Everywhere there are good people doing good things with the best of intentions.
They’re just not in power in the US and, IMHO, don’t add up to anywhere close to being the majority of people.
I am an American. I used to be proud of my country. Now it feels like a turd circling the drain. Is there anything going on behind the scene that America is actually doing good in?
Submitted 2 weeks ago by Patnou@lemmy.world to [deleted]
Comments
Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
MojoMcJojo@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
All hope is false, unless engineered, built action by action. You want hope? Build it.
TractorDuffy@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Who are you talking to?
SchwertImStein@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
what did you use to be proud of?
nile_istic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If this is a genuine question, then my answer would be: a whole bunch of stuff I was taught that wasn’t actually true.
The way American history was presented to me (and I assume lots of other Americans) in school was the rosiest tinted glasses version of our history that could possibly be constructed. We spent a whole lot more time talking about “breaking bread” with the native Americans rather than slaughtering them, and focused more on our early economic growth rather than the slaves on whose backs it was earned. Our involvement in various wars was characterized as “aid” or “ally-ship”, or even stepping in as the “savior” who made sure the good guys won. Our sociopolitical progress (women’s suffrage, the Civil Rights movement, etc) was framed as the goodhearted majority fighting against a smaller group of hateful bad actors, who all sort of magically disappeared whenever progressive legislation won out.
Simply put, it’s revisionist history designed to retroactively affirm all the “land of the free, home of the brave” shit, when in reality this is a nation whose economy was built on the backs of slaves from all over the world, and whose sociopolitical ideology has always been steered by a small group of cruel and cowardly men who want endless personal power and wealth, to the direct detriment of their fellow country-folk.
There are things I’m genuinely proud of. Like all those who came before me who made it possible for me to vote/get an education/walk down the street while black, female, and queer. There are great American artists, academics, inventors—all sorts of people who’ve made meaningful contributions to the world. Like any other people, we are not all the worst of us.
But holy shit the worst of us are SO worst. And they’re so loud, and they’re so rich, and they’ve stolen so many of our resources, and they’re doing so much fucking damage to practically everyone on earth, not to mention to the earth itself. And they’ve controlled the narrative for a very long time, have taught us (sold us) so much bullshit for so long that a lot of the things the average American is proud of are almost entirely fictional.
It’s… disheartening.
MerryJaneDoe@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
…and they’re so rich…
I hear ya, and I agree - but I think there’s a huge number of not-so-wealthy Americans who are just as culpable. People who happily empower the billionaire class, hoping to catch a crumb of their wealth. And I don’t claim to be different - when I was younger, I would have sold my soul for the right price.
The average ICE employee probably isn’t so different from younger me. When a young person without a college education is offered a six-figure salary - they will accept first and ask questions later. Any moral or ethical qualms are quickly overcome by the realization that their bank account is steadily growing every week. They can enjoy life instead of struggling. They can take care of their loved ones. Meanwhile, the screams of children become part of the normal workweek. It’s crazy but that’s human nature. We are cruel creatures.
SchwertImStein@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
thank you
cheat700000007@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Ignorance
BurnedDonutHole@ani.social 2 weeks ago
(☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞
Bluescluestoothpaste@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Being an immigrant nation
GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
American here.
No. We’re living in the early stages of a fascist dictatorship. And we’ve been doing this to the rest of the world for way too fucking long. The sooner we come to grips with the fact that the hens have come home to roost and we’re reaping what we’ve sown, the sooner we can actually take it down and build something better.
TractorDuffy@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You think there’s nothing going on behind the scenes that an American citizen should be proud of? Note this is different from “Americans have a lot to be ashamed of AND a lot of to be proud of”
TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Some people just have a mentality of pure negativity.
I once dated a doctor, who was a fellow at the best hospital in the world, who had a pretty amazing life, from my perspective. They grew up with wealthy parents, they went to Standford, for free, and had a degree from Harvard Medical school, and they’d completed their residency and had a salary of about 250K at the age of 30.
From their own perspective, they hated their life. Nobody likes them, they were a failure, they were poor and struggling, etc. etc. The same rhetoric you get from so many people here. And I’m sure when I walked away from them because of their extreme self-negativity, they thought I was just also another mean terrible person to them.
valtia@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
What’s actually the point of this exercise? Trying to scrape together reasons to be proud of living in a fascist dictator state, “not everything is that bad”, just reads like cope. Yeah sure, there are some decent places in the US, but even those could be much better than they are. Every facet of life in the US is being held back by the fascism part, even whatever “good” parts we can brainstorm up
GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The only good I’ve seen have been the sporadic and broken bits of a resistance that have managed to not get arrested yet. And I’m not talking about the democrats that are larping as real people for the votes.
Danarchy@lemmy.nz 2 weeks ago
Many of my friends are organizing everything from mutual aid, protection of the targeted, and have expressed a willingness to die for the best values we were taught, if it comes to that. People like that are one good thing about America. Each of us can contribute in our own way, and many are quietly doing so. I don’t have a crystal ball to predict the future but good people fearlessly doing what is right feeds my soul.
