What Makes America the Greatest Country in the World?

@Lennis - I don't believe many of those stats make us much greater.
Foreign aid - when we stopped funding UNESCO simply because they felt Palestine needed help, I find disturbing.
Billionaires - don't know if that's a good thing when half the population is poor or low income.
Co2 emission - I agree this is good
Patents - good I guess
Worker productivity - when you have to live paycheck by paycheck just to survive, and you don't get anytime off, I'm not surprised we're the most productive. Personally, I wouldn't mind a drop in this category if our taxes provided paid vacations like some European countries have the benefit of.
Legal immigrants - we might not be the greatest, but we are far from the worse. We have always had an open door when it comes to immigration, but we probably don't lead this category by much.
Generosity - good

Don't get me wrong, I love this country, and I believe we were at one point the greatest country in the world. All countries have problems, we just got to work on fixing ours. When we created democracy, a lot of countries adopted it because it was better for their citizens, but over the years each country went their own ways and came up with some great ideas to better the living quality of their country. We can't be too proud to adopt ideas from other countries.

Tim C. You just don't get it do you. That's why we're where we are today. Your attitude and lack of intelligence and unwillingness to learn by listening to BOTH sides and not making hostile remarks.

Here's a few areas where the US ranks #1 in the world, other than the three listed in the video speech.

Foreign aid - The United States gives the most overall for both development and humanitarian purposes. We gave more in one year than almost every country in the world did in three years.

Billionaires – we have more than any other country in the world (That’s a good thing).

CO2 emission reductions – We lead the world in C02 reductions, According to the International Energy Agency

Patents - more patents are filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office than anywhere else, with nonresidents now making up about half of the total.

Worker productivity – we lead the world in productivity per worker (again, this is a good thing)

Research universities - Starting with Harvard, MIT, and Yale, the United States has 13 of the top 20 in U.S. News’ global rankings.

Legal immigrants - 35.5 million legal immigrants as of 2005. If this country sucks, it must suck less than other places, cause everybody wants in….

Generosity - The United States jumped from fifth place to first in the U.K.-based Charity Aid Foundation’s latest World Giving Index, which grades countries on three metrics: volunteering, helping strangers, and donating.

The US is the greatest force for good in the world, always has been.

As someone that has travelled and lived all around the world, including 6months time spent in the US i find this whole thread very interesting. I think its very hard for most Americans to gain any real perspective on themselves and there role in the world with out having travelled outside of their country and also because most Americans have grown up being told they are the best.
I love america and i think it has alot great things going for it but its very easy for someone with some global perspective to see its a country in massive decline, A criminal justice system which is the worst of the 1st world countries, no health care for like a 1/3 of its citizens, an immigration system that makes it very difficult for skilled works to come in, far more difficult than say the UK/australia/canada, A much higher rate of violent crime than most western countries, an addiction to petrol and complete lack of public transport (something i dont understand). i hope it sorts itself out soon before it becomes alot less relevant on the global stage

I'm American but to be honest, I find the U.S. to be a very scary place these days. We have politicians who want to make the rich richer and the hell with everyone else. Religion has taken over our country and the number of things done in the name of God have very little to do with actual religion. Yeah, I think there was a time when we were the absolute greatest country in the world, but we have since put the needs of a minute few over the needs of all Americans. And that is indeed scary.

I am an army veteran of Afghanistan, lived in Germany for my entire contract, and am from a very nice suburban town outside of Chicago. I wanted for nothing growing up, yet my entire life I have seen past the blind Nationalistic Ideals that American schools, churches, sports teams, media, etc convey and shove down our throats daily. I have friends lost in Afghanistan and would willing pay the ultimate price for this country. To say that we are the most free country is blindly the dumbest statement I have ever heard. I have more rights than civilians do. Yes, you have more freedom of speech, HOWEVER... I have more rights to illegal searches, incriminating searches, and basically anything to do with anything legal. Several things have killed our country, LOBBYING, NDAA (AND IF YOU DONT KNOW THAT DONT REPLY TO THIS), OBAMACARE (AS GOOD AS IT IS ITS UNCONSTITUTIONAL), AND A FREEDOM OF "CHOICE" BETWEEN TWO PARTIES. What america has never understood is that freedom of choice between coke vs pepsi and miller vs budweiser are NOT freedom of choices, but however just themselves being duped into thinking they actually have one. Education will free us from this slavery without chains, I suggest opening up with IDEALS instead of MORALS. IDEAS can change...

