Fair enough, but views and opinions are a product of many things, not just environment and culture. Additionally, my view on big government has been proven many

Fair enough, but views and opinions are a product of many things, not just environment and culture. Additionally, my view on big government has been proven many times empirically; it's more fact than view. Most of them just don't have any incentive to improve, which I understand. This: "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." is one of my favorite quotes :). I'd argue it isn't a very "American" thing to say, but who knows. Ironically, Shaw was a socialist.