Interesting Clip US Greatest Country in the World?

Hi all,

Is the USA the Greatest Country of the World? Interesting answer:

http://www.safeshare.tv/w/UAGOcLSuLX

Hmm, makes one think don't it?

Poker

That series (The Newsroom) is overall very good and has some very interesting thoughts about where the Republican party has been headed for the last several years and what's happened with the Tea Party movement.

Here's an unedited version of the clip with a bit more context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zqOYBabXmA

pokermind wrote:Hi all,

Is the USA the Greatest Country of the World? Interesting answer:

http://www.safeshare.tv/w/UAGOcLSuLX

Hmm, makes one think don't it?

Poker

I do not get cable TV, so I had never seen this show. I do not know the actor's name behind that rant, but find me a politician who actually believed what was said and was willing to act on it and I will vote for him in any election he runs in. To me, that is the kind of leader any country needs.

It's HBO, so most people can't watch it as it airs. Aaron Sorkin (of The West Wing and The Social Network fame) is the lead writer and show creator. The actor is Jeff Daniels.

KNick wrote:I do not get cable TV, so I had never seen this show. I do not know the actor's name behind that rant, but find me a politician who actually believed what was said and was willing to act on it and I will vote for him in any election he runs in. To me, that is the kind of leader any country needs.

He played George Washington in The Crossing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wpC8w0_k34 1 hour 30 min and Joshia Cumberland in Gettysburg. A very good character actor and, he writes and sings songs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOTgPPusnkY not recommended unless you have a working sense of humor

Poker

KNick wrote:I do not get cable TV, so I had never seen this show. I do not know the actor's name behind that rant, but find me a politician who actually believed what was said and was willing to act on it and I will vote for him in any election he runs in. To me, that is the kind of leader any country needs.

I can say this thought that he got it correct on his details of how we are not the greatest country. however that situation can be corrected IF and i do mean if we can address all the reasons by which america is not the greatest country.

Problem is there are valid reasons by which i fear that wont happen but which i cannot say them properly since this in not the forum i feel comfortable saying it in. Some of you know me enough to figure out what i am hinting and if you can then you should be able to figure out the reasons for me doing it this way.

A matter of definition, and everyone in a reasonably good country would naturally think theirs would be the best anyway. The US is the most powerful in military and economic terms, plus probably the most influential in politics and the arts, and you have silicone valley plus other hi tech industries.
In the terms used here of how it relates to the individual, then yes by the normal benchmarks of life expectancy, median income, education, future aspirations, income security, health system, percentage incarcerated, etc; the US is lagging overall, as can be found by Googling the reports.
I do hope that previous comments I have made here are seen as I intended as honest puzzled questions, not as overall criticisms.
One area that continues to puzzle is that of all the developed countries the US is the most right wing and nongovernment interventionist; yet when ever this comes up the Tea Party and similar say that the solution is to further restrict the role of government. If the small government free market is so great then why is the US in this fix? And why do heavily welfared countries like Scandinavian ones come out so well?
My ill informed opinion is along the lines of having a system that - lets the mega rich pay very little tax or wages, while restricting the disposable income of the workers by low wages so they can't spend to stimulate the economy, while restricting welfare so many end up costing a lot of money to keep in jail, while pandering to the arms industry by starting wars, and having expensive duplication of services from not having a strong national government - leads to the current situation.
No country is perfect and I certainly criticize my own more harshly than this from knowing the problems better and having a citizen's right to do so.

Deflation on the common person's major asset, their home, inflation of everything else, a Fed that keeps the interest rate an order of magnitude below the inflation rate discouraging saving. Politicians so corrupt that most people would trust a used car salesman before they would trust a politician. One set of laws for the power elite while we commoners see our personal rights and liberties trampled. The American people having for the first time a belief that their children's world will be worse than their own. All brought about by the mistaken belief that if government steals your wealth to distribute to the bureaucrats things will get better. Where did my country go

And you suggest more government? I am not convinced

Poker

Daryl wrote:A matter of definition, and everyone in a reasonably good country would naturally think theirs would be the best anyway. The US is the most powerful in military and economic terms, plus probably the most influential in politics and the arts, and you have silicone valley plus other hi tech industries.
In the terms used here of how it relates to the individual, then yes by the normal benchmarks of life expectancy, median income, education, future aspirations, income security, health system, percentage incarcerated, etc; the US is lagging overall, as can be found by Googling the reports.
I do hope that previous comments I have made here are seen as I intended as honest puzzled questions, not as overall criticisms.
One area that continues to puzzle is that of all the developed countries the US is the most right wing and nongovernment interventionist; yet when ever this comes up the Tea Party and similar say that the solution is to further restrict the role of government. If the small government free market is so great then why is the US in this fix? And why do heavily welfared countries like Scandinavian ones come out so well?
My ill informed opinion is along the lines of having a system that - lets the mega rich pay very little tax or wages, while restricting the disposable income of the workers by low wages so they can't spend to stimulate the economy, while restricting welfare so many end up costing a lot of money to keep in jail, while pandering to the arms industry by starting wars, and having expensive duplication of services from not having a strong national government - leads to the current situation.
No country is perfect and I certainly criticize my own more harshly than this from knowing the problems better and having a citizen's right to do so.

If the small government free market is so great then why is the US in this fix? And why do heavily welfared countries like Scandinavian ones come out so well?

It's all in the examples you choose. Socialism seems to work reasonably well for Scandinavia but it's not worked nearly as well elsewhere. France is in real trouble, far worse than the USA and Greece is a disaster! So what are the cultural differences which allows it to work better in Scandinavia than Greece? And are those cultural differences strong enough to keep it working in Scandinavia or will those countries slowly start to look more like Greece?

In the case of the US, locals which are more socialist (California for example) also tend to be economic trainwrecks with a lot more similarities to Greece than to Sweden. So while small government isn't perfect, as a practical matter it really works a lot better for the USA.

biochem wrote:

If the small government free market is so great then why is the US in this fix? And why do heavily welfared countries like Scandinavian ones come out so well?

It's all in the examples you choose. Socialism seems to work reasonably well for Scandinavia but it's not worked nearly as well elsewhere. France is in real trouble, far worse than the USA and Greece is a disaster! So what are the cultural differences which allows it to work better in Scandinavia than Greece? And are those cultural differences strong enough to keep it working in Scandinavia or will those countries slowly start to look more like Greece?

In the case of the US, locals which are more socialist (California for example) also tend to be economic trainwrecks with a lot more similarities to Greece than to Sweden. So while small government isn't perfect, as a practical matter it really works a lot better for the USA.

I would say it has been working better for scandinavia because of the parts of socialism they choose to follow. France by contrast may just have picked the wrong policies to follow, and as shown by Sarkozy, had a governemnt that was more formish then substance. Scandinavia has a system of policies that work for them and their populace well, and a coalition government that seems to have plenty of substance that has worked for them for years.