Happy 245th Birthday to the United States of America

SharpshooterTom

Don't know how many Americans on here or any expats but I just want to say a belated happy 4th of July to you all.

America is a country undoubtedly with many flaws, but I've always still held a favourable view of the US. Despite how much crap we give them Americans have always had a very positive view of the Irish. The United States were crucial to the Good Friday Agreement and continue always have Irelands back even over Brexit.

I love visiting the US, such an incredibly diverse country, you can spend a lifetime travelling there and you still wouldn't have seen it all. I love reading up about American history and politics.

For me despite its many flaws as a nation, I would still prefer the US to be worlds number one superpower over Russia or China etc. An America with a good president (as we've had some shockers recently) is still overall good for the world IMO.

I leave you with old TV midnight sign off with the Star Spangled Banner, basically the entire US history (up till the 70s) summed up if you could in 2 minutes and 36 seconds, should add in civil rights and MLK next time though:

Zebra3

Despite its’ many flaws?

Genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, apartheid, crimes against humanity.....

That’s a lot of vile stuff to look past.

Fair play to you though.

odyssey06

Happy birthday America.

Without you the 20th century would have turned into a totalitarian nightmare from which there could be no escape.

Plus... The Simpsons.

Badly Drunk Boy

odyssey06 wrote: »

Without you the 20th century would have turned into a totalitarian nightmare from which there could be no escape.

Plus... The Simpsons.

And if you listen to some people around here, one of the worse things is The Simpsons in the 21st century. :pac:

TheValeyard

Happy Birthday to our crazy cousin.

TheValeyard

Zebra3 wrote: »

Despite its’ many flaws?

Genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, apartheid, crimes against humanity.....

That’s a lot of vile stuff to look past.

Fair play to you though.

And probably still the best of a bad bunch when it came to regional and global powers.

punisher5112

It's an absolute shambles over there....
Killings left right and centre then you have biden in the senate 120 years and that Chicago mayor Lightfoot who is insane among many others.

I'd love for Irish people to stop thinking we have anything to do with america as we don't and I don't want any of their crap.

SharpshooterTom

Zebra3 wrote: »

Despite its’ many flaws?

Genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, apartheid, crimes against humanity.....

That’s a lot of vile stuff to look past.

Fair play to you though.

So if America was never existed, and the 4th of July 1776 never happened, who would've taken over, continuation of European colonialism? The British empire? The Soviet Union? Because somebody would've done, which of these options are good for Ireland? As far as superpowers go I prefer the US rather some of the potential alternatives...

America's done bad sh1t, but so has the majority of Europe, as has China, as has Japan, as has Australia etc.

Thrashssacre

punisher5112 wrote: »

It's an absolute shambles over there....
Killings left right and centre then you have biden in the senate 120 years and that Chicago mayor Lightfoot who is insane among many others.

I'd love for Irish people to stop thinking we have anything to do with america as we don't and I don't want any of their crap.

If you want nothing to do with their crap then you should probably stop googling the mayor's of their cities, bit odd for someone not bothered by them. So if you want all Irish to stop worrying About America maybe start with yourself first and foremost.

odyssey06

Zebra3 wrote: »

Despite its’ many flaws?

Genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, apartheid, crimes against humanity.....

That’s a lot of vile stuff to look past.

Fair play to you though.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

If you look into the history of any country or people you will find dark corners and skeletons.

It's called warts and ALL.

On the other side of the equation the US has D-Day, the liberation of Europe & defeat of the Nazis, containment of communism, medical advances, popular culture enjoyed globally...

odyssey06

odyssey06 wrote: »

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

If you look into the history of any country or people you will find dark corners and skeletons.

It's called warts and ALL..

Surely the US is far worse than most other countries in this regard.

What’s particularly annoying about the present day US is how it promotes its own pathologies worldwide.

odyssey06

fvp4 wrote: »

Surely the US is far worse than most other countries in this regard.

What’s particularly annoying about the present day US is how it promotes its own pathologies worldwide.

Is it? What do you think happened the original hunter gatherers of Europe, Africa and Asia?

What pathologies? The only reason Ireland exists today as an independent country not under the domination of fascism or communism is the USA.

Timberrrrrrrr

Ungrateful feckers

Hell, yeah. Only day of the year that it's legal to throw redcoats in the river!

fvp4

fvp4 wrote: »

Surely the US is far worse than most other countries in this regard.

What’s particularly annoying about the present day US is how it promotes its own pathologies worldwide.

Yes but you have to separate the government from the people, even in democracies. Most ordinary Americans dislike the government and political types just as much as we do... and would probably agree with you about the pathological tendencies of the Feds.

punisher5112

Thrashssacre wrote: »

If you want nothing to do with their crap then you should probably stop googling the mayor's of their cities, bit odd for someone not bothered by them. So if you want all Irish to stop worrying About America maybe start with yourself first and foremost.

