Let The Haters Hate: America Is Still The Greatest Country On Earth

This post is adapted from Mr. Right’s weekly newsletter, which tackles modern manhood for normal guys in a not-normal world. If you have not already subscribed, please consider doing so here. 

Sometimes, it’s hard to disagree with the haters: America is not a good place anymore. She is a dying Banana Republic transforming into a gay Soviet Empire right before our eyes. She is an economic zone, a business, a GDP figure, and her politicians only serve to loot her treasure. It’s hard to look at a place like this without disgust. Maybe Donald Trump is finally changing that trajectory, but somewhere along the line, she lost something that cannot be replaced. 

Haters on both sides of the political aisle, liberals and conservatives, love to trash her. They are addicted to doom and gloom. They say she’s no longer the greatest nation on earth. They say she’s not worth saving. They say it’s time to steal all her eggs, crack ‘em and whip up a new omelet. 

But guess what? I disagree. 

No country on earth has a constitution like ours. No country on earth so explicitly enshrines its citizens’ rights: the right to say whatever the hell you want, the right to own a cache of badass guns, the right to a fair and speedy trial.  (Subscribe to MR. RIGHT, a weekly newsletter about modern masculinity)

We have pluckiness, too – an entrepreneurial spirit of tinkering and risk-taking. In Japan, if you fail, you are shamed. Shamed by your family, shamed by society. But in America, failure is a badge of honor. It means you took risks. By the time he’s 8 years old, little Timmy Rogers down the street will risk his allowance to start a lemonade stand. What’s more American than a lemonade stand? His mom might be his only customer, but who cares? Little Timmy threw the dice like a man. 

CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 29: Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Unilever Military DeCA RCPT Chevrolet, celebrates with the American flag after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 2023 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

Besides the countries in the Middle East we love to bomb, Americans make things better. Scottish lords invented the game of golf; John Daly made it great. The French and the Russians, even the Iranians, pioneered new forms of cinema. But we gave the world The Sopranos, Talladega Nights, and Sydney Sweeney.  

America is also the perfect balance of weirdness and normalcy. We have a colorful, bizarro cast of characters keeping life in our country spicy. Weird not in the Portland, Oregon, sense of the word. Good weird. Productive weird. It takes a weird observer of human nature to write a novel like The Great Gatsby. It takes a weird visionary to create a company like Apple from a garage in Northern California.  (Subscribe to MR. RIGHT, a weekly newsletter about modern masculinity)

Then we have normies, the people who make our country function, who make American suburbs beautiful and peaceful places to live. Lesser men smear them as empty suits, cogs in the machine, NPC bots trapped in the Matrix. Wrong. Normie competence, wealth and generosity are anything but ordinary. Without them, America would really turn into a third-world shithole.

So this Fourth of July, remember the good things about America. Yes, there are a lot of bad things going on in our country. The future can look bleak. But doomer pessimism ain’t gonna make it better. Cue up some Toby Keith, crack open another beer, and celebrate Independence Day like a true Patriot. Love America, warts and all.