As readers over at CLO are aware I left Colorado almost a year ago. I figured I was moving to the most close thing to heaven that I could imagine. For a Hunter and Fisherman at least .
Little did I know…
Apparently, since a vile and roundly condemned murder that was committed on a gay person… The entire state has gone insane! Also called “politically correct!”
Is this collective guilt in action? Hell if I know, but I digress. Not a hell of a lot of Catholics up here, at least from what I can see…
So then, where am I going with this? I walked into the IGA Foods Store yesterday to get some chow for grazing…And this…? Drag Queen, or Cross Dresser, call him, uh Her what you will ( JM pleases fill us all in on this weeks proper vernaciular for a man dressed as a woman.) The person screamed at us* that we are all a bunch of back country “Sheep fuc*ing Americans!” and then said that he was returning to France, where, “Men can be MEN!”
He/She then ran outside, and disappeared.
This person was not refused service, or anything else that I am aware of. Is this the “Gay Agenda?” For some reason, I just don’t think so.
So people from whatever background hate America for..? What?
64 years ago, my mother saw the Americans liberating Strasbourg, France, my hometown. Today she is proud that Strasbourg was up to the visit of the U.S. President, in giving him a warm welcome. She also saw the French-German border collapse on the Rhine, and was proud to watch the NATO allies meeting this week on the “Pont des Deux Rives”, which materializes the former check-point.
Mom called me from France today to make sure I had not missed the event on TV. But she also wanted to make sure that the American media did not put too much emphasis on the anti-NATO demonstrations held on the sidelines of the summit. “Just a few idiots and thugs” she said as to apologize. This is her city, she’s proud … and ashamed.
And it is true that aside from the overall warm welcome, some violent demonstrations took place in the suburbs of the city, against the Europe-US Alliance, against capitalism and against globalization. Not to say the word: against America. These events are not specifically French. They have become routine at most major international meetings. They were violent in London for the G20, as for all the latest “G” meetings. But from a US perspective, they take a special importance when held in a country which is viewed as the most anti-American in Europe. It’s a cliché (polls show that the anti-american sentiment is much stronger in Germany and Spain), but one must acknowledge that it is a cliché that many French politicians are likely to promote.
By showing respect and consideration for the European culture and influence, Barack Obama undermines the foundation of the French anti-Americanism. But it seems now that anti-Americanism gets fueled by the pro-American support Nicolas Sarkozy is showing in return. As the President of the United States gets more popular in Europe, anti-Americanism turns into “anti pro-Americanism.” Since we can’t blame the American president anymore , let’s blame the pro-american decisions of the French president. Pure rhetoric.
It will probably take more than the speech Barack Obama delivered in Strasbourg in a public meeting to put an end to this sterile antagonism. It will also require the media to report full excerpts of the speech, not just 5 seconds. In the excerpt of Obama’s speech reproduced below, the french media often broadcasted the first part only, while CNN pulled out the second part. Unfortunately, the “antis” on all sides have nice days ahead …
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
In America, there’s a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.
But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what’s bad.
(…)
So let me say this as clearly as I can: America is changing, but it cannot be America alone that changes.
I am so used to seeing stuff like this all over the web that I’m pretty much immune to it, but thought I’d share this with some of my readers.
How were these “tests” measured up in comparison with the other 193 country’s citizens? I have yet to see scientific proof anywhere how American citizens have proven to be the dumbest out of all 194 countries in the world. I debunked the ridiculous stereotype over here.
These ads above are made by Americans in America. They are made by clever Americans as the majority of non-American Facebook users are Americanophobic, and Americans know how to get their attention!!
Very clever. They know their users VERY well.
It’s no wonder why so many Americanophobic (not critical of the US government – there’s a BIG difference) groups on Facebook never get deleted despite user complaints.
Facebook would be NOTHING without all the Americanophobes and their American teenybopper mindless minions.
Okay, I know that “firsters” isn’t really a word. But it is descriptive. So, we have a new President, and supposedly the world rejoices. Here is a clip that shows the joy…
I love Barack Obama for what he has done. Maby terrorists wouln’t hate america so much if they stopped putting their nose where it certainly does not belong. And stop acting like it’s the best country in the world because it is NOT!!!! With Obama I think America will see a lot more peace. I certainly hope so! He knows what he is doing.
There are people out there who come to the US repeatedly (masochists?) and then return to their Utopias to complain that the airport treated them like “terrorists”. Every national that comes to visit the US on vacation is apparently suspected of being a minion of Osama Bin Ladin.
A renowned world traveler just recently visited Lima, Peru, and she reports back:
Anyone with 1/4th of a functioning brain knows very well that this woman was talking about the United States. More evidence of the country in question can be found here:
Borders… sorry to say but it’s not just me or just a bad experience. US borders suck. Never seen that anywhere in the world and I traveled quite a bit. Nowhere on earth do people get questioned, searched, profiled and verbally abused. Happened to me when I was in transit several times. Hello, I’m 20 yrs old, I have a valid French passport, return ticket to Canada, sufficient funds etc. — what else do you want from me? I don’t even want to go to the US — I’m in f&?%$ transit here waiting for my next plane!
My hubby always has trouble as well… how many times was he accused of having a fake passport… he was born in China, raised in Canada, speak perfect English (spent his whole life here). Yet when he cross the border, his passport is held on the side. Fake. Er… no.
Backpackers usually don’t like going through the US immigration border. Pain in the ass. Australian can be tough as well but not as much.
Am I denying these claims? No. Could there be a possibility that some people are just way too sensitive, spoiled, and call out “verbal abuse” at the drop of a hat? Most definitely. Could there be a bit of hyperbole? Why, of course!! How else could one garner the sympathy of other non-Americans who are also petrified that the big fat elephant is “out to get them”?
Yes, the same people calling the US paranoid, are the ones who are equally or even more paranoid.
“They’re out to get me because I’m a foreigner and they hate all foreigners” — is the mindset here that I am challenging today in this post.
Treating this situation with the urgency and seriousness it deserves, I would suggest that those people who hate being accused of being part of the Taliban network and/or suspected of being a suicide-bombing-jihadist conspiring to wipe the US off of the map while you try to transit your way back to Toronto – to stay away from America – even in transit. People like me are tired of the incessant abuse of the “victim card” especially when Americans must go through the EXACT SAME process and be treated like “possible terrorists” too!!
Perhaps America needs to be a bit paranoid? Could customs, immigration and security be overly-paranoid? Absolutely. But I most certainly believe that we have reasonable cause to be paranoid following 9-11 as any other country in the world would REACT THE SAME! While I refuse to live my life in fear both religiously and politically or fear anybody for that matter, I find it quite the norm for countries to resort to inconvenient measures to do whatever they can to prevent future attacks. While I disagree with the Patriot Act, I agree that it was America’s shut eyes and feelings of invincibility that helped make 9-11 possible.
See, people like Zhu wish that America was as lax as it was prior to 9-11. (Do people like her even remember the old America before 9-11? Were we lax enough then?) More than likely, she advocated the terrorists boarding the plane with box cutters to achieve their goal. Why would she really give a rat’s ass, anyway? It’s not her country. Why would a terrorist attack anywhere have an effect on her? So long as one feels safe in their own cozy little well-to-do-daddy-will-pay-for-it cocoon, why would they give a flying freak what happens outside of it, and what happens as a result of what happens outside of it?
