[collin]

I agree our education is good. I'm attempting to get into Dartmouth currently, otherwise I may go to Notre Dame. I think the only way you don't get anything out of our education system would be if you slept through your classes.

I'm hoping to actually travel the world quite a bit, so maybe I'll be able to develop an opinion on some other countries.

[Duckman2]

The world is too rich a place to not want to leave America, too much to soak up in one lifetime.

[FelixL]

quote

Quote:

The next time a cruel, crazy, powerful war monger decides to swallow the entire Europe, before asking the Americans for help, think about how much you hate us. And the U.S., even knowing how much the rest of the world hates us, will still send in our troops to stop Europe from being conquered.

USA only helps if there is some kind of economic rewards. They did let millions die in Rwanda, because the hutus and Tutsis don't sell diamonds or petroleum.

[wayfinder]

quote:

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Originally posted by The Magic Pen:
Rich people send there children to school in America the world around for a reason.

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yeah, they're inaccessible if you don't have the money.

[edraket]

Wow..you guys can't stop can't you?
Well in that cas..I'll join in as well...

What I find really odd is how people keep on moaning on about the living standard in the US. How is that better than any of the richer countries in the world?

For instance.
My wife's dad (in the US)had no education to speak of. To support his family he had to work two jobs and go to some kind of weird army thing in the weekends.
They lived in a crap neighborhoud with drive by's and shit. She never really got to see her dad untill she was like..15.. and by that time he was a mental wreck.
My dad (in holland)also had no education to speak of. But he just had a normal day job and quite a bit of time to spend with me. I spent my life playing in the park next to our house, never a worry about safety or whatever.
I am not trying to say that this situation represents everyone. I am just using it to illustrate mu point. Which is:
Sure you guys have some really wealthy people. But how does that raise the living standards of the common people that make up the bigger part of the country?

[jome]

quote:

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Originally posted by The Magic Pen:
colin American education is # 1 in the world. We have all the best teachers and school .when you hear people saying that crap it's total propaganda. Let me point out a few

Harverd
Yale
MIT
Brown
Washington U
Notre Dame
Princeton
Cal Tech
Pepperdine
many many others

Other countries like England have 1-2 good schools at best . Rich people send there children to school in America the world around for a reason.

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This is not true. You can not measure the quality of education by the quality of higher education. Everybody knows the level on schools like the MIT and the likes is indeed very high. You should be careful when generalizing in a discussion. Base your opinion on true facts.
Illiteracy in the US is higher than, for example, Cuba. Belgium is a top performer when it comes to math in high schools, alongside Korea and Japan, Finland has the best readers at that age, students in Europe don't need to go searching for money as much as students in the US to get them through university, because of government funding etc. This is all part of a country's educationsystem.
So saying that US education is the best in the US, is not true. I've heard students returning from the United States saying they had the easiest time of their life studying there, I've heard others say other things.
So the picture is more complex. The OECD does some interesting research on education; check their site.

[ March 06, 2002: Message edited by: jome ]

[jgrl]

*please pardon my lack of caps as my keyboard is screwed up*

i was prompted to register here entirely because of this thread.

i'm american, i've been to canada once and am hoping to return. it's an absolutely beautiful and tranquil place and is a far cry from the suburb i live in. however i don't think i'd ever lose my pride in america entirely due to the fact that i am an american citizen, i love my country, and everything that it intends to stand for. i like an altruistic government, and even though i don't necessarily agree with president bush, i admire the fact that he was elected by the people of the US, and i like the idea that my vote does count. it's a far cry from pre-sept 11th afghanistan, where a woman like myself would have no say in the government, and would have been beaten or killed had she so much as raised her voice in protest.

i find it amazing that in this country, and any other democratic country, even one person can change an entire vote. i admire any form of government that allows its people to decide how and what the politicians are going to do. i find it funny to see how people even in america fear the government, when in essence they are fearing themselves, because they are the government! as much as some may not believe that, or have been told that they don't count, the last election simply goes to prove that had the slim margin of people voted for bush, that an entirely different person could be in office right now.

as for the topic.. i think america is an incredible country, full of a diverse and incredible populus. though we do have our.. 'oddball' types. wrestling and jerry springer aren't exactly the better virtues of our 'culture' but nobody is perfect. i'm sure if you polled the lot of us not 10% would think the show to be a dictate of how each of us believes our lives should be lived. to be honest i'm sure the majority of viewers watch it simply to laugh at how inane some people can act! not to mention the show is most likely a farce anyway, but that's besides the point.

