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Took 14 months with Congressional intervention just to get my partner a immigrant visa -- which is presumably the easiest. America has been so obsessed with th

Took 14 months with Congressional intervention just to get my partner a immigrant visa -- which is presumably the easiest. America has been so obsessed with thinking of itself as the "best country in the world!(TM)" for so long, it has meanwhile regressed into a failed state.

joelrunyon 11y ago
As much as the US has inefficiencies, the hyperbole is a bit strong. There's quite a difference between being the "best country in the world" and a "failed state."
scintill76 11y ago
American Exceptionalism, etc. bother me too (an American), but it seems a bit incongruous to call it a failed state while simultaneously relating the story of someone desiring to immigrate to it so badly that they'd wait 14 months and get Congress to intervene. If it's so failed, your partner can leave and I'm sure someone else will be happy to come.
- davepage 11y ago
  Of course I am a hypocrite. My partner wants to visit the US; I would prefer to live elsewhere. But, sometimes compromise is needed in relationships. 'failed state' is certainly hyperbole here -- there are large elements of society which continue to function, despite the problems at the national government level. It would truly be a failed state if, for example, the national government's performance level were propagated to the whole society.
DrScump 11y ago
Why would you bring your partner into a "failed state?"
ajkjk 11y ago
Certainly the mindset/passive prejudice that America is the "best country in the world (TM)" did not become a thing because of our once-fast Visa processing times.
tallanvor 11y ago
Those types of visa issues are common in many countries, especially in Western Europe. Not to say that the US hasn't made a lot of stupid laws and policies around immigration, but they're not alone.
umanwizard 11y ago
The U.S. is only dysfunctional if you compare it to a small minority of handpicked countries, mostly Western/Northern European ones. So this amounts to saying that the U.S. is dysfunctional compared to the most developed part of the world, which is almost a tautology.
dba7dba 11y ago
Whoa, easy there. It's not very hard to find a failed state. And US is not one of them.

joelrunyon 11y ago

As much as the US has inefficiencies, the hyperbole is a bit strong. There's quite a difference between being the "best country in the world" and a "failed state."

scintill76 11y ago

American Exceptionalism, etc. bother me too (an American), but it seems a bit incongruous to call it a failed state while simultaneously relating the story of someone desiring to immigrate to it so badly that they'd wait 14 months and get Congress to intervene. If it's so failed, your partner can leave and I'm sure someone else will be happy to come.

davepage 11y ago
Of course I am a hypocrite. My partner wants to visit the US; I would prefer to live elsewhere. But, sometimes compromise is needed in relationships. 'failed state' is certainly hyperbole here -- there are large elements of society which continue to function, despite the problems at the national government level. It would truly be a failed state if, for example, the national government's performance level were propagated to the whole society.

DrScump 11y ago

Why would you bring your partner into a "failed state?"

ajkjk 11y ago

Certainly the mindset/passive prejudice that America is the "best country in the world (TM)" did not become a thing because of our once-fast Visa processing times.

tallanvor 11y ago

Those types of visa issues are common in many countries, especially in Western Europe. Not to say that the US hasn't made a lot of stupid laws and policies around immigration, but they're not alone.

umanwizard 11y ago

The U.S. is only dysfunctional if you compare it to a small minority of handpicked countries, mostly Western/Northern European ones. So this amounts to saying that the U.S. is dysfunctional compared to the most developed part of the world, which is almost a tautology.

dba7dba 11y ago

Whoa, easy there. It's not very hard to find a failed state. And US is not one of them.