Ok well to start of i'm a 17 year old American so i'm talking about my generation,and this is more for Americans but I welcome any foreign input too just as long as they don't post dumb things like "fuck America".Now i'm sorry if you foreigners hate us and you have good reason too but don't hate all of us,we do have people who don't agree with the Bush admin and their idiot policies(fucking idiots),and you also can't blame Muslims as a whole for the actions of a few Islam is a very respectable religion but as with most good things assholes come and use it to further their ambitions.Now to get down to the point of this thread it scares me that most of my peers don't care about their country and it also scares me how dumb my peers are getting some can't even point out their own state on a map most younger would rather watch t.v for straight hours than read a book for 30 mins a day my peers are to concerned with motherfucking mtv and rappers and their freaking shoes they'll know everymember of a music group by name and their lifes story but when you ask them who James Madison is they look at you like your retarded or respond with "who the fuck is James Madison?" and then when you respond a historical figure in our history they respond with "Who cares.".I'm not trying to sound like a geek I like popular culture as much as the next teen I love nice clothes and good music and parties and beer pong but I don't occupy my mind with those things all day,overall patriotism and hardwork and American values are dying and no one is doing anything about it,I fear for the future of my country if we get more Bush esque presidents and kids who have the health problems of those 20 years older than them because of unhealthy lifestyles.I wanted to join the Marines and go to Iraq but for what sadly most people here aren't even concerned with the war and all the Americans youths who are now skid marks on some dirt road in Fallujah.This world is on the brink of ww3 and i'm not sure the planet could take the damage that would cause.Well i'm sincerely sorry to any foreigners who had to deal with one of my arrogant country men I am sorry to any foreigner who has been affected by our governments "do as we do or else!" attitude.I hope that some day anyone who says the hate our gov or our people will come across a truely concerned American who respects and values foreigners and foreign relations that will change your views on America as a whole.....
The more technology we get and the better it gets, the more excuse parents have to use it as a babysitter. That is where all the idiots are coming for. Dont get me wrong, I love technology, I just don't like the way I see people using it so that they can get their children to "leave them alone." I mean, why would anyone want to waste their time reading a book or going to a museum, just wait for them to make the movie or put it on a website. That is why children are so well educated.
It is easier to stop at a fastfood drive in than spend 30 min cooking a healthy meal. That is why the kids now are in such wonderful health. People substitute their family's health for convience.
And people don't care about the war because not only do they not support it, but it is "way over there." Most people I know don't realise that there is a difference between supporting a war, and supporting our troops. Those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it, and right now we are in a situation that has already been printed in your history book. I too am American and think that our society would do well to be less self-centered and arrogant, and more open minded.
Cheer up, for the most part, I see things getting better, not worse. Young people have such a tremendously easy access to information these days, there's very less and less excuse for mass-ignorance. That said, I would like to see more Americans who are more aware of history, art, world affairs, and languages, including their own.
I think the world would be nicer if people knew more about these things. Maybe not better, but nicer.
I'm glad that some people agree but I don't see things getting better.Yes we have access to a tremendous amount of knowledge and yes my peers are aware of it but the fact is they sincerely(pardon my language)don't give a fuck.I love being American but now I just don't know...what happened to this country we arose to world power status in such a short time and now it seems that we will fall just as quickly.
>>2 I beg to differ.
My parents divorced around when I was 9, I ended up just sitting at the good old Pentium Pro box for the whole day, day after day.
I feel that computers are a very large element of how I changed from a kid who didn't give a shit about anything but trends and pop-culture to who I am today.
Consider, firstly, that I was an immigrant. Moved to the US at 5 years old, didn't know a word of English. I advanced relatively slowly, and once I caught up to my peers, I basically stopped until it was time to catch up again.
Then, along came the Computer. First game I remember playing, on that computer? One Must Fall.
Once I got my senseless Giant-Robot-Fighting urges out of the way, though, I began playing Discworld.
