Are expectations of the US too high around the world?

[flowerseverywhere]

I know we get a very editorialized version of the news but I have been seeing so much of "the us needs to do this for us" both home and abroad.
One case was the recent Liberian Ebola victim. It is alleged he lied on his health questionnaire. His family have been all over the news alleging racism, the US should have given him the same drug the two original US victims got ( there was none left to give him). Turkey wants US troops. Iraq wants boots on the ground. Refugees are willing to risk life and limb to try to get here and stories indicate that there is a lot of chaos dealing with them. Our own citizens don't want to pay more taxes but want all kinds of government subsidies. Some of the recent anti American statements made by some members here have been shocking to say the least.

Where is the breaking point? Our highest branches of government seem dysfunctional on both sides of the aisle. I don't see strong leaders emerging to handle all these crisis. Some of the problems congress did not want to touch before midterms, and other lawmakers seem to be functioning with one hand at least on their wallet.

I think many of the developed countries struggling with many of the same issues. Like all great powers through history are we heading towards an end to modern civilization as we know it?

[Tradd]

Well, the current president certainly makes a point of saying we won't be the only ones doing X in a certain situation. I don't really remember earlier presidents making such a point of saying that. Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if previous presidents said it, but the current occupant of the White House seems intent on hammering the point home.

[LDAHL]

I agree that we seem to be living in a golden age of Federal incompetence. The IRS conducts what appears to be a selective campaign of audits and data leaks; and when called on it resorts to a “dog ate my homework” defense. The Justice Department enforces the law on an a la carte basis. The CDC misplaces smallpox and anthrax specimens. The State Department tries to blame an ambassador’s murder on a mob of angry film critics. The Obamacare rollout sets a new standard for technological stupidity. The Secret Service seems more capable of tackling prostitutes than intruders. The finest air force in the world is firing missiles we paid for at trucks we paid for.

Still, that semi-mythical beast we call "world opinion" seems to have a need to believe there is an omnipotent superpower whose action or inaction they can blame for virtually anything.

[Gardenarian]

NATO and the U.N. seem to keep pretty much to themselves these days.

I think most of the world wishes that the U.S. would go away and mind its own business, though that is probably not the case with the Ebola outbreak.

I also think that we hear little about international humanitarian (and other) projects that are spearheaded by countries other than the U.S.

An analogy (true story): A student at my college who wants to "help the world." She worked really hard to raise $5000 dollars so she could go to South Africa and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity for a couple of weeks. Okay, good on her, but this was clearly a personal growth/resume building project; the $5000 would have been far better spent by simply donating it to HfH and letting people on site do the work. In the same way, so many of the U.S. projects are there to bolster our reputations, rather than to do any actual good.

[flowerseverywhere]

Here is my stupid government story. We recently returned to the country. We came back last week and no one asked us if we went to Africa or if we came in contact with ebola. Our agent engaged us in a friendly conversation about our trip in a chatty way. A basic screen would have taken the same amount of time. Not that people don't lie, but it's a start. We did not need to be friends with the agent.

[Yossarian]

I think most of the world wishes that the U.S. would go away and mind its own business

Except for people in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, North Africa, and the East China Sea....


"When trouble comes up anywhere in the world, they don't call Beijing, they don't call Moscow. They call us. That's the deal.. That's always the case. America leads. We are the indispensable nation. We have capacity no one else has. Our military is the best in the history of the world."
-- Barrack Obama


Too bad it took him becoming president to realize this.

[Miss Cellane]

What I've noticed is that many people from other countries complain about the US--the pervasiveness of our culture, our manners, our president, our military--but the moment something bad happens, it's all, "The US should have gotten help there sooner," when our response time is 2 days from moment of disaster to boots on the ground.

[befree]

I was curious about "international humanitarian projects by countries other than US" so I googled for a few minutes.....wow, all the sources indicate that the U.S., by a huge margin, gives the most humanitarian aid both to the world community and its own citizens. I really didn't know what to expect when I googled it. It's so fashionable and commonplace to hear America trashed by our own citizens and citizens of other countries that it's easy to buy into the idea that we're just greedy, screaming little blowhards......but the reality is that we are still a remarkable nation in spite of (certainly not because of) our incredibly inept governmental bureaucrats.

[Suzanne]

@ Flowerseverywhere: I have a green card, and every single time I re-enter the USA I am photographed and finger-printed. The agent stares at my green card and passport, asks me which country I've flown in from, and tells me to stick my fingers in turn on the photo pad. I've never been pulled from the line of US citizens and permanent residents and given priority or allowed to skip the security measures on account of my green card. Not saying it didn't happen in your experience, but it has certainly never happened in the 15 years of mine.

I have, twice, at Frankfurt Airport inside the US zone, been pulled from the waiting zone after I'd been through security, taken into a back office, photographed and finger-printed, and asked question after question about my reasons for travel outside the US while the agent handwrote the information in my passport onto a form on a clipboard. My luggage is unfailingly randomly selected for search, and I am very often randomly selected for the patdown. My husband, with his American passport, never has either his body or his luggage searched. He is unfailingly photographed and fingerprinted at the immigration desk.

[flowerseverywhere]

Suzanne, I imagine the way you have been treated is what is normal. I will say sometimes we are searched thoroughly, sometimes we get priority screenings. No rhyme or reason

[Gardenarian]

I was curious about "international humanitarian projects by countries other than US" so I googled for a few minutes.....wow, all the sources indicate that the U.S., by a huge margin, gives the most humanitarian aid both to the world community and its own citizens. I really didn't know what to expect when I googled it. It's so fashionable and commonplace to hear America trashed by our own citizens and citizens of other countries that it's easy to buy into the idea that we're just greedy, screaming little blowhards......but the reality is that we are still a remarkable nation in spite of (certainly not because of) our incredibly inept governmental bureaucrats.

That is really good to hear, befree. I can be as cynical as the next guy, but I'd like to be proud of our country.

[Miss Cellane]

I found this article by a French soldier about Americans in Afghanistan to be interesting. He sees the reality of some stereotypes about the US, but he also manages to see some good come out of it all.

The article starts in the second paragraph. There's some commentary before and after and in the middle by the poster who posted this to reddit.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Military/comments/1wbyiq/american_troops_as_seen_by_a_french_soldier_a/