Definition of BLESSED

: held in reverence : venerated <the blessed saints> b : honored in worship : hallowed <the blessed Trinity> c : beatific <a blessed visitation>
: of or enjoying happiness; specifically : enjoying the bliss of heaven —used as a title for a beatified person
: bringing pleasure, contentment, or good fortune

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I think it is important to think consciously about these definitions that we use.

Has all kind of weather from the hot tropic of TX and FL to the freezing Winsconsin, Idaho from the mountains of Colorado and Montana to the plains of Kentucky

Its also a very massive  country. A road drive from Dalhart TX to Harlingen TX takes 15hours and you are still within the same state.

oyinda.:

I don't consider myself to be more blessed than others.
and i consider only a few people to be more blessed than me. what these people have are not tangible values.

i think you get an idea of my opinion by now. and i'm sure you have yours too that makes sense to you which i understand.

@ochungal,
haha I just read reviews of it on Amazon and I can see why you refer to the book.
Somethings from the reviews reminded me of such news as these:

Africa as waste and toxic dump: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7543489.stm
Africans as medical guinea pigs: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,517805,00.html
etc

the question is how do you define "blessed" as opposed to "successful"?

  Successful is the correct word. Read that book and others like it and you'll  see that the success was made on the blood and soul of many.

the op's question defines blessed as:

Everything about the USA stands out. In politics, economy, sports, music, movies (Hollywood), lifestyle. Everything! Why are they so great? Is it how God destined it (are they the new Isreal), or is it just how things played out? What explains that supremacy of almost everything American?

ie why is america so successful at everything she does [not counting a couple of wars here and there].






well, for one, i think america cornered the entertainment market early on. This has helped a lot.

the entertainment niche is also diverse, reflecting the rich multicultural heritage of most americans though admittedly this is a more recent thing since before, blacks were negatively portrayed as we can still notice on BET a lot of the time.

America places value on science. An American discovered electricity and invented the telephone.

America showed the world Capitalism doesnt necessarily have to be a bad thing.

oyinda.:

I don't consider myself to be more blessed than others.
and i consider only a few people to be more blessed than me. what these people have are not tangible values.

So your opinion about Nigeria being blessed more than others doesnt necessarily have any factual backing.

So what tangible things do we have in Nigeria that makes us better than US or other countries. I am just curious.


Then the thing about killing the natives, Well It happens almost everywhere in the ancient times war was the thing.

We hear about Alexander the great and his exploits, Ghenghis Kahn, even in Nigeria Uthman Dan Fodio brought war on the natives and killed many of the inhabitants of the Geographical entity called Nigeria today and installed his descendants as rulers over many places

Why didnt other countries that killed natives build an empire as strong. Arabs also took blacks as slaves Can we ask why they also didnt build a strong country ?

Oyinda: I notice that the word "Blessed" is used by people who have cut ties with their country of birth, or those who dream of coming to the states. Therefore, held in Reverence until they get to customs   and worst if they land in New York City during day light, and see the concrete jungle, homeless people and dirty streets.

ochungal:

Oyinda: I notice that the word "Blessed" is used by people who have cut ties with their country of birth, or those who dream of coming to the states. Therefore, held in Reverence until they get to customs   and worst if they land in New York City during day light, and see the concrete jungle, homeless people and dirty streets.

it is also used by people within Nigeria.
I thought the same way while i was in Nigeria. That Americans were God's chosen. God Bless America etc. (read the OP's reference to americans being God's new Israel)
the rhetoric is very powerful i must say.

dayokanu:

So your opinion about Nigeria being blessed more than others doesnt necessarily have any factual backing.
So what tangible things do we have in Nigeria that makes us better than US or other countries. I am just curious.
Then the thing about killing the natives, Well It happens almost everywhere in the ancient times war was the thing.
We hear about Alexander the great and his exploits, Ghenghis Kahn, even in Nigeria Uthman Dan Fodio brought war on the natives and killed many of the inhabitants of the Geographical entity called Nigeria today and installed his descendants as rulers over many places
Why didnt other countries that killed natives build an empire as strong. Arabs also took blacks as slaves Can we ask why they also didnt build a strong country ?

what factual things make you better than your neighbor?
does faith have a factual backing? blessing and religion go hand in hand to me. that's why i think success is different. success can be backed with facts and therefore is more appropriate to use to define US status.

for the second part of your post, you must think in terms of temporal scale. The United States didn't have the strongest empire 150 years ago. and i'm 100% sure it will not have the strongest empire 150 years from today.
The arabs built a strong empire in the past and they waned. Same with the romans, mongols etc. you have to apply the factor of time and stop thinking as if America has always been the greatest empire and will always be. Another will take its place in the future. etc.

Oyinda: RHETORIC alright   That's what the pilgrims (New Jerusalem) thought at first until they nearly died off and then reverted to their barbarian ways. Notice the word "Salem" as in Salem, Massachussets, infamous for burning people for withcraft. Then they turn around and talk about "bless".  How bless where the Natives who were slaughterd because they lived on prime land and refuse to adhere to the religion of these strange looking people? How bless where the Africans (My forefathers/mothers) who were auctioned off for less than a horse and treated less than the house dog?

I wonder if the author even know that if he or his children ever catch chickenpox he can consider himself bless. Thanks to the decendants of America who placed blankets in fowl sh!t coops and then distribute them to the Indians on the long journey that was a force march that lead to their death.

Bless are those who knows better. "one nation under god", lol what happen to the rest of nations? lol

oyinda.:

what factual things make you better than your neighbor?
does faith have a factual backing? blessing and religion go hand in hand to me. that's why i think success is different. success can be backed with facts and therefore is more appropriate to use to define US status.

for the second part of your post, you must think in terms of temporal scale. The United States didn't have the strongest empire 150 years ago. and i'm 100% sure it will not have the strongest empire 150 years from today.
The arabs built a strong empire in the past and they waned. Same with the romans, mongols etc. you have to apply the factor of time and stop thinking as if America has always been the greatest empire and will always be. Another will take its place in the future. etc.

What makes you so sure about that? For some inexplicable reason I believe America is the last super-power. . .before life as we know it comes to an end.

kabukabu50:

This post is so ridiculously funny,I don't even know hwere to start tearing down your straw house of conspiracy theories, How come Africans/Asians/ do so well in the US compared to American blacks and whites?

kabukabu I know they say opinions are like as.sholes ie  everyone has one but it continues to amaze me when i hear people dismiss  perfectly rational arguments as CONSPIRACY THEORIES. 

I would really appreciate it if you could at least show some courage and rebut some of the arguments that i made.

You see the problem with nigerians like you who find themselves in a country like america is that you have been seduced by the bright lights, the fast cars and the materialism.   You sound like someone who never imagined they would ever leave the shores of nigeria and being in america is now a dream come true for you.

You look around and see so much affluence and you crave it like a junkie craves crack cocaine.  In  your blind pursuit of materialism you do not stop to try and understand the society that you live in and how it came to be the way it is.

To be honest i dont blame you, poverty has a way of destroying a person's ability to think rationally.

But im afraid im going to have to burst your little bubble and wake you up to reality - the american dream is a ploy created by the white elite of america which is designed to trick people into working harder and longer in order to attain something that they will probably never acheive ie riches beyond their imagination.

This dream was actually designed  for whites because the american nation was founded on the doctrine of white supremacy, america exists today because it wiped out the native population of america , used the labour of enslaved africans to build and develop its economy , annexed neighbouring land and now appropriates the wealth of weaker nations using its various multinational organisations in order to further enrich itself.

america as a nation was founded by and for the descendants of northern (and later southern) european settlers , at no point in america's history were blacks ever regarded as being full fledged citizens of american society, indeed Abraham Lincoln referred to african american slaves as "an alien race" which has no real place in our nation - go and look it up - these are his words not mine.

You have to ask yourself why african americans to date are still fighting for equality in a nation that was built on the sweat and blood of their ancestors.

The truth is that they were not regarded as part of american society, now that is the rule with regard to blacks in america, however there are exceptions to the rule and  as i said in my earlier post those exceptions apply mainly to blacks who excel in the fields of sports and entertainment, blacks who MANAGE TO climb the socio economic ladder outside these areas are mainly TOKENS who have been placed there by whites for a reason which is usually beneficial to the white person and not to the black person.

Like i said earlier succesful blacks in america are USUALLY ENTERTAINERS not doctors, lawyers, scientists, researchers, writers or physicists, ENTERTAINERS - surely that should tell you something is not right with a society which only recognises the talent of a black person only when they are providing entertainment.

This is not to say that you do not FIND blacks in the other fields - of course you do but how many of them are given the prominence, recognition and respect that BLACK ENTERTAINERS are given?

All the successful african american celebrities are who they are today because they have agreed to compromise their black identity and in some cases their dignity - Will Smith , Jada Pinkett  , Eddie Murphy , Halle Berry , Morgan Freeman  you see to be successful as a black person in hollywood you have to play the game - the game is set up by the hollywood machine which is run by rich jews - if you want to be rich , you have to forget about your dignity, forget about your race and even in some cases forget about your family in order to fit in.  Because many blacks come from extreme poverty they think like you and they compromise everything about themselves until the whites throw them onto the scrap heap when they are no longer useful (Michael Jackson).

perhaps none of this is getting through to you but if you take off those rose tinted glasses that you've been wearing since you arrived in america and start viewing life in america through the lens of reality as opposed to viewing it through a BET lens you will find that what i am telling you is the truth.

In response to what you say about Africans being more successful in america than african americans or even whites - i can only laugh at your self delusion - there is a difference between acquiring qualifications and being able to use those qualifications to obtain employment, yes africans particularly nigerians are known for acquiring qualifications but if your prospective employer is a white man who does not want africans working in his establishment what do you do with that qualification.?

You have failed to recognise that the whites still own and run the system, he who pays the piper dictates the tune.

Asians unlike africans understand that you cant become successful if you have to go to someone to ask them for a job and that is why many of them set up their own businesses, how many blacks in america own and control substantial businesses in america which employ their own people ?

cap28:

In response to what you say about Africans being more successful in america than african americans or even whites - i can only laugh at your self delusion - there is a difference between acquiring qualifications and being able to use those qualifications to obtain employment, yes africans particularly nigerians are known for acquiring qualifications but if your prospective employer is a white man who does not want africans working in his establishment what do you do with that qualification.?

You have failed to recognise that the whites still own and run the system, he who pays the piper dictates the tune.

Asians unlike africans understand that you cant become successful if you have to go to someone to ask them for a job and that is why many of them set up their own businesses, how many blacks in america own and control substantial businesses in america which employ their own people ?

You are a very very clever guy is what I have to say, even though you are indeed a conspiracy theorist.lol Your post shows a comprehensive understanding of the American system.
[Maybe this kabukabu guy should tell us what his job title is for instance instead of just coming out with corny scripted generalisations. ]
Of course what gives real sustainable wealth and freedom in America is running your own successful business, not going cap in hand to a white man looking for a job of work.

tensor777:

You are a very very clever guy is what I have to say, even though you are indeed a conspiracy theorist.lol Your post shows a comprehensive understanding of the American system.
[Maybe this kabukabu guy should tell us what his job title is for instance instead of just coming out with corny scripted generalisations. ]
Of course what gives real sustainable wealth and freedom in America is running your own successful business, not going cap in hand to a white man looking for a job of work.

thanks tensor i just needed to straigten out kabukabu's muddled mindset!!!!

everything i have said can be checked up - research all the points i have raised and you will see that they are definitely not conspiracy theories.

tensor777:

You are a very very clever guy is what I have to say, even though you are indeed a conspiracy theorist.lol Your post shows a comprehensive understanding of the American system.
[Maybe this kabukabu guy should tell us what his job title is for instance instead of just coming out with corny scripted generalisations. ]
Of course what gives real sustainable wealth and freedom in America is running your own successful business, not going cap in hand to a white man looking for a job of work.

