An interesting read

Dustin.

Dustin.

Active member
I like his perspective. We should be grateful. My roomate grew up in Cameroon, Africa for 16 years. He grew up with NOTHING. A dollar is a full days wage for a middle class family in his village. Every time we go out somewhere he is still amazed by how nice America is in general. He doesn't understand why everyone seems to hate their own country. Think about it what you have before you complain...

Jay Leno wrote this; it's the Jay Leno we don't often see....

"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?'' Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.

Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The President who has a meas ly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11?







The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently n o draft in this country. They didn't have to go.

They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about "how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way"...Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day or at least be thankful and appreciative.

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the thr eat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Jay Leno

2007

 
I didn't read all of that but I think that he is missing the point. It isn't that we aren't happy with our lives, but we are worried about the future and whether or not our leader will be able to keep what we have going or secure our future. The future is looking dim in many people's eyes with the money being spent on wars, the credit crunch, and the uncertainty about oil.
 
im canadian

and I hate G-bush

but I really like what he wrote,

people should just try to be happy rather then dwell on all the bad.
 
I was liking it until he started talking about god in the last few sentences as if that was summing up the whole point of the article. wtf, shouldn't that be another essay topic? cut that last part out and I can see where he makes valid points.

Although, we have a right to be unhappy with our leaders, and by looking past the media coverage and directly at actions our president has taken. He is right on the account that we have a lot of things many people don't have, and we should be happy about that (and maybe many of us don't see how fortunate we really are). But does that mean we suddenly give up the right to dislike the way things are being run, or the security of a future in which we continue to have the things we like? I don't like how he seems to rationalize it so that we shouldn't be angry because here we are with our flat screen TVs. shit! I've got a tv, now I don't give a fuck about this countries direction!
 
so we should lower our expectations? we shouldn't set our standards so high? when people complain about things like government and economy etc, its not becausethey are speaking relative to another country/system. should we be happy that the school system is shit...just because we Have schools??

(by we i mean you, im not from the US).
 
I have a friend of a friend that works with Jay Leno and I've heard that he is a cocky asshole. But aside from that, I think he makes a few good points. Except the last line contradicts what he said before about free religion. If we have free religion then why should young school children have to talk about 'God'. Not everyone in this country believes in God and has a right not to.

And I do think that a lot of people give George Bush a hard time, due to the media, but being grateful is something different.
 
Good article but its funny how he says not to trust what the media says when his whole article is about some statistics from the media.
 
i agree with this....if everyone is so unhappy then stop complaining and do something...also turn on the news prolly 9/10 stories are negitive in some way....they just spread the hate cause its "good news" for them at least
 
Yes, it is clearly the new york times that is most guilty of fear-mongering. I'd be alot less worried about my safety if they stopped running editorials and stuck to updating us on the code orange terror alert and made unfounded claims about the possibility of nuclear attacks and WMD's. We've got a pretty good thing going right now, so why should we care if it gets shat upon?
 
As I'm thinking about it, this is the most un-American piece of shit I've seen in a while. This country was founded on the basis of checks and balances, questioning and holding authority responsible for it's decisions and fighting for change when needed. How dare he try and associate dissatisfaction with a political leader with selfishness and a lack of patriotism. Fuck Jay Leno.
 
Wow, obviously leno has no idea what the american democracy is about.. Its about constantly striving for a better nation and world.. People are unhappy with the government because it is not doing what it is meant to do, and it is not the best that it can be with the executives that are in office now.. I think leno took the poll the wrong way,, it wasnt saying that americans are unhappy with their quality of life, but what we are and what we arent doing to other peoples quality of life.
 
but are they really unhappy? or do they just think they are because the press wont broadcast anything good that the goverment does. think about it if the press brodcasted 50/50 good and bad do you think the peoples approval would be much better, insted of 90 percent bad 10% good.
 
wow thats a really good argument, that should shut up all the people on the i hate bush bandwagon
 
First of all i think you misunderstood what i was getting at.. and second you kind of contradicted yourself at the end there
 
Yea, he totally missed the point.

We know we have more "stuff" and infastructure than other countries. But these things don't look so appealing when you consider that you're going to be working at that job 9-5 5 days a week for the next 40 years to pay for it. It doesn't look so appealing when you realize that alot of this stuff has been swindled and taken from or at the expense of people who need it alot more than you do. It doesn't look so appealing when you realize you're a cog in a machine that neither respects human life nor shows any initiative to preserve the earth for our children. Our society sucks the life and humanity out of people to make them better worker drones. Sure they" protect" us and give us little toys to keep us busy. People are looking for more though. People want to have a life they can look back on and be proud of. To know that they accomplished everthing they ever hoped to do, and that they lived their lives the best way they could imagine. For all we know you only get one shot at it.

Most people want and value more than simple comfort in their lives. They want to be free.
 
Your ability to be a 'worker drone' is the exact freedom you don't seem to be grasping. Its your freedom to choose how you succeed in this market economy which should be appreciated.

Winston Churchill said it best- Democracy is the worst form of government. Except for all the other ones.

life sucks for a lot of people. We're just blessed to live in a society where it doesnt suck for most people.

------

My own view on this article mirrors that of the others'. Jay Leno misinterpereted the poll (One more reason why I think celebrities should never use their star power to excercise political science until they have a degree)

In the grand scheme of things, Britons, Americans, Australians, Canadians, whatever should all be happy with the quality of life they enjoy. Healthcare here, immigration there, in the long-run its small potatoes.

What the bulk of the American citizenry is awakening to is that through gross globalization and our direct foreign policy actions, we are in fact inhibiting the enjoyment of these very same rights we cherish by the less fortunate people of the world. The internet is a beautiful tool. It among other thigns are finally allowing the North American society to finally see what everyone else in the world outside their borders, (bar none) has seen for decades- that since the dying days of the cold war, America has been using and abusing its extensive web of influence to secure its own interests at the expense of others.

National security? Shit who knows. The question it really all boils down to is: Do we care more about us or them?

In my opinion its been far too much us lately and not enough them.

Rise and Shine America!
 
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