Quote, originally posted by CNN.com »

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A few days before the Fourth of July, I read a column in The Philadelphia Inquirer that said America didn't deserve to celebrate its independence this year. It claimed that all of our so-called atrocities have shamed the memory of our founding fathers and, as a result, we should cancel our parades, put away our fireworks and all sit quietly while we atone for our sins. I guess that was one way to go. Another way to go would be to fire up the grills, bring the kids to the beach,and gather the family on a blanket to watch as your tax dollars ignite into colorful bursts. I'm guessing that most of us chose the second option. But just because I had fun with friends and family doesn't mean that I believe America is perfect. It just means that, for one day, I chose to celebrate the fact that America is still closer to perfect than any other country in the history of the world. For 364 days a year we talk about high gas prices, crooked politicians, and how much people from one political party allegedly hate everyone from the other. But for 24 hours we get to put it all aside and marvel at how a few brave men risked their lives to stand up for what they believed in. Of course, I would prefer we celebrate that every day, but for now, or at least until that Inquirer columnist gets elected president and bans it, I'll take the one. Don't Miss Beck's new book: 'An Inconvenient Book' Glenn Beck on Headline News As someone who works in the media in New York City, I'll admit that I am part of the chorus of people who talk about our problems. But there's nothing wrong with that, so long as you also occasionally take the time to talk about the other side. And that's what I want to do now by asking the question that never seems to be of interest to the mainstream media: What's right with America? Let's start with our much maligned economy. I'm not trying to sugarcoat it, times are definitely tough for an awful lot of families right now. But you know what? We've made it through a depression; we've made it through wars, oil shocks, and major terrorist attacks and we're still standing. In fact, we're not just standing, we're towering over the rest of the world. Our economy is almost as big as the next four largest economies on Earth (Japan, Germany, China and Great Britain) combined. The state of California alone has an economy as large as the entire country of France. Illinois has the same GDP as all of Mexico. New York matches the entire GDP of Brazil. Florida's economy is as large as South Korea's. Texas has a GDP roughly equal to Canada's. Michigan's economy is as large as the entire country of Argentina. It takes a lot longer to turn around an aircraft carrier than it does a dinghy, but the problem we have is with our ship's captain -- the pea-brains in Washington -- not her crew. What's right with America? How about the way we educate our children. Sure, I complain a lot about left-wing professors and how some wealthy private universities hoard their billions while charging obscene amounts for tuition, but the truth is that our universities are always ranked among the best in the world. Students aren't fleeing America to go to college in Japan, India, or China -- it's the other way around. We open our colleges and universities to more than 80,000 foreign professors, scholars and educators a year and we have more students in college right now than those three countries combined. What's right with America? Our world-class universities don't require you to have an elite family name or Rockefeller-type wealth to get in. We don't care about your race, gender or nationality. You just have to be smart enough and work hard for it. What a concept, huh? What's right with America? How about the way we treat the less fortunate? With no help from our government, Americans gave a record $306 billion to charities last year alone. We give twice as much as the next closest country and, relative to the size of our economies, we give 1,000 percent more than the French. What's right with America? It's not just the wealthy who are generous. Two-thirds of American families making under $100,000 a year give to charity. Compassion is ingrained in our culture like no other. What's right with America? How about our supposedly third-world health care system? We spend more on health care per person than Switzerland, Germany, Canada, or any other country you can think of. Do we still have problems? Absolutely, but don't fall for "the grass is greener" crowd; every country has health care problems. What's right with America? We love our country. World Values Survey found that 77 percent of Americans are very proud of their nationality. That puts us in a first place tie with the Irish. Australia was next and no one else was really even close. I could go on and on, but my point is that we don't need the so often wished for "change" in this country, we just need perspective. While most of us inherently know that we've won the lottery by living here, we don't often think about the reasons why. So, for at least that one day, let's just remember that America still leads the world in the principles that matter most: The rule of law, freedom of religion, equal rights, freedom from an oppressive government and, fortunately for the Philadelphia Inquirer, freedom of speech.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

Decided to completely skip the K-12 part huh? You know, the bulk of "our children's" educations? Kind of a big subject to skip when praising our education system.

