*My comments in red and between stars*

Everyone has a theory about why so many people - especially those in the media - think America is on the wrong course. Did too many of us watch too much television when we were very young, altering the brain's structure to cause a short attention span ? How about not enough fat in our diets, reducing serotonin levels ? Or did some Americans smoke too much marijuana, causing depression ?

*I'm sure this accounts for SOME. Which we'll dismiss of course.*

All or none of the above may be the culprit, but one thing is certain: We Americans are spoiled.

*No?*

Craig R. Smith, a conservative columnist, makes the case by asking what Americans are so unhappy about. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day ? Could it be because more than 95 percent of us have a job ? That we have freedom of speech, press, and religion enjoyed by few other countries in the world ? Or that we see more food in any supermarket than Darfur has seen in a year ?

*These things piss me off. Don't they piss YOU off TOO ? Who is willing to do what needs done to put a stop to these horrors ?*

"The fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen," writes Smith, who tells me that he has received more than 500 e-mails congratulating him on his column. "No wonder the world loves the United States, yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are - the most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here."

*Any comments ?*

Spoiled? Compared to Darfur... maybe. But what does the status of the rest of the world have to do with our view of our society? You should not evaluate your status based on the status of others. You should look at your situation and decide whether or not it could be better or should be better and what you think it means to be better.

Are you suggesting that because other people in the world do not have food or running water that I should all of a sudden not want my country to something about political corruption, or economic problems with the housing market, or the war in Iraq or encroachment of protected rights by our government?

Should we just take what we can get? Just settle? Because we have it better than others? Man I wish our founding fathers though that too, after all they were just a bunch of spoiled rich people who had it much better than aboriginal tribes in Africa, or the slaves in the colonies or countless other people. But rather they saw their own personal situation as not being what they want, so they sought change in order to realize certain goals. To sit back and be grateful just because others have it rough is a disgrace.

Obviously you completely missed the entire point of the article.

You say:

"To sit back and be grateful just because others have it rough is a disgrace."

I would say your long winded, stemwinding response is a disgrace :-)

Our educational system is rife with America haters and bashers. They are teaching our children . . . no wonder so many people are ashamed of America after such indoctrination from a young age. The Blame America First crowd is dominant in the NEA and most of the liberal education system.

I don't suppose the reason could be that America is genuinely on the wrong course? Having things good is irrelevant to the question, as we've had things good for 200 years. Being on the wrong course means things are getting worse than they were, not that things are objectively bad. Furthermore, people expect more of their country because of its assets, not less.

For example, I think we're on the wrong course in that we don't do enough to help regions like Darfur; I wouldn't think this if we didn't have running water.

__________________
"I have nothing new to teach the world." -Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi

So we bitch and piss and cry and whine.


"The fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen,"

.........

"No wonder the world loves the United States, yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are - the most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here."

Bunch of whiny assholes we are :-)


As you can see, many of us (see "rodog", "Alun" and a few others) don't get it and probably never will.

This seems like a "cup half empty/half full" argument.

I think our media focuses on the "half empty" aspect far too much of the time. However, this doesn't mean I don't want to know what's going on if it's 'bad' news either. Some balance, I think, would go a long way toward repairing our internal divide.

People in general? I think anyone who is working must be an optimist an heart and since we've got low unemployment figures in this country, then I suspect more of us are optimists than not.

Yeah, we "bitch and moan", but who doesn't?

The only thing the absence of horrifying situations like famine and state-sponsored (and otherwise) genocide does is inform what we bitch and moan about happening in the United States.

There are plenty who "bitch and moan" about global atrocities as well. It's just a matter of perspective and topic.

I'm sure people in Greece spend a lot of time "bitching and moaning" about issues that are important to the people of Greece. Same thing for Spain. Same thing for Germany, Russia, Japan, etc.

Every day people bitch and moan about every day things everywhere.

There's a difference between hating ones country and holding it accountable.

I have children. Correcting them and disciplining them are part of loving them.

I love my country no less when I do the same for it.

"The fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen,"

"No wonder the world loves the United States, yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are - the most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here."

I didn't get that the articles entire premise is that we are a nation of Americans that hate America.

I got that more of us should remember how lucky we are to have what we have.

I got that it seems that many of us seem to beleive that we're entitled to live like kings and will complain when reality fails to deliver that for us.