Global Attitudes & the perception of the US
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The big question is, is your country any different ? Not you personally, the average person in your country. Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 C# will attract all comers, where VB is for IT Journalists and managers - Michael P Butler 05-12-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002
Thanks, Christian. I'm getting tired of everyone acting like the entire world is up-to-snuff on all topics global, except for the stupid imbeciles in the USA. There are ignorant jackasses everywhere in this world, its just that mostly nobodies gives a f**k unless they live the US. Then we can poke and jeer at them. Its really getting old. BW "Computers are useless. They only give you answers." - Pablo Picasso
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CG and paulb have said everything that needs to be said, and I've stuck my foot in my mouth enough today already; no reason to bother wiggling my toes. However: Taka Muraoka wrote: Other than the fact that they have the biggest stick? What else matters then? Human nature tends to resent others with more power no matter what they do. Right and wrong will be decided in the short term by whoever writes the history books.
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Shog9 Atheists are boring. They only talk about god. - peterchen, “Atheists are idiots”
Shog9 wrote: What else matters then? 'nuff said. BW "Computers are useless. They only give you answers." - Pablo Picasso
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"What the World Thinks in 2002" from the Pew Global Attitudes Project (chaired by Madeleine Albright). It's a bit long but worth at least skimming through. http://people-press.org/reports/files/report165.pdf[^] There's a section devoted to how other nations perceive the US (decidedly negative in recent times). One thing that struck me was the disparity between how Americans see themselves and how the rest of the world ses them. Americans overwhelmingly feel that they play a constructive role in global affairs, take into consideration the interests of other countries, should promote democracy and business and popular culture around the world, the American way of life. Yet most other countries disagree. My 2c: how can a country who's people, on the whole, have a pretty appalling knowledge and understanding of the rest of the world feel they are qualified to play the role of global policeman and decider of what is good or bad? Other than the fact that they have the biggest stick?
he he he. I like it in the kitchen! - Marc Clifton (on taking the heat when being flamed) Awasu v0.4a[^]: A free RSS reader with support for Code Project.
Taka Muraoka wrote: One thing that struck me was the disparity between how Americans see themselves and how the rest of the world ses them All the countries would probably generate the same difference between the perception they have of themself and the perception of others. Taka Muraoka wrote: Other than the fact that they have the biggest stick? Because they have the bogger stick and democracy is an universal idea, US have to help to police the World to make it better. However, as any other state, US actions are targetted to be in the interest of the USA, but you can't blame a country to be selfish, just have a lot of regrets.
I hurt so bad inside I wish you could see the world through my eyes It stays the same I just wanna laugh again
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"What the World Thinks in 2002" from the Pew Global Attitudes Project (chaired by Madeleine Albright). It's a bit long but worth at least skimming through. http://people-press.org/reports/files/report165.pdf[^] There's a section devoted to how other nations perceive the US (decidedly negative in recent times). One thing that struck me was the disparity between how Americans see themselves and how the rest of the world ses them. Americans overwhelmingly feel that they play a constructive role in global affairs, take into consideration the interests of other countries, should promote democracy and business and popular culture around the world, the American way of life. Yet most other countries disagree. My 2c: how can a country who's people, on the whole, have a pretty appalling knowledge and understanding of the rest of the world feel they are qualified to play the role of global policeman and decider of what is good or bad? Other than the fact that they have the biggest stick?
he he he. I like it in the kitchen! - Marc Clifton (on taking the heat when being flamed) Awasu v0.4a[^]: A free RSS reader with support for Code Project.
Taka Muraoka wrote: My 2c: how can a country who's people, on the whole, have a pretty appalling knowledge and understanding of the rest of the world My 2c: I think the reverse is equally true. "I will find a new sig someday."
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Thanks, Christian. I'm getting tired of everyone acting like the entire world is up-to-snuff on all topics global, except for the stupid imbeciles in the USA. There are ignorant jackasses everywhere in this world, its just that mostly nobodies gives a f**k unless they live the US. Then we can poke and jeer at them. Its really getting old. BW "Computers are useless. They only give you answers." - Pablo Picasso
Yes, true there are ignorant jackasses everywhere in the world... but Americans are always bringing attention to themselves, so you tend to see what some people are like there.. America is more highlighted. And from what I see as an outsider is that a some of the people there are really ignorant... so "clueless"! And yes, the topic is a bit old, but that doesn't change what a lot of people think about Americans.