Guy, you just basically typed what I was going to post!  

@cap28, bang on point, good description. One thing though:

A Nigerian/African can get to England/America and exclaim 'Lawd, these people are so blessed!' simply because the British/American elite have been able to create a system that works for them, with very tangible and visible output. For him, he can find nothing back home that even compares to what he is seeing. Truth is, it's not really his fault, but in his own environment, there is really no elite willing or capable to produce anything even remotely close to what he is experiencing. His experiences, his culture and traditions, his mindset even, is only able to process what he's experiencing: technology, good roads, infrastructure, etc, etc, even a means of livelihood that is not available back home.

Asians are different, their cultures and beliefs have remained largely intact across generations, and they don't seem to be fazed or overwhelmed by civilization the way we Africans are. Call it slavery or colonialism, something has happened to erode our self-belief, and that is where the issue is.

AjanleKoko:

Guy, you just basically typed what I was going to post! 

@cap28, bang on point, good description. One thing though:

A Nigerian/African can get to England/America and exclaim 'Lawd, these people are so blessed!' simply because the British/American elite have been able to create a system that works for them, with very tangible and visible output. For him, he can find nothing back home that even compares to what he is seeing. Truth is, it's not really his fault, but in his own environment, there is really no elite willing or capable to produce anything even remotely close to what he is experiencing. His experiences, his culture and traditions, his mindset even, is only able to process what he's experiencing: technology, good roads, infrastructure, etc, etc, even a means of livelihood that is not available back home.

Asians are different, their cultures and beliefs have remained largely intact across generations, and they don't seem to be fazed or overwhelmed by civilization the way we Africans are. Call it slavery or colonialism, something has happened to erode our self-belief, and that is where the issue is.

thanks bros, yeah you're right our people marvel when they go to europe or america forgetting that someone somewhere paid a price for those so called acheivements.

If you go to belgium you will find that its a very beautiful country, many of its towns are well developed with beautiful infrastructure, but the wealth of belgium was built on the genocide of the congolese people, former King Leopold of beligum annexed  what is now known as the DR Congo and drained off the entire revenue generated from rubber and diverted it into belgium's public coffers -(i wont even go into the reign of terror he unleashed on the congolese people - its too depressing)  that is how belgium was able to compete with other european countries, and that is the source of belgium's ill gotten wealth.

you know our only hope as a race is to build a black nation that will serve our political and economic needs, Nigeria is still the last hope for the black race because we have the manpower, the skills and i beleive if we can refocus and disengage from western influence the determination to make it happen.

It is impossible for blacks to ever achieve equality in a foreign land like europe or america - look at the african americans, despite years of struggle they are still fighting a system which will never recognise them as equals.

oyinda.:


Today, China is rising fast and the US is scared shitless about this. If you read papers like the economist, u will see what I mean.

I.don't.think.so!

The economist likes to propagate the erroneous idea that  China and India will creep up on the U.S.A's global supremacy. No denying, China has had roaring levels of growth in the past few decades that have seen it ease past it's moody neighbor Japan as the world's second largest economy. But  China's ascent into the new economic front won't be sustainable as recent trends currently reveal: their growth gains were scored on the back of cheap labour, but hey labour by itself  is a finite resource and China's out-sized young working population wont hold up for too long as a fallout of  its primitive one-parent- a- child policy.

American Commentators like to carp about how US educational standards have slipped relatively in recent times compared to other western countries,however,  the US is still the ideas capital of the world. They have the best universities and though Chinese students still go there en masse to learn the tricks of the trade and return back home to build. It's hard to imagine how that model of intellectual capital transfer would  guarantee supremacy either.

Moreover, the US is an idea anchored on liberty and freedom, values that are clearly in short supply in the Communist equivalent. China will do fine, but I honestly don't think they'll ever live up to the illusory hype currently on sale by members of the fourth estate

For all those who is making mouth about China, your great great grantchildren will never live to see China take over from USA. Even if China do, then get ready to move back to your ghetto in Nigeria because China will not allow people to go to their country and have all the freedom everyone is having today in USA. China will never have a DV lottery visa for anybody like the USA. A country that already have one child policy will never accept flow of immigrants like USA do. USA is the reason China is moving on with economically because USA citizens buys things from China more than combined the rest of the world together. Lets put it this way. If USA goes down, the rest of the world will follow and example is the recession that we just when through.

