10 Things Most Americans Don?t Know About America

[Darkmantle]

You're right, the 10+ years of medical/surgical training I do after undergrad shouldn't be reimbursed at all. You provide a compelling alternative...?

doctors make quite a lot here in Canada actually, we aren't paying them pennies. Public health care is the government putting aside money for medical care to pay doctors, not just stiffing them on the bill.

 

[Radoh]

How about point #11: "Your country isn't the only part of the world called America".

Yeah, yeah I'm being pedantic but I've never liked that the country with the least unique name in the world assumed the mantle of an entire continent. Canadians, Mexicans, Bolivians, Barbadians, Jamaicans, Brazilians etc are all Americans, too.

It's shorthand.
What's easier, America or The United States of America?
In the same way China is really The People's Republic of China, Italy is really the Italian Republic, and my personal favorite, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is really the UK, it is simply made for well, simplicity.
No one, and I mean no one thinks that we are the entirety of two continents all congealed in a single country.

 

[MyNameIsNowNotMyName]

Most if this crap was pretty obvious, and I hope most of my fellow countrymen know/aren't affected by, this stuff. Interesting read, nonetheless. Lots of generalization though, this doesn't really speak for most Americans though.

 

[DarkRyter]

Generalisations.

Generalizations as far as the eye can see.

From sea to shining sea.

Yeah? Congratulations on your reading comprehension. Now why do I get the feeling you somehow think that generalizations are inherently evil?.

In this case, it implies that all Americans act the same. As though "Americans" as a group is some sort of unified capitalist hive mind that doesn't understand geography.

There is only one thing true of all Americans. They're Americans, mostly.

 

[shrekfan246]

This article is a good insight into the mindset held by a particularly self-congratulatory strain of grad student, the type who's done a little traveling and therefore knows everything. I doubt this phenomenon is particular to America, either.

Any resemblance to how other Americans think or live is purely coincidental. The US is one of the largest and most ethnically and culturally diverse nations on the planet. That someone thinks they can give us all a one-size-fits-all lecture says more about them than us.

Yeah, what this guy said. Those generalizations could be made of practically any other nation on this planet, and other generalizations could be made of them too. Obviously if you're going to cast such a wide net, you're going to catch some people with it, but this says nothing about "America" (by which I'm pretty sure he means "The United States") as a whole because it's, quite frankly, impossible to say anything concrete about "America" as a whole. Just between the North and South US there are so many differences that I wouldn't be comfortable trying to compare them. To say nothing about Canada and Mexico, which should be at least included it you're going to try a catch-all "America" name.

 

[AnarchistFish]

9. We Are Very Unhealthy

Unless you have cancer or something equally dire, the health care system in the US sucks. The World Health Organization ranked the US 37th in the world for health care, despite the fact that we spend the most per capita by a large margin.

Wow. I'd have thought that private healthcare might actually make it better on a fundamental level compared to our over bureaucratic NHS (not that I'd ever sacrifice the NHS for a private system). But yeah, I don't get why people try to make out that the "Americans being unhealthy" thing is a stereotype when it's so fucking obvious.

The quality of care for an individual patient in the US is significantly better than under the NHS. The reason America is ranked so low in terms of healthcare is because it's ridiculously expensive and there are many instances of people being outright refused proper care because they can't afford it. It's nothing to do with the care itself and more the structure around it.

That's what I thought before. Misread it.

 

[The Great JT]

Here are my thoughts on the Ten Things.

1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
I'm not even impressed by us. I'm impressed by individuals, Americans included, but not by the entirety of us.

2. Few People Hate Us
I'm glad for that. Hate me because of who I am, not because of what country I live in. And even then, please don't hate me, I'm generally a nice person.

3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
I admit I know very little about what's going on in my own country, the entirety of the world is way over my head.

4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
Sorry. I do try to say please and thank you, but I have my moments when I don't.

5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
And if you're comfortable with the quality of life you have, what then?

6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
I'm glad to hear that.

7. We're Paranoid
Hey, it's only paranoia when someone's not out to get you. I'm kidding. It's fully likely that we're living in as close to a police state as one can get without directly quoting 1984.

8. We're Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
Me personally, no. As a whole, yeah we are.

9. We Are Very Unhealthy
Well you see how healthy you are after "winning" the genetic lottery.

10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
I'm happy with being comfortable.

 

[The Funslinger]

2. Few People Hate Us

That statement I can agree with.

I've never hated America, like the post said, I rarely think about it.

I've met some decent Americans over the years throughout my travels and i've met some arseholes .... same as every other country.

This, except I actually do know a lot of people that spout hate and abuse on the subject of America, completely mindlessly. Seems to be just because it's the "in" thing.

I just ask how many Americans these people have actually met (usually zero) I ask them what they hate about America. Usually, I don't get a straight answer, and if I do, it's a stereotype "lol they're so fat and stupid", to which I respond "and we British people have poor dentistry, are tea obsessive and closet gay, obviously".

So while I do actually see a lot of American hate from people around me (yes, these are teenagers) it's very shallow and uninformed, obviously because the person just feels that's the expected point of view for them to have.

 

[-|-]

What a load of old cliched bollocks. Typical septic, 20 years behind everyone else in their thinking, but still considers themselves ahead.

 

[Omgsarge]

Well that's what happens when you make your country based so much around capitalism. Don't get why Americans overwork themselves.

