Five Things The US Got Right (And later, the Anti-US bashing thread.)

Ok, its come to my immediate focus that the US gets a lot of flak from foreigners. So I challenged myself (as a Brit) to find five things the US gave to the world that really helped everyone. Here we go...

1: SAFETY!

Say what you want about the Americans actions during the Cold War, if it wasn't for the presence of that state across the atlantic, we'd all be speaking Russian right now.

2: World War II.

The Americans had no obligation to go after Nazi Germany first. While their Pacific possessions were collapsing like cards and their Pacific forces being slaughtered, they devoted valuable manpower and resources into saving our asses. If it wasn't for that effort, Germany might have got the bomb, and we'd all be up the shit.

3: A free South Korea.

Again, American intervention. Yes, if a certain US general hadn't gone the way of the Medieval French and waved a red flag at the Chinese bull, the whole peninsula might have been saved, but without the Americans, victory over Communisms worst manifestation, however limited, would've been utterly impossible.

4: The Marshall Plan

Possibly the biggest, most awesome thing the US ever done. Namely, flooding Europe with money after we just about blew ourselves up. Yes, we wound up repaying it. But if it hadn't been for that needed cash injection, we'd have been, once again, up the creek. Isn't it about time Europe saved Americas ass for once?

I'd also like to note that the US propped up Weimar Germany after its currency crashed due to hyper-inflation. Despite that ultimately coming back to bite everyone in the ass due to a certain asshole with a stupid moustache, it was a good plan, and I didn't see any European powers rushing to prop up the nation they were pillaging the income of...

5: Being the best bloody alternative to the other big powers.

To people who bash the US, would you rather have had the USSR? Ok, historical example. Ok, China? Nope.

The US isn't perfect, and I, personally, prefer the European domestic model, but the US is, at the very least a heck of a lot better than the alternatives. It isn't expansionistic (though it is paranoid as hell) and its populace (though sadly, not always its government) tend to be proactive and well-intentioned people, even if portions of their population come off as incredibly patronizing sometimes towards other cultures. They can be a little ignorant of other countries, but they are the centre of attention too; how many of us probably know as much about US policy as we do about our own, if not more? America has made some serious errors, but people shouldn't be so quick to throw their viewpoint on the entire country straight into Eagleland type 2 territory.

edited 29th Jul '11 2:47:35 PM by GameChainsaw

Thank you, Game Chainsaw. I feel slightly better about myself today. Which, considering how far down the creek, as you like to say, the US seems to be heading, is kind of nice, really.

The United States is just the current easy target to point fingers at and whine about. If you want examples of how other UN members suck, look no further than the reactions Obama got from saying that the US would not going into Libya.

edited 29th Jul '11 4:10:18 PM by Ramus

Yeah, the US ain't prefect, but then again no country is.

Another good thing. The U.S. became allies with the U.K. after we had settled everything.

We helped out Japan after the war.

And Germany.

We Americans(Those in power, anyway)need to do more for our own people (Education, Welfare, Infastructure, Jobs)to truly be accepted worldwide, and that includes gov't taking the first step - With us, the people, not themselves or their corporate friends dragging us into their BS.

But being accepted in the first place, and that goes for anyone or anything, is all hard work, sweat, pain, and sacrifice. As long as it's for the greater good, it'll pay off.

But I don't expecty anyone in my gov't to learn that until rational thinking people who care about the people who actually vote them in get into office...

edited 29th Jul '11 4:35:16 PM by S3

When you think of it most of our allies except Israel come from the fact that we once in our history fought against them in war and now they are our biggest allies. For Japan the way we defeated them was unpleasant but we did what was best at the time.However,at least we stood around to make things better in their country after the war.And now Japan and America are inseperatable as friends despite our diffrences in culture and taste. I also think America can be called a jerk with a heart of gold.Mainly because we can be boastful but underneath that mask are people who really want the world to be a better place and put their necks out to helpt

Covered by someone else earlier.

Sorry for being redundent.

I think what makes America great is its diverse setting and willingless to take in anyone from any country provided that they come here legally.

Yeah,homogenity might work for other countries but I don't think America would be America if it didn't have different people of many races.

