Originally posted by Aetius73

Exactly liberalism is all about stealing from the strong and giving to the weak and un-deserving.

Make too much money? Here let me tax you and give it to this worthless lazy bastard that couldn't be bothered to finish school and get a decent job because he is needy.

You want to bear arms? You've got to be kidding me you might hurt yourself and someone else with that.

Don't want your baby? Here lets kill it even though he/she could have grown up to cure cancer, make the better mouse trap, or invent the ever glowing light bulb. You are more important than the baby in your belly.

Like cigarettes? Please those are far too dangerous lets ban them as much as possible and tax the hell out of them. (no I don't smoke)

They use the excuse of saving you from yourself and others to take power over you. The liberal socialist agenda removes any incentive to excel because the government is just going to take it away and give it to someone that doesn't contribute to society just because they exist. Once socialism takes hold the society will stop growing. New ideas of doing things are stiffled by government regulation, and the culture stops growing and becomes stagnant.

 

I am getting really sick of this.  Claiming liberals want to take away freedoms while completely neglecting your side.

Who started and are always leading the war on drugs.  Something that takes away the freedom to put what we want in our own bodies and take responsibility for what we do during the influence.  Conservatives

Who wants to tell us who we can and cannot marry, thus taking away the freedom of loving who we want.  Conservatives.

Who wants to make assisted suicides illegal regardless of waiting time, counseling, and evaluation, thus taking away the freedom to die.  Conservatives

Who wants to ban certain research that harms absolutely no one but is in conflict with religion, thus taking away the freedom to gain knowledge of the world we live in.  Conservatives.

Look at your self before claiming the other side takes away freedoms.  You or your side are not as innocent as you believe.

I believe he is trying to say america is better than you , what i find funny is that if everyone else is voting no and america is voting yes , then america just ripped the world a new ... (im not allowed to say that word because i havent read the TOC but you should guess why :D) thats some hardcore represseting, The American way. BI^(H!

Originally posted by Sabiancym

Originally posted by Cleffy

sabian, why do you always make bullshit topics that try and degrade your opposing view?  There are alot of things that need to be done in the US, but I do not believe those things should include copying failing concepts from other nations.  I think what makes the US so great is that its fueled by competition and greed.  Two things that are taken out with socialism and large central governments.  I just wish Universities weren't so liberal and teach the true purpose of a state-based republic.

 

I make these topics for the same reason the righties make posts about Obama being from Kenya.  Albeit I believe mine are a bit more based in fact.

Umm... YOU started that thread. Not us.

America is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. The Human Development Index list pretty much shows which countries have the highest standards of life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

U.S.  freedom of press isn't anything to write home about, either.

http://www.rsf.org/en-classement794-2008.html

I certainly wouldn't mind living pretty much anywhere in the top 10, but my favourite has got to be Australia, and New Zealand at 20.

The list of universities posted is, in a nutshell, horrible. So many different lists exist with so many different results, with so many employing different factors from the other to rate a university. How is number of published articles, no matter the quality, in any way a fair way to measure? I'm willing to bet the person who posted that list does not have an advanced degree, if any.

The best American universities really are the best, together with Oxford and Cambridge. However,even 'above average' universities in Europe are already on the same level as the Ivy League average, with mine (Leiden University) ranking somewhere between the Ivy League universities. The best of the best American universities really are great for education if you can afford the tuition fee, which most people, American or not, can not. For everything else, you'd much rather study in Europe, especially if you consider the very low tuition fee. When I get my MA and MSc, I can honestly say I studied at one of the best universities in the world (in the top 100 in most lists, even top 40 considering arts and humanities; I study archaeology and psychology) for the low, low price of what would be about 5000 euro tuition fee. Yes, in total, not a year. That said, I'm not a big fan of those lists, so I'll let my university's reputation speak for itself.

Back to the dicussion. Proclaiming any one nation is the 'best' is extremely silly, even if it is your own. My country, the Netherlands, has objective and subjective higher quality of life than the United States. I can also be found in Norway a lot, which has even higher standards of life. Yet, would I say I think those countries are the best? By far not. I wouldn't even want to live here all my life. How anyone can say their country is the best, usually without even having extensively visited other countries, is in all cases beyond me. This leads me to think that those people have been growing up in a very patriotic or even nationalistic environment and have effectively been indoctrinated.

Originally posted by Ekibiogami

Originally posted by Sabiancym

Originally posted by Cleffy

sabian, why do you always make bullshit topics that try and degrade your opposing view?  There are alot of things that need to be done in the US, but I do not believe those things should include copying failing concepts from other nations.  I think what makes the US so great is that its fueled by competition and greed.  Two things that are taken out with socialism and large central governments.  I just wish Universities weren't so liberal and teach the true purpose of a state-based republic.

