Whats wrong with America

[Just Plain Ruff]

I was listening to a radio show this morning and the speaker asked this question.

What is wrong with America?

He gave his answer later in the lecture but I'd like to hear some of your responses before I reveal what he said his answer was.

I for one think that America isn't broken, it's just got a few screws loose. We can sit here and debate big versus small government and what is worse

We can debate immigration reform, healthcare reform, credit card and banking reform and also mortgage reform.

Autobailout and wall street bailouts.

It's a combination of all the above as well as We ourselves are part of what it wrong with America.

We as a collective people I don't see us as really caring about the country. Sure we say we are patriotic and all that but I was reading a list of questions for citizenship. I didn't know the answers to some of the questions and these are questions that I should have known. That disappointed me and sort of made me sad.

When the average person on the street in many big cities cannot tell you who the vice president is, what happened on 09/11 or even what year 09/11 happened, when they cannot tell you who many of the political leaders in this country are but those same people can tell you both of the Pitt's babies names, who Sandra Bullock kissed at the grammies or whatever show she was on, who won the last 5 years american Idol competitions, this is where I say we are what's wrong with America.

I am what is wrong with america as well as everyone else. What am I doing to make America a great place to be? What am I doing to make sure that America is remembered not for it's invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq but it's overall legacy. What can I do to make America better and try to fix it.

I'd appreciate your response. This is a NDA topic.

[HERBIE1]

To keep it a more general answer, if I had to use one word, to answer the question, I would say- "attitude".

It applies to many areas and subjects- work, education, ethics, money- nearly everything in our lives.

I think our collective attitudes have changed over the years- even since I was born, and certainly back into the 50's and beyond.

[armymedic571]

To keep it a more general answer, if I had to use one word, to answer the question, I would say- "attitude".

It applies to many areas and subjects- work, education, ethics, money- nearly everything in our lives.

I think our collective attitudes have changed over the years- even since I was born, and certainly back into the 50's and beyond.

Herb...... I think you have something here.....I don't know if it the hole answer, but it is definitely part of it.

To add, I think many Americans feel they are better than other people, because they are American...They are Ass-kickin, cowboy Americans.......Which is great, except that image of America was built by hard working men ad women how went the extrea mile in what ever they were doing. Now it is down right pitiful.

[FireMedic65]

People with stupid opinions that force them on others by their "power" and use it to shut them up when someone does not agree with them. Also, the idiots that follow the idiots with idiot opinions.

[gemini1030]

I think a few things are wrong with the country today.

First is greed. Everyone is looking out for just themselves. Our politicans are too busy looking out for themselves rather than making decisions on what is best for the country. .We elect them under the premise that they will go and do what we feel is best for the country. In reality, they go and do what is their best interest. The lobbyist and special interest groups spend millions on politicans. They have to get reelected to be able to continue with this. I realize that they have to do some things for their constituants, but sometimes you have to sacrifice some small things for the good of the whole. Kind of like having a bad infection in you hand. In order to save your life you have to amputate the hand.

Secondly is personal resposibility. Everyone is so busy blaming everyone else that no one takes resposibility for their actions. When you make a mistake, take ownership of it and learn from it.

Lastly, is political correctness. If 90% of people blowing up airplanes are muslin males 18-35 it is not racial profiling to examine this group when they go to board an airplane. It is smart not descriminitory. We are too busy trying to not offend anyone that we can not provide proper security and other services to everyone else. If you do not pay into the system then you should not complain about the services you receive or don't receive. Illiegal aliens should not be allowed to get social security or other services. They should come in legally and contribute before they expect to received services. But as a country we are so worried about hurting their feelings. If they don't like it they can go back where they came from. Once again back to doing what is good for the whole.

Ok, I am sure I have upset some folks now so I will get off my soap box.

[BushyFromOz]

Your government doesn't practice what it preeches

[HERBIE1]

Herb...... I think you have something here.....I don't know if it the hole answer, but it is definitely part of it.

To add, I think many Americans feel they are better than other people, because they are American...They are Ass-kickin, cowboy Americans.......Which is great, except that image of America was built by hard working men ad women how went the extrea mile in what ever they were doing. Now it is down right pitiful.

