The "Say Nice Things About America" Thread


Jamie123
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OK, @anatess2 (I know how to do it now!!!) has piqued my conscience, so I'm going to say some nice things about America:

  • Not being ashamed of the flag. People in America are not ashamed to show off "Ol' Glory". People have flagstaffs in their front yards, where they proudly raise the "Good Ol' Red White and Blue" (which are actually the colours of any number of other countries' flags, but let's not talk about that). Well, my father-in-law does at any rate, but I've seen enough flags in other peoples' yards to think he's not the odd one out. If I put up a flagstaff in my front garden and flew the Union Jack (OK...Union Flag if you want to be pedantic) everyone would call me a fascist. Which is very sad considering Britain fought alongside the USA against the fascists.
  • Not being ashamed of your alma mater. A few years ago, Loughborough University (where I was once a grad student) sent me a beautiful little enameled pin, with the school coat of arms on it. It is ever such a nice object, and I like to take it out sometimes and look at it. But I don't dare to wear it, 'coz I'd be made fun of. Americans on the other hand often wear T-shirts with "University of This-that-or-the-other" on it. This has, perhaps, a lot to do with inter-varsity sport (which is a lot stronger in America than here) but it's still nice to celebrate that you belong to something.
  • Supermarkets. American supermarkets are like Aladdin's caves compared to British ones. I can spend many pleasant hours in them, wandering around looking around all the fascinating stuff. My wife finds them sad, because she remember all the quaint little shops that were put out of business by the supermarkets, and I can kinda agree - I have been in some of the remaining little-shops, with creaky floorboards, where they pack your things in sturdy paper bags. That's a beloved part of "America" to me too. But I still like the supermarkets.
  • Roads and Road Signs. American roads are wider than ours. I suppose they had to be once, considering how big those whacking great "thunderbirds" used to be. But American cars have shrunk so they're now not that much bigger than British ones, but the roads have stayed the same. There's a feeling of freedom about them that you don't get here. Also, street signs are better. In the UK they only put them at the ends of streets, not always at intersections, and they put them close to the ground so they are hard to see. In America they put them on poles high up, so you can easily see them.

That'll do for now. The people here are starting to bug me to cook supper, so I have to go. I'm sure I'll think of some more to add later! 

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6 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:

OK, @anatess2 (I know how to do it now!!!) has piqued my conscience, so I'm going to say some nice things about America:

  • Not being ashamed of the flag. People in America are not ashamed to show off "Ol' Glory". People have flagstaffs in their front yards, where they proudly raise the "Good Ol' Red White and Blue" (which are actually the colours of any number of other countries' flags, but let's not talk about that). Well, my father-in-law does at any rate, but I've seen enough flags in other peoples' yards to think he's not the odd one out. If I put up a flagstaff in my front garden and flew the Union Jack (OK...Union Flag if you want to be pedantic) everyone would call me a fascist. Which is very sad considering Britain fought alongside the USA against the fascists.   

The USA is about the only country on the planet where desecrating the national flag is a PROTECTED right.  And there is no scarcity of Americans doing so.

 

6 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:
  • Not being ashamed of your alma mater. A few years ago, Loughborough University (where I was once a grad student) sent me a beautiful little enameled pin, with the school coat of arms on it. It is ever such a nice object, and I like to take it out sometimes and look at it. But I don't dare to wear it, 'coz I'd be made fun of. Americans on the other hand often wear T-shirts with "University of This-that-or-the-other" on it. This has, perhaps, a lot to do with inter-varsity sport (which is a lot stronger in America than here) but it's still nice to celebrate that you belong to something.  

Depends on your Alma Mater.  So yes, Alumni with great sports teams will be proud to wear their colors.  Alumni with sucky sports teams would be hesitant to wear their colors.  Ivys would wear their school emblems everywhere... I've worked with an engineer who've never been within 1,000 miles of MIT buying and wearing an MIT shirt.  I seriously doubt if Alumni of Evergreen College would want to wear the school t-shirt nowadays.

 

6 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:
  • Supermarkets. American supermarkets are like Aladdin's caves compared to British ones. I can spend many pleasant hours in them, wandering around looking around all the fascinating stuff. My wife finds them sad, because she remember all the quaint little shops that were put out of business by the supermarkets, and I can kinda agree - I have been in some of the remaining little-shops, with creaky floorboards, where they pack your things in sturdy paper bags. That's a beloved part of "America" to me too. But I still like the supermarkets.  

  

Now this one... the American Supermarket is a sight to behold.  In my town, the quaint shops are doing just fine.  In road trips, I love stopping over little towns and going to their town supermarkets as it tells a whole lot about the town... like, some town in Tenessee have a little supermarket that sells Bear sculptures and Bear claws and Bear quotes on a board... and this little town in Louisiana that sells Alligator heads, and Alligator claws, and Alligator mugs, etc.

 

6 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:
  • Roads and Road Signs. American roads are wider than ours. I suppose they had to be once, considering how big those whacking great "thunderbirds" used to be. But American cars have shrunk so they're now not that much bigger than British ones, but the roads have stayed the same. There's a feeling of freedom about them that you don't get here. Also, street signs are better. In the UK they only put them at the ends of streets, not always at intersections, and they put them close to the ground so they are hard to see. In America they put them on poles high up, so you can easily see them.  

The American freeway system was built for the dual purpose of being used as military runways.  There's a big advantage to having one country's landmass having 2,500 straight horizontal miles uninterrupted by oceans.

Signage is an American artform.  There's laws surrounding its size and placement.  This has come through various people suing their city for improper signage.  It has become so ridiculous that you will find "don't leave baby unattended" on the diaper changing table in a public restroom making people think there must be a lot of stupid Americans who leave their babies unattended on a narrow plastic fold-out-of-the-wall table 3.5 feet above a hard tiled floor...

 

 

6 minutes ago, Jamie123 said:

That'll do for now. The people here are starting to bug me to cook supper, so I have to go. I'm sure I'll think of some more to add later! 

 

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There is one thing better in Britain than the USA.... swear words.  British cursing just sounds elegant that I forget to be offended whereas American cursing just sounds crass that I feel like  being washed in the stinky gutter.  :)

 

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34 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

There is one thing better in Britain than the USA.... swear words.  British cursing just sounds elegant that I forget to be offended whereas American cursing just sounds crass that I feel like  being washed in the stinky gutter.  :)

 

Pretty much all cursing leaves me feeling soiled. I find British cursing exactly as unlovely as American cursing.

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1 hour ago, Jamie123 said:

Not being ashamed of the flag. People in America are not ashamed to show off "Ol' Glory".

These people are called "conservatives" and are mostly Republican (and/or libertarian). Democrats in the main consider "patriotism" a dirty word and a sign of ignorance, and look at the American flag as substitute toilet paper. Certainly there are patriotic Democrats, but they seem to have become a very rare breed.

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I've thought of something else:

  • American Radio. In 1992 I did my first American road trip from Dallas/Fort Worth to New Orleans and back. I was all alone, in a rented Ford Mustang, travelling from motel to motel. I visited several plantation houses, took a swamp tour, went on a river boat up the Mississippi, saw the aquarium at NO, had an asthmatic attack and had to spend a few hours in hospital (which led later to an insurance argument - but that's not part of the story), and tried (and failed) to find "The House of the Rising Sun". At first I had no clue how to operate an automatic car, and had to ask a passing lady to explain it to me. Once she'd gone I still couldn't do it - until I discovered (quite by accident) that the stick won't move unless you have your foot on the break. After that I got on OK - though the trip was half over before I discovered cruise control. But one thing I really loved was the Country and Western radio stations. All you had to do was press SEARCH and it would find you one. When it started to crackle as you got out of range, you just pressed SEARCH again and it would find you another just as good. Hour after hour of open road, the occasional stop for soda (in glass bottles out of old-fashioned vending machines) and music. ACTUAL music...not the occasional bit of music in between the inane jibber-jabber of DJs like you get on UK radio. Good music too: Confederate Railroad, Patty Smyth, The Dixie Chicks...

