this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2024
188 points (79.6% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26995 readers
1499 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago (2 children)

It's not a lie. It's a point of view. It's a declaration of intent. Being #1 isn't a privilege, it's a responsibility, and a choice.

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 months ago

The vast majority of people I see declaring we're #1 are taking credit for it but not working to be the best in the world. It's the people who are saying we shouldn't help other people outside the US (or even inside). It's not a declaration of intent for most people. It's a badge of pride that they don't deserve and don't intend to maintain.

If it actually were used like you imply, I don't doubt we would be the best. It would require us working to improve the world around us, not just benefit ourselves. Usually it's said out of nationalism though, not optimism.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Sorry, bullshit.

It's always "we're the beat, we're the best at X" whereas the reality is that you have rampant poverty, institutionalized racism (hello US police forces!), shit and unaffordable healthcare with (apparently) doctors who put their religion over their Hippocratic oath, unaffordable education which doesn't get you a good job anymore anyways, you don't work to live, you live to work, you have almost no vacation days whatsoever, you have no free days agter when your baby is born,you can't do anything anymore without a car, you have no freedoms, but they convinced you that parading around military style weapons is freedom somehow. You teach little children at school that sex is wrong, but it's good to knoe what to do when the next mass murderer visits your school again. Your police is racist, uneducated, inept, and corrupt..... I could go on, but you get the idea.

Sorry, America sucks, to paraphrase someone else in this thread: it's a third world country wearing the mask of a first world country.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee -1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Right. Being #1 means being the best. "We are the best at X" is an equivalent statement to "We're #1".

Not disputing that.

What I'm saying is that both of those statements can be, and are, statements of intent.

You really think a pizza place claiming "The best pizza in NYC!" thinks they're stating an objective fact? No, they're stating their commitment to acting as if that's their role. It's a commitment to excellence and striving.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 months ago

Yeaaahhh, about that.

First of all that's not how language works. If you say A but then when called out on it say "well actually I meant b to be like a" then you're just lying

Then, that intent kind of becomes questionable too when your pizza parlor is rat infested and your pizzas are covered in mold. The US has great things, like all countries, but all takeb together I consider it a third world nation that ban barely get by.