Exactly. There is too much of an entitlement mentality-ie kids who feel they should have the same success their parents have- without the effort. They finish college and expect a 6 figure salary with a corner office, a company car, a golden parachute, 6 weeks of paid vacation, and a fully funded 401K. Even in our business, I see too many new folks who think they have all the answers- even when they don't even know all the questions yet.

This attitude did not happen overnight- there has been years of PC ideas like rewards and trophies just for trying- regardless of the outcome. Giving a failing grade became bad- someone's self esteem may be forever damaged. I don't see things changing anytime soon, but I am hopeful but the current political climate certainly is not a cause for encouragement.

[emtannie]

As a Canadian who travels into the US regularly, I read this thread with interest.

Although I think Herbie hit the nail on the head with the "attitude" explanation, I think the youth sense of entitlement is not limited to US citizens. I see it here as well. I very much agree with the "blame" comments too. I know too many times when talking with my peers, when the discussion turns to someone suing someone else, it is referred to as "being American."

One of my biggest frustrations when I travel to the US, is the lack of knowledge about their neighbor to the North. I live about 30 miles north of the 49th, and people just south of that line think I live in an igloo and trade in my dogsled for a car at the border. Another frustration is when I hear Canada blamed for everything from the weather (funny, my weather tends to come up from Great Falls) to terrorist attacks to the price of oil.. most Americans I talk to don't know that Canada is the US's largest trading partner, and the US tends to run a trade deficit (the US imports more from Canada than exports to Canada).

I think the biggest thing that the USA can do to change their world is to become more educated about their own history, and about the world. I also feel that too many Americans have the attitude of "the world wants us to save them from (fill in the blank here... natural disaster, civil unrest, economic failure..)" when that is not in fact true. The US has an international obligation just like other countries, to provide assistance, but for some reason, citizens in the USA don't see the contributions, sacrifices, or work of other countries, and it goes back to the lack of education.

[irlemt]

This attitude isn't just confined to the US, it has happened in Ireland too. People expecting to have 2 foreign holidays a year, 2 new cars in the driveway and the concept of volunteering your time for a good cause almost unheard of ( not quite dead yet though thankfully). Younger people seem more concerned that the antics of celebrities more important than real news. Maybe it was always this way, with the older generations giving out about the younger generations.

[HERBIE1]

As a Canadian who travels into the US regularly, I read this thread with interest.

Although I think Herbie hit the nail on the head with the "attitude" explanation, I think the youth sense of entitlement is not limited to US citizens. I see it here as well. I very much agree with the "blame" comments too. I know too many times when talking with my peers, when the discussion turns to someone suing someone else, it is referred to as "being American."

One of my biggest frustrations when I travel to the US, is the lack of knowledge about their neighbor to the North. I live about 30 miles north of the 49th, and people just south of that line think I live in an igloo and trade in my dogsled for a car at the border. Another frustration is when I hear Canada blamed for everything from the weather (funny, my weather tends to come up from Great Falls) to terrorist attacks to the price of oil.. most Americans I talk to don't know that Canada is the US's largest trading partner, and the US tends to run a trade deficit (the US imports more from Canada than exports to Canada).

I think the biggest thing that the USA can do to change their world is to become more educated about their own history, and about the world. I also feel that too many Americans have the attitude of "the world wants us to save them from (fill in the blank here... natural disaster, civil unrest, economic failure..)" when that is not in fact true. The US has an international obligation just like other countries, to provide assistance, but for some reason, citizens in the USA don't see the contributions, sacrifices, or work of other countries, and it goes back to the lack of education.

While I think many folks are ethnocentric-they feel their nation is the most important, I do agree that America does have a history of being somewhat arrogant.

I also think it's not necessarily a bad thing. We are(or at least were at one time) the most powerful and well respected nation on earth.

Good or bad, we are the ones who play world cop, biggest benefactors and the world's philanthropists. We rush in to mitigate problems all over the planet. When it hits the fan, we are the ones who everyone calls, so we better be cocky.

We all need to be better educated, and I think that is a problem here. Many folks have no hope of ever traveling far beyond their own little town, so they don't feel the need to learn about the world. Many places teach their kids multiple languages as a part of their normal education, beginning in grade school, while here it's still an elective thing,- US arrogance.