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What's right with America? How about our supposedly third-world health care system? We spend more on health care per person than Switzerland, Germany, Canada, or any other country you can think of. Do we still have problems? Absolutely, but don't fall for "the grass is greener" crowd; every country has health care problems.

While our health care is far from "third-world", simply writing off our problems by saying "well, they have problems too" is [freak]ing retarded.

And the major problem most people reference is we spend more per person than any other nation and the quality of health care doesn't measure up to nations where they spend far less. Saying we overpay for health care is not something to be proud of but somehow he tried to twist it to fit his article.

myspace.com/nicknelson

ross, your statement is 100% worthless.

why not comment on where you agree and disagree with beck in the article?

for me...i agree that we need to have some perspective when looking at the problems facing this country.

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I agree our country has its fair share of problems, but I would not want to grow up in any other country in the world.

I think viewing this country with some perspective one of the biggest problems we have. I would much rather we view our country in proper perspective. Instead of comparing our nation with others, we should compare it to the intent of our forefathers.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vAH3AeFy0SY

"Patriotism is usually the refuge of the scoundrel."
-Mark Twain

Ron Paul 08

I was about to say something similar.

There are some half truths in that article. Besides, the point is that we might be on track to lose everything he is cheering about, if we are not careful.

"Everything in the world may be endured except continued prosperity."
--- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Decided to completely skip the K-12 part huh? You know, the bulk of "our children's" educations? Kind of a big subject to skip when praising our education system.

When you witness the educational system from the front lines in many respects you understand that the problem lies just outside. Have you ever wondered why certain countries do far better in testing than we do? You might assume it was a failure on education's part right? So are we teaching them things they don't need to know? Are we teaching them in different ways? Different subjects? The answer to most is really "no." Examine those countries that do better than the U.S. and try to find a common thread among them. I know what it is, do you?

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While our health care is far from "third-world", simply writing off our problems by saying "well, they have problems too" is [freak]ing retarded. And the major problem most people reference is we spend more per person than any other nation and the quality of health care doesn't measure up to nations where they spend far less. Saying we overpay for health care is not something to be proud of but somehow he tried to twist it to fit his article.

No disagreement there.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

I'm curious as to what you're getting at. I have an idea what it is, but I'm not going to guess because I have a couple other complaints with the k-12 system that you are writing off there.

Mainly, the part about teaching in different ways as college completely changes your way of thinking and interpreting a problem and few public high schools teach in a way that encourages people to challenge the material... at least I know mine didn't and many other people I've talked to have said their schools didn't either. I have also heard that other countries public schools encourage this more but I could of heard wrong because this is not a subject I have looked into deep enough to really discuss and try to make a point.

I just thought it was an interesting oversight considering he talked about the "educating our children" and then skipped straight to college. Usually when you're talking about "our children" you are discussing people that aren't legally adults.

Modified by njn63 at 11:05 PM 7/15/2008

myspace.com/nicknelson

In the U.S. I'd say parental pressure to make school a top priority is pretty low. Everywhere else that is doing better than us is a result of greater parental influence.

Notice that when you approach college the U.S. pretty much runs the show? That's because at that point we all CHOOSE to be there.

I'm sure minor procedural differences and teaching practices have some impact but not like parents.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

And I would add teachers. I know you have a dog in the fight, but I think on the whole equal rights for women has generally led to decreased teacher quality. In other words, if you started teaching in the 1960s, there were not a lot of career options for women (secretary, teacher, nurse, etc.) and many very smart women went into the field.

I agree on parents probably being the predominant factor but I think there are a lot of other things that could be improved upon as well. I'll just use myself as an example of how bad high schools can be:

I had a guidance counselor that was absolutely worthless and told me I shouldn't pursue Engineering despite having excellent grades in math, being a state scholar in science (it sounds more impressive than it is), being in the "gifted" program the entire time it was offered, etc. Couldn't test out of Algebra classes so I had to sleep through them, then wake up to hear the stupidest questions asked repeatedly. Ended up never taking a math class over trig because of a scheduling conflict that I couldn't get resolved. Took every science class they offered and the highest one was basic physics. Um... out of the actually good teachers I had, 1 still teaches at that High School and that's only because she's about to retire. The rest either got higher paying jobs at another school or retired.

