Are you proud to be an American?

Nobody is saying being an American makes one better than another person because they are from a different country. I hope you realize that. Believing that America is the best country in the world does not either.

Let's stay on target and not exaggerate.

 

The prior presidential administration did not make me proud to be an American.

 

You are right nobody said it. DD didn't say it either. But saying you are proud of being an American sort of implies that you believe it is better to be an American than being of another nationality. Or is there another way it interpret saying you are proud to be an American(or being proud to be of another nationality)?

DD.
LOL. Good as long as you get it straight :grin:

Of course people should feel lucky that they life in a great country which the US is (and many other countries as well).

 

I feel lucky to have been born in this country.

Would feel luckier in Canada, however.

 

I'm American. Isn't that enough?

 

Well, I'm not ashamed to be an American anyway.

 

I am extremely fortunate to be living in America.

Pride? I feel some pride when Americans do genuinely great things for humanity.

And when America stands apart of the international consensus on things like nuclear proliferation or global warming or resolutions condemning aggression, I feel the opposite of pride.

 

I'm AMERICAN... from the AMERICAN CONTINENT.

 

I think America does some horrible things that I cannot agree with, but ultimately I cherish the freedom from oppression, tyranny, and religion that this country was founded upon.

 

+1

I define my pride in America as the pride I take in the ideals it was (theoretically) founded upon. This pride is really only as legitimate as my ability to uphold those ideals myself.

Pride in the country for what it is, geography, or bragging rights? No. That's utterly ridiculous.

As I mentioned earlier, this makes for a bittersweet outlook. I'm constantly impressed with how simple, yet effective, our basic governmental ideology is. I'm constantly depressed at how unwilling people are to enact it fully, or with pure intentions.

 

This really isn't true....Take our stats on infant mortality rates. If you look at the raw numbers, it doesn't look good for us. But the fact is that if a child is born in the US with ANY signs of life, it is considered a live birth whereas in other countries, it would be considered a still birth. As a result, our infant mortality rate is inflated compared to other countries, and open to gross misinterpretation.

Also impacting our average life span are motor vehicle accidents and gun violence because we drive more than virtually every other country and there are lots of people with lots of guns.

All of the above impacts our 'average life span' and at a glance makes it look as though we don't live that long when compared to others. Remove those factors, and we're pretty much in line with most other first-world countries.



And despite Mr. Carlin's excellent points, and though we are far from perfect, I am proud to be an American, a Texan, and a Houstonian.

 

I think being proud to be an American doesn't mean better than, just that you take pride in the accomplishments of your nation, or the spirit it embodies, or the culture of it, or some combination of those things. It's more about taking pride in your nation or what it's done than a competition.

 

Your first point is valid. Other countries use a different definition of infant mortality rate that makes their rates look lower.

However, saying that when you discount car accidents and gun violence, our numbers are better is ridiculous. You might as well say "disregarding people who die young" we have a really great average life span. Those car accident and gun violence deaths are real. They could happen in other countries, but they don't. Because the people in those other countries don't drive as much or have as many guns. They choose to live that lifestyle because of the benefits that come with it.

 

I'm very proud to be American. I'm proud of our ideals as a nation though we're not as faithful to them as I'd like and I'm proud of the fact that millions upon millions of people around the world want to come here to live the American dream. It's not called the Dutch dream or the French dream and for good reason. I'm also thankful that the guys that landed on Normandy and Iwo Jima didn't choose to stay home on the couch and quote George Carlin instead of risking their lives to defend the free world from tyranny.

 

So glad someone said all that and did it well.

 

I could just have easily said that I wish Americans would have sat on the couch and quoted George Carlin instead of invading Iraq.

There is a time for sitting on the couch and quoting Carlin, and a time not to.

 

No, because I don't feel like I am American

 

You're making my point for me. Taking away accidental deaths (whether from traffic fatalities or gun violence) would increase our already-damn-high 78-year life expectancy.

Anyway carry on.

 

Yeah well the military isn't a democracy, they follow orders as well they should. Iraq isn't their failure, it's ours.

 

I understand that about the military. Thankfully Iraq isn't our future for too much longer.