Proud to be an American?

[suiram77]

Originally Posted by Mental AtrraXXXion

If tomorrow all the things were gone
I worked for all my life
And I had to start again
With just my children and my wife
I thank my lucky stars
To be living here today
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom
And they can't take that away
And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up next to you
And defend Her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt
I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.
From the lakes of Minnesota
To the hills of Tennessee
Across the plains of Texas
From sea to shining sea
From Detroit down to Houston
And New York to L.A.
Where's pride in every American heart
And it's time we stand and say
That I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up next to you
And defend Her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt
I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.
And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up next to you
And defend Her still today
'Cause there ain't no doubt
I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

In that song, when it says I’m proud to be an American, where least I know I’m Free, key word is FREE. As I stated in my earlier post that we are the most free country, so that is what we should be proud of and that is we are indeed free, so I agree with having the freedom that others don’t have, but that’s about it for me.

[Grace Preston]

Originally Posted by TinMan

Interesting take. I’m not an immigrant, but I still feel that pride anyway. I suppose it’s because I feel like I’m part of the community of Americans. It’s organic and comes naturally to me. It helps that there are intellectual underpinnings for that (I would rather have our messy constitutional form of government than any others, as one example), but at the core it’s an emotional attachment that most citizens of the world feel for their home. I’m not ashamed of it, and believe those feelings of belonging are essential to happiness.

I think part of it-- for me at least-- is that its very difficult to appreciate the freedom/etc. for a country that by and large at the very least wants the people on this board in jail-- with some on the lunatic fringe who say all ladies in this industry should be killed. It is hard for me to have a deep and abiding love for a place that has shown time and time again that it does not have any love for me or my ilk.

[Vanilla Gorilla]

Pride comes before the fall. I would suggest humility for the win instead.

[shooter6.5]

I have been a lot of places in this world, and there is really no other place like this great country we live in...
I have had the chance to see great places and then also the parts that are war torn and not rebuilt--where people get killed just because they have different views or last names and no one cares.
Most in this country have NO idea what it is like to live in a valley between two large mountains and NRVER leave that valley. Do not misunderstand me--they love their country and valley.
But then again, here we have the right to atleast attempt to do better for our selves--

[Aonegonexx]

Having travelled many place around the world for long work requirements, I would say that there is no other place like America for pursuit of materialistic achievements in say innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, wealth, entertainment, ingenuity, sports etc.

But (and i may be saying the obvious to some) for overall quality of life, equality, happiness, safety, healthcare, there are many other countries that have better systems.

[suiram77]

Originally Posted by shooter6.5

I have been a lot of places in this world, and there is really no other place like this great country we live in...
I have had the chance to see great places and then also the parts that are war torn and not rebuilt--where people get killed just because they have different views or last names and no one cares.
Most in this country have NO idea what it is like to live in a valley between two large mountains and NRVER leave that valley. Do not misunderstand me--they love their country and valley.
But then again, here we have the right to atleast attempt to do better for our selves--

When you do the top 10 lowest crime and safest place to live in the world, America does not make that list, not even close. I respect your opinion on how you feel about America, but it will not be a good idea to mention anything about people being killed or crime in other countries for their views.

People are also killed, attacked, physically and verbally for their views in America as well. Look at what just happened, Trump was basically targeted for his views and even though the gunman missed him by a hair, that doesn’t change the fact that somebody tried to kill him. If that guy was a real sharp shooter and not a nut job with a gun, Trump would be certainly dead and we all talking about it. Feel however you want to feel about America, but let’s not pretend like there is not a war going on over here in our country as well, because that would be the pot calling the kettle black. Like the op that started this thread said, we are most definitely the laughing stock in the world these days.

America is number 1 in Freedom, but we dead last or next to last in mostly everything else and we continue to say we so proud? Hummmmm, I don’t know about that.

[Aonegonexx]

And at the same time, Kudos to South Sudan to kick "some" butt lol...

[mtabsw]

Originally Posted by shooter6.5

I have been a lot of places in this world, and there is really no other place like this great country we live in...
I have had the chance to see great places and then also the parts that are war torn and not rebuilt--where people get killed just because they have different views or last names and no one cares.
Most in this country have NO idea what it is like to live in a valley between two large mountains and NRVER leave that valley. Do not misunderstand me--they love their country and valley.
But then again, here we have the right to atleast attempt to do better for our selves--

Spot on. While some of my colleagues in the Navy got to visit nice places like the Med, Australia, New Zealand, the annual pleasure cruise around South America called UNITAS, Hong Kong etc - they sent my sorry ass to the middle east - and this was before the announced wars. I also had the pleasure of visiting Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt and even fucking Yemen.

If I could have one wish, it would be to make every person in the USA visit these places and get to savor the views, the smells, the lifestyles and realize just how good we all have it.

[suiram77]

Originally Posted by mtabsw

Spot on. While some of my colleagues in the Navy got to visit nice places like the Med, Australia, New Zealand, the annual pleasure cruise around South America called UNITAS, Hong Kong etc - they sent my sorry ass to the middle east - and this was before the announced wars. I also had the pleasure of visiting Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt and even fucking Yemen.

If I could have one wish, it would be to make every person in the USA visit these places and get to savor the views, the smells, the lifestyles and realize just how good we all have it.

Trust me, when everyone get back to America they going to say Damn those places was similar to home in America, but hey at least we are free to do whatever we want. Which is why our crime is so high, hints the freedom we have and a constitution that we get to enjoy that even protect criminals, white collar and street. The Middle East and New York is basically the same, smells, views suck unless you live on billionaires row, Gas high, lifestyle in New York is entirely different from the rest of the country, so yep basically the same.