I guess you could say I'm sort of bitter due to my experience at that school. Without my desire/drive to get out of that town, I probably would of been worthless like 50% of my graduating class was and it had nothing to do with parenting. I have had talks with members of the school board and tried to get stupid issues resolved but it's just unreal how bad some schools are. This wasn't even an "inner city" school like we're always hearing about, it was a fairly normal small town.

myspace.com/nicknelson

Not to paint with a broad brush but in my limited experience I've noticed this. While some families from different backgrounds celebrated a child's high school graduation with a car or lavish gifts, I was given a swift kick in the ass and told to make sure I graduate from college with honors or I'd be worthless and a huge disappointment to my family.

No arguement there.

I think the biggest mistake the government made was allowing "teacher certificates." Meaning that people not trained in education simply take a test to get a teaching certificate.

I'm sorry but I wouldn't someone trained in Poly-Sci to build a plane anymore than I'd want one to teach.

I honestly don't think we pay classically trained teachers enough. That's how you attract the talent.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

That's a result of what I posted above. At the salary level teachers get paid you just won't get many quality teachers apart from those who truly want to shape young minds. The rest are just in it for an easy pay check. Mainly those who failed in other fields and got a certificate to teach. Can you imagine the worst customer experience of your life and then imagine that person being responsible for almost two generations of children's education? Then people wonder why America is getting dumb and lacking scientists?

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

My wife makes $45k a year. Which isn't too shabby but not great for a person trying to LIVE on that income alone or support a family. It's something she is genuinely passionate about though.

Another disturbing trend is all the little colleges popping up everywhere. Staffed by Bachelors degree holders primarily. This is disturbing insofar as the credits don't transfer. So if the State and Fed at large don't respect the education they provide, why allow them to provide one at all?

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

Quote, originally posted by Knightsport »

Another disturbing trend is all the little colleges popping up everywhere. Staffed by Bachelors degree holders primarily. This is disturbing insofar as the credits don't transfer. So if the State and Fed at large don't respect the education they provide, why allow them to provide one at all?

Caveat emptor. If you think you are smart enough to go to college, but you are too dumb to determine how that plays out, those credits are useless anway and you're just chasing paper.

Thats why he is Libertarian and completely against Federal Control....hmmm

I'm not saying Glenn Beck is perfect, because noone is, especially someone in Media.

I'm just saying that If I had to choose between a Republican government that taxes me less and focuses on whats important in this country at the best of a politician's ability or a Democratic government that not only wants America to give up all of its rights, but place our lives and well being in the hands of the Federal government, I'm going R.

Ron Paul 08

-Lewie

It'd be great if those were our actual options, but Republicans are far from representing that at this point.

I'm sure you know this based on your support for Ron Paul, just felt like stating the obvious because the choices aren't that cut and dry.

myspace.com/nicknelson

I agree 100%. As far as I'm concerned the Rs and Ds are all in the same dirty pot and were screwed either way, but that doesn't mean Obama is a better option.

-Lewie

Quote, originally posted by Mark sans »

Pay is relative. In my district, there are six teachers that make six figs. That's a result of tenure, as much as anything. But I think teachers need to be paid in line with other qualified professionals in order to attract the right kind of talent. (Can't you buy a 4000 sq ft home and a new Benz on $45k in Dallas? )

A given Benz will cost the same amount everywhere.

The land is what has historically been cheap in Texas. I wouldn't hold your breath nowadays though. They've discovered in the last two years or so that we're all sitting on top of oil/gas. I get mailed a check for the royalties just on the little .5 acre we live on in the city. Once the fields are developed out where I actually hold a great deal of land we are in buisiness! That is as long as you hippies don't develop alternative energy before I can cash in. So no, for 4k sq/ft you are looking at half a million at least in a decent neighborhood. Unless you buy one of those god awful track homes or, god forbid, a condo(vertical trailer-park).

So a single mother would be able to raise her kids on that income in modest circumstances. So it's still not going to attract the ambitious.

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Caveat emptor. If you think you are smart enough to go to college, but you are too dumb to determine how that plays out, those credits are useless anway and you're just chasing paper.

Can you blame them though, the education isn't nearly as important as the degree these days. Or so it would seem.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein