Do other countries really think ALL americans are stupid?

[nlaq]

*ahem* i do believe, my good man, that the former post was meant as a lighthearted remark, which you took all to seriously. in doing so, you, essentially, acted like a quick tempered, and to be frank, somewhat dim chap. this is why most foreign societies thing us yanks are a bit slow, as we are far too easy to anger more often than not and prefer to sling insults at one another, rather than, you know, speaking peacefully. as adults. wot wot, pip pip and all that blather. and i notice you spent a meticulous amount of time typing properly, and then insinuated he was not an original english speaker, then insulting a culture you don't know anything about, purely because he was not obvious in his SARCASM, not irony, you cantankerous twat. now, look back and read your writing again, and tell me if you don't sound somewhat like a bloody imbecile, and a bit of a horse's ass.

Let me preface my response with a little background about how Internet forums, and indeed, any text based form of communication, work.

A lot of implicit communication is lost when talking in a pure text environment. I cannot see your face, hear the tiny fluctuations in your voice, or read your body language in this medium. Thus, all meaning, all intentions, and, most importantly, all assumptions I make about you initially are gathered from the words that you write, and in what manor you string them together. The effort that you apply to writing directly correlates to how much I think of you. If you do not put in this effort, I simply won't think much of you - as you clearly don't think enough of me to take the time to write a proper reply. If you blatantly disrespect me by not putting effort forth into communication, then I take that as an indication that your thoughts are similarly poorly and lazily formed. I will not stereotype you based off of religion, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age or nationality. Your words, and your words alone, affect how I think of you.

This is how communication in this medium works. Once you learn this, your future efforts of talking to people over the Internet will be wildly more successful.

That all being said, I do make a single exception. I do not hold people who are not native English speakers to the same English grammatical standard as I would otherwise. This is due to the simple fact that if English is not your first language, yet you can coherently convey thoughts to me using it (grammar aside), then you are miles above my ability to communicate in any other language than English. I would be a hypocrite to call these people out.

With that out of the way, please re-read my initial reply to this guy. My comment was not meant in any disrespect if he isn't a native English speaker. If, however, he is, then yes, disrespect was intended. Not against his country or culture, but against the way he presents himself online.

In fact, due to the poor way in which you constructed your reply (your run on sentences and lack of capitalization caused me to have to double back more than once while reading it), I will go as far as to say the same thing I said to the other guy. Either you don't care enough about what you are writing (or me), or you are incapable of writing correctly.

this is why most foreign societies thing us yanks are a bit slow, as we are far too easy to anger more often than not and prefer to sling insults at one another, rather than, you know, speaking peacefully.

I am angry, yes. I am glad that sentiment was communicated property, as it certainly was the intent. I am angry that certain members of a forum that I, for the most part, respect, don't feel in any way ashamed at publicly projecting an ignorant stereotype that has affected me greatly over the years. I am angry that even many Americans proliferate this crap. I am angry that very, very, few people have attempted to bring even an ounce of honesty and maturity to this thread.

Finally, I am angry that nobody else is angry enough to care that a thread on these forums has been overrun by ignorance and hatred. Most of the non-US stereotypes stated here of countries are clearly meant light heatedly - and this is perfectly OK. However, being called stupid, culturally unaware, or a "12 year old kid" is stepping over the line. All of these things, and more, have been said about the country that I live in. Quite directly, members on this forum have said that they indiscriminately hold the intelligence of me, my family, my friends, my coworkers and all of my American contacts in very low regard. For no reason other then where we were born. Is this insulting? Yes. Is this grounds for being angry? Yes.

I will end this reply with this, though. It would have been better of me to have not regressed to name calling in my past replies, and for that I do apologize.

 

[blaize2010]

*ahem* i do believe, my good man, that the former post was meant as a lighthearted remark, which you took all to seriously. in doing so, you, essentially, acted like a quick tempered, and to be frank, somewhat dim chap. this is why most foreign societies thing us yanks are a bit slow, as we are far too easy to anger more often than not and prefer to sling insults at one another, rather than, you know, speaking peacefully. as adults. wot wot, pip pip and all that blather. and i notice you spent a meticulous amount of time typing properly, and then insinuated he was not an original english speaker, then insulting a culture you don't know anything about, purely because he was not obvious in his SARCASM, not irony, you cantankerous twat. now, look back and read your writing again, and tell me if you don't sound somewhat like a bloody imbecile, and a bit of a horse's ass.

Let me preface my response with a little background about how Internet forums, and indeed, any text based form of communication, work.

