Why do so many people in the U.S say that it is the greatest country in the world when it's not?

Many, many people in every country of the world will say their country is the best. And they SHOULD say that. Everyone should take pride in their own country. The problem is, when people from all over the world travel/move to another country and proceed to tell the natives that their country sucks, it causes bad blood, and then the natives start hating the new arrivals and then here comes fresh racism and nationalism. Siiiigh.....

There was a time when that held true. The generation that went through the great depression and WWII had good reason to believe they were the best, they earned the right. They lifted themselves from poverty and had a pretty big stake in freeing Europe. They banded together to build a common good, and sacrificed their personal wants to make it happen.

But what have Americans done LATELY that is so great? They are content with resting on the laurels of the deeds of past generations, and claiming them as their own. What do Americans sacrifice of their personal desires to make the country and the world a better place NOW?

Any American who has not traveled beyond our borders has little insight into what the rest of the world is really like. If freedom is what you value, take a look at the Netherlands. If having a great system of medical care is important, look to practically ANY industrialized nation besides ours.

America is in the process of falling from "Greatness" Tightening moral values will not pull us out of this, banding together to aspire to be something more than we are as individuals will.

To me, no country is perfect. It may be good to live in, but it's not the greatest. I'm not sure which country has all of the things that you listed. The United States compared to some other countries though is good. We have freedom of speech (which is some countries you would get into trouble), good education (not in some others), etc., and that's why so many people want to come here. But like you said, you're right. The U.S. isn't perfect.

Most countriess don't have the same amount of people in them... and since liberals can't do math right America looks so bad... i'm a Brazilian American and I find that the USA is wonderful. You can drink the water... call the president what ever you want... and you can be poor and become one of the most powerful people in the world. You can't do that in Europe or Asia or Brazil.

I agree that education is better elsewhere, but that's going to change eventually.

It always comes down to a comparison of "what you had there" with "what you can have here". It usually centers on ownership of property & wealth accumulation.

Where ever you are, there's always room for improvement, and I think people are missing the point. A country evolves into a better place because of criticism. It would be very un-patriotic to silence the critics but thats exactly what flag-wavers try to do.

In short, I agree with you but I wanted to re-direct peoples attention onto more important issues. Like "QUALITY OF LIFE"

But not the freedom to think and act as you please, and a democracy, plus we have the greatest army, and economy in the world, why do you think the U.N. is in New York. WE have an awesome culture, great TV The number one college in the world, harvard, is here, great food, every culture, race, religion, is here. Where could you find that anywhere else

It's the greatest as far as I'M concerned. It's MY opinion. I don't care in the slightest that you don't agree. However, it's obviously an opinion a lot of people DO share. There sure are a lot of people trying, of their own accord to get here. Nobody's twisting their arm, you know.

Because we're a very patriotic, flag-waving people. And thousands of people trying to get into this country only confirms that sentiment for many.

Maybe we think this because millions of people have died trying to get into our country; died in deserts, boats, ship holds, rafts. I don't think it's the best country. It's one of the best. We have all the above mentioned things plus some really nice, down to earth people. Especially in the South.

Give them a little more time to see that we blew up the World Trade Centers on September 11th and sent a cruise missile through the pentagon.