Patriotic Education

There is certainly a lot to be proud of this country but one of the things to be proud of this country is the ability to question where we haven't done so well and to change. Given how much change in ferment we've had in this country it's impressive we've only had one all out civil war. Jefferson believed that we would have one every 20 years.

I'm proud of this country that this country was founded on Enlightenment ideals that have given this country a resilience. Part of those ideals is that we can question the state and that being a good citizen isn't just about blind obedience to the state. This is the danger of things like "Patriotic Education" to fully appreciate and help to improve this country we need to know the bad and the good of this country.

 

An argument in favor of abolishing the Dept of Education?

 

I didn't come up with that. I'm not sure where I read it or heard it from but it might've been George Will.

I did come up with "anti-critical thought".

 

We agree. The problem I see is typically I hear people speak in absolutes about this county....... either it is a depraved **** hole or "love it or leave it". I wish there were more people like George Takei that clearly are proud of this country but also honest about it's history..... AND the importance of change.

Part of it is that I am hacked off after having a deposition with someone that spent 45 minutes telling me what a **** hole the USA is outside of NY.......

 

I hear you and I've certainly know people who have attitudes like that. No country is perfect and on the whole I would still say that the US has a lot more going for it than many others.

 

True. But, we also have one of the most incompetent and dangerous leaders in the world right now. That's why it's so important for people to get out and vote him out. We don't want to see him continue his path of lies, corruption, division, and hate. This country is now blue state red state when it comes to who he chooses to help and who he chooses to blame. Hate groups are either radical leftists or Patriots.

The poor will get poorer, the middle class will still struggle, the sick will get sicker, and affordable healthcare and equality will all be on the back burners of his priority list. The rich will get richer though, and the felon mob associates he surrounds himself with will do what they can to ensure his corruption goes unchecked, and he can work his way into a 3rd or 4th term.

 

Relative to the world when you include third world poor nations, yes. Relative to other developed nations... Meh. We are aggressively number one in our military prowess and incarceration of citizens.

The United States definitely has some strong positive traits. We as a nation created a system of higher learning and academic research that shames pretty much every other country. Hence why we are a beacon for so many foerign students to apply to college here. However in that same country we have a highly unequal grade school education that effectively closes of many of those higher education opportunities to many neighborhoods at a systemic level along with the absurd cost of higher learning in this country.

Our nation currently isn't healthy when it resorts to someone like Donald Trump being selected as our leader and head of state.

 

As a minority this would be less ominous if my classmates' fathers hadn't morphed from Stan Pembroke into John Wilkes Booth since grade school. What the hell, contingency white dads.

 

I think that's where the "Libs hate America" schtick comes from. I question the idea of giving disenfranchised voices airing out their opinions and theses ("most caste heavy country since Nazi Germany") as hating America, but it sure sounds shitty when you can't enjoy a play like Hamilton without reality clamping hard on your leg with postmodern complaints.

As for Cons, they didn't like That...Man Obama making Murca unGreat, so there's obviously an undercurrent of what America deeply means for each side.

Bottom line is that we both loved Green enough to settle differences but with obvious decline in standing and decay in institutions, we're fighting for whatever Green is left.

America is still great with tons of potential, but I think the responsibility of it all is driving everyone insane and incredibly judgemental.