There I was, a 9 year old, whose English was atrocious at best, trying to play a very, very wordy game targeted at adults, set in the world of a series of books (Which were also mostly targeted at adults.) From that point on. By the time I had finished the game, my English abilities had improved greatly (I remember receiving a compliment from my ESL [English as a Second Language] teacher, wondering how I managed to turn around and pick so much up in a couple of months, including things that she didn't even teach yet)
Along with Discworld, I also played Ultima 7 and 8 - Neither one quite as wordy as Discworld, but certainly, they have good deal of words in them that a 9 year old probably doesn't know (I remember asking my older brother, "What's Dexterity?.. Oh, and Agility?... What's a Titan?", he just gave me his dictionary eventually)
Ah, and Day of the Tentacle - An excellent game. That got me interested in American History somewhat (I didn't even know the name of the president back then. Bill Clinton? Who's that?). I went off and borrowed a book on American History after playing through the game. When Fifth grade came along, I was top of the class during American History, and I thank DoT for interesting me in it before hand (As well as the book, but nobody cares about the book. I don't even remember what the book was named.)
Along came Discworld 2, the next year. I picked it up with the same fervor as the first, the results were largely similar, although less dramatic - Just an expansion of my vocabulary.
then, I discovered some Encyclopedia or another on CD (A set of 4 discs), that conveniently enough, had links inside articles to other articles in the encyclopedia. You know how you've spent many, many hours on Wikipedia, going to an article, then going to another article through a link in that article and so on? Don't lie - I know you do it, everyone does it, and I was doing it on CD, back in 97 or so, when I was 11 and 12 (And continue doing it today, Damn Wikipedia). A few years later, everyone's then-favorite Internet Addiction came out: EverQuest.
8 years old, playing Everquest. You might shudder at the thought (I do too, I can only imagine how awful I was at playing the game since it took me quite awhile to get my head around the number-crunching in the game for stats, DPS, etc, as well as the game economy), but it was key to the continuing advance of my English (Although if somebody tried that nowadays in WoW, they'd just turn into retards, I bet). Thanks to being exposed to constant talking in relatively proper English (Save for 'Ding!' and 'PHAT LOOT!'), as well as the sheer walls of text that every quest NPC had to throw at you, my English abilities continued to march on forward (And in time, my grades began to trickle downward. Damn EverCrack.)
I'll make no claims that something like this would work today, judging by how stupid most games have become, and how online gaming has been mostly taken over by l33t d00ds wh0 t@|k l31k th1s (wtf dood haxor), or idiots who simply don't know English (GET IN TANK TURRENT OR WE LOOSE GAME!), but I was largely raised by my computer, and I like to think that my English isn't all that bad, considering it's my second language, and I thank Computer-based sources and games for a very large part of my knowledge.
>>5 Truth.
>8 years old, playing Everquest
Make that a 12. My mind wandered off somewhere while I was typing that, and I can't say I ever traveled forward in time when I was 8 to play Everquest.
One thing the Computer never taught me: The value of proof-reading beforehand.
Well, your BBS English is flawless, and probably better than most.
if u no wat i meen.
As bad as this generation will be, I believe that it will actually produce some of the greatest leaders ever. They'll want to escape that "my generation sucks" image.
chinese food
>>1 PARAGRAPH BREAK, PUNCTUATION; DO YOU SPEAK THEM MOTHERFUCKER?!
American values never really existed in the first place.
>>16
I fail because I don't find an oversaturated Pulp Fiction quote, butchered in an attempt to fit in with context, to be particularly funny fourteen years after the movie was released?
lol
Funny.That problem is mostly in America here in Europe that problem exists too but much weaker and know why. cause here in europe we get thaught to think for our selves and don`t just repeat what the church or other idiotic things say.America will destroy it selfes cause in a few years there are not enough clever people left who can think in a proper way so america will be ruled by bigger idiots than now, and than america goes down in chaos.So the rest of the world will be happy and will forget that this shame of a country ever existed(sorry for the bad english i only speak german, italian and a little bit spain)
> This world is on the brink of ww3 and i'm not sure the planet could take the damage that would cause.
The world is on the brink of WWIII because of what the USA is doing. Therefore the USA should stop ... before China makes you stop, and you're not going to like how they do it.
Want to know the more easier way to obtain peace? It's simple:
STOP HYPOCRISY IN ALL OF THINGS IN OUR LIFE!
I don't know whether or not some people might get what I really mean here but the words is there to tell you! You need to take a pause in a while and starts thinking (maybe million times!) to think the hell of what I am saying here!
By the way, if u curious of who I am, I can only say that I came from one of your nation's worst enemy country (as u say so) and please.......as one of it's citizens I wish for my own peaceful death as I am tired of being human yet still following their BEASTFUL DESIRE and yet still proclaim themselves HUMAN!!!!!!
Hey OP relax.
Your country is lovely and in many ways it has been an inspiration to the West. Sometimes countries are like people, they do things that are wrong. This does not mean that the whole history of the country is wrong. (I am not saying invading islamic countries is intrinsically wrong. We have a long history with islam in Europe.)
Be proud!
IDIOT, WAR sucks no matter what. get rid of your stupid nationalism. people are the same.
Proof?
> and then when you respond a historical figure in our history they respond with "Who cares."
Same thing here in Canada, unfortunately. Even the kids at school who are supposedly geniuses in things like math don't know (or care) about history or politics. I pisses me off that they don't care who runs their country. Also, when you say something like that you're a communist people glare at you, but they don't know the first fucking thing about political science.
Hey guys. I'm 16. I'm hopping into this thread.
I must say, people my age who say "AMERICA SUCKS" really make me rage. They don't know why America would suck in the first place, and every reason I dislike America is stuff they wouldn't give a shit about.
America's a great place for opportunity.
no it isn't. our economic crash is fueling a global ressession and the increase in oil prices (due to the price of oil being tied to the Dollar paired with our soaring inflation). Forget about finding a job with a decent wage if you are under the age of 30. Hell, even teachers are losing jobs and public schools are being closed due to underfunding. stop regurgitating everything your mommay and daddy tell you and think for your self. read some news and check the job market. America was the land of opportunity like35 years ago. now its collapsing. we just like to think we are still #1. we are no longer the richest nation in the world (its most likely either japan as far GDP goes or the united arab emarites aka dubai and a bunch of other rich arab principalities as far as per capita gdp goes). we are no longer the uncontested super power (most of our military is tangled up in iraq and china, russia, and india could each probably rock us right now bcuz they have nukes too and a bigger army). we are no longer the freest nation on earth (thats the netherlands). we dont have the best education system ( cuba and japan do). and we dont have the best health care system in the world ( thats france and cuba). as for jobs, we outsourced all of our service jobs becuz of nafta and we no longer produce any real good anymore, as we import everything. most money in te us is generated by collecting interest; all we produce is debt. (hence the subprime mortage crisis). so yeah... until you stop living under mommy and daddy's roof and have to go out into the real world, stfu, child!!
TL;DR PROOF OF OPORTUNIY OR STFU
>>30
I got a full-time job at KFC, it pays about 1K per month.
In a year, I'm flying off to Holland(I'm a Dutch citizen) with the monies, which should be about 10K or so. That's opportunity enough for me.
And yes, shit's goin' down here in the USA.
Did you guys hear about that bee problem? Bees are dying off, so crop output is going to fall real fast(or has been falling).
Man, I give it four years. In 2012, people are going to wish they'd moved like I will.
This is just a recession, like the one in the 70's. Things will be ok again.
What has triggered this crisis was that your bankers lent money to people who could not repay and then passed on the risk to someone else. Then the money has gone into oil and commodities, that is the reason oil and rice prices are up.
Your bankers need some regulation.
Cuba is a poor country. It does not have the best health care system in the world by any means. It does not have the best education system either.
The arab countries have lower GDPs than the US. The US has the best universities in the world. It's not Nafta, it is China.
I agree with what you say about debt; your bankers need some regulation.
I love America. I just hate its denizens
>What has triggered this crisis was that your bankers lent money to people who could not repay and then passed on the risk to someone else.
Isn't that how most recessions in America start?
um that bee problem is not specific to america. Thats a global issue, dude. If the bees die out entirely, we are fucked. they are responsible for the majority of global pollination. without them, most of the planet's vegetation will not reproduce and the planet will likely starve out after about half a decade. that is serious shit. as for you being a dutch citizen, you are a lucky sack of shit. i both hate and envy you for that. and 1k a month is not opportunity. you think that because you have no real financial responsibility to speak of. you also make more a month than i do. 1k a month is 12k a year. that at the poverty line. that places u in the lowest tax bracket. i would inquire where u live too. while that money might cut it in some tine midwest town, if you live in the suburbs of a major city (i live in a suburb of miami, florida called kendall) then you are screwed. I HAVE to live at home with my mother just so the two of us can survive. we each pay half the bills. my rent alone is $1200 and thats dirt cheap around here. average rent here is $1350. That doesnt account for water, electricity, food, gasoline, car insurance, and telephone. between the 2 of us, we barely make it. the sad thing is that around here, u are lucky to make 1300 a month. Thats not opportunity. To be stuck making under $20,000 a year for the rest of your life is not opportunity. it is an effective income cap. the very thing people claim doesnt exist in america. thats why people think its so great here. the idea that you can go from rags to riches. the problem is that more often than not, you will make less than you would in a socialist state like holland, where taxes ensure you won't make more than a certain amount but the dole also makes it so you make a bare minimum and never go hungry.
