I guess it really depends on your definition of what makes a country 'great' but American is far from being the 'greatest country' by any benchmark I can think of, unless we are comparing destructive power.
I like the place but it is a fundamentally flawed country in so many ways.
Oh, definitely true. You could argue about its greatness from a geopolitical and historical perspective (It is the 'greatest' country in terms of gross national power as a whole, for example, including soft power and non-destructive power projection capabilities), and it's probably the best hegemon we could currently hope for (superior to all available alternatives, and probably also superior to a multipolar world - since multipolar worlds tend to be far more conflict-prone than worlds dominated by one hegemon).
But there's no doubting that the United States is a deeply flawed, divided....flat out schizophrenic place in many ways.
Which is why I never actually said it was 'great' in any sense, general or specific (although, as I pointed out above, it probably is in pure IR terms depending on how you define 'greatness'). I said no other country could match it in terms of the number of wonderful, open people, great places and pieces of history that exist within its borders. And I stand by that. The United States is in the ideal sweet spot of being one of the largest countries on Earth, one of the most populated countries on Earth, one of the most diverse and beautiful countries on Earth, one of the most historically and culturally significant countries to have ever existed (by dint of its rise to world dominance in the most rapidly transformative era in the planet's history) and one of the most culturally open countries on the face of the planet, *despite* its recent election shenanigans.
I've been to a lot of beautiful, historic, friendly and welcoming countries around the world - India, where a lot of my extended family live and where I found peace and happiness in a hilltop monastery above the rolling green valleys of Sikkim. China, where I spent time floating down one of the quieter tributaries of the eternal, ageless mother of Sinic civilization, the mighty Yangtze. Russia, where I was given an impromptu tour around the stunningly crafted Moscow Metro by a local man who twigged that I was a tourist and didn't even ask for money or anything in return for spending half his day showing me the magnificent stations and pointing out objects of interest in broken English.
There are wonderful people all around the world, and proud countries and places filled with history, beauty and meaning. But I do mean what I say when I describe the United States as the one country with the most wonderful people, places and history crammed into it. You cannot turn left or right in one of the great American cities without running into history and culture everywhere you look - you will not encounter as many kind and friendly people on any other journey you care to make. And, when you get out of the city you first go to and realize how big, boundless, infinitely varied and (yet) eminently accessible the rest of America is..I personally don't think you'll find a more awe-inspiring moment.
You could spend your life searching for the soul of the United States across the length and breadth of that mighty country...And it would assuredly not be a wasted life.
It is schizophrenic, it is constantly in roiling turmoil about something or other, it is flawed and divided in so many ways. It can serve as a perfect example of humanity at its very ugliest, if you're of that mind.
But that isn't all it is - it is also the most diverse, amazing country I've ever been to.
Ahem...Anyway, back on topic. The country's great, but their obsession with ads is stupid, and this documentary's repitition was because of needing to cram those in.
