Yes I have, for the second time. Do you have problems with reading comprehention?
Here is what makes America great. Greatness can be defined as:
great·ness
ˈɡrātnəs/
noun
- the quality of being great, distinguished, or eminent.
"Elgar's greatness as a composer"
synonyms: eminence, distinction, illustriousness, repute, high standing; More
#1 Greatest military power in the planets history
#2 Greatest leaders in the history of the planet. Leaders like George Washington who at the time was the first leader to ever give up his or her power willingly.
#3 Planes, trains and automobiles, enough said.
#4 Freedom. Power of the people not governments.
#5 First to the moon
#6 America turned the tides in WWII, otherwise we all would be speaking German
#7 Due Process
#8 States, where policy is tried out in 50 different landscapes.
#9 The Internet, you're welcome
#10 Movies worth watching, sports worth watching, TV worth watching, ext ext.
Clear enough? Asking for definitions of greatness, lol. This isn't gender we are talking about
The dictionary definition doesn't really work. What is meant by the quality of being great, distinguished, or eminent? How do we measure greatness.
Your No. 10 is one thing that many Americans and people outside of our country would argue that makes American less than great. Are all we meant to do on earth is to sit in front of a box wanting to be entertained? people called it the "boob tube" in the 1970s for a reason--because it has the ability to make people stupid.
Your No. 9 is also circumspect. The reason we are were we are politically and economically is because of the internet. It has the potential to provide information and educational services to anyone--but it has actually quickly disrupted business practices, and most people fry out on the internet all day long rather than working, checking their facebook and other social media accounts. Wireless internet on our phones can get people killed and it does. Heard of folks taking selfies and then dying in the process? The internet is available in other nations, too. So arent' they great as well?
The internet's existence is hardly a criteria that makes anyone great.
Your No. 8 refers to a decentralized political system. Historically, these kinds of systems fail through in-fighting. And, on the states, weed is legal in several states, and quasi-legal in a dozen others. But in certain states it's public enemy No. 1--federalism is the reason why draconian laws cannot change overnight. Same deal with prohibitions to women voting--it was a state-by-state change that led to the Nineteenth Amendment. Likewise with alcohol prohibition--it went state by state and after the Twentieth Amendment was repealed in the 1930s, a host of southern states continued state-level prohibition well into the 1960s. Federalism was the founding generation's attempt to create an inert system in which it took decades even centuries to change laws and policies.
Your No. 7 is about non-existent in many of the states and local communities that violate all kinds of people's rights. I work with prisoners in Louisiana. Not one of them had a decent lawyer. When we've gone over basic civics, they scoff at the idea of due process. And the southern states didn't recognize due process from an institutional standpoint until the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Your No. 6 ignores the allied nations' contributions to the war effort. The Soviets, for example, were nearly completely destroyed by 1943. They lost somewhere around 25 million people between 1941 and 1944--because the Nazis were in their country wreaking havoc. The Soviets moved their industrial capacity into the hinterland during the occupation, rebuilt it, retooled their military, and then beat the Americans and Brits to Berlin. And Hitler reserved his best troops for the Eastern Front. Japan finally surrendered after the Soviets entered the war against Japan in 1945--after the bombs fell. Military historians all over the world argue that the Soviets were the really mighty power during WWII--but that narrative ruffles feathers in the west given the Soviets' communist sociopolitical economy.
Your No. 5 demonstrates American technological superiority in the 1960s at the same time that Americans, for the most part, believed blacks should enter from the backdoor and shouldn't be allowed to vote in the South. It also occurred at a time when the U.S. was engaged in a war of genocide in Southeast Asia. What did a moon landing do for poverty, racism, and economic inequality? What did it do for world leadership other than to make other nations fear our power? Do other nations like us because we're "great" as you say, or are they in fear of us? Is there a distinction in your conception of greatness?
On No. 4, America has never been a free country and never will be. It's the most expensive country where corporations pay the least. Black people are not free in this country. Look at the racial breakdown of those incarcerated. What happened to the Native Americans? They sure as hell aren't free. Women are paid significantly less than males who do the same work. How is that freedom? In America, you're free to work yourself to death and that's about it.
so with No. 3, obviously you haven't been to Canada because they have those things there, too. Actually, trains are decreasing in America. Our dependence on automobile use has horrible ramifications. We need more trains, but the golden showers, "you're fired" guy, signed an exec order a month ago to deteriorate further America's rail services.
No. 2 deserves a caveat--Washington was bored. If he was the greatest military leader in the world, then why do West Point students study the tactics of Grant instead? Washington was good at running away. As long as the British couldn't destroy Washington's continentals, the rebellion was still alive. That was the sum total of his tactics until the French joined up. Curtis LeMay was perhaps Americans worst general. He was good at killing the Japanese and later the Vietnamese, but he was a horrible genocidal maniac. That's great in your mind?
On No. 1--we'll see in a future war just how good our military is. This next big conflict will be fought on American shores, but not in the way that you think. Foreign powers will cripple our internet and that will lead to chaos and upheaval in American society, and Americans will be hopelessly ineffective at dealing with it.
And despite how "great" you think the military might be, we're still in Afghanistan with no end in sight, and the military failed to pacify the middle east with GW Bush's wars.
To say a nation is great because of a military or military tradition is a "strongman" type of conception of great.
So to sum up, your idea of greatness relies on strength. It's all might makes right in your view, and I completely disagree.
R:RT too long, didn't read, retard.