10 Things Most Americans Don?t Know About America
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America is going to keep being singled out because its the most powerful country in the world, its the price you're just going to have to pay and in the grand scheme its a pretty small one so suck it up.Buretsu said:
By the standards of the Western World America is pretty bad about that, by the standards of the entire world its fairly average.Sparrow said:
I'm sorry, but you should read the previous posts because what you said is completely irrelevant. The point was never who hates or loves America, but the people who convinced themselves that they are hated.Buretsu said:
I'm not American. I am just saying that a lot of people have been cultivating the assumption that since "everyone" (i.e. a couple of retards that think that Americans carry assault rifles on the streets) hates America, they must be the best country ever.Wolf In A Bear Suit said:
I've heard some Americans spitting the same delusional bull since I was a kid. Now it's caught on, it's everywhere on the interwebs.
Personally I don't think you can qualify a country as "the best". But I think we all agree that hate not always means jealousy, specially if there aren't that many people who hate the US.
The article also don't provide any definitive evidence that those claims are true, either. That in and of itself makes it a fairly weak premise. The entire basis of his argument seems to be "from what I've seen". I've been all across my own country, and I see the behavior of people varies greatly from region to region. In fact, I'd hardly say I see enough consistent behavior to try and define the whole with any standard set of traits. What applies to some doesn't often apply to all others. In terms of the people I know, that's a large number of people. Thousands in my area I've met and talked to over time. I've yet to hear many people think that Americans did anything other than come in at the tail end of WW2 and drop some nukes on Japan. I've yet to see many people say Americans were the core focal point of Vietnam. I've yet see many people think America "invented democracy" (one of the most ignorant things I've heard). People do tend to think Americans won their independence because they "schooled" the British. I'll give him that. However, people know Americans are unhealthy fucks and that the quality of life around the world is not as shitty as this guy claims we think it is. People know that others around the world don't obsess over America (though it does seem like people in other countries do vaguely pay attention to American politics, but we aren't exclusive in that regard). I do agree that we are globally uninformed, many people don't seem to be aware of current global events that aren't featured on CNN or trending on twitter (or have to do with the royal family). I'm not an exception to this. Many of us do live hollow empty lives for the sake of security, but this isn't an exclusively American trait. I'd say that Japan has it FAR worse than us in this regard. I can't really comment about paranoia in a comparative sense. The only things that really seem as "hyped up" as he claims are our advertisements. Not a single person I know finds mundane activities "totally awesome". Quite the opposite. People dislike attention whores. One-upping is fairly common though, but that declines with age.X10Unit1 said:
The pervasive exception to the above are parts of the deep south, where people are, unfortunately, genuinely fucking stupid. This does not apply to all of the south, however, as many seem to think it does. I could go on but I'm tired of writing about this.
The guy also contradicts himself several times in the article.
You'd also be wrong about me being outside the country. I've been to Canada, Italy, France, Japan, Belgium, and Germany. I have no idea what you mean by "eye opening". In Europe they tend to make chit chat about their country or whatever limited knowledge they have about American politics if they speak English. They might go off about other things (often times the arts, since that's my area of interest). People are more direct in Europe, I've noticed (which is something I had to acclimate to). They're also much more family oriented. In Belgium I found people are very warm; I absolutely LOVED Belgium. That may be because my best friend's wife is Belgian, though, so we were with a local most of the time. People are very non-judgmental about who you are as well. The age gaps seem to also matter a bit less. Their fries are fairly amazing. Japan was a bit awkward. Most people seemed a little nervous, like you were about to commit a faux-pas or something. Very friendly/polite though (though I have no doubt they were silently judging me). Anyway, like the article said, people are just people. I obviously didn't manage to integrate myself well into any other culture, so I might not have heard what people 'really' thought about me or America, but I don't see how that would change my views about my own country. I don't think we're great, not at all. I just don't see this guy as really saying many things that seem "on the nose".
