Every single country has its bounties, and every single country has its flaws.

To be honest, I do not think you are fully aware of economical/environmental/racial/homophobic implications that America still endures to this day. I have come to the conclusion that you are white (because if you were otherwise, you would have at least ecperienced once in your life the discrimination of those with coloured skin), male (being a woman is terrible, and rape culture is increasing), "seemingly" straight (because heaven forbid anyone has ever called you a 'fag' or has said 'that's so gay' in your prescence). You could quite possibly be rich, or the heir of some million-dollar company and have never had to wipe your own ass for fear of contracting a disease (but the hand sanitisers in every room of your mansion will have taken care if that).

And, to be even more honest, I don't think that you could be any of the suggested above, because it's highly unlikely that you have been living under a rock your entire life. No country can be "the greatest". It's simply not possible.

America is NOT great. You should remove this essay from this site and all sites if you have posted elsewhere, and save yourself the image of appearing uninformed, uneducated, and extremely biased.

How conceited can you get? I can't believe that there are people like you! Undermining other countries to prove yours is the greatest is what does not make you a great citizen of a great country. You're trying to convince everybody that the USA is the greatest. You can't do that. Go get a life. Every country is awesome as fuck. Learn to appreciate these facts.

And I'm an INDIAN, so I would definitely understand where his views come from. They are right - for him. America has changed HIS life, and that's good for him. But that does not mean that another country can't provide the same things. His opinions don't prove anything. It's good that you are a proud American, but saying that you're the greatest is pushing it too far. No country is better than the other. Only one's perception changes they way they look at things. These perceptions are often biased. I can't rant enough about how much this essay pisses me off. Saying you are the greatest is just proving that you're too full of yourself. Modesty and humility are GOOD qualities, you know.

Your "research" regarding the "unparalleled greatness" of America is greatly flawed. Indians go to America because it's a stereotype belief that going to America is going to make their lives much better. I disagree. Happiness can't be determined by where you live. Millions of indians immigrate to the USA because they don't like living in their own country. Such an immigration has proved to be harmful for developing countries like India. All the profit made by immigrants adds to the already great wealth of the USA. There is rampant poverty in our country, and a huge population to cater to. Maybe they could return and help India achieve the same level of progress as other developed countries. Countries like Japan are also very advanced, hard working and amazing. Please don't advocate your (biased) opinions without any logical evidence. Every country is beautiful, every country has it flaws. Try to notice the flaws sometimes: they are what help you improve.
I'm a proud Indian, in spite of all its flaws. And I also have nothing against America. Its a beautiful country, just like any other place.

So first off before you publish an essay for everyone to look at at least make sure it has appropriate grammar and spelling. It's what's expected of you on this website, and spell check and care are completely free.
Also another point is to make sure you history is actually accurate, there are quite a few points where you seem to be almost making it up.
A lot of your essay has no structure or is based off the quotes from other people, instead you should try to give a statement and use the evidence to back up this statement.
Another fact is your essay borders on offensive and rude ie 'Euroweenies'
You also fail to mention some of the major negatives of America like the fact it is the only country to have dropped nuclear bombs, or there is still a lot of homophobia and racism, or how a man such as Mitt Romney nearly became president.
Now I'm not saying any country it perfect - I personally believe there is no supreme country, each country has a time at leading ahead of others although that doesn't necessarily make it better. America is close to not being the superpower of the world anyway as China is taking that over. Also this sort of patriotic nonsense leads to wars. I think as a whole humans have enough to sort out with out competing with each other.
So I realise you have got a lot of hate for this essay, which you are going to get if you make an extreme opinion and inflict it on people. But I wouldn't have been so annoyed if the essay was actually decent.

I think I might seriously be in love with you. Marry me?

I'll be taking all of these points with me for the next America-hating douchebag that crosses me :p

I mean... Best essay ever. Your logic is flawless.

I could wax lyrical about the blatant ethnocentricity of your 'essay'. I could douse you in ridicule for the overbearing opinions of a presumably white, middle-class male. But plenty have done so before me: 279, in fact.

