isn’t a fireman who rescues a family from a burning building, it’s someone that embodies the ideals of a culture. Look at who our real heroes are - douchebags. They’re a reflection of our culture by definition.
It’s ridiculous to say that someone is a douchebag because they’re American. But it’s a douchebag culture and a douchebag society.
Douchebag is an entirely relative term, decided by ones own views of how one should act, as you said yourself. Fact is, US has just as many as many other nations in the world.