So I just had a thought. What do we enjoy in modern life because there was an America? What is it that our nation contributed the the world? I know there are many things – cars, technology, medicine, etc.
Somewhere along the way we earned the reputations of “American Innovation” and “The American Spirit” and “American Exceptionalism”. What was it, what did it mean, and how have we forgotten so quickly?
@redbloodedamerica I know ppl have been tagging you a lot lately for your input but your sources are plentiful and verifiable, so do you have a list to substantiate our claims to fame?
First and foremost, the United States of America is the beacon of liberty throughout the free world. Our form of limited government has inspired many other countries to adopt our constitutionally protected style of governance and representative democracy that protects individuals’ freedom above all else.
We are still the world reserve currency…for now. The world still trades in the US dollar for a reason.
Some of the largest industries and rags-to-riches stories of entrepreneurship started in America. Unlike many other billionaires in other countries, our billionaires created their wealth through unique innovation, hard work, charisma, and after much failure and personal risk.
The US is still the most prolific country when it comes to innovation. Most of the greatest discoveries in lifesaving medications, procedures, and inventions were developed here. Not to mention almost all of the inventions and devices that makes our live’s easier and more productive: from modern plumbing and electricity to the light bulb to air travel to modern electronics like the smart phone and your laptop. The list is seemingly endless.
Oh…and we’re the only country to land on the moon still. We did it so many times in fact we got bored and haven’t been back.
We helped bring some of the worst oppressive regimes crumbling to the ground, helped end some of the world’s largest wars, and not only thwarted the spread of communism into third world countries but helped transition some of the largest communist nations into market economies.
Many of the most highly respected higher education institutions in the world can be found in the United States.
The most well-known entertainment artists in film and music throughout its relative short history have all either come from or prospered because of the United States.
The United States also gives more humanitarian aid than any other country in the world. Not to mention we have more total immigrants than any other nation.
And bourbon is exclusively an American spirit. You’re welcome, world.
Bourbon is crap and ever heard of pinochet? The south vietnamese government. You put actual fascist in power because you were that scared of communism. These people killed as many people as communism did in individual countries.
Most well known film makers and musicians? Maybe to you because you live there.
You didnt get bored of going to the moon, you got spineless and money grabbing.
Light bulbs were invented by different people in different countries at the same time. Joesph Swan for instance. And electrical generation are all british inventions, steam turbines, generator/motors, the equations for electromagnetism.
Penicillin is british as is Sulfas. X-rays are a german discovery but the british gave it a purpose in X-ray crystallography.
Right now struggling to think of any truely homegrown american inventions other rubber and jazz. Indeed going through the list of american inventions, though indeed, many things are on there you look at the specific history of an invention it says first invented in france or germany or japan or UK.
How dare you insult proper bourbon, you uncultured swine.
Pinochet has nothing to do with this thread. If you believe that the US put Pinochet into power, you are an ahistorical moron. People love to give the CIA far too much credit in their involvement in this and other coups in foreign governments.
I’m not sure what South Vietnam has to do with this thread either.
Even when you include the Holocaust, fascist dictatorships don’t hold a candle to the body count of socialism and communism. It’s not even close. Hell, fascism is just a form of socialism anyway, so technically it should be lumped in together.
If you don’t believe Hollywood and America music is not the most influential form of media entertainment in the world you are just in complete denial.
No, we got everything that we needed from the moon and shared it with the rest of the world so they wouldn’t bother taking the risk or the absorbent expense getting there. Again, this indisputable. And today we are leading the way to more space exploration and even space tourism through more private means.
Thomas Edison may have not been the first to create the incandescent light bulb, but he did create the first successful and commercially viable version. Whereas Joseph Swan among other inventors failed, Edison succeeded. But sure, you can have the steam engine and other outdated inventions if it makes you feel better.
Penicillin was technically a Scottish invention. Although discovered while working in London, it was discovered by a Scottish man named Dr. Alexander Fleming. That’s great. Hats off to him. The United States, however, is still the world leader in medical innovation. It has produced more than half of the world’s new medicines over the last decade alone.
Same goes for x-rays. Discovered and experimented by Germans and Ukrainians (and American Nicolas Tesla I might add), but it was in the United States where it was first put into commercial medical use. Thomas Edison commercially created the first fluoroscope too.
You can’t think of any homegrown American inventions? Well, perhaps that’s because you are stuck only recalling inventions of the 19th Century.
Let me help you out:
Telephones, television, the assembly line, motion pictures, videotape, the airplane, the jumbo jet liner, space shuttles, space tourism air conditioning, digital cameras, aerosol, the internet, email, home computers, ethernet, ATMs, Wi-Fi, Fitbit, automatic transmission, barcodes, the iPhone, barbed wire, bifocals, pacemakers, cereal, bubble gum, calculators, bypass surgery, cigarettes, chemotherapy Coca-Cola, chocolate chip cookies, cellphones, crayons, credit cards, cotton swabs, the Curiosity rover, defibrillators, dental floss, the digital camera, dishwashers, DOS, drilling rig, hydraulic fracturing, the electric guitar, the escalator, fast food, faxing, fiberglass, fire hydrants, fire sprinklers, firewalls, flashlights, fortune cookies, the frisbee, gas stations, anti-lock brakes, Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, automatic gas pump, video game consoles, arcade machines, gas masks, gift-wrap, hair spray, hard drives, human genome map, hearing aids, hydraulic brakes, jackhammers, jelly beans, jean pants, jukeboxes, kerosene, super glue, laptop computers, lasers, LCDs, LEDs, plasma TVs, VGA, light beer (please forgive us), speakers, the machete, automatic machine guns, magnetic stripes, magnetic storage, the zipper, microwave ovens, microprocessors, microwave popcorn, mixers, modems, Morse code, napalm, the neutron bomb, the atomic bomb, nicotine patches, nuclear energy, nuclear submarines, nylon, odometers, oil wells, optical disk drives, paintball, Polaroids, Photoshop, the paper bag, paperclips, paper shredders, parking meters, payphones, the phonograph, pocketknives, poker, fleece, Post-it Notes, postcards, potato chips, Preparation H, projectors, the QERTY keyboard, the radio telescope, radiocarbon dating, RAM, refrigerators, rock n roll, the blues, the safety pin, safety razors, salt & pepper shakers, GPS, screen doors, segways, semi-trucks, the sewing machine, shopping carts, silos, skateboards, slot machines, smoke detectors, snowmakers, soft-serve ice-cream, solar cells, solid-propellant rockets, space blankets, the spork, spreadsheets, 3-D printing, stop signs, lawn trimmers, gasoline lawn mowers, tablets, tasers, tea bags, Teflon, teleprompters, thermostats, touchscreen, tennis shoes, transistors, the Hubble telescope, tupperware, TV dinners, traffic lights, twist ties, the typewriter, UPCs, USBs, the vacuum cleaner, car audio, virtue reality, voicemail, vulcanization, the washing machine, the automatic clothes dryer, WD-40, wiffle ball, windshield wipers, Windows, windsurfing, the copy machine, laser printers, and ziploc bags to name a few things.
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