This is a phenomenon especially in young people and/or pollyannas. Naivete, innocence, and ignorance about the world doesn’t allow one to grasp complex ideas to work out why certain countries behave as they do. The USA airport security IS paranoid. And for a damn good reason. This doesn’t mean that I agree with the extremist approaches or the way they treat both Americans and foreigners. But some sense of watchfulness is EXPECTED.
And once again…
EVEN AMERICANS ARE TREATED AT THE AIRPORT in the exact same way.
Who knew?
Americans everyday are being questioned, “verbally abused”, fondled at the airport, interrogated, detained, their baggage and every little detail inside checked meticulously causing them to miss flights, and treated no differently than these little precious spoiled princesses that hail from other lands. If the same thing happens to Americans, why do these people feel so entitled to special treatment just on the grounds that they’re from another country?
My guess is that if say, Canada experienced a terrorist attack on a large scale, their airport as well would be having their passengers remove their shoes, throw away their lighters, chewing gum, maxi pads and water bottles. Their passengers would too be questioned “endlessly” by the “racist immigration service” and be detained on the premise and pre-conceived notions that all foreigners had real “cutlery” on board and found profiling justified. Canada as well, would be just as paranoid. So would Australia. So would China. So would Peru. So would India.
Get over it, you spoiled little brats! With that primadonna attitude, it is of no surprise that some get “verbally abused” by those bully AmeriKKKans.
Stay home.
If anyone scared of the big boogieman that is America, is reading this, do me a big favor:
Ask Japan why non-Japanese have to be finger-printed at the airport to stay over there.
Ask the Japanese why Koreans who were born and raised in Japan must carry around an “Alien Id”?
Ask the Japanese why things like this are able to go on in their country.
On many occasions, I have run into Americanophobes that boast very boldly that they can speak between 4-9 languages — depending on the Americanophobe.
I used to believe them.
Then I realized that they had only mastered the art of being able to say,
“You’re a typical, self-entitlement-oriented, inbred, insular, nationalistic, inherently violent, unfashionable, paranoid, arrogant, unsophisticated, fat, lazy, vulgar, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, baby-killing, gun-toting, bible-thumping, flag-waving, and self-centered, globalizing, uncouth, swearmouthed and boorish non-human Neanderthal American obsessed with sex, celebrities and McDonalds that demands the entire world revolve around herself”
in Russian, French, English, German, Cantonese, Malay, Hindi, Thai, and Arabic.
Oh yes, and the basics like hello, where’s the toilet, my name is [...], death to America, how much is that, how do I get to [...] from [...], nice to meet you, I am from India, thank you, you’re welcome, and Yankee go home.
Before you brag to random Americans about your “linguistic expertise” expecting us to take you seriously, ask yourselves:
Can I have a REAL conversation(not an exchange of a few words) with another national in their native tongue smoothly or at least very close to it?
Can I read and write in their language without too much trouble?
Of course, you can say that you are fluent only when it comes to speaking and listening as opposed to reading and writing to be clear with people. But I reckon that most people who yelp “I’m a cultural linguist!!” whilst pounding their chest in hopes to deflate the egos of the surrounding “unsophisticated and uncultured” yanks are full of it and themselves!!
Canadians who boast that they are bilingual are also full of donkey doo. Your average Canuck can speak as much French as your average American can speak Spanish.
Additionally, being forced to learn a language and learning the language because you want to are two different things! You also catch on to the language with more enthusiasm and learn it much quicker as opposed to being required to take it. Requirements are boring, but choosing to do something is a feat and fun at the same time!
This is another attempt of the Americanophobes grasping at straws as part of their movement. What they don’t know is that it’s backfiring on them. Which brings me to a quote that mirrors this post:
“There is a belief and hope that if enough nations oppose America, the American people will realize what their government has been doing and will overthrow them. This hope is misguided, as anti-American actions are causing the opposite…” — Vexen Crabtree
#Karolina Juan McDaniel on 23 Apr 2008 at 12:13 am
“…I wouldn’t go as far as saying that they are just interested in getting wasted and taking drugs (which someone has posted earlier) but I would say that (sic) ones (sic) they leave work or school all (sic) the want to do is entertain themselves. That’s normal except that to an average American that means watching a football game or reading a gossip magazines. To most people in other countries, a well written history book or even a math book is considered a form of entertainment as well. PART OF THE PROBLEM
Source: National Geographic…”
Getting wasted and taking drugs? The Canadians always use this as their “how we’re better than Americans” banter.
Ironic!!
Watching football games? How is this any different from watching European football in say, Europe? What do Americans do when Football is out of season? The author never bothered to fill in the blank. I guess that when football is out, we all sit around after school and/or work reading gossip magazines – that mind you, are just as popular – if not MORE in other parts of the world!!!!
(Psst – most Americans can’t even afford those magazines and most don’t give a hoot where Britney Spears is unleashing her shaved vagina at this time. Most Americans have a bigger life than that and frown upon the same celebrity crap that YOU do or at least pretend to!)
Being able to work only 35 hours a week, enjoy sipping lattes over discussions of the classic philosophers, and take free public transportation to get their is awesome, of course. But, for some quality of life is: the “sky-is-the-limit” hope and optimism that comes with a more capitalistic economy, Hollywood and rock/pop music at its best (Godfather and Zeppelin) and worst (Jerry Spring and Spears),…
[SNIP]
Europeans value certain aspects of life more (secular education, international awareness, high culture) than most other people in the world (Americans included). Americans value certain aspects of life more (hard work and the pursuit of financial success, pursuing happiness even at the expense of knowledge, and a more democratic culture) than much of the rest of the world. But we are not talking about absolute goods here. We are talking about a European system of values versus a North American system of values.
Holy cow! They’ve duly taken my advice and are now comparing two continents instead of a country vs a continent! Sorry, Canada…. Oh so sorry.
Europeans value culture and knowledge in contrast to Americans who value celebrities and ignorance.
These themes are introduced and re-introduced religiously on this blog. To keep things interesting, the wording is changed around a bit, but the people are the same the statements are the same.
It doesn’t matter if you are a European, an Indian or a Tibetan Monk. Most Americanophobes really DO think that the “average American” spends their day obsessed with celebrities watching junk TV and trying to make more money than they need to as opposed to talking about Philosophers and reading well-written Americanophobic History and Math books. Hence, today’s post.
My question: How does one find time to be obsessed with celebrities and work hard simultaneously?
Why don’t we now talk about what Americans really do in their leisure time? Surely watching sports and reading gossip magazines come into play, but that only makes up a tiny fraction of us when you realize how many people are living in the US. (some 300+ million from ALL walks of life)
The amount of activities American people partake in is endless (just like any other country out there). I will say that most Americans work full-time jobs, work more hours and have considerably less vacation time than the average non-American (who can choose to fall into the government’s erect nipple at any given time), and have more than two kids in the home to take care of. Some Americans are lucky to still have a spouse (and the spouse is also working full-time), and some are SINGLE talking care of kids and working a job and sometimes more than one job to make ends meet. Not to buy a Plasma TV. To make ends meet. HUGE DIFFERENCE, there! What do these people do after work? I don’t know. Ask THEM. My guess is that they’re too tired to watch sports and read anything! They probably eat and go to bed as soon as possible so that they have one eye open to start the day over again the next morning! (At least for those with kids!)