Chippys_mittens@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The United States gives billions of dollars in foreign aid to developing nations every year. In total foreign aid is in the 60-70 billion dollar range but that includes Israel and Ukraine… Total strictly humanitarian aid is more like 20 billion-ish. So, thats nice.
darkdemize@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Gave*
With the near-complete dissolution of USAID, expect that number to drop dramatically. Unless it’s for Israel.
K1nsey6@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
USAID was nothing but a tool of imperialism and regime change. The US creates the circumstances so that they would need aid. Aid that comes with strings attached.
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
As a fellow American, I’m going to make a big assumption here and advise you to engage with more people outside. Lemmings are great and all but we do not represent the real world. I can say this has helped me and man, am I worlds better for it.
Right now, the internet is quasi-weaponized against everyone’s better mental health. A lot of people are being fed propaganda that aligns strongly with their beliefs, with many people being sucked into a narrow, amplified, and semi-fictional view of reality. You have to dig deep to find real journalism, facts, and then puzzle together a less biased worldview; few people are there to do any of that legwork for you these days. It’s all exhausting and a recipe for mental illness if you do it constantly.
Instead, try to get out there and just talk to one person; better yet a stranger. Even if it’s just smalltalk. Even if it’s about the weather with a librarian or a checkout clerk. ANYONE. If you can make your way to a club, mutual-aid hub, local meetup, whatever… that’s even better. The goal is to just verbalize with other humans. The rest will follow from there.
TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Bingo. People here tend to be very extreme in their beliefs and they vastly over generalized their niche interests.
The vast majority of people out there don’t know what Linux is nor will they be ‘liberated’ by it.
But making small talk can also backfire. The idea that you will just chat people up and all will be well with the world is naive. A lot of people only find community and belonging through creation oppositional identity (us vs them).
greygore@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You’re not wrong, but I think you’re really missing something important - that we’ve seen some truly ugly and disturbing shit that we can’t ever unsee. Yes, we’re surrounded by negativity on the Internet, and Mr Rogers advice holds: look for the helpers. That restores some of my faith in mankind, but I can’t ever unhear that kindergarten teacher who was willing to turn in her student’s parents because she suspected they might be here illegally. Could I make small talk with her and feel a little more normal? Sure. Do I think the majority of people are like her? No. But… that knowledge is there, the banality of evil is still alive and lurking.
Steve Shives explains it much more eloquently than I ever could, but I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to devote 15 minutes to a random YouTube video from an internet stranger. I do highly recommend it, as it really encapsulated exactly the kind of sentiment I’m struggling with.
Sirius006@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Over the past decade, you can be proud of how you’ve made inclusive principles a standard feature of your cultural products.
Today, you’re facing backlash from the idiots who are panicking, but in Europe many of us are still lagging behind, and the positive effects of your influence on inclusion are still being felt.
cabillaud@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Not US here. I sometimes think that Americans are nice individuals, generaly speaking, but they are collectivly ferocious.
TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Americans are radically different depending on what region, and social class, of American you are interacting with.
But that’s true of any country. Every country hates and is embarassed by the poor uneducated douchebags, and loves their elite well-off cultured population.
glimse@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
For some additional geographic context: The United States is roughly the size of Europe. A little larger if you include Alaska, a little smaller if you don’t. The entirety of England is roughly the size of Illinois.
cheat700000007@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
As a Canadian, I find average Americans are friendlier than average Canadians (experience through the West Coast, Orlando and Texas)
But your mileage may vary: I am white
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
None of the friendliness is sincere. I live in NC and they were super friendly but actually complete assholes full of hate.
Wilco@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
No. This is late stage capitalism, it is over for the US.
theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
You should have never been proud of your country its just more blatant than usual.
LodeMike@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
The U.S. is a very nice place to live.
HubertManne@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Today all the things are gone I’d worked for all my life And its hard to start again With no children and my wife I’d rue my cursed stars To be living here today ‘Cause the flag now stands for serfdom And freedoms been taken away
And I’m ashamed to be an American Where folks pretend their free And I won’t forget, the men who lied Who took that life from me And I’d gladly stand up Next to you and regain her still today ‘Cause ain’t no doubt I used to love this land God help the USA
From the lakes of Minnesota To the hills of Tennessee Across the plains of Texas From sea to shining sea From Detroit down to Houston And New York to L.A Well there’s disgust in every American heart And it’s time we stand and say
Patnou@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Did you make that up? Because the is killer. no sarcasm. If you didn’t where the hell did you find that?
HubertManne@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I mean made the parody but not what its based on. Its because every time I hear that song I would think. “Im ashamed to be an american” and mostly from the actions of americans who love the song and aren’t ashamed of the countries shameful acts.
Doomsider@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Totally normal feeling and it shows you have awareness of what is going on.
There are tons of good people in the US and even more that would be good if our society wasn’t so twisted.
SkabySkalywag@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Exactly. Don’t let the fuckers think you’re alone.
The pendulum always swings back. Hopefully this will mobilize people more in the coming years.
