American Selfishness

horrid

So what's the prob?

God, Ayn Rand was a cunt. To think that people actually consider her books as legitimate philosophy is an insult to real philosophers from Plato to Wittgenstein.

R3 I just started Atlas Shrugged to see what all the fuss is about. Might take me all summer, though

We call it “self-reliance” honey.

R4, people seem to love those books. Even people I know who are very liberal as opposed to libertarian seem to like that one.

This poll appears to be polling people's perception not what is actually happening, I have always heard that Americans are the most generous people in the world.

Selfishness is an innate way of self preservation. We’re programmed for it. But if people need help I think Americans would help.

OP go somewhere else to be a cunt and Debbie Downer.

TIA.

Intelligent?!

Patriotic I don't doubt, yet no one ever questions the value of patriotism. Like pride (in oneself) or jealousy, I will venture that it contributes very little to oneself or to one's community. Americans are indeed very loudly patriotic and proud to be Americans, yet how does that reward them? Not with compassion: they turn a cold blind eye to people sleeping under bridges and bypasses, they attribute their choices and successes and good luck to hard work and others' misfortunes and paucity of choice to not working hard enough; they blame parents in poor school districts for poor educational outcomes; too many know nothing of the world outside their borders yet they think foreigners are ignorant for not knowing everything about the U.S.; they are proud of their private health coverage that they can afford so long as they work yet they begrudge anyone else of having any health benefits for which they are unable to pay cash; they dismiss concerns from minorities as lazy whining, and weakness.... And they're proud and patriotic even of their ugliness, of their "I've got mine so fuck you, trash" attitudes.

Yes, when it comes to donating, Americans are great at that. But when it comes to things that tend to involve "intrusions" in one's personal sphere/space, Americans are the very opposite of giving. It's a product of the "liberty versus all else" philosophy.

Yet Americans will congratulate each other for “pulling together” in catastrophes, as if other countries don’t do it, too. In fact, Japan rarely accepts outside help & gets itself back together astonishingly fast.

[quote]Might take me all summer, though

Waste of a good summer.

Patriotic? From people who refuse to give up eating out at restaurants for 3 months for the good of the nation without moaning about it and brandishing their guns?

Intelligent? Hahahahahahahaha

R12, just look at how South Korea and Japan handled the Corona situation. So much better. In fact, the country my parents came from--a developing country that's chaotic as fuck--is also handling the situation better than America. It's embarrassing.

[quote] Yes, when it comes to donating, Americans are great at that.

Not really. Other countries are better. Even Ireland. My coworker told of donating pennies for Africa throughout her school years because Ireland made sure to help any country suffering from famine .

Americans also have some of the most highly-attuned bullshit detectors in the world. Not falling for someone trying to fuck you over could certainly get you called selfish.

Conservatives consider selfishness to be a "manly" trait. Anctually it is anything but manly; it is childly. But right-wingers admire it.

R16 Catholic kids in the U.S. also did that, and still do. I know public schools kids used to collect for Unicef too.

[quote] Americans also have some of the most highly-attuned bullshit detectors in the world

Not sure about this. Northern Europeans, at least on the surface, are much more harsh and not as easily fooled (in my experience). Many Americans are busy presenting a false image to others and it seems like they are reading others to see where they stand, so to speak.

R14 How 'bout demanding people go out of work for months on end while you're still getting paid to work from home? How is that not callous and self absorbed?

[quote] I know public schools kids used to collect for Unicef too.

Not anymore. The UN is trying to take over the world. The global elitists (rightwing doublespeak for Jews) want to destroy christian conservative US values & turn people into black gay sex traffickers.

Right-wingers have confused "patriotism" with territorialism.

Our leaders are a reflection of our values. How a nation wants to be seen in the eyes of the world. In 1960 America looked in the mirror and saw JFK. In 1980 Ronald Reagan. In 2016 America saw itself as...

R24, sad but true. People get the leaders and government they deserve.

[quote]Americans also have some of the most highly-attuned bullshit detectors in the world. Not falling for someone trying to fuck you over could certainly get you called selfish.

R17: Some, but not a majority, not even 46.1%.

Yes R15, I'm sure your developing country wasn't one of thousands that have been given millions of American dollars to "develop". I'm also sure that your developing country doesn't have a population of 330 million, which skews the numbers widely in comparison to much smaller, developing countries.

