How does America view her Mother?

It is important to remember where Americans came from. Like all babies, we were born from a mother country, in this case, Britain.

We'll always remember that fight we had with mom. She was restricting our curfew and we were tired of her endless rules. So like any rebellious teenager, the American colonies broke out in a fight. For now, it's only important to know that we won and got freedom from Britain. But how is our relationship with mom nowadays?

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124534162608828017 This article surveys numerous European countries to get an idea of how Americans are viewed. This information is very important because it gives me an idea on what in American history is viewed as a contribution and what is not. By the article, it is clear that Entertainment is easily one of the gifts America has given to society and food is not respected. I will look at these two things in a later blog. Other important information includes how in general, European countries have been more pleased with America since Obama has come to office than in previous years.

I like to repeatedly revisit the idea of understanding foreign views on America because, ultimately, the world as a whole is the greatest judge for which countries deserve the most credit. Our patriotism means little if we do not have backers. I will make use of the article to help get a broad view on our flaws and perks. And of course, it is nice that we are on fair terms with mom.

Space Race v2.0

I want to take a quick break from my usual critique of American culture to bring up the fact that NASA has successfully launched the Orion spacecraft, which will carry humans to Mars in the upcoming years. This article describes what a tremendous success this. Also, check out this video of the shuttle's lift-off.

If this doesn't get you excited for the future of space travel, nothing will. But, what does this have to do with America?

Well first off let's travel back to the 60s. The original space race is the reason that global technology increased substantially in a short time span. In only a few decades, man went from first flight, to first steps on the moon. America competed with Russia over technology and the entire planet benefited. After the moon was conquered, the space program remained relatively dormant in comparison. But, with our eyes on Mars, it looks like a rebirth of the space race.

It would be unfair to say America is the only contributor to the space program, because this time around, numerous countries are playing a part in reaching Mars, and NASA is only one organization that represents America. But the point is that again, we are pioneering a new milestone for humanity. Humanity has never been to another planet, let's hope the U.S. can make it happen.

America has bros and haters!

America has been the hero countless times in history. We have intervened and been successful and we have intervened and been criticized. So, why is America justified sometimes and not others?

Let's take the Korean War for example. Why did America enter in the first place? During the Cold War, our objective was to soften communism. So, naturally we travelled to Asia to enter the war despite Korea not being a strategic vantage point against Japan, just as long as we could protect our South Korean allies against the evils of the North Koreans and Japan. And we did! As a result, the South Koreans absolutely adored us. Even today, they view America with staggering approval and respect. This is a time where we made a move, succeeded, and were praised for it.

If we hop on over to Vietnam, and look at a slightly similar situation where we tried to promote democracy in the communist ridden land, we see different results. The Vietnamese rejected American aid. Disregarding the general failure of the efforts made in Vietnam, it would appear that the Vietnamese were reluctant towards American intervention even if we would have 'won' the war. Vietnamese views today show similar beliefs. This is a time where we made a move, failed, and were criticized for it.

What does all of this mean? How should America go about intervening when there are mixed reactions when we do? I will continue to view both sides and try to reach a conclusion in the following weeks. Until then, stay free patriots.

Please stand and gentlemen remove your hats...

I would like to formally begin this blog with an invitation to sing our country's National Anthem.

I want to prove that despite beginning to view some of the more negative aspects of our country, I still respect and love America. But I refuse to be fully bias in my project because then my word is worth nothing. I will come out and say it, America has a lot of problems. The question is, do these problems hinder America from being one of the greatest nations on Earth? One of the most eye opening videos for me was an explanation of the collapse of the American dream and how society became engulfed in debt. It features a humorous animation to accompany a very well thought out description of how America is "doomed". Debt is consuming society and the economy is going down the drain. I highly suggest everyone watches it. It is a bit long but definitely worth the watch.  

The Greatest Nation on Earth

The best place to start research would be to gather a general idea on how the U.S. truly ranks as a country. I found an interesting article which surveys people on what country they believe is the 'best'. In summary, the survey found that more people believed the U.S. was the greatest nation on Earth than it actually stands when compared to other nations.

However, it seems the younger generation believes this less and less. The image to the right shows how varying age groups think about America. It is important to note how the older generations have high rates of patriotism because traditional views may be different than modern liberal views.

Very few people disagree that the U.S. is among the greatest which proves that the general patriotism of Americans is pretty consistent. This information should be a good start and I will compare it with surveys of my own. I plan on asking high school students in America and internationally. Then, I will ask members of the older generation from different nationalities. Finally, I will ask some war veterans.

Here we go again

Sounds like the topic for my 20 percent project is going to be "Is America Superior?" I'm going to have to look at this with as little bias as possible, which isn't exactly an easy task. However, I want it to be known that I'm not a believer of racial supremacy to any extent, it is simply that America as a nation has proved in only 238 years that it is capable of achieving things that other countries can't even dream. There is little debate on whether the U.S. is a superpower, considering we have been a formidable contender since the start of the 20th century. However, being "superior" means more than having the highest GDP in the world and assembling an army with unimaginable power. Every innovation and prideful aspect of our nation is why we believe this. Honestly I considered taking the stage for my project, asking everyone in the room, "Which country is superior? Well, which country has been to the moon?", and then sitting back down, case and point. I really want to be reasonable though and every country has had its moments, just like us. Perhaps I will change that word, "superior", to something less provocative. We will see.