>> every other country in the history of the world when it's history we rebuilt japan. >> when it comes to charity, americans give more than anyone, so why does he say? >> it is the crumbs off our table that we offer these countries. >> to be a black man -- >> -- race is a big problem, right? >> that is controlled by rich white people. >> or could the way america has handled race actually be something to be proud of? >> show me a racism today that is strong enough to prevent you and me from achieving the american dream. show it to me. >> no more hate speech on our campus. >> in canada, ann coulter was told she could not speak but in america we speak truth to power. >> you work for us. >> isn't that great about america? >> now, reporting from fox headquarters in new york, john stossel. >> john: one of the things that's great about america is that america is so prosperous. yet, some people have suffered during this recession. but, compared to every country in the history of the world, america is rich. so, why is america rich? one reason is that america's a good place to do business. >> a copy of -- give me a break. i'm told it's a wonderful book. >> i opened a business recently. i named it the stossel store and tried to sell my book and some fox stuff in downtown wilmington, delaware. >> do you want to buy a fox t-shirt? >> not right now. >> hey, i didn't say it was a smart business. but this ability to at least try to succeed is one reason that america is rich. >> you can sit on it and you don't have to leave -- >> this woman wants to sell an umbrella that has an extra part that keeps your seat dry. >> for me, i would love the product. >> a.j. markets products, mostly on tv. >> ultimate way to smooth beautiful feet. >> this one ped egg. he invites 30 to 50 inventors to pitch their idea. >> cleaning shouldn't be that much work. >> he gives each person five minutes to close a sale. >> the all in one toilet brush is the only brush you will ever need. >> his company is a success. it has close to a billion dollars in sales. >> put it on your head like so. >> he rejects most of the ideas. >> what's going to make this cut throughout clutter? >> the entrepreneurial spirit keeps the inventors tries. >> it comes in four different sizes. >> america is a society built on entrepreneurship. >> the man who wrote a book titled "what's so great about america says entrepreneurship. >> then turn right on oak street. >> is one of the things that makes america great. >> you've got mail. >> more than any place else america is a place where people invent things. the reasonable for that is that in america being in business is respectful. >> most other societies the businessman has been looked down upon. he has been seen as a sleazy guy. >> old europe gave merchants that nativitiy name. and merchants i can't were lower in status than artisans and soldiers. >> americans come along and invert this hierarchy and suddenly the entrepreneur is taken from the bottom of the heap and brought to the front. the right that is emphasized in the original constitution is not free speech or right to practice your religion. it's the right to have patents and copy rights. that helps explain why so many inventions come out of america. >> things like the transsister which radio. integrated circuit which made possible all those electronic devices. >> both came from american inventions that won nobel prizes. >> anthony sullivan here for the new swivel sweeper. >> pitch man anthony sullivan sells less important stuff. here he is helping this inventor make his own tv commercial for a portable seat back so fans in the bleachers can get back support. >> it fits most any bleacher to give you the true support and comfort. >> just click. installs in seconds. >> i know, gotcha. >> goes in one second. >> do it in one second then. >> sullivan sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of products. >> anthony sullivan here -- >> doing pitches like this. >> jupiter jack transmits quality sounds through the music in your car. instead of hearing music you hear the other glern as you can hear is he from britain. his business didn't thrive in britain. >> i found in he can gland if there was ten reasons you could do something there is 10 reasons why you couldn't do something, 20 reasons. you can't do that. there is a big difference doing business in europe, period and doing business over here. >> i don't find the same culture in other countries. they are not rooting for the underdog in other countries. americans are also more willing to invest in new ideas. the vast majority of venture capitalists are american. >> i have found in the states that people will give you a shot. >> all right. i'm in business. and in america, it's easier to start a business. >> fox stuff for sale. >> it took me less than a week to get legal permission for the stossel store. >> start a business. call me off the street come over and take my money. >> it would have taken much longer in europe. in iraq it takes an average 77 days. you have to get permit after permit. those are the rules in much of the world. >> because -- your business need to file 7/20 quarterly excise tax return? >> to be mayor american bureaucrats make it harder all the time. >> how do i know? >> i had to register with the delaware secretary of state, division of corporations. >> get a federal employee commercial number. register with the delaware state department of finance. >> in delaware, this can be done in just a few days and it was good i had done it legally. this wilmington cop came over to make sure i had my vending permit. >> it cost me $10. >> yeah, the city of wilmington will get. >> you all right. but i'm legal, right? >> yeah, you are legal. >> i