Depending on where in the US you live, the “what people do to entertain themselves is different“. It ranges. Here are some examples
karaoke
dancing
going to a bar
going to the movies
reading
going to the gym
yoga
meditation
hunting
television (*sighs* our TV is not just Jerry Springer and video-bites of Paris Hilton sex tapes- common mistake made my Americanophobes – read the middle of this post for more information)
playing sports
playing board games, cards, video games, computer games,
spending time with their kids
traveling
sex
going to the park
shopping
eating out
enjoying the company of friends
visiting family
talking on the phone
using the internet
gardening
sewing and/or knitting
household chores
cooking
cleaning
sleeping
going to the beach
get drunk or stoned
listening to music
art
creating things in their garage (lots of American hobbyists like to build things)
My own experience over the last 40 years as an observer and a participant in life tells me that people (not Americans) like to wind down after a hard day and that people (not Americans) often find happiness in companionship.
The funniest part of this comment:
To most people in other countries, a well written history book or even a math book is considered a form of entertainment as well. PART OF THE PROBLEM
Source: National Geographic…“
That is an outright bold-faced lie. If I had never left the US or had never lived in another country before, I’d probably be gullible enough to believe that jacked-up can of mindless drivel.
Nope. Sorry. I refuse to be so stupid to believe that “most people in other countries” read math and history books AS PART OF THEIR ENTERTAINMENT / LEISURE TIME.
This is the funniest shit I’ve ever read. And the funniest part of all is that the author sincerely believes that some people will buy this?!?!?!
One thing that this blog proves if anything at all, is that the Americanophobes are *NOT* internationally aware. And they do *NOT* value knowledge! Not even by a long shot!!
NEW DELHI — Rohail Manzoor thought he had what it took to work in a telephone call center. All he had to do was pick up the phone and answer queries from American customers about their long-distance bills. He was armed with lessons on how to speak English like the Americans — adjust the r’s, say “zee” instead of “zed,” “mail” instead of “post.”
He even called himself “Jim,” and figured he would pretend to be an American customer service agent.
Rohail Manzoor, a soft-spoken call center employee in New Delhi, has dealt with many hostile U.S. callers. A survey said the calls are “psychologically disturbing” for workers. (Rama Lakshmi For The Washington Post)
But nothing prepared him for the shower of curses that came his way when he picked up the phone one night on the job.
” ‘You Indians suck!’ an American screamed on the phone,” recalled a soft-spoken Manzoor, 25. “He was using a lot of four-letter words, too. He called me names left, right and center.”
Call center executives and industry experts say abusive hate calls are commonplace, as resentment swells over the loss of American jobs to India.
[SNIP]
“When some callers are unhappy with the service, their frustration often turns racist,” said Amit Narula, 25, a call center agent. “They would say, ‘This is why you should not handle our work. Indians are not good enough.’ “
PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) can cause counter-racist behavior. It can cause people to be afraid of not only citizens of a nation, but also people from any group imaginable even including political parties. I’m not saying that it is justified, but that it is understandable.
Even animals have to be retrained after having been subjected to abusive owners.
People’s first impressions about a nation sometimes can occur by the very first experience and/or person that they meet. But if they are repeatedly abused (in this case, Indian call center agents), their counter-racist (or prejudiced) behavior can be more severe and outrageous. It could eventually turn violent.
A member of a Canadian Forum called Vivelecanada, said the following which really hit me hard:
Collective guilt is a fundamentally flawed concept. Germans were not collectively guilty for Hitler’s crimes in any way that humanity in general wasn’t guilty for in producing such a monster.
Races, families, tribes, nations, bridge clubs or gangs do not commit crimes. Individuals commit crimes. Individuals can cooperate in the commission of crimes, but each are individually guilty only for their own specific role.
These evils arise when we classify people according to convenient labels and collectivize them. Lepine and Hitler both collectivized their respective enemies, and this is their first step in dehumanizing them.
It’s easier to hit or kill a stereotype, a label, a proxy for a group or a faceless mass of people than it is an individual human being. Collectivization is the first step in dehumanization. The next step is the atrocity.
If you’ve ever picked up a pet from the Humane Society and notice really, really odd abnormalities with your furry fellow, it can be narrowed down to PTSD where the previous owner was abusive. Dogs, for example, react to “first impressions” or “repetitive impressions” similar to that of humans. They may begin to hate all mail-men as the dog was victimized by one, for example.
This is what started the Nazi regime. Hitler had it in for the Jews. The story of Adolf Hitler has many versions. Maybe we’ll never know what really happened. But from what I had learned, Hitler’s father was a Jew. He was extremely abusive toward Hitler. Hitler then developed an unwavering hatred toward Jews as a whole, and he got the nation of Germany to believe that Jews (and other groups as well) were evil due to his pseudo-nationalist party. I say pseudo because it was just a way to grab the hearts of the Germans (with a hidden motive) being that there was a world-wide depression going on at the time. He won over the German people due to what good he DID do as a leader. He actually DID help Germany in many ways – at least enough to persuade the German people that he was genius and “for the people”.
Once he had the Germans where he wanted them, via “racial cleansing”, he began to exterminate the Jews among other groups as well. Deep down inside, he was really Right-winged. If he had initially started out leading from the far Right, I wonder if he would have had the support from the people like he did.
The hatred these Indians are receiving over the telephone is not tenant of the “American culture”. Replace the US with another country, and you’ll find people doing the same or worse. People are somewhat anonymous over the phone, you know. Surely, the receiver of the call knows YOU, but your family, co-workers, and friends (the people you may put on an act for) don’t know that you resorted to racist and hurtful insults to the Indian guy on the other line.
I used to work for both travel agencies and one major airline as a call center representative. I became jaded and a bit hardened after that experience because customers can be assholes ranging from subtle condescending language to foul and blatant abusive attacks. I intellectually exaggerated that the majority of whom I spoke with were rude, but in reality, they were the minority. The exaggeration that I made it out to be at the time, was a way for me to cope.
The reasons customers can be so abusive over the phone is because they are anonymous and they are taking out their miserable lives on YOU. Additionally and most importantly, customers know that you cannot fight back or you’ll get fired!! This is mainly why some prey on telephone operators. There’s a big difference between taking a REAL issue with an airline that needs to be resolved and becoming personal with the agent on the other end who has NOTHING to do with your problem. I am 100% American, and I experienced what the Indians are experiencing now in New Delhi and other places where American businesses have planted themselves. The difference between me and the New Delhi agent is that the attacks made upon me weren’t racist.
If YOU have ever worked in a call center before, you know EXACTLY where I’m coming from!! It is pure HELL. You learn that not Americans (I worked for an international airline/travel agency), but ALL PEOPLE —– SUCK!
It is my opinion, however, when people are attacked more than a few times, they make a mountain out of a molehill and exaggerate their experiences. A LOT doesn’t mean the majority! After I calm down and revisit the nightmare experiences that I had with customers, I realize that the asshats in proportion to the neutral or nice ones, were the minority.
What I am trying to say is that all it takes is enough or one bad experience with “a type of species” to develop a sweeping hatred toward the group that the abuser came from. If counter-racism should occur, those attacks and the victimization will just get worse. The victim is just further victimizing himself. Counter-bigotry, in my opinion, should be dealt with on a more professional and peaceful level as in — see a therapist!!
