Difference between revisions of "Essay: How I found my American patriotism again and began to appreciate the West more"

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*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O2GkZNdjRg Crowd Chants, 'USA! USA!' As Trump Departs Iowa Football Game]
 
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== President Trump hugs, gives kiss to American flag at CPAC Conference ==
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*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PW3fuQl1C0 President Trump hugs, gives kiss to American flag at CPAC Conference]
  
 
== User:Conservative's essays ==
 
== User:Conservative's essays ==

Revision as of 05:44, April 28, 2024

The flag of the United States

I grew up in during a patriotic time in the United States. And I still recall America putting the man on the moon in 1969. And Ronald Reagan's speeches fueled my patriotism still more. So did the USA Olympic Hockey Team beating the Soviet Union's Olympic Hocket team in 1980. See: The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future

However, at my university, I took a Sociology 101 course from a Western Marxist professor and he talked about all the problems in the USA (A Western Marxist is someone who recognizes that the Soviet Union was tyrannical!). At some level, I knew I wasn't getting a completely fairminded representation of the major facts (A fellow classmate and I laughed about the student who talked to the professor frequently at the end of the class who wore a green trenchcoat who we dubbed "Radical Ray"). On the other hand, the class was kind of a downer that brought up some factual negatives about the United States and its culture such as the high divorce rate in the United States and other social ills.

But at some level, the class made me dissatisfied with the status quo in general and so did the liberal university I attended. It also helped make me more open to the things the Christian teaching assistants who were sharing their faith that I had in my Macroeconomics, Algebra, and Calculus 101 classes. After all, you begin to appreciate paradise more as you begin to realize how hellish the earth can be. In other words, the existence of evil is a type of argument for the existence of good and the supreme good. After all, you can't have evil if good doesn't exist. And in my sophomore year in college, I became a Christian.

The 2004 movie Miracle about the USA Olympic Hockey Team beating the Soviet Union's Olympic Hocket team in 1980 definitely increased my patriotism.

To some degree, my patriotism increased due to being exposed to more conservative news and conservative content at Conservapedia. And then I started looking at the history of a famous war hero that I am related to and that increased my patriotism as he made a very positive influence on the world.

The American conservative and patriot Steve Turley definitely increased my patriotism. See also: Steve Turley on a new conservative age rising

Recently, I have been exposed to commentary/news that is very pro-Russia/anti-Western and doesn't give a fairminded picture of things such as the fact that Vladimir Putin is a corrupt kleptocrat and an authoritarian or about the the rising rule of communist idiocracy in China. Nor did it cover the Russian war crimes in Ukraine. And of course, Just War Theory was never brought up in relation to Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" on February 24, 2022.

But it was an Indian citizen, namely User:NishantXavier, that stoked my American patriotism and put it into overdrive. He pointed out that a person spewing pro-Russia, anti-Westernism and anti-Americanism wasn't taking into account how authoritarian China and Russia are or all the huge problems those countries have (See: Attention all hyper Sinophiles/Russophiles. The USA being better than China and Russia is an incredibly low bar for Americans to jump over!). This caused me to appreciate more all the good things that the USA and the West have.

And as a result of this matter, I began to further research the favorable things about the USA and the West which I give below.

Map of the United States

The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future:

Contents

Why has the West been so successful?

See: Why has the West been so successful?

In the above map, the Western World regions of the world are colored light blue.

There are countries in Asia that have adopted much of Western values such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.

The above graphic comes from the video Why the West Won’t Collapse with Stephen Kotkin (Stephen Kotkin is an American historian, academic, and author.)

For more information, please see: Why has the West been so successful?

The United States has an above average constitution

Constitution.jpg

See also: United States Constitution

An above-average constitution with a separation of powers, a bill of rights and the electoral college system that gives sensible rural people influence.

Please see the videos:

Research indicates that in the long-term, non-authoritarian countries are more likely to experience greater economic growth. See: Time Under Authoritarian Rule and Economic Growth, CORI Working Paper No. 2007-02

In addition, there is research indicating that economies disrupted by political turmoil/unrest grow at an average rate 2 percentage points slower than those that are untroubled, with a persistent lag in the growth rate of 1 to 2 percentage points in the succeeding year.[1][2]

Reproduction of painting of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and others signing the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Henry Hintermeister.

