WTF is wrong with Americans?

Am I to assume you live in one of those illustrious countries?

What do we have in The United States that these Scandinavian Countries have very few of.?

What do we have in The United States that these Scandinavian Countries have very few of.? Originally Posted by Jackie S

What do we have in The United States that these Scandinavian Countries have very few of.? Originally Posted by Jackie S

Greedy politicians!

Country-western musicians?

I'll be honest with you, SexyEx, I have often wondered about that. I'd like to know more about the Scandinavian system. I'm probably to old to travel there at this point, but it does intrigue me.

On a serious note. What's wrong with Americans? They've become a divided nation. Politicians have done a great job over the last 30 years to make sure the population is divided, because a nation divided is weak and a weak nation is easy to manipulate. Politicians and their financial backers take advantage of the division and impose their will. I mean, just look at the threads here, conservatives vs. liberals, republicans vs. democrats, the 99%ers vs. the 1 %ers, etc. Like I said in another thread, we fight, politicians and their masters win. Here is the solution:

- Eliminate political parties
- Make candidates campaign based on what they will do and not based on smear tactics
- Term limits on congress - 2 in the senate and 3 in the House
- Congressman are banned from conducting any business with companies that could benefit from their positions in congress. For example, if you're on the Energy Committee, you can't leave congress and work for an energy company for at least 5 years. 5 years is plenty of time for the business to fundamentally change, therefore the ex-congressperson can't use their influence to buy favors.
- Eliminate the IRS and simplify the tax code. A one page tax code should be sufficient for all Americans and American Corporations. You made money, you pay a percentage in tax. Period, no deductions or loopholes.

Another thing that's wrong with America - we're led by lawyers. Lawyers don't have any common sense, their mentality is the more complex a case is, the more money I make. They've brought their complex mental thought process to the way they run the country and now everything is seriously fucked up. I read the other day that recently graduated lawyers are suing their law schools because they can't find jobs. How stupid do you have to be to think that just because you spent $100K on a piece of shit degree you're entitled to a fucking job? And because you can't find a job, you'll sue your law school because they mislead you? They told you that they could place a high percentage of the candidates? And you believed them? They're freaking lawyers for crying out loud, they will lie to you to come to their school!

And that is also the problem with America.

What do we have in The United States that these Scandinavian Countries have very few of.? Originally Posted by Jackie S

What is wrong with America? A lot! We have become a country of politically correct wimps. We are turning into a culture of entitlement. Everyone wants free stuff. They're entitled to this and that. There is no free stuff except the air we breath and I imagine government will find a way to tax that some day. Free access to higher education in Nordic coutries? Ya right. Someone is paying for it. I doubt professors are teaching free of charge. If you pay taxes in those countries then you're paying for that education. The reality is we are "entitled" to few things in life. The constitution did not create a government the was responsible for making our lives good. This liberal idea that government can create some kind of Utopia is a joke. How are a bunch of narrow minded lawyers going to do that. This entitlement country we're turning into won't work. Too much debt to take on such an endeavor and quite frankly too many dishonest people gaming the system. The character of the great generation is long gone. Can you imagine the equivalent of a Great Depression happening today? We would eat each other. There would be riots everywhere. Today there is no emphasis on accountability, self reliance or sacrifice. Instead we are becoming a country of "what's in it for me" or "what am I entitled to now." Good luck with that mentality.

What is wrong with America? A lot! We have become a country of politically correct wimps. We are turning into a culture of entitlement. Everyone wants free stuff. They're entitled to this and that. There is no free stuff except the air we breath and I imagine government will find a way to tax that some day. Free access to higher education in Nordic coutries? Ya right. Someone is paying for it. I doubt professors are teaching free of charge. If you pay taxes in those countries then you're paying for that education. The reality is we are "entitled" to few things in life. The constitution did not create a government the was responsible for making our lives good. This liberal idea that government can create some kind of Utopia is a joke. How are a bunch of narrow minded lawyers going to do that. This entitlement country we're turning into won't work. Too much debt to take on such an endeavor and quite frankly too many dishonest people gaming the system. The character of the great generation is long gone. Can you imagine the equivalent of a Great Depression happening today? We would eat each other. There would be riots everywhere. Today there is no emphasis on accountability, self reliance or sacrifice. Instead we are becoming a country of "what's in it for me" or "what am I entitled to now." Good luck with that mentality. Originally Posted by cowboy8055

I agree with pretty much everything in your post. We've allowed the liberals to gradually destroy our country. The fundamental problem is that the Constitution is no longer the law of the land. If we had abided by the Constitution, most of our problems wouldn't exist. The entire social welfare state, that is bankrupting us, is unconstitutional.

I noticed that the comic strip in this post was created by the Occupy movement. The Occupiers are the lowest of the low. These people are scum. They're a mixture of misfits, malcontents and Marxists that want to destroy the country. They are the polar opposites of the Tea Party.

Anyone who has visited one of the Nordic states, and remained there for a period of time, would immediately recognize there are several differences between the Nordic states and the U.S. The Nordic states are not known as cultural “melting pots”.

The Nordic states teach in one language and do not truly accommodate racial and ethnic diversity in the classroom. The Nordic states focus on a core curriculum that does not give credit for “feel good” classes like those now proliferating American schools.

Finland is held in high esteem by professional educators (not necessarily teachers) for its educational program. But Finland is also considered one of the most ethnically homogenous nations in the world: https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...k/geos/fi.html. Finland requires immigrant students to learn the Finnish language before “placing” them in the appropriate grade.

“Much of Finland's success has been attributed to the high prestige associated with being a teacher and the fact that it is as hard for Finns to win a place on a teacher training course as it is for them to get into law or medical school.

“But another aspect of Finland's success – getting children whose first language is not Finnish up to the high standards of their classmates – appears to have been overlooked by the education tourists.

“Anastasia, Artur, Kevin and Arthur stay in their class of four with a teacher and teaching assistant for 25 hours a week – for every subject except sports and arts. It can be anything between six months and a year before they are judged to have mastered Finnish and are ready to be placed into their correct year group.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/...grant-children

Finland only requires students to stay in school until students finish the 9th grade. Finland allows would-be 10th graders to enter the work force: the U.S. has child labor laws forbidding this. Professional educators (not necessarily teachers) also are clever in the way they present the story of Finland’s success.

Professional educators love to show how Finland has a low student failure rate: few students repeat the same grade. However, the resources devoted to failing student is the equivalent of a student repeating a grade – more teachers are employed and the students are required to participate in additional, extended school days, weeks and months. The net effect is that the additional resources and time equate, or nearly equate, to a repeated year.

Furthermore, counselors are employed to insure students do not make bad, personal choices regarding their future. Here’s a prominent socialist’s – that is professional educator’s – POV regarding counselors:

“[C]areer guidance and counseling became a compulsory part of the comprehensive school curriculum in all schools. It was assumed at the time that if all pupils remained in the same school until the end of their compulsory education, they would need systematic counseling on their options after completing basic school. Career guidance was intended to minimize the possibility that the students would make inappropriate choices regarding their futures. In principle, students had three options: continue general education in upper secondary general school (which about 51 percent of students do), go on to vocational upper secondary school (which about 42 percent of students do), or find employment.” by Dr. Sahlberg. http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneduc...2/Sahlberg.pdf

Please note, only 51% of Finnish students are on track to go on to college; the others are sent on a different career track.

Also note, Finland’s unemployment rate for 15 to 24 year olds is 3% higher than in the U.S. https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...s/2229.html#fi.