CreateDebate


Debate Info

Debate Score:12
Arguments:18
Total Votes:15
More Stats

Argument Ratio

side graph
 
 When Was America Greatest? (8)

Debate Creator

IAmSparticus(1516) pic



When Was America Greatest?

In light of Trump's slogan "Make America Great again", what period of time do you believe America was at its greatest, and why?
Add New Argument
2 points

During the Reagan Presidency:

1. We grew stronger economically

2. We grew Stronger as a military

3. The middle class was allowed to prosper

IAmSparticus(1516) Clarified
1 point

1. We grew stronger economically

Average GDP growth per quarter for Reagan's administration was less than that of Kennedy (#1), Johnson (#2) and Clinton (#3).

2. We grew Stronger as a military

We have grown stronger as a military under almost every President, and Reagan didn't preside over the largest buildup. Additionally, Reagan continued an arms race that put a very real long term strain on our economy and led to the destabilization of many countries that remain hot-spots to this day.

3. The middle class was allowed to prosper

But it was under Reagan when the middle class prospered the most.

So if Reagan doesn't make the top of your three criteria, why do you pick the 80's as the time when America was greatest?

1 point

You can't be the best at everything. It is the combination of doing so well in those categories.

1 point

Excellent post, man. I feel the same about Bonzo: A greatly overrated president, whom history will in time show to be have been mediocre at best. (see my post for more on why I claim this.)

Thanks.

SS

SlapShot(2608) Disputed
1 point

But the middle class began to prosper decades before Bonzo got into the White House.

Middle Class prosperity in the USA began shortly after the end of WWII.

And then pretty much continued unabated for the next 40 years.

And I am not so sure we grew stronger militarily under Bonzo, either.

We DID kick both Japan and Germany's collective asses during WWII. At which time--from between 1941 and 1945--the country basically tuened into one giant machine shop.

Our military was not really that fearsome in the 80s. It is more accurate to say that our primary nemesis then, the USSR, went bankrupt trying to keep up with us in defense spending. Their demise of course began with their ill-fated invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. That 10-year long war was pretty much their own Vietnam.

Reagan and his famous, "Tear down that wall, Mr. Gorbachev" quote has been very overrated as being termed a factor in the dissolution of East Germany and the USSR. And the Communist Bloc.

That is, the Gorbachev didn't all of a sudden hear Reagan and say, "Yeah, OK Ronnie! I am so scared of you guys I will get on that ASAP!"

LOL

NO. The USSR was simply going bankrupt. The Wall and the USSR would have fallen in the same amount of time even if Reagan had not uttered those words. Along with his many other soundbites against Russia.

Lastly, and in regards to us growing stronger economically under Reagan. Well, that depends on who "us" was. Maybe if you were an already wealthy corporation of Large Business Owner. Or--thanks to his deregulation policies, a Wall Street type. But Reaganomics DID have a significant fall-out. Not that much different from the 2008 sub-prime meltdown. Many of Reagan's economic policies have since been discredited as being unsustainable by a good portion of professional economists.

So overall, IMHO Reagan was a greatly overrated POTUS. And history will bear this out. And in fact already he is suffering from falling status in many lists of The Best Presidents Ever. To me he was a middling president, with his strong suit being using his acting and public speaking abilities. He WAS the master of the Soundbite. Ahead of his time. I will give him that. But he was also know to be very lazy and impatient with detail work and the finer points of policy.

To answer the OP, I believe we ARE still the Greatest Country on The Planet. Though I admit the playing field has been somewhat leveled since 9/11. Thanks by and large to another cowboy, Bush the Junior.

We were the Greatest during the entire 20th Century.

Hence it being called.....................

THE AMERICAN CENTURY!!!

SS

1 point

I honestly don't know very much about this topic, but I'd have to say America was greatest when JFK was President. Call me naive, but I still believe JFK was the last true President, which is why he was assassinated. After that, I think America really started to get into secret societies and collusion that the people don't know about. I really think the greatest moment that could have been was taken from us when JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. were taken from us. There are very few men I can honestly say I believed in when they spoke, except for them. Of course there are many good people of influence since then, but not sure how much power and influence they were able to have compared to JFK and MLK Jr.

IAmSparticus(1516) Clarified
1 point

What was it about the time period under JFK's presidency that you believe made it Americas greatest time?

logicaljoe(529) Clarified
1 point

Thanks for asking. When I meant the greatest time, it wasn't about the actual GDP, the actual prosperity and high standard of living, or anything physical. Why I felt like this was the greatest time for America was because of the beliefs, value system we had in place starting from the top (JFK) and spreading down grassroots to the local (Martin Luther King Jr). While on paper, it will not show that America was at it's greatest when JFK and MLK Jr were present, the fact that we had two figures who challenged the establishment and really wanted to give the power to the people and run a TRUE democracy, was at this time. There's no question in my mind that we do not live in a TRUE democracy anymore and haven't for decades. It's been slowly and steadily turning into something else as evident in all the losses in civil liberties, personal freedoms, that we are giving up one by one year by year. We are owned by the system, we are owned by corporations, industries, etc., and it's clear that the people's interest is not and has never been for a long time the top priority of those in power. They give us breadcrumbs to keep us content, but clearly, something else is going on/down....the exact very thing that JFK and MLK Jr pointed out would happen and they were right. That's why they were killed because they were the most dangerous people to the "xxxxx" whatever is going on behind closed doors.