@Bob Long, @swanny swan & co: You may want to leave the echo-chamber you are in. The US, as reported by the US, is 121st in maternal deaths and 174th in child birth rates. ( https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html ) The CIA uses their own reporting services and uses the same standards the world over (and yes, I do trust the CIA on this more than some random pro-US guy on the Internet). I also happen to know that cancer survival rates in the US are measured at 5 years, not 10 years like in Europe, artificially inflating your numbers. It's hard to keep up with Europe when in the US you need a 6-figure income to treat cancer for any length of time. Since most of your population can't afford insurance, they just die of cancer, no matter how good your health care would have been had they been able to afford it.

As to education, the numbers are based on the same international test done to participating schools, so you have nothing to boast about - you are at about Turkey's level, last I checked, and well below world leaders. And that is not even taking into account your broad swab of home-schooled and bible-schooled population who skips science and biology subjects because they disagree with their religion.

Finally, I have to say that a country that can't even manage to have electricity in its own capital city shouldn't be boasting about how great they are.

Grey Wolf

"What is it that you are allowed to do in your country that Americans are not allowed to do in the USA? Americans are incredibly free. Are you trying to say that Norwegians have more freedom than Americans? To do what exactly? LOL Cook bread on a fire outside in the snow? LOL "

Studying for example or living above the poverty limit. :)

Most of those statistics are self- reported by governments looking for ways to hide their problems. The premature birth statistics, for example, never mention how each country defines still-born. Now you might think the definition is obvious but then you've never thought about how hard governments work to hide their failings. Anyway, greatest is not a matter of statistics, it's a matter of feelings, and when the population inflow in a hundred times the population outflow you are doing something right. As for the slavery question, please first list the countries that never had slavery.

Yeah I watch Newsroom. Saw the first 2 episodes. its actually a pretty good how, but for the liberal spin on everything. And that ridiculous anti-American rant sucked. Yeah if only we were more like Greece, America would be better. If we were like Cuba and gave everyone $hitty healthcare with X-ray machines from the 1960s, then everything would be better.

I hope Sorkin and Chris Rock get a bottle rocket shot right up their a$$es. And oh, Chris Rock - when I go to the ATM, I'm not lookin for Ted Koppel. Guess who I'm still fearing - ____________s.

...sigh...then you should have.

Freedom
Choice
Prosperity
Diversity

Sigh. When I saw that this post was linked on a conservative site, I hoped that commenters would come in and tell us what makes America the greatest country in the world.

Of course the rant uses incorrect statistics. Or, rather, statistics that aren't the same from country to country. Infant mortality being one of the biggest offenders. The USA counts infant mortality as any child, born or unborn, that could be born and live using the most heroic of medical procedures. Many of the countries in the study only count mortality if a child dies after 24hrs or is born seemingly healthy and then passes. If we counted apples to apples our rate is one of the lowest in the world. Yay for liberal statistic mongering.

Cancer survival rates are the same. We count a death from cancer even if the person was only diagnosed after death. Other countries do not. That also goes toward our detection rate. Other countries only count survival after detection if the cancer was known about while the patient was alive. The USA counts survival and detection even if the patient died without ever knowing they had cancer.

The education stuff is similar. The US uses its entire population in literacy counts, or at least a representative sample. Other countries only count children actually in school, or in urban areas where population is easily accessed for polling. So, where our goal is literacy for everybody, other countries is literacy for only the priveleged that get to go to school, or even certain schools.

So tired of celebs, news stories, shows, stars, knowingly or unknowingly spewing these BS talking points.

As to the "grab what you can and not help others"?--
That is also a BS statement. America has a huge giving population. Not only are we personally charitable to each other..via; Church, Good Will, Salvation Army, other funds. Our govt. (which means us as citizens) gives a huge amount of money, food, supplies, etc to countries throughout the year, not just during crisis. But why not just take a look at the giving for Haiti and what private citizens gave along with our govt/US.

