Humility. That is a mark of a good human being. We often forget how being that is more important than a career, education, money, power, fame and all else.

@St-Sinner
To embrace humanity in it's entirety almost must be first.

Yes, I agree, immigrants... Italians, Asians, Indians, Middle Eastern are known to be a closed community and don't welcome people inside. I won't argue with that. It is a flaw.

@St-Sinner You are definitely correct, but why are openly Black racists such as Al Sharpton embraced by their peers .He has used the word kike ,homo and much worse on numerous occasions,but openly white racists are vilified and shunned by their own race and would never get to his level with the same disgusting background.

@godlessguy I am trying to give a generality and a pattern. Your citations sound like examples.

Al Sharpton and his Tawana Brawley fiasco of the late 1980s in New York is well known. I don't give much credence to that clown. He is good at one liners, but not much depth.

Absolutely right. We all want to see ourselves as good and righteous.

You are correct. No one sees themselves as a bad guy.

I saw commentary on Ferdinand Marcos' journal after his death. He described himself as a benevolent dictator.
He was a national hero -- only others considered his regime excessively corrupt.

We can check all history's villains -- Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mussolini, Franco, whoever -- they all saw themselves as basically good people just doing what they had to. Again... No one sees themselves as evil.

@RichCC
Very true and sad. In all of these the true heroes, the common and woman and their story is lost in all places, who make an honest living earning their livelihood, expecting no fame, no power, no money. They just want to do their work right, get paid and achieve peace and happiness for them and families. Teachers are a good example. I think it is the most noble job and is most underrated.

@St-Sinner Again. I agree.

My father was a career school teacher and administrator. I don't remember a lot of it -- I was growing up. But I think he went through several periods over the years.

First he just wanted a job to support his wife and young kids.
Then he grew into a big player in a small town over the years.
Finally he retired on the job as the guy who'd been in charge so long that he had become the go to person to make sure things were done.

But his material rewards were always marginal. His first three sons all made more yearly money at their first career jobs than he did when he retired. And my niece is a grade school teacher but she doesn't plan to continue -- the lack of respect has already become frustrating -- a first grader punched her and she had to figure out how to defend herself without beating him up.
We have far too many implicit prejudicial assumptions in our society.

@RichCC I know the story. I come from a family of teachers - all highly educated but could barely pay the mortgage. Never had enough at home and always stressed out.

I think people who come from outside take - "Being Great" , as comparatively great. I grew up in India and the casteism we do against lower castes today is 10,000 times worse than subtle racism Americans do here. It is blatant, ruthless and cruel. I was born the highest caste and highest sub caste - as a Brahmin. When young, people in the neighborhood used to invite me to have a meal with them because of the superstition that eating with a Brahmin would give you credit for a good deed. I always received a very privileged treatment everywhere - as a young boy, while growing up in the neighborhood, in schools, in colleges (i got scholarships) and possibly at work. I left because the situation of corruption, nepotism, red tape, shortages was hopeless for a young man. Firstly, man gets a privileged treatment there and an upper caste man more so. Not many people know this.

I would never equate blatant and open discrimination in other countries with America's subtle discrimination. Discrimination is a human nature and every society nourishes it with its traditions and beliefs. America has made great strides in conquering the old beliefs and my point was we like to think that we are not racists or sexist but we still are in this day and age.

American exceptionalism is another bullshit claim many will make; that Anerica is best at pretty much everything. This is based on no accomplishments of their own and is often unsupported by facts. America is not number one at most things.

Same goes for claims of being the "greatest nation on earth." I hear this claim repeatedly and it grates on me. What is that based on? Who ever qualified that with any actual facts? It's just the personal opinion of the speaker that the speaker will often state as if it were factual.

@St-Sinner I completely understand your perspective. I respect why you feel the way you do.
I still don't think America is "great". Sure, it's better than some other countries we could all name, but there is still plenty to criticize, and plenty that needs to be changed.

@Sgt_Spanky

You are right. 'We are the Greatest" thing has really made me wonder for years in my life in different countries and travel to others. Here is what I noticed:

1. Barbara Walters did an interview with Saddam Hussein in 1993 before the first Iraq War and she was led to one school that was prepped for TV interview. Walters asked students what they though of Iraq. The students said.. It is the greatest country on Earth with the richest Babylonian civilization. We ruled the world once and we will be great again
2. Indian nationalists believe that their is the oldest and richest civilization on Earth, they invented everything before Western scientists could figure it out. and India will be a super power by 2020 (but they do not have toilets for 50% of the population today)
3. Germany thought after the First World War defeat that the Aryan race must rise again, Third Reach will rule the world and they tried...
4. Japan thought their race and culture were superior to the yellow man of China and inflicted severe brutality and insults on the Chinese, Koreans.
5. The Islamic Caliphate movement started in the Middle East by by ISIS to recreate the glory of Khilafat movement of 1919, they think these were the glory days and they were the greatest then

I think the nationalists movements are started by some to fill the void created by failures, frustration, hopelessness, despair and injecting the national pride is the answer.

@St-Sinner
India's religion and backward politics keep them behind. With all the many brainy people there, they might only surface as a super power around 2050 after China overtakes by 2030.

@TimeOutForMe
All of India's success primarily is riding on barely on less than 10% of the population which is smart and educated.. People should not make an assumption that - that is the Indian profile. Take it from me who knows the land intimately, India will not be a superpower. It may be only after the advanced nations start living in space stations and other planets that there will be only extremist Hindus with their cows and extremist Muslims with their camels living on the forsaken planet. That is more possible than India becoming a super power ever. China with its Communist might will within the next 5 to 7 years..

nothing is absolute

Nicely stated. I'm in the same tribe you've so succinctly described.
Oh, how are you and @melissa04 doing?

@bigpawbullets Ha ha ha you're dying to know, don't you?

@IamNobody
No pictures......

@bigpawbullets IamGentleman

Exactly because it's your work colleagues and neighbours you thought you knew who cast that vote in favour of Trump to continue a legacy of white supremacy and ignorance.

Because we pride in and project ourselves as a super power, leader of the free world, progressive and better human rights and values to the world. Comparing us with other countries and saying we are just like them does not sync with that narrative.

@St-Sinner Yep, that is what I thought. That is why the old saying about, travel teaches you most about your own country is so true. It is no coincidense that the people of the US are among the least traveled of all the developed world, else that sort of unseeing nationalism could not exist.

I think this may be the case on a smaller scale.

I disagree. It's mostly window dressing with most whites