Wow who knew Saudi Arabia is better than Australia too.
Russia number 4!!!
Saudi Arabia and Russia are superior destinations than anywhere else in the world except the U.S. and Germany? That’s a survey that doesn’t seem, I don’t know, quite coherent.
I think the main point of @Omar_Little 's graphic is that the US is the most popular immigration destination by a 3-to-1 margin over the second choice. While its credibility is somewhat undermined by Russia and Saudi Arabia scoring so high, I don’t doubt that a lot more people want to come here than anywhere else.
For all this country’s flaws, I think that does say a lot about our image in the rest of the world.
Does that make us “better” than any other country? No. Does it mean we’re an exception to rules and standards that apply to everyone else? Hell no. If anything, I think it should encourage us to be better than we are, to apply a higher standard for ourselves, so we can live up to whatever hopes and dreams make people want to live here.
Have a great weekend!
^^^ what he said.
It’s really only about your wealth.
Some of which is legit, but a lot of which was gained by fucking over other people, both inside and outside your own country.
Looking at that graphic, I think the author was counting foreigners who are in Saudi Arabia for work along with anyone who manages to actually immigrate (say, someone who marries a Saudi Arabian citizen and the couple move to Saudi Arabia).
Also, importantly, the size of the country.
If you look at those numbers, the UK has accepted the same number of immigrants, as a proportion of population, and Australia has taken much more.
Interesting to note that the population of Russia has decreased by five million since 1993, according to the World Bank.
Even with the wealth gap growing in the US. The median income of the US is the 5th highest in the world. Just below Luxemborg, UAE, Norway & Switzerland, which together have a population of 24 million, 7% of the US population. Your average person in the US is significantly more wealthy than most of the rest of the world, which is why so many people want to come here. The US offers a much greater chance at prosperity.
Yes the US is a wealthy country; I made quite a big deal about this in the OP.
The point is, it doesn’t justify “American exceptionalism”, let alone all the “god blessed” nonsense. Many other countries have been the wealthiest at one time or another. Probably China has the greatest claim to being the wealthiest for the longest.
(And indeed the Chinese economy is ahead of the US by GDP PPP for example. This is not to claim that China is actually wealthier than the US, just that if finding some metric by which a country is #1 justifies saying they are the bestest ever, blessed by God, then a lot of countries can say this)
But that is a reason so many people want to come here which does support exceptionalism. How many people want to immigrate to China under communist rule? Not many.
In addition the US stock market dominates and is greater in its market cap than all other stock markets combined. The US makes up 58% of all market cap globally for publicly traded stocks. The next closest is Japan at 6%.
If that’s not exceptionalism then what is?
That’s outstanding, impressive performance but it is not “exceptionalism”. It only tells me there is a strong economy and a large asset base.
If you’re starving, and the guy next to you has food, it’s basically irrelevant what kind of person he is.
No matter how often he tells you that he’s The Second Coming…
More than 50 million.
China, and any other large country, could beat those immigration numbers in absolute terms. And several countries already do in per capita terms. That particular metric really doesn’t mean a lot.
Omar, no one is doubting that right now the US is the world’s wealthiest country. I started the OP with saying this.
The particular dick waving contest that you’re trying to start here completely misses the point.
I agree with this. American Exceptionalism is used mostly in two ways from my experience – we’re uniquely good and moral and so can do what we want, and things that work elsewhere can’t work here.
So, for the first one, it’s OK that we invade Grenada. For the second one, gun control and universal healthcare are impossible.
None of that has anything to do with the economy or wealth. Heck, way back when we were a much smaller country (geographically, economically, population), we espoused Manifest Destiny, that America was destined to go from the East Coast to the West.
Exceptionalism - the condition of being different from the norm
If the norm is below 6% and you are at 58%, then you are different from the norm.
The OP and much of the discussion is emotional based and not factual based. I have continued to present facts. You can choose to believe that the US isn’t different from the norm, but you would be wrong.
If you’ve got the biggest dick, there’s no need to wave it around, most people know it to be true.
You know you’re losing the argument if you’re using dictionary definitions. The term American Exceptionalism has a meaning of its own.