America at its worst?

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I mean look at our fucking presidential candidates.

One is a crazy nutbag and the other is a shady criminal.
Race relations are as strained as ever.
Everyone hates each other.

The middle class is shrinking. Its either you're fucking rich or you're living paycheck to paycheck.

Its highly evident all news just pushes an agenda.

Maybe its the access to everyone's crazy inner demons online.


Dunno, everything just seems way different. Maybe its me getting older but shit seems more fucked. Doesn't even feel like a real country anymore, hard to feel patriotic.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Modern news cycle:

Huge tragedy, everything is changed.

Then its all forgotten two weeks later.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

I've honestly never really felt patriotic. America is disappointing in so many ways. We certainly aren't the greatest country in the world, like so many ignorant Americans seem to believe.

 

[Natebishop3]

I've honestly never really felt patriotic. America is disappointing in so many ways. We certainly aren't the greatest country in the world, like so many ignorant Americans seem to believe.

Cue the video from Newsroom that gets reposted over and over

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Wtf? America isnt perfect, but not feeling patriotic is unfathomable to me.

So many americans are way too fucking privileged. If a war went down are ya'll just gonna netflix and chill? Will people need safe spaces?

 

[blue32]

Wtf? America isnt perfect, but not feeling patriotic is unfathomable to me.

So many americans are way too fucking privileged. If a war went down are ya'll just gonna netflix and chill? Will people need safe spaces?

This, this, and fucking this.

El Pres: I will say media is at the center of the majority of the "us vs them" situation. They promote an agenda, fueling the embers making a huge fucking fire.


But there is no question about what I'd do if some pinko commie (like Barfo!) was invading our country.

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

Wtf? America isnt perfect, but not feeling patriotic is unfathomable to me.

So many americans are way too fucking privileged. If a war went down are ya'll just gonna netflix and chill? Will people need safe spaces?

This post partly contradicts itself unintentionally. The Americans you mentioned who are all self absorbed assholes could be why some would feel unpatriotic.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

This post partly contradicts itself unintentionally. The Americans you mentioned who are all self absorbed assholes could be why some would feel unpatriotic.

Good point. It just angers me. I know the shit my grandpa went through from all the stories he has told us over the decades when he was in WW2. And it pisses me off to see people acting that way.

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

Good point. It just angers me. I know the shit my grandpa went through from all the stories he has told us over the decades when he was in WW2. And it pisses me off to see people acting that way.

That pisses me off too. My gramps never talked about ww2. He could have been a cook or a guy at Pearl Harbor. Don't know.

We're getting what we deserve, what we ask for now. That generation fought for the world and we've flushed it down the drain. Sucks.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

That pisses me off too. My gramps never talked about ww2. He could have been a cook or a guy at Pearl Harbor. Don't know.

We're getting what we deserve, what we ask for now. That generation fought for the world and we've flushed it down the drain. Sucks.

Can you imagine what a hipster liberal douche would do if they were on a battlefield and just saw their best friend shot beside them?

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

Can you imagine what a hipster liberal douche would do if they were on a battlefield and just saw their best friend shot beside them?

Run

 

[blue32]

Can you imagine what a hipster liberal douche would do if they were on a battlefield and just saw their best friend shot beside them?

Hahahahaha...

Probably wish they had real lenses in, instead of just rims

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Wtf? America isnt perfect, but not feeling patriotic is unfathomable to me.

So many americans are way too fucking privileged. If a war went down are ya'll just gonna netflix and chill? Will people need safe spaces?

Patriotism just doesn't make much sense to me personally. I mean I hate to sound like a hippie but why should we encourage separating people of the world with arbitrary things like where we were born? We're all pretty much the same.

I'm not going to lie and say I would welcome fighting in a war, but if it came down to it, I would have no problem fighting against evil. I certainly wouldn't just be fighting "for America!!" though.

 

[Minstrel]

Tribalism is ingrained, that doesn't mean it's necessarily a good thing. Prejudice is also an ingrained, evolved mechanism, but we attempt to transcend that in civilized society.

I don't think a very light form of patriotism (like being proud when American Olympic athletes win) is particularly bad, even if I don't really share it, but I think valuing American lives over other lives, while politically expedient, isn't a virtue.

 

[barfo]

I've honestly never really felt patriotic. America is disappointing in so many ways. We certainly aren't the greatest country in the world, like so many ignorant Americans seem to believe.

What country do you think is the greatest country in the world?

My own answer would be that we are the greatest on some measures, not at all the greatest on other measures, and that there is no universal 'greatness' scale so the question is impossible to answer.

barfo

 

[VanillaGorilla]

What country do you think is the greatest country in the world?

My own answer would be that we are the greatest on some measures, not at all the greatest on other measures, and that there is no universal 'greatness' scale so the question is impossible to answer.

barfo

That's pretty much my answer too.

 

[riverman]

We're all pretty much the same

Laker fans vs Blazer fans.....it's not even close!

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

I will value american lives over other lives if im ever thrown into a war and whoever is the "other" is shooting at me.

 

[riverman]

Can you imagine what a hipster liberal douche would do if they were on a battlefield and just saw their best friend shot beside them?

Some of the bravest guys in war would surprise you..some of the most macho guys often end up cowards....I'm a war vet..somehow JFizz...I think you're talking about video games here, not war

 

[riverman]

I mean look at our fucking presidential candidates.

One is a crazy nutbag and the other is a shady criminal.
Race relations are as strained as ever.
Everyone hates each other.

