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Originally Posted by phrontist
Nation(a)lism has a negative connotation. Nationalism is not a vice per se, Nationalism without justification is. The fact stands that America has lead the world technologically for the majority of its history. This may change soon.
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I don't mean to be picky, but the US has not been a leader in technology for very long. Anyone who's taken American history classes knows that the US depended on inventions from the real leaders, mainly Great Britain and Germany, for a very long time. The Industrial Revolution, for example, started on the other side of the Atlantic. The steam engine, the entire textile industry, and the beginning of the iron/steel industries were all pioneered by scientists and engineers in Europe.
edit: The Industrial Revolution DID NOT begin in the United States. It began in Great Britain. The US did improve these fields, particularly in production, and gradually became a major player in the world of technology, but it really wasn't recognized as a world leader in technology until post-WWI when much of Europe was in pieces.
edit: The US has been in a position of leadership in technology for about a century now, however, this is only abour 100 years of a 230 year existance, and much of our recent success has come from the fact that the world wars were fought oversees and not near our major cities and industrial areas. The US has led the world in manufacturing and manufacturing techniques since the beginning of the 1800s. Forgive me if I'm not getting all the details down 100%, as it's been 2 years since I took AP US.
My point is that the US hasn't always been the dominant country in politics, economics, and technology, and there really isn't any particular reason why it should be compared to other countries. Many people seem to think that Americans now have a right to be #1, but that kind of hidebound thinking is misled and potentially dangerous.
This is going to sound corny, but here goes: The US used to be a relatively small "rookie" country, if you will, and now as a big country it seems our team members resent other rookies trying to emulate our success. In FIRST, we honor and give out awards to teams who support others, especially rookies, but when we think about politics we take on a totally different attitude? Does that make any sense to anyone else?