Two years
that may be a new record
I find it fascinating how US has diverse cultures and people contained in just one country. Although, I find their PC and hookup culture to be...odd. And their legal drinking age is too high! And the colleges/universities , why are they so damn expensive?? 
What I dislike the most about US is how most people from my country perceive US as some kind of Utopia. The Caucasian features is the standard of beauty everyone is aiming for, and if you've worked or visited there? You must be rich. And the American white male? I'm sure they're all individually handsome in their own ways but the way they're fetishized here makes me cringe... Anyways, their food sure tastes good (although a bit fattening)
Agreed,
In the midwest, culture is very different from the coasts. And we're not what most people think of when portraying the US. (EC WC and MD/VA). Especially as black american.
It's really hard to give the US a collective perception without stereotyping subcultures unless you specify a specific concept. Even the most educated observers fall victim to this portrayal unfortunately.
i think the big things we see from those hating the US today stems from a couple of factors:
-Imperialism
-General fall out from the cold war: (the cold war didn’t end long ago and it featured both the US and The Soviets sparking and sponsoring civil wars all over Africa, Asia and The Middle East, in particular, the US funded insurgent groups led by people like osama bin ladin at this time)
-incredibly reactionary politics: (we make huge world affecting decisions based on reaction more than investment, for example the war on iraq because of 9/11 which leads back to imperialism. killing sudam hussein led to an uprising in terror groups due to no dictator keeping them in check)
I’m glad to live in America, not to say other countries aren’t good. But the thing I DO NOT like about America and the way it’s run is the constant policing and hypocrisy against other countries. It’s good to help other countries, but not burden them by adding to wars and saying they can’t have weapons but the U.S. can. I mean, weapons aren’t good at all, unless you’re defending yourself, family, or others for good reason, instead of just picking fights to pick them.
Ok SPICY-EST of takes incoming but I really love living in the US. Having family living and having visited Mexico I 100% prefer being here in the US.
I'm not going to be arrogant though and I do recognize that we don't exactly have the best image on the world stage but I think that's the difference between international perception of the US government and the average US citizen. I'd like to stick up for my fellow Americans and say that we're decent people and the majority of us aren't supportive of our government's ultra-interventionist agenda
For some reason I thought you were speaking about immigration, so my previous message was off topic.
Well, actually I had problems with both immigration AND customs pretty much all the times.
Whose obsession with killing things? I've enjoyed hunting and fishing... for food and quality time outdoors only. And the people making the biggest financial contributions to wilderness conservation are hunters and anglers.
Beware of making any generalizations about an entire country, even if it is your own.
Congratulations, bro. You replied to a comment I made, like, 3 years ago.
Geez, Brenda, it's not all about you! Honestly, I don't remember the thought process I back then regarding that. I was probably aiming at game hunters who like taking out endangered species, and companies that dump waste, overly consume resources and demolish massive acres of wildlife habitats for urban development. Who knows, though, I'm just guessing based on how hippie dippie I was.
No point in arguing with me now, my mental and emotional investment has moved on.
It wasn't killing Saddam Hussein that did that. It was taking him out without having accounted well enough for what would happen afterward, especially given intel making it clear that, as bad as he and the Baath party were, there were far too many people just as bad or even worse waiting to take advantage of the new post-Baathist government's abundant weaknesses.
Now another war with Iraq after our first go-round with Saddam's forces in Desert Storm was pretty much inevitable given that Saddam had 12 years to comply with the terms of surrender, and he never did. I'm not thrilled with the timing of it, though.
We went to Afghanistan in response to 9-11. This was far from being reactionary, considering it was not by far the first time Al Qaeda attacked the US. There was the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, then the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000.
Compared to the rest of US history, this relative lack of reactionary behavior is actually pretty normal. Pearl Harbor and 9-11 each killed in the neighborhood of 3,000 people. I have to wonder how many more innocents have to die before we're not branded "too reactionary."
I lived in the USA for a year, but am from Europe.
The scariest part really is how patriotic you Guys are. Having to say the pledge of Allegiance in School every morning, praising Soldiers left and right (I mean, apart from actually caring for veterans, the homeless population) Being so ofterly proud of a Country that you had the random Luck to be born in.
-> some of that stuff is what they teached us in Germany to look out for and be wary off (we educate a lot on this topic, as you can imagine)
That part really scared me 
but also, I kinda felt sorry for that amount of indoctrination. I don´t think you can love your country without loving every other country, and you can´t determine it´s value to you, if you´ve never left it. That´s just some bull.
And then,it baffeled me how excessively you protect your rich people. Some of you actually believe that a poor kid has the same opportunities as a rich kid, if only they try hard enough - lol.
Let´s not even start on religion... and how much influence is still given to that very individual belief; and how much bad that obviously brings, Misseducation, lack thereoff, Hate against other religions or not heteronormative people..
Yeah, there was a lot in the states that left me speechless in a bad way.
