[U.S.A.] We're not #1 - are the good days gone forever?

What is number 1

and why do Americans care so much about being "number 1"

 

The fact of the matter is we are still a legitimate hegemony. We have the influence to reach across every single continent on Earth. We lead the west and the west leads the world, for now.

Until that changes, this arbitrary ruling of #1 that everyone here is adopting still stands.

That being said everyone here that is advocating complacency is wrong. Progress is key to maintaining our hegemonic status.

 

But... We're not number one and we're not always the best. IMO, to arrogantly boast the falsehood that we are is to our own detriment.

We're all Rockets fans here, correct? How many people do you hear touting that the Rockets are the best team in the league? None. And thats because the evidence and statistics CLEARLY show the contrary. Does that mean that we don't love our team?

That weak "Why do you hate America / America love it or leave it" arguement is old and costly. We need to accurately evaluate our country and approach our problems from our actual situation, and not from where our pride and mis-guided patriotism dictates.

 

Given the choice between hegemony and having a nice place to live, I'm inclined our government will choose hegemony.

 

We are in the eyes of most humans. That's why most want to live here. When everything is factored in (infrastructure, military, freedom, rights, opportunity, etc.) most humans prefer USA over everywhere else. Not complicated.

then don't make it the title of your thread. Call your thread 'America is worse now then before' or something. We are still far and away number 1.

Some title the OP made. I made an assumption what it meant, but you would have to ask him what he meant.

IT can matter for economic growth. Your country needs to be a desirable place to live if you want to convince private industries to set up shop in your country.

 

Well. Yes...
Every country on Earth strives to be a hegemony at some point. The Cold War was the deciding factor between the Soviet Union and the United States and which one would become the hegemony. Now the weird part about that was that typically hegemons are typically established after periods of HEAVY conflict.

The United States for the most part did participate in wars but never directly against their rivals. It was weird because in a sense it was almost a battle between two ideologies instead of two countries.

 

I wonder how much that was because both ideologies require expansion to succeed. Capitalism needs new markets, and Communism strives to liberate working men everywhere. All the proxy wars were over places where one ideology was expanding (Vietnam, Latin America, Korea, Angola, Afghanistan)

 

Right now I do think it's the best. I disagree with the OP that we are not #1 but I completely agree with the OP in that we have things to work on. The OP is very eye-opening and I am very aware that we have problems as a nation. And I think that in order to continue to be the best, we have to take action.

 

True that.
The ideologies were simply incapable of peacefully coexisting with each other.
Communism has since fallen however and every remaining practitioner of true communism has remained relatively isolated with no expansionist figurehead to further their ideologies.

 

It is so ridiculously arbitrary to make up some random be all end all ranking though. It makes no sense. Is there some sort of algorithm or computational standard that someone has created to put countries into each respective ranking? No, there isn't.

No doubt our country has many shortfalls but to me panicking because of some arbitrary world ranking is silly.

 

Countries out there stating...*ahem*...stuntin dat der numba 1 r jus like dem rap stars claimin dey numba 1 rappa alive...

 

True, there is no official ranking as there shouldn't be, it's purely a matter of opinion. I'm not panicking at all, lol.

 

I don't know if there is a standard to say which country is number one or the best in the world. For every country, there are good and bad about that country. Some countries with poor human rights, government corruption records are not desirable to live, but even some other countries considered to a good country like Sweden, Japan are probably still not desirable for me to live.
Having grown up in China and now a US citizen and for as much as criticism I have belabored on this board, I will say one thing thoug: I am proud of being an American. I love this coutry for the liberty accorded to the people. You stil have a government and people up on the top in power sensitive to humanity. This is the best country to live as far as I am concerned.

 

Good point. That's a cold world notion. Remember being number 1 over USSR was pretty big deal.

 

I am not saying you are wrong, but what makes living in the US better than say Denmark or Sweden? The only I can see is the US have a much bigger military power. The standard of living and level of education is not higher or better.

 

Well, I wouldn't want to live in those two countries. That says about living standard. For everybody, that's an individual decision and judgment. Many folks including my grandparents and parents returned to China after living here for awhile. I am just not sure how much an objective living standard on aggregate without accouting cultural and other factors means that much to an average folk. However, that doesn't mean I don't care about or recognize an eroding world status of this country in this down economy. That should be something to be taken serious by every citizen of this country. I don't know much about those two northern European countries, but from what I heard, the culture there is bit seclusive and depressing for me. Also, you gotta take the size of the country, population into account. Those two countries are pretty much irrelevant in the world political structure. It is obviously for a country as diverse and as big as the US to maintain a high level of living standard for a long time. I will say the current system in this country in general is flawed on many level. However, nobody can say that what has worked for those countries will work in the US and nobody can say the system will not correct itself in light of the current condition.

 

Honestly, I don't see the point of this thread. I take issue with Republicans too. BUT ... We all know things are pretty bad. Most Americans are fed up. We have passed the point in arguing whether today is not as good as the goold old days. So what to discuss?