The middle class is shrinking. Its either you're fucking rich or you're living paycheck to paycheck.

Its highly evident all news just pushes an agenda.

Maybe its the access to everyone's crazy inner demons online.


Dunno, everything just seems way different. Maybe its me getting older but shit seems more fucked. Doesn't even feel like a real country anymore, hard to feel patriotic.

I mean look at our fucking presidential candidates.

One is a crazy nutbag and the other is a shady criminal.
Race relations are as strained as ever.
Everyone hates each other.

The middle class is shrinking. Its either you're fucking rich or you're living paycheck to paycheck.

Its highly evident all news just pushes an agenda.

Maybe its the access to everyone's crazy inner demons online.


Dunno, everything just seems way different. Maybe its me getting older but shit seems more fucked. Doesn't even feel like a real country anymore, hard to feel patriotic.

Dude, you have lived in LA too long

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

Some of the bravest guys in war would surprise you..some of the most macho guys often end up cowards....I'm a war vet..somehow JFizz...I think you're talking about video games here, not war

Not really. I value my country and would be the first to volunteer if we went to war.

The comment you quoted was an interesting visualization.

What pisses me off is when people dont understand that my grandpa hates japanese people to this day. Having been in the war and having seen his best friends get murdered, and him get shot a couple times. Then these people have the audacity to say he is an asshole for not letting these things go.

If those same people lived in his shoes when this shit went down, might give them a little perspective, especially from someone who fought for the privileged lifestyle they get to live.

 

[riverman]

Wtf? America isnt perfect, but not feeling patriotic is unfathomable to me.

So many americans are way too fucking privileged. If a war went down are ya'll just gonna netflix and chill? Will people need safe spaces?

There are multiple wars going down right now...are you joining up or watching Netflix...choices

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Dude, you have lived in LA too long

All I see are Mexicans!

 

[riverman]

Not really. I value my country and would be the first to volunteer if we went to war.

The comment you quoted was an interesting visualization.

What pisses me off is when people dont understand that my grandpa hates japanese people to this day. Having been in the war and having seen his best friends get murdered, and him get shot a couple times. Then these people have the audacity to say he is an asshole for not letting these things go.

If those same people lived in his shoes when this shit went down, might give them a little perspective, especially from someone who fought for the privileged lifestyle they get to live.

I come from many generations of soldiers from the big wars...my father, my uncles..my grandfather.....etc...war vets don't always hate former enemies for a lifetime. People change and war changes people. I don't hate the Vietnamese today because I was in that war

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

There are multiple wars going down right now...are you joining up or watching Netflix...choices

Yeah, i got you. And you do have a point. I did try to join when i was graduating high school in the ROTC. They didnt want me.

Since then, ive grown up, and knowing im the last child my parents have as my sibling died, they begged me not to enroll.

So my comment may come off as brash, but i would go if we had a world war 3 that could infringe upon our freedoms

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

I come from many generations of soldiers from the big wars...my father, my uncles..my grandfather.....etc...war vets don't always hate former enemies for a lifetime. People change and war changes people. I don't hate the Vietnamese today because I was in that war

Good on you for doing that. That takes a lot of growth. He doesnt outwardly hate them in public. Just let the old man live his life and die with his prejudices if he wants to. He has earned that.

Also, thanks for serving for us. I never knew that and it gives me some serious respect for you.

 

[Minstrel]

I will value american lives over other lives if im ever thrown into a war and whoever is the "other" is shooting at me.

In a combat situation, there's not a lot of help for it, but it can matter in terms of how it informs our thinking. We generally think of the cost of war being "American lives and treasure," implying that if American lives aren't lost, and the financial costs aren't high, there isn't a problem. If we also factored in the lives being lost of non-Americans, it would often change the calculus considerably.

I'm simply not convinced that being born on one side of a border versus the other fundamentally changes a person's value and I don't personally feel that nations should take that view either.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

Patriot and patriotism are two of the scariest and most exclusionary words in the English language. In this country, if you don't profess to be a patriot, you have effectively declared yourself to be anti American. Just ask GW Bush. Patriotism is a cloak in which to wrap oneself in so as to avoid being held accountable for potentially immoral and unethical behaviors. It a propaganda term to shame those who aren't willing and/or able to stand up to the elitists who actually run this country and who want you to give your lives for the health of their personal bank accounts. I'd fight (ferociously) if this country was actually under attack, but I wouldn't be doing it for "America". I'd be doing it to protect my family and friends. Anyone who thinks WWII was a "good" or justifiable war needs to go back and really study history. Had greed not been seen as a virtue following WWI, devils like Hitler would never have gotten a foothold. You get what you are willing to pay for. Mankind is generally greedy and self centered and always has been. I'm not sure if behaviorally we as a civilization today are better or worse than those who came before us. I tend to think it's just more a matter of there being more us these days, with far too damn many outlets with which to voice our anger, angst and selfishness. It just magnifies what has always been a problem.....

 

[Natebishop3]

This isn't the same America that our grandfathers fought for back in dubya dubya two.

Our government is significantly worse.

 

[BrianFromWA]

WWII was absolutely justifiable, and as I've studied a decent bit of history, I'm happy to discuss further where I won't hijack a thread.

To the earlier points, we've been in a war for nigh 15 years now. 2.7M Americans have deployed overseas (0.83% of the population). About half of them more than once, in large part since <1% of the population is going.