Labor productivity: United States in comparison to other countries in the world

See: The USA has one of the highest labor productivity rates in the world - significantly higher than both China and Russia and United States and innovation

According the U.S. Labor Bureau of Statistics, Labor productivity is a measure of economic performance that compares the amount of output with the amount of labor used to produce that output."[3]

Investopedia says about the importance of labor productivity to an economy, "Labor productivity is largely driven by investment in capital, technological progress, and human capital development. Labor productivity is directly linked to improved standards of living in the form of higher consumption. As an economy's labor productivity grows, it produces more goods and services for the same amount of relative work. This increase in output makes it possible to consume more of the goods and services for an increasingly reasonable price."[4]

According to Yahoo Finance: "Efficiency in production, also coined as productivity, is one of the major driving forces behind economic resilience in a country."[5]

Investopedia indicates: "Education tends to raise productivity and creativity, as well as stimulate entrepreneurship and technological breakthroughs. All of these factors lead to greater output and economic growth."[6]

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development states concerning labor productivity: "Labour productivity is a key precondition for high growth of output, employment and wages and central to long-term growth in living standards."[7]

In 2023, the USA was over 200% more productive in terms of labor productivity than Russia when measured using purchasing power parity.[8] In 2023, the USA was over 400% more productive in terms of labor productivity than China when measured using purchasing power parity.[9]

The United States is a high-income economy.[10] A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a country that has a gross national income per capita of US$13,845 or more in 2022 that is calculated using the Atlas method (The Atlas method, employed by the World Bank since 1993, is used to approximate the economic size of nations in terms of their gross national income (GNI) in U.S. dollars.).[11] China and Russia are upper middle-income countries.[12][13]

Investopedia says about the importance of labor productivity to an economy, "Labor productivity is largely driven by investment in capital, technological progress, and human capital development. Labor productivity is directly linked to improved standards of living in the form of higher consumption."[14]

According the Yahoo Finance: "According to Yahoo Finance: "Efficiency in production, also coined as productivity, is one of the major driving forces behind economic resilience in a country... The United States has one of the strongest economies in the world. The country hosts some of the largest companies in the world, which contributes to the high GDP per capita in the country."[15]

As can be seen in the map above, the USA has one of the highest labor productivity rates in the world.[16]
Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore are the world’s most innovative economies in 2023, according to WIPO’s Global Innovation Index (GII), as a group of middle-income economies have emerged over the past decade as the fastest climbers of the ranking.[17][18][19]
VisualCapitalist.com ranked the USA 3rd in innovation in 2023.[20]

The citizens of the United States are happier than the citizens of Russia and China

See: The citizens of the United States are happier than the citizens of Russia and China

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - United States Constitution

According to the World Happines Index, the citizens of the United States are happier than the citizens of Russia.[21][22]

For more information, please see: The citizens of the United States are happier than the citizens of Russia and China

Are the Russians as unhappy as they claim they are? There are so many reasons why the Russians are unhappy! Don't miss out on all the reasons. Click the link below!

See also: Are the Russians as unhappy as they claim they are?

Please read: Are the Russians as unhappy as they claim they are?

Influence of Western Christianity on the world

The Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the Protestant societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history."[23]

See also: Protestant cultural legacies and Christianity and social stability

The article "The Surprising Discovery About Those Colonialist, Proselytizing Missionaries" published in Christianity Today notes:

“ In his fifth year of graduate school, Woodberry created a statistical model that could test the connection between missionary work and the health of nations. He and a few research assistants spent two years coding data and refining their methods. They hoped to compute the lasting effect of missionaries, on average, worldwide...

One morning, in a windowless, dusty computer lab lit by fluorescent bulbs, Woodberry ran the first big test. After he finished prepping the statistical program on his computer, he clicked "Enter" and then leaned forward to read the results.

"I was shocked," says Woodberry. "It was like an atomic bomb. The impact of missions on global democracy was huge. I kept adding variables to the model—factors that people had been studying and writing about for the past 40 years—and they all got wiped out. It was amazing. I knew, then, I was on to something really important."

Woodberry already had historical proof that missionaries had educated women and the poor, promoted widespread printing, led nationalist movements that empowered ordinary citizens, and fueled other key elements of democracy. Now the statistics were backing it up: Missionaries weren't just part of the picture. They were central to it...

Areas where Protestant missionaries had a significant presence in the past are on average more economically developed today, with comparatively better health, lower infant mortality, lower corruption, greater literacy, higher educational attainment (especially for women), and more robust membership in nongovernmental associations.

In short: Want a blossoming democracy today? The solution is simple—if you have a time machine: Send a 19th-century missionary."