 

I make these topics for the same reason the righties make posts about Obama being from Kenya.  Albeit I believe mine are a bit more based in fact.

Umm... YOU started that thread. Not us.

I make posts making fun of birthers.  I have never made a post claiming Obama was from Kenya and showing a picture of that bogus birth certificate.  There have been plenty of people who have done that.

Originally posted by Sabiancym
...

Look at your self before claiming the other side takes away freedoms.  You or your side are not as innocent as you believe.

You can't blame this all on Conservatives, all groups have mixed differences:

"Who started and are always leading the war on drugs. Something that takes away the freedom to put what we want in our own bodies and take responsibility for what we do during the influence. Conservatives"
But Liberals when in power, keep the enforcement going.  Illinois, (a blue state right?) has the most restrictive DUI set of laws. An open containers can be considered as an open 12 pack beer box with one missing can.  Caffeine and aspirin are also qualifiers for a DUI.

"Who wants to tell us who we can and cannot marry, thus taking away the freedom of loving who we want. Conservatives."
Liberals are mixed with this.  Some prefer to just only add in same-sex marriages, citing equality; but will not allow multiple spouse marriages.  If equality is the issue, then it must apply to all, not just to a selected group.

"Who wants to make assisted suicides illegal regardless of waiting time, counseling, and evaluation, thus taking away the freedom to die. Conservatives"
Since this is extreme ("regardless"), there are Liberals who would like a person to die on their own regardless of their physical condition, even in the best of health. But not all Liberals want that, so even among Liberals there is the taking away of the freedom of death.

"Who wants to ban certain research that harms absolutely no one but is in conflict with religion, thus taking away the freedom to gain knowledge of the world we live in. Conservatives."
This point is too broad.  What this appears to be is the conflict between science and religion; In physical sciences, people have no souls as it cannot be proven, whereas in religions, people have souls.  This is not a pure liberal vs conservative mind-set.  Religious does not imply being conservative, otherwise Scientology would not be considered a religion.

Change is good, but people are resistant to change.

And that is why...

America is Great.
(have to stay somehow on topic...)

Originally posted by Dracus

Originally posted by Sabiancym
...

Look at your self before claiming the other side takes away freedoms.  You or your side are not as innocent as you believe.

"Who wants to tell us who we can and cannot marry, thus taking away the freedom of loving who we want. Conservatives."
Liberals are mixed with this.  Some prefer to just only add in same-sex marriages, citing equality; but will not allow multiple spouse marriages.  If equality is the issue, then it must apply to all, not just to a selected group.

"

Indeed the african americans who came out to vote for Obama in California shot down the gay marriage amendment. Republican, Democrat it doesn't matter both sides are all about limiting freedoms. Liberal to save us from our selves Republican to save us from islamic jihadist that want our decadent abomination of a culture destroyed. I'm more for the freedoms and fiscal conservatism that the founding fathers gave us. The Republicans are a bit closer to that then the Dems but at the end of the day they are both too far left. Government should be about keeping the roads maintained and the stop lights running. Not to control every facet of our lives to save us from perceived threats whether they be from ourselves or a foreign enemy.

Originally posted by Aetius73

Originally posted by Dracus

Originally posted by Sabiancym
...

Look at your self before claiming the other side takes away freedoms.  You or your side are not as innocent as you believe.

"Who wants to tell us who we can and cannot marry, thus taking away the freedom of loving who we want. Conservatives."
Liberals are mixed with this.  Some prefer to just only add in same-sex marriages, citing equality; but will not allow multiple spouse marriages.  If equality is the issue, then it must apply to all, not just to a selected group.

"

Indeed the african americans who came out to vote for Obama in California shot down the gay marriage amendment. Republican, Democrat it doesn't matter both sides are all about limiting freedoms. Liberal to save us from our selves Republican to save us from islamic jihadist that want our decadent abomination of a culture destroyed. I'm more for the freedoms and fiscal conservatism that the founding fathers gave us. The Republicans are a bit closer to that then the Dems but at the end of the day they are both too far left. Government should be about keeping the roads maintained and the stop lights running. Not to control every facet of our lives to save us from perceived threats whether they be from ourselves or a foreign enemy.

Ah yes, the entire reason Republicans restrict freedom is because of the evil islam which is set for world domination!

As much as you'd like to believe i'm sure, but a nation isn't going to run itself with just roads and stoplights. That would be a terrible infrastructure.

