Jeff Daniels - America no Longer the Great

[glpg80]

NSFW because cursing.



Hard to deny the statistics - i believe his reasoning is a bit off though. I cannot fully explain why but i felt as though i should share this here. Do i agree? I believe so. I find it hard the current up and rising generation is some of the most well educated as ever but yet the statistics are hard to deny.

 

[Watty]

Meh, the current generation is also full of kids who don't act in a way you'd find savory. Hell, my mom's a middle school teacher, and the stories she'd tell us about her students actually scared me...for the sake of our future.

He's right, to a certain extent, though he seems to be leaning to the conservative side, if not only because he mentioned and stressed morality as the basis for decisions that would have big ramifications. And his comment about liberals losing seems BS as well since I doubt Conservatives will be winning much of anything until they take the religious shit out of their platforms.

Are we the greatest country ever? No, and I don't know if we have been for the last several decades. The religious dogma perpetrated lately seems to be creating a huge artificial disparity in the way we view each other which I think is due in part to the decline of religious notions. For the first time in our nations' history, we actually have a population that's divided on where we stand in this regard, whether it be for non belief or other beliefs as a resulting from the diversity our country has cultivated over the last century. Once we get past that hump, i.e.

Not electing men who believe Evolution is a "lie straight from the pit of hell" to advise the President on Scientific matters.
Not allowing for creationism to be taught side by side in our schools to our children.
Not allowing a religious voting public to decide if you should have rights because you like to bump uglies with a member of the same sex.

Then I think we'll be well on our way to achieving that place again. But for now, we're stuck trying to wade through religious guilt, as well as the human condition, insofar as the seven deadly sins are concerned. Citizens United much?

There's much more to it than that, but I think the popular opinion has shifted to defend these "trivial" issues from attack, and, as a result, we've lost focus on the more important ones. As I said when I voted; I'd rather live in a slightly unstable country where everyone has the same rights than one in which we favor doctrine for the sake a stability.

Edit: His comment about defense spending and the other top spenders being allies is ludicrous. And the R's think we NEED to spend EVEN MORE money on the armed forces?

 

[blanco]

I personally think the problem is that the current generation are the most intelligent and aware ever but have very misguided morals. I'm only 23, and not american, but one of the main things i find from the generation below me is that they almost believe that they deserve everything without any of the work surrounding it. I can't decide if they aren't aware that you have to work hard to become successful or if they've been led into a false sense of security.

In england at the moment we have a fair few problems some quite similar to you. There seems to be quite a large divide when it come to religion and, i hate to say it, race. I'm not saying there's widespread racism but the recession seems to have provoked views that have turned english people, from all races, against the eurozone and the people that have come across to work in our country.
Back to your point.

I personally feel china is going to come into it's own over the next few years. It's developing far faster than the western world without as much immigration/emigration, race and religion problems as the west.
I'd like to think at some point people are going to realise that race, religion and all that doesn't really matter. It's a mind set that we have and that we are all just humans. If we all acted like one species rather than dividing ourselves into small fractions because of minor differences we could achieve so much.

(didn't mean to offend anyone by any of what i said it's just my opinion)

 

[Sicarius]

You guys do know this is a TV show, right?

 

[Randy]

I know it's from a show and all but what the hell was his point?

 

[Sicarius]

To say things that aren't kosher about 'merikuh.

 

[synrgy]

The context of the scene = Popular TV news anchor is part of an event in a high school auditorium. During a Q&A, a student asks "Why is America the greatest country in the World".

Due to a bunch of personal issues we learn about throughout the season (recent failed relationship, alcoholism, etc), this question kind of causes him to have a meltdown right there in the auditorium. His character is that of an 'old school' conservative, who finds himself completely unable to identify with the current 'conservative' movement, which he finds embarrassing, as he does most of the current discourse in this country. Much of which - he seems to feel - is rooted in this false idea that we are the 'best'.

His point, so far as I could deduce, was that to even imply that we're the greatest nation - when we have the grand and numerous problems we have - is simply false, and we need to wake the eff up.

Great series, by the way. At least if one likes Sorkin's typically dialogue-heavy style, anyway.

*edit* Did I mention it has Olivia Munn in it?

*edit #2* the general gist of the series is that it's about the Jeff Daniels character, who is basically waging a one-show war against the way America does news. He tries to go old-school journalism, and catches shit for doing so pretty much every step of the way. There's a lot of character development outside of that for he and the other players, but it's a pretty cathartic watch for anybody who - like me - feels like we've lost our way.

 

[glpg80]

I know it's from a show and all but what the hell was his point?

TV show on HBO yes. However most TV shows depict fictional works or storylines.

However in this case there is data that is upheld to support a common state of mind you still see today pronounced by legislature in America.

My point was to point out the facts stated as they are hard to deny - just as i said in my original post. I feel as though USA still has this state of mind but refuses to realize that there are no statistics that show it should still be upheld.

I figured the point was pretty clear. We think we're hot shit when in reality we're in hot shit. Reasoning and discussion based on the facts is what i am aiming for here. If absolutely nothing comes to mind from watching the video then the purpose was at least to make aware of a point that is still true today.

 

[Watty]

I personally think the problem is that the current generation are the most intelligent and aware ever but have very misguided morals. I'm only 23, and not american, but one of the main things i find from the generation below me is that they almost believe that they deserve everything without any of the work surrounding it. I can't decide if they aren't aware that you have to work hard to become successful or if they've been led into a false sense of security.

In england at the moment we have a fair few problems some quite similar to you. There seems to be quite a large divide when it come to religion and, i hate to say it, race. I'm not saying there's widespread racism but the recession seems to have provoked views that have turned english people, from all races, against the eurozone and the people that have come across to work in our country.
Back to your point.

I personally feel china is going to come into it's own over the next few years. It's developing far faster than the western world without as much immigration/emigration, race and religion problems as the west.
I'd like to think at some point people are going to realise that race, religion and all that doesn't really matter. It's a mind set that we have and that we are all just humans. If we all acted like one species rather than dividing ourselves into small fractions because of minor differences we could achieve so much.

I agree with you man, but to be fair to the nature of relationship between the Chinese and the rest of the more Westernized nations....China is communist. They've elected to use a system where the disparity in interpersonal relationships, specifically those involving the social institutions we're talking about, aren't always allowed to see the light of day. While I don't think restricting all freedoms in that way is the right way to advance, it does have it's merits depending on the situation.