Spoiled Brats?

[zman977]

I was not sure if this should go here or in Glurge Galery so if it needs to be moved feel free to move it. I recieved this in my inbox from a friend of mine. Not sure who wrote it becasue there was no author included with the email. Here it is

(from email I removed all the forwarded parts and just coppied and pasted the text from the email)
Spoiled brats?

A recent Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.


So being the Die Hard American that I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?''


Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?


Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.


Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home, you may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of having a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.


How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.


Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.


I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander-in-chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?


Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.


So why then the flat out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells. Just ask why they are going to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book and do a TV special about how he didn't kill his wife. Insane!


Stop buying the negative venom you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.


I close with one of my favorite quotes from B.C. Forbes in 1953:


''What have Americans to be thankful for? More than any other people on the earth, we enjoy complete religious freedom, political freedom, social freedom. Our liberties are sacredly safeguarded by the Constitution of the United States, 'the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.' Yes, we Americans of today have been bequeathed a noble heritage. Let us pray that we may hand it down unsullied to our children and theirs.''


I suggest we sit back and count our blessings for all we have. If we don't, what we have will be taken away. Then we will have to explain to future generations why we squandered such blessing and abundance. If we are not careful this generation will be known as the ''greediest and most ungrateful generation.'' A far cry from the proud Americans of the ''greatest generation'' who left us an untarnished legacy.

[glass papaya]

Written by Craig R. Smith at WorldNetDaily.

[Astra]

Can't say I'm surprised.

[snapdragonfly]

So his point is, because we have freedoms and natural resources, that when they are threatened in some way we should just STFU?? Because it's "WHINING"? Just sit there with an idiotic brainwashed smile on your face and count your blessings and stick your fingers in your ears and and "la la la I can't HEAR you" when presented with the evidence that all these great things he mentions might be at risk?

What an assnugget.

[Jay Temple]

Our liberties are sacredly safeguarded by the Constitution of the United States

Not if the President he's defending has anything to say about it.

[Ana Ng]

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

What about New Orleans? Or Queens this summer? I had a paddy friend in Sunnyside who was sans electric and a/c for over a week, no reason, no explanation.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Is this person aware of the existence of Western Europe? This just makes us sound ignant.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

Is this a joke? I much more often hear non-Americans bitch about the government than the citizens. And if anything, non-Americans think we don't bitch enough about what they see as an overreaching government. I think they also tend to think we think anything outside America consists of mudhuts and lack of modern conveniences. And the tool that wrote this seems to think just that.

I'm not even going to go into the 9/11 thing- it's patently ridiculous. The worst terrorist attack on American soil happened under his watch. As Bill Maher said, "whose fault is it when the administration ignores CIA reports with titles like Osama Bin Laden is Standing Right Behind You?"

[Ariadne]

Is this person aware of the existence of Western Europe?

Or Canada? I hate this argument--it was drilled into our heads in elementary school: "Our country is the only one with freedom! In any other country you would be shot on sight for disagreeing with the government!" Or something like that. It seems people really believe something like this. Ugh.

Oh, and how about asking homosexuals, or Muslims, or atheists, or Hispanics, or any number of other minority groups about the "complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy." Okay, freedoms, maybe, but certainly not equality.

Sorry, this really pisses me off.

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

So his point is, because we have freedoms and natural resources, that when they are threatened in some way we should just STFU?? Because it's "WHINING"? Just sit there with an idiotic brainwashed smile on your face and count your blessings and stick your fingers in your ears and and "la la la I can't HEAR you" when presented with the evidence that all these great things he mentions might be at risk?

...yes. Oh yes, and continue to vote Republican...

[MapleLeaf]

Also, it's not like the U.S. DIDN'T have these things under...say...Clinton. But I reckon the creator of this piece wouldn't consider people who didn't like Bill to be whiners.

[queen of the caramels]

[quote=zman977;2400](
So being the Die Hard American that I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?''



Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

quote]

Yes .

And if you are Canadian you get all this as well, plus a better health care system

[Ariadne]

Originally Posted by queen of the caramel

Yes .

And if you are Canadian you get all this as well, plus a better health care system

Those Canadians are so spoiled by their universal healthcare. It makes 'em soft.

Ugh, every time I look at this I find something else to take issue with. Like this gem, for instance:

No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens

Um, I have pretty much found the opposite to be true. I have never felt hated for being an American* (although based on the behavior of many of the American tourists I've seen, people have every reason to be annoyed with us in general). Could it be, just maybe, our president that others find objectionable? Nah, couldn't be.

*Although I will admit to asking my Canadian husband to put his home country's flag on his backpack before traveling abroad so people will assume I, too, am Canadian.

[Beastly Despot]

I like his assumption that as long as people have a lot of comforts for themselves, that should make everyone happy. The author believes that as long as you are fat and content, you should believe that everything around you is going just grand.