Now, we have to figure out what differentiates a person who is a victim of racial attacks and doesn’t resort to collectivism versus one with the same experience who does? Child abuse? What do YOU think?
—>When an American defends her country, it’s “blind nationalism”. When another national from elsewhere does the same, it’s defending.
—>When an American does something nice, it’s fake or done “with strings attached”. When nationals from elsewhere do something nice, it is coming from the wholesome goodness of their hearts.
—>When an American commits a crime, it’s due to their inherent nature. When another national from elsewhere commits a crime, it’s their culture or they just made a little mistake.
—>When an American buys a car (not an SUV – just a regular car), it’s materialism. When another national from elsewhere buys a car, it’s needed.
—>When an American compliments or sympathizes with nationals of another country, it’s agenda-ridden. When another national from elsewhere does the same, it’s because they really like and sympathize with them.
—>When an American disagrees with the government of another country, it’s an evil attack on their culture, hypocritical, and racist! When another national from elsewhere does the same, they are just trying to help spread awareness per the “peace movement”.
—>When an American bashes another country (England, for example), it’s racism. When another national from elsewhere bashes Americans (i.e intolerant, stupid, uncultured), it’s “constructive criticism”.
—>When an American doesn’t understand a joke, it’s because “Americans can’t understand satire due to the illiteracy rate in America”. When a national from another country doesn’t get a joke, it’s because of the “cultural difference”.
—>When an American drives an SUV, it’s because they have an evil conspiracy to emit carbons to purposefully destroy the world and all of its inhabitants. When a Canadian drives an SUV, it’s because they have a big family or something.
—>When an American speaks loudly in Europe, he’s a “typical American”. When a Brazilian speaks loudly in Europe, it’s just “their culture”.
—>When America bombs another country, it’s murdering innocents for purposes of profiteering and for having a perverted obsession with gore and death. When another national from elsewhere does the same, it’s defending (i.e. 9-11).
—>When America elects a black president, it’s Affirmative Action. If another country should do it too, it’s showing tolerance and acceptance toward minorities and progressing past the stone ages.
—>When an American has both conservative and liberal ideals, it’s considered disingenuous and agenda-ridden. When another national from elsewhere commits the same “horrible act”, he is considered a person with both conservative and liberal ideals.
—>When an American owns a gun, it’s because they’re a natural born killer in love with blood and gore. If an Australian has a gun, it’s because he’s a hobbyist.
—>When an American claims to have been treated well in another country, it’s fraudulent. When another national from elsewhere makes a similar claim, they are being genuine because after all, who couldn’t love a non-American?
—>When an American has sex, it’s due to their uncontrollable obsession. When a national from another country has sex, it’s because they’re human, natural, and unrepressed – “unlike the Americans”.
—>When an American claims to have traveled and/or lived in another country, it’s an outright lie(I guess the tales of the infamous nationalist American tourist becomes conveniently forgotten, then?). When another national from elsewhere makes the same claims, it’s a sign that they are “cultured”.
—>When an American misspells a word, he’s a “typical American”. When another national from elsewhere does the same thing, it’s a “typo” – he’s only human.
—>When an American eats a Big Mac, they are being a “typical American”. When another national eats a Big Mac, it’s a sign that they have fallen victim to American oppression by way of American Globalization, and one should have sympathy for the poor soul.
—>When an American receives their paycheck from work, it’s called “stealing from the poor man”. When someone from another country keeps their paycheck, they’re entitled to it as they earned it.
—>When an American has been waiting for their coffee in Europe for 3 hours and begins to get impatient, they’re just being a “typical entitlement-oriented American”. When another national gets impatient over the same thing, it’s due to bad service at the cafe.
—>When an American gets angry, he’s being a “typical American”. When another national from elsewhere commits the same act, it’s justified.
—>When an American bashes his own country’s politics, they’re just doing it to be “cool” or “hip”. When another national from elsewhere complains about their government, it’s about someone complaining about their government.
—>If the American government commits an atrocity, the American citizens conspired to do it. If another government commits an atrocity, the Americans must somehow be connected to it.
—>If a white man commits a crime in the US, he’s a “typical American”. If an African AMERICAN commits a crime in the US, it’s a White Anglo Saxon Protestant conspiracy.
—>If an American resorts to French-bashing, it’s racism. If an Englishman resorts to French-bashing, well, there’s gotta be a good reason for it.
—>If an American believes in God, it’s a part of the dumbing down of America. If a national from elsewhere believes in say, “Allah”, well, it’s just “their culture”.
—>If an American is fat, it’s due to the “all-American-diet”. If a national from elsewhere is fat, it’s a sign that they have fallen victim to American oppression by way of American Globalization, and one should have sympathy for the poor soul.
—>If an American watches TV, they’re being a “typical American”. If a national from elsewhere watches TV, the blind folds are down, the curtains are shut tight —- it’s a HUGE secret. HUGE! Oh scandalous!! Shhhh…..
—>If an American rebuts an argument, it’s due to “blind nationalism”. If a national from elsewhere rebuts an argument, they are just rebutting an argument.
—>The American involvement in WWII was considered late, sloppy, and self-serving. The British involvement in WWII was considered, however, a humanitarian effort that was dealt with right away.
—>The start of Vietnam and the Iraqi war were typical American self-serving pieces of “genocide”. The start of WWI and WWII however were wars begun out of necessity!
—>If an American complains about an aspect of a foreign country, they hate EVERYTHING about that country and its people. If a national from elsewhere complains about an aspect of a foreign country, they are just complaining about that ONE aspect of that foreign country.
—>If an American creates a website critical of the American government and Americanophobia, he’s an “America-hating-blind-nationalist”. If a national from elsewhere commits a similar crime, he’s “a blogger”.
(2) This is also something you’ll never find in the US. (In Europe)
Reading this, you can’t tell if it happened in 1938 or 2008:
An American tourist was kicked out of a cafe in Belgium for being Jewish.
Marcel Kalmann, a 64-year-old professor, told the Antwerp Jewish magazine Joods Actueel that he was ejected from the renowned restaurant Le Panier d’Or in Bruges after a waiter saw his yarmulke under his cap.
“We are not serving Jews, out of here,” the magazine reported.
Kalmann also told Joods Actueel that he was mistreated at the police station where he went to file a report and was told the incident would not be considered anti-Semitic. He said he will file reports against both the restaurant and the police.
Kalmann was born in the Auschwitz concentration camp three days before its liberation.
The mayor of Bruges has ordered a police inquiry into the incident and apologized to Kalmann, the European Jewish Press reported.
Despite being a signatory (since 1995) to the UN Convention on Racial Discrimination, Japan has taken no legislative action to bar businesses and other public places from refusing entry to customers based on nationality and race. Starting from 1993 in Otaru, Hokkaido, and now running unchecked throughout Japan, signs saying “JAPANESE ONLY” etc have gone up, making an unspoken undercurrent of fear of the outsider into clear, present, and brazen exclusionism–following the best traditions of segregation and apartheid. The Japanese government’s steadfast refusal to outlaw this form of discrimination by nationality and race has only made the situation worse, so the time has come for the grassroots to take matters to the street. Or to the internet, as it were.
The Japanese are much harsher on Koreans as exemplified here.