*puts on his Bill O'Reilly face* What are you, a Communist? Sounds like a communist to me. Also sounds like a Nazi cause, you know, Nazis are obviously from the left...

brrr out yee demons!

Honestly, many people will happily agree with these points because they just fit so well into the world's stereotypical perception of America. Of course, not everything applies to everyone and these types of people are present in most western countries. Its just my impression that the cultural environment in America provides excellent breeding conditions for people, who fit these descriptions pretty well. More so than other countries.

This topic reminds me of the time when I went to study at the Oslo University in Norway for two semesters. You could often hear American students scream all over the campus even though the guy they were talking to was just next to them. They just just stuck out like a sore thumb. I spoke with a few Norwegian and American students about this and they all pretty much said "yep, thats what they/we do". (Curiously enough, the quieter and more reserved Americans were also annoyed at their louder colleagues behaviour)

But of course, everybody is different. I like America, honestly. Its a good country with mostly good intentions but...they are also responsible for a lot of frustrating and depressing things in the world. Like, really frustrating.

I'm just glad I'm from Germany the most EXCELLENTEST and PERFECTIEST country in the world that has the best of everything, always......well, mostly beer and food I guess.

 

[Deimateos]

I find it sad that the highest compliment I can be paid, according to my British friends, is that I'm not like most USAmericans...and that I do a more accurate Scottish accent than the TF2 Demo-man.

 

[Von Strimmer]

All of a sudden I want to travel.

(Australian, by the way, but a lot of those things apply to us too.)

Yeah, I found a few of those points hit close to home with Australia. Still I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

O/T In regards to travelling though, everywhere can be dangerous if you aren't informed about your area. For example I wouldn't want to be travelling through South Africa at night, the backstreets of Hong Kong... Or Logan in general considering the horror stories surrounding such ventures.

Interesting read, many generalisations though.

 

[ZephrC]

Generalisations.

Generalizations as far as the eye can see.

From sea to shining sea.

Yeah? Congratulations on your reading comprehension. Now why do I get the feeling you somehow think that generalizations are inherently evil?.

In this case, it implies that all Americans act the same. As though "Americans" as a group is some sort of unified capitalist hive mind that doesn't understand geography.

There is only one thing true of all Americans. They're Americans, mostly.

No. It doesn't imply that at all. Why would you possibly think anyone was dumb enough to believe that?

Generalizations are only ever true generally. That's why they're called generalizations. If a majority of the members of a group believe something then it is generally true that members of that group believe it, even if there are exceptions.

It's stupid to apply generalizations down to individuals for that very reason, and we have fought and are still fighting to prevent that, but that doesn't make generalizations wrong or useless. Just confined in their use.

 

[Amaror]

In liquidity, you'd be right. The US has the largest and most prolific industrial centers in the world however (as of 2 years ago at least), and that makes up for a hell of a lot of liquid wealth.

Yeah that's right.
I am sorry but considering your current economic situation it doesn't seem to "make up for it" enough...

 

[Deathmageddon]

Hmm, I thought that would be stuff like the first five presidents. (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe - No wikipedia necessary, *****. 'Murica!)

 

[Blade_125]

Interesting read. I live in Canada, and haven't travelled much in the US, so I can't say for sure that these braod generalizations apply. I can say for sure that American media sure makes it seem like these braod generalizations apply. Maybe that is the problem.

I see these crazy debates on health care and it blows my mind that people think universal health care is wrong. Usually the response is how do we pay for it. Well your officials could look here in Canada, or England, any other western European country, Japan, (does australia have universal health care?). There are examples in the world to start on.

Really I think the biggest issue America faces can be summed up here.

"It's a two party system. You have to vote for one of us."

"Maybe I'll vote for a third party."

"Go ahead. Throw your vote away."

(Can you believe that I can't find this simpsons video anywhere online.)

 

[siomasm]

Hey! I can make a thread like this too!

"Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements, Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements, Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements, Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements, Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements, Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements, Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements, Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements, Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements, Massive generalizations, uneducated opinions, ignorant statements"

Any topic that attempts to encompass the entire populace of a nation; especially one with numerous subcultures varying across states,extremely varied cultural backgrounds and a heaping helping of misinformation VIA our own media and those of other nations, is virtually bound to be impossible to accurately cover with generalizations.

 

[AnarchistFish]

You could often hear American students scream all over the campus even though the guy they were talking to was just next to them. They just just stuck out like a sore thumb. I spoke with a few Norwegian and American students about this and they all pretty much said "yep, thats what they/we do". (Curiously enough, the quieter and more reserved Americans were also annoyed at their louder colleagues behaviour)

Yeah, I went somewhere on holiday once where everywhere you went you could hear Americans talking really loudly. I was certain that about 2/3 of everyone there was American but it turned out that there were actually more British people, you could just never hear them so it felt like they were outnumbered.

*puts on his Bill O'Reilly face* What are you, a Communist? Sounds like a communist to me.

Well I'm French, so..

 

[Lovagrend]

I wish i could afford to go wonder the world and see the sights and meet the people. Ive noticed that america kinda went crazy after 9/11 as an american i constantly worry about where were headed. Ive lost faith in my government and every time i watch news and debates and pretty much anything to do with national issues I want to slap people and scream at them telling them there all idiots lol... im glad though there are smart people that are trying to change this country but its going to take something big to change the mindset of americans and change the politics.