"And you! You're going to sit there with a straight face and tell these students that America is so star-spangled awesome that we're the only ones that have freedom? Canada has freedom. Japan has freedom. The UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, BELGIUM HAS FREEDOM.
There are 207 sovereign states in the world. Like, 180 of them have freedom. And you - sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there's one thing you should know; there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world.
We're 7th in literacy. 27th in math. 22nd in science. 49th in life expectancy. 178th in infant mortality. 3rd in median household income. Number 4 in labour force and number 4 in exports.
We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defence spending. Where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined. 25 of whom are allies.
Now, none of this is the fault of a 20 year old college girl, but you are undoubtedly a member of the worst. generation. ever.
So when you ask why we're the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
But we used to be. We used to fight for...what was right. We used to fight for moral reasons, we struck down laws for moral reasons. We used to fight poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbours, we put our money where our mouths were. And we never beat our chests. We built great big things, we built ungodly technological advancements, we explored the universe, cured diseases, and we helped cultivate the world's greatest artists, and the world's greatest economies.
We reached for the stars. We acted like men, we didn't belittle intelligence, we aspired to it. We didn't identify with whoever we voted for in the last election and...God, we didn't scare so easy.
We were able to do all these things and be all these things because we were informed. By great men. Men who were revered.
The first step to solving a problem is recognizing that there is one.
America is not the greatest country in the world, anymore."
--Jeff Bridges, The Newsroom.