Originally posted by Cabe2323

Originally posted by //\\//\\oo

Originally posted by Zindaihas

If you don't think it is (by a wide margin), which country is in your opinion, and why aren't you living there?

 

  Those countries don't want us: They have enough educated people due to their superior education. While America has a few outstanding universities, they are the standard in the developed European countries.

If I had my choice I'd live in Austria/Germany/Norway/Sweden/Switzerland, but due to the economic conditions I have fierce competition, so I'm going to grind out the next few years ( if I pass qualifiers )  to get a degree that will be recognized everywhere in the world.

 

 

American Universities are the Gold Standard in Education for the entire world.  Take a look at where the vast majority of the world wants to get educated and it is here in American.  Our post secondary education is extremely good.  Our elementary through secondary education system sucks. 

Here is the top 50 universities in the world according to the webometics rankings.  The Webometrics Ranking is produced by the Cybermetrics Lab, a unit of the National Research Council (CSIC), the main public research body in Spain. The Lab acts as an Observatory of the Science and Technology on the Web. Isidro F. Aguillo, HonPhD is the head of the Laboratory and editor-in-chief of the Rankings.

 

World Rank Name Website Size Visibility Rich Scholar
1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2 Stanford University
3 Harvard University
4 Pennsylvania State University
5 University of California, Berkeley
6 University of Michigan
7 University of Wisconsin-Madison
8 University of Minnesota
9 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
10 Cornell Univeristy
11 University of Texas at Austin
12 University Of Washington
13 University Of Pennsylvania
14 Columbia University
15 University of Chicago
16 Texas A&M University
17 University of California, Los Angeles
18 University of Arizona
19 University of Maryland, College Park
20 Purdue University
21 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
22 University of Florida
23 Michigan State University
24 Indiana University
25 University of Toronto
26 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
27 University of Cambridge
28 Rutgers University
29 Duke University
30 Georgia Institute of Technology
31 California Institute of Technology
32 University of California, San Diego
33 New York University
34 University of Pittsburgh
35 University Of Virginia
36 Princeton University
37 University of Oxford
38 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
39 University of Southern California
40 University of British Columbia
41 Yale University
42 Johns Hopkins University
43 University of Helsinki
44 University of California, Davis
45 North Carolina State University
46 Washington University in St. Louis
47 Australian National University
48 University of Utah
49 University of Colorado at Boulder
50 University of Oslo

 

So honestly if you think that your post secondary education would be better in another country you are sadly mistaken. 

And just in case you think that the Spanish researchers are biased here are the rankings done by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.  The Universities are listed in rank order based on their 2008 ranking.  They used standards based on quality of research, number of alumni winning fields medals and Nobel prizes, and number of staff winning Fields Medals and Nobel Prizes, among a few more criteria. 

Flag of the United States Harvard University 1 1 1 1 1 1
Flag of the United States Stanford University 2 2 2 3 2 2
Flag of the United States University of California, Berkeley 4 4 4 4 3 3
Flag of the United Kingdom University of Cambridge 5 3 3 2 4 4
Flag of the United States Massachusetts Institute of Technology 6 5 5 5 5 5
Flag of the United States California Institute of Technology 3 6 6 6 6 6
Flag of the United States Columbia University 10 9 9 7 7 7
Flag of the United States Princeton University 7 7 7 8 8 8
Flag of the United States University of Chicago 11 10 10 8 9 9
Flag of the United Kingdom University of Oxford 9 8 8 10 10 10
Flag of the United States Yale University 8 11 11 11 11 11
Flag of the United States Cornell University 12 12 12 12 12 12
Flag of the United States University of California, Los Angeles 15 16 16 14 13 13
Flag of the United States University of California, San Diego 14 13 13 13 14 14
Flag of the United States University of Pennsylvania 18 15 15 15 15 15
Flag of the United States University of Washington 16 20 20 17 16 16
Flag of the United States University of Wisconsin - Madison 27 18 18 16 17 17
Flag of the United States University of California, San Francisco 13 17 17 18 18 18
Flag of Japan Tokyo University 19 14 14 19 20 19
Flag of the United States Johns Hopkins University 24 22 22 20 19 20
Flag of the United States University of Michigan at Ann Arbor 21 19 19 21 21 21
Flag of the United Kingdom University College London 20 25 25 26 25 22
Flag of Japan Kyoto University 30 21 21 22 22 23
Flag of Switzerland ETH Zurich 25 27 27 27 27 24
Flag of Canada University of Toronto 23 24 24 24 23 24
Flag of the United States University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign 45 25 25 25 26 26
Flag of the United Kingdom Imperial College London 17 23 23 23 23 27
Flag of the United States University of Minnesota - Twin Cities 37 33 33 32 33 28
Flag of the United States Washington University in St. Louis 22 28 28 28 28 29
Flag of the United States Northwestern University 29 30 30 33 29 30
Flag of the United States New York University 55 32 32 29 30 31
Flag of the United States Duke University 32 31 31 31 32 32
Flag of the United States Rockefeller University 28 29 29 30 30 32
Flag of the United States University of Colorado, Boulder 31 34 34 34 34 34
Flag of Canada University of British Columbia 35 36 36 36 36 35
Flag of the United States University of California, Santa Barbara 26 35 35 35 35 36
Flag of the United States University of Maryland at College Park 75 57 57 37 37 37
Flag of the United States University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 52 56 56 59 58 38
Flag of the United States University of Texas - Austin 47 40 40 39 38 39
Flag of the United Kingdom University of Manchester 89 78 53 50 48 40
Flag of the United States University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas 34 36 36 38 39 41
Flag of the United States Pennsylvania State University 40 43 43 42 43 42
Flag of France University of Paris 6 (Pierre and Marie Curie University) 65 41 41 45 39 42
Flag of the United States Vanderbilt University 32 38 38 41 41 42
Flag of Denmark University of Copenhagen 65 59 59 56 46 45
Flag of the United States University of California, Irvine 44 55 55 44 45 46
Flag of the Netherlands University of Utrecht 40 39 39 40 42 47
Flag of the United States University of California, Davis 36 42 42 42 43 48
Flag of France University of Paris 11 (Paris-Sud 11 University) 72 48 48 64 52 49
Flag of the United States University of Southern California 40 48 48 47 50 50
Flag of Sweden Karolinska Institutet 39 46 46 48 53 51
Flag of the United States University of Pittsburgh 53 48 48 48 49 52
Flag of Switzerland University of Zurich 45 57 57 58 58 53
Flag of the United States Rutgers University 38 44 44 46 47 54
Flag of the United Kingdom University of Edinburgh 43 47 47 52 53 55
Flag of Germany University of Munich 48 51 51 51 53 55
Flag of Germany Technical University of Munich 60 45 45 54 56 57
Flag of the United States University of Florida 75 67 67 53 51 58
Flag of Australia Australian National University 49 53 53 54 57 59
Flag of Canada McGill University 79 61 61 62 63 60
Flag of the United Kingdom University of Bristol 55 60 60 62 62 61
Flag of the United States Carnegie Mellon University 61 62 62 56 60 62
Flag of the United States Ohio State University 81 73 73 66 61 62
Flag of Norway University of Oslo 63 68 68 68 69 64
Flag of Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem 94 90 90 60 64 65
Flag of the United States Purdue University 80 71 71 73 68 65
Flag of Germany University of Heidelberg 58 64 64 66 65 67
Flag of Japan Osaka University 53 54 54 61 67 68
Flag of Finland University of Helsinki 74 72 72 74 73 68
Flag of Russia Moscow State University 1000 66 66 70 76 70
Flag of the United States Brown University 49 82 82 85 70 71
Flag of Sweden Uppsala University 59 74 74 65 66 71
Flag of France École Normale Supérieure - Paris 1000 85 85 99 83 73
Flag of Australia University of Melbourne 92 82 82 78 79 73
Flag of the United States University of Rochester 72 52 52 74 75 73
Flag of the Netherlands University of Leiden 78 63 63 72 71 76
Flag of the United States University of Arizona 55 76 76 76 74 77
Flag of the United Kingdom University of Sheffield 68 69 69 69 72 77
Flag of Japan Tohoku University 64 69 69 76 76 79
Flag of the United States University of Utah 81 95 95 94 93 79
Flag of the United Kingdom King's College London 75 77 77 83 83 81
Flag of the United Kingdom University of Nottingham 1000 80 80 79 81 82
Flag of the United States Boston University 98 86 86 81 83 83
Flag of the United States Case Western Reserve University 51 65 65 70 78 83
Flag of the United States Michigan State University 87 80 80 80 80 83
Flag of Sweden Stockholm University 1000 97 97 84 86 86
Flag of Switzerland University of Basel 96 91 91 81 82 87
Flag of the United States Texas A&M University 70 1000 1000 88 91 88
Flag of Canada McMaster University 86 88 88 90 87 89
Flag of Germany University of Goettingen 91 79 79 85 87 90
Flag of the United Kingdom University of Birmingham 1000 93 93 90 92 91
Flag of the United States Indiana University - Bloomington 1000 1000 1000 97 90 92
Flag of Denmark Aarhus University 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 93
Flag of the United States Arizona State University 1000 1000 1000 100 96 93
Flag of the United States University of Virginia 67 1000 1000 1000 1000 95
Flag of Germany University of Freiburg 1000 88 88 93 94 96
Flag of Sweden Lund University 93 92 92 90 97 97
Flag of the United States Rice University 61 75 75 87 87 97
Flag of Germany University of Bonn 1000 99 99 1000 99 97
Flag of Australia University of Sydney 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 97
Flag of the United States Emory University 99 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
Flag of Germany Free University of Berlin 95 1000 1000 99 83 1000
Flag of Germany Humboldt University of Berlin 1000 95 95 1000 1000 1000
Flag of Japan Nagoya University 68 97 97 98 94 1000
Flag of the United States North Carolina State University 99 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
Flag of Japan Tokyo Institute of Technology 1000 1000 1000 89 99 1000
Flag of the United States Tufts University 83 99 99 1000 1000 1000
Flag of the United States University of California, Riverside 88 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
Flag of Belgium University of Ghent 99 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
Flag of the Netherlands University of Groningen 84 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
Flag of the United States University of Illinois at Chicago 96 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000
Flag of the United States University of Iowa 90 1000 1000 95 97 1000
Flag of Italy Sapienza University of Rome 70 93 93 100 1000 1000
Flag of France University of Strasbourg I (Louis Pasteur University) 1000 82 82 96 99 1000
Flag of Austria University of Vienna 84 86 86 1000 1000 1000

