"America is not the greatest country in the world..." ?? (Page 2)

Is there an award they pass out for this designation?  Will the richest in the world come pay off our debt?  Does it mean we can walk into a bar in some other country and say, "you suck?" 

Every country has its problems, and each has things that are wonderful, but all people around the world deserve respect as human beings.  So who "greatest" has little meaning to me.

And actually, I guess the closest to a real answer relates to debt.  We keep running up more debt, and people keep buying it, so we must have something going for us.

You're absolutely right about the economic clout on that one.  But I have to say China's Military has never really been in a position to do anything to affect the global scale.

We have 11 supercarrier groups and about 7 possible Amphib Task Groups.  They have a used Ukrainian ramp-ship carrier that is being refurbished.

They have 3 MM people in their military.  We have a 1 MM person volunteer force.  Of their 3 Million, ~300 are deployed in anti-piracy activities mostly in the South China Sea.  Greater than 50% of our forces have deployed.  That field experience is huge in a real fight.

Their air force consists of about 120 aircraft.  We have that on some bases.  Our pilots have more hours in combat than any other nation's pilots have combining training and combat hours. They're coming-up with a stealth plane that can't go on their aforementioned carrier.  We have a stealth plane F-22 that pilots are likely to be phased-out of because it pulls too many G's and pilots are filing complaints about the lack of oxygen (UAV's don't need oxygen).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Liberation_Army

While nobody should think of attacking their mainland, they're not terribly likely to attack others anytime soon either.  They're getting too much money from us right now to think about that.

I've always thought that Russia should be most worried about China coming after Siberia.  It's got lots of resources and China could be there in a month.  Population problems, high Male:Female ratio, send 1 MM men across into Siberia and see what you can get... I'll admit it's crazy...

For those that agree that the US is not the greatest country in the world, I'd be interested in seeing which countries you would rank above the it. Are any/all of them places you think you'd want live?

Personally, I'm not convinced we are necessarily the greatest country, but when I try to think of a country I'd rank above it, I have a hard time coming up with one that I'm convinced is "better".

This one is easy, it's the Marilyn Monroe with Bacon at Diablo Burger in Flagstaff, AZ. 

Clearly you've never had a Z-Man at Oklahoma Joe's in Kansas City.

That's cool, and we don't disagree.  I, however, don't agree that a belief that the US is the greatest country in the world has caused or fosters the problems you cite - at least by me.

From a GDP standpoint we're still double what China is.  Obviously they're loaning us a lot of money and have a lot of economic clout though.

I will always extend my respect to your opinions, even if we disagree about the causality of the problems.  

That's pretty boring.

What a silly, stupid debate.  If someone thinks America is/is not the "greatest country in the world," whatever that means, who am I to argue with that?

WHoops, I mean

America!  F*** YEAH!!!

Boring.

Well, look at it this way - what is the greatest STATE in the US? Or what is the greatest CITY? And why doesn't everyone move to that place? Because what matters to people varies, and people sometimes stay where they are to be near family and friends and familiar surroundings. 

I've lived in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in my lifetime. I've been in PA the longest, but I don't think it is the greatest state. There is no ocean and it is a long drive to go diving. When I used to ski, it had a little bit to offer, but again, nowhere near being "the best state". The area I live in is nice enough, but I don't consider it to be "the greatest", even within the state. 

Again, I think you have to determine the metrics you are using to call something "the greatest", and which are important to you. The schools in the town I live in were recently rated the best in the state. If I had school age kids, that would be important to me, and would be weighted more heavily in a decision to move. OTOH, we are near a very high crime area, which was recently rated the poorest in the country. So if I was picking a "best city in my state", it would not likely be here.

Yeah, sort of makes it a personal opinion.

Oh fine...Your opinions make me want to slap you, but that would be animal abuse.  

Like, say, Pakistan??

Amen to that.  I joined the Navy so I could see the world.  After visiting 27 different countries all I wanted to do was get back to the US.

Being Canadian, I pick Canada.    I wouldn't want to live in any other country and if forced to leave, the US likely wouldn't be at the top of my list of where to go.  I enjoy travelling there, I have no specific reason why but I wouldn't want to live there.  

Except for Hawaii....  I might be ok with living there.  

Careful, that sort of thinking will distort your freedom.

Boring