Sure the US has some issues. Most countries do. But we are freer than most, more charitable than all (or almost all), healthier than most, etc.

Should we stick our noses in other countries business? No. We should help only in non-armed ways and only if the help we give does not, or cannot be used to support a military regime or let a military regime not feed its citizens while we do. Should we militarally help our allies if they are attacked? Yes.

As to politics. Only individual donations to campaigns should be allowed. Nothing by businesses or lobbyist groups. And ALL giving should be accounted to a particular race (not a party) and pooled for that race alone. It should then be split evenly between two candidates. If you want your candidate to win, give to the race. That takes the massive amount of money out of the political spectrum and puts it in the citizen spectrum. The best candidate will win, not the one with the most money. And "in-kind" contributions like lopsided reporting seen on MSNBC and FOX should end.

We're 27th in math and 22nd in science because liberals like Sorkin press children to learn how to put on a condom and learn about gay and lesbian lifestyles and how to get an abortion without Mom and Dad knowing about it rather than treaching the basics. Give me a freaking break.

Norway has a largely homogeneous population but it is now suffering a greatly increased crime rate coutesy of its Muslim immigrants.

That infant mortality rate is cited by absolute ignoramuses. Most countries don't count anything as a live birth until 48-72 hours after birth. We count everything. We spent a lot on defense in WWI and WWII. Hitler spent a lot of money killing Sorkin's relatives. What freaking idiot. God I hate Hollywood.

Nick, and other places aren't much worse for the same sort of behaviour?

The last statistic trumps everything else. I know that Dorkin sees military spending as a negative but if you have the best military in the world that makes you the greatest country in the world, period. It always has and always will.

I work with numbers and you can make them say anything you want. As the old saying goes "figures lie and liars figure." But these statistics don't matter to me.It is more subjective question of where else would you want to live?

I have traveled to most of most first world countries and some third world too and for the most part they really suck. I kiss the ground every time I get back to the US and thank the angels that I was born here. There is no place I would rather live and it is not even close.

Europe is dying, a dirty smelly, crowded place where the population can't even reproduce enough to replace themselves. Most of the people live in crappy little apartments or houses, drive crappy little cars and you can't get a good steak. Even a pseudo country like Monaco which is filthy rich is not a place I would want to live. If you want to simulate Europe, go live in a smelly, dirty, crowded big city in a blue state. One of the liberal utopias like NYC, Detroit or Chicago. At least in the US I have the option of living in the wide open spaces of a great state like Texas.

How about Asia? Fuggetaboutit!

Japan: jammed in, xenophobic, economy dead, massive conformity.

China: repressive government, no freedom of expression, massive poverty outside the cities, mediocre life inside the cities, rampant pollution.

India: dirty smelly, crowded, polluted, unimagineable poverty. I love the people there but the place is totally un-liveable. But I bet in the liberal statistics they do good in math?

Vietnam, Korea; give me a break.

I actually like Singapore but freedom is limited there. If you spit in the street, they can arrest you and beat you with a stick which rules it out for me since I like to expurgate.In Texas I can spit as often as I like and may hit a armadillo or rattler but that is about it.

Australia and New Zealand aren't bad...... and if the Bamster get re-elected and Texas does not secede, maybe.

South America and Africa; I don't think so.

Antartica; not too many liberals like the Dorkin down there which is a good thing. But since I don't believe in man-made global warming, it is a little too cold for us.

People want different things out of life. I love my lifestyle in the US. Most of all the freedom to make my own decisions and live as I please. People who want a more regulated, gummint controlled lifestyle there a plenty of opportunities for them do so in this country and elsewhere in the world. Just don't mess with Texas and that means not imposing laws and regulations from Washington on the states. Particularly in the name of trying to fix any meanignless statistics.

So Dorkin, on this Forth of July take your statistics along with a couple of roman candles and shove em.

Written from the greatest State, in the greatest country in the world.

What WordyGrrl said.

@John Farrier - then maybe make it a reality game show. People seem to like those.

America seems to have turned from 'a land of opportunity' to 'grab what you can, stamp on anyone who gets in your way, and don't bother to help anyone who can't keep up'. I wouldn't call that great.