the whole idea of america vs. the world irritates me to no end because of how closed-minded so many people tend to be. whatever happened to the whole 'he who is without sin may cast the first stone' view? as many other members noted, nobody is perfect, not my country, nor yours. certainly america may have its low points, but hasn't the country done innumerable good things for the world as a whole? the populace might give the impression of being closed-minded, but certainly there are a good lot of decent people out here. often it is those people who rarely stand up upon the soap boxes, either because they're too busy to be bothered by petty arguements, or because they would rather sit back and watch the flame wars from a safer distance.

no matter how many idle factoids or statistics people may throw into the pot, it will always simmer at the same heat. people can argue to the ends of the earth how great or horrible a country is, but you are always left standing on the edge, peering down into the abyss as you have conquered nothing but to satisfy your own personal opinion. bitching and moaning about who is better than whom will only close the doors to the mind of your 'opponent' and leave you with unsubstantial evidence for an arguement ten minutes down the line.

i would be very willing to go to any other country on this earth and experience its culture firsthand. sadly i've only been to canada, but even while there i've seen every end of the spectrum imaginable, from those who are so closely tied with america that they would find it hard to live without the basic 'american' items they use on a daily basis, to those who refuse to buy anything from south of the border. usually it is those who lie just in between that i got along with so well.

i find it comforting to be friends with those who sit on the border, not wishing to argue but rather accept both the finer, and lower, points of the cultures.

my boyfriend is a canadian and i love him more than life itself. he's presented a ..different. view on america and sometimes we clash, but it all proves how much we can learn from each other. if we were not willing to sort our differences, there would be major problems. however we live in a sort of unity that transcends borders or countries or opposing views. we live and learn, and accept the differences, while loving the finer parts of our similar but different cultures. :)


i hope i made one bit of sense with that.. goodnight everyone :)

[Starseed]

When talking about pros about the States, don't forget the fact that it represents undeniable proof that the capitalistic system ROCKS and that it translates into higher quality of life and Hope for anyone who wants to make something of their life.

As for all of this Canadians dissing the States crap . . . I feel in a real minority genuinely picturing my country (Canada) basically as already teh 51st State. We have a few quirks, like some of our pronunciations, our tendency to be nice (and wimpy nonfactors at the same time) etc. but each generation here is growing up with american culture via the TV, and now the Web, Video Games, Name Brands - and to say you are Canadian and outside of that and unique is to say you grew up in a cave.

AND, personally, I think our country is too socialistic, and a good dose of reality would put us back on track. I personally think the only reason we have our cherished Universal Health Care is because other big issues like security are basically handled by being next to the world's great superpower (for the defense, and the huge trading partner).

[Coaster]

Oh my god! The monster has been resurected!

*loads shotgun in the way that an old farmer would in a bad sequal and takes fire*

..and shall this message rest in the hell that is the bottom of the topics list

[Rat]

Coaster - I agree with that.

This is NOT my opinion, but that of my mom:

The "American Empire", as she called it, is on its way to destruction. This is because of a series of bad leaders who waste their resources. It's actually like most other great empires in the past. They waste what they have, and fall. Often as a result of a series of bad rulers.

I actually added in the part about past civilizations to sort of...emphasize the point.

Now I'm going to go find the annoying little kid in my class, stuff him roughly into a small cat carrier, and mail him to Cambodia or some other distant place.

[maceface]

does it really matter?
i mean who really cares?
WHO goes around everyday bitching about USA/cananda...i know i dont i know 99% of you dont...they are both great countries...i have friends in both and i dont judge them because of where they come from or what their govt. is. cananda is great USA is great...whoopie...

[Svanur]

If you look at the States you have to take into account that States are Europe's offspring. At first, in it's early ages, it was fun and offered us interested things to do. It was cute and cuddly and then came puberty. As with many teenagers it was a bit arrogant and rude. It tried a lot of things to make people notice it.

I am just waiting for the next phase when the States reach adult age. Then they will finally see that they are equals to other nations and other nations will look at them with the same set of mind. We just have to hope that nothing spoils it's childhood.


What I find most interesting is how many Non-Native-Americans disassociate themselves from the world by saying they are the "top-dog" so to speak, when basicly they are descendants from Europe, Asia and Africa, there is little heritage you can call your own if you don't admit your heritage to the old world countries.

I am not trying to make anyone angry or anything. Just trying to point something out. America ain't a seperate entity from the rest of the world, far from it.

One thing I found funny though, someone mentioned that Art was one of the good things that came from the States. Especially since the old masters were from Europe. And don't forget the Asian Calligraphy artists, they can do some serious brushwork with their brushes.

Let's end this bullshit comparison to each other and take globalism up instead of nationalism.

[Giant Hamster]

Anal sex and fist fucking

[strata]

poxin: no war is good, true, but without them we wouldn't be sitting here yapping to each other about where certain pixels should go and so on pc processors are a byproduct of war technology, and so is pretty much EVERYTHING else we have as well =)