...at a conference presentation in 2002, Woodberry got a break. In the room sat Charles Harper Jr., then a vice president at the John Templeton Foundation, which was actively funding research on religion and social change. (Its grant recipients have included Christianity Today.) Three years later, Woodberry received half a million dollars from the foundation's Spiritual Capital Project, hired almost 50 research assistants, and set up a huge database project at the University of Texas, where he had taken a position in the sociology department. The team spent years amassing more statistical data and doing more historical analyses, further confirming his theory.

...Woodberry's historical and statistical work has finally captured glowing attention. A summation of his 14 years of research—published in 2012 in the American Political Science Review, the discipline's top journal—has won four major awards, including the prestigious Luebbert Article Award for best article in comparative politics. Its startling title: "The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy."

...over a dozen studies have confirmed Woodberry's findings. The growing body of research is beginning to change the way scholars, aid workers, and economists think about democracy and development.[24]

”
John Wesley

David Beidel wrote in his article The Bloodless Revolution: What We Need to Learn from John Wesley and the Great Awakening

“ In the 18th Century, most of Europe was on fire. Bloody civil wars and revolutions were decimating nation after nation. Unrestrained injustice, government and Church corruption, slave trade and the oppression of the poor created a powder keg for violence. Miraculously, Great Britain escaped the horrors of civil war and the brutal savagery that revolutionary anarchy engenders.

Few ancient monarchies are still in place today. The mystery of the UK’s capacity to honor the old guard, while raising up a more democratic system without a revolution, is a sociological wonder. Many credit the Great Awakening, in particular the Methodist movement, launched by John Wesley, for this extraordinary and peaceful transition.

Methodism unleashed an army of “little Christ’s” all over Europe. They cared for the poor, took in unwanted and abused children, fought unjust laws and labor conditions, visited prisoners, and battled against slavery; They joined hands with the Apostles and “turned the world upside down.” Eventually compassion became fashionable...

America is in desperate need of a Christ-infused revolution of compassion. We are a land of churches, who are well positioned to hear and answer the cries of our struggling communities. If a critical mass of congregations committed themselves to radically sharing the Gospel and passionately serving under-resourced/at-risk communities, we will see peace powerfully rise in these times of trouble. This will also enable, as in the days of John Wesley, wise reformation to take place because the true Christian Church is theologically hardwired to bring about peaceful, meaningful change that benefits all. I have written much about this in my book, Samaria, The Great Omission, and treasure every opportunity to strategize with churches who have a heart to minister in this way.

Let us stand in the gap as cultural/community peacemakers and healers in this season of sorrow and division. May our magnificent obsession be Jesus, the everlasting, ever loving, rescuer of the oppressed and Father of all.[25]

”

In December 2003, the University of Warwick reported: "Dr. Stephen Joseph, from the University of Warwick, said: "Religious people seem to have a greater purpose in life, which is why they are happier. Looking at the research evidence, it seems that those who celebrate the Christian meaning of Christmas are on the whole likely to be happier."[26]

The ex-atheist C.S. Lewis became a Christian and wrote a book entitled Surprised by Joy.[27]

The Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the Protestant societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history."[28]

Western culture, Eastern culture and embracing the best aspects of both cultures

See also: Western civilization

The article West Vs Eastern — a successful journey into another culture states:

“ Western culture is known as individualistic or analytical, in which people are sensitive to objects and their attributes, and they detach them from their context when perceiving them. Also, they prefer predicting and explaining, and rely on the use of formal logic and the law of non-contradiction. Additionally, since the culture encourages individualism, people in these cultures are said to be challenged when it comes to understanding someone else’s point of view.

In contrast, East Asia cultures are known to be holistic or interpersonal and therefore much more adept at determining and accepting another person’s perspective. They also rely more on experiential knowledge rather than formal rules of logic and they positively embrace change, contradiction, and multiple perspectives — more so than people from Western cultures.[29]

”

Because this excerpt of the article is incomplete, I offer some articles which go more indepth:

Because I have friends in both cultures, I take the view that it is best to take the best aspects of both cultures. So while I do appreciate the West, there are things that I appreciate about the East as well.

East/West: Authoritarian vs. individualism/democracy: Economic growth and healthy society. Influence of the West on Singapore and Japan

Western civilization

Eastern civilizations

  • East: More collectivist. Rice farming more collectivist

Singapore (High standard of living and low crime). Had British/Western influence

Singapore: Hardworking, meritocracy, studious, disciplined, more collectivist than the West, low corruption and economic liberty and long-term thinking in terms of public spending and return on investment.

