How Do You Judge America? Left vs. Right #3 | 5 Minute Video
Is the United States an exceptional country that has played a uniquely good role in history? Or is it a typical country, perhaps even a uniquely bad one considering the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow? On this, the Left and Right do not agree.
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Script:
The Left and the Right view America and its history very differently. Conservatives view America as President Abraham Lincoln viewed it — as the “Last Best Hope of Earth.” While acknowledging America’s flaws, conservatives regard America as the best society ever created — giving more people of more backgrounds more freedom, more opportunity, and more affluence than any other society — and doing more good for more people in other countries than any society in history.
The Left, on the other hand, sees America as having been, and continuing to be, a very flawed country, morally no better than many, and morally inferior to many. The Left’s view is that America was founded by rich white males who were intent on protecting their race, their wealth, and in many cases, their slaves. America was and remains sexist, intolerant, xenophobic, and bigoted; a country of unacceptable material inequality, where the superrich and big corporations have far too much power and influence. The further left one goes, the more negative the assessment of America.
Here’s a telling example.
On my radio show, I once dialogued with Howard Zinn, arguably the most influential American historian of the second half of the twentieth century. Here is one part of our dialogue: Professor Zinn said: “If people knew history, they would scoff at…the idea that the United States is a force for the betterment of humanity.” When I said that America has done more good for humanity than any other country, Professor Zinn responded: America has “probably [done] more bad than good.”
For the Left, the moral flaws in American history are enormous, but all the unique good America has done both in America and abroad is minimized or ignored. Take the example of slavery. This terrible institution is the most widely cited “proof” of American evil. The problem with that judgment, however, is that every civilization in world history, even including African societies, practiced slavery — often on a far larger scale than America did.
But there are two other questions about slavery that must be asked in order to make a moral judgment about America: The first is: “Which societies were the first to abolish slavery?” Since all societies had slavery, that is a far more important question to ask than who had slaves. It turns out that all the societies that first abolished slavery were rooted in the Jewish and Christian Bibles and among them was the United States.
The second question that needs to be answered is this: Was America morally better than other societies in just about every other regard? And the answer is overwhelmingly yes.
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I agree with most of what Dennis Prager has said in this video. Although most of what he's said here also applies to the UK. Britain abolished slavery in 1807 and from 1833 actively abolished slavery across the many commonwealth countries that were under the rule of the British empire. Britain also initiated the Industrial Revolution and produced many great thinkers that helped to shape America, (such as Adam Smith and John Locke, amongst others.) Britain, like America, is a very tolerant and pluralistic society in which people of all races and ethnicities are able to succeed and flourish side by side. In some ways America is the successful offspring of Britain.
What about Afghanistan and Iraq? What good did America do fr them but ruin and poverty?
I still think though and it's been elaborated in many places, that one of the biggest delusions in the modern day is believing that America is still "the best country in the world".
It's great, but is no longer the best <for you, the average person>. History, sure, have a pass, but I'm talking the standard of living and economic prosperity primarily.
It used to be the best – but that was many decades ago.
Anti American Leftists refer to themselves when condemning America:
Leftist Democrats ARE racist.
Woke Multi National corporations ARE greedy.
Democrats INITIATED and PURPETUATED slavery. White Christian men stopped the Democrats and freed the slaves.
Leftist Democrat cities have RAMPANT VIOLENCE … due to Leftist Democrat crime policy.
Red, Second Amendment States and cities have minimal violence.
Leftist Democrats scream WHITE SAVIOR COMPLEX, when a white couple adopts a minority baby or a white employer offers a job or promotion to a merited minority.
Meantime, the actual WHITE SAVIOR COMPLEX of white liberals has thrown Trillions $$$$ at minorities, but those minorities, who live in Democrat controlled cities, are still impoverished … because of Democrat policies.
So, America's Leftist critics ARE correct …Democrat Leftist America IS a flawed, corrupt, racist, stingy, violent, greedy place.
Solution: move to a Red State where freedom and opportunity reign.
IMHO the root of the problem lies in too many people following the philosophies of people like Immanuel Kant and Karl Marx, Kant having been the major philosophical driving force behind the creation of Nazi Germany and subsequent horrific atrocities.
don't you conservatives act like you would've voted for the abolition of slavery lmao
America hasn’t abolished slavery though.