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Taka Muraoka wrote: My 2c: how can a country who's people, on the whole, have a pretty appalling knowledge and understanding of the rest of the world My 2c: I think the reverse is equally true. "I will find a new sig someday."
Michael A. Barnhart wrote: I think the reverse is equally true. So true... I've made the same argument 100 times here at CP and you still find plenty of people who think they are experts in all things US just because they've watched US television or movies. ...then they call us morons. :rolleyes: Mike Mullikin :beer:
It is really hard to be a professional and do things right, in a company full of monkeys. - Michael P. Butler, The Soapbox
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"What the World Thinks in 2002" from the Pew Global Attitudes Project (chaired by Madeleine Albright). It's a bit long but worth at least skimming through. http://people-press.org/reports/files/report165.pdf[^] There's a section devoted to how other nations perceive the US (decidedly negative in recent times). One thing that struck me was the disparity between how Americans see themselves and how the rest of the world ses them. Americans overwhelmingly feel that they play a constructive role in global affairs, take into consideration the interests of other countries, should promote democracy and business and popular culture around the world, the American way of life. Yet most other countries disagree. My 2c: how can a country who's people, on the whole, have a pretty appalling knowledge and understanding of the rest of the world feel they are qualified to play the role of global policeman and decider of what is good or bad? Other than the fact that they have the biggest stick?
he he he. I like it in the kitchen! - Marc Clifton (on taking the heat when being flamed) Awasu v0.4a[^]: A free RSS reader with support for Code Project.
Taka Muraoka wrote: how can a country who's people, on the whole, have a pretty appalling knowledge and understanding of the rest of the world... It's exactly this kind of ignorant, gross generalization that really makes my day. Thanks for the laugh. Mike Mullikin :beer:
It is really hard to be a professional and do things right, in a company full of monkeys. - Michael P. Butler, The Soapbox
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Taka Muraoka wrote: how can a country who's people, on the whole, have a pretty appalling knowledge and understanding of the rest of the world... It's exactly this kind of ignorant, gross generalization that really makes my day. Thanks for the laugh. Mike Mullikin :beer:
It is really hard to be a professional and do things right, in a company full of monkeys. - Michael P. Butler, The Soapbox
How is this a gross generalisation? Maybe I used the phrase "on the whole" incorrectly. Are you suggesting the opposite, that Americans, as a group, tend to be well-informed and knowledgable about what is happening in the rest of the world?
he he he. I like it in the kitchen! - Marc Clifton (on taking the heat when being flamed) Awasu v0.4a[^]: A free RSS reader with support for Code Project.
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How is this a gross generalisation? Maybe I used the phrase "on the whole" incorrectly. Are you suggesting the opposite, that Americans, as a group, tend to be well-informed and knowledgable about what is happening in the rest of the world?
he he he. I like it in the kitchen! - Marc Clifton (on taking the heat when being flamed) Awasu v0.4a[^]: A free RSS reader with support for Code Project.
