Firstly, before I get flamed, I want to start off saying that I am an American but I'm no poli-sci or history expert, this is just my own 2 cents lol Lately I've been thinking a lot about America, more specifically the future of America. I think we all see it; that America is going downhill extremely quickly both economically and, I believe, socially. I feel like, as Americans, we have lost touch with our roots. Our revolutionary roots, to be more specific. We idolize our founding fathers. In our eyes they are infallible, groundbreaking uber-humans that created a malleable and 'perfect' country of freedom. We thank them every day for fighting against The Man, so to say, to win our independence from a government that persecuted them. What they did was extremely controversial and radical, but even through the criticism and persecution, they came out victorious with the freedoms and liberties that we have begun to lose our grasp on. This was the land of the free and the home of the brave they fought for. Fast forward about 250 years. Present day. We are at arguably one of the lowest points ever in the American (and global) economy and way of life. There is unprecedented corruption and greed in our own government. Our 2 main parties are butting heads just for political games, money dominates our government, our freedoms are being stripped from us, and we hardly do ANYTHING about it. We brush it off as if it is okay; as if it is the norm. If the government (or anybody, for that matter) does something unfavorable to us, we bitch and moan about it, but we don't get on our feet, pimp slap The Man and give him the finger (metaphorically speaking of course ). But if any person did go against The Man, they are labeled oftentimes a terrorist, an anti-American or (God forbid) a socialist. We have lost touch with the foundational principle that democracy is built on progress. It must be able to bend and mold to fit the times and be able to work effectively for the people of the country as a whole. If the founding fathers saw the country in the condition it's in now, they would have to be ashamed. How can we call ourselves the "Home of the brave" when we're too afraid to do anything about our afflictions? Discuss.
we have the largest gdp in the world, strongest workforce in the world, have some of the lowest corruption rates in the world, the most civil liberties in the world. sure, there are problems, as there always is, no matter where you look, but saying the founding fathers would be ashamed- i think not
the founders of America were rugged individualists. current Americans, in rhetoric yes, but actuality not so much.
the founding fathers would clearly be ashamed. there would be lots and lots of old school duels if they suddenly came back from the dead
lolwut? I don't know where you got that we have the lowest corruption rate in the world, nor how you could even make that a quantifiable conclusion. I hate to burst everyone's bubbles, but our country is no less impervious to corruption as any, and I would argue that America is on the same level of corruption as many of our sworn enemies. I can agree that we do have the largest GDP in the world, and a relatively liberal social policies, but for a country that we think is so great, it is nowhere near up to par of what it could and should be.
Corruption Perceptions Index - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia if you've never lived anywhere besides the US in your life, it seems like a lot of people tend to take quite a few things for granted
I just lol'd because according to the chart the US is now more corrupt than the country we won our independence from
i think population size has a lot of correlation between corruption, and with that in mind, it's pretty damn good
I guess unprecedented isn't quite the right word to use. What I meant by it is there is an unknown (likely large) amount of corruption that goes on right under our nose, but we just turn our heads. It also depends on your definition of corruption too, because in my book, corruption doesn't necessarily mean that it is an illegal form of corruption (bribery, extortion, voting fraud, etc) but it can also be completely legal. Such as companies being able to donate unlimited money to campaigns in exchange for some selfish benefit if elected.
I can't remember who said it but "The scandal is Washington is never what's illegal, the scandal is what's legal" Legal corruption is hardly flourishing but the system we operate under is corrupt in itself
are we all suppose to grab our guns and go raid the white house case we want pot legal or some other BS? Cmon man it is not that bad here.
I, myself have complained in the past, but in reality we are very privileged (sp?). I can sit in my front yard holding up a sign that says "Obama sucks ass" with no repercussions. Also, if you stay cool, calm, and collected and don't draw attention to yourself you can do whatever you want in your house. Ex) Grow weed.
Corruption "perception" index Note it doesn't rate actual corruption, it just surveys some groups and what they perceive the corruption to be in other countries.
what is 'actual corruption' and how would you rate it? hmm, maybe you could measure bribes paid, or something from reading their methodology, there's a bit more too it than you're probably thinking
When American Idol gets more votes than the Presidential elections, Im pretty sure the Founding Fathers would be incredibly disappointed in the apathy of our nation. The architecture is better than most, but the people are the main problem. They just dont care. The ones that do care enough to do something about it are so vastly divided that it only creates more problems
i think the general ignorance in politics shows the true success of the country. no one really cares, they already have what they need to enjoy a modest but enjoyable lifestyle
This may be the case for some, but we must ask ourselves how much longer we can sustain the American lifestyle if our country keeps going in this direction economically and environmentally
economically we are still on top of the world. as for the environment, i thought all that was a myth and stuff, deregulate everything
You can't rate it, because it's not quantifiable. How many bribes ever come to light? Just because you never hear about corruption out of America doesn't mean it's any less then any other nation, it just shows that our politicians know how to get away with it.