A lot of implicit communication is lost when talking in a pure text environment. I cannot see your face, hear the tiny fluctuations in your voice, or read your body language in this medium. Thus, all meaning, all intentions, and, most importantly, all assumptions I make about you initially are gathered from the words that you write, and in what manor you string them together. The effort that you apply to writing directly correlates to how much I think of you. If you do not put in this effort, I simply won't think much of you - as you clearly don't think enough of me to take the time to write a proper reply. If you blatantly disrespect me by not putting effort forth into communication, then I take that as an indication that your thoughts are similarly poorly and lazily formed. I will not stereotype you based off of religion, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age or nationality. Your words, and your words alone, affect how I think of you.

This is how communication in this medium works. Once you learn this, your future efforts of talking to people over the Internet will be wildly more successful.

That all being said, I do make a single exception. I do not hold people who are not native English speakers to the same English grammatical standard as I would otherwise. This is due to the simple fact that if English is not your first language, yet you can coherently convey thoughts to me using it (grammar aside), then you are miles above my ability to communicate in any other language than English. I would be a hypocrite to call these people out.

With that out of the way, please re-read my initial reply to this guy. My comment was not meant in any disrespect if he isn't a native English speaker. If, however, he is, then yes, disrespect was intended. Not against his country or culture, but against the way he presents himself online.

In fact, due to the poor way in which you constructed your reply (your run on sentences and lack of capitalization caused me to have to double back more than once while reading it), I will go as far as to say the same thing I said to the other guy. Either you don't care enough about what you are writing (or me), or you are incapable of writing correctly.

this is why most foreign societies thing us yanks are a bit slow, as we are far too easy to anger more often than not and prefer to sling insults at one another, rather than, you know, speaking peacefully.

I am angry, yes. I am glad that sentiment was communicated property, as it certainly was the intent. I am angry that certain members of a forum that I, for the most part, respect, don't feel in any way ashamed at publicly projecting an ignorant stereotype that has affected me greatly over the years. I am angry that even many Americans proliferate this crap. I am angry that very, very, few people have attempted to bring even an ounce of honesty and maturity to this thread.

Finally, I am angry that nobody else is angry enough to care that a thread on these forums has been overrun by ignorance and hatred. Most of the non-US stereotypes stated here of countries are clearly meant light heatedly - and this is perfectly OK. However, being called stupid, culturally unaware, or a "12 year old kid" is stepping over the line. All of these things, and more, have been said about the country that I live in. Quite directly, members on this forum hold the intelligence of me, my family, my friends, my coworkers and all of my American contacts in very low regard. For no reason other then where we were born. Is this insulting? Yes. Is this grounds for being angry? Yes.

I will end this reply with this, though. It would have been better of me to have not regressed to name calling in my past replies, and for that I do apologize.

First off, yes, i did have bad grammar. I apologize for that. when i type i tend to just say whatever pops into my head without thinking to capitalize or punctuate often. i will admit, i get a bit annoyed at the stereotype too, but here's my way of thinking: i don't care. yes, some americans are stupid, along with pretty much a good amount of most people.if an englishman wants to assume i'm an idiot because i'm american, screw it, it's not worth my time to convince him otherwise. what i get more annoyed with is when people overreact to a joke. that's how i viewed it. when people say all americans are stupid, i just smile and go about my business, because i am confident that i, at least, am of average or maybe even more intelligence. i'm sorry for my own name calling, not all was meant then meant, and even less now, to be honest. in short, i suppose i overreacted just as much as you, but mostly just because i assumed you were being a troll for freaking out over what seemed, at least to me, to be an obvious joke, and insinuating that he was an idiot or a non english speaker because his words weren't so good (last for words included for personal lols)

 

[nlaq]

First off, yes, i did have bad grammar. I apologize for that. when i type i tend to just say whatever pops into my head without thinking to capitalize or punctuate often. i will admit, i get a bit annoyed at the stereotype too, but here's my way of thinking: i don't care. yes, some americans are stupid, along with pretty much a good amount of most people.if an englishman wants to assume i'm an idiot because i'm american, screw it, it's not worth my time to convince him otherwise. what i get more annoyed with is when people overreact to a joke. that's how i viewed it. when people say all americans are stupid, i just smile and go about my business, because i am confident that i, at least, am of average or maybe even more intelligence. i'm sorry for my own name calling, not all was meant then meant, and even less now, to be honest. in short, i suppose i overreacted just as much as you, but mostly just because i assumed you were being a troll for freaking out over what seemed, at least to me, to be an obvious joke, and insinuating that he was an idiot or a non english speaker because his words weren't so good (last for words included for personal lols)

OK, now after reading your reply and cooling off, I'll lose the condescending tone that I adopted earlier for purposes of making my point... I don't often talk like that, but being emotionally affected by this thread, it was difficult not to

i don't care. yes, some americans are stupid, along with pretty much a good amount of most people.if an englishman wants to assume i'm an idiot because i'm american, screw it, it's not worth my time to convince him otherwise.