Taka Muraoka wrote: Are you suggesting the opposite, that Americans, as a group, tend to be well-informed and knowledgable about what is happening in the rest of the world? I'm suggesting that making generalizations about 270,000,000+ people made up largely of immigrants from all over the world is a silly thing to do. Americans are no more or no less informed about the world than any other similarly diverse group. It's "in vogue" to talk down about Americans right now so the non-American press and entertainment tries to feature "stupid American" stuff. I suggest you see through this crap and make your own opinions based on real Americans and not what you see in the movies or on television. :rose: Mike Mullikin :beer:
It is really hard to be a professional and do things right, in a company full of monkeys. - Michael P. Butler, The Soapbox
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Taka Muraoka wrote: Are you suggesting the opposite, that Americans, as a group, tend to be well-informed and knowledgable about what is happening in the rest of the world? I'm suggesting that making generalizations about 270,000,000+ people made up largely of immigrants from all over the world is a silly thing to do. Americans are no more or no less informed about the world than any other similarly diverse group. It's "in vogue" to talk down about Americans right now so the non-American press and entertainment tries to feature "stupid American" stuff. I suggest you see through this crap and make your own opinions based on real Americans and not what you see in the movies or on television. :rose: Mike Mullikin :beer:
It is really hard to be a professional and do things right, in a company full of monkeys. - Michael P. Butler, The Soapbox
Mike Mullikin wrote: I'm suggesting that making generalizations about 270,000,000+ people made up largely of immigrants from all over the world is a silly thing to do. I would disagree here. People from different countries do tend to display certain characteristics. Not all of them, of course, but you can make some general comments about people from different countries. For example, Aussies tend to be fairly laidback and casual, the Japanese tend to be more polite than people from other countries, Arabs tend to be vocal and friendly. And so on. They're generalisations, of course, but not unreasonable ones, IMO. Mike Mullikin wrote: I suggest you see through this crap and make your own opinions based on real Americans and not what you see in the movies or on television. Which is exactly what I've done. Somebody in a previous post [edit: oops. it was you! shoulda checked :-O] suggested that I was basing my opinions about America and Americans on what I'd seen on TV and movies and you seem to be jumping to the same conclusion. I'm curious as to how you decided that this was the case. In fact, I've spent about 6 months travelling through the entire country, nowhere near enough to make me an "expert" but certainly enough to give me a feel for the place over and above what's on the box. I've also spent a lot of time talking to Americans in the years I've spent travelling through the rest of the world. Combined with all the other sources of information at my disposal, my opinion is that Americans, as a group tend to be rather ill-informed and knowledgable and understanding of what's happening in the rest of the world. This also tends to correspond with the opinions of those whose opinions I value. Of course, that's not to say that the people of other countries aren't the same. It's the case here in Australia as well, although I would say it's not quite as bad due to our geographical isolation. But Australia doesn't go out into the world telling other countries what's best for them, spreading their way of life and their way of doing business and their morals and principles, all the time saying that they're only doing it for the good of those other countries. And that was my original point. And yes, it's "in vogue" to talk about stupid Americans but it's been in vogue for a long time :-) and I would suggest that there's a reason for that. Not all Americans - one of things that struck me about the place was how amazingly divers
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Mike Mullikin wrote: I'm suggesting that making generalizations about 270,000,000+ people made up largely of immigrants from all over the world is a silly thing to do. I would disagree here. People from different countries do tend to display certain characteristics. Not all of them, of course, but you can make some general comments about people from different countries. For example, Aussies tend to be fairly laidback and casual, the Japanese tend to be more polite than people from other countries, Arabs tend to be vocal and friendly. And so on. They're generalisations, of course, but not unreasonable ones, IMO. Mike Mullikin wrote: I suggest you see through this crap and make your own opinions based on real Americans and not what you see in the movies or on television. Which is exactly what I've done. Somebody in a previous post [edit: oops. it was you! shoulda checked :-O] suggested that I was basing my opinions about America and Americans on what I'd seen on TV and movies and you seem to be jumping to the same conclusion. I'm curious as to how you decided that this was the case. In fact, I've spent about 6 months travelling through the entire country, nowhere near enough to make me an "expert" but certainly enough to give me a feel for the place over and above what's on the box. I've also spent a lot of time talking to Americans in the years I've spent travelling through the rest of the world. Combined with all the other sources of information at my disposal, my opinion is that Americans, as a group tend to be rather ill-informed and knowledgable and understanding of what's happening in the rest of the world. This also tends to correspond with the opinions of those whose opinions I value. Of course, that's not to say that the people of other countries aren't the same. It's the case here in Australia as well, although I would say it's not quite as bad due to our geographical isolation. But Australia doesn't go out into the world telling other countries what's best for them, spreading their way of life and their way of doing business and their morals and principles, all the time saying that they're only doing it for the good of those other countries. And that was my original point. And yes, it's "in vogue" to talk about stupid Americans but it's been in vogue for a long time :-) and I would suggest that there's a reason for that. Not all Americans - one of things that struck me about the place was how amazingly divers