The Citizens United vs FEC ruling effectively ended representative democracy in the USA and now ensures that all its politicians can be bought, easily, no questions asked.

When bribery is legal (unlimited funding of SuperPACs by wealthy businesses), when the super-rich corporations own/control your politicians with impunity, I can't see how anyone can call a country like that 'great'.

@WordyGrrl -- that's certainly a good idea, but often expensive for Americans because of geographic limitations.

@Alex
I really do wish more Americans could afford to spend a few weeks in at least a couple foreign countries - at least enough time to see how different regular, daily life is for average citizens in other countries. Then they'd have a better perspective on what's great about America and what could use some fixing.

What makes me sad is when "Hmm, America should do something similar. It would make a lot of sense in the long run" gets immediately shot down because "There's no way to make a large profit from it immediately."

America is still the greatest country in the world. It's greater than the sum of it's parts. We have a large varied geography, influential institutions such as IBM, Coca Cola, Wal-Mart, McDonalds. Our style and entertainment is emulated throughout the world.

Now the reality is once you start looking closely at various aspects of the country, yes there are many problems. But a "country" is a very huge complex thing, so there are a lot of bad aspects to go with the good.

I have mixed feelings about saying "we are the best country in the world" whether or not we are (which is impossible to objectively determine). It sounds so prideful and dismissive of other countries/cultures (I'm thinking of how it must sound to some of my friends overseas) but I don't think people mean it to be that way, they are just being patriotic which is not evil IMHO. It's just kind of like "Let's go team!"

What I have a problem with is spoiled, petulant Americans hurling stones at the (imperfect) system that gives them so much. I've been overseas, and have met a lot of people who look longlingly at all we have here.

The Grand Experiment that started so many July 4ths ago is still going strong.

It's easy enough to pooh-pooh the US when your country is isolated and your language isn't really used outside of your country, ergo the absolute NEED for English to participate in the outside world.

Scandinavian countries in present day have amazing gender equality BUT it's negated by the astounding per capita numbers of violence against women. Can't have THE BEST COUNTRY EVER if your men are still beating the crap out of your women.

I have no issue with any country, but if you want to cherry pick your reasons why the US sucks (and sometimes, we do) you should probably examine your own less than stellar tendencies first.

Try again.

"Heck, you can even live in the USA without having to speak English. Go to Chinatown in SF, CA one day."

LOL!
Or just walk any US street and listen to the "natives" jibber-jabber at each other. Not only have we lost a lot of what made us great to begin with, we are also losing our language...

ignatius sorry you didn't invent the "ineterwebs" your country laid the flimsy foundations of the internet, the web or world wide web was made by Europeans at cern

If I recall correctly, Norway is the best country in the world if you're a mass murderer.

LOL ezpz fail. Watch the video that was the OP and try again.

Nothing will unite America faster than someone dissing her. America has been resting on her Constitution just a tad too much and we've started believing our own press. That's ok, at least we invented the interwebs and can bellyache about it without fear of our government shutting us down. Everyone does know that America invented the interwebs, right? DARPA. OMFG! Noooo!! Not the military-industrial complex!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! J/K. Ok, so yes, we can stop the back-sliding and get back on the ball, though it tends to take a poke in the arse by an enemy for us to snap out of it.
A healthy influx of legal immigrants helps. They believe in America, they care about her essence, they study for the oath of citizenship and take our laws seriously, see, and thus knowingly and eagerly agree to our principles. See, we shouldn't be crapping on them by handing over the benefits of citizenship to those who do none of that.
Seriously Americans, raise citizens with a code of standards and ethics, not just consumers and arse kissers.

No, there is nothing wrong with talking about how to make America better. In fact, it's being done every day. By Americans. We don't need sorkin's leftie preaching.

What solution is Sorkin offering in his shows anyhow? Any? None!

The man is making huge money and dissing the very country and audience that allows him to make that money! H.y.p.o.c.r.i.t.e much?

What is NOT useful is only ever talking about America in negative terms, when there is plenty here to be proud of. That's why people get tired of the sorkinesque preaching. For someone like Sorkin, being Republican is always bad. Being Democrat can only be good. That's such a limited way of looking at life and America, isn't it. Such intolerance from the bigwig Hollywood writer! He's preaching intolerance and self-hate.