For many things, I agree. However, being a person that has been affected by this, I will quite often take the defensive as you saw. These days, many stereotypes are harmless, as for the most part, the current generation of the 1st world has grown out of ignorant hatred and the many "isims" (race/gender/age/so on). Even hurtful stereotypes are often simply said in jest, and if both parties understand this, there is no issue. My problem with this one is that it is often said in earnest - and this, to me, isn't acceptable.

If it is clear to me that you are joking when you claim that America is mostly filled with stupid people (and that other countries aren't) then I will not fly off the handle. But jokes often don't travel well over the wire - and people need to understand that it is often impossible to discern if a person is being serious or not.

because i am confident that i, at least, am of average or maybe even more intelligence.

I personally don't agree with this. Not the assessment that you made of yourself (you very well may be), but I think that our measure of "intelligence" is fundamentally flawed - and that people considered "below average" may be, in fact, considerably more "intelligent." Further, many people judged by today's standard who are "above average" may not be. But this is a topic for another thread, one that I would be happy to reply to if it exited.

in short, i suppose i overreacted just as much as you, but mostly just because i assumed you were being a troll for freaking out over what seemed, at least to me, to be an obvious joke

I hate trolls... Everything that I have said (minus the occasional jab) has been completely honest. I am simply incredibly sensitive to this stereotype.

and insinuating that he was an idiot or a non english speaker because his words weren't so good

It wasn't about being an idiot or non English speaker... I do know many people who are intelligent native speakers, yet don't choose to communicate well. To me, if you're not taking the effort to spell check or hit shift now and then, then I generally won't take the effort to read what you have to say or even reply. Like I said above, it's about lack of respect. Not lack of intelligence.

So... yeah. That's what I think of the situation. Even though I was visibly angry at people, I was just trying to defend the people of America that are, every day, discriminated against by the international and national communities alike. If I could change one thing, right now, it would be to stop this nonsense - so that we can start treating each other like fellow human beings.

**PS**

To those who are debating US politics in this thread, please stop. Start another one, which, again, I would be happy to participate in. These discussions do not belong in this thread and are simply distracting.

 

[darkcommanderq]

Because I live in America to, and I can confirm the rest of the worlds suspicious. Our country is retarded.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Well your former president certainly did not help in construing a more accurate assumption.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

No stupider than any other generic man/woman you could pick up off the face of the Earth.

 

[blaize2010]

Well your former president certainly did not help in construing a more accurate assumption.

the leader does not define the people.

 

[HeatproofShAdOw]

Isn't this the 10th same thread I've seen this year? I mean, please, think of a topic more interesting than ones that's been used so much it's completely pointless. Anyway, the entire questions retarded. How are we supposed to speak for the billions on earth.

 

[Nikluz]

hm. it's kinda funny, our british foreign exchange student is a fuckin' douchebag. seriously, it's like he's from jersey shore or something. and i don't think it's dumb so much as simple. i know i prefer things to be straightforward. i can grasp subtlety, but i prefer to tell it like it is, despite other people's emotions. i feel like if i lie or give a half truth or pretend to understand when i don't, then i've lied to that person. but be honest, look at some irish or british rugby fans. they make your average american look almost intelligent.

That is exactly what I did, I diproved the other guys remark by bringing up facts that his/your country is any case just as or stupider then ours because we can keep our people under control during a riot as opposed to yours. Rest in Peace whoever died during those riots but your country need to handle the stituation which it clearly isnt. On a different note you cant deny that if the president died it would have a greater effect on the world then if a leader of parliment died. I mean no disrespect to you, however, I do mean as much as possible to the guy before you that I qouted.

how bout we all just go with the idea that when you get a large number of people together and have them make a decision, they often take too long and do too little. elected officials don't want to lose votes, whether parliament or congress. and i know plenty of people of varying nationalities and intelligences. i know an idiotic japanese guy, i know a genius from texas, who speaks with the drawl and everything. some people are just stupid, but americans are loud, and that makes us seems stupid. when you think about it, though, isn't calling americans stupid a bit idiotic itself? i mean, it's like generalizing everyone in the country, while you haven't met every single one. but yes, we do not handle riots well, but trust me, if i were in charge the riots would end pretty quickly. i have... ideas.

