What Makes America, America?

[chri'stina 190]

I haven't read all the pages, but I find it interesting all the different perspectives. I just read the first page which had good and bad.

I know America has problems, and things I might see as problems other ppl might not.

Sujeet does like it here. He thinks America is a very generous country that does not get enough credit on it's generosity, he means the Govt and also the people individually who donate money to charities and causes. He thinks people here are generally friendly. Also, wide open spaces, clean neighborhoods, less poverty, a reliable highway system, etc. He thinks those are things that makes America, America. Where you come from will influence what you think of this country. So that's what he thinks, coming from India. He might also say what makes America, America is credit card debt and the decline of the importance of a stable family.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

He thinks people here are generally friendly. Also, wide open spaces, clean neighborhoods...

LOL my wife disagrees - we live in NJ, so that's not surprising.

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

He thinks people here are generally friendly. Also, wide open spaces, clean neighborhoods...

LOL my wife disagrees - we live in NJ, so that's not surprising.

exception to the rule noted

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

No kidding. Friendly people? Wide open spaces? WHERE?????

[chri'stina 190]

No kidding. Friendly people? Wide open spaces? WHERE?????

You need to get out of NJ!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I tried but I got stuck in traffic on the Turnpike.

[almaty 19]

I tried but I got stuck in traffic on the Turnpike.

lol...you are in the Hotel California of all the States, brother arijit...

[rebeccajo 14]

Infidel, this nation is comprised almost entirely of people who came from other parts of the globe. The land mass known as the US was a vast unsettled region - it became populated by migration.

Opposed to the way things are in Europe, Asia, South America, and so on, where people can trace their lineage and heritage hundred of years.

It may be lost on you, but I've always found it fascinating that so many Americans are rapidly becoming anti-immigrant when the entire country pretty much evolved via migration.

And I'm ALWAYS amazed at the anti-immigrant sentiment on VJ. I know, I know - you're gonna say it's not immigrants you have a problem with - it's the illegal ones. What you probably don't get is that all the foot-stomping and media hyperbole about EWI's is having a negative trickle-down effect towards all people who live in this country that are not native born. It is creating racism and bigotry. And it almost got us a bill in the Senate wherein we 'graded' our immigrants as to their usefullness to our economy.

I personally think the Statue of Liberty should be wearing a blindfold and holding a sledgehammer. Our immigration policy is becoming that unfriendly.

[Heracles 417]

Infidel -- people are researching the possibility that people were here on these shores around 30,000 BCE and earlier.

From where people just started leaving Africa during that time. How would they have gotten here?

[Sinergy 3]

Understood, and if you had grown up in the school system here, then went to the school system somewhere else like in europe, youd notice a big difference. There are also statistics that show USA has a poor education system. Also when you have kids and they go to school, you will notice the poor quality of teaching in the school system.

If im going to state a fact i better back it up, so here you go

http://kapio.kcc.hawaii.edu/upload/fullnews.php?id=52

A lot comes down to parenting though. My parents taught me respect. Taught me that I better listen when the teacher speaks. Whereas some parents are teaching their spoiled kids that they are better than everyone else, including the teachers. Teachers cannot even use the toilet without being criticized by some parent for taking more than 12 seconds. Pay is not the greatest either. The old saying goes, you get what you pay for I guess. I honestly do not know how teachers do it here. I have a lot of respect for them; well the goods ones at least.

I assume a lot of the great teachers have been pushed out of the system.

Our school system and the lack of education given to our kids has nothing to do with the parents, we can teach and do what we can at home, its what the school system is doing we cant control

[Heracles 417]

It may be lost on you, but I've always found it fascinating that so many Americans are rapidly becoming anti-immigrant when the entire country pretty much evolved via migration.

So why do most other nations have strict laws protecting their sovereignty against illegal immigration? Are they anti-immigrant?

You seem to fail to distinguish between legal and illegal. On a smaller scale, how would you feel if someone entered your house and lived it in without your permission?

Why is it that all nations with a much higher living standard have strict policies against illegal immigrants?

[Heracles 417]

Understood, and if you had grown up in the school system here, then went to the school system somewhere else like in europe, youd notice a big difference. There are also statistics that show USA has a poor education system. Also when you have kids and they go to school, you will notice the poor quality of teaching in the school system.