picked delaware because we were told delaware and nevada have more business-friendly laws. >> it might be a dumb business but let's try it. >> bureaucrats are threatening this good part of america. i didn't even try to open a business in my hometown, new york city, because new york's bureaucracy is so ferocious i would have to spend weeks applying to the buildings department, zoning board, and more. the fastest growing parts of the world like hong kong make entrepreneurship easy. in hong kong, several years ago, i got a business permit in just one day. >> thank you, sir. >> it's a reason hong kong got rich. they encourage entrepreneurs to try. >> 11 bucks. >> there you go. >> a bargain: at least america is a close second. europe and much of asia have many more rules. >> i have started businesses in the uk and india. it takes at least a month or more just to open your doors. >> john: maybe even longer in france. america's relative freedom is a reason the american wine business is booming. >> if i want to grow -- can i grow. >> free to experiment. in france which built the wine business, government now decides which grapes can be grown, how you may prune them. when you may irrigate. when you can pick grapes. in the last five years french wine sales are down 17% while california's are up. >> not having the rules and regulations that they have in much of europe and particularly in france, we're able to experiment. >> you pay this for the books, i will throw in a t-shirt. >> at the stossel store, i was free to wheel and deal without government intervention. >> come on. >> you are a tough bargainer but there you go. >> thank you, sir. >> john: if my store is a bad idea and loads money in america it doesn't make me failure. in other places it would. >> if the farm fails that's evidence he is a complete failure. it's his firm, his idea, he tried it, he failed. is he failure. >> john: so people who fail don't try again. >> you know what? i tried my hand at business, it didn't work. now let me take a salaried job where i will have some security. >> john: that's not true in america. >> that's not true in america in this sense. in america start a company, it will fail, pretty soon he is starting a newspaper or he is now trying to export fish to japan. >> by reasonable experiments with the telephone. >> thomas edison had more than a thousand patents. we know about his successes like the light bulb. few people know that he failed much more often. he was fired by the telegraph office and he lost money on a cement company, in an iron business. henry ford's first company failed completely. dr. seuss is a's first book was rejected by 27 publicists. [cheers] >> oprah was fired from her first job as a reporter. a tv station called her unfit for tv. >> first wines just sucked. they were not very good at all but you learn. >> fox hats? great stuff here. fox coffee mugs? >> john: i took in a few hundred dollars. probably helped that i'm on tv. >> hello, sir. >> my wife loves to you death. >> i'm so glad. so do you want to buy something here? >> john: still, my business was a failure. my profit was too small to justify my investment. but i'm an american. i can try again. and that's one of the great things about america. >> there is something in the american temperament that says, you know, gosh, i lost seven times but that's okay. i think that's the resiliency of the american spirit. >> john: we'll be right back with more about what's great with more about what's great about america. ♪ my sunglasses. ♪ people say i'm forgetf. maybe that's why we go to so many memorable places. love the road you're on. the subaru outback. motor trend's 2010 sport/utility of the year. >> and now, what's great about america with john stossel. >> john: one more thing that's great about america is our military. now, when i say that, some people say what are you talking about, stossel? that's one of the worst parts of america. our military is too big. too expensive. they are bullies, imperialists. >> shut it down. >> john: these students want a recruiting office shut down. these claim that america went to iraq for oil. >> the violence of the u.s. imperial army. >> many people share cindy sheehan's beliefs. but what's the truth? reasonable people can argue that our intervening in somalia did somalia and us no good. but we made a terrible mistake fighting so long in vietnam. and that we shouldn't have invaded iraq. that's what these students are so upset about. >> the people united will never be defeated. >> very often students will accost me and say america has invaded all these countries. america invaded grey made da in 1983. american troops in bosnia and america invaded iraq. i say if america has invaded all these countries, how come we don't own them? >> good point. when the romans invaded europe, they kept it 400 years. they enslaved people. the spanish plundered what they called the new world and they made the native people their slaves. the british ruled india for 90 years. >> the british came to conquer and to rule. >> the french colon niced algeria. in fact, european countries took over most of africa for a hundred years. russia conquered more than a dozen country. and china still controls defendant's exhibit. by contrast, tibet. american military fought to achieve piece and then we went home. >> this ceremony officially marks mission complete. >> american troops go in. american troops pull out. we turn over the keys. they have their own election. they pick their own leaders. >> after we defeated germany and japan in world war ii, we pulled out most of our troops. and then spent billions sending them aid. >> every other country in the history of the word when it has defeated adversary