Five Reasons America Is The Best

U.S.A.! U.S.- ahem, uh, yeah. Got a little carried away there after reading the subtitle. But that’s all right, ‘cause it’s the 4th of July, and that means it’s time to celebrate all things star spangled. Per tradition, we’ve put together an abridged list of what makes this country is so damn great, including stuff we build, stuff we invent, stuff that makes us fast, stuff that makes us original, and stuff that makes us awesome. So put down that beer can, extinguish the fuse on that M-80, and come get your patriot on.

Of course, we could have made this list much, much longer if we wanted to, but hey – it’s a national holiday, and you’ve probably got burgers to attend to. So in the spirit of drive-thru fast food, let’s get right to the meat of the matter.

Continue reading for the full story.

We Build Stuff

We’ve all heard the naysayers – “America doesn’t build anything anymore!”

Wrong, bucko. We build lots of stuff, including cars.

In fact, Cars.com has an index that tracks which models are the most American-made. At the top is a car you probably wouldn’t expect – the Toyota Camry.

Right, so it doesn’t come with a fire-breathing V-8, unless, of course, you count the NASCAR version, which, uh, I don’t. But that’s okay! The Camry should still be considered a red-white-and-blue all-star.

Why? Well, consider this – the Camry is built in an 8.1-million-square-foot plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, using parts sourced from over 270 different U.S.-based suppliers. What’s more, a lot of the design and engineering work came from American brains.

In total, Toyota has five assembly plants in the U.S., and another five manufacturing facilities. The automaker also employs 35,000 Americans, nearly 25,000 of which work in manufacturing.

Kinda puts a new spin on that whole “buy American” thing, right? But that’s a topic for another day…

We Invent Stuff

Say what you will about American intelligence – well, actually, maybe you shouldn’t. The point I’m trying to make is that we’re still a nation of inventors, and you don’t have to look far to find the next big future tech to be created by a stateside egghead.

Case in point – the Bionic Leaf 2.0. Created by a pair of researchers from Harvard University, it’s basically a system of artificial photosynthesis that can split water into its individual elements (hydrogen and oxygen). The hydrogen can then be used to create liquid fuels, making for an efficient, clean, and reliable source of go-juice.

He’s another example – the 3D-Printed Utility Vehicle created by the U.S. Department of Energy. Recently featured on an episode of ever, the PUV is powered by a hybrid-electric drivetrain and natural-gas range extender, with options for charging through solar. It can even send electricity back to your house completely wirelessly.

Bonus – Robosaurus

If you were even remotely aware of 2016’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, this one should’ve been obvious. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ll explain.

Back in the ‘60s, Ford was lining up to buy Ferrari. As the deal was nearing finalization, the American automaker spent a few million bucks to audit the Prancing Horse’s assets and seal the deal. As the story goes, Enzo pulled out at the last minute after a disagreement over who’d be running Ferrari’s motorsports program.

Henry Ford II was pissed. His answer: beat Ferrari on the racetrack. But not just any race would do; Ford wanted to beat Ferrari in something high profile, so he chose the most prestigious endurance race in the world, a race that Ferrari was winning consistently – Le Mans.

But to win at Le Mans, Ford needed a car, and thus, the GT40 was born. After failing to best Ferrari in 1964 and 1965, the Blue Oval finally clinched top honors in 1966, going 1-2-3 for an all-Ford podium. And just to make sure the point was hammered home, Ford continued to win, following the ’66 victory with first-place finishes in ’67, ’68, ‘and ’69.

Five decades later, Ford returned to Le Mans with the successor to the GT40, taking yet another win from Ferrari.

We Left Europe Before It Was Cool

So I presume you heard about Brexit… how England voted to leave the European Union? It seems to be getting a lot of attention lately, but at the risk of being called a hipster, I just wanna remind everyone that the U.S. did it first.

In fact, that’s what this whole Independence Day thing is all about, right? Leaving Europe or whatever? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

We’ve Got Monster Trucks

Four feet of ground clearance. Four-digit horsepower figures. Tires bigger than a Smart car.

If you ever need a reminder of America’s awesomeness, look no further than Monster Trucks. And we don’t just make ‘em big and bad, we make ‘em fast too. Check out the Raminator, which in addition to having one of the most ruthless names ever conceived, is capable of going nearly 100 mph.

I think we’re gonna need more bionic leafs.