The British/Western Influence on Singapore: "We have many good essays on the English language, the rule of law, the free port, free trade, open economy, the civil service, health, education, welfare, town planning, low-cost housing, anti-corruption, business, sports, culture, the commonwealth, etc. The British left a rich legacy in Singapore." See: Singapore and the United Kingdom: 1819 to 2019

Academic

Abstract: As an authoritarian country achieves more economic freedom, it is often urged by its citizens to start pursuing social freedoms. This has led to the liberalization of many authoritarian nations and pushed them to adopt more liberal policies. But not Singapore. Singapore is one of the most economically-developed countries in the world yet it has a surprising lack of social/political freedom. But how does it succeed where so many others have failed? Why is Singapore one of the most successful free-market economies as well as one of the most societally restrictive? And how long can it continue to succeed? As it stands now, the same political party has been winning elections in Singapore for more than 60 years. How long can they last?

Videos on Singapore's economic miracle. Videos on Singapore's highly developed and safe country

Singapore is the 4rth richest country in the world.

Once again, Singapore is so much better than Russia!

Map of Singapore

The article What America Could Learn from Singapore's Social Welfare System indicates:

“ To take a look at how and where such a minimal standard of welfare design has been implemented successfully, one need only look at the city-state of Singapore. The Singapore welfare system is considered one of the most successful by first-world standards. World Bank data shows that Singapore’s government health expenditure in 2015 is only 4.3 percent of GDP, a small fraction in comparison to other first-world countries—16.9 percent in the US; 11 percent in France; 9.9 percent in the UK; 10.9 percent in Japan, and 7.1 percent in Korea—while achieving comparatively equal or better health outcomes of low infant mortality and higher life expectancies. While most of Europe, Scandinavia, and North America spend 30-40 percent of GDP on social welfare programs, Singapore spends less than half as much while maintaining similar levels of economic growth and a society relatively free of social problems."...

By compelling Singaporeans to save, welfare in Singapore has traditionally been internalized first to the individual and the family/grassroots level. This forms the crux of the government’s “Many Helping Hands” social policy where the role of the family and immediate community in welfare provision is emphasized over government-funded programs. Such a form of privatized charity is neither new nor unique, as a wealth of research shows how mutual aid societies predated modern welfare states in the 20th-century United States and the 19th-century United Kingdom."[30]

”

Singapore has the 2nd lowest infant mortality rate in the world - so it is much better than Russia in this respect as Russia has about a 400% higher infant mortality rate.[31]

In addition, Russia has the highest abortion rate in the world.[32]

Question: If Russia's societal system is so good then why do Singaporeans live so much longer than Russians? The proof is in the pudding!

Singapore compared to Russia: Parts of Russia are so bad to live in that Russia offers free land to Russians and foreigners. Singapore raises threshold for foreign investors seeking permanent residency

  • Russia offers free land to Russians and foreigners: "In an attempt to boost the population and economy of the largely undeveloped regions,Vladimir Putin has ordered free land handouts in Russia’s Far East and Siberia. Last week he signed a law offering land plots to Russians and foreigners for free if they are willing move to the country’s remote Far Eastern and Siberian regions. Under the deal, all citizens can apply for a hectare of land (2.5 acres) – about the size of a football pitch – in a vast stretch of territory spanning the upper Arctic reaches near Alaska, down to islands off the coast of Japan and south to the Chinese border."

Japan (High standard of living and low crime). Had post WWII American influence

The flag of Japan

Japan: Hardworking, studious, disciplined, harmonious and collectivist (Government invest in key industries. East Asian model )

United States influence on Japan:

"After the defeat of Japan in World War II, the United States led the Allies in the occupation and rehabilitation of the Japanese state. Between 1945 and 1952, the U.S. occupying forces, led by General Douglas A. MacArthur, enacted widespread military, political, economic, and social reforms." - Occupation and Reconstruction of Japan, 1945–52

Influence of American management consultant William Edwards Deming on Japan: "Starting in 1950 and in subsequent trips to Japan - 27 trips in all - Deming taught the Japanese his management philosophy which eventually came to be called the System of Profound Knowledge. This work has widely been cited as a key reason for Japan's rise as an economic world power on the international stage." - The Influence of W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993)

Economy of Japan:

  • Economy of Japan, Britannica. Japan has developed a highly diversified manufacturing and service economy and is one of the world's largest producers of motor vehicles, steel, and high-technology manufactured goods (notably consumer electronics).
  • Japan’s economy, AsiaLinkBusiness. Japan is one of the largest and most developed economies in the world. It has a well-educated, industrious workforce and its large, affluent population makes it one of the world’s biggest consumer markets.