they demand. pay us back. what did the united states do at the end the world war ii? the marshal plan. we sent money, no strings attached. >> the marshal plan signed by president truman under which billions of dollars of american aid were thrown to the support of the free nations of europe. >> we said thanks, we don't want anything for it we don't want reparations. >> since that world war america has acted like the world's policemen going into places like grenada, kosovo, bosnia but we always left. >> from the moment operation desert storm commenced. >> the first iraq war only lasted until the american military got the iraqis to lead kuwait. president bush refused calls to let our troops march into baghdad. >> the war is over. >> later, even when we were attacked, and after we bombed afghanistan in retaliation, the military dropped food, tents, blankets. and president obama has promised to pull our troops out of afghanistan and iraq. >> this war is ending and all of our troops are coming home. >> hail to the -- jail to the chief. >> george w. bush was accused ordering allied troops in baghdad. >> people say we went into iraq to get oil. >> it hasn't worked out real well, has it? we are about to leave iraq and we don't own those oil wells. >> in fact, fewer than 10% of the contracts iraq has signed have gone to american companies. instead of commandeering oil wells they built orphanages and water fewerification plants. >> i'm a naval officer my primary job is fixing ships. >> now is he supervising school construction in iraq. >> we could have gone in and disseminateed saddam hussein and taken off. that's probably what everybody else would have done. there was this idea that america has the responsibility to rebuild iraq the way we rebuilt germany, rebuilt japan after world war ii. i mean, that's not one of the obligations that comes with war to take over the country and start rebuilding and giving it money. putting its buildings back up that you knock down. typically empires have come to loots, to pillage, to rule, as the romans employed thieves they would essentially starve the population and leave no stone unturned. kill the men, enslave the women and children. how common is it for one military power to be feeding the civilians on the other side? >> john: look what the military does when there is a disaster? >> what happened when with we had the tsunami in indonesia? who went? the american military. >> k.t.'s daughter serves on a navy destroyer. she emailed her mom about the kindness of the military. >> our ships have doctors and corps men that will heal people. our machine also make safe drinking water out of salt water or dirty water. our chaplains can pray in your language and to your god. now, that's not a military that's going out to conquer lands and bring home treasures. >> more than any other country in protecting ourself interest we are also trying to make the world a better place. >> john: and that's something else good about america. >> john: another thing that's great about america is that americans are unusually charitable. so you wouldn't know that listening to some people complain. >> it is the crumbs off our table that we offer these countries. >> that's the singer bono at the white house complaining that americans don't give enough in foreign aid. >> how is their health? >> angelina jolie say we give so little it's disgusting. but is it true? no the opposite is true. when that tsunami hit, even though it was all the way on the other side of the world, americans donated much more than people from all the rest of the world. >> i ask every american to contribute as they are able to do so. >> iis true that the american government gives less foreign aid than other countries. at least as a percentage of our g.d.p. but american individuals give more. it was the same story after the haitian earthquake. >> nearly a week after the quake struck, the donations are soaring. >> everything that happens, we're the first people there. >> john: and when children are in need, americans are most likely to take them in. tim and jennifer pierson made countless trips to haiti with their two daughters trying to adopt two boys who had no parents. government bureaucrats made it hard. >> every day i would show up to the embassy with all of our paperwork and they would ask for something else and i would bring something else. > it's been probably the wildest week of my life. >> i can't tell what the future holds really. i just know that it's going to be wonderful. >> john: americans adopt more needy kids and orphans over seas than are adopted by all the rest of the world's countries combined. >> tim is happy to have sons who call him poppy. >> poppy! [ laughter ] >> it was just so good to feel them in our arms here and know we never have to say goodbye again. >> john: such charity is rarely seen in other countries. >> when i was growing up in india i learned a proverb that said the tears of stranger are only water. the idea is that you owe those who are near you. if somebody, however, is a stranger and comes to you with a problem, you wish them well but it's not your problem. so this idea of compassion and stretching to earthquake victims in haiti or famine victims in rwanda, that's a very wide compass of compassion. in america, it's the natural response. >> john: americans give twice as much of their income to charities as canadians, and ten times more than french people. >> people are always giving to causes. >> and americans volunteer time. billions of hours worth. >> i want to thank you so much for your service to this country. >> this charity helps world war ii vets come to washington to see their memorial at no cost. >> they are all in their 80's or 