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Title: Can you say why America is the greatest country in the world?
Source:
IMDB; "The Newsroom"
URL Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2289479/quotes
Published: Jun 24, 2012
Author: Aaron Sorkin (created by), Aaron Sorkin
Post Date: 2016-05-17 13:00:23 by TheFireBert
Keywords: america, greatest, WORST-period-GENERATION-period
Views: 2357
Comments: 12
***Emphasis and additional commentary are mine***
Jennifer Johnson: Can you say why America is the greatest country in the world?
Sharon: Diversity and opportunity.
Moderator: Lewis?
Lewis: Freedom and freedom... so let's keep it that way.
Moderator: Will?... Why is America the grea.....
Will McAvoy: It's not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.
Moderator: You're saying...
Will McAvoy: Yes.
Moderator: Let's talk about...
Will McAvoy: Fine. Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gestures to Lewis] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS!
Sharon: Hey...!
Will McAvoy: [turns to Lewis] And with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America is so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, BELGIUM has freedom! Two hundred and seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.
Moderator: All right...
Will McAvoy: And yeah, you... sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is: There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies.
None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about! Yosemite?
[Will goes on to explain why the USA was great at one time, and still could be]
Will McAvoy: [pause] We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons, we passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy.
We reached for the stars, acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy.
We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one.
America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.
Will McAvoy: [to moderator] Enough?
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This is not breaking news or anything like that, just the mood I am in today. Anyone who disagrees is al-Qaeda or a pure Socialist/Communist! LOL
#2. To: TheFireBert (#0)
We waged wars on poverty
No, we subsidized it, and as everyone with half a brain predicted we got more of it. That sure as Hell wasn't "greatness".
A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.
#3. To: TheFireBert (#0)
Can you say why America is the greatest country in the world?
It was the greatest country in the world. Now we are swiftly riding downhill in a razorblade of stupidity, impulsive self-indulgence, genetic pollution, and suicidal despondency resulting from what we're doing to each other with the first three.
#4. To: ConservingFreedom (#2)
we subsidized it
I agree. While most of what he says is true, there will always be different opinions and versions of this truth.
The War on Poverty, just like the War on Drugs, is a failed policy because the actions attack the symptoms, not the root causes.
Poverty is the product of laziness, greed, and a lack of compassionate generosity of the individual, along with government regulation of poverty in general.
Drugs usage is the product of many things, including poverty and despair, along with healthy forms of usage and criminalization of said usage. The more a government criminalizes recreational behaviors, the more certain individuals will continue the behavior. The only net result is always going to be more criminals. Once again, greed,a lack of compassionate generosity of the individual and if society, along with government regulation of drugs in general, cause the uptick in drug usage, not eliminating it.
#5. To: TheFireBert (#1)
That was a great scene. Too bad the rest of the series was kinda lame.
I'm sure some of the Trumpettes will be along shortly to call you a libtard, paultard or whatever the epithet of the day is.
Here's another good one
Why Shouldn't I Work for the NSA? (Good Will Hunting)
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts#6. To: rlk, TheFireBert (#3)
It was the greatest country in the world.
"You know....this used to be a helluva good country"
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts#7. To: Deckard (#5)
One of my favorite movies.
A government strong enough to impose your standards is strong enough to ban them.
#8. To: TheFireBert (#4)
Drug usage isn't the result of criminalization of usage. It is a result of immorality and stupidity.
#9. To: A K A Stone (#8) (Edited)
It is a result of immorality and stupidity.
I cannot argue with that reasoning. No one can, because those are also very compelling reasons for increased usage. The only thing I added is that criminalization has sped up the rates, along with the failed War on Poverty and the failed experiment they are running to level the playing field of the world economy.
But you cannot deny that the War on Drugs has played a hand in the cumulative effect of increased usage. It is a known fact that the more you prohibit an action that will be taken anyways, the more the action will be taken in the shadows. Human nature at its finest, no?
What we fail to realize is that with the War on Drugs, the War on Poverty, the War on _fill in the blank_, all can be traced back to not only good intentions, but also a very real financial interest. Someone has to pay for these wars!