I can do without him.

For heaven's sake, you cannot compare a peanut to a watermelon.

What is it that you are allowed to do in your country that Americans are not allowed to do in the USA? Americans are incredibly free. Are you trying to say that Norwegians have more freedom than Americans? To do what exactly? LOL Cook bread on a fire outside in the snow? LOL

I don't see any Americans around me any less free now than when I was growing up. So quit already with the civil liberties stuff.

As for muslims having a hard time...please. Ever been to the Bosniac Muslim area in St Louis? It is up to immigrant populations to integrate into OUR culture, you know. It's give and take, not just take take take. Those immigrants who make a real effort are always given a chance. Heck, you can even live in the USA without having to speak English. Go to Chinatown in SF, CA one day.

I think part of the problem is that many Americans don't travel abroad. Thus they don't know that things can be done differently (and sometimes better).

I'm from the UK...welcome to the wonderful world of post-greatness angst.

We're still trying to cope with it and its been like 70 years or something since we disappeared down a plug hole after WWII.

I'm sure the US will come back at some point.

If you have to question/say you're the greatest … it probably means you are not.

/dual citizen. US/Canada. Fyi.

@A. Wizard -- we just do that for tourists. That's more of a postcard image of America than the real thing. Sort of like how most Germans don't actually wear lederhosen.

As a non-American who occasionally visits I like a great deal about America, but am often shocked by the harshness, desperation and raw criminality in the cities. More amazing is the way that most Americans cope with it, blank it out, striding by the crazy homeless guy, avoiding that crack riven area, the 24/7 advertising is like mothers milk!
So, If I mention the rampant craziness and fear on the streets I'm met with blank stares. It's invisible.
Sure we have that stuff elsewhere, but not many places can match that Mad Max vibe. The Sublimated tension, the castigation of failures, the raw flaming hatred across the weirdly narrow political spectrum.

I don't know guys. The USA has 72,323 likes on Facebook. Whereas Norway has about 59,753.
:P

TomFromNorway - I personally got nothing against Norway and your neck of the woods. There's alot we could learn from how you do things. But, of course, half the people here might agree with you, and the other have would be adamantly opposed, so we've got that dynamic going.

Oh, and I should add: "religious liberty" is not that great in the US if you are not a main line protestant christian. Muslims are not having an easy time exercising their right to freedom of religion. Neither are those religions that believe that gays are perfectly fine people and that God is fine with them marrying (several of the more liberal christian protestant sects would love to marry gays, but aren't allowed... so much for freedom of religion in the US, right there).

Grey Wolf

TimC: Again, I ask you: how is the US the greatest country. Now. As in, today. You answered with a history lesson on how late Norway came to the party. Irrelevant. I do not doubt that the US was the greatest country by a number of objective and subjective measures 100 years ago, or 60 years ago. But since then you as a country have slept on your laurels, and the world has passed you by while your politicians scared you into removing many of your liberties. For example: the police can tap your phone, and your car without a judicial order. You submit yourself to intrusive searches at public places that are uncalled for and useless. Your teachers are allowed to teach religion instead of science in public schools. Etc.

supagold: No, I am not from an anglophone country. Again, just because the US education is so poor that few of you can speak fluently a second language (and vanishingly few a third) that doesn't mean the rest of the world can't, either. This kind of assumption shows just how far up on your high horse you US people are.

Well, i am from Norway, lets just get that clear so i may not be totally objective. That is, i am equally non-objective as you guys from the US are subjective.

If you mean by great, you're talking about big country and alot of people i agree. If you are talking about freedom of speach, freedom in general, equality and "the american dream" i actually think Norway is ahead at this point of time.

TimC seems to be talking about the world of yeasterdays, not the world today. Yes, we do have a king and are proud of this system. He is a good figurehead for our country but does of course not have any real power. Regarding christianity in the constitution and law system i could not bother with checking it up, but what i know is that christianity has less importance in Norway and Scandinavia when thinking about politics than any or most countries in the world. The USA of today cannot match that, at least in practice. You are talking about constitution and law, but there is a difference between action and practice...