No, it's not your right-wing viewpoint or your emphasis upon superlatives with which I contend. It's the style of the essay itself, the lack of balance and support. Yes, America is a wonderful country, despite its flaws, but the opinions of you and Mr. D'Souza amount to very little in the grand scheme of things. There are far more reliable sources you could reference. Reference. Something you need to do more of. Including quotes from columnists isn't enough, you must state where they came from: The Wall Street Journal? LeMonde? Green Left Weekly? Otherwise how are your readers supposed to critically evaluate the provided information?

Furthermore, the patronising, anatagonistic tone utilised throughout does nothing to convince readers. Instead it achieves the opposite, and isolates them. As a persuasive text, it's an utter failure, better suited to the editorial section of a Fairfax Ltd. tabloid.

To conclude, though your opinion is interesting, it lacks any real authority or credibility.

Nice essay.

I finished reading it, saw the review number, and went gaga. So I naturally had to read the reviews and see what everyone was talking about.

I seriously think the reviews here are more interesting than the essay. S.T. Lawrence was making some great points. Hallelujah! Finally someone who speaks sense! Thank you to all the reviewers, whether or not you're English Bloke, Australian Guy, or Kevin (was there a Kevin). It doesn't matter that I disagree with most of you. I just had so much fun reading all your debates . Interesting seeing different people's views and points (or lack thereof).

Anyways, interesting essay. I wouldn't necessarily say that the U.S. is the best country, but I think people don't give it the credit it deserves. So much anti-American sentiment going on right now-which is understandable, given the current issues, but people don't investigate the issues enough. They just react.

Happy debating, everyone! (Assuming people are still reviewing-I didn't actually check when the last review was submitted) :)

You do have a point with there being a best. But's it's not forever. America's has it's time. What was the best country in the past. Once upon a time it was England. Once it was Germany. America may be in the spotlight now but who's to say that won't change. The same goes for the Pulitzer Prize winners. Yes, they won, yes they're the best. For now. See those are the key words. On comes along someone better the following year, and guess who it goes to next. There are MANY good countries, just like there are MANY Pulitzer Prize winners.

It's obvious that someone slipped a little too much patriotism into your sewage system. You can like your country, maybe even LOVE it but all your doing is shoving down our throats that it's the best and trying to validate it in every way possible by dumping on other countries. I mean, I like Canada. I think it's fine. I know it's not the best and even if it was in the running for being the best, I wouldn't be soo involved in convincing the world that is, in fact, THE best. You like it, I think it's fine. That's the way it is.

You have valid points but unless everyone stops hating America, you're not correct. Everyone can't possibly have blind hatred for your country, can they? There has to be SOMETHING they're resentful for. And until America can fix that, I and MANY others will remain unconvinced and it still won't be the best, as you say.

I kind of blanked out at the title and screamed WTF? But I will admit that it compelled me to look at this further. You seem to quote this D'Souza dude a lot. Maybe he is an immigrant living in America, maybe he does a have a nice good life and even enjoys living in the States... but, yes there's always a but, all of those things ring true for Canada. Where I'm from... We may not be involved in wars all that much but we do live for peace. Yes, the peaceful ones, that's us. Maybe that's why people like Canadians better?

I'd also like to add that, I think America's an ok place. I mean, I know I won't get shot up if I hop on over to the other side of the border. But I like Canada better, plus we have a free health system. Beat that!

And you mentioned Somalia! Yeah, my country has one word. It's true Jackson definitely wouldn't be wanted over there. In fact, I'm pretty sure he'd be shot down first thing. Since it is currently in a state of chaos. I guess certain types of people ARE safer there.

The United States is great enough country to influence everyone else in media, power and everything else basically. Yes, other countries 'copy' America. I'm still not convinced that it's the best country in the world.

Every country has flaws. But I'd say you guys have A LOT. I mean, going off to bomb "possible" enemies can hardly give the States a good name. Plus, all that babble about Muslims, it doesn't help us to believe we'd be safe there. By the way, D'Souza needs to learn a bit more about Islam, the veil was nor ever will be a requirement. So please, refrain from the "women are free here in the US" garbage.