If im going to state a fact i better back it up, so here you go

http://kapio.kcc.hawaii.edu/upload/fullnews.php?id=52

A lot comes down to parenting though. My parents taught me respect. Taught me that I better listen when the teacher speaks. Whereas some parents are teaching their spoiled kids that they are better than everyone else, including the teachers. Teachers cannot even use the toilet without being criticized by some parent for taking more than 12 seconds. Pay is not the greatest either. The old saying goes, you get what you pay for I guess. I honestly do not know how teachers do it here. I have a lot of respect for them; well the goods ones at least.

I assume a lot of the great teachers have been pushed out of the system.

Our school system and the lack of education given to our kids has nothing to do with the parents, we can teach and do what we can at home, its what the school system is doing we cant control

Why is their a lack of education? There is a disparity in education based on where someone lives but the education system as a whole is quite good. It is up to the kid to learn. The teachers cannot force kids to learn. Why do you think Oprah refused to build schools in the US. As she said herself kids in the US are more interested in IPODS and popularity than education.

Parents are not the innocent ones. I have heard of cases from teachers for example where the parent has the nerve to question the teacher and other student's version of an event because their 8 year old said they where lying. Or how a parent sues the school because their daughter never made it into the cheerleading team. Or where a parent asks a teacher to define fagot as it is a bundle of sticks and that is what their son meant.

Edited July 13, 2007 by Infidel

[derekkj 0]

I tried but I got stuck in traffic on the Turnpike.

Which exit?

[Heracles 417]

Pay is not the greatest either.

I don't know how much of a factor that really plays. In NJ, the ghetto districts (we call them "abbott districts") pay their teachers significantly more than nice, cushy, suburban districts. Yet, there is no comparison when it comes to all measurements of student achievement. The burbs win hands down.

Atleast in this state, the parents socioeconomic status seems to play a much stronger correlation with childrens achievement than anything else.

While I agree with what you are saying I think this is a cop out by people in the ghettos. Most simply do not give a ###### about their education. It is free so they have no excuse. Why study when you can gang band and have kids at a young age. Good on Oprah for not bothering to help these guys and actually doing something for people who have 1/1,000,000 of the opportunities and will actually appreciate it rather than trash it.

I saw a brand new school the other day that within 2 years was trashed, in the ghettos.

[Sinergy 3]

Understood, and if you had grown up in the school system here, then went to the school system somewhere else like in europe, youd notice a big difference. There are also statistics that show USA has a poor education system. Also when you have kids and they go to school, you will notice the poor quality of teaching in the school system.

If im going to state a fact i better back it up, so here you go

http://kapio.kcc.hawaii.edu/upload/fullnews.php?id=52

A lot comes down to parenting though. My parents taught me respect. Taught me that I better listen when the teacher speaks. Whereas some parents are teaching their spoiled kids that they are better than everyone else, including the teachers. Teachers cannot even use the toilet without being criticized by some parent for taking more than 12 seconds. Pay is not the greatest either. The old saying goes, you get what you pay for I guess. I honestly do not know how teachers do it here. I have a lot of respect for them; well the goods ones at least.

I assume a lot of the great teachers have been pushed out of the system.

Our school system and the lack of education given to our kids has nothing to do with the parents, we can teach and do what we can at home, its what the school system is doing we cant control

Why is their a lack of education? There is a disparity in education based on where someone lives but the education system as a whole is quite good. It is up to the kid to learn. The teachers cannot force kids to learn. Why do you think Oprah refused to build schools in the US. As she said herself kids in the US are more interested in IPODS and popularity than education.

Parents are not the innocent ones. I have heard of cases from teachers for example where the parent has the nerve to question the teacher and other student's version of an event because their 8 year old said they where lying. Or how a parent sues the school because their daughter never made it into the cheerleading team. Or where a parent asks a teacher to define fagot as it is a bundle of sticks and that is what their son meant.

The word Education System speaks for itsself, its behind, its slow, and its messy. keep blaming the parents, maybe i should quit my job, move into a single wide trailor, cut down on feeding my kids and home school them. I do my best, i do what i can, its up to the teachers to do the rest. And they might do a better job if they were paid better, and the standard ciriculum was better than it is now.

I will not argue the bolded as i agree with you

Edited July 13, 2007 by Ionescu