[quote]Americans also have some of the most highly-attuned bullshit detectors in the world

Yes, that's evident by the way they shower grifting religious folk with money.

R20 Their bullshit detectors have worked out great when it comes to all of those huge groups of college aged male Muslim migrants pouring into Sweden and Switzerland. You don't just get to be the #1 rape capital in Europe for nothing, you know!!

So many ChiCom shills and ungrateful Eurotrash in this thread.

[quote]Americans also have some of the most highly-attuned bullshit detectors in the world. Not falling for someone trying to fuck you over could certainly get you called selfish

How does does this explain that con artist grifter squatting in the White House?

The home of Fox News has "highly-attuned bullshit detectors"?

Good lord. As the French say, we're a country of 9 year olds (with the same level of sophistication)

[quote]So many ChiCom shills and ungrateful Eurotrash in this thread.

That's a trait at which Americans should score very high: expecting the rest of the world to be grateful to them.

R33 But is it a lie? Has America NOT helped countless human beings and their countries the world over? Do you have any idea how much money that the US pours into every other country except its own? Do you know how much infrastructure that America has invested in developing third world countries? How are Americans who've worked hard in orgs supposed to feel when the same countries that they have rescued over the years turn around to trash the US? If it wasn't for this country, many people and their countries would be living in the 16th century. Where are the lies? American history pales in comparison to what some countries have subjected their people and the world to centuries ago, but America is the only country that is held to an impossible standard of paying for its 400-year-old sins. How sad that Americans have been duped into hating their own country by foreign Russian/Chinese/Arabic agents who would love nothing better than to see the country fall.

R32 Did the French say that before or after their entire country fell into totalitarian chaos? I'm guessing it was before that.

R24 You still don't understand why Trump was elected. And that's why he's going to win a second term.

R32 So what are the French, 7? We've certainly spent a lot of time and money babysitting them.

What amazes me is that every other country, that is sometimes even more murderous, can be patriotic and have pride in their culture's accomplishments, despite the bloodshed that they have inflicted on their people historically, as well as other countries. America isn't perfect, but please tell me all about the countries that are. What's even worse though is that Americans have been tricked into hating their own country, particularly the left. Somehow, you're "with it" if an American hates their country. So cynical. This is why the right says that we hate America, because of people on the left who talk constantly about how awful our history is, and seemingly ignoring all of the achievements. I honestly cannot think of a time in the last 4 years since Drumpf became president that the Democrats have had anything positive to say about America.

It comes with the territory when your country was founded as "the City on the Hill." Americans aren't an ethniticy or a kingdom, we're a ongoing project to prove a point.

R38, I don't hate America at all--I made that pretty clear in my original post. I do agree that America does do a lot of good for other countries--in fact, my favorite president (Truman) is responsible for a lot of that. My post is more about selfishness on a personal level. Yes, Americans donate money to other countries. But you see how selfish Americans can be when it comes to their own personal space. It's part of the libertarian attitude. Apparently, 68% of Americans agree with this, so it isn't just liberals who think this.

For some weird reason, the Communists and the Socialists believe that success is somehow immoral, and that in itself proves that America is immoral and must be destroyed for the morality of all. And those are just the American citizen. There are also lots of foreign secret agents who work in hospitals and courtrooms that are actively working at this very second to destroy the US. The worst someone can do is hate their country while its under seige.

[quote] the Communists and the Socialists believe that success is somehow immoral

I thought Joe McCarthy was dead but apparently he is alive and well on datalounge.

R41 J Edgar Hoover visiting us from the great beyond. Rest in Peace hun! ✌

I actually think the most tragic thing about the US is how generous it is to foreigners whose cultures could give a shit about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble. Even worse, those same foreigners who've been given asylum in freedom-loving countries like the US who actively USE Western Democratic concepts like freedom of speech AGAINST their host countries in order for their own culture to dominate. You know, the cultures that they're supposedly trying to escape from? The most ironic thing about it is that those same foreigners would be strung, drawn, and quartered in their home countries for engaging in the same freedoms that they're trying to deny other citizens. Then, they cry racism when Americans try to defend their freedoms against these newcomers. You really can't make this stuff up.

R44, who are these foreigners? I think this is a much bigger issue in places like England than it is here.

See for yourself how generous the U.S. is.

In FY2018, the U.S. gave to Israel $3.1B; it gave to France $3.3K, Italy $33K Spain $204K; and Germany $1.2M. All told it's $47B of expenditures that year of $4.1 Trillion, or 1% of its budget.