90's. and by the time it was built, so many of them they didn't have the resources to make the trip. so we make it possible for them. >> we just came out to surprise our dad on this very, very special day. >> all of a sudden somebody says dad, dad. i turned around and i thought i recognized that voice. here my two daughters and son-in-law and grandchildren are all standing there. they ran up crying, gave me a hug. i had tears, too. this was one of my finest days i will never ever forget. >> and charity can be as simple as a clean shirt. >> i have seen plenty of people just knock on my window and hold, you know, put their hands to their chest saying how nice it is. >> the vasquez dry cleaning suit will clean your suit for free if you are unemployed. >> i have had customers come in the store crying. >> how do they know the customer is really out of work. >> there have been a phony or two, you know. but when somebody comes in with a child and want to use it, you know, you hate to ask for proof. >> in recent weeks he cleaned 20 suits for free. this bowling alley in michigan held free boggle day. the unemployed got to bowl for free. then the bowling alley addressed another problem. >> some people are intimidated by going to employment agencies. >> so the alley invited employers and created a job fair at the bowling alley. 38 people got jobs. finally, in my town, these high school kids make home deliveries for a nearby business. not because they are being paid for it they aren't. but because their neighbor, ray, an immigrant from turkey was in trouble. >> i'm behind the rent for two months. >> when word of that got out, people took action. >> one day walked in and said did you pay your rent? i said no, i'm a little short. he reached in his pocket and handed me $200 and said go pay your rent. >> i'm ray's candy store, how can i help you? >> neighborhood kids volunteered to work for him. that's what this girl is doing. >> i gave up my saturday night because it's more important than going out with my friends. >> kids are great. they don't want money. they want to help me. >> do you know how to make ice cream? chocolate ice cream. >> they deliver day and night by skateboard and by bicycle. >> they hand me their money and they go home. neighbors also threw a fundraiser for ray, sold t-shirts and beer. that night $3,000 went to ray. >> we take care of each other. better than money. >> america the beautiful. >> america the beautiful. thanks to america, i made it. [ mosquitoes ] [ female announcer ] what's worse, mosquitoes... [ holds his breath ] ...or mosquito spray? huh! [ female announcer ] try off! clip-on personal mosquito repellent. lab tests show this sprayless repellent really repels. in minutes its fan surrounds you with proven off! protection... [ dive, repel ] ...wherever you're sitting. so, don't spray it on -- clip it on. on a table, chair...anywhere. off! clip-on. keeps bugs off! [ single buzz, swat! ] sc johnson. a family company. yep. but that's just the start. we have a great loyalty program. i'm listening. stick with us, and you keep earning bigger discounts and benefits like accident forgiveness. plus, it's free. wow! great. now let's get you initiated into the program. what is that? watch. here you go -- automatically enrolled. painless, right? totally painless. rewarding loyalty. now, that's progressive. call or click today. could take a week or more depending on when the ocean currents. oil discovered water is already polluting the beaches on florida's western shores. and vice president biden making a surprise trip to iraq. the vice president is meeting with u.s. military leaders. mr. biden set to spend the fourth of july with troops and call on iraqi leaders to resolve a critical impasse crippling their new government and general petraeus spending his first week on the ground in afghanistan since being put in charge of the war there. now back to "what's great about america." you're watching the most powerful name in news. fox news channel. >> and now, what's great about america with john stossel. >> john: america, has a race problem. a history of slavery, then jim crowe then segregation. even now many instances of racial hatred. it's a reason some people say america is anything but great. [shouting] >> america has had plenty of racial conflict. >> looters and arsonists took to the streets. >> john: hundreds of americans have been killed in race riots. and even now many people say the election of a first black president changed little. >> race relations have not improved as much as in the united states as a lot of people hoped they would. >> think about what america was like. >> i say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever. >> it's true that blacks have suffered a special fate in america. no other group was enslaved, no other group had jim crow laws of segregation directed against it no society has done more to combat that legacy. >> john: today actually, other nations may have more race-based violence. in france, charges of discrimination against dark skinned immigrants led to weeks of rioting. in russia last year whites attacked people who looked arab or looked like gypsies. 