The Greatest Country In The World

[Electric Skeptic]

You've no doubt heard lots of Americans call America the greatest country in the world (sometimes the greatest country in history).

Is it normal/defensible to think of your home country as the greatest country in the world?

If someone were to ask me what the greatest country in the world is, I'd ask in what respect. Militarily? Financially? Freedom-wise? If they couldn't specify and just said 'in general', I'd probably answer Australia, my original home country, where I grew up and spent nearly 50 years. Is that normal? Defensible?

Is it bad/dangerous to have a 'favourite' country? Does/can it lead to racism? Does the logical flow "My country is the best...therefore people from my country are the best...therefore people from other countries are worse than people from my country" make sense?

I am no racist, and believe that there is no country such that people from it are 'better' than any other country. Yet if I happen to catch a sporting contest on TV in which Australia is competing against anybody (even my new adopted country, the US) I'd unhesitatingly root for Australia. Is this bad?

 

[Mr Laurier]

You've no doubt heard lots of Americans call America the greatest country in the world (sometimes the greatest country in history).

Is it normal/defensible to think of your home country as the greatest country in the world?

If someone were to ask me what the greatest country in the world is, I'd ask in what respect. Militarily? Financially? Freedom-wise? If they couldn't specify and just said 'in general', I'd probably answer Australia, my original home country, where I grew up and spent nearly 50 years. Is that normal? Defensible?

Is it bad/dangerous to have a 'favourite' country? Does/can it lead to racism? Does the logical flow "My country is the best...therefore people from my country are the best...therefore people from other countries are worse than people from my country" make sense?

I am no racist, and believe that there is no country such that people from it are 'better' than any other country. Yet if I happen to catch a sporting contest on TV in which Australia is competing against anybody (even my new adopted country, the US) I'd unhesitatingly root for Australia. Is this bad?

There is no "greatest country in the world" Its a nationalistic conciet

 

[Electric Skeptic]

There is no "greatest country in the world" Its a nationalistic conciet

That doesn't really address the op...plus, I'd say it's factually wrong if narrowed down. For instance, there is a greatest country in the world when it comes to military strength (whichever one it is); there is a greatest country in the world when it comes to freedom (however you want to define it), etc...

 

[Temujin]

You've no doubt heard lots of Americans call America the greatest country in the world (sometimes the greatest country in history).

Is it normal/defensible to think of your home country as the greatest country in the world?

If someone were to ask me what the greatest country in the world is, I'd ask in what respect. Militarily? Financially? Freedom-wise? If they couldn't specify and just said 'in general', I'd probably answer Australia, my original home country, where I grew up and spent nearly 50 years. Is that normal? Defensible?

Is it bad/dangerous to have a 'favourite' country? Does/can it lead to racism? Does the logical flow "My country is the best...therefore people from my country are the best...therefore people from other countries are worse than people from my country" make sense?

I am no racist, and believe that there is no country such that people from it are 'better' than any other country. Yet if I happen to catch a sporting contest on TV in which Australia is competing against anybody (even my new adopted country, the US) I'd unhesitatingly root for Australia. Is this bad?

The thing is, when you lived in Australia, I bet you thought the state you lived in was the best state. And the town was the best in the state, and your street was the best in the town, and your house was the best in the street. This is all perfectly normal and human. We all do it.

What we don't do for some reason is go the other way and declare our planet to be the best in the solar system and join together with the other people who live on it to make it better. Perhaps we need a colony on Mars just so that we can start treating each other as brothers and sisters in the best inhabited planet of them all.

 

[Temujin]

The best country is of course Wales, who always beat Australia at rugby despite being a fraction the size.

And we have more sheep and better songs.

 

[Whateverman]

You've no doubt heard lots of Americans call America the greatest country in the world (sometimes the greatest country in history).

Is it normal/defensible to think of your home country as the greatest country in the world?

Normal? For some, sure. Defensible? No; it's nothing more than nationalistic trash.

If someone were to ask me what the greatest country in the world is, I'd ask in what respect. Militarily? Financially? Freedom-wise? If they couldn't specify and just said 'in general', I'd probably answer Australia, my original home country, where I grew up and spent nearly 50 years. Is that normal? Defensible?

Is it bad/dangerous to have a 'favourite' country? Does/can it lead to racism? Does the logical flow "My country is the best...therefore people from my country are the best...therefore people from other countries are worse than people from my country" make sense?

I am no racist, and believe that there is no country such that people from it are 'better' than any other country. Yet if I happen to catch a sporting contest on TV in which Australia is competing against anybody (even my new adopted country, the US) I'd unhesitatingly root for Australia. Is this bad?

I don't think it's bad to have a favorite country, no.

There's a different between patriotism and nationalism that the nationalists try to ignore.

ps. which country do you live in now? I hadn't known you were an Aussie...

 

[Electric Skeptic]

Normal? For some, sure. Defensible? No; it's nothing more than nationalistic trash.

I don't think it's bad to have a favorite country, no.

There's a different between patriotism and nationalism that the nationalists try to ignore.

ps. which country do you live in now? I hadn't known you were an Aussie...

Yes mate, Aussie born and bred. As I say, lived there for nearly 50 years without being outside it for longer than three or four week holidays. Moved to the USA in 2013, got my citizenship here 3 years later. Since 2013 I've not been outside the US for longer than 2 weeks (once, for a trip back to Australia).

By the way, do not believe anything that Temujin says. Particularly about Rugby.

 

[Authentic Nouveau]

I am no racist, and believe that there is no country such that people from it are 'better' than any other country. Yet if I happen to catch a sporting contest on TV in which Australia is competing against anybody (even my new adopted country, the US) I'd unhesitatingly root for Australia. Is this bad?

Racism is part of the Darwinism Bundle. It is like pre-installed bloatware.