No one ever missed 1% of anything too very badly.

R42 R43 Can either of you explain why Socialists and Communists punish success and reward the unsuccessful? I'm waiting.

R34 yes thank you so much for all of that American “assistance”

R47, can you explain what your post has to do with anything? I'm not waiting. Because you can't.

R46 Haven't you heard? Trump has stopped the foreign aid to countries. He says that we've given enough as it is, and now we have massive debt. Why don't you look at the other 70+ years of aid that US has shared with the world?

R49 no, I can't. Your reading comprehension skills are not my responsibility.

American Exceptionalism = Exceptionally Bad World Citizens

America is more generous than other countries in the same way that the rich person in the Gospels who donates $1,000 to the poor is more generous than the dirt poor woman who throws in a nickel. America gives a smaller percentage of her GDP to foreign aid than most other developed nations, and that was true long before Trump became president.

“There is a broad international commitment that wealthy countries should provide annually 0.7% of GNP to assist poor countries. Five countries (Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark, and the U.K.) exceed that benchmark. The average for all wealthy nations is around 0.3 %. The U.S. ranks near the bottom at below 0.2 %.”

R48 Actually, you should be thanking the leadership in those countries for putting their own political power over the well being of their own citizens. Selfish ambition seems to be a trend for Latin American governments.

R50: That's from FY2018, BEFORE the cuts, and is typical of every year for at least 20 years prior.

No wonder the entire world thinks Americans are so stupid. Americans are incapable of appreciating even the simplest, smallest freedoms that they take for granted everyday. You're all so pampered that you have no idea what real oppression is like. You can see colour and hear music, but can't fathom your own fortune. Why does every other person in the world want to live in the US and other western nation? That's why it's so fashionable to hate your own country: you have it so good there!!

You must be joking R54 or you’re either an ignorant fool or a psychopath. The US invaded Guatemala in 1954, overthrew their democracy, and set up a decades-long dictatorship in order to keep fruit prices in the US low. Even the CIA is embarrassed about what they did in Guatemala. The CIA basically has a “Sorry about that. Our bad.” section in its official history of the operation on its website. We invaded Guatemala BECAUSE the leadership there cared more about its citizens than doing the bidding of Wall Street. And the same can be said of Iran and a great many other democracies we decided to overthrow.

R56 But we're deeply immoral sub-humans, America is wasted on Americans!

R57 What do you mean, "even the CIA"?? The CIA is not above reproach, in fact it's so far below it that it might as well be formally acknowledged as a massive drug and human trafficking operation, basically a rogue government "institution", if it can even be called that. Why else do you think that John F. Kennedy Jr. himself spoke openly about wanting to dismantle it after that Cuban Missile Crisis debacle that the CIA itself agitated and provoked? How odd that he was assassinated shortly afterward. What a coincidence!! So yes, I agree that CIA had a huge ugly part to play but the despotic leaders in Latin America were ALSO starving their people and fomenting war amongst its citizens to take the heat off their stupid Socialist policies. So everyone's a bad guy here really.

R58 But is that really the fault of American citizens themselves, or the slow disintegration of the public educational system by corrupt politicians who were lining their own pockets? We victim blame the citizens of a country so often for events outside of their own control.

Again R59 you don’t really seem to know the history of Latin America. Before WWII, the U.S. corporation United Fruit Company had basically seized control of Guatemala with the help of the U.S. military in order to control the best farmland in the country. The people of Guatemala were starving BECAUSE of the policies of a U.S. government backed corporation. When a new democratic government tried to do agrarian reform to take back that ill-gotten land and redistribute it among the poor so the poor would have a source of income and they wouldn’t starve, the U.S. sent the military and CIA to stop that from happening. The brutal and incompetent dictatorship we installed guaranteed poverty and ass-backwardness for Guatemala for decades. But we kept banana prices here in the US low.

We literally trained death squads to go around Central America assassinating priests and nuns and other “do gooders” who were trying to organize the poor to break free from economic policies that impoverished their countries.

Just look at the pink tide in South America. Countries that broke free of the US imposed economic model experienced rapid economic growth, decreases in poverty, etc. Countries such as Mexico that continued to follow US economic policies remained an economic basket-case. We don’t give a shit if people in Latin America starve. In fact the history of US foreign policy in the region provides clear evidence that we’d rather they starve than break free of our economic influence.