80 people were killed. this summer's world cup brought reyesists together but earlier this year south africa had race riots. given all that, america has done remarkably well. racial mixing is normal. one poll found that 80% of americans say they have a close friend of other race. and many americans work at being racially sensitive. >> there is such a desire today to bend over backwards not to give a fence on the ground of race that people will literally tip tow and do summer salts and pirouettes in order to avoid giving offense. >> jesse jackson -- he said to jackson. >> i concede in a big country you can find examples of it show me a racism today that is strong enough to prevent you or me or your children or my daughter from achieving the american dream. where is that kind of racism? show it to me. and the reverend jackson was taken aback but his argument was he said i can't show it to you but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. it just proves mat racism has gone underground. it's no longer overt, it's covert. what he was basically saying there was no evidence for it but i fear that is more. that is shows it no more insidious than ever. >> in other parts of the world, how many centuries it has taken. >> karen folan writes about race in don't bring home a white boy. >> my mother and father grew up in segregation. she has told me stories time and time again about her father being called boy. having colored restrooms. all of that is a part of her experience. all of that is to say rear pretty amazing here. in just two generations to have gone from segregation to a black american president is pretty impressive. we should celebrate that more. >> the bottom line of it, i think, is that the country has changed dramatically there is a little bit of a reluctance to admit that, but the people who know it are the immigrants. the immigrants who come here today are not white. >> manuel guterres. >> john: some are white but most are not. mostly interviewed at citizenship ceremonies talk about a lack of racism in america. >> once you get to know the things -- all those boundaries resolved. >> america is like a blend of everybody put together. >> coming from pakistan it's a lot better. i like it here. >> and liberty. >> they are claiming their share of the american dream. why? not because racism doesn't exist. but because it is now -- it's pretty easy to navigate around it. >> you never feel out of place? you have dark skin. you talk funny. >> i do. [ laughter ] or at least i -- yes. i haven't found it to be a barrier. i do think that if i were to wake up in the morning and say dinesh, you are a dark-skinned man living in white america, the people here don't like you, they are out to get you. if that is your operating assumption, if that is the spectacles you put on in the morning, i'm convinced you are going to find some evidence during the day and the week and the month that would seem to bear it out. >> john: there are people who do say there is plenty of racism in america. >> to be a black man living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people! >> but on the other hand if you have a different assumption, which is that, gee, you know, there are going to be some people who may not like me but there are some people who may actually think the fact that i'm different is actually a positive. i found that with that operating assumption, nothing is holding you back. >> kiss your beautiful bride. >> there you go. >> what better example of comfort with racial mixing is there than intramarriage. and in america, that's been increasing every year. over the last seven years, marriage between people of different races is up almost 20%. >> you married someone out your race. >> i married a girl from louisiana. if somebody is going to let you marry their daughter it's pretty hard to accuse them of being racist. >> the wedding created some anxiety. >> what will they think of this marriage of an indian guy and a southern girl from the bible belt. >> i found absolutely no problem. so even though i have been in quite conservative precincts of american life, which is where everyone tells you that's where, you know, you are going to find these deepest veins of american racism, i must say, to me, it's been -- it's been a case of i don't see it. >> john: web sites like this one cater to americans who like differences. karen folan tried it to expand her dating options. >> so i went on and met a very nice man. >> kevin is a businessman who had never dated a black woman before. >> karen's profile caught my attention right away. >> one year after they met, they got married. >> everyone should love who they love and let it be that. >> their marriage would not have been legal in some states until a 1967 supreme court ruling. >> up until then in a lot of the southern states and some even out west, you know a couple like ours could not legally be married. >> that's 40 years ago. not that long ago. >> in our lifetime. >> to go from that to interracial data site does a big change. >> one week you talk to my daughter one week she has a crush on a white kid. one week she has a crush on a black kid. they are seeing this from a completely different perspective. >> nine out of ten young people today, according to the pew research center are fine with having a close family member marry someone of another race. >> we all have our own little culture heritage that we celebrate and we are proud of and we brings to the table but at the end of the day i think the american part binds us together. >> so it's one more thing that is great about america. >> you look at intermarriage in america, it started small. the irish would marry the italians. that was considered a big deal. and then after a while the catholics began to marry the protestants and that was considered a bigger deal. and then after that the christians began to marry jews and that was considered a really big deal. and pretty soon little by little, those intermarriage walls have crumbled. and that really is the way of saying that we have become one society. >> coming up, in some countries, if you speak up, you could be killed. in america, we have a right to speak up. >> you work for us! >> john: and we do when what's great about america continues. ♪ we