>>35 (continued)
as for >>32
Cuba does, in fact, have one of the best medical systems and THE best educational system in the world.
Their medical system revolves around fixing what is wrong with you so that they can stop using medical resources on you sooner. Here, its a business so they want you to keep coming back. Over there, the doctor gets paid the same wether you come 50 times or once but he gets in MAJOR shit with the secret police if he fucks up too often so his main incentive is to fix you fast and properly so he doesnt have to do more work and he doesnt get tortured. here, he just doesn't want to get sued but he wants you to stay just sick enough to need to keep coming back. the reason cuba has such a good medical system is the very reason people wouldn't want to live there. the government will kick your ass if you don't do the job they gave you well and there is no money to be made for doing more work. While this is bad in most scenarios, its very good for the medical field. it means the doctor doesnt want to do unnecessary procedures and it also ensures that the doctor won't just rubberstamp paperwork to kick you out of the hospital when you are still sick. it still doesn't mean cuba's healthcare system is as good as that of france. france does not torture sdoctors who do a bad job and they do pay their doctors better but doctor's pay in france is dictated by the state so the doctor doesn't make much more for making u keep coming to the hospital. They also have the best medical equipment money can buy.
as for cuban education,they have free education all the way up to Phd level. They are the only nation on the fucking planet that has a 100% literacy rate. wethe ror not their education is riddled with propaganda is another story but that can be said of every country, ours included. the fact remains, however, that every cuban citizen is literate, can read write, and speak spanish at the college level, and has a basic understanding of geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and arithmatic. i do, of course, state that this is true only of cuban citizens that stayed on the island throughout their education. This is admitted by people who left cuba and hate it there. Frequently, those arriving here in miami from cuba are placed in the most difficult courses our schools can provide and still fail to provide a challenge. America may arguably have the best univesities in the world (the uk has oxford and Cambridge, japan has tokyo University, germany has Bonne, ect.). That doesn't mean our education is better. Most dont make it to universities. half of our populace doesnt even make it to junior college. and the college level education is not part of the national education system because it is privatized. those same colleges could move their campuses over seas and remain the same. they are not government run.
Nafta and treaties like it are the reason places like china, india, and mexico get most of our manufacturing jobs. These treaties opened the doors to outsourcing. This means that even when you buy american goods, your money is leaving the country and goign to somewhere else. its basic economics here. I never said arabs in general have a higher GDP than we do. I said that the UAE has a higher one than we do because many of its "citizens" hapen to be wealthy citizens of other countries who have moved there permanently (like michael jackson). Dubai, specifically, makes some of the most expensive hotels and housing projects in the world. This is where the uber rich people like warren buffet go to buy a nice condo now.
If Cuba is such a wonderful place to live and they take such good care of their people, why is every Cuban who can get his hands on a fifty-year-old inner tube risking his life to come to America?
Shit man, this thread is depressing. :(
Yeah, I live in California.
Also. This thread is not only depressing, but makes me realize how lucky I am, for being the age I am, old enough to do something to get away but still young enough to have time to do it. I just need to be educated... Ignorance is everywhere, it's not a question if a person is ignorant or not these days... just how ignorant, or what they're ignorant about...
I'm pretty fuckin' lucky, my parents made sure and gave me dutch citizenship, since my mother is an alien here. So I'm a dual citizen.
> I'm pretty fuckin' lucky, my parents made sure and gave me dutch citizenship
The vast majority of people don't realize that a citizenship can be worth more than any amount of money. Jews found this out the hard way when they were stuck in Nazi Germany.
Your parents are awesome.
Yes they are, I am very grateful for everything they do for me. But, they tend to blow off any stuff I say when it comes to why I want to leave the US, they think it's just average teenager stuff.
I sometimes worry that they will have it rough when stuff goes down here.
I never said it was a great place to live and wouldn't be able to tell you as I have never lived there. I simply pointed out that their healthcare and educational systems are better than ours. that does not mean that they have more civil right or that they are happier. also, not every cuban tries to leave the island and I personally know serveral cubans who grew up there, came here thinking it was better, and now wish they could go back.