I don’t think we will see a 2nd Civil rights movement or a ‘spring’ of any kind, but I’d be happy with anything close to it.
dasrael@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
crickets
TractorDuffy@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
there’s… hundreds of comments and upvotes on this discussion. Lol. Are you MAGA? It seems like you’re just not willing to look at the evidence that’s right in front of you. :)
dasrael@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
wtf you talking about?? am I MAGA?? Are you!?? Im not even an American…thank fuck.
TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Uh, we have the best military, the best medicine, the best universities, broadest cultural reach… etc.
It’s just that you aren’t getting access to any of it unless you’re part of our social elite. If you’re in the bottom 90% of the economic status, you are only ever going to get access to the middling/average stuff.
Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
You have the most well financed military. Jury’s out on whether it is the best.
TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
By what metric? It’s far better trained and equipped than most any other military, especially elite units.
Unless you’re talking about how the Finnish army whooped us in some exercises, on their home turf in winter, at which their entire nation is super-specialized in? I’m sure if you stuck the Finnish army in Florida for an exercise they’d be the ones whooped.
SooperGoose@thelemmy.club 2 weeks ago
Maybe not the government, but look to the people.
PhoenixDog@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Other than doing literally nothing… What about them?
CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
At the local level there are many people in many cities trying to make things better.
rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Instead of trying to feel good, make it good. Go forth and organize for the better future that you wish to see.
schwim@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
We’ve always excelled at terrorism.
TronBronson@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
No.
D_C@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
What about being pretty good at starting unnecessary wars?
TronBronson@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Okay fair. And we make a good bomb, and a nice fighter jet. Our propaganda is effective. We do a lot of good in areas that are not good.
Eddbopkins@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
No, to what?
TronBronson@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The question pressed by the post? No there’s nothing exciting. Going on behind the scenes. It’s actually fucking worse when you look under the hood. His original description of a turd circling a drain is quite apt for the situation.
callouscomic@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Being proud of countries or nationalities is 8nherently toxic and problematic. I never understood it.
Land of the free, fought against oppression, and force children to pledge allegiance.
Backwards ass shithole.
lemonhead2@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
lol. it’s not your country. it’s bezos trump musk thiel and co’s country. you can live here as long as you don’t inconvenience them too much
spectrums_coherence@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I have options to go to another country, but I choose to stay in the U.S. It certainly is not an easy decision to make, admittedly, my wife is in the U.S. makes U.S. much more attractive.
Yet, here are some aspect I have considered: - EU have repeatedly trying to push chat control, and U.K. already have strict age verification law for porn (and possibly VPN). U.S. is heading there, but at least my state has not have any of these ridiculous moves. - US is a top funder of scientific research. Now even China is taking over EU and UK, but I am certainly not going to China any time soon. There is way too much politics in Chinese academia, as far as I know. - I think education is a human right, and U.S. education is way more expensive than it should be. I don’t want to defend it. But I believe U.S. has better educations thanks to the libral art system, where student have much more chance to interact and learn from professors compare to many top UK schools. - In general, even account for the out of pocket maximum for healthcare, many U.S. job still pays more than their U.K. counterpart. This means saving money in the U.S. and later move to a lower income country is easier than saving money in a lower income country and later move to the U.S. That is working in the U.S. now gives me more liberty to move later in my career, if U.S. eventually collapse.
SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
We are really, really good at making billionaires even richer while decreasing quality of life for the weak, lazy 99%. /s but sadly not really
BillCheddar@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Take heart: There are far more of us than there are of them.
Xylian@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Accelerating EU integration through the threat of invading Greenland,Iceland and thus Greenland -> Denmark -> EU.
Hadriscus@jlai.lu 2 weeks ago
I don’t think there was much of a reason to ever be proud of it, if you’re ashamed now. You can still be proud of what your fellow americans put out : on the culture and research fronts most notably… the US shines far, even though I hear the Trump admin hurt some universities.
But on the political level ? it’s still the murderous empire it has been for the past 80 years, just a little more open about itBlackLaZoR@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You still have more freedom of speech than UK.
Wilco@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Free speech is vanishing in the US, and it is being done in the form of “advertising”. You can’t say death, murder, or suicide in videos and a lot of forums … it makes advertisers sad, so you need to use baby-style code words. Remember when you were a kid and had to say “fudge” instead of saying “fuck”? Same thing.
ohulancutash@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Theoretically, but in practice no.
zbyte64@awful.systems 2 weeks ago
Free speech is when AIPAC channels unlimited dark money to influencers to disparage anti-zionist candidates like they did in Kat Abu’s race. Free is quickly becoming worthless.
fierysparrow89@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This does not sound plausible.
Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
We are the very best arms maker on Earth!
The USA produces more military arms than Russia, China, Germany, and three or four other countries COMBINED.
That’s not even counting small arms. Firearm sales have TRIPLED since 2000.
Every state in the union is part of the arms industry, even Hawaii.
www.nssf.org/government-relations/impact/
TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
5.3 billion in small arms says to civilians.
The small arms market in the USA is so large it would be the 155th largest GDP if it was country.