The Japanese Racists are making a hate speech against Korean-Japanese in this video as follows:
“Comfort women are all voluntary prostitutes! “
“Dump the garbage to dump, Dump Koreans to Korean peninsula!”.
Korean-Japanese are descended from the Koreans who were kidnapped and be forced labour like a slave in WWII. Now, they are the most popular “Outcast” group in Japan.
The hate speech the racists are crying in this video are amid cheers.
In fact, this is a demonstration against giving suffrage to Korean residents. Koreans are formally treated as second rate citizen in Japan, though almost of them are 3rd generation and are born in Japan. That is why Korean-Japanese have no suffrage.
Why is it so hard to become a Japanese citizen? Why must every non-Japanese coming to Japan be finger printed (I thought that was an American phenomenon?)? Why must Koreans that were BORN AND RAISED IN JAPAN have to carry an alien registration ID? Find some answers here.
By the way, my sister was an English teacher in Japan (and student at Sapporo University) back in the late ’80s, and she loved it, too. She was actually concerned that she might encounter some anti-Americanism but experienced just the opposite.. politeness and respect (almost to the point of adulation in some cases, IIRC.. friends and guys competing to give her the best/most gifts, etc.). Needless to say, that wasn’t the case when she lived in Germany a few years later.
Hat Tip: JB
Most Americans that come back from Japan feel the same way. Actually, the whole of Eastern Asia is “Western-friendly”, and this includes the time I stayed in S. Korea waiting for my teaching Visa. I was treated very well. The Americanophobes will just have to accept the fact that the entire world isn’t Americanophobic with them. Americanophobia is a huge poison in society, however, it doesn’t represent the majority. It’s a tough reality to digest for some, but that’s not my problem.
Lawsuits
The above tiny examples don’t fly or couldn’t fly in the US. Even with that said, racism, discrimination, and bigotry still happens, but unlike other countries, we have Affirmative Action which gives people from all walks of life an equal opportunity in America. Additionally, if you are discriminated, you can sue. And for the poor, there are affordable ways to do so – especially on a contingency basis. It is so easy to sue for discrimination in the US, that some foreigners here abuse the system and win (!) – which isn’t uncommon. Just because you’re being fired or evicted from your apartment doesn’t always mean it’s because you’re Mexican, for example.
First generation Europeans came to America, brutalized the Native Americans, and had slaves (the rich ones). First generation Europeans are our founding fathers. The USA started out as a racist country, and we were unfortunately the last to end slavery and segregation. That is why we have grown so much apart from this. Canada shares a similar history. Torturing the Natives, owning slaves and treating Asians VERY poorly are just a few examples. But the Canada of today is similar to the US of today in regards to tolerance.
But the rest of the world???
Gee…. do you think it could just be that Racism is a Global phenomenon?
And yes, that is yet another thing that pisses off the Americanophobes. They are all awaiting for the assassination of Obama, so they can go back to calling all/most Americans racist again – never mind the fact that only one person can pull a trigger, but that’s another story.
(2) Affirmative Action
(3) A non-natural-born-citizen (Arnold Schwarzenegger) being elected as the governor of California
(4) On every Mexican Independence Day, some Mexicans march through the streets burning US flags and chanting Anti-Americanisms.
In what other country, have or could these things happen?
Until other countries can display a true level of tolerance as a model to live by, should they talk. I am embarrassed for racists who speak against racism and intolerance in general. Counter-racism (aka Neo-Nazi-collectivism) is equally despicable if not more. That is synonymous to hitting my sister for something my brother did. Only people from an abusive upbringing can be capable of this crime.
What news organization out there ISN’T biased? Name me one.
I frequently bash news organizations across the pond and over our borders due to their Americanophobic slant. That is true. But I also see the ills in the American media as well. They all have a slant to some degree or another.
The media systems around the globe are responsible for …
reporting the facts
sensationalizing and exaggerating them to keep you focused, hot, and bothered
twisting the facts subtly to meet a particular agenda
and leaving certain facts (good stuff!) out that could possibly give you a balanced perspective.
It doesn’t matter what country you come from, a media is a media is a media. They will stop at nothing for money.
In case you missed it, bad news sells… It does over here too. The only difference is that the bad news we watch over here is about OURSELVES!
One could easily say that when the BBC bashes the US, it’s being biased. And when the BBC sides with the US, it’s being truthful, right? I dislike the BBC when they don’t give the full story on American people or politics as much as I dislike hearing some of Sean Hannity’s Right-wing rhetoric on Fox News. However, anybody – anybody at all can debate, challenge, or rebut those articles I have used from the BBC at any given time. But to this date, nobody has challenged me or those articles. The best people have come up with so far is, “But you said you hated the BBCeeeeeeeeeee!”
(For the record, I am subscribed to as many American newspapers as foreign ones – actually more foreign than American. Only a fraction of the BBC news is Americanophobic. I actually LIKE them.)
Sometimes I had thought that if the BBC is being nice to Americans, then it must be true considering their money-making heavy-handed Anti-American slant to cater to the self-serving needs of the Americanophobic European audiences as exemplified here.
AMERICANOPHOBIA IN THE EUROPEAN MEDIA PART I:
AMERICANOPHOBIA IN THE EUROPEAN MEDIA PART II:
Next, I am damned no matter what I do. If I use an American source, than I am being biased. If I use a foreign source, than I am being a hypocrite. So, what sources should I use? Ha! I will cherry-pick!!
Quite honestly, I DO hand-pick my sources. You betcha I do. As I mentioned in my FAQ, I don’t wait for them to fall from the sky. I follow a specific pattern in my blog. I find an opinion that I want to challenge and present that to my readers. Then to counter that, I find an opinion that contradicts the one that I am challenging. So, rather than finding one opinion, my readers have two to go by all the while I have challenged my opponent to look at the other side of the story that’s been untold. Then, my readers can decide which argument they like better. Debate usually takes on this type of scenario – the last time I checked.
I have been accused of being “one-sided” and “racist” for this post. But if I were really one-sided, I wouldn’t have let others commentate on it telling me that the article written by Lina Maria from Colombia was incorrect on many of the points that she made. Old Frog left rebuttals that counter-acted the opinions presented in that article. And he wasn’t an asshole about it either. I could always delete that article because it IS biased. But why when people can use it as a debate? After all, Europeans are no less hypocritical than Americans, anyway. Neither Lina or myself were wrong on all the points made.
The best way to “get back at me” is to fight me with the facts! Show me YOUR sources that prove me wrong. I love intoxicating debates! As long as you’re not an asshole about it, my readers will get YOUR side of the story in my comment section.
And finally, anybody who uses only one source or one country to get all of their information is either lazy or an imbecile. Critical thinkers, sceptics, and those who genuinely want to search for the truth will look at a myriad of sources and then much later, come to a conclusion or possibly even change their mind at some point. There are two sides to every story.
Which brings me to one of my favorite quotes:
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts”. –Bertrand Russell
Bigotry, at least the way I see it, is a sweeping and mindless attack made to intentionally hurt a group of people because of how or where they were born and/or an unwilling victim of circumstances entirely out of their control. It has everything to do with whether or not one can actively CHANGE their circumstances.
Can someone control where they were born?
Can someone control homosexuality?
Can someone control the color of their skin?
