Why I Hate America

[Shiranu]

Because I have been accused of this in multiple threads, I will compile my response in one thread to save space.

I do hate America. I hate our systematic racism. I hate that forty percent of our college graduates are expected to default on their loans by 2023, and that two-thirds of African American students since 1990 have defaulted. I hate that when a huge percent of our population either believes the Earth is flat, that the Sun revolves around us or that evolution is a myth we are actively taking steps to defund and set back our education system. I hate the mentally handicapped are legally allowed to be paid cents-per-hour to work for multi-billion dollar companies. I hate that our minimum wage has gone down from $10.00 in the 70s to $7.50 today. I hate that our minimum wage is about half of what is required to be above the poverty line. I hate that corporations are legally allowed to bribe our politicians to screw over our people. I hate that as the global climate worsens because of human actions, and the cost to the tax payer skyrockets because of it, we are actively taking steps backwards about fixing it. I hate that we spend nearly 25 cents of every dollar towards our military when we already spend more than the next 10 or so countries combined. I hate that we say we have no money to spend on the poor, our education, our healthcare when we can spend billions on guns and bombs. I hate that getting sick in America is a death sentence to being either tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. I hate that we aren't number 1 in health care, number 1 in education, number 1 in human rights, number 1 in equality, number 1 standard of living, number 1 in happiness when we have the resources to be so. I hate that we aren't even close to number one in any of those categories. I hate that we have a president who defended Neo-Nazis who murdered a woman in Charlottesvile. I hate that a country that was founded on religious freedom now believes that only one religion should be free. I hat...

I don't expect you to read all that, and I hope you understand this is just a small fragment of the entire list.

But here is the point... I hate that America is not great, and is taking steps backwards from being great. I hate that America is not living up to a fraction of it's potential.

I love our racial diversity. I love our inovation, our industry. I love that we used to be a beacon of light. I love our music, our culture. I love our sense of community when tragedy strikes. I love that when the world was getting ass fucked by Nazis, we came in and beat the shit out of them instead of making excuses for them (eventually, anyways...). I absolutely love our nature, our national parks. I love our cities full of art and poety and music.

It is because I love all the things that make America great that I hate all the things that bring it down. If you love something, you don't say, "Well... I see you are changing for the worst, but I love those flaws too because I love you!". If your lover started doing meth and beating black people, would you make excuses for it because you love them? Fuck no. So why should I make excuses for America when it has a rampant opioid pandemic and instutitonalises oppression of African Americans?

[Shiranu]

For some reason I cant edit the post, but that should be "I love our racial diversity", not "I dont"..

[Mike Cl]

Rather than just 'like' your post, I will add my too cents worth as well.

I love this country; and therefore hate it---right now.  I grew up just after WWII and absorbed the zeitgeist of those times that we were the 'greatest'--most honest, free, loving, accepting, industrious, just; and on and on.  i would love to think that now--can't.  And it's not just that I became more educated and knowledgeable along the way, but that this country has become, with Trump, a 'shithole' in many ways.  Disappointment drives my feeling of hatred right now.  Trump and all that he represents, does to.  However, I do not blame Trump for this feeling (well, maybe a little) for he did not hide who and what he is/was/will be, from the public.  That is the scariest part of this time is that he was elected, which means a huge number of people in this country are simply Stupid Fucking Americans--and I hate THEM. 

And so, Shiranu, I am a fellow hater.  Which makes us part of the real patriots of this country.   

[Baruch]

Perhaps just a matter of perspective and propaganda.  The US was extensively propagandized, and still is.  We are told what to think and how to feel ... and we mostly do.  The point before the 1990s, was to keep people happy enough that we wouldn't act as a 5th column for the Soviet Union.  But that is over ... so now the real POV of the real owners of the US, has come to the fore.  Of course anyone familiar with history prior to 1950, would realize what the depredations of the wealthy is all about.

On perspective ... most people who grew up in the US, who spend any lengthy time overseas, are glad to get back.  But of course that is just because we long to escape the unfamiliarity of the foreign environment, and retreat to the familiarity of what we are used to.  It happens with anyone, not just Americans.

[Shiranu]

I think I might convert this thread to a, "General Grievances that don't Warrant a Full Thread"...

[Baruch]

Bipartisan, but happened during the Obama first term, to deal with youth unemployment from the 2008 downturn.  But very badly designed (a flaw or a feature?).  We could pay for all college tuition with a fraction of the Federal budget.  No need to charge eligible students at all (academic qualifications only).

[pr126]

Bipartisan, but happened during the Obama first term, to deal with youth unemployment from the 2008 downturn.  But very badly designed (a flaw or a feature?).  We could pay for all college tuition with a fraction of the Federal budget.  No need to charge eligible students at all (academic qualifications only).

Say what? Meritocracy? Blasphemer!

[Baruch]

Say what? Meritocracy? Blasphemer!

It gets nasty ... there is a lot of "trouble" with how we set up meritocracies.  I prefer standard pre-college or pre-grad school tests, administered blindly as to gender, race etc.  Otherwise there is so much old-boy-network and affirmative action ... that just shows prejudice.

And do all courses of study deserve State support?  Does French literature?  I leave that to wiser heads.

[PopeyesPappy]

For some reason I cant edit the post, but that should be "I love our racial diversity", not "I dont"..

FIFY

[Shiranu]

FIFY

Thanks!

[omokuroi]

I hate that we aren't number 1 in health care, number 1 in education, number 1 in human rights, number 1 in equality, number 1 standard of living, number 1 in happiness when we have the resources to be so. I hate that we aren't even close to number one in any of those categories.

Eh?

You want to be better than everyone else?

Wouldn't that imply that every other country wouldn't be doing as well?

Being number one doesn't sound like a good thing.

[Unbeliever]

I don't hate the U.S. of A. at all, but I'm a bit disappointed that it hasn't yet lived up to its ideals. Hopefully we'll do better in the future.

[Shiranu]

Eh?

You want to be better than everyone else?

Wouldn't that imply that every other country wouldn't be doing as well?

Being number one doesn't sound like a good thing.

Not really. I want us all to be great, I just want to be greater. Like pizza with anchovies, and pizza without; both are great, the anchovies just make it a hair better.

[omokuroi]

Not really. I want us all to be great, I just want to be greater. Like pizza with anchovies, and pizza without; both are great, the anchovies just make it a hair better.

Eh. Call me a communist, but I'd prefer a world where people stopped wanting to win when it just means someone else must be losing.

[Unbeliever]

You mean prosperity doesn't have to be a zero-sum game?