From the 1960s to the 1980s, Japan achieved one of the highest economic growth rates in the world. This growth was led by:

- High rates of investment in productive plant and equipment

- The application of efficient industrial techniques

- A high standard of education

- Good relations between labour and management

- Ready access to leading technologies and significant investment in research and development

- An increasingly open world trade framework

- A large domestic market of discerning consumers, which has given Japanese businesses an advantage in their scale of operations.

Patriotic songs about America



Video: Charles A. Garfield and Peak Performance (1985) by Charles A. Garfield (Related to insights gathered from the Apollo 11 mission)
John F. Kennedy demonstrated the fact that when a person or group is dedicated to achieving a difficult goal, it can often be done - especially with the assistance of others.

Watch the video: Charles A. Garfield and Peak Performance (1985) by Charles A. Garfield (Related to insights gathered from the Apollo 11 mission)

25 most American patriotic movies of all time

My favorite American patriot movie scene

In the classic 2004 hockey movie Miracle, coach Herb Brooks said about the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team beating the Soviet Union Olympic hockey team:

"The only way we can compete with the Eastern Bloc teams is if we're willing to change. Change the way we train, the way we prepare, even change our schedule. I think we need to make it longer. You know, tougher. Much more competitive. We also need to change the way we play the game. My plan is to adopt a new style. A hybrid of the Soviet school and the Canadian school. A combination that requires the highest level of conditioning, speed, creativity, and most of all, team chemistry." - Coach Herb Brooks, Miracle Board Room Interview

Coach Herb Brooks, Coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympics Hockey Team

Donald Trump and his supporters chanting: USA! USA! USA!

President Trump hugs, gives kiss to American flag at CPAC Conference

User:Conservative's essays

See also

External links

Western civilization videos:

References

  1. ↑ Institutions are catalysts for economic development and stability in Africa, The London School of Economics and Political Science website
  2. ↑ Coups Slow Economic Growth
  3. ↑ Productivity 101, U.S. Labor Bureau of Statistics
  4. ↑ Labor Productivity: What It Is, How to Calculate & Improve It, Investopedia
  5. ↑ 25 Most Productive Countries Per Capita, Yahoo Finance
  6. ↑ How Education and Training Affect the Economy
  7. ↑ How does Russia compare?, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  8. ↑ List of countries by labor productivity (Ranked using purchasing power parity)
  9. ↑ List of countries by labor productivity (Ranked using purchasing power parity)
  10. ↑ World Bank high-income economy
  11. ↑ Country and Lending Groups. World Bank. Accessed 2023.
  12. ↑ [The World Bank In China], World Bank
  13. ↑ Russian Federation, World Bank
  14. ↑ Labor Productivity: What It Is, How to Calculate & Improve It, Investopedia
  15. ↑ 25 Most Productive Countries Per Capita, Yahoo Finance
  16. ↑ Most Productive Countries 2024
  17. ↑ The U.S. Is (Again) Among the World's Top Innovators, U.S. News and World Report, 2023
  18. ↑ Global Innovation Index 2023: Switzerland, Sweden and the U.S. lead the Global Innovation Ranking; Innovation Robust but Startup Funding Increasingly Uncertain
  19. ↑ World's Most Innovative Countries, Statista website, 2023
  20. ↑ Ranked: The Most Innovative Countries in 2023
  21. ↑ A color coded map of the world levels of happiness as measured by the World Happiness Index (2023)
  22. ↑ World Happiness Report 2023
  23. ↑ The Protestant Work Ethic: Alive & Well…In China By Hugh Whelchel on September 24, 2012
  24. ↑ Christianity Today, "The surprising discovery about those colonialist, proselytizing missionaries", January 8, 2014
  25. ↑ The Bloodless Revolution: What We Need to Learn from John Wesley and the Great Awakening by David Beidel
  26. ↑ University of Warwick (December 2003). "Psychology researcher [Dr. Stephen Joseph] says spiritual meaning of Christmas brings more happiness than materialism". Scienceblog. Retrieved on July 24, 2014.
  27. ↑ Suprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis Documentary
  28. ↑ The Protestant Work Ethic: Alive & Well…In China By Hugh Whelchel on September 24, 2012
  29. ↑ West Vs Eastern — a successful journey into another culture
  30. ↑ What America Could Learn from Singapore's Social Welfare System
  31. ↑ Infant mortality rate by country
  32. ↑ Abortion rates by country
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