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SusanA
Sport climber
Bay Area
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 21, 2019 - 01:41pm PT
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Two years after my original question. How are we doing?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 21, 2019 - 01:44pm PT
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Nobody can equal us at baseball! NOBODY!
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Bale
Mountain climber
UT
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Jan 21, 2019 - 01:47pm PT
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Yes!
(Your results may vary, depending on race, gender, and whether or not you live in Flint, MI)
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Jan 21, 2019 - 01:50pm PT
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Yes. We have Reilly on our side.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Jan 21, 2019 - 01:51pm PT
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Yes.
Still great.
In spite of all that's happened in the last two years, America is still great.
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Bale
Mountain climber
UT
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Jan 21, 2019 - 01:53pm PT
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Reilly would be great as our foreign ambassador.
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WBraun
climber
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Jan 21, 2019 - 01:58pm PT
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America has always been great but full of st00pid brainwashed ignorant people.
America's education system is predominately brainwashing ....
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jan 21, 2019 - 02:06pm PT
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We are doing great as the laughingstock of the world.
Also, we are still great at killing people.
Oh, and our incarceration rate is great too.
I'm sure there is more.
Moose
Hahaha
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SusanA
Sport climber
Bay Area
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 21, 2019 - 02:13pm PT
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What has changed in two years that makes America more, or less, great?
Personally, I can't think of anything that is better. Some say the economy is better, but my situation is about the same. It seems some things are worse :(
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Jan 21, 2019 - 02:46pm PT
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The only reason this greatness question arises is because of politicos and their rhetestoric oratory.
Mere verbal chest-thumpers, we are not more than great apes, but seek to emulate them.
Using the word "great" implies someone or something else is less.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Jan 21, 2019 - 02:50pm PT
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Great question, Susan. It's been asked of many of the Republicans here that voted for Trump, and I can't recall a clear, straight answer.
They'll undoubtedly call out the economy, but that's no more of an effect of the current President than it was for Clinton.
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ecdh
climber
the east
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Jan 21, 2019 - 03:14pm PT
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Yes.
But it’s such an arbitrary term as to be meaningless. Perfect number sticker material tho.
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Bale
Mountain climber
UT
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Jan 21, 2019 - 03:16pm PT
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Mouse speaks the truth.
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Jan 21, 2019 - 03:28pm PT
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Great compared to what?
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johntp
Trad climber
By decision or indecision we are where we are.
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Jan 21, 2019 - 03:41pm PT
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The US is both great and and horrible at once.
I wonder what it would be like to be a citizen of Canada or Switzerland.
The US does more to support humanitarian causes than any other nation.
We also promote extreme consumerism, profiteering and war. It's ying and yang.
The people of the US have good hearts. Our leaders (pfft!) suck.
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capseeboy
Social climber
portland, oregon
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Jan 21, 2019 - 03:54pm PT
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Great for some, not so great for others.
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Trump
climber
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Jan 21, 2019 - 04:06pm PT
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Great - of an extent amount or intensity considerably above the normal or average.
In terms of size, yes, we’re great! Second or so biggest!
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-does-us-spend-its-foreign-aid
“As a percent of gross domestic product (GDP), however, U.S aid spending ranks near the bottom of all developed countries.”
But the way we see it is that “The people of the US have good hearts.”
I’d say our ability to sustain unreasonably self-approving opinions of ourselves is pretty great too.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jan 21, 2019 - 04:15pm PT
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Great compared to what?
Well, duh, Somalia!
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Jan 21, 2019 - 06:53pm PT
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I heard that story too. What is not usually mentioned is that the Rangers had killed civilians in the process of previous attempts to get Hadid and the population was pretty riled up about US Forces before Black Hawk Down.
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nah000
climber
now/here
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Jan 21, 2019 - 07:38pm PT
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“america” is at least its land, its people and its systems of organizing the two...
greatness, as others have pointed out, is intrinsically comparative...
given both its size, but more importantly the place that that size spans on the globe and therefore its resultant diversity, beauty, and productivity i don’t think there can be any doubt that america as land is truly great.
and due to its time in history and that its systems of organization encouraged humans from all over the rest of the world to immigrate to, organize themselves on and then seek to fulfill their greatest individual potentials in america, i believe it is clear that america as a people is certainly great.
similarly, the systems of organization by many, many relative metrics [protection of its land, productivity, freedom of its people, creativity and innovation, etc] can not be considered anything but great.
and so finally, due to the combination of all three america’s influence on the greater world is, at this moment, inarguably the greatest.
which is why outside critics like myself focus on you and some of your apparent short comings more than most other countries...
you’re a bit like a 1950s era biff who has a sweet ride, the prettiest girlfriend and both academic and football scholarships to the school of his choice...
but yet still picks on tiny for lunch money now and again.
as per the follow up question regarding as compared with yourselves two years ago?
land: hasn’t changed enough to not still be great
people: ditto
systems of organization: this outsider can’t not see a near perfect attempt to replicate the mistakes of the 1920s and so while by many of the current metrics [stock market, productivity, etc] one could argue that america as systems is greater than it was, i suspect that from a future perspective on the present it will be clear that things have in fact become more worse than they were two years ago...
time, as always, will bring greater clarity.
with that said the greatest wild card is that as long as your democracy is mostly intact your ability to course correct in rapid fashion has always been one of your greatest strengths.
[with the afore mentioned people and land being two of the other wildcard strengths that are the most important.]
and so regardless: this outsider is rooting for you!
[especially since given the length of our border with you, i don’t think we can afford a wall... hahaha!]
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