Come someone control their weight? (Some people don’t make a choice to be fat as there are glandular diseases among others that can spin a thin person out of control).
I’m sure that there are more examples.
Can these people make changes to their biological make-up?
However, if you choose(choose being the operative word here) to…
believe in God
join an organized religion
be anti-Bush
be anti-Obama
be pro-Bush
be pro-Obama
be pro-neutral
anti-this or anti-that / pro-this or pro-that / neutral-this or neutral-that
be a moderate
be an atheist
get tattoos
dye your hair
or just CHOOSE to believe in something or DO something, you are basically setting yourself up for criticism by the people at large and fairly enough – so. You have control over your choices. So, in my opinion, others should be able to voice whatever opinion they have about YOUR choices that YOU consciously made!
I am anti-Bush and unapologetically so.
If you don’t agree, that is your problem, but I’m not going to stop you from disagreeing with me! Being anti-Bush doesn’t mean I hate the core of his being and doesn’t mean I disagree with him on every issue either. I basically disagree with MOST of his policies! Get over it and yourselves! You are not a bigot because of where you choose to be on the political compass. You are not a bigot because you disagree with my disagreeing with Bush. I am not a bigot because I disagree with your neutral stance on Bush. Nor are you a bigot because you disagree with the way a certain government runs a country.
There’s a HUGE difference between a true victim and one who is a perpetual cry baby trying to garner attention, sympathy, and make pity parties for themselves. Quite predictably it is the cry babies that refuse to see the difference.
OK. This actually isn’t something I hear often, but on two different occasions from two different people, I’ve heard the below:
“Well, maybe some Americans are alright, but most are… [insert personal attack]“.
And I am here today to explain WHY most of the Americans you have met have been assholes. It’s very simple. Look in the mirror. If you’re an asshole, you get asshole back. Americans are people too with the same feelings that you also are hard-wired with and don’t take to abuse of any kind lying down. As I’d expect any member of the human race to do, Americans fight back when attacked or feel threatened. If you treat an American disrespectfully, you’re going to get disrespect back. Nobody gets a free ride just because they’re “non-American”. Spare the entitlement-princess-syndrome! Being a non-American wins you no brownie buttons.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. This has nothing to do with gender, race, creed, ethnicity, or nationality. Human beings sorta work this way.
WELCOME TO THE HUMAN RACE!
The only type of people that will definitely have a problem in the US will be those who are carting baggage from their own countries thinking that the US will “fix” their problems. We have a kind of saying in America that if you leave your country, you take ALL of your problems with you. Your problems will STILL be there no matter what country you decide to live in. If you are overly-cynical, have a closed mind, are a misanthrope, have severe mental problems, are pessimistic, hyper-sensitive, have no sense of humor, and the type that whines and moans about everything, you will be miserable here and probably not too well liked.
If you already have a pre-existing negative attitude about America and its people, don’t waste your time. America will be a living hell for you.
If you are coming to the states to just use this country for a single advantage that you cannot get in your own country, then you will be unhappy here.
And if you’re going out of your way to look for bad things, you will find them.
You get back what you give.
In SuperFrenchie’s blog, there was a posting about dispelling French myths. (There are just as many myths about French people as there are about Americans!) With that said, I was directed to this site (The Top Myths about Paris) which says something that should ring true for all countries including the United States.
MYTH #5: Parisians are unfriendly and rude.
Explanation: This myth couldn’t be farther from the truth, since the majority of Parisians are kind, helpful and friendly. Upon first meeting, Parisians can appear to be less casual and more reserved by North American standards, however, this does not translate to unfriendliness. Be aware that often what you put out is what you get back, so if Parisians are approached in the right way from the beginning, chances of a more pleasant interaction increase. An attempt to speak the language goes a long way with Parisians. Always begin a conversation with ‘bonjour’, especially when entering a store. Asking immediately, ‘do you speak English?’ riles many Parisians and will start you off on the wrong foot. Think about it, if foreigners are constantly asking if you speak their language in a country where English is the official language, then how would that make you feel? Use your best school French and have fun with it; Parisians love to correct and help people with their admittedly difficult language!
The same rings true for America. If you act like a wanker, you’ll be treated like one!
Yes, people will judge you on your beliefs. Yes, people will challenge your opinions. Yes, people may disagree with you harshly. A lot of people misconstrue the challenging of held beliefs to be a infringement on their “freedom of speech”. No! Freedom of speech goes BOTH ways. If you speak up, your audience has a right to speak back. Be a grown up and expect this.
Here’s what is NOT free in America:
You are NOT welcome to “freedom of speech” in private places or within privately owned organizations and the like. Just think about it this way: When you enter someone’s home, you go by THEIR “house rules”, right? Why? Because a home is someone’s PRIVATE property. You can be asked to leave if you act in a way that is unacceptable. (Obviously, this is not unique to America.) The same scenario applies to message boards, websites, blog commenting areas, companies, institutions, or private—anything. So, this also explains why your, “I hate fucking Americans – Death to America” group on Facebook got deleted.
Just remember, if you ever get confused about our 1st Amendment, the 1st Amendment addresses what the governmentcannot do:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Our constitutional freedom of speech only prevents the government from enacting laws that prevent freedom of speech; it does not concern speech between two private parties. I am very, very sure that the US government has not bothered to try to prevent you and your wife from criticizing the US to your heart’s content. I wouldn’t either! What no law or even common sense is going to guarantee you, however, is a *sympathetic audience*. Most of the critics of Americans who talk about their freedom of speech being curtailed can’t, of course, point to any evidence of this. What frustrates them is that Americans *won’t listen to them*, that they don’t all shut up and listen to what other countries’ private citizens tell them. No law is going to make that happen. It happens to be the same in every other country on the planet, too.
To be clear, LOTS of Americans don’t understand this about freedom of speech, either. It has nothing to do with guaranteeing a sympathetic, rapt audience to whatever you have to say.
And regarding the unoriginal and tired “All/most Americans are blind nationalists” stereotype, it is just that – a stereotype. I have challenged this inane stereotype in this post. But JM added more substance to this that I’d like to share:
I will say this: for some reason, Europeans (and Canadians, oddly) have this perception that all Americans think our country is absolutely perfect, sinless, and a model to the rest of the world. I have heard this often enough from Europeans (Brits included) for a *long* time. It is so unbelievably naive that it makes me question what your news is telling you, or at least what you’re choosing to see. The US is deeply conflicted about EVERYTHING. We couldn’t come to a consensus about anything if our life depended on it. We are *always arguing* with one another. Whether it’s red state vs blue state, coasts vs interior, urban vs suburban, Democrat or Republican, religious vs secular, believe me when I tell you we’re always arguing. This is, I believe, one of our country’s strengths. And yet there’s this persistent perception of a monolithic America that’s hyperreligious, violent, right-winged and ignorant of the world (among left-leaning Europeans) and, simultaneously, hedonistic, amoral, wanton and Godless (among the right-leaning countries of the world, like the Islamic countries). You can’t reconcile these diametrically-opposed conceptions of what Americans “really” are, unless you realize they’re projections of what people want to see us as.
To conclude, in the game of life, you receive only what you give. If the majority acts a particular way toward YOU, it’s just nature’s way of telling you to look inward and re-evaluate your actions. But in order to do so, you must have some sense of humility.
