I had the misfortune of walking into my dorm room a few days ago while my roommate was watching Fox News. They were airing the Republican “rebuttal” that Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell gave in response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address. I only watched for a minute or so, but in that minute McDonnell managed to make two statements that I took to be profoundly absurd.
The first: “Most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government.”
The second: “America is the most generous and prosperous nation on Earth.”
Wow.
I could understand these kinds of remarks coming from one of our more naively patriotic brethren among the general populace, but for an elected official to air them on national television (albeit Fox News) is a bit frightening.
First, we do not have the best medical system in the world. We spend more per capita on health care than any other country and yet the World Health Organization ranked us 37th (between Costa Rica and Slovenia) last time it published a worldwide ranking.
Numbers aside, if our nation really did have the best health care system in the world, there wouldn’t be a three-decade-long debate raging over its reform. Indeed, even President George W. Bush addressed the need for health care reform in his last State of the Union address.
Second, we are not the most prosperous nation in the world. According to the CIA World Factbook, the U.S. had the 10th highest GDP per capita in the world at $46,400 (less than a third of first place Lichtenstein’s).
Even if we ignore GDP, the leading factor in determining a nation’s economic prosperity, we need only shift our gaze toward the national debt. Our federal government is in debt more than $12 trillion. That’s $12,000,000,000,000. And as if it weren’t bad enough already, our biggest creditor, other than ourselves, is none other than communist China. Ironic much?
Compared to reality, hyperbolic assertions that we are the “most prosperous” nation on Earth and that we have the “best medical care system in the world” are not only wrong, but grotesquely misleading. It takes little more than willful ignorance for anyone to believe these statements.
Perhaps more to blame than ignorance, however, is simple-minded, unfounded patriotism. Many of us have grown up thinking that America is, and always will be, the richest, strongest, smartest, most just, best country on God’s green Earth.
How wrong we were.
It doesn’t take much to see that, although “best” is a subjective term, it probably doesn’t apply to 21st century America. However, this shouldn’t be taken to mean America is the worst country in the world, not by a long shot. Rather, we simply need to realize we are by no means the best, whatever that may mean.
And no, I’m not an “unpatriotic pierced-nose Volvo-driving France-loving left-wing communist latte-sucking tofu-chomping vegan weenie” just because I will admit my country is not perfect. Rather, I find it more patriotic to admit its faults and then work to fix them.
We are no longer, assuming we once were, “a city upon a hill.” While we are a great nation, we are not perfect. We are not the most prosperous. We are not the most healthy. We are not the smartest, hardest-working or happiest either. Conversely, we’re definitely not the poorest, sickest, dumbest, laziest or saddest.
The point is we shouldn’t assume America’s dominance because at some point it was the “greatest” nation on Earth. Those of us who haven’t realized that need to confront reality. We have problems. They need to be addressed by us. Let’s stop ignoring them, stuffing our ears, yelling “Socialism!” and hiding behind unfounded patriotic, nationalistic, jingoistic rhetoric.
Let’s make America the best. For real this time.
Click here to read The Daily's Becca Skupin's take on nationalism
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Mesocyclone 2 years, 3 months ago
You make some good points in your article with respect to the fact that no, we're not a perfect country, and yes, there are problems we as a nation need to tackle. I would also remind anyone reading this article that for all of America's faults, we have also been one of the most innovative, and also one of the most philanthropic (if not the most philanthropic) countries in the world. Who has led the way pretty much every time when it comes to responding to major world disasters (i.e. Haiti)? Who has done the most to send humanitarian groups over to Third World countries to help impoverished people? What country has produced some of the greatest cures to some of the deadliest diseases over the last 50 years, and continues to pour millions every year into cancer and AIDS research? Where was born the best and longest surviving representative government yet known to man, with a Constitution whose original principles and ideals have survived virtually intact for 220+ years in spite of a Civil War, two World Wars, a Cold War, and now a War on Terror? What other country has afforded the same amount of opportunity (which by the way, necessarily means the opportunity to fail as well as succeed) and has, at least in recent history if not at present, generated the degree of wealth and high-standards of living as America? No, we are not a perfect nation, we've made our share of shameful mistakes along the way, and yes, we are in need of some reforms. We face a poor economy, massive debt, a corrupted political scene in Washington (on BOTH sides of the aisle), and two wars abroad. Nobody ever said things would always be easy with sunny green pastures, the Founders themselves knew this. But let's not make the mistake of allowing our past failures, imperfections, and current times of hardship to undermine the concept of the American dream that our Forefathers envisioned for us. Let's take the opportunity to learn from the past and our current hardships, and begin the process as a nation of taking the steps we need to restore our America to her former grandeur and greatness. The road ahead is long, and the way won't be easy. It will mean making sacrifices. It will mean cutting down on massive government spending, and our own personal spending as well. It will mean - wait for it - personal responsibility. It will provide us an opportunity to reexamine our moral health as a nation, and to recommit ourselves to the Creator who has endowed us with our inalienable rights to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." It will also afford us a great opportunity for innovation. America is the birthplace of innovation, and I believe we will again, as we have in the past, innovate our way back to prosperity. That's the beauty of the free-market, capitalist system. That's the beauty of America. Don't give up on the Dream. And please - let's not sell ourselves short as a nation.
