# America is the greatest country on Earth? Delusional **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542 "2019-03-26T02:27:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/21 "2019-03-26T04:34:52Z")
Trump’s [own alma mater says he’s wrong](https://news.wharton.upenn.edu/press-releases/2018/01/2018-best-countries-report-names-switzerland-number-1-world/). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/22 "2019-03-26T04:54:27Z")
For many of us, America genuinely is far ahead of any other country. There is no replacement–really, no other place in remotely the same league–as Silicon Valley, if you’re in the computer industry. Canada may be great, but no one goes there to make it big (or even make it little) in computers. Canadians come here (and in great numbers). And they land good enough jobs that great healthcare is just one of the many perks. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/23 "2019-03-26T05:14:20Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No. Probably more like number 10 or 12. You mean 10 or 12 up from the bottom? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/24 "2019-03-26T05:21:33Z")
At one point we were, especially by dint of the rest of the world being ruined by war. To make us the greatest country on Earth by most of the metrics employed, we would need to adopt a lot of that pesky European style SOCIALISM. You know, so we could improve our health care, our life spans, our quality of life and other things the right thinks we don’t deserve because it costs too much and they ain’t going to pay for other people to get “free stuff”. Crime? I dunno, America has always been a violent society. We have thousands of different micro cultures engaged with each other. Our national narrative of the proud, strong and independent individual over everything plays right into that. It isn’t really as bad as all that and it has been on the down slope since the peak of violent crime in the early 90’s and the peak of domestic terrorism of the late 60’s and early 70’s. But here’s where the rubber meets the road; Militarily? We are THE unchallenged superpower. Russia has some elite troops, but the rest are a bunch of barely trained draftees riding 70’s equipment. But they have nukes. That’s their only power card. Our national guard could kick Russia’s ass in a real war. China is an up and coming power, but they’re still only a regional power with a relatively small number of nukes. India is a joke militarily. Economically we’re just in the process of losing #1 status to China, which has been inevitable since we started handing them our patents and IP on a silver platter. Just because there are more than four times as many of them. If their Per Capita is even half ours, their economy is larger. * * * But hey, bottom line is that we’re #1 by far militarily and #1 economically. That alone makes us the “greatest” nation on Earth.\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/25 "2019-03-26T05:26:26Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Well for America being so shitty there sure are a lot of motherfuckers clamoring and spilling through our borders risking death and the deaths of their children to come here People [die](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39704754)trying to get into motherfucking Greece, man, it’s no great metric. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > For many of us, America genuinely is far ahead of any other country. There is no replacement–really, no other place in remotely the same league–as Silicon Valley, if you’re in the computer industry. Of course, if you’re not, then [fuck](https://www.equaltimes.org/homeless-in-silicon-valley-how-the) [you](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/02/tech-industry-homelessness-prop-c-san-francisco), [Jack](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/11/how-silicon-valley-created-americas-largest-homeless-camp/431739/). That’s America, all right. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/26 "2019-03-26T05:28:38Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Militarily? We are THE unchallenged superpower. Russia has some elite troops, but the rest are a bunch of barely trained draftees riding 70’s equipment. But they have nukes. That’s their only power card. Our national guard could kick Russia’s ass in a real war. China is an up and coming power, but they’re still only a regional power with a relatively small number of nukes. India is a joke militarily. _cough_ Afghanistan…_cough_ ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/27 "2019-03-26T05:37:32Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Well for America being so shitty there sure are a lot of motherfuckers clamoring and spilling through our borders risking death and the deaths of their children to come here, I guess it’s easy to mock our country when you’ve grown up in our excess and hedonism, wonder what they’re having for dinner tonight in Venezuela. We’re the greatest because we’re better than Venezuela? What kind of logic is that? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/28 "2019-03-26T05:51:20Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > People [die](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39704754)trying to get into motherfucking Greece, man, it’s no great metric. Greece is a gateway to get into the rest of the European Union, places like Germany, I’m sure some stay but they spread all over it’s not like they all stay there. And still better than the countries they came from I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/29 "2019-03-26T05:51:45Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Well for America being so shitty… I wonder why _some_ people think there are only two categories, “the greatest” and “shitty.” Why do some people see everything as black and white, while others are able to see a whole spectrum? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/30 "2019-03-26T05:53:00Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _cough_ Afghanistan…_cough_ No nation can remain conquered if the people are willing to die by the hundreds of thousands to oppose an occupation. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/31 "2019-03-26T06:02:08Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > No nation can remain conquered if the people are willing to die by the hundreds of thousands to oppose an occupation. By that standard, there’s lots and lots of other countries that the US couldn’t conquer. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/32 "2019-03-26T06:02:45Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > I wonder why _some_ people think there are only two categories, “the greatest” and “shitty.” Why do some people see everything as black and white, while others are able to see a whole spectrum? Please point out where I said America was the greatest country. I even offered the possibility that America wasn’t, just that it was far from the bottom, which was met with the expected derision and scorn. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/33 "2019-03-26T06:57:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > By that standard, there’s lots and lots of other countries that the US couldn’t conquer. Yet they can all be defeated and left in ruins. The only difference between us and oh, everyone from the beginning of time, is that we’re not willing to exterminate entire peoples to destroy our enemies or protect our own. And some people on this Earth still think genocide is ok. In the modern world with instant communication and rapid transportation, a people, culture or nation can say “Sure, we won’t win this war, but we’ll drag you to hell with us.” For as long as you’re not willing to exterminate all of them. Or until you stop hurting them and a sufficiently long time has passed. The USA could probably utterly destroy most nation’s military and military infrastructure in less than a month. Probably decapitate most of the government in that time too if it had the will, which we don’t. Occupation is expensive in both money and lives. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/34 "2019-03-26T07:01:27Z")
Has it been 7 years already ? Ah well, never miss an opportunity to link [that scene.](https://youtu.be/q49NOyJ8fNA?t=186) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/35 "2019-03-26T07:29:02Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Has it been 7 years already ? Ah well, never miss an opportunity to link [that scene.](https://youtu.be/q49NOyJ8fNA?t=186) Umm… yeah. Pretty much yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/36 "2019-03-26T07:32:26Z")
[Michelle Obama - America is the greatest country on Earth.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgb1ZClvY2M) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/37 "2019-03-26T07:37:19Z")
It’s the people. Canadians are nice. The French are rude. Brits are, well, I’m not sure. But Americans are just fun. Everybody likes the friendly American. I know I’m a hoot at a party;) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/38 "2019-03-26T07:50:48Z")
OP here coming back to reiterate. The Soviet Union once proclaimed they were the greatest. I’m sure China probably still does, as does North Korea. Can anyone show me a link with any other leader proclaiming that their country is the greatest? Cuba maybe? The US falls behind in every measurable quality of life metric. I’m not bashing you, I just want you to realize how wrong you are. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/39 "2019-03-26T09:07:36Z")
[Watch Barack Obama Talk About How America Is the Greatest Country on Earth in 13 Different Speeches](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/02/barack-obama-loves-america-and-thinks-it-s-great-video-evidence-contradicts-giuliani.html)- Slate Magazine. Face it - saying America is the greatest country on Earth is just something American politicians are expected to say. Call it a cultural idiosyncrasy. Of all of Trump’s many sins, this is perhaps the least of them. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542/40 "2019-03-26T09:31:46Z")
I think this belief that America is the greatest is part of the reason we have so many problems. We’re as brainwashed as Brezhnev era Soviets and as a result, we are incapable of addressing our problems. Remeber during the debate on healthcare reform, the GOP kept repeating that America already had the greatest health system on earth? It was so sad to see how many of my countrymen were stupid enough to believe it; it’s the same with racism: we fixed that, why are blacks so angry? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-is-the-greatest-country-on-earth-delusional/831542.md?page=3)