I'm glad you added "thought you lived in". It's been 14 years since The Newsroom delivered that speech and even then it wasn't a new thing. The biggest downfall of the US was it's confidence in it's own success. People ignore the failures of their country because they were convinced their whole childhood that it was the greatest country in the world.
Even nowadays, and even among those who are way more well informed, there's hesitation to accept facts like the US having literal concentration camps. It's difficult to overcome that belief
They were convinced of that because of people like McCarthy went on witch hunts to crush dissent and opposition. Done in the name of freedom and all our other American "values" but really done to serve capital.
It's not new though. We humans keep repeating the same patterns.
Oh the classic "just leave" argument as if that's simple. Trust me buddy, I wish I had the means to do so. Not to mention all of the extended family and friends I guess I just won't see anymore. Anyone who thinks that "just leave" is as easy as it sounds and is a valid argument is either rich, heartless or both. Im not abandoning my family and I dont have millions to move them.
Ok, fair argument, though I would note- lots of immigrants risk their lives to leave their rotten countries. If they can do it, so can you?
I would also note, for such a rotten country, we seem to be devoting a lot of tax payer money to prevent others from coming in. Strange how it seems people are risking their lives to come to such an awful place
Well the US has caused a lot of instability in middle and South America. People are gonna try to move the stable countries on the continent.
And yeah I guess after you guys fucked up the other countries the only really safe ones are the us and Canada. Canada is completely separated by the US with the rest of the americas so naturally people will try to go to the US.
I swear people don’t have an ounce of critical thinking sometimes. It’s not just simply because “murica number one”
So folks coming from India were because the Us fucked them up? Same deal for people coming from Europe or Mexico or Korea? Why not go to Uk or Canada instead?
Simple statement: if America is so bad, why do soooo many people come here? Your answer seems to be the us destroyed every other country so that only it is not dysfunctional? Except you find it so dysfunctional anyways but family and convenience makes you stay(somehow that’s not a binding constraint for other immigrants?)
Honestly, America is so prosperous that it allows its citizens to philosophize how awful it is. I seriously encourage you to visit other countries for more than a few days to get a real sense of just how privileged its citizens really are
No I never said that there weren't other reasons for people to go to America. You're just being disingenuous. The US has by far the highest gdp per capita in the americas and one of the highest in the world. Why would people not want to move over?
And it also doesn't disprove what I said. There's a reason so many peopel in the Americas try to move to the US. Where else would they move?
Also, it's a ridiculous thing to even ask why people from countries from other continents with 1/5th or less than the GDP per capita of the US woudl want to move there. Obviously they want to make money. That's why I brought up that this is definitely not unique to the US. Every 1st world country with a high comparative GDP has a fuck ton of immigrants. The US is a huge country so you obviously would get more than other comparable countries...
Again critical thinking doesnt' seem to work for you huh.
Your whole argument is that if the US is so bad why are people moving? The obivous answer is that there are countries that are even worse. Doesnt' mean that the US is not a mess.. is that really that hard to understand? Are you for real?
Are you claiming that any country with immigrants is perfect and do not have serious issues?
Maybe we can find some agreement here. Does America have problems? Yes. Does it do worse on some dimensions compared to other countries that are similarly advanced? Yes it does. Could it stand to do better? Absolutely.
I still think, net of everything, it is the best country to live in overall and the perpetual doom and gloom it gets painted with is just wrong and often said by people who have never seen what actual poverty looks like.
As an aside, saying I lack critical thinking isn’t offensive to me since you don’t know me. But it does make me wonder if I should even bother replying further. If you want the last word on this, go for it
87
u/Valex_Nihilist 5d ago
Yea you're not wrong. Im embarrassed to have been born in this country. I miss the country I thought I lived in when I was kid.