believe you're at your best when you can truly be yourself. and at holiday inn express, you always can. holiday inn express. stay you. and stay rewarded with the hit it big promotion-- earn up to $500 dollars at over 300 retailers. >> john: one more thing that's great about america is that americans are free to speak. we can say just about anything. says so right here in the constitution. congress shall pass no law bridging the freedom of speech. this makes a difference. it allows us to say even offensive things. but wait a second. why is that good? >> don't fear the terrorists. they are mothers and fathers. >> john: don't fear the terrorists? it's good that people are free to say such ridiculous and hurtful things. radical christianity is just as as islam. >> is it fair that this code pink. she intruded on his book signing. she is not arrested. >> you are going to rot in hell. >> let people have it out if you will. >> the author of "what's so great about america," argues that it is good that america has. >> a high degree of tolerance for sarcasm, abuse, blasphemy. criticism. >> john: these sound like bad things. sarcasm, blasphemy. >> but we allow them in a free society because they can also have a beneficial impact. they hold leaders to account. and that's very important the democratic society. >> no more hate speech on our campus. >> canada democratic but speech is limited. >> it's against the law to publish anything like at this to expose a person to hatred or contempt. likely to. that's a maybe future tense thing. you haven't even done anything wrong. you might in the future. might do what? expose someone to feelings? that's such a goofy law. anyone. >> kinder society. >> but literally, any one of us would cause hurt feelings to someone. >> no more hate speech on our campus. >> these canadian students said ann coulter should not be allowed to speak. >> i was right there in the room. a crowd of 2,000 folks crushing against the door. facebook page talked about throwing things, hurting her, getting arrested. >> but that's just mob violence. that's for the cops to deal with what was far more concerning to me is that the university's vice president wrote ann coulter a letter in advance threatening her with criminal prosecution if she gave her speech. >> lavant knows all about canadian speech prosecution because he was the editor of this magazine which reported those mohammed car tunes that led cartoons that led to riots around the world. >> we wanted to show our readers what the fuss was all about. >> he soon discovered that in canada the fuss was about him. >> one day a registered letter arrived at my office from something called the alberta human rights commission. it's a government agency and they said i had received a complaint against me for hate speech. i was ordered to come down to an interrogation. and for 90 minutes the most bizarre thing happened. a government bureaucrat grilled me on my religious and political views. and if i give the wrong answer, i would be subject to fines other other punishments. >> john: you brought a camera to videotape? >> i knew it was going to be so offensive to our liberal sensibilities. >> are there other owners? >> i went home and uploaded some of these video clips to youtube. that weekend it became the fifth most watched video on all the internet. >> the video is dull but almost a million people have watched it. >> do you think the average person looking at those. >> john: it's good news if that means poem don't like the fact that. >> there were 15 government bureaucrats and lawyers on my case. i was stimulus program for lawyers for almost three years. i was being prosecuted for a hate crime. >> john: canada has a free speech law. >> we sort of have an asterisk next to our freedom of speech in our constitution. there is no asterisk on the first amendment in the states. in canada, all of our freedoms are subject to reasonable compromise. >> you can argue forever about what is reasonable. >> and that's one of the problems. with such a vague rule as that, the censorship provisions can become political weapons to censor certain sides of the argument. i was shown the truth. these cartoons were published in denmark. caused some riots. 240 people were killed in the riots. that's the news. if the news can hurt someone's feelings and that's against the law nothing is safe. >> the news is safe in america. there is censorship, comedy central cren censored south park's mohammed. this is one private company that chose to censor its own product. when government censors, no one may speak. in canada, government censors selectively. >> a couple comedians in toronto hired an airplane to toe -- tow an airplane that says jesus sucks. he filed a complaint with the human rights commission calling that hate speech it was thrown out. >> but the islam case was pursued. >> i myself have been subject to five defamation claims. three human rights complaints for standing up for freedom of speech. >> john: eventually you won. >> i don't know if i called it winning. i still had $100,000 in legal fees. the imam that complained against me didn't have to spend a penny. all the lawyers and the bureaucrats were paid for by taxpayers. >> john: some places speaking out can get you killed. one chinese students criticized the powerful, the government killed hundreds of them. we don't know what happened to this student who courageously, temporarily stopped the tanks. he hasn't been seen since. in rugs sharks even the richest man in the country can't speak out. here he is, he dared challenge vladimir putin. now he sits in jail. in austria, this british writer was jailed for a year for writing a book that denied the holocaust. france fined the actress