You are aware that I am from America right, that I live in texas and that I am supporting the view that americans are not stupid, and are in fact very intellegent. Sorry if that wasnt clear. I thought that you were from england and were supporting the view that americans are stupid. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

We're not all stupid, they're not all smart.

These things mix together very well, it makes watching dumb people from around the globe battle it out a very enjoyable hobby. Not hard to do it either, all you need is the internet or TV.

 

[blaize2010]

hm. it's kinda funny, our british foreign exchange student is a fuckin' douchebag. seriously, it's like he's from jersey shore or something. and i don't think it's dumb so much as simple. i know i prefer things to be straightforward. i can grasp subtlety, but i prefer to tell it like it is, despite other people's emotions. i feel like if i lie or give a half truth or pretend to understand when i don't, then i've lied to that person. but be honest, look at some irish or british rugby fans. they make your average american look almost intelligent.

That is exactly what I did, I diproved the other guys remark by bringing up facts that his/your country is any case just as or stupider then ours because we can keep our people under control during a riot as opposed to yours. Rest in Peace whoever died during those riots but your country need to handle the stituation which it clearly isnt. On a different note you cant deny that if the president died it would have a greater effect on the world then if a leader of parliment died. I mean no disrespect to you, however, I do mean as much as possible to the guy before you that I qouted.

how bout we all just go with the idea that when you get a large number of people together and have them make a decision, they often take too long and do too little. elected officials don't want to lose votes, whether parliament or congress. and i know plenty of people of varying nationalities and intelligences. i know an idiotic japanese guy, i know a genius from texas, who speaks with the drawl and everything. some people are just stupid, but americans are loud, and that makes us seems stupid. when you think about it, though, isn't calling americans stupid a bit idiotic itself? i mean, it's like generalizing everyone in the country, while you haven't met every single one. but yes, we do not handle riots well, but trust me, if i were in charge the riots would end pretty quickly. i have... ideas.

You are aware that I am from America right, that I live in texas and that I am supporting the view that americans are not stupid, and are in fact very intellegent. Sorry if that wasnt clear. I thought that you were from england and were supporting the view that americans are stupid. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

oh. see, because i'm american, too, and i assumed you were british, instead of assuming you were assuming i'm british. well, that explains why i was so lost. also, i'm not implying texans are dumb, i'm just saying, one of the biggest things people like to say is that texans are gun happy idiots, when texas actually has the best state economy in all 50 and one of the best school systems

 

[FamoFunk]

Not every American, just a lot, like any other country. We just all seem to be fascinated with yours rather than any others.

 

[MrTub]

one of the best school systems

Wuuut???????? Can you please link your source for that?

Cause I found this site and it seems to not agree with you...
http://www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/wwstand/wws0512ed/


"Out of Texas? 145 public and private higher education institutions, only one private institution, Rice University, ranked among the nation?s top 50."

 

[Iwata]

I had a Texan couple living next door for a few years. I swear I didn't think it was possibly for people to still be so obtuse, racist and one-track minded as they were. They put Texan caricatures to shame. I'm aware that most Americans aren't like that, but they certainly didn't leave the best impression.

 

[Therumancer]

I'm an American and while my country has done some things that I do not agree with I really don't understand why people judge everyone in America to be dumbasses? i hear things like "for those of you who are too american to understand" or "what is it with Americans and.." and it just goes on and on and on and i just dont understand. I'm not that person people seem to think i am just because of my american accent. What's with all the hostility?

It's largely jealousy combined with a lack of fear, leading to a lack of respect.

The bottom line is that the US is the dominant world power for the moment, but we're slipping largely because we're not willing to do what is nessicary to pursue our own needs. Having the most powerful military in the world doesn't mean a whole heck when nobody thinks you'll ever use it to it's full potential, and the easiest way to stop you is to QQ in the media.

What is termed "stupidity" is actually differances in perspective. Your dealing with people around the world who want to do things for their own, immediate interests, who increasingly feel little need to fall into line behind the US and it's policies. Simple things like "well, why can't we trade with this country there is an Embargo on if it happens to benefit us right now". The fact that the nation is cut off for a reason and the idea is to try and strangle it into compliance without an invasion being nessicary being irrelevent to the needs of those who want to trade and don't care about what that nation might do with what it gains from the trade itself. Given that the US won't step in with it's military and stop people from breaking these embargos, and instead sits there playing games with the bureaucracy, leaves us in a position of making a lot of criticism that the world feels increasingly confident in ignoring.