I like how you say "the rest of the world" like you're FROM everywhere but America. Was their a massive poll? They must have sent out a questionnaire to a massive sampling asking:Suki_ said:
"Can you wrap your mind around some of the things Americans do?
yes ___
no ___
Thank you for your participation. Please turn this in to your nearest American embassy get a free BIG MAC*
*[small]© Mcdonalds[/small]"
You're using phrases like "we" and "you" when you're talking about the media. It's television and movies and newspapers that present us with the stereotypes which we then go and ape in reality which in turn feeds the media.Sparrow said:
You can no more judge america by the media than you can judge sharks by "Jaws"... Sure it may have some basis in reality but most of what you see is exaggerated for effect.
Yeah sorry,but they usually show Americans like rich and wealthy pricks how spend there money on big houses and yachts,and we europeans also see the blacks always dealing drugs,and the teen agers as idiots who just want to get laid....I'm looking at YOU MTV!!axlryder said:
I completly agree,but here's the thing.People who don't travel to lets say America don't REALLY know much about America,makes sence,right?Well the only way those people can get a clue how America really looks like,is through television or through conversations with americans...But most usually do the first thing....And what do they show in america?Jersey shore,16 and pregnent,Fox news (if you can call them news),mythbusters(they are really cool,but have WAY too many explosions to be taken seriously),american chopper...the list goes on and on.And before 'mericans say that they have other smart shows,they don't show those shows here,it can be for two reasonsaxlryder said:
ONE:My country is stupid...And it is but I think it is because of the second reason
TWO:Those shows are POPULAR!
To look at something from a different perspective means to view it differently, thus changing your views. I've been to those countries. There are differences from the US, sure, but nothing so radical as you implied and certainly nothing that would warrant perceptions that I couldn't have already gleaned from within my own country. If my perspective didn't change based on the nature of the environment, the they would have to change based on the word of the people (which would be silly). I don't think I was the one misunderstanding.X10Unit1 said:
As to contradictions? Not really. Yes you could say that me calling his premise weak by virtue of being all opinions is a bit hypocritical; however, I don't have a problem combating purely anecdotal evidence with my own anecdotal accounts. If he threw out some statistics or studies then perhaps I'd be more inclined to throw around my own (though tbh, I don't consider this a topic worth researching atm). The rest of my account can be summed up by "yes some things are partially true, but most of it isn't as widely applicable or exclusive as this guy implies, and if it is then many Americans aren't ignorant of it." Also, even if I did contradict myself. So? The burden of proof is on the guy making the initial claims. You can't just hand wave his errors by pointing out someone else's.
Actually, you are still not understanding. But that's okay. You can look at something from a different perspective and still keep your original opinion of it. If the change you imply is having more data, then I would agree.axlryder said:
So far, we have you down as a hypocrite and contradicting by your own words. Anything else you would like to add?
I will admit you are right about one thing, the burden of proof is on the OP. However, if you truly want to counter him, it doesn't mean you can't provide facts to backup your counter argument. The excuse of "not worth researching" or "he is using anecdotal evidence then so can I" doesn't work either.
I think you're wrong. It's nearly impossible to view or perceive something differently while simultaneously feeling the exact same way about it. There is an intrinsic conscious or subconscious shift that happens when we obtain new information or a new perspective on something that is inherently different from our initial perceptions. It is possible that one might obtain new information that supports their current perceptions, but that wouldn't typically be defined as "eye opening" and result from the realization that "there are great and terrible things about this country". In which case, you should work on your communications skills instead of blaming others for misunderstanding you. You can still verbally keep the same general opinion while looking at something differently, yes, but then I NEVER said you couldn't.X10Unit1 said:
Also, I'm not a hypocrite, I said "it may seem hypocritical". I didn't qualify it as that, as hypocrisy is defined as claiming to possess certain qualities. I never claimed my argument was backed with hard data or a strong one, I just said his initial argument was weak because it had none after you whined about my own counter being weak. I also never said I actually contradicted myself (because I didn't). What's more, I just don't want to counter the OP with data, I've explained this. I find my own experience to be counter enough. I don't want to do useless research against something that I don't care that much about and hasn't been argued very well in the first place. Maybe in your little world where people have infinite time to waste on matters they care little about it doesn't work as an excuse, but in my real world where people actually have jobs and don't feel like doing research papers in their spare time, it works just fine. I never went into this claiming my opinion was fact. You also have provided no significant input, which I guess makes your place here is fairly useless. If my rebuttal doesn't satisfy you, then do your own research.
