Tracy,

>Walter, there are times when you bring up valid points, but most often, your rantings against America and Americans smack of nothing more than envy and resentment.

To be honest, Johns stupid replies triggered this one and has to be seen in that perspective, but I stand behind the message I made. I could give a vast number of arguments supporting that claim.

Outdated. The infrastructure is outdated. Everywhere I go in the US I still see those telephone wires crossing the streets. Your educational system is outdated. The US is the only western country without a public health care system.

Hypocritical. I talked before about the victorian sex code (outdated again). Sex is talked about as something bad, while sex scandals go onto the highest levels. Isn't it time to accept that sex is a normal thing in society? Don't preach one and do the other. Of course the War in iraq was not at all about WMD nor about the threat of Saddam. It was just a cover for safeguarding the US economical interests.

>Go ahead and hate America. These are just for you:

>http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=l7PQw4J3ilo&watch_response

He brings up some good points, but some bad ones too. I agree we have a lot of stereo types about americans that should be revised. But I do not see why muslims are dragged into this comparison. I fully agree with his points on imperialism, as long as its recognised the US currently is just an empire like in the past, but in a different way. We have gone through that before and know what it means to lose it again. The US has to learn that lesson yet.

Oh yeah, that about the culture. He is right that your culture is older than the modern cultures in Europe. And that is because we are modernising and leaving some aspects of the past behind as nothing more than a relic. And BTW I DO visit the US and Canada frequently enough to know what I'm talking about. In fact Im writing this from Canada, Toronto having the TV tuned to CNN as I write this. I work very internationally in a small company that operates in e.g: New Zealand, Australia, India, Western Europe, Africa, Canada and the US, so please don't accuse me that I don't know what is going arround in the world. Some of my colleage have worked and travelled in many, many countries all arround the world. I'd assume they know what they are talking about when they compare one country to another.

This is not about the american people, it is about the american politics and society. I love the american people and have a few clients I talk to very frequently. I've got quite a few people on the american continent I consider as friends. And it is certainly not all aspects of the american society that I dislike. The general friendlyness, the unity, the overall warm welcome you receive from the american people is something we in europe have forgotten. Also the optimism of the average american is really something I admire. I recognise that overal the US is a good place to find work and earn a living. To many it really is a new future towards a better life. But remember that this is also happening in other countries, not exclusively to the US.

But please don't come to me with stories about how great the US is and how other countries are inferiour. Better to look in the mirror, visit other countries, learn their society and draw your conclusion. I'm rather sick of comments of people who never left the US or only visited europe as a tourist. Also keep in mind that europe has change significantly the last decade or two.

So yes, I think it is time for the US to get updated (in various ways), it is time to look in the mirror and don't be hypocritical. It is time to get rid of all those lies your current government told its citizens and get honest. And listening to obama and hillary right now, I think they would agree much with what I write here.

Sorry to put such a rant here, but yes, this is how I feel about the matter.