Shaun KingVerified account

THREAD. The United States is not the best country in the world. This is not a diss, but an assessment of complicated facts & metrics.

You're playing emotional checkers with this angle fam. Stop telling Americans to feel ashamed of their country. Losing tactic

Ending American exceptionalism =/= being ashamed of your country. It is not a binary position. You can have mixed opinions on your nation.

1. Saying that the United States is NOT the best country in the world isn't hateful or unpatriotic. If anything, it's quite the opposite.

My father moved to Switzerland from the US 28 years ago. I lived in the US for a couple years when I was younger, and didn't understand why

.. he didn't want us stay there. I'm now at university here, and am so grateful to have had the chance to live in a social state.

I'm so happy to have had the chance to get a cheap education and live in a true social state. My father gave me the best gift by moving here

2. Sorry for the sports metaphor, but imagine someone saying my hometown Brooklyn Nets are the best team in the NBA. They aren't. Period.

3. It's not loving or respectful to call the Brooklyn Nets the best team in the NBA. It's dumb. It also won't help them get better.

4. Using only facts, figures, & comprehensive studies, I will press my case on how the US is not the best nation in the world. Not close.

The other countries in the world aren't better.

That's demonstrably untrue, Libby.

I disagree w the primacy of King's standards of measurement

What measurable statistic would you use to gauge a country's "greatness"? Longevity, quality of healthcare, lack of poverty?

I don't think measuring 'greatness,' statistically or otherwise, is a worthwhile endeavor

I, for one, appreciate low murder rates and high college attendance percentages.

Sure, but greatness is not a quantifiable measurement bc it's entirely subjective