Who asked you?

Ever hear of YouTube, get great laugh out of all the bloopers, have family over there so get from them too.

What I meant is the younger kids, teens all think they have so much in common and think the place is brilliant, well it's not, it's a cess pool.

SharpshooterTom

Thrashssacre wrote: »

If you want nothing to do with their crap then you should probably stop googling the mayor's of their cities, bit odd for someone not bothered by them. So if you want all Irish to stop worrying About America maybe start with yourself first and foremost.

If you want nothing to do with America at all maybe you should stop using google, since its an American company, or Facebook, or twitter, or even a television.

punisher5112

punisher5112 wrote: »

What I meant is the younger kids, teens all think they have so much in common and think the place is brilliant, well it's not, it's a cess pool.

Ah no. It really isn't a cess pool. Lived there on and off (mostly on) for 20 years. Good and bad like everywhere.

odyssey06

Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »

Ungrateful feckers

America - you'll be back:

punisher5112

MeepMeep2021 wrote: »

Ah no. It really isn't a cess pool. Lived there on and off (mostly on) for 20 years. Good and bad like everywhere.

Eh????
Mass shootings, murders every day, numerous times a day, armed robberies very often etc etc etc....
Yes of course there are nice and bad areas but huge difference between Ireland and there....
When do you here of mass shootings, murders, numerous times a day etc

indioblack

SharpshooterTom wrote: »

So if America was never existed, and the 4th of July 1776 never happened, who would've taken over, continuation of European colonialism?

The United States exists because of European colonialism.

odyssey06

punisher5112 wrote: »

Eh????
Mass shootings, murders every day, numerous times a day, armed robberies very often etc etc etc....
Yes of course there are nice and bad areas but huge difference between Ireland and there....
When do you here of mass shootings, murders, numerous times a day etc

Not much difference between Ireland and say, Maine.

SharpshooterTom

SharpshooterTom wrote: »

So if America was never existed, and the 4th of July 1776 never happened, who would've taken over, continuation of European colonialism? The British empire? The Soviet Union? Because somebody would've done, which of these options are good for Ireland? As far as superpowers go I prefer the US rather some of the potential alternatives...

America's done bad sh1t, but so has the majority of Europe, as has China, as has Japan, as has Australia etc.

america still deos bad sh1t.....i remember seeing an infograph showing america has been effecrively in perpetual war since ww2


They havnt made the world safer or better for anyone outside a small enough demographic.....20 years in afganistan, thousands killed,trillions spent and the taliban are basically running down the clock until they withdraw,


just prior to covid,they were gearing up to attack iran,despite never finding WMD in iraq..




(Happy birthday to em,nonetheless!)

SharpshooterTom

punisher5112 wrote: »

Eh????
Mass shootings, murders every day, numerous times a day, armed robberies very often etc etc etc....
Yes of course there are nice and bad areas but huge difference between Ireland and there....
When do you here of mass shootings, murders, numerous times a day etc

America's homicide rate is poor by first world standards, but compared to a lot of other countries:



Listed here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

The US has just under 5 murders per 100,000. Brazil by contrast has 27, Colombia 25, South Africa 36, Mexico 29, El Salvador 52, Russia 8 etc. All of Western Europe is under 2.

Zebra3

Zebra3 wrote: »

Despite its’ many flaws?

Genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, apartheid, crimes against humanity.....

That’s a lot of vile stuff to look past.

Fair play to you though.

Says a lad with a wide on for an alternative which wouldn’t even allow him on the internet to be a crank.

Deluded.

Happy birthday

Kermit.de.frog

Happy Birthday and thank you for protecting the free world because the rest of us can't be bothered :cool:

corner of hells

A friend of mine finally got citizenship ovrr there , after 24 years living there at 51 years of age.... hes a real bonus to the states ... a mechanic !

Funny, for as much as I love the people, citizenship always felt a step too far. I could justify my friendships and loves and work and all the everyday things, because on that level it was great, but endorsing the MIC, as citizenship implies, would be too much for me, personally.

It's not just the evils of the overseas conflicts though, shameful though they are. It's that 20 US military vets commit suicide every single day. Most of them join to stand a chance of getting a decent education. Pure exploitation. It's a travesty on all levels, 'foreign and domestic.' Still love the people though, including (most of) the vets. Ever get pissed off by Americans that come here with cartoonish notions about Ireland? That's fine and dandy and justified in a way, but it highlights that as a courtesy, we should try to avoid carrying cartoonish notions about America around.

PsychoPete

I never understood why they dedicated a day to celebrate Will Smith saving the world from aliens