RateItAll: The Opinion Network

. . .when you point out elements of hyporcrisy or areas for improvement people act shocked as if you are supposed to sit quietly and accept the periodic slop that is often foisted upon the far-to-content population. . .sorry kids- no sacred cows- the bigger the subject the less taboo it is. . .

It's not the United States that has a problem. It's the government that needs help.

Knowledgeable criticism is acceptable, but blind attacks are not.

I may be no American but most people love their own country and would protect it, so it is only logical that RIA, since Admin are based in the USA and just about everyone on RIA is from the USA, that this would be a sacred subject. But there are also a lot of American citizens who hate their country and hate the government and will not hesitate to attack America.

No kidding. The United States should not be attacked, by anyone. And if my country is attacked the attacker can expect an piece of my mind. Every citizen in the world has a reason, directly or indirectly, to be grateful to the U.S. Citizens of the U.S. have no business whatsoever dogging their country. Attack our politics, our tax system, whatever, but when you attack the country itself and what it stands for, you should incite the wrath of American patriots.

As StabUzbeck says, Most Americans who are so sure that their country is the greatest haven't the slightest clue what other cultures and societies are like.

If not a sacred cow, it should be at least a revered bull. I like StanUzbeck's somewhat balanced comment. Yes, the US does have its faults - sometimes overly jingoistic, and, compared to Europe at least, food is not anywhere near as good (either nutritionally or from the standpoint of taste), people don't know how to relax and enjoy life they way they should, and there tends to be too much of an emphasis on consumerism,to name some. On the other hand, we do have a tendency to be well organized, have decent medical care (better than most other countries), we are not overtaxed (well, I guess that's a pretty relative issue), we generally are a results oriented society, and we do have a sense of community and civic spirit that is envied by many other nations. Until relatively recently, our mass media was pretty truthful and did not pursue political agendas, and our politicians were nowhere near as corrupt or corruptible as those in other countries, but, alas, I fear that both the media and poiticians are beginning to show symptons of internationalization (i.e., they are getting more like the Europeans inasmuch as the truth seems to suffer much more than it did). I'd like to point out, however that those RIA reviewers who just lambaste the US for all of its supposed evils (racism and opression seem to jump to the fore, as well as corporate wrongdoing), this self-flagellation seems in large part unjustified (at least in my view). Racism here is less pronounced (believe it or not) than it is in most other parts of the world - the Europeans certainly are no strangers to it. Reigious intolerance basically does not exist here in the US - more than can be said in many, if not most, other parts of the world. Some Americans go on about how the US opresses others - that's one that could be argued, and I won't go into a long (or even a short) discourse on that. Corporate scandals I can't defend - theyre wrong, but again, there are plenty to go around around the world (I know, it doesn't excuse what happens here, and I don't hold that it does). Overall, those who really have nothing but criticism for the US in a way remind me of repentant Catholics on a guilt trip (calling to mind, and often exaggerating,all of their sins). If that remark doesn't raise a howl of anguish, I'm not sure what would! Anyway, yep, the US is somewhat of a sacred cow, but I do believe that there is room for criticism, even though I think it ought to be balanced.

The United States of America is Earth's greatest nation, pioneering everything from space exploration, to freedom, and even fast food restaurants! America is simply awesome! I mean, the nation that invented Star Trek has to be! :)

The US is a great country but it has its flaws. When people say that America is the greatest country on earth, what yardstick are they using to measure its greatness? Certainly the US is the most powerful, economically and militarily, and it is culturally dominant in large parts of the world. But it isn't the most free (at least not anymore), or the best educated country, and American citizens aren't the world's happiest. Besides, most Americans who are so sure that their country is the greatest haven't the slightest clue what other cultures and societies are like, and their arguments are purely emotional, not logical. It's like in Brave New World, you hear something repeated often enough (America is #1) and it becomes axiomatic, and any statement to the contrary is reflexively rejected as absurd without a second thought. America, you have so much to be proud of, but you too are open to criticism. When I think of America I think of Britney Spears, Walmart, school shootings, a dark legacy of racism and Jim Crow, and constantly waging aggressive war on swarthy foreigners. But I also think of William Faulkner, the Statue of Liberty, Martin Luther King, the Constitution and its representation of man's highest ideals, Abe Lincoln, baseball, and other nations' poor oppressed huddled masses yearning to be free. I greatly admire America and its people, but we all have a long way to go before we live in a perfect world, a world in which America doesn't exist because we don't need it to exist, because all borders and differences and inter-nation squabbling have been abolished and we realise that each person's interests are every person's interests. I guess I'm being uncharacteristically sentimental here, but these things need to be said. I just wish I could say them better.

This is the greatest country ever. It seems that Libya gets a better rating than the U.S. I ask how? America gives out unmatched freedoms that no country can match. If you hate America, move to a terrorist state such as Libya or Iran. You wouldn't last a week there. God bless America.