And if your gov't is behaving toward other people in a harmful manner, so what? You are happy, right? So everything is great.

[kitap]

Apparently his little corner of nonreality doesn't have unemployment, homeless, or the uninsured.

[snapdragonfly]

Originally Posted by Beastly Despot

I like his assumption that as long as people have a lot of comforts for themselves, that should make everyone happy. The author believes that as long as you are fat and content, you should believe that everything around you is going just grand.

And if your gov't is behaving toward other people in a harmful manner, so what? You are happy, right? So everything is great.

I'm not surprised he feels this way. My best friend since childhood - the one who, inexplicably because she was always the most skeptical of skeptics, has become an unquestioning Rush Limbaugh ditto head - feels EXACLTY this way. She has many times expressed exactly this sentiment. She also pooh poohs the idea that anything will ever go wrong, prides herself on her optimism (fine, except sucky things do happen and have happened and will happen again and pretending they don't won't protect you) and doesn't understand why I am worried about anything. I have a roof over my head and my son isn't drafted in a losing war YET so what, me worry?

It amazes me.

And yeah, I think she'd pretty much agree with the OP on every point. America is the only place in the whole wide world where you can do ANYTHING without ending up in front of a firing squad. Yeah right. I mean, I do love our freedoms - that's exactly WHY I'm worried.

[One-Fang]

Originally Posted by Ana Ng

What about New Orleans? Or Queens this summer? I had a paddy friend in Sunnyside who was sans electric and a/c for over a week, no reason, no explanation.

I hardly think doing without for a week or so over some kind of power cut negates the basic argument that in the USA, air conditioning and heating are generally readily available to a significant proportion of the population. I'm sure there are cheap housing developments where AC isn't installed and individuals who simply can't afford it, as well as your friends. Nevertheless, most US homes are adequately heated and cooled, in comparison to the mud huts the writer evidently thinks everyone else in the world lives in.

Is this person aware of the existence of Western Europe? This just makes us sound ignant.

While western Europe is a large centre of 'industrialised nations', don't go fostering the same ignorance yourself. It's only one example that negates this person's point of view. I always get very irritated when someone claims "Only in America" and another says "Oh yea, well what about Europe?". You know, we're pretty modern down here in the Australiasian sticks, too. I'm pretty sure there are other nations as well that would qualify that are not European. At the very least you could have said "...places like Western Europe". Otherwise, to me, it just takes the ignorance one more step, but doesn't negate it.

Is this a joke? I much more often hear non-Americans bitch about the government than the citizens. And if anything, non-Americans think we don't bitch enough about what they see as an overreaching government. I think they also tend to think we think anything outside America consists of mudhuts and lack of modern conveniences. And the tool that wrote this seems to think just that.

Ironically, it's probably only since this particular war that people are bitching about the American government more than its people. Previously, it just wasn't that globally interesting. Sure, a superpower, but not a superpower currently engaged in much worth arguing about. I agree with the second statement in that paragraph and the sentiment at the end. It is bad enough already that we non-Americans do think of y'all as if you don't realise there's a whole big world out there. This guy isn't helping.

[Trixie Tang]

Originally Posted by zman977

Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

If you're white and driving an SUV, that is. What about the fact that in many cities all over the country, cops don't show up if it's a minority neighborhood?

[One-Fang]

That concept, and the following quote make me think this is a person who's never had the need to call on the Police.

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

I don't mean to knock the force, they've got too much work and not enough people, but that exactly why the above scenario just ain't gonna happen. I've never heard of them responding to a burglary in process, suited up as if they're going to catch the perp in the act.

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by kitap

Apparently his little corner of nonreality doesn't have unemployment, homeless, or the uninsured.

Of course not, he's a right-wing wingnut.

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

I'm not surprised he feels this way. My best friend since childhood - the one who, inexplicably because she was always the most skeptical of skeptics, has become an unquestioning Rush Limbaugh ditto head - feels EXACLTY this way. She has many times expressed exactly this sentiment. She also pooh poohs the idea that anything will ever go wrong, prides herself on her optimism (fine, except sucky things do happen and have happened and will happen again and pretending they don't won't protect you) and doesn't understand why I am worried about anything. I have a roof over my head and my son isn't drafted in a losing war YET so what, me worry?

I would just wonder whether the hardcore ditto-heads (and the people who whole-heartedly agree with the OP) would consider themselves to have been spoiled brats when they were griping about Clinton. We still had running water and electricity way back then too.

[Mickey Blue]

Originally Posted by Trixie Tang

If you're white and driving an SUV, that is. What about the fact that in many cities all over the country, cops don't show up if it's a minority neighborhood?

Umm.. I beg to differ..

Although we do take more precautions before rushing into a scene in a dangerous area we do show up and treat all people equally regardless of their race, ability to pay, choice of car or location of residence.. Heck regardless of their history of obeying the law for that matter.