However,speaking as an African America am glad that most of us never took segregationist's words to go back to Africa because Africa may be the birthplace of my ancestors but America is the country where we were born in and raised in.Africans in America started mainly because of the darkness of the slave trade but through diligence and bravery slavery finally ended in America.Most of my relatives can still remember segregation and I can tell you that many of them served in the civil rights movement.They risked a lot on their lines to be treated fairly like everyone else and all I got to say they earned their happy ending.

oh no Jazz that was a massive ninja. It was for the Germany bit.

5 more items:

1. Culture.

Americans often mistakenly attribute to their country works of art and cultural movements that are actually from other countries. But this is because central American works of art (in all fields) have had such an overwhelming impact that anything that comes after is extremely likely to be partially derived from an American work or derivatives of American works. This in itself is very telling.

The US has produced massive amounts of culture that have become part of mankind's legacy.

2. Science.

The US used to be at the frontier of every science, and even if they've fallen somewhat behind on some fields, they're still probably the single most important country in the world when it comes to producing science. Related to science:

3. Innovation.

By this, I mean inventions in technology and engineering. Be it energy production, transportation, entertainment technology, home appliances, whatever; there's a pretty high chance that it was invented in the USA or that it was improved by Americans.

IIRC, the US produces more patents per year than the rest of the world combined, and while 90% of them are obviously bullshit (just like everyone else's inventions), the US is still inventing new and better ways to do things on a near daily basis.

4. International diplomacy.

Didn't see that one coming, did you?

The US has the largest diplomatic corps in the world. (France comes 2nd, which suggests that if the EU has diplomatic corps of their own, they probably match those of the US; though I'm not sure.)

While the US often ignores the UN, they're also often very helpful there in working as a beacon around which the rest of the first world can gather, as well as working as a counter-balance against the other heavy weighters of the UN and especially the Security Council.

Whenever there's an international conflict, or even a national one in another country - and whenever there's a major disaster - we can rely on the US being present, offering its aid and expertise, almost without fail.

At times, the US is the cause of the problem; but even then, at least recently, it does tend to recognise its responsibility. And when the US isn't the cause, they're still often on the hurry to help solve the problem and give aid. They're often the mediators in conflicts.

5. Friendship.

The US wants to be almost everyone else's friend, and they are a great friend to have, except for some troubled times.

Everyone has trade with the US, and no wonder. The US is a great target for almost any kind of commercial operation because of its huge and relatively open market (not as open as ours, though .) American corporations produce a significant portion of what Europe consumes, and they generally provide good quality at reasonable rates.

Everybody's economy is tied to the US, either directly or indirectly.

It's usually very nice to have American visitors. Americans tend to be really nice people. From what I've heard, visiting the US is also great fun. I've never been there yet, but obviously I know plenty of people who have. They say it's a very welcoming country with friendly people.

edited 29th Jul '11 5:36:25 PM by BestOf

"Midwestern girls" should be on every single entry on every single list of everything that is right with the world. >w<

I can't be buggered to come up with five. But I think our sexual revolution is/was awesome, and should be imitated.

Certainly Japan desperately needs one.

What a sexual revolution...

I've just got one, but I like to think it's an important distinction.

Yes, we fight a lot of wars.. But every time we fight a war and either win or stalemate, we stick around and rebuild all the territory we blew up in the process of conquering it. Look no further than West Germany, South Korea, Japan, and our current attempts in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we made no effort to rebuild the latter two, we would probably have won by now. The first 3 are now independent countries(reunited in the case of Germany, and possibly someday in the case of South Korea) which are extremely prosperous. I'm proud of our work in those countries, I think we did well, all things concerned.

Not to say we aren't huge assholes sometimes, we are.

1. The Monroe Doctrine

Yes, yes, we fucked it up later, but in its time, it was revolutionary. Even the mighty British Empire went along. Think about it: on paper, anyhow, it was not one, but two major nations committing themselves to preserving the sovereignty of other, smaller countries, rather than imperializing them as soon as their old masters let go. It laid the basic framework for future countries to let go of the imperial system, and the de-colonization of the world.

