Make America 'great again'.
This line more than anything annoys me. Possibly more so than most soundbites. When on earth was America ever 'great'? When it caused a global economic crash in the 20s which was a contributing factor to the world war? When in the 60s it still had segregation? When in the 90s over 40 million were uninsured for health care?
Not saying America doesn't have its good points but which era are trump and other republicans referring to when they want to make America great 'again'?
Not saying that other countries are great, they certainly aren't but the notion that there was a period when everything was just 'great' in any country, let alone America is nonsense.
Not saying America doesn't have its good points but which era are trump and other republicans referring to when they want to make America great 'again'?
Not saying that other countries are great, they certainly aren't but the notion that there was a period when everything was just 'great' in any country, let alone America is nonsense.
(edited 8 years ago)
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America has this idea ingrained into their culture that their country and way of life is the best in the world. It's been like this for generations. They have to dominate everything. That slogan is just pandering to the idiocy of so many American people for easy votes.
It's insane how crappy the American state is to it's people, yet how patriotic they still tend to be. It's like Stockholm Syndrome or something.
It's insane how crappy the American state is to it's people, yet how patriotic they still tend to be. It's like Stockholm Syndrome or something.
He's playing to the US populus. They have an incredibly extreme sense of patriotism, it's not like Britain where we regularly take the piss out of ourselves. Self-deprecation isn't really understood over there.
Maybe Donald considered going with 'Make America Slightly Less Shitty', but didn't think it would play as well with one of the most patriotic electorates on the planet.
It is better than "Make America whole again".
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
It's a catchier way of saying your life is ****ed either way.
Has a slight ring to it.
Has a slight ring to it.
He's playing to the "woo 'merica" crowd.
Well I imagine for Conservatives, and Right Wing Americans, they look towards the late 1940s until the early 1960s, with the emergence of American political and military hegemony and huge economic growth and the Reagan years, with neo-liberal reforms and a more brazen foreign policy, during the 1980s as their 'great' periods.
Whereas Liberals might look more fondly on the New Deal during the 1930s and 1940s with the creation of social security and huge investment in infrastructure, as well social reform during the mid to late 1960s and Bill Clinton's relativity stable presidency as their 'great' periods.
But I suspect hardly anyone looks at the 1970s or 2000s as a great period in America, which were both plagued by economic crises, political scandals, unpopular presidencies and a changing role of where America stood in the global system.
Whereas Liberals might look more fondly on the New Deal during the 1930s and 1940s with the creation of social security and huge investment in infrastructure, as well social reform during the mid to late 1960s and Bill Clinton's relativity stable presidency as their 'great' periods.
But I suspect hardly anyone looks at the 1970s or 2000s as a great period in America, which were both plagued by economic crises, political scandals, unpopular presidencies and a changing role of where America stood in the global system.
Original post by TimmonaPortella
Maybe Donald considered going with 'Make America Slightly Less Shitty', but didn't think it would play as well with one of the most patriotic electorates on the planet.
Yet people lap it up.
Its the same as people here who go on about making 'Britain great' or 'British values' etc.
Original post by Bornblue
Yet people lap it up.
Its the same as people here who go on about making 'Britain great' or 'British values' etc.
Its the same as people here who go on about making 'Britain great' or 'British values' etc.
3edgy5me
One of the most appealing aspects of American culture is that they actually have a little pride and self-confidence in their national identity imho.
Original post by TimmonaPortella
3edgy5me
One of the most appealing aspects of American culture is that they actually have a little pride and self-confidence in their national identity imho.
One of the most appealing aspects of American culture is that they actually have a little pride and self-confidence in their national identity imho.
Nationalism in America is exclusionary and isolationist, a very unappealing trait.
Being proud for being born somewhere is daft. We all won the post code lottery to be born in the first world and not some third world country. Why should we be 'proud' for winning the lottery, we did nothing to earn or deserve it.
Original post by Bornblue
When on earth was America ever 'great'?
I'll give you the same answer I gave you yesterday. If you make perfection a precondition for greatness (as you do when you claim that it implies that there was a period in American history when everything was great), then it never was, and never will be. Ditto every other country.
Original post by Bornblue
Nationalism in America is exclusionary and isolationist, a very unappealing trait.
Being proud for being born somewhere is daft. We all won the post code lottery to be born in the first world and not some third world country. Why should we be 'proud' for winning the lottery, we did nothing to earn or deserve it.
Being proud for being born somewhere is daft. We all won the post code lottery to be born in the first world and not some third world country. Why should we be 'proud' for winning the lottery, we did nothing to earn or deserve it.
Yes, I've seen you say this before.
I agree with you that it makes no sense to be proud of yourself for having been born in a certain country. That is obviously not an achievement of any kind. However, it is a different thing to recognise you are part of a country and a culture, however that happened. I don't think 'patriotism' necessarily implies that you're taking credit for anything that you didn't do, although it clearly can involve that.
Original post by Hydeman
I'll give you the same answer I gave you yesterday. If you make perfection a precondition for greatness (as you do when you claim that it implies that there was a period in American history when everything was great), then it never was, and never will be. Ditto every other country.
I agree on the relativity front but I still don't think you can call it 'great' or even close to 'great' when up until a few decades ago they had legally enforced segregation.
That's one example.
Yes you are right, nothing will be perfect, but you'd expect a lot better than that to be able to call yourself 'great.
Original post by Bornblue
I agree on the relativity front but I still don't think you can call it 'great' or even close to 'great' when up until a few decades ago they had legally enforced segregation.
I don't see how you can agree with the relativism and then make the latter claim, though. Surely it follows from the first point that whether America was great or not in any given year depends on whom you ask. I'm sure the planters considered the days of slavery to be pretty great, even though you and I don't.
I agree that it's a facile slogan but, then, most slogans are.
Original post by Zargabaath
America has this idea ingrained into their culture that their country and way of life is the best in the world. It's been like this for generations. They have to dominate everything. That slogan is just pandering to the idiocy of so many American people for easy votes.
It's insane how crappy the American state is to it's people, yet how patriotic they still tend to be. It's like Stockholm Syndrome or something.
It's insane how crappy the American state is to it's people, yet how patriotic they still tend to be. It's like Stockholm Syndrome or something.
or they just tend to agree with capitalism more than socialism; would you consider america a democracy in the same sense that we are?
Original post by thunder_chunky
He's playing to the "woo 'merica" crowd.
Both Trump and Clinton are doing it
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Bornblue
This line more than anything annoys me. Possibly more so than most soundbites. When on earth was America ever 'great'? When it caused a global economic crash in the 20s which was a contributing factor to the world war? When in the 60s it still had segregation? When in the 90s over 40 million were uninsured for health care?
Not saying America doesn't have its good points but which era are trump and other republicans referring to when they want to make America great 'again'?
Not saying that other countries are great, they certainly aren't but the notion that there was a period when everything was just 'great' in any country, let alone America is nonsense.
Not saying America doesn't have its good points but which era are trump and other republicans referring to when they want to make America great 'again'?
Not saying that other countries are great, they certainly aren't but the notion that there was a period when everything was just 'great' in any country, let alone America is nonsense.
For the most part it is rhetoric, but it is about recapturing the feel of the 90's. America was unquestionably powerful. It had no competitor, no power could match it on any field and economically it was ascendant. For trump's supporters jobs would have been easy to come by and there was little fear ( in the early decade) of jobs being shipped en masse to China.
You don't seem to have much understanding of how Trump's voters see the world. They believe they have been conned and marginalized by the "establishment" and want to revert to a time when politicians seemed to have their interests at heart, when jobs were easily accessible and were secure. For them Trump will do this. It is less about going to a specific time point and more about recapturing a rose tinted view of the past.
It is also funny you mention all the uninsured Americans as a major issue. For the most part they have never rated it much of an issue themselves, other than brief frenzied interest. I wonder if there is something uniquely American about healthcare that us Europeans simply don't understand.
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