...though (and this REALLY makes me mad) they are just "The Chicks" now. First Lady Antibellum...now The Dixie Chicks. Much as I hate slavery, this is going too far. 

Edited by Jamie123
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3 hours ago, Vort said:

These people are called "conservatives" and are mostly Republican (and/or libertarian).

Ive never considered this... but from my experience this is very true

Edited by Fether
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2 hours ago, Jamie123 said:

I've thought of something else:

  • American Radio. In 1992 I did my first American road trip from Dallas/Fort Worth to New Orleans and back. I was all alone, in a rented Ford Mustang, travelling from motel to motel. I visited several plantation houses, took a swamp tour, went on a river boat up the Mississippi, saw the aquarium at NO, had an asthmatic attack and had to spend a few hours in hospital (which led later to an insurance argument - but that's not part of the story), and tried (and failed) to find "The House of the Rising Sun". At first I had no clue how to operate an automatic car, and had to ask a passing lady to explain it to me. Once she'd gone I still couldn't do it - until I discovered (quite by accident) that the stick won't move unless you have your foot on the break. After that I got on OK - though the trip was half over before I discovered cruise control. But one thing I really loved was the Country and Western radio stations. All you had to do was press SEARCH and it would find you one. When it started to crackle as you got out of range, you just pressed SEARCH again and it would find you another just as good. Hour after hour of open road, the occasional stop for soda (in glass bottles out of old-fashioned vending machines) and music. ACTUAL music...not the occasional bit of music in between the inane jibber-jabber of DJs like you get on UK radio. Good music too: Confederate Railroad, Patty Smyth, The Dixie Chicks...

...though (and this REALLY makes me mad) they are just "The Chicks" now. First Lady Antibellum...now The Dixie Chicks. Much as I hate slavery, this is going too far. 

Ohhh... yeah... I was amazed at how I was able to listen to the entire Rush Limbaugh show blasting Bill Clinton's indecency for 3 hours while driving on the roadway back in the 90's when talk shows were still in the AM stations!  So that's at least 150 miles of road where there's at least an AM station that carries the Rush Limbaugh show.

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4 hours ago, Vort said:

These people are called "conservatives" and are mostly Republican (and/or libertarian). Democrats in the main consider "patriotism" a dirty word and a sign of ignorance, and look at the American flag as substitute toilet paper. Certainly there are patriotic Democrats, but they seem to have become a very rare breed.

The American flag is a talisman that converts people to conservatism.

https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/07/20/shock-study-us-flag-only-boosts-gop#:~:text=Just a brief exposure to an image of,study just published in the scholarly Psychological Science.

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1 hour ago, mordorbund said:

Those crafty Republicans. No wonder the Democrats eschew the flag at every turn!

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Uhmm, this stereotype that Democrats or liberals are not proud of the flag is false.  There are MANY liberals and Democrats that proudly display the US flag.  Even more, there are democrats (though, far less than Republicans) that serve, and even many independants who serve in the Military defending freedom and saluting the flag!

Military times troops see rising political tension in the ranks 10-17-2018

Quote

But who troops will vote for is less clear. Almost half of those who responded to the poll said they do not affiliate with either major political party, continuing a trend in Military Times polls from recent years away from close ties to either Republicans or Democrats.

Despite that, roughly 45 percent of troops polled said they intend to back Republican candidates, even though less than a third say they are registered with the party.

Similarly, about 28 percent said they plan to vote for Democrats in the upcoming contests, even though only about one-fifth consider themselves members of that party.

So, less than 1/3 are registered Republican, and 1/5 are registered Democrats, or around 33% + 20% = 53% of members being in a party.  This indicates that a minority (or around 47%) but a sizeable chunk are independents, but that group is probably larger than those registered to any other particular or specific single party (which is very similar in demographics to the rest of the US).

It should also be noted that though I take exact percentages, in truth the numbers are really only estimates in the article.  Still, it shows, one does NOT have to be a conservative, or noted as a Conservative to show patriotism, be proud of the flag, and to serve one's country in the US!

PS: Yes, there are liberals that are not "Proud" of their flag, but I would not say that is the norm, or typical, at least in the past.

Edited by JohnsonJones
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5 minutes ago, JohnsonJones said:

Yes, there are liberals that are not "Proud" of their flag, but I would not say that is the norm, or typical, at least in the past.

I don’t think it is a matter of being proud or not proud, but I would gamble that a vast majority of Americans that actually put the effort of flying an American flag are Republicans.

though admittedly I have no stats to back that up.

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11 minutes ago, JohnsonJones said:

Uhmm, this stereotype that Democrats or liberals are not proud of the flag is false.

You are wrong. The stereotype exists because it's in large part true. On average, and by a large margin, leftists (Democrats and "liberals") are simply not as patriotic as those on the right. They consider patriotism a form of racism and actively eschew not only patriotism itself but all things and especially people that champion or even evoke patriotism. The flag would obviously be high on this list.

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58 minutes ago, Vort said:

You are wrong. The stereotype exists because it's in large part true. On average, and by a large margin, leftists (Democrats and "liberals") are simply not as patriotic as those on the right. They consider patriotism a form of racism and actively eschew not only patriotism itself but all things and especially people that champion or even evoke patriotism. The flag would obviously be high on this list.

That's actually pretty false.

Democrats and liberals have MANY who are proud...and many who probably SERVED the MILITARY TO PROTECT YOUR FREEDOMS FAR longer than you or I have.

I know many who you would call a Liberal who are very patriotic and do parades and the entire flag thing that you think only conservatives do.

 

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1 hour ago, Fether said:

I don’t think it is a matter of being proud or not proud, but I would gamble that a vast majority of Americans that actually put the effort of flying an American flag are Republicans.

though admittedly I have no stats to back that up.

Go to Massachussetts or New York if you want to see a LOT of Democrats that wave flags and other items like that.  Go to the Northeast (many Democrats and Liberals there) on the 4th of July and you'll see a LOT of flags up.  In fact, in some areas they are FAR more proud of the Founding fathers and the heritage that goes back to the Revolutionary war than I've seen elsewhere.

One of the warmest areas my son-in-law (military) said that he got for a reception on one of his deployments was from New Hampshire.  The people there gave the troops the warmest welcome.

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Guest MormonGator
33 minutes ago, JohnsonJones said:

Go to Massachussetts or New York if you want to see a LOT of Democrats that wave flags and other items like that.  Go to the Northeast (many Democrats and Liberals there) on the 4th of July and you'll see a LOT of flags up.  In fact, in some areas they are FAR more proud of the Founding fathers and the heritage that goes back to the Revolutionary war than I've seen elsewhere.

One of the warmest areas my son-in-law (military) said that he got for a reception on one of his deployments was from New Hampshire.  The people there gave the troops the warmest welcome.

Exactly. You aren't lying @JohnsonJones, ignore anyone who causes you of that or tries to "shame" you. It's totally uncalled for, and quite frankly, a nasty personal attack. 

Edited by MormonGator
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51 minutes ago, JohnsonJones said:

Go to Massachussetts or New York if you want to see a LOT of Democrats that wave flags and other items like that.  Go to the Northeast (many Democrats and Liberals there) on the 4th of July and you'll see a LOT of flags up.  In fact, in some areas they are FAR more proud of the Founding fathers and the heritage that goes back to the Revolutionary war than I've seen elsewhere.

One of the warmest areas my son-in-law (military) said that he got for a reception on one of his deployments was from New Hampshire.  The people there gave the troops the warmest welcome.

NH isn't Massachusetts.  The first time I walked through Boston in uniform I had a bottle thrown at me.  The cops picked me up and asked me if I was nuts to be walking through Cambridge in uniform.

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