America was once great because it cared for We the People and their security, not because it stuck its nose in everyone's personal business.
If we really want to be great again, go ask Uncle Sam to get back on our side of the border, get out of our wallets, get out of our papers and property, get out of our bodies, and get out of our way.
***If we really want to be great again, go ask Uncle Sam to get back on our side of the border, get out of our wallets, get out of our papers and property, get out of our bodies, and get out of our way.***
#10. To: TheFireBert (#4)
The War on Poverty, just like the War on Drugs, is a failed policy because the actions attack the symptoms, not the root causes.
If your attitude is that we just let addicts die and lazy welfare shitbags starve because the "war" is being lost, then I'm on your side. I like the "give them enough rope to hang themselves" idiology instead of making rope illegal. The problem is you don't have what it takes to stop the war... because your inabilityto tough love is the WEAKNESS that enables addicts to have the oppertunity to overdose 25 times instead of one failed time... and commit years of crime against the populace to fund their intentional dysfunctionalness. Your weakness allows for loopholes in welfare... because the "war on poverty" is losing. You wanna fix the war on poverty? Let 10 lazy shitbags watch one starve to death... and watch those ten start filling out minimum wage job apps in a hurry.
I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
#11. To: ConservingFreedom (#7)
One of my favorite movies.
Yeah - mine too.
Will: Do you like apples?
Clark: Yeah.
Will: Well, I got her number. How do you like them apples?
The dialogue was great in the movie, hard to believe it was written by Damon and Affleck.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts#12. To: GrandIsland (#10)
If your attitude is that we just let addicts die and lazy welfare shitbags starve because the "war" is being lost, then I'm on your side.
Nice assumption. Wrong as usual, but nice assumption. Not a very compassionate view, but I expect you have lost compassion for fellow man long ago.
I was merely stating that it is not the government's job to care for the populace's health and well-being. America was founded on beliefs of compassion and strength. We have now become the nation of depravity and narcissism. No longer do you encounter as many individuals that speak of their strength to overcome addictions and hardships through family, friends, and community. More often we encounter drug addicts, behavioral deviants, and political misfits that want to mold America into their own image, dammed be the high price it will cost us!
Poverty will not be solved by tough love alone. We did not survive because we made ourselves isolationists within our own country. We survived because of our ability to be a community. Ideals like civil rights have brought us so far, but are now tearing us apart. Racism, gender identity, political affiliation, fetal rights, stances on poverty, militarized law enforcement agencies, and poor border policies are the issues that create the rifts that keep neighbors from supporting community efforts and putting aside differences to make an actual difference.
On a spiritual note, America was never "officially" Christian only. The emphasis on freedom of religion supported the idea that religion is the foundation for a moral and just society. That did not mean that only one religion in the world is moral and just. Most religions (not all, but a good many of the main ones) promote peace, harmony, community involvement, and love. This, I believe, is what the founding fathers were after. We have allow secularism to pull down these admirable traits and replace them with selfishness, hate, individual civil rights, and bloodlust. I am not saying that religion is the answer, but it sure made a difference so long ago. Perhaps there is some wisdom in the 10 Commandments that Moses carried into the world. Maybe not so much for the religious benefit, but surely for the benefit of caring for one another.
As for your overall attitude, people die all the time because of drugs and poverty. All we have been doing is extending the rope a little further. But the rope itself was never the problem. It is more of how long we let them hang on to that rope without trying to pull themselves back up. I have taken advantage of these welfare services from time to time, but never because I did not feel like working. They were there because I had nowhere else to turn, with family in similar positions and other people around me to concerned with their own selves to care for a fallen community member. As soon as the crisis was over, almost always short lived, I was back on the route to independence.
How many are allowed to partake without being held accountable? Without a more community-type involvement, it will remain in the "too many" category.
***If we really want to be great again, go ask Uncle Sam to get back on our side of the border, get out of our wallets, get out of our papers and property, get out of our bodies, and get out of our way.***
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