Global Attitudes & the perception of the US
-
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.
-
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
-
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
-
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