 

[Reepicheep]

The best country is of course Wales, who always beat Australia at rugby despite being a fraction the size.

And we have more sheep and better songs.

True. But, alas, New Zealand beats Wales in rugby, and also has more sheep.

(my knowledge of rugby is limited to what I picked up in the movie Invictus)

 

[Electric Skeptic]

Racism is part of the Darwinism Bundle. It is like pre-installed bloatware.

No, it's not. Now please, if you can't actually contribute, go away.

 

[Furion]

You've no doubt heard lots of Americans call America the greatest country in the world (sometimes the greatest country in history).

Is it normal/defensible to think of your home country as the greatest country in the world?

If someone were to ask me what the greatest country in the world is, I'd ask in what respect. Militarily? Financially? Freedom-wise? If they couldn't specify and just said 'in general', I'd probably answer Australia, my original home country, where I grew up and spent nearly 50 years. Is that normal? Defensible?

Is it bad/dangerous to have a 'favourite' country? Does/can it lead to racism? Does the logical flow "My country is the best...therefore people from my country are the best...therefore people from other countries are worse than people from my country" make sense?

I am no racist, and believe that there is no country such that people from it are 'better' than any other country. Yet if I happen to catch a sporting contest on TV in which Australia is competing against anybody (even my new adopted country, the US) I'd unhesitatingly root for Australia. Is this bad?

I'm pulling for France, they've been so disrespected. And they have that giant erector set thingy.

 

[Reepicheep]

The best country is of course Wales...

In the back of my mind, I've been thinking that Trump said something about Wales. I now remember what it was:

"I meet and talk to “foreign governments” every day. I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Whales, the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the President of Poland." - Donald Trump tweet, June 13, 2019

 

[Whateverman]

In the back of my mind, I've been thinking that Trump said something about Wales. I now remember what it was:

"I meet and talk to “foreign governments” every day. I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Whales, the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the President of Poland." - Donald Trump tweet, June 13, 2019

Oh man, of course he tweeted that.

The Duke of Duh

ps. Unusual for him, someone actually went and corrected the spelling on that Tweet.

pps. We thought it'd be easy to publish a book of GWB quotes. There'll be whole encyclopedias dedicated to the quotes from the Drumpf presidency...

 

[J regia]

The best country is of course Wales, who always beat Australia at rugby despite being a fraction the size.

And we have more sheep and better songs.

So how many sheep do you have in Wales and what are their names?

The Ten Countries Where Sheep Outnumber People

Where I live in Wales the joke is that there are more sheep than people living here. It might not be true here in Wales, but it is in some other countries.

theverybesttop10.com

 

[Temujin]

So how many sheep do you have in Wales and what are their names?

The Ten Countries Where Sheep Outnumber People

Where I live in Wales the joke is that there are more sheep than people living here. It might not be true here in Wales, but it is in some other countries.

theverybesttop10.com

Thanks for the link. Interesting to see the Falklands at number 1. I served there a couple of times. Lamb was referred to as 365, because it was virtually the only meat available and was eaten every day.

Not many sheep are named for obvious reasons. It is one thing to eat an animal that you have watched growing up in the field next to your house. When you know it as "Betty", it saps the enjoyment slightly.

 

[Komodo]

The thing is, when you lived in Australia, I bet you thought the state you lived in was the best state. And the town was the best in the state, and your street was the best in the town, and your house was the best in the street. This is all perfectly normal and human. We all do it.

What we don't do for some reason is go the other way and declare our planet to be the best in the solar system and join together with the other people who live on it to make it better. Perhaps we need a colony on Mars just so that we can start treating each other as brothers and sisters in the best inhabited planet of them all.

Ozymandias' strategy in Watchmen was to unite the world by faking an attack from aliens, which I can't help thinking is, unfortunately, the only way it's going to happen.

 

[Temujin]

Ozymandias' strategy in Watchmen was to unite the world by faking an attack from aliens, which I can't help thinking is, unfortunately, the only way it's going to happen.

When it comes to fundamentals, we evolved as we did to protect the existence of the tribe against external threats. A tribe consisting of the whole of mankind, is a stretch, but possible if the threat was large enough. An asteroid collision is more likely than aliens perhaps. We have proved already that a pandemic doesn't even unite countries.

 

[Komodo]

True. But, alas, New Zealand beats Wales in rugby, and also has more sheep.

(my knowledge of rugby is limited to what I picked up in the movie Invictus)

I remember there were a few years back in the '80s, I think, when professional wrestling tag teams made up of foreign villains (a Russian and an Iranian, for example) were very hot, and after they'd tried pretty much everything else, they brought out a villain duo of Kiwis. So the pair made faces at the camera, mocked America, and made the terrible threat that New Zealand's day was coming, and when that happened... Americans were going to be made to tend their sheep!

 

[Komodo]

When it comes to fundamentals, we evolved as we did to protect the existence of the tribe against external threats. A tribe consisting of the whole of mankind, is a stretch, but possible if the threat was large enough. An asteroid collision is more likely than aliens perhaps. We have proved already that a pandemic doesn't even unite countries.

But once the asteroid threat was over, the alliance would be as well (like after WWII).

 

[Temujin]

But once the asteroid threat was over, the alliance would be as well (like after WWII).

True. Perhaps what is needed is an immense and prolonged effort, requiring huge investment in resources and the cooperation of all humans working together; the goal being fundamental to our survival in the long term.

But... Trump pulled out of the Paris Accord, which itself is inadequate to meet the threat. We are just not capable of sustained joint action unless the threat is immediate and obvious. The threat from the pandemic is immediate but not obvious. Climate change is obvious but not immediate. Many millions will die because we are incapable of working together on problems like these. Partisan concerns are just too powerful.