I'm from Norway and i rock! (With universal health care, free schools with university included and arguably the country in the world where which family or family situation you come from matters the least for which situation. If you are born poor, it is easier to become f.ex an engineer in Norway than in US)

Just to be clear, this video isn't 100% correct. The US is not 178th in infant mortality and never has been. I'm not sure about the rest of the "facts" but that one is so erroneous it calls all the rest into question.

I forgot to add that in any Aaron Sorkin drama, the characters are never talking to each other. It's always Aaron Sorkin talking to you through proxies. His characters always have too much data top-of-mind.

Aaron Sorkin's tennis match dialogue is boring. You know why this scene rings fake? because the other two panelists let him speak without interruption. I can watch cable news and see that that never happens.

The second is that his "America was once great" diatribe is the viewpoint of a white male. In fact, the whole panel in this scene is white. Why? Because it has to be for his speech to be accepted without laughter.

The past was better than the present blah blah blah. There have always been good things, always been bad things.

The video is 100% correct. We use to be great. Now we have become a country of whiny, scared children who want everything handed to them.

@TimC America has a "king" too. Its called the US Government run by the yahoos that only care about what is best for their party; NOT what is best for this country.

Unfortunately I honestly dont think we will ever recover from our slide from greatness. The stuff you see happening in congress now is simply the death throws of a dying animal.

I live in the US. And I rock. End of story.

If the US is so bad, why do so many people from all over the world want to be here? Why do we shoulder so much of the various burdens the rest of the world can't seem to carry? Why are we the first looked to for help (and the overwhelmingly greatest responder) when disaster strikes? Why do we routinely get held to higher standards than the rest of the world? Yeah, we are real losers, the United States . . .

I also must say that if you view the video Jeff Daniel's character has some very good points in the second half of his soliloquy.

@Alex I think @supagold parsed my statement pretty well saying that the larger point is that such a moniker of "Greatest" or "Best" would come down to subjective criteria. However I also think @supagold is right on target with the comment about people voting with their feet.

The argument, as stated in the post, is incomplete and therefore is not to be believed. If it were finished, the character would have to declare which country was "greater" and give objective reason why.

GW: Norway is a constitutional monarchy. They have a King. They only finally codified religious freedom in 1956 as opposed to having it front and center in their constitution from the beginning so you might want to pick another country to compare the U.S. to. And those countries who have what the U.S. has do so because they are trying to copy the success the U.S. has had. Name me one constitutional republic that predates the U.S. and is still standing today. Maybe there is one. I don't know. I just kind of doubt it.

@Grey Wolfe: Norway is a very nice country, I'm sure. TimC's comment was mostly correct though. No country is ever going to be first in everything. And in fact, I think the US does pretty poorly in a lot of areas. Though I'm not sure what you mean about personal liberties, if you mean Bill of Rights type protections. Given your spelling choices, I'm guessing you're from one of our fellow anglophone countries, in which case, we have better protections for freedom of speech, for instance, than you'd see in your country. (Or Norway, for that matter.) I think his larger point was that greatest or best country is a subjective choice.

So while I could spend hours listing things about other countries I think we could emulate, if I had to pick one country that's the best, I'd probably still pick the US. What's more, if you consider voting with your feet, it seems like most people agree. The US has far and away the highest immigration inflow of any country, with vastly more people trying to get in, than actually make it.

@TimC - should there be an objective measure to greatness as a country? If so, what do you think they are and how does America rate?

Tim C: You are not the only country with freedom of expression or grand ideals in their constitution. Given how far you have fallen from those ideals (personal liberties being my personal favourite), I fail to see how either of those in any way bolster your case that Amierica is better than, say, Norway where they have the exact same ideals and are much better when measured against them.

Grey Wolf

America's greatness doesn't have anything to do with statistics. Any country can be made to look good or bad using any number of conflicting reports and studies. That's not saying that the U.S. doesn't have problems and issues that need to be dealt with but that is a part of the human condition that is true throughout the world no matter what the country. What makes America great are the high ideals and standards spelled out in our founding documents and our continuous struggle to live up to, fulfill, and fight for them. That is what makes America exceptional. So bite me Aaron Sorkin! Oh yeah, freedom of speech is also one of those things that makes America great.

I must have missed that episode of the West Wing.