America the Best Country in the World?

[Pr3]

I saw this clip on the television and I thought it had a sense of truth to it. I'm sure some of you have seen it already, but I thought I'd share it for those of you who haven't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEyUWKJFER8

[Phytotron]

Speaking of viral....

Aaron Sorkin has become such a massive cliche of himself. I always hated The West Wing.


EDIT rather than a bump.

Huffington Post: Marueen Ryan: 'The Newsroom' Review: Aaron Sorkin's New HBO Show Gets Almost Everything Wrong

That review is more than three paragraphs long. If that's too much for you to read then you have no business having any thought on the substance of the clip. Go back to playing video games, looking at internet memes, "social networking," and anything else that doesn't require you to read or think too much.

I haven't seen this particular program, beyond this clip; we don't get HBO. But just about everything she writes exactly describes what I thought of The West Wing and Sorkin in general (nix the paragraph that begins "Believe me..."). Only, there are a few more elements I would have to add; I'll spare you.

As for that particular scene, representative of so much of Sorkin's hackneyed style, it exists for one purpose: To make shallow liberals and (Western) Europeans feel good about themselves. What's so infuriating is that while such people are pointing and exclaiming "haha! you just got pwned, America" like Nelson Muntz, those things the character describes signify real problems affecting real people. So it's laughing and gloating at the expense of others' misery. If you're one of these people, I have news for you: You're a shitty person. But hey, at least you feel good about yourself, right; that's what matters.

[syllabear]

"Best Country" is always such a point of contention. Its more a matter of best country for the person asking the question, since many that get quoted are fairly similar anyway, and tend to come down to patriotism.

Regardless, I think that the problems facing America (and most of the rest of the capitalist nations) involve the self entitlement of much of the younger generations, effectively turning the ideals of capitalism (the many pushing up the few) into a sort of pseudo-communism (everyone wants to be rich, famous, etc.).

And no, this is not America bashing, I see it most places I go, including the UK. China is a bit different, ironically, since their communism translates to everyone is equal but some are more equal than others.

But yeah this is just my own (mostly uneducated) opinion, though I am trying to read into stuff like this at the moment.

As for the actual show (and not the content of the clip): I have never seen the West Wing and am unlikely to see The Newsroom in the near future, since we don't get them on the channels I have... so I can't really comment. Sure seems like the author of that article really doesn't like it though!

[Word]

lighten up...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2 ... -best.html

[Lucifer]

To make shallow liberals and (Western) Europeans feel good about themselves. What's so infuriating is that while such people are pointing and exclaiming "haha! you just got pwned, America" like Nelson Muntz, those things the character describes signify real problems affecting real people. So it's laughing and gloating at the expense of others' misery. If you're one of these people, I have news for you: You're a shitty person. But hey, at least you feel good about yourself, right; that's what matters.

You did catch that the reason for the outburst in the clip is the sorority girl asking "What makes this the best country in the world?" That's where the inherent meaning in the clip is. It's not attacking America in particular, but rather the overwhelming multitude of people who believe it's the greatest place in the world and are therefore blind to those problems, preventing anybody in a position to deal with it from dealing with any of them.

[Phytotron]

Yes, of course I did. I also caught that that girl, the audience as a whole, and the two other people on stage were ridiculous stooges, the living straw men Ryan refers to. I stand by my assessment.

the ideals of capitalism (the many pushing up the few)

Wait, where did you get that idea? Plutocracy and serfdom may be the effect—even the inevitable consequence—of some manifestations of capitalism, but the (theoretical) ideal? I don't think so.

...the self entitlement of much of the younger generations

That exists, you've seen me lament it (or post Louis C.K. clips about it), but I don't think that even approaches the magnitude of the real, primary problem: parasitic corporations and a political-economic system that has been configured in their favor. That "I'm entitled to be rich and famous and catered to" culture that exists among the kids is more a product of the latter, not the cause. It began with Horatio Algiers over here, so the pump was primed, but today it's expressed and learned primarily through pop culture. And for that matter, a lot of that attitude has nothing to do with economics at all. Rather, it's the "special snowflake syndrome" and solipsism/postmodernism/narcissism, and the like. Yadda yadda.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2 ... -best.html

I seem to recall Garrison Keillor doing a similar piece, but better.

[compguygene]

but I don't think that even approaches the magnitude of the real, primary problem: parasitic corporations and a political-economic system that has been configured in their favor. That "I'm entitled to be rich and famous and catered to" culture that exists among the kids is more a product of the latter, not the cause. It began with Horatio Algiers over here, so the pump was primed, but today it's expressed and learned primarily through pop culture. And for that matter, a lot of that attitude has nothing to do with economics at all. Rather, it's the "special snowflake syndrome" and solipsism/postmodernism/narcissism, and the like. Yadda yadda.

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power

This has been the real root of much of the problems in Amerika and the Western World today. Of course, I would argue that the root causes of much of the current financial difficulties lay in the combination of the propping up of Zombie Banks and the actions of the Financial Terrorists that are in the process of destroying the world economy that has an estimated GDP of 74 trillon dollars with a derivatives market of 1.2 quadrillion dollars. For those of you who don't know anything about the derivatives market, here is a short explanation. Imagine a casino where banks can make bets on anything. Typically, they bet on currency or bonds doing well, or not doing well. The bets need not have any real money behind them. So, if you are qualified to bet, you can bet, say 100 million dollars on the Euro going down by 10% in the next month, if anybody will take your bet. If you are a bank, and you lose a lot of money on bets, you can get the government to cover your bets. This is what happened in the 2008 and continues to happen in "bailouts". So effectively, there is no reason not to make more and more bets!

[Word]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/ ... lists.html

(CBC produced a show with the same name in the mid-90s, and here are the opinions of some people who worked on that show)

[Word]

http://itunes.apple.com/app/obama-golf/id530501085?mt=8

I thought this was an awesome game idea, even though I wouldn't buy it.

Other games the world desperately needs: A hotel simulator for watergate, a detective game with Dick Cheney, and GTA:Washington DC with JFK and the Kennedy's clan instead of CJ and the Grove street gang