USA is great because they take care of their. China do not give a shit about their own people not talk of others. If Nigeria should have public welfare today, the whole systems will be corrupt because all 200 million plus Nigerian including the governments, the dead and living, and including Nigerians that lived in abroad will apply for public assistant.

For those who said that people work hard to make a living in USA; so they should sit down like the lazy people in Nigeria who doesn't want to do anything but to Wait for presidents who suppose to be planning for their burial ground site to come and continue looting.


Hard work is what make a country and good living. Pay check to pay check is 100 times better than graduating and no job until you go to your grave or manager to travel out. Put USA dollar, UK pounds, EU currency and China Yuan on the street of Nigeria, and let the public choose currency and the country they will prefer to be. USA will top the chart.

I do not want to meassure anybody but those that talk shit about USA, why are you still in USA instead of China or Nigeria you are praying for. You mates are suffering in Nigeria and China while you hide on one save heaven in USA city and still making mouth.

look at the african americans, despite years of struggle they are still fighting a system which will never recognise them as equals.

 

Whereas that is true, We DO NOT want to go anywhere else.,

We are MORE AMERICAN than the 50 millions whites that immigrated here from the 1830's-1920's.

IT was a UGLY struggle for my people.

yet, WE FOUGHT for ours!!!!

then they dropped DRUGGS in the community AND created archaic laws to create a Jail industry on Black men to have a permanent underclass. When Africans have their children they too will become African Americans and dream that they too will become the rich 1% tht America BLAST around the world - when in reality they are nothing more than working class stiffs , RUNNING on a TREADMILL

But whats bad in being a working class person where you earn more than most of your colleagues doing the same job elsewhere in the world?

How come the Indians and Chinese come to the US and succeed even their children even excel more.

Are you insinuating there is a deliberate conspiracy against black people specifically?

does more automatically mean better?

Definitely more in this case means better.

The average living conditions and purchasing power of an American worker is more and better than 90% of anywhere else in the world doing the same profession.

I only know of/familiar with 2 countries: Nigeria and America.

Compare any profession and see who earns more and live better (The only profession that would be an exception is Politicians)

dayokanu:

Definitely more in this case means better.

The average living conditions and purchasing power of an American worker is more and better than 90% of anywhere else in the world doing the same profession.

I only know of/familiar with 2 countries: Nigeria and America.

Compare any profession and see who earns more and live better (The only profession that would be an exception is Politicians)

Surprisingly, telecom engineers as well.
In fact most telecom engineers prefer gigs in Africa, cos they get paid better. It's common to find people turning down offers from Cingular and AT&T to go to Congo Brazaville.

dayokanu:

Definitely more in this case means better.

The average living conditions and purchasing power of an American worker is more and better than 90% of anywhere else in the world doing the same profession.

then that should tell you to adjust your comparisons and make them relative to the contexts of different countries.

a supersize mac and soda doesnt automatically translate to a better quality of living.

tpiah:

then that should tell you to adjust your comparisons and make them relative to the contexts of different countries.

a supersize mac and soda doesnt automatically translate to a better quality of living.

So what should we compare a Doctor in US to in China, India or Nigeria?

What should we compare a McDonald staff to in China India and Nigeria? I would think the equivalent of a McDonald staff is someone who works in Mr Biggs.

That singular reason makes it easy for US to draw skilled workers from most countries in the world.

A person eating a supersize Mac and Soda in US. If you find the equivalent in other countries is most likely going hungry or eating 0-1-1

The worst person in America still gets to eat Big Mac and soda, The worst person in Nigeria drinks Garri once a day

Definitely more in this case means better.

The average living conditions and purchasing power of an American worker is more and better than 90% of anywhere else in the world doing the same profession.