I'm just glad Bush is out of the way, Obama certainly does sound a lot better. Let's hope he stays that way. The United States may be okay for your average ordinary person like me. But not for a lot of other people. Especially someone with the name... let's say Mohamed. Won't they check his luggage a few times over, maybe question him a minute or two?

You could be right. Just not now, maybe someday the States will reach it's full potential and manage world domination. For now though, I'm not entirely convinced "America IS the Greatest Country in the World."

)

I wouldn't say that this essay is totally without flaws or imperfections, but then again, is there ever a political essay that is? I commend you for your patriotism and courage to write such a piece.

Yes, America has its faults. But which country doesn't? Let's give some credit to Her: I have no doubt that if other nations were placed in America's shoes, they themselves would be facing the same 'moral decline' and unavoidable criticism from their counterparts. No country is, or will ever be, a utopia. So I say we quit the blaming game; it brings nothing but discord and resentment among us. But this is not to say that we don't try to make the world a better place. Let's start by doing our part; for why do we complain of others' imperfections when they're very much the same as ours?

Well, I'm sorry for being half Chinese.

America is not the greatest country in the world, I am sorry to say. America is filled with drug addicts and hit and run drivers, but I guess everywhere has it. We are one of the most powerful countries in the world, I must say, but what the heck? America is living high and mighty, and guess what? People in Africa are suffering from a genocide, aka another Holocaust. And what is America doing? Making news out of stupid celebrities who are breaking up and doing inappropriate acts. How can you say that an ignorant and materialistic country is the greatest civilization out there? And this comes from someone who is born and raised an American.

Good on the US for responding to a disaster. I agree, the problems with DART were very embarasing! The Canadian Military is too inefficient.

Here's something about the World Bank and The International Monetary Fund, part of the agreement with countries is that they open their borders to foreign goods. This means that when American (or Canadian or British, etc.) companies have surplusses of goods (like coffee or beans) they can dump them into those countries. This means that they undersell local producers of those goods and drive the local growers out of buisness. Even is the disire to help is real, loans from the IMF or the World Bank usually end up destroying the local ecconomy. For more information see

Defeating the Soviet Union? When was there a defeat? The cold war wasn't a real war, it refers to a period of tension. The USSR fell because of internal problems and the work of people like Pope John-Paul II. America, although a major player in opposing (not fighting) the Soviet Union, outlasted more then defeated the USSR.

Interesting ending... poweful if crude.

Well, I can't say that I'm not glad that I finished reading this essay. You should be proud, this essay (the first chapter specifically) is the target (not normally the word I'd use but it fits here) of my longest review. Although your pride should be checked by the fact that it is long because of the flaws in your essay.

In all honesty, you've given me things to think about. I pray that you'll be able to say the same of me.

Goodday,

The-Duke-of-Charles

Note to self... don't jump from 100 stories up. Got it.

Moving on.

I get it, you can prove things just with information. OK. If you read my last two reviews I've pointed out many many (I think I'll add another) many places where your information is incomplete or incorect.

It's funny, when dismissing the "anybody can claim their country is best" argument you dismiss the idea of a relative or personal idea of best saying that their is ultimatly one definative best. You, however, seem to have no objection to personal or relative bests when they prove your point: you mention that the best car is based on tastes meaning that there is a best car for everybody and not one BEST CAR period; you mention the best book, a subjective point; the best school, subjective (best academically, athleticly, artistically, socialy, geographically) each of your points in the early part of this chapter deals with a relative best, then, in the middle of the chapter, you dismiss relative bests. Please, for the purposes of writing an essay, try to make a consistant point.

Correction, the purpose of this essay is not to " determine which country that is through Observation and Study" it is to find points that back-up the decision that you've already made.

I have been presenting counterpoints and corrections of false information, not what you would call "stupid arguments."

Just thought I'd assure you that there are quite valad reasons why your essay's theis is incorrect.