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I'm not a big fan of patriotism in general, but something I noticed about the US patriotism is the tendency to call the US "the best country in the world". This

I'm not a big fan of patriotism in general, but something I noticed about the US patriotism is the tendency to call the US "the best country in the world". This crosses all political differences, e.g. I recall being surprised how Michael Moore was saying it in an interview or movie (when justifying criticising policy, he said he does it because he knows that America is the best country in the world). Even the most patriotic friends I have in other countries would typically not say this.

kelnos 2y ago
Yeah, as an American I've always found this cringe-worthy, even kinda icky. Claiming to be the best (at anything) is just tacky and arrogant. Especially with something as impossible to quantify as "best country". There's no such thing as the best country in the world. Every one has strengths and weaknesses, and you can't really balance and rank them.
bdangubic 2y ago
The only thing America is best in the world is number of incarcerated people per capita :)
- euroclear 2y ago
  Is there a source for this claim? It appears to be untrue. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarcera... [2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-the-most-prisoners-per-100-000-inhabitants/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-th...
  - bdangubic 2y ago
    I was 1/2 joking ( https://youtu.be/wTjMqda19wk https://youtu.be/wTjMqda19wk )
foobiekr 2y ago
Nationalism is by far the most successful leftist project. It’s kind of amazing that the left has forgotten that fact.
- cycomanic 2y ago
  What does leftist mean in this context? Sure you could say the "nationalist" movements against monarchies and for more democratic processes were progressive at the time, i.e. they wanted to change the status quo. Calling them leftist in the modern sense (again with a huge caveat about what leftist even mean), doesn't make much sense IMO. Also it's important not to forget that the internationalist movements (which I'd argue fit modern definitions of "left" much more closely) developed quite quickly (in historical timeframes) after, e.g. it was only 50 odd years between the Warburg festival in Germany (generally considered the birth of German nationalism) and the Paris commune.

kelnos 2y ago

Yeah, as an American I've always found this cringe-worthy, even kinda icky. Claiming to be the best (at anything) is just tacky and arrogant. Especially with something as impossible to quantify as "best country". There's no such thing as the best country in the world. Every one has strengths and weaknesses, and you can't really balance and rank them.

bdangubic 2y ago

The only thing America is best in the world is number of incarcerated people per capita :)

euroclear 2y ago
Is there a source for this claim? It appears to be untrue. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarcera... [2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-the-most-prisoners-per-100-000-inhabitants/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-th...
- bdangubic 2y ago
  I was 1/2 joking ( https://youtu.be/wTjMqda19wk https://youtu.be/wTjMqda19wk )

foobiekr 2y ago

Nationalism is by far the most successful leftist project. It’s kind of amazing that the left has forgotten that fact.

cycomanic 2y ago
What does leftist mean in this context? Sure you could say the "nationalist" movements against monarchies and for more democratic processes were progressive at the time, i.e. they wanted to change the status quo. Calling them leftist in the modern sense (again with a huge caveat about what leftist even mean), doesn't make much sense IMO. Also it's important not to forget that the internationalist movements (which I'd argue fit modern definitions of "left" much more closely) developed quite quickly (in historical timeframes) after, e.g. it was only 50 odd years between the Warburg festival in Germany (generally considered the birth of German nationalism) and the Paris commune.