Just so all of you fellas Know what proud to be an American actually means too most of us I will try too explain. I am proud because we are a country of people that escaped our homelands at some point in History and were told by our countryman on our way out and in we would never amount too anything, (Irish, Protestants, Jews, Vietamese, Chinese, Portugese, Italiens, Germans, Hispanics etc). Yet for the most part we all seemed too work together to make a great nation. (in 200 years)
While it is not easy too succeed hard work, daily toil will give you the respect anyone desires. This country is complex and strives for fairness.
WE like the underdog, hate corruption, value honesty, love our kids, value family, willing to help our fellow man, patriotic, brave, proud,democratic, intellectual yet farmers just as nice, religious yet respectful of others religion, demand efficiency, love our music, movies, movie stars. Most importantly we value our vetrans and soldiers fighting because whether or not you belive in the fight or not they are doing a job.
Basically we are a diverse country which accepts diversity we have thousands of nationalities that have worked together for two hundred plus years and built one the best countries on earth. And would defend these sensibilities to our deaths.(most of us). At the same time detest war we just want to be left alone, but our thirst for oil sends us out into the world.
Not good, but when we develope technology that curtails our need you will all miss us.
While that all sounds good some of us are racists, intolerant, lazy, corrupt, selfish, mean, boring. But I can say which ever way your politics goes, we all love our country. Its kind of a hokey diatribe but alot has truth.
I am proud to be an American II
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sid guttridge
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John W. Howard
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Follow the Rules
Why is it so hard to follow the rules of this forum? This thread and the other longer one, are off topic for the forum as a whole, and for the Comments and Suggestion section. I, for one, get a gut-full of current events every day in the newspaper; I do not need it here, where I come to escape into the past with friends from all over the world. These current events discussions make people angry and divide forum members from one another. If this " Why I am proud to be an American" garbage has to be printed, put it in Soldatenheim, but please note: it is not permitted there either, according to forum rules.
John W. Howard
Re: I am proud to be an American II
Usually these are the average qualities of any average citizen of any country of this planet.Vpatrick wrote:...........WE ...........hate corruption, value honesty, love our kids, value family, willing to help our fellow man, patriotic, brave, proud, democratic, intellectual ...........
Maybe with the difference that in other countries people do not parade these qualities on a Internet Forum, considering them too obvious for anybody self-respecting himself as a human being.
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Herr Doktor
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John Howard wrote:
And I can tell you Vpatrick, that as Feldgrau Forum members, WE (well, mostly that is...
) like the underdog, hate corruption, value honesty, love our kids, value family, willing to help our fellow man, patriotic, brave, proud, etc, etc, heh heh, regardless of nationality 
Best,
HD
I suppose you are right, if one goes strictly by the forum rules. But personally, I don't mind these discussions at all. The overwhelming majority of topics on Feldgrau are German WWII related, so what if a few off-topic threads get started? They are part of what makes this an interesting site.I do not need it here, where I come to escape into the past with friends from all over the world. These current events discussions make people angry and divide forum members from one another. If this " Why I am proud to be an American" garbage has to be printed, put it in Soldatenheim, but please note: it is not permitted there either, according to forum rules.
And I can tell you Vpatrick, that as Feldgrau Forum members, WE (well, mostly that is...
) like the underdog, hate corruption, value honesty, love our kids, value family, willing to help our fellow man, patriotic, brave, proud, etc, etc, heh heh, regardless of nationality Best,
HD
I was in Speyer, Germany recently, and took time to visit a memorial to the German dead of WWI, a rather handsome stone monument dedicated to the army and war in which my grandfather served. Passing Germans struck me as no different than Americans, and vice-versa, and thus I came away from Speyer with the not-so-novel notion that Germans--as well as Dutchmen, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Belgians, Danes, Norwegians, and millions other Europeans--love their families, their land, their flag, their arts, their sciences, their pets and whatever else every bit as much as my own countrymen.
In Koln I saw eighty-year-old men sweeping and washing 700-year-old cobblestone streets and alleyways with meticulous, tireless, loving care.
In America I often see motorists discard their MacDonald's hamburger wrappers on the nearest highway shoulder.
Wonder who loves their country the most?
In Koln I saw eighty-year-old men sweeping and washing 700-year-old cobblestone streets and alleyways with meticulous, tireless, loving care.
In America I often see motorists discard their MacDonald's hamburger wrappers on the nearest highway shoulder.
Wonder who loves their country the most?
I know my post seems obvious off topic and can be considered garbage (for which Im sorry), I was trying too counter the first "Proud to be American Post" which I also thought had no place here. I thought it showed Americans as to what Europeans expect, as simply aggressive and arrogant. It might have come out as silly, but we are not all warmongering idiots waiting for someone too piss us off so we can kick ass. Probably just should have minded my own business.
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John W. Howard
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Hey Vpatrick
Did not mean to sound too hard on you. It is just that after one has been a member here for so long, one has seen posts like yours and the responses from our friends overseas, many many times. Generally they degenerate into mud-slinging contests regarding which country has done the naughtiest things in their past; people get angry, and we all forget why we are here. Granted the quality and intelligence of our members really makes this a great place to discuss almost anything, and provides ready access to folks from all over the world. Perhaps I was just in a grumpy mood, but I think it is rude to say " We live in the greatest nation in the world" when people from others feel the same way about their country. In any event Soldatenheim seems to be the best place for digressions of this kind; you posted here because the other post started here; I understand. My rant was directed at the previous post more than it was at yours. I should have posted it there. My fault. Best wishes Vpatrick, and accept my apologies if I sounded rude.
John W. Howard
VPatrick, take no offense to my post, will you? I understand your pride in your country, and I well understand the good intention of your post. Don't make the mistake of leaving simply because of ever-so-slight misunderstandings.
We're all proud of our countries. I'm particularly glad to see that Germans are as increasingly cognizant of the highlights of their past as they are the lowpoints. I may be wrong, I may be a fool, but I'm one of those who believes Germans have been emotionally bludgeoned to a gratuitous degree, some of it deserved, much more of it undeserved.
Can't hold the Germans up as criminals forever, now, can we? The world teems with criminals of every sort, and doers' of myriad misdeeds: They've worn the uniform of every nation, they speak a thousand tongues.
The American media loves stirring the international pot, does it not? I think it's at the center of every perceived international 'controversy' that rolls down the airwaves.
Under Clinton, it endlessly hunted "Nazi criminals," and severely chastised or brought suit against those who argued that it's probably best to let sleeping dogs lie. Never mind that that same media seldom if ever shrilled so for a similar public accounting of Japan's bloody wartime misdeeds. Had I been a native German during the '90's in particular, I would've rankled under ongoing pressure from the U.S. and Israel to hunt down the 80- and 90-year-old 'criminal' vestiges of my past. And who would blame Germans for feeling put upon in such circumstances? Then, with the first inauguration of George Bush, that same infernal media suddenly seeks Europe and Germany's 'favor' in it's soap opera-like hatred of Bush and 'his war.' The American media--and the American television and film industry--not the ordinary American, are probably the worst or most facetious representations of the U.S. that Europeans likely see. Frankly, after watching hours of American television and reading pages of American newspapers--particularly, the liberal versions--I frequently feel the need to regurgitate.
During the course of a recent trip to western Europe, I again came away with the impression that there's virtually no difference between Americans and their European cousins, despite what our media tells us.
~Well, on second thought, I think the Europeans are far smarter than we, and their beer and wine make our own taste worse than battery acid.
We're all proud of our countries. I'm particularly glad to see that Germans are as increasingly cognizant of the highlights of their past as they are the lowpoints. I may be wrong, I may be a fool, but I'm one of those who believes Germans have been emotionally bludgeoned to a gratuitous degree, some of it deserved, much more of it undeserved.
Can't hold the Germans up as criminals forever, now, can we? The world teems with criminals of every sort, and doers' of myriad misdeeds: They've worn the uniform of every nation, they speak a thousand tongues.
The American media loves stirring the international pot, does it not? I think it's at the center of every perceived international 'controversy' that rolls down the airwaves.
Under Clinton, it endlessly hunted "Nazi criminals," and severely chastised or brought suit against those who argued that it's probably best to let sleeping dogs lie. Never mind that that same media seldom if ever shrilled so for a similar public accounting of Japan's bloody wartime misdeeds. Had I been a native German during the '90's in particular, I would've rankled under ongoing pressure from the U.S. and Israel to hunt down the 80- and 90-year-old 'criminal' vestiges of my past. And who would blame Germans for feeling put upon in such circumstances? Then, with the first inauguration of George Bush, that same infernal media suddenly seeks Europe and Germany's 'favor' in it's soap opera-like hatred of Bush and 'his war.' The American media--and the American television and film industry--not the ordinary American, are probably the worst or most facetious representations of the U.S. that Europeans likely see. Frankly, after watching hours of American television and reading pages of American newspapers--particularly, the liberal versions--I frequently feel the need to regurgitate.
During the course of a recent trip to western Europe, I again came away with the impression that there's virtually no difference between Americans and their European cousins, despite what our media tells us.
~Well, on second thought, I think the Europeans are far smarter than we, and their beer and wine make our own taste worse than battery acid.
I agree thier are idiots on both sides, and as we cant keep blaming the Germans for past mis deeds when are we going to give the US the same break?
Germans are faster to forget thier own misdeeds and even faster too point out the current historical US mistakes. History will neither escape Germany or the US.
Germans are faster to forget thier own misdeeds and even faster too point out the current historical US mistakes. History will neither escape Germany or the US.
Last edited by Vpatrick on Thu Dec 30, 2004 11:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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sid guttridge
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Hi Vpatrick,
I think the difference is that German misdeeds are rapidly becoming a purely historical issue. Indeed, today's Germany keeps such a low international profile that it is often difficult to identify any current German deeds at all.
However, for good or ill, the US is still a very proactive superpower and its current mistakes and misdeeds are therefore necessarily of more immediate interest, import and impact to the entire world. They therefore naturally feature prominently in every country's current affairs media.
"Pro-active" and "Low-profile" are incompatible policies for the world's only super power, whoever it may be.
Cheers,
Sid.
I think the difference is that German misdeeds are rapidly becoming a purely historical issue. Indeed, today's Germany keeps such a low international profile that it is often difficult to identify any current German deeds at all.
However, for good or ill, the US is still a very proactive superpower and its current mistakes and misdeeds are therefore necessarily of more immediate interest, import and impact to the entire world. They therefore naturally feature prominently in every country's current affairs media.
"Pro-active" and "Low-profile" are incompatible policies for the world's only super power, whoever it may be.
Cheers,
Sid.
Sid
I think some Americans cant believe the Germans or even the French lecture America on social justice. Mayby because if we did not defend Western Europe from the Soviets, The GNP of both Germany and France for defense would never allowed their generous social welfare states.
Mayby allowing a US like France and Germany. That is if we became isolationist after ww2, now that France and Germany dont have that threat they want us isolationist again which is it? can you imagine how cultured the US would be if we could have used the last 50 years of defense dollars for social welfare programs, we might be acceptable to the Europeans. blah blah
I think some Americans cant believe the Germans or even the French lecture America on social justice. Mayby because if we did not defend Western Europe from the Soviets, The GNP of both Germany and France for defense would never allowed their generous social welfare states.
Mayby allowing a US like France and Germany. That is if we became isolationist after ww2, now that France and Germany dont have that threat they want us isolationist again which is it? can you imagine how cultured the US would be if we could have used the last 50 years of defense dollars for social welfare programs, we might be acceptable to the Europeans. blah blah
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sid guttridge
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Hi vPatrick,
I think social justice is one area today's Germans can lecture the US on, but not on defence issues, though.
Defence against the USSR is also rapidly becoming an historical issue. All Germans under the age of 14 have no memory of a Soviet threat. There are already German voters who had no political consciousness of the Soviet erea because they were only about four when the Berlin Wall fell. Today's young Germans owe today's young Americans nothing, and today's young Americans will be judged on their own deeds, not their father's or grandfather's.
It should also be remembered that the US was not primarily in Europe ouit of concern for European interests. It was primarily there for its own interests. It was better that the Cold War front line was in Central Europe than the Central Atlantic. It was also better that the world's biggest market - Western Europe - should be inside the US's sphere of influence rather than the USSR's. The American presence was undoubtedly largely benign, but it was not altruistic.
Cheers,
Sid.
I think social justice is one area today's Germans can lecture the US on, but not on defence issues, though.
Defence against the USSR is also rapidly becoming an historical issue. All Germans under the age of 14 have no memory of a Soviet threat. There are already German voters who had no political consciousness of the Soviet erea because they were only about four when the Berlin Wall fell. Today's young Germans owe today's young Americans nothing, and today's young Americans will be judged on their own deeds, not their father's or grandfather's.
It should also be remembered that the US was not primarily in Europe ouit of concern for European interests. It was primarily there for its own interests. It was better that the Cold War front line was in Central Europe than the Central Atlantic. It was also better that the world's biggest market - Western Europe - should be inside the US's sphere of influence rather than the USSR's. The American presence was undoubtedly largely benign, but it was not altruistic.
Cheers,
Sid.