brigitte burr do you 10,000 for insighting racial hatred. she wrote a book called islamification in france. in venezuela. >> last month a pro government gang attacked. >> shuts down tv stations that criticize. in america, we have free speech that allowed the citizen journalists to uncover fraud at acorn. could the acorn sting have been pulled off in other countries? the man who promoted it says probably not. >> they don't have a first amendment in britain. they don't have a first amendment in canada. >> the first amendment allows citizen journalism and all sorts of citizenship speech. >> you work for us. >> john: people are free to criticize members of government and they do. they get right in politicians faces. >> you and your cronies in the government do this kind of stuff all the time. >> john: it's one more thing that's great about america. coming up. is this what our freedoms add up to? >> ladies and gentlemen, the human -- >> john: a nation consumed with crass commercialism? that's next when what's great about america continues. xox >> and now what's great about america with john stossel. >> john: there is plenty not to like about america. people say we americans work too much. that we are all about money. materialism. crass commercialism. well, there is plenty of that right here outside my office. many people say what's good about this? [sirens] >> all that noise? gody flashy lights wasting energy. america is assess a cesspool. all these people shouted. >> comedy show. >> hocking their wears. wares. >> look at this depraved man promoting his freak show. >> the hammer of doom. >> he spends his day whack ago nail into his face. the side show was born in america. it's strictly an american tradition. some people call this just gross american commercialism. what's good about this part of america. >> just remember for most. >> and all that garbage. >> materialism is gross usually for people who have a lot. but for most of the world, that is trying to make that transition from poverty to comfort, this is a big benefit, a big gain because it symbolizes a life in which you are liberated from grinding necessity. >> john: whatever america's detractors say it's just a fact that this is the country people from all over the world want to come to. >> i was born and raised in monterey, mexico. >> greek. >> ukraine. >> guyana. >> many took long, arguous trips to reach this foreign land and become american. >> in america you can become the irish, the italians, the jews, today the koreans, the west indies, you can become american. >> i wouldn't trade this place for the world. >> we often think about america as great because of the constitution, the bill of rights, and all these documents and ideas. >> john: well, they are good. >> they are good. i'm an immigrant to america and i didn't come for documents. what to me is great about america is that the major decisions of your life are shaped by you. >> people with express themselves. be whoever they want to be. >> that's not true in much of the world. >> if i stayed in india, there is a very good chance i would have become an engineer or a doctor like my grandfather or maybe a computer programmer. so i would have gone -- it's not that i would have no choice. >> john: just what you are expected to do. >> influenced by how are, your place in the family, what your parents did. you are social lived into a very particular track in life. >> in some countries, i my mean, you don't have the right to decide what profession you want to be in. can sometimes be based on family or class. >> nicole came here from the dutch antilles to be a dancer. and she made it. here she is dancing on broadway. she even got her picture on the theater marquee, finding out about it only after her roommate called and said. >> you have to come down to 49th street because you are on the marquee of the building. did i not believe her until i came down here and saw it myself. >> john: at the famous madame tussauds' wax museum artists sculpted. >> pressure to you follow -- it's up to you. >> john: even if you want to hammer nails in your face. >> it's so cool to come out here and shock people in a fun way. he grosses me out but who am toy judge? some people like watching him. and he makes a living doing what he likes to do. tom grew up in a poor family in the bronx. but worked his way into this job installing the big signs that make times square times square. >> i'm one of the luckiest guys. >> because he lives in america. a country that offers opportunity to people who had little before. it's a country with a legacy of racism that now celebrates its diversity. a nation called selfish that, in fact, gives much more to charity than any other nation. a country with a much criticized military that's unique in history for winning wars and then, instead of conquering, trying to make friends. a land where we are free to speak. >> you work for us! >> start new businesses. >> my book. >> and constantly i object know vat. all of that is great about america. and great things happen in america because america is a place where we get to write the script of our own lives. wherever that may be. ♪ >> john: that's our program for tonight. i'm john stossel. thanks for watching. ♪ presenting the cadillac "summer's best" sales event. a fantastic opportunity to get a great offer on a new cadillac cts sport sedan... ..the most acclaimed vehicle in its class and a car and driver 10 best third year in a row. summer brings out the best in all of us, so now's the perfect time to get behind the wheel of a brand new cadillac. now during cadillac's summer's best sales event... get zero percent apr financing for 72 months or this attractive lease offer on a cts sport sedan.