TheAntiTrevorClark 2 years, 3 months ago
applauds
fresh 2 years, 3 months ago
For someone who "only watched for a minute or so" you seem to have chosen quotes from both the beginning and end of the speech.
leimapapa 2 years, 3 months ago
This article is pure mental masturbation. Newsflash: making fun of Fox News is no longer hip. And it doesn't make thinly-veiled, narcissistic drivel a legitimate viewpoint.
dio 2 years, 3 months ago
@sarah
"Remember to respect that people can have differences of opinion."
Keep shouting, I do not care.
Cambrian 2 years, 3 months ago
I particularly enjoyed the statement by McDonnell that the U.S. has many natural resources and that we should use them all. Yes McDonnell, let's rape and pillage the Earth. What a crackpot!
dio 2 years, 3 months ago
Mesocyclone really is the typical republican conservative christian who will desperately try to embellish the records of the US.
"What country has produced some of the greatest cures to some of the deadliest diseases over the last 50 years"
Very, very, subjective claim.
"Where was born the best and longest surviving representative government yet known to man"
The US government is certainly not the best in the world. Though it is much better than a totalitarian dictatorship. People should have a look at the other governments of the western world...
"(...) generated the degree of wealth and high-standards of living as America?"
The US ranks 17th on the Human Poverty Index, and has a Gini coefficient of 40.8 (the same has Ghana and Turkmenistan). 12% of the US population live behind the national poverty line (the same % as Syria) and has an unemployment rate of 9.7%. You can obviously do better...
"(...) restore our America to her former grandeur and greatness"
Seriously, who wants to live in the 1950s???
"It will mean cutting down on massive government spending, and our own personal spending as well."
Mesocyclone sucks at Economy.
"It will mean - wait for it - personal responsibility"
Is that the continuation of the retarded sex sermon that was made yesterday? Does that mean people have to be christian and marry religiously to restore America its grandeur?
"(...) our moral health as a nation, and to recommit ourselves to the Creator"
Indeed, that is the continuation of yesterday's moronic sex sermon.
"the Creator who has endowed us with our inalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."
People should thank the Enlightenment Thinkers of the 18th century instead.
"America is the birthplace of innovation"
Right... the word "innovation" was first found in the English language in the 1540s... it comes from the Latin innovationem. So "innovation" predates America by a very, very, long shot. Nevertheless America is probably the birthplace of BS.
"That's the beauty of the free-market, capitalist system."
See the above stats to contemplate the performances of the current capitalist system.
sarah 2 years, 3 months ago
dio, cut the crap with the ad hominem attacks. stick to responding to ideas. (this means you have to remove phrases like "he sucks" from your answers.)
I agree with some of what you said, but I can't agree with your snobbish attitude. Remember to respect that people can have differences of opinion.
ditto leimapapa. if you disagree, can you do better than to accuse someone of indulging in "mental masturbation" and being un-hip? How about trying to respond to the actual content of the article? What, exactly, is the drivel?
leimapapa 2 years, 3 months ago
sarah, I agree with dio on this one. You are irrelevant.