Comparisons here on Wikipedia, sometimes on the linked page.
American exceptionalism is ingrained so deep in most people here that they would never even consider or doubt why the world pays attention to them, just: “Duh of course they do, because we’re America!”
Or they could realize the reality of the situation without making it about taking credit for being “the best”. As an American I know our country sucks, especially now, and also that it’s important for global stability.
Nah, it’s probably what you said. I just truly think the US is way better than any other country. /s
Edit: I missed that they wrote “most”. In my defense though a lot of users are currently cruelly shitting on Americans unconditionally. A lot of us didn’t want this bullshit
Correct. I think the entire premise that an American would question this idea is an indication that the meme was made by somebody from a country with one of these pins in it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending this mindset. I am myself an American making this observation with a sense of shame and mild horror.
Yeah, I abolutely agree. In American culture, this is treated more like a natural law, like the Sun rising each day or objects falling down when dropped. It is just something self-evident and isn’t even a thought that occurs in most American’s heads.
Americans run around moralizing while exploding everyone. They impose their views and politics into every country on earth. But if you criticized them for being idiots who allowed Trump to win, they tell you “you’re not even American!” As if American stupidity doesn’t affect the rest of the world. And this is the kind of shit I’m hearing from the American left now the side that was supposed to be smart and reasonable, and you know, not racist or xenophobic. But they’ve also gone toxic extreme as well. Americans are nuts.
I think there should be a major distinction between Democrats/neoliberals/however you want to classify them and “the American left”/progressives.
They often fall under the same tent because progressives do not have another substantial place in American politics, but I think these are 2 different groups with different beliefs and ideas.
But if you criticized them for being idiots who allowed Trump to win, they tell you “you’re not even American!”
Not from me. Anyone who voted for Trump or sat around to let him be elected is a fucking moron.
I learned in 2016 I had too much faith in my fellow citizens. There are many, many stupid people here.
Iirc the way these bases work is with the agreement from the host country.
Iirc the way these bases work is with the agreement from the host
countrycountry’s government and most definitely NOT the people of said country.
FTFY.
They do. However, I’m sure you can imagine an elected government acting in a way that the majority disagrees with. We’re about to see it in the US (actually, we have for years if not decades). This is not just a US phenomenon, there’s actual research showing that in liberal democracies, there’s very little correlation between what the general public wants, and the policies instated by their elected officials. There is a strong correlation with the interests of the owning class though.
Here’s a study for American politics: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B
There’s a Danish study as well. I’m having terrible trouble finding it though. It’s an important addition because the democrats not representing the interests of the working class could in theory be a consequence of the US’s two party system. The same result holding in multi-party Denmark shows that this is not the case.
At any rate, the point is that just because these countries are liberal democracies doesn’t mean their population wants a US military presence.
Right, right… like the US just did?
How’s that vote on healthcare coming along?
Having a US military base (that wasn’t forcibly installed by the US military) in your country is usually great for a country’s security at a fantasic price. Especially if you’re a country that’s not likely to have an adversarial relationship with the US.
The US isn’t likely going to invade or go to war with Romania anytime soon, so having US military thousands of US troops, aircraft, and the world’s most advanced missile defense systems placed there offers great security that they’re paying for just by being located in a strategically useful position.
The price is that the US might overthrow your government if they don’t like the outcome of an election.
You got down voted because some folks are either ignorant of wider geopolitics, or of certain inclination and don’t want to hear the inconvenient truth.
I am originally from Philippines which hosted a major US military base. Despite the protests, the Americans did not leave until a major volcanic eruption nearby prompted them to do so in the early 90s. I am anti-imperialists as much as the next guy and the overseas American military presence is an on-the-face sign of imperialism, but the fact of the matter is that many countries literally “free ride” under American protective umbrella. It saves the country money and deter rivals. That being said, in hindsight the Americans should not have left, as China has now started claiming an entire sea region and bullying Filipino and Vietnamese fishermen. China has also literally set up a military base within 200 nautical miles of Philippine exclusive economic zone without permission, which the international court deemed to be illegal.
Many Filipinos changed their tune from “go home Yankees” to “Yankees come back! You should have stayed” because hindsight is 20/20. Right now, American soldiers are dripping back slowly to the Philippines since the Chinese military is still squatting.
Imagine if China had bases like that
If you do a search for “are there secret chinese police stations in canada”, would that count?
If you mean https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_police_overseas_service_stations, then yes, but imagine they have soldiers and illegal weapons and claim to be ensuring stability of the region
My first thought was to wonder if we’ll try to buy Greenland again.
Apparently, some have been pushing that last week already…
Sorry, World. 😑
If the US bought Denmark, they’d probably get Greenland with it. Just saying.
(now some idiot is probably going to try this)
In 3 months we’re going to have a Secretary of Defense that’s on the Fox and Friends B-Team, and a panel of MAGA generals purging the ranks. I am not ruling anything out of the future timeline we’re on…
These are some of the same people who don’t know who the president of Puerto Rico is, so they might just move in thinking the place is abandoned.