As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. We have done horrendous things. Slavery, the extermination of the Native Americans and the internment of Japanese Americans. We have done absolutely heroic things, from the abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement, giving woman and minorities the vote and recognizing all Americans marriages.
2023? Where do most moderate Liberal stand now? Pretty much for increasing the benefits and promises that America offers to ALL Americans. Yet, 2023, the Conservatives still rail against that "Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness for all".
We've done well. We can now do even better. Let's go America. 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
Obama did transform US to bow down to China. Under his eyelids, China made South China Sea into a military base.
professor Zinn couldn't have been more correct
When we won the Revolutionary War, the thirteen British colonies became our thirteen original nations ( aka “states”) that were formed in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
Vermont was not one of the Thirteen Colonies. It was a self-proclaimed independent republic. The Vermont Republic banned slavery outright upon its founding in July 1777.
Pennsylvania abolished slavery in 1780; Massachusetts in 1783; and the remaining New England states–New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island–adopted gradual emancipation schemes modeled on Pennsylvania’s statute in the mid-1780s, and the United States Congress abolished slavery in future states north of the Ohio River in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
These six nations were among the first (if not The First) nations in the world to ban slavery. Six out of our first fourteen states abolished slavery in the Eighteenth Century! Anyone who claims America was built on slavery needs to read history.
I honestly thought he was going to educate us on the true meaning of both sides instead he gave his us his bs propaganda 😂 The right wants to improve itself by being more racist, sexist, and homophobic yeah we get it. The Right spreads hatred so much heck, to the point where they don’t even like each other that outta tell you something. Yet it’s an old white guy trying to tell us how conservatives are so true, how original. If the right really “cared” of the republic it would’ve fixed the healthcare system wall-street and helped the middle class. The right is only for the wealthy and if you believe they are for the middle class you must be a fool.
"All societies had slavery". That´s completely inacurate. LOL. This guy just lost all credibility with that statement. Next!
Well said, Dennis…!
The leftist Democrats are succeeding in transforming America into a democratic socialist dictatorship through their election rigging mail ballot fraud and cultural corruption. Imagine what kind of state will emerge from that!
Trump sides with Putin. The USA supported the fascist Batista and the mafia running Cuba. The guns and drug scheme and Nicaragua. The installation of the Shah in Iran. The CIA overthrowing democratically elected leaders in South America. The only country to use Atomic weapons to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians. The Iraqis sending 18 hijackers to kill Americans and at least five to kill an American newspaper journalist yet we still kiss up to Saudi Arabia. An American operative sabotages a Cuban airliner. Was the Peace corps really sent out to do good or just to spread American propaganda? So to sum it up it's a double-edged sword we have done both Good and evil.
If this country is so awful why encourage people to come here?
1 Samuel 8:8-10
This guys is a joke
Democratically you’re inferior to Chile and you can look it up.
So what Preger is saying here is that American conservatives are deluded by hybris and American socialist are deluded by wrath.
As a young American, I'll say that America WAS an imperialistic country in the past, and in the name of Christianity and Democracy. BUT, so we're other country's. Is America 100% perfect? No. But because of America, nations are free. It is because of America, that nations prosper. Of course the US is not perfect, but it is a very moral country.
4:00 now do iraq
Because hundreds of thousands of dead iraqis would like to have a word
Knowing the TRUE History of the Democratic Party (Slavery, Klan, Segregation, Generational Welfare to CONTROL people), I would have to ask, what "Good" has the Left done in America? Because other than Virtue Signaling Lip Service, I've yet to see a damned thing they've done for the ACTUAL betterment of ANYONE but themselves and OWN closeminded ideology.
um the UK abolished slavery 30 years before america….
I don't understand why America isn't helping north Korea's ppl when we know what is going on there.
The first man that abolished slavery was Wang Mang of the Qin dynasty. He was thus loved by his people, but given the fact that elites didn’t benefit from the abolition of that institution, they arranged his assassination and they reinstated it.
If America fundamentally transform, it'll become the Union of Soviet Socialist America, which is something we conservatives cannot tolerate.
I judge America as a land of peace, justice and tolerance for people who believe in freedom, liberty and the principles created by the Founding Fathers.
I'm with the right now. I identifies myself as a "secular conservative", like Heather Mc Donald or Douglas Murray