Do we even 'deserve' to celebrate the 4th?

[SherylsShado]

This video backs up your point Sheryl:

http://youtu.be/6JEjXbLQOOE

  That was funny, but also pathetic.   A history student and a history teacher among them too...  The questions weren't difficult, they should all have to go back and repeat high school history!  America has become "land of the ignorant".   

[healthfreedom]

We have to celebrate the 4th now and as long as their is a USA! We have to show the communist, facist, socialist and new world order gurus  (you'll find many in our own goverment) that hate America, that we intend for the great USA to always be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

[kords21]

True healthfreedom, those NWO control freaks are everywhere in the gov't. If they have thier way there won't be a USA in the not to distant future. I was reading the other day that Homeland Security was looking into shock bracelets for people who fly. If that ever happens, then I am done flying period, end of story . Enjoy the freedoms you have left while you can, believe the NWO is coming for them.

[thedementedpianist]

^ Isn't TSA already looking through everyone's clothes?

Before I start ranting on why liberty is more important than security, I'll go back to the topic.

I agree, I noticed that many people who live here don't know much about current events in their country, let alone their history. Then people are like "YEAH USA SO AWESOME YEAH" when really it's not doing so great but everyone's too busy to realise that. You don't have to say the country's doing terrible but if your friend was acting like a douchebag, would you be like "It's okay, you're still cool." or would you say "I think there's some areas you can improve..."

[ricky981]

I understand what you are saying, but the U.S. is close to being 11 TRILLION $$$$ in debt. Why are we still sending what we do not have somewhere else? I am not being mean here, but your thinking is what makes me crazy, no matter how you try to justify taking care of other countries and their children, what about us? I'm sorry Somalian children are hungry, but I am far more upset children in my own city won't eat tonight!

  is like any other man made holiday what's the point. to seat around a hot fire and eat food and waste time off from what is more important is that what we  celebrate or is it where more money that you don't have if that's the case you should celebrate every day you are above ground and you are eating.

[vmcutshall]

I agree with most of what is said here in FC but who we need to say this to is out congressmen and senators, the people we send to Washington to represent us this is who is spending all the money over seas instead of here at home.

[DanielKorycki]

I understand what you are saying, but the U.S. is close to being 11 TRILLION $$$$ in debt. Why are we still sending what we do not have somewhere else? I am not being mean here, but your thinking is what makes me crazy, no matter how you try to justify taking care of other countries and their children, what about us? I'm sorry Somalian children are hungry, but I am far more upset children in my own city won't eat tonight!

As to the debt, I agree that the government should be spending less money in general. But if you want more money for welfare (which is 11% of the expenditure; plus pensions makes 27%) then you'd have to probably cut education (14%), defense (16%) or health care (18%). http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spend.php?span=usgs302&year=2011&view=1&expand=40&expandC=&units=b&fy=fy12&local=s&state=US&pie=total#usgs30240

In the USA, do we have massive death tolls due to starvation? Is our economy crippled because workers get sick often from malaria? Do we have 3000 children dying daily from malaria (number of African children who die from malaria every day)? Botswana lost 17% of its health care workforce due to AIDS between 1999 and 2005. My comment was posted primarily because people complain so much about conditions in the US, but what we have here is drastically better than what people live with day to day in other countries. We're not perfect, certainly, but I think that we take pretty good care of our own, to the extent that we can (my earlier link). However, I don't think that our government should just throw money at other countries, either. It needs to cut expenditures because of the debt, but private persons should perhaps donate more to other countries.