[OC] How Americans view the US

Posted by _crazyboyhere_

35 Comments

  1. Who believes that the US is better than other countries? Like, genuinely, not in a patriotic way, but actually, objectively? It’s an absurd idea. More powerful? Yes. Better? No.

    This should be obvious.

  2. From a Scandinavian viewpoint:

    Irrespective of political affiliation, believing in something as simple as “The US stands above all other countries” is dangerous. It shows a very basic understanding of the world and the myriad problems that all countries and societies face, the solution to which are very rarely easy, and often different solutions directly contradict each other.

    Anecdotally the vast majority of Americans I have met outside of USA are democrats or at least left-leaning with much more nuanced views on both their home country and the rest of the world. This correlates well with the presented data here. It’s probably easier to believe USA is the pinnacle of human development if one has never seen anything else.

  3. Thinking the US is exceptional is exactly what got them into this mess. This cult-like mentality prevents them from being critical of things like their government, institutions and constitution. Other countries update their constitution but Americans treat it like it’s a holy scripture. This will be their downfall.

  4. merciless_pedant on

    Am I the only one who is incredibly vexed that the latter two questions are not categorically exclusive?

  5. Those answer options feel… Idk. Unbalanced? Leading? I can’t put my finger on it but they just feel wrong.

  6. Who the hell was selected for this question? I’ve talked with plenty of Americans and 90% of them tell me that the US sucks more dick than Trump within 5 feet of Bill…

  7. What annoys me with these charts is that the age ranges are never consistent, sometimes so inconsistent as to be useless.
    This one goes; 12 years, 15, 20, 20+

  8. I once heard this described in a very intriguing way. Conservatives love America the way a child loves their parent. Dad is the greatest strongest best guy ever. They don’t see flaws, they see nothing but a glowing wonder that is their parent. Liberals love America the way a person loves their spouse. They see flaws, room for growth, places where compromises have happened, but overall have a great and even deeper love for their country, but they also want to see it become the best version of itself and realize that it isn’t perfect. Both perspectives are normal when you think of them like this, and both sides really do love the country, just differently.

  9. Having 30% of a population think they are the best is wild

    The US are really unique. Even north korea has less efficient propaganda

  10. iknowiknowwhereiam on

    America is one of the best on some metrics and not on others. People who demonize it as the worst AND people who worship it as the best have both digested too much propaganda. Nuance exists

  11. Those conservate and republican bars explain everything you need to know about the US.
    The absolute delusion these people live in, is astonishing.

  12. All you have to do is look at a city in any other well developed country to see how far behind we are in the US

    and then you get to social services and the US falls even farther behind

  13. To a certain extent, these %’s would depend on the party in power. Right now, Republicans are in charge, so Republicans are more commonly answering that the U.S. is the “bestest country eva.” Similar to the question of “is the country moving in the right or wrong direction?” polling, where there’s a strong effect from what the current administration is.

  14. So, let me get this straight. The conservatives/republicans are at the same time demanding to “Make America great again” and saying that it is already great. So, which one is it?

    To be honest, in the light of these numbers, MAGA would fit as a slogan much better for the liberals.

    Or is the idea that in the half a year that Trump has been the president, he has already succeeded in his goal to make America great again?

    Could someone explain please?

  15. Not one single demographic has a majority that believes there are countries better than america..

    Indoctrination thy name is..

  16. Most people don’t seem to understand that being the best country doesn’t mean it’s perfect. I think what makes our country great is that we have a lot of social class mobility. You can be born into a poor family and become a billionaire. I’m an immigrant and I have a lot of friends and relatives that started their own businesses from nothing and became successful. These type of opportunities do not exist in 80% of the countries that is why most people want to move to United states. For me the best country is the one that provides the most opportunities for success.

  17. Most countries would be far more self-confident.

    Thinking your country is the best, is a luxury afforded to countries who rarely get their own way. The US has no-one to blame but themselves, if everything is not peachy there.

  18. If America isn’t the best, why does every other country try to copy us culturally? We have more freedoms, economic power, and opportunity than any country on earth.

  19. “One of the greatest countries in the world, along with some others” does not exclude either of the other choices.

  20. thecashblaster on

    democrats and independents have more in common with each other than they realize

    too bad the democratic party cannot figure out how to bring them in to the tent consistently