"The Ten Best Aaron Sorkin Rants"

I don't like the man's politics, but he surely can write. #4--Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War--is particularly great. 

(Apparently, though, you'll have to look elsewhere for that particular clip. Sorry.)

Comments

[Ken]

The first rant is a fallacy of logic.

First, his claim is that the US is not the greatest country in the world because it's not as great as he believes it once was. Even if that were true, this does not imply that the US is not still the greatest country on earth.

Second, his claim is that what made the US great is apparently huge government expenditures (reaching for the stars and waging war on poverty, whatever the hell that means), not being the only nation on earth created based on the ideas of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, rather than geography and a common blood line.

Third, he claims there's no evidence that America is the greatest country in the world, yet more people immigrate to the US than ANY OTHER COUNTRY. The US alone accounts for 20% of the world's immigration.

Fourth, he never makes a claim about which countries are actually better. He rattles off other countries that have better metrics in one or two areas, but never brings forth a candidate for a country that is actually better.

I think the US could be greater than it is. I think there are problems, even serious ones, with the US. But this rant is completely misleading and logically incoherent.