2. The Space Race

We have to share some credit with the Russians here, but in this amazing series of actions, we—not just as a nation but as a world—came together in a single decade, and went from sending simple monitoring equipment on a few, short rounds in orbit to putting men on the moon. I think one of the greatest things to be said for humanity as a whole is that the plaque the United States put on the moon does not commemorate a moment of national triumph or the glory of a superpower of Earth. Instead, it reads, simply:

3. The Constitution

With a large majority of nations on Earth using a document as their framework that references or is based entirely on the Constitution, I think it's fair to say that this is one of the most important things Americans have contributed to world society.

4. The League of Nations

Yes, it failed, but without it, there would be no United Nations today. The League of Nations, successful or not, proved that nations could work together and be a part of a singular organization, and the UN later built off this in order to create a working union of countries dedicated to cooperation.

5. The American Civil War

This one is strange, I know, but bear with me. Yes, the American Civil War was bloody and, on its surface, doesn't seem to offer much in the way of good things. However, it provided for the basis of the United States today—a stronger Federal government, proof that the US was more than a closeted shut-in, and the end of slavery. It didn't turn out perfectly, but it showed that a democracy could survive even the most violent of conflicts without falling to dictatorship—and that two, opposing cultures could come together, willingly or not, and eventually work past their differences and "form a more perfect union."

Man, this is fun! I feel less shitty about my country now... until I look at the news, of course, but, meh.

Sorry,but I am part of the pruddish crowd and want to keep the sexual stuff on a pg level. Actually I am happy to be a prude! Conservative and Pruddish!Can't get anymore American!

Frankly, it's only going to get more more sexually repressive from here on out, so we should appreciate the loose mores we managed to maintain for 50 years.

edited 29th Jul '11 6:59:42 PM by johnnyfog

How much more sexual can our advertising get from here on out anyway?

Even the fiber ads are subtly promising to get me laid.

As Churchill once point out, it might take them a while to get there but you can always count on the Americans to get it right when it counts.

Annoying pedant mode, go!

How are the Russians going to invade Britain, exactly?

Not in a million years.

1) Germany cannot beat the United Kingdom in the Second World War. If it tries Operation Sealion, it will be one of the biggest military disasters in history.

2) German physics isn't up to creating an atomic bomb in the Second World War. I would wager that if the United States were not involved, the British would probably get it before the Germans did it.

3) The American (and Western Allied) intervention against Nazi Germany was a drop in the bucket compared to the titanic struggle going on on the Eastern Front, what with that by itself being the bloodiest war in history.

Only because the Soviets didn't veto it at the UN because of their boycott.

edited 29th Jul '11 7:30:26 PM by pagad

There are more ways to dominate a nation, past sheer military power.

But Britain can't beat the Germans either, and it was only a matter of time before Hitler did have enough resources to make Sealion work.

Debatable. As I understand it, the Germans were rather close for comfort by the end of the war. Without US and British pressure, they could easily have gotten it. This one is too much up to chance, however.

Which would have all been for naught without the US. The Soviets did more of the legwork in the European war, but without the US-UK-French triple team on the Germans, they wouldn't have made it anywhere near Berlin. The commonly given statistic is that 4/5ths of the German Army was fighting the Soviets at any one time. Yeah, well, without the US, that last fifth gets to bore down on the Soviets, and you can kiss Stalingrad goodbye. It may not have been as comparatively daunting, but the Allies on the Western Front were just as key as the Soviets were.

And? If they had, it would have been NATO and "all those willing," rather than the UN proper. It would have been devastating to the validity of the UN, though. I fail to see, however, how this is relevant to what the US did. The Soviets fucked up, and it worked out marginally in the West's favor. So what?

Considering how Britain was bombed back to the Stone Age for a while after WW 2, very easily.

No, Germany was doing a damn good job of bombing Britain into oblivion and moving forward on the front lines. That isn't to say that Britain couldn't have turned it around, it's just that the war could have gone so many different ways at that point in history.

Eehhhh, got proof of this? Cause a lot of resources went into making this bomb on all sides.

Except kill count isn't what matters in a war. There's a difference between repeatedly hitting someone with a sledgehammer and stabbing them in the kidney with a knife.

Now, I'm not going to say the United States won that war by itself, no, every drop of effort from all the Allies was pretty damn important to winning that war, but you're not about to brush any country out as not being that important.

edited 29th Jul '11 7:52:18 PM by Ramus