Country vs Continent? I’ve been indirectly “paged” so to speak on my hypocrisy of having found it odd that a European compares the diversity of Europe vs the United States. Yes, it is entirely unfair for anybody to draw conclusions about a nation based on how they pale in comparison with a CONTINENT of 49 countries. And I firmly believe that everyone agrees with me there. The intent of the “bloggers” that wrote this piece is crystal clear – yet they deny any bias or motives.
With that said, I have been accused of hypocrisy due to writing about Euronationalist Americanophobia.
Here’s a little hint:If you call yourselves Europeans, will we note you as such and return the favor. In case you missed it, Americans call themselves “Americans” - not “North Americans”. We, unlike some Europeans, recognize ourselves as a country and *not* a continent. The map on this page may be of some assistance.
FREE SPEECH: One more thing I’d like to clear up before I go. Dissent is perfectly acceptable on this blog. If you are familiar with my blog, you will see tons of debates throughout between people all over the world. But you must ask yourselves the following questions before commenting:
Are you genuinely interested in a healthy debate?
Are you here to fight?
Is your plan to attack the author or the argument?
Are you planning to resort to sweeping generalizations about a nation, race, ethnicity (we call this bigotry in the US)?
Are you planning to read the entirety of the post you comment on, stay on topic – or do you plan on going off on an un-related rant?
Are you trying to evade my spam filters?
Coming to one’s blog to comment is synonymous to being a guest in one’s home. You are not protected under the United States Amendment of Free Speech granted by the government. For the record, every developed country has rights to free speech. But this has nothing to do with blogging. Apples and oranges. Just ask yourself – if you go to a person’s house to vandalize and act like a total ass, and they kick you out, are you going to cry like a baby that they don’t allow free speech or dissent?
This reminds me of a quote that rings true here:
“Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.” –Winston Churchill
Another thing that people with a short fuse tend to forget is that there is a HUGE difference between DISSENT and SILENCING SPEECH. It’s funny how only those banned for not adhering to my comment policy seem to continue to cry about how I’m a speech-silencer of some sort. Everyone is aware when they comment here how this blog works and don’t have any excuse to act surprised.
This has nothing to do with being American as much as having high standards for stimulating and thought-provoking debate. Here is a perfect example for those that are a little slow.
It’s most amusing that the same people that moan and groan about censorship are those same people that have me banned from their blog. Hmm….. Learn the meaning of censorship. Censorship would be if I banned speech from someone else’s blog. But coming from Aby and co., I am not the least bit surprised at the perpetual ignorance.
Hee hee. Oops. Deleting innocuous dissent that may give away his little game secrets? This is f’n hilarious! And for the record, this post was just deleted!
Another complaint about deleting dissent:
In case you’re confused, Aby’s “partner in crime” AKA (“the protector of mankind) goes under the following names:
- Captain Sasha
- Sasha
- Captain V
- Juan McDaniel
- Captain (Dr.) Alexandr Vasilevski
- Karmen
- Amy
- Bridgette
and god knows what else.
It is now confirmed that I’m dealing with hormonal teenagers!
It starts out with a, “We don’t hate you BUT….[insert bigoted commentary]“ – synonymous to American racists who say, “I’m not a racist, BUT….[insert racist commentary]“. That’s the cliché we have all learned to know and love.
Where the same people that hate the French now come to their rescue against Americans as a means to justify Americanophobia. But the best parts are where Aby and co. explain to us all how much more superior Europe is in comparison to the United States. And they are so incredibly original in their explanations!
I highly, highly recommend these reads. We Americans need to find out what is wrong with ourselves and our country. Like Al Jazeera, these people profess to be getting the real, raw, and accurate news unlike any other kind there is.
“As an information site, dealing with facts rather than popular opinions, …….”
Having balanced, informed, responsible, and objective opinions about the United States is “popular”?!?!
So, as you can see, they speak the truth. Debate is only welcome to non-Americans because if you challenge them as an American, (that’s why there’s a flag next to your name – so that they can keep track – and those flags are manipulatable, by the way) you will be written off as a “blind nationalist” (me!!) and be accused of thinking that “Americans are above any form of dissent or criticism”.
I don’t know about you, but I like to be informed and know that I’m getting the REAL news. Not that fake stuff we get in America, you know – like MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, C-SPAN, PBS, NPR, David Letterman, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and oh yeah, Fox Noise?
The verbiage in the above links is very softly and gently distributed to appear polished, supremely educated, and balanced simultaneously sprinkled with a clinical brand of narcissism that puts professional elitists in a humble light. She is genius! If you read the commentary in many of her entries, you’ll notice that it all sounds like its coming from the same person. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m convinced that the author slips into other aliases and comments to further her agenda (although she does allow some token dissent to make her plan less obvious). She’s absolutely brilliant! To be as manipulative as that, one has to be smart. Not intelligent, but smart. To that, I give her much credit.
Where she’s not brilliant: Aby tells herself that she is “politically incorrect and original”, but I reckon that she doesn’t get out often as her blog is as unoriginal as they come. Her hate speech against Americans is as old, tired, and as cliché as apple pie and hot dogs are to Yankees.
Admittedly, I am obsessed with that site. It’s that same kind of perverted fascination people get when they watch Jerry Springer, the Maury Show, listen to Rush Limbaugh, or rubberneck the bloody car accident on the highway.
And it’s not like I’ve never met ignorant propagandists so over-confident before either as my country has its own. Maybe I expect more out of other countries? After all, the US is supposed to be the dumbest on earth (and inherently so!), so naturally one is to look to other countries for the “right answers”, right? During my schooling and from having watched TV and the mainstream media, I have been mildly indoctrinated to admire all-things-European. And I have so since I’ve been a child. So, I guess you can say that I DO expect more out of them – just as Bruce Bawer did when he first moved to Europe. Millions of Americans look to Europe (more than any other nation on earth) with dreamy goo-goo eyes.
Some argue that Americans think that they are perfect and the best, so people convert to Americanophobia to prove to Americans that they aren’t as perfect as they think.
Fair enough.
But if Europe is now the new America in thinking that it’s all that, they must accept responsibility and accept being the target of sceptics (like myself) who will challenge their inflated egos.
Nonetheless, we do just as good a job at bashing our own ugliness in the US. But American-bashing IN AMERICA by Americansis conveniently not aired in other countries – hence their own mainstream media being easily confused with propaganda (and justifiably so) any time the yanks are mentioned.
I’m a people-watcher in real life. You know, the kind that will sit in a window-seat at a cafe and watch people pass by or listen to other conversations in the background.
People amaze me everyday. Sometimes in good ways – sometimes in funky ways. So, as odd as this sounds, I am grateful to have someone like Aby and Juan McDaniel and “the bearer of ‘authentic original news’, Dmitri Pavlov” around so that I have even more an opportunity to dispel common myths giving readers the untold story about Americans and American life.
Disclaimer:If you call yourselves Europeans, you will be called Europeans. Americans call themselves Americans, not “North Americans” – hence the title and the direction of my post. There’s nothing hypocritical there.
“Diversity – United States, despite petty internal political differences is very uniform and homogeneous to an outsider. The culture (or lack of it) is same, the food is same, the language is same and the arts and style are similar. In Europe language, art, food, culture and politics are widely varied which might be overwhelming for an outsider but makes things interesting. A person visiting Scotland on a pleasure trip won’t feel like he could have done visiting England while a person visiting New Jersey and Virginia as a tourist would almost feel both are same states (except the differences in street crimes).” — Juan the “Liberal” on Europe vs USA – Lifestyle
Is not not quite the convenient how an entire continent such as Europe is compared with a country such as the United States? I suggest that his next “study” be done on Europe vs North America. He’d then have 23 very unique countries to do her “analysis” up against his 49 European “states” using his signature “us vs them” mentality.
Apparently Juan McDaniel (who calls himself a Liberal and an “Internationalist” of all things) must have been too cowardly to compare and contrast her own nation of origin (India) with the US. The only way he could slam a place where he’s never lived is by comparing Europe, a continent of 49 countries (if you include Vatican City) with a SINGLE COUNTRY, the US.
Lame.
Nice try, anyway. But curiously enough, many nationalist Americanophobes do this (compare countries with continents). It’s not just Juan. It’s very unfair and obviously used as propaganda to continue the cycle of hate.
(Disclaimer:If you call yourselves Europeans, will we note you as such and return the favor. In case you missed it, Americans call themselves “Americans” - not “North Americans”. We, unlike some Europeans, recognize ourselves as a country and *not* a continent.)
Today, I will display the other side of the story – the untold story.
I defined what America is in the glossary section of my blog. But what is an American?
An American can be English, or French, or Italian, Scottish, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek.
An American can be Mexican, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Kenyan, Ethiopian, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Canadian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani or Afghan and more.
An American may also be a Cree, Metis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
An American’s religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or none. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The key difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each American ultimately answers only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
These are the people who built America.
Like Canada, in the United States, you’re allowed to continue your culture, eat your own foods, have your own festivals, read newspapers in your own language, speak in your own language and still call yourself an American. We like to call ourselves a “tossed salad”.
What is America?
We’ve got a country with over 300 million people, to begin with. And contrary to popular belief, we aren’t homogeneous either.
We are a multicultural society despite the Americanophobic belief that the entire United States is South Carolina.
There are 50 states with 30,000 incorporated cites therein. And even each city has it’s own towns, styles, and personalities. If you live in West Virginia, chances are that you’ll have a different experience from one who lives in Denver, Colorado EVEN IF YOU’RE A FOREIGNER! There are even cultural differences depending on the city you’re living in. I will give one example (although a general one). When you get married in some cities/towns in the south, the “proper” gift to give the newlyweds is a an actual tangible gift. Money would be considered an improper gift. It may even be considered as “lazy” if one were to hand over a check as opposed to actually going out and buying something. However, in NY, giving money gifts is more of the norm and said to be a convenience among those “just married”.
Basically, all I’m trying to say is that behaviorism and customs, like the above, vary from city to city – state to state like different countries do except not as dramatic.
I have lived in Miami, Japan, and California. I am now residing in Texas. I’ve been here for four long years and I’m still feeling “culture shock” in some ways.
Next, we have three different levels of government here: There is federal government, state government, and finally, local government. In some states, gay marriages are legal. In Nevada, prostitution is legal. (However, prostitution is legal nation-wide if you’re in the “call-girl” business. Just open up the Yellow Pages and see for yourself!) In Alabama, it’s forbidden to purchase a dildo! Marijuana for medical purposes is legal in California – yet illegal federally. The list is endless, really.
The scenery, cost of living, mannerisms, laws, crime rate, accents, dialect, ethnic diversity, food, fashion, flags, income, industries, tourism, weather, job opportunities, public transportation, and such differ depending on WHERE you live. There are some places in the US where people don’t lock their doors.
As you can see, this is why Americans can get so frustrated with over-simplified-one-dimensional views of the US coming from other tiny countries.
Why am I typing this? Because surprisingly enough, many people DON’T know this. I’ve heard people say it before that the US is a nation of “WASPS” where other cultures are “oppressed” and/or “forced to be American” and “forced to strip their own unique identities away” and this cannot be further from reality. America is still the most multicultural country in the world. The very fact that we don’t even have an official language says it all.
You will see literally ALL walks of life here (fat-skinny, poor-rich, ugly-beautiful, peaceful-violent, stupid-smart) in the US and diversity in terms of ethnicity, thought, sexual preferences, religion, upbringing, and values depending on where you live. Some states and cities are more diverse than others. There are plenty of Americans that are racist, but one thing that I find unique about the US is that we’re a bit less openly vocal about our prejudices. While there are stigmas and stereotypes attached to ALL groups of people, you will find that it’s a bit easier to be fat, dumb, ugly, ignorant, have poor taste in clothes, be unhygienic, to be driving around in a clunker, and in short, be as individual as you’d like to be.
You will be less judged here as opposed to being an American carrying those “socially unacceptable” quirks into another country. Try being a conservative fat American wearing a cowboy hat with a Texas accent in another country (outside Eastern Asia)! You won’t make it. I’d place money on that. At least in America, you can join all the self-entitlement-oriented, inbred, insular, nationalistic, inherently violent, unfashionable, paranoid, arrogant, unsophisticated, fat, lazy, vulgar, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, baby-killing, gun-toting, bible-thumping, flag-waving, and self-centered, globalizing, uncouth, swearmouthed and boorish non-human Neanderthal Americans obsessed with sex, celebrities and McDonalds that demand the entire world revolve around them, here. You’re more than welcome.
You can be whomever you want to be in America. Expect that not everyone’s going to LIKE you. This is NOT a violation of “civil liberties”. This is opinion. And Americans, like any other country, have them. Stewart Lee in the UK said it well in this video toward the end:
“…some of the things that are great about America, namely “freedom of speech” and a certain kinda social equality in that everyone there is allowed to say whatever they want no matter how stupid and ill-informed it is, and I think there’s something noble about that, genuinely”. — Stewart Lee (director of Jerry Springer, The Opera)
With that said, we also accept (with welcome arms) the slender, the intelligent, the intellectuals, the nerdy scholars, the hard workers, the polite, the humorous, the athletes, the hotties, the homosexuals, the tolerant, the socialists, as well as the demure, quiet, and shy.
America is a perfect blending of ALL these groups. This is what makes America great. I’m not saying that it’s the best country in the world, but in terms of THIS type of freedom, I’d say this is an amazing thing that makes us unique, grateful and proud to be an American.
Our first amendment also allows you to burn our flags and wave your own here. No problem!
I can not forget the day when I arrived at JFK Airport for the first time. It was not better than other airports. There were many ticketing booths and it was crowded with people and luggages. Every one can see these kinds of things at airports all around the world. However, there was something different. There were many people who have different nationality and ethnicity. There were White people, Black people and Asian people. There were Italian, Japanese, German, Mexican, Chinese, French, Indonesian, etc. I was surprised because I could see and hear them at one place. At that time, I thought I could be so excited in this country. And, it was quite the same. I met many different kind of people from work and social community who came from many different country. I can experience many culture and many languages and it makes me feel happy.
Anybody who has lived in the United States alongside the average man in the street for a decent amount of time will realize this.
Oh immigration does happen in Europe too, you know, but perhaps for different reasons?
Say America has no culture. When asked if there’s no such thing as “American Culture”, why do you always bitch about “Americanization”? Answer with 2 words: McDonald’s and Starbucks. Feign ignorance of American television, movies, music, books, politics, fashion, the internet… