I'm CRAZY!! College does that to you sometimes...
Det ar ganska kul. Taylor ar Political Science major och patriot (alla har ar patrioter :p) sa vi har argumenterat via facebook.. fast vi sitter bredvid varandra och skriver xD technology xD
Har ar en del av var underbara konversation! Och anledningen till att jag lagger upp det har ar att jag skrev en freaking essay om det!! jag maste gora nanting mer med det an bara lata det sta pa hennes facebook hahaha xD
HERE WE GO!!
T: "is currently arguing (in a nice way) with her Swedish roommate about America being the best country in the world :D Is there really any question?"
M: "I think your country has potential.. but the facts are just overwhelming! america is not the greatest country in the world!"
T: "America was the first to establish religious freedom. We were first to create a bill of rights, establishing the rights of all people. Our Constitution is the oldest in the world and has been the foundation for most other constitutions written since. It has been modified very little since its inception - because it doesn't need to be changed. Our ... Read Morepeople (well, most) love our land and are proud to call it our home. We do our best to protect liberty at home and abroad. We make many mistakes in that area, but we still try. We are still one of the most religious (and I'm pretty sure the most Christian) and moral countries in the world, though that strength is decreasing far too quickly in my opinion. It means something to be American. It is not our government or our land. It is our culture, our law, it is who we are.
I don't remember what movie it was, but there was a mobster in a movie I saw a long time ago who said something like, "I may not follow the law, but I am still an American." Even a criminal recognized the wonderful things America stands for.
I agree America is not living up to its potential. There have been too many pitfalls in our recent past. But we still have that potential to become an even greater nation."
M: "Okay, America might've been the first to introduce religious freedom and establishing rights to all of your people. It's a very good thing which I am very thankful of. Without America there would not be as much freedom as there is now. Also, without america we would probably not have won the 2nd World War. However, what America has done in the past does not equal what it is or does today.
Most of the values you talk about is something that is present in my culture as well. Just not as outspoken as you have it though. We have a more quiet way to express our values than you do, it's more like our actions express our values. It does not mean we don't have them though. I speak of the swedish culture because that is the one I know. We also have christian values in our laws and culture. we are a christian country and even though everyone is not religious they live by standards that are very much like it. Some of my friends who were not religious had better standards than some of my mormon friends, so while religion in itself is a good thing, it does not make people who were born without it bad or worse.
I agree that America is a great country, I love that you have religion and the openness and friendlyness that americans possess. But that still does not make it the greatest country to live in.
And, a criminal being proud of being an american does not impress me that much (maybe because I'm not american). I would be impressed however, if y'all actually lived up to your values! Not just said you were proud to be american and then go against what that stand for. That would be awesome! (and for the record, I'm not criticizing you here, just the criminal who I think has doublestandards.. which I wouldn't be proud of)
And I have to say that .. even though you have more christianity in your country, you also have more decay, more corruption, more war, more poverty, more poor people, more criminals and crime.
Somehow jsut the fact that not as many crimes (percentage) are committed in Sweden makes it a better place to live in. The fact that all of you are afraid of walking home in the dark (which is a healthy fear that I probably should adopt :p) while I always feel perfectly safe while walking home in the dark. The fact that we take better care of our poor and catch them when they fall, the fact that we have free universities help making the gap between people smaller. the american dream, that everyone can become what they want if they work hard enough is just not true if you don't get a scholarship, work your butt off or have rich parents. In sweden it is and those things don't matter. I won't even go into health care :p been there done that haha.
So what I'm saying is basically, you may have been the first to bring freedom etc into realization, but you aren't the only ones who have done it. we have values that are basically the same as yours, with cultural differences. We however don't have as much of the 'bad stuff' I talked about. Which basically makes sweden a better place to live in and therefore a better country. whoho.. now I'm done!!"
Jag tror jag ska ge min "uppsats" till min engelska professor. Hon var besviken nar jag skrev om varfor vi skulle ata mindre kott istallet for varfor amerika inte ar det basta landet haha