I only know of/familiar with 2 countries: Nigeria and America.

Compare any profession and see who earns more and live better (The only profession that would be an exception is Politicians)

The problem I find with YOU AND SO MANY OF YOUR AFRICAN BRETHEREN is that you THINK AND FEEL like you are in the Elite 1% but YOUR INCOME is in the Bottom LOWER rung.

Just Because you are now living in a DEVELOPED country you now THINK AND FEEL like you are apart of the UPPER CRUST when everything around you says otherwise.  You bought LOCK STOCK AND BARRELL into the HEGEMONIC White View that the Media Sold you.  Yet, the Truth is, You will probably DIE ALONE with NO ONE  around you, And your Nigerian community willl put two dimes together to bury another poor Broke African.

HENCE - YOU ARE NOT IN THE UPPER CLASS - YOU DREAM OF BEING IN IT , like so many Americans who will NEVER get their.  This is the Classic POOR WHITE CONCEPT.

 Accept your life as a Wage SLAVE and make the best of it, and STOP believing EVERTHING the MEDIA tells you.

A person eating a supersize Mac and Soda in US. If you find the equivalent in other countries is most likely going hungry or eating 0-1-1

The worst person in America still gets to eat Big Mac and soda, The worst person in Nigeria drinks Garri once a day

McDonalds is LOSERS FOOD Bruh.


Its for poor people and it spreads your A$$ and Kill you on the inside.

Stop eating grinded up cow butt/testes/head man

dayokanu:

So what should we compare a Doctor in US to in China, India or Nigeria?

Are you aware OBGYNs are in huge demand in the US because many american doctors tend to shy away from that specialty?

What should we compare a McDonald staff to in China India and Nigeria? I would think the equivalent of a McDonald staff is someone who works in Mr Biggs.

what's the average cost of living in both countries.

That singular reason makes it easy for US to draw skilled workers from most countries in the world.

no one is arguing about that.

btw what do you call expatriate oil workers in nigeria?

A person eating a supersize Mac and Soda in US. If you find the equivalent in other countries is most likely going hungry or eating 0-1-1

supersize mac and soda is deadly. That's my point.

eating 0-1-1 is what many people in america are even trying to do in the name of dieting.

The worst person in America still gets to eat Big Mac and soda, The worst person in Nigeria drinks Garri once a day

drink garri and be healthy.

eat supersize mac and soda, and land in the emergency room every so often.

what gives?

i am not saying nigeria is better than america.

but lets get a little perspective.

MandingoII:

The problem I find with YOU AND SO MANY OF YOUR AFRICAN BRETHEREN is that you THINK AND FEEL like you are in the Elite 1% but YOUR INCOME is in the Bottom LOWER rung.

Just Because you are now living in a DEVELOPED country you now THINK AND FEEL like you are apart of the UPPER CRUST when everything around you says otherwise.  You bought LOCK STOCK AND BARRELL into the HEGEMONIC White View that the Media Sold you.  Yet, the Truth is, You will probably DIE ALONE with NO ONE  around you, And your Nigerian community willl put two dimes together to bury another poor Broke African.

HENCE - YOU ARE NOT IN THE UPPER CLASS - YOU DREAM OF BEING IN IT , like so many Americans who will NEVER get their.  This is the Classic POOR WHITE CONCEPT.

 Accept your life as a Wage SLAVE and make the best of it, and STOP believing EVERTHING the MEDIA tells you.

I think comprehension is what you lack here.
Who thinks they are in the top 1% Does anyone know my name like they do Zuckerberg, Gates or Buffet?

So anyone who doesnt fall into your self pity party and thinks of how he can make his life better is an enemy

The fact is the US is a MUCH more enabling environment for success than most immigrants home country. Hence the hustle for the US visa everywhere in the world.

Anyone denying this is purely delusional.

Drink Garri and Be Healthy?? ROFLMAO!!!!!

What doctor/dietitian came up with this one?

someone's here to fight for big mac and mystery meats.

and the supersonic sized big gulpy.

even if they package hay for them to eat, they'll be happy as long as the label says america.