Simply put the world all comes down to power, those who have it, and those who don't. Mediation only really works when your dealing with two sides who have power and both of whom can provide a pretty substantial "or else". In the case of the USA, we have the firepower to level cities, destroy mountain ranges, and heck even pick off world leaders on the other side of the planet, we could destroy the world ten times over if we wanted to. All of that is however irrelevent if nobody believes we'll ever use that power due to our own concern over the collateral damage and the deaths of all those "innocents". Pretty much every arguement people make about why a militant like me is insane in various events ie what is behind the current state of affairs. The US simply talked big a few too many times, and then chose not to pull the trigger for moral reasons.

So yeah "Americans are fat, arrogant, and stupid" is pretty much the current attitude as people do whatever benefits them for the moment. Of course that changes when people actually want something from us, which we are usually nice enough to give despite everything. Heck, we've pretty much broken our country in recent years by borrowing money in order to give that money to other nations... one of the reasons I'm so critical of foreign aid.

See, respect comes from having power and the understanding that you will use that power when you need it, but responsibly. The problem is that US really won't use it at all. The biggest gun in the world is pointless if nobody believes you'll ever fire it. Speaking Softly, while carrying a big stick, only works if people believe your willing to beat them down with that stick... etc...

That's how I see things. Of course I know many, many, many people both in the US and abroad on these forums disagree with me. I've said all of this before, I'm just including it in this thread for the sake of completeness since while it's hardly a unique point of view I'm the only one I know of on these forums who holds it, and is willing to express it.

 

[Kingsman]

Of course not, just the conservative ones.

As a conservative, I assure you all that you needn't worry, because the feeling's totally mutual on this side.

 

[Therumancer]

A lot of the American tourists you notice around the place tend to be loud, generally ignorant of other cultures, and need things to be really obvious and explicit or they don't understand it. The reason is that all of the quiet, smart, subtle Americans are inherently less noticeable.

Well, having worked with a lot of tourists that's true of just about every group that is away from home to some extent. Generally spekaing being a melting pot culture Americans actually tend to be more aware of the world in general than most other people in the world, it's just that our attitudes are not always flattering from their perspective. What's more being the dominant world power, but one nobody is afraid of or respects anymore, there is a certain desire to disparage or want to "one up" Americans when possible out of desire for self-validation.

A lot of it is simply that what the US thinks and does matters, despite everything. Heck, people all around the world follow US politics and jump on our elections for that reason. In comparison an issue that might be a big deal in another country ONLY influances another country, and I think that leads to a degree of jealousy. The glaring question of a generation in a fairly populous and sophisticated nation might be viewed as "well, that's kind of a quaint issue" by a US tourist who has their mind on other things. It's unintentionally rude, and tends to be galling because on a lot of levels it kind of says "we matter more than you do".

The "problem" is also compounded by the simple fact that Americans are used to having very specific rights and personal freedoms that people in even other first world nations don't enjoy. That level of entitledment can be grating. Despite everything, the US also has enough pull where in many cases US citizens will do things abroad that the citizens of those countries can't do, and then get away with it due to the US embassy. "Loudmouth American Tourist is punished" becomes news largely because of all the countless Americans who generally aren't.

I'm probably not articulating this well, or really explaining my point properly. The gist here is that I don't think that the issue is so much people thinking those from the US are stupid, so much as we tend to be arrogant, act like the rules don't apply to us (and in many cases they don't in a practical sense), and also inspire a degree of envy.

In the overall scheme of things however this kind of bickering pretty much explains why there is so much divide between the first world and the rest of it. The UK and US sitting there argueing about who is fat and dumb, is a bad joke when you look at nations like China that are developing into world powers despite being places where the nation can range from modern cities with well educated populations, to third world poverty akin to the middle ages (SARS started with people living with their livestock), this is to say nothing of the rest of Asia, Africa, and big parts of South and Central American (even if it's developing nicely in a lot of places despite the stereotypes).

People wonder why things like an East Vs. West war are increasingly inevitable, well, look act the actual ignorant masses which outnumber all of us in the first world, and stop to consider at some point how it looks when the people with the highest standard of living engage in constant slapfights and one upsmanship. If the western world falls, it will be due to the very attitudes on all sides of this discussion (and that includes my own, arrogantly pro-American viewpoint...).

 

[Delsana]

I find african americans (not to be racist) are generally considered stupid by Americans due to our experiences, and mostly other groups, but that doesn't mean I think they're ALL stupid.

Also, I find Koreans to be ignorant because they can't UNDERSTAND MY LANGUAGE, not that they actually are ignorant, just that it appears that way due to misunderstandings in communicating and not knowing what's going on.