No, America is not the shithole that Europeans do constantly depict it to be. It's one of three big* countries in the top fifteen countries organized by GDP per capita, and the highest on the list of the three (the other two being Canada and then Australia). We're the entertainment capital of the world. Lots of the movies and movie stars you Europeans know and love are from America (and sometimes Canada). I don't even have to mention that The majority of the European continent (I.E. the E.U.) only produces 1 trillion dollars more in GDP than the U.S. (16t versus 15t). And, three of our states -- yes, just states -- if they were to secede, would be in the top 15 countries in the world in terms of GDP (California, Texas, and New York). And you say our economy's shit? It's just not as amazing as it used to be. The dollar is still the most widely held currency of any government around the world. America, along with Russia, was the main force that ended the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law]-godwinslaw!-[/url] regime and World War's one and two. Yes, we've caused more than our fair share of international incidence from the butting-in of our military into places it shouldn't be, but I'm pretty sure basically ending both world wars makes up for that at least a little. The Fourth is all about the Declaration of Independence and, by extension, the American Revolution, yeah? Let's think about that for a second. The United States' government -- a representative democratic republic -- has, these days, become the token government of any developed country. How many well-off countries these days don't have a Republican government? Also, the American Revolution was the basis and driving force and spark of all the other great revolutions that happened in the 18th and 19th centuries (the Haitian, the Mexican, and the French). Video Games! Everybody loves Video Games! You know, the things that started in, flourished in, crashed in, recovered in, and, from a game developer's standpoint, are now based mostly in the U.S.? Again, the U.S. is the entertainment capital of the world. Don't shit where you eat, folks. So, any other (well-thought-out) reasons why America isn't as bad as people make it out to be? Here, I'll get a few token ones out of the way: 1. "You hate gay people" 2. "The NSA is invading your lives" 3. "Your military is too big" 4. "You get involved in military conflicts that you should not be involved in" *big is defined, by me, as more than 10,000,000 citizens