But I also couldn´t help but fall a bit in love with this spacious Country. The scenery is beautifull, you can drive for miles and miles and miles and not see a single house (In any European Country I lived in, that never happened), the endless highways, the national parks are a true national treasure...
And also the other side of the people and their belief there, how much they value freedom and, every so often allow for many different aproaches to live to coexist; how many different ethnicities life close together and the big mix of cultures it creates (the only true american culture I can think off)
I am torn on this Country. A part of my heart certainly belongs there and I will never forget my time there. I hope you will turn around your politics and start to value social equality and equity a bit more, as well as the protection of nature. And maybe remember your roots of imigrants fleeing oppression. That would make for a truly special country, not a strange mix of horrendous stupidity and unevitable beauty...
I'm under no illusion that the US is a perfect country, nor that it's even the best for everyone. However, I've met wonderful people from a wide variety of nations, I have close relatives who've immigrated and emigrated, and I've traveled enough to have a little more than average basis for comparison. I personally like living in the US the best, and I can imagine I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I also consider myself patriotic - not because I believe the US the best and everyone else sucks, but because I believe it's my duty to try to make my country a better place. (And I certainly think that's a commendable quality in everyone, regardless of their country.)
Living in a touristic part of my country, a lot of people here think americans are fat stupid people who talk very loud, are in love with their guns and venerate their country and their president 
But well everybody here hate tourists and americans are not the most hated 
What I think personally, I don't really care, I have a very good friend who lives in Florida and I'd like to go visit her one day.
Things that I find sad about the US, it's how a lot of americans are struggling with life (healthcare, student loans, violence...)
Things that I like, the way geek culture and art is promoted, like you have those very big conventions with fun events, it's really nice to see it taken seriously. Also you have possums, skunks and other cute critters in your yards and trash cans and I love them fluffy butts.
Removing the CIA would remove our entire civilian intelligence apparatus and would put us at a disadvantage to every other nation with even a rudimentary spy network. Unless all other nations join us in taking down their spy networks and other intel gathering services, we should keep ours up, too.
Granted, it should never violate 4th Amendment rights, but it shouldn't be entirely dismantled.
the war on iraq that kicked him out happened because the CIA whispered into Bush’s ear about weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist and was further justified by 9/11 m8 it wasn’t because of that 12 year thing. if you want another, more recent example btw, take a look at the iran nuclear deal, instated to be going for 10 years only went on for three because the president changed, makes us look like we can’t keep our promises, especially with this particular president we currently have who in reality doesn’t really have a foreign policy beyond a wall and china tariffs
I'm saying that the second war with Iraq would have eventually happened anyway regardless of the pretexts we had for going in in '03.
I also know people who were there who said that they definitely had the capabilities. And we didn't have much other ways of knowing considering Saddam was playing coy with the UN weapons inspectors from late 1991 through 2003 in violation of the terms of surrender. He also had reason to want some people to believe he had WMD capabilities, namely the Kurds he gassed and Iran. Also, common sense would seem to indicate that if he could gas entire villages, he must have had some WMD capabilities. The pretext wasn't just any WMD capabilities, though those, being violations of the terms of surrender - terms he agreed to! - would have eventually led to another war, but yellow cake uranium and the highly exaggerated fears of Saddam creating dirty bombs. The gas he used on the Kurds was considered meh by our media.
I love the US! Of course it's not perfect, but it's one of the best countries to live in in the world, I think! Like any other place, it has its economic and political problems, but I think they are far fewer than in most other places. America is a very safe place to live in comparison with some other countries, too. Plus, it's home, and there's nothing quite like home.
Like, I went to Japan, and it's an absolutely beautiful country! It's incredibly green, the people are incredibly kind and well-mannered (they are so quiet there! It's like being in a room full of introverts. Bliss), but it's just not home. Especially since I would be riding the bus everywhere which takes a lot longer than just driving yourself around. Plus things are pretty pricey over there XD
Speaking as a native citizen
Cons:
The politicians, certainly. Can't they just accept climate change is real and is happening? For fuck's sake. Among other political topics that I don't feel like getting into.
The over-emphasis on capitalism.
Pros:
It's fairly easy to become a citizen, particularly compared to a lot of European countries. I appreciate the 'born here, you have citizenship' rule regardless of your parents' standing.
THE DIVERSITY: Even with the nation's checkered past with how it's treated immigrants, slaves, and native peoples, I appreciate it's even there at all. In the end I live in a very colorful country. It's made me more aware of the cultures surrounding me and with the past as a tool, I'm more knowledgable of what's ok and what's not when it comes to talking about other races/ethnicities.
For example: God, I've seen a number of stories in which the writers casually describe Asian-based characters as having 'slanted' eyes and I cringe every time. I'm sure it's mostly out of ignorance. (for those who don't know, 'slant' is a pejorative used to call east-asians.)
just a few of my own thoughts.