 

 

wut

http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2007/overall_rankings/top_100_universities/

Also, note the size of the USA - it's the size of 50 UKs at least, and check out how many UK Uni's there are on this list.

Originally posted by Gameloading

As much as you'd like to believe i'm sure, but a nation isn't going to run itself with just roads and stoplights. That would be a terrible infrastructure.

And yet it would still be a massive improvement if that was all the infrastructure my government controlled.

Originally posted by baff

Originally posted by Gameloading

As much as you'd like to believe i'm sure, but a nation isn't going to run itself with just roads and stoplights. That would be a terrible infrastructure.

 

And yet it would still be a massive improvement if that was all the infrastructure my government controlled.

Yeah no kidding. At the rate we are going now the current congress and administration is going to implant sensors in our throats and butts so they can tax us for CO2 and methane emissions.

"Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come." Matthew 24:10-14 nrsv

Heres a picture:

NO! yes it's an opinion but out of what? 200 countries I think America is def not the best country in the world - our economic recession sucks right now! and in terms of sports, not at all too China surpassed us and commentators made a prediction that in 2012, it will be China again! but we do have the best bball team in the world! yayuhh

America is really powerful, there is no denying that.

They have really changed the modern world and especially helped Europe rebuild after WW2.

But i think because of other countries depending of the US, it has given them freedom to do things the way they please. Although now when other countries are catching up, they are starting to criticise the US especially when it comes to military actions and enviromental politics and not wanting to sign things like the Kyoto contract. It kind of isolates the US from the rest of the world.

It might look like, the US wants to control alot of things, but don't want themselves to be controlled by others in any way.

If I don't vote I can't see the results. What were you thinking?

Originally posted by Sabiancym

The answer is no by a wide margin, but let's see how many homers we have here.  How many Americans on this board blindly believe we are the best regardless of all the facts?  How many use it as an excuse not to evolve our society?

 

 

If you're not American, please don't vote.

 

It depends entirely on your criteria for "greatest" and you gave none.

In terms of innovation and invention? I think the US probably wins hands down. In terms of great acheivements like going to the moon, again the USA. Who else has Stealth bombers?

But for some people the amount of socialism you have in a country is what determines if it's great. In that case, the EU and Canada and for sure the Scandanavian countries are way ahead of the USA.

Some even measure the quality of medical care not by how good the technology or doctors are, but by how many poor people have access. So if more poor people have access to crappy doctors and equipment, that would be "great" compared to fewer people with access to the best doctors and best equipment.

American has high prison populations. That could be the criteria you use, in which case America is not so great.

Or we  could see which country in the world has more people wanting to immigrate there than any other. America probably wins that one.

So lay out the criteria for "greatest".

When Micheal Phelps hears of this thread he is going to be most upset.

For the sake of competition,  dont piss phelps off.

Chuck Norris is American. End of thread.

Aww are you hurt?

Here, have a tissue