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It's not a lie. It's a point of view. It's a declaration of intent. Being #1 isn't a privilege, it's a responsibility, and a choice.
Sorry, bullshit.
It's always "we're the beat, we're the best at X" whereas the reality is that you have rampant poverty, institutionalized racism (hello US police forces!), shit and unaffordable healthcare with (apparently) doctors who put their religion over their Hippocratic oath, unaffordable education which doesn't get you a good job anymore anyways, you don't work to live, you live to work, you have almost no vacation days whatsoever, you have no free days agter when your baby is born,you can't do anything anymore without a car, you have no freedoms, but they convinced you that parading around military style weapons is freedom somehow. You teach little children at school that sex is wrong, but it's good to knoe what to do when the next mass murderer visits your school again. Your police is racist, uneducated, inept, and corrupt..... I could go on, but you get the idea.
Sorry, America sucks, to paraphrase someone else in this thread: it's a third world country wearing the mask of a first world country.
Right. Being #1 means being the best. "We are the best at X" is an equivalent statement to "We're #1".
Not disputing that.
What I'm saying is that both of those statements can be, and are, statements of intent.
You really think a pizza place claiming "The best pizza in NYC!" thinks they're stating an objective fact? No, they're stating their commitment to acting as if that's their role. It's a commitment to excellence and striving.
Yeaaahhh, about that.
First of all that's not how language works. If you say A but then when called out on it say "well actually I meant b to be like a" then you're just lying
Then, that intent kind of becomes questionable too when your pizza parlor is rat infested and your pizzas are covered in mold. The US has great things, like all countries, but all takeb together I consider it a third world nation that ban barely get by.
The vast majority of people I see declaring we're #1 are taking credit for it but not working to be the best in the world. It's the people who are saying we shouldn't help other people outside the US (or even inside). It's not a declaration of intent for most people. It's a badge of pride that they don't deserve and don't intend to maintain.
If it actually were used like you imply, I don't doubt we would be the best. It would require us working to improve the world around us, not just benefit ourselves. Usually it's said out of nationalism though, not optimism.