What sets America apart from the rest of the world? Where does our greatness come from?

Public Comments

1. Free speech. Hard to hide mistakes and lies in the light of that. The day we silence our critics is the harbinger of our demise.
2. The understanding of the U. S. Constitution and the willingness to defend it.
3. "Greatness?" What does that mean, specifically, and according to whom? There's a lot about the U.S. and the Americas as a whole that I find to be quite great. You might disagree with me about those things being great. For example, what sets us apart economically is our unbending free market pursuit of the biggest buck. I don't think that makes us great though. I have different standards. Free speech, as noted above, is something I think makes the country great. As soon as free speech is stifled in the name of security, we are a dead nation. Literally. Read up on the Military Commissions Act, for example, and how close that is bringing us to our loss of liberty. This is the idea on which movies and stories like the Matrix, V for Vendetta, etc. or books such as Orwell's 1984, are based.
4. America has only been around for 300 years... how long have other countries been around?
5. Not being stuck in a class struggle. The freedom to make oneself great through hard work and ablility.
6. GOD
7. I'm not sure if we are necessarily greater than the rest of the world, but I sure love our Constitution, even though it has been trashed by politicians for the last 150 years.
8. I feel what makes America great is the freedom to become what a person want to be. If, people would research their heritage, they will find, we are not from America. We come from many countries around the world. This diverse culture also affects our language. Look up the Etymology of many of our words. What has happened, many people were hindered in their creative abilities in other countries. When they came to America, they were able to expound on their area of expertise. We have everything from pizza to wine. Some of which have won world recognition. From cars to motorcycles, people from around the world have come to America to build an economic empire that really is the world itself. Dutch, German, African, Polish, French, the list seems to include every nation or a big part of them. So, if people can see my concept of America, we see what makes America great; is the people.
9. America is where the ideas of individual freedoms and responsibility coalesced from pie in the sky to reality. The thing that makes America great is not a single thing but a group of ideas. These ideas can be found expressed in a number of places. The Declaration of Independence, the Common Sense Pamphlets, the Constitution, the Virginia Bill of Rights among others. What is about to tear America down is the fact that to many people have demanded the right to exercise their rights but refuse to exercise their responsibility. One without the other is a sure prescription for disaster and the loss of greatness for America!
10. It used to be our national pride , the belief that everyone in the community should look after one another and our moral standards. However in the last 30 years our moral standards have been on a steady decline and that in turn has destroyed our communities.
11. Arrogance
12. The ideals that have become the essence of America go back to the writings of Thomas Paine (Common Sense), Thomas Jefferson/Alexander Hamilton/John Jay (The Federalist Papers), Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations), and Alexis De Tocqueville. I will list what, I feel, are the things that make us great. 1.) Individual freedom- We, as Americans, maintain the existence of citizen liberties (as oppossed to liberties for illegals) that include freedom of speech (which is threatened by the misguided notion of freedom of expression), freedom of religion (not from religion), freedom to assemble, freedom to pursue happiness (meaning a career and right of land ownership), the right to vote for whomever we want to, and the freedom to petition our government for a redress of any grievances. With individual freedoms, however, comes responsibility. It is up to you to decide how far we have strayed from this idea of 'rugged American individualism'. 2.) capitalism- (I know there are neo-Marxists out there right now squirming with contempt at this notion). No system of economics is better suited and preserves the nature of democracy than capitalism. The brilliance of a supply and demand economy unfettered by the intrusiveness of government (what Adam Smith called 'laissez-faire') is unsurpassed by any other option. The attempt by an individual citizen to do what is economically best for him or his family inadvertently results in the creation of a 'greater good' effect. When government gets involved (i.e. Socialism) it does what is best for it's own self preservation and political goals, thus sacrificing the needs of the people. Supply and demand cannot function effectively against governmental greed. 3.) Belief in God- We are a nation that was founded by men who believed in God and applied the virtues of the Judaic-Christian legacy of Western civilization. To ignore this influence is to thus cast aside what it is we stand for. I believe that a citizen can be atheist or of a differing faith, but they must appreciate the religious heritage that has given them the freedom to live as they do. 4.) Representative government- I think this speaks for itself. 5.) National sovereignty- unlike the EU or the former USSR, the United States still upholds the belief that it has the right to act for its' own national interests.
13. America is set apart mainly by its arrogance and its stupidity. No other nation can match the level of ignorance and selfishness set by the good old U S of A. Another thing that America excel at is hypocrisy. Oh yeh wait a minute...you are an rrrrrrrr sole.
14. your greatness come from your stupidity...
15. Nothing sets us apart. Most Americans are deluded and lack a basic education/understanding of the world outside of America. We actually believe the tinsel-town garbage and propaganda we are fed nightly on CBS/Fox. Politically we have no real choice - some rich right wing bastards or some other rich right wing bastards. We believe garbage like we can grow up to be President (providing of course we have countless millions). We are arrogant but too ignorant to see it. We are racist, but deny it. I can say all of this because I've travelled in several countries and lived in both the UK and Germany, and both of those places I considered democratically superior with a better standard of living, more opportunity exists for the people there, through access to University education and Health Care. You've got to first see what others have elsewhere, before you can comment on what you have here.