Overall, 39% of U.S. adults say they are “extremely proud” to be American in the most recent poll.
Meanwhile, only 18% of those aged 18-34 said the same, compared to 40% of those aged 35-54 and 50% of those 55 and over.
18% is still too high. As Obama’s pastor said, God damn America! Americans have very little to be proud of at this point.
What is there to be proud of?
Abolishing slavery, ending Jim Crow, giving women the vote, becoming one of the first dozen countries on the planet to legalize gay marriage, helping win WW2, helping support Ukraine, donating more to foreign aid than any other country on the planet, the Marshall Plan, everything about NASA, best national parks on the planet, entertainment capital of the world, first country to land a man on the moon, the whole “nation of immigrants” things making us one of the most diverse countries on the planet.
And of course, none of that excuses the dark parts of our history, the slavery, genocide, imperialism in Latin America, among many, many others. But that brings me to the thing I love most about American: with the exception of the loud Republican minority, we’re a country that actually reckons with the dark parts of our past and tries to make up for them instead of sweeping them under the rug. And then we get to work fixing them.
We’ve made so much progress even in my relatively brief lifetime-- in agonizing two-steps-forward, one-step-back fashion, for sure, but that doesn’t make it not count. I’m so excited to see where we go in the future.
We’ve never been the shining city on the hill, but we sure want to pretend we are.
Something benefiting you doesn’t make it wrong? The US compared to the other powers of the time extracted much less wealth to its conquered territories, and genuinely benefited them in a lot of ways. Compare the US to what the USSR did to Mongolia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Or, compare the US to what France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Portugal did trying to hang on to their colonies and extract as much wealth from them as possible. Not to mention how many citizens of those countries are proud of that! The US obviously did engage in disgusting acts at the time, particularly in Vietnam, in support of the KMT, and genuine imperialism in Latin America. But- the Marshall Plan is not anywhere near on those levels.
I see you’re speaking for yourself.
From the wikipedia article you didn’t read:
I was not suggesting the people can’t be proud of the not-good things their country does-- only that they shouldn’t. Also: whataboutism never defends any given position or stance; don’t rely on it too much, if at all.
I don’t know what you mean. Are you saying that the United States isn’t generally pretty racist and that I’m just projecting? Or was this just a halfhearted attempt at an ad hominem attack? Elaborate please.
I did? (For the ad hominem accusation later this seems like an ad hominem too) I don’t see how that changes what I said. The Marshall plan was giving aid to countries to buy loyalty. It was still giving aid. The Soviets orchestrated coups in countries and seized their wealth to distribute throughout the USSR.
I wasn’t suggesting they were right in being proud of it. I was arguing that compared to other powers of the era(and now) the Marshall plan was lacking harm.
I’m criticizing you collectivizing Americans in a “we”. Giving collective responsibility, actions, and desires where there are none. If you say “we did x” you are taking responsibility for x- but I didn’t do x and I will not take responsibility for it. So, I said I see you are speaking for yourself when you say “we did x”
I assumed you didn’t read it because the criticism is also that it didn’t actually help. That is to say, countries that got the money didn’t recover faster than those that didn’t. So what would you call something that benefits just yourself?
Is “lacking harm” something to be proud of?
I try not to take an aggressive stance, but this is 100% Grade-A bullshit. Where is this stance of yours when it comes to the Marshall Plan? The entire topic is about taking pride in the collective actions of the country. If “we” did things to be proud of, then “we” did things you should be ashamed of. You have to pick one mode of thought-- you can’t claim pride in just the good things while refusing responsibility for the bad.
I never argued the aid guaranteed faster recovery on national level. I argued aid helped people who had their lives destroyed by a massive war. There are billions of factors that influence GDP growth, of course its not guaranteed aid can create it.
For a major geopolitical action from a superpower- honestly yeah.
We didn’t do things. I am not proud of the Marshall Plan, I am not proud of any actions by any government or any country at any point. I disagree with the person saying that you should be proud to be American- just as you do. But, I also disagree with your criticism of the Marshall Plan as harmful imperialism. I can disagree with two things at once. I said here you shouldn’t be proud of your country in another thread before even seeing your comment
Your entire discussion seems milquetoast at this point. You didn’t mean this, you didn’t say that. Even here you send mixed messages-- is “lacking harm” something to be proud of? You say: “honestly, yeah”.
I think you’re just wasting my time at this point.
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I actually agree, there are many many things to hate America for, and I agree with them, and I will always vocally oppose those elements of this country and encourage others to do so, but, there’s also some great things we’ve done as a country and a people that I very much am proud to have been a part of personally. I won’t make pretense to the contrary simply because there are elements for which we ought to, and do, criticize
A lot of that is just a list of problems America had that were solved by people fighting against the American government lol
Yes, which is the single biggest reason I’m proud to be American: because our people’s willingness to stand up for one another and keep fighting for a better tomorrow, even against the most powerful opponents, even at risk to their own lives.
This strongly implies this is something special about American people that isn’t shared by the rest of humanity.
Be proud to be human because our heritage is international. Splitting us up into national identities is ridiculous and only holding us back.
I can be proud to be American and a human at the same time. Saying “I love my family” doesn’t mean I don’t love other people too, and it doesn’t mean I think my family is somehow better than other human beings, it just means I love my family. Same logic applies here.
And what of the many atrocities committed by America?
And what of the many atrocities committed by humanity?
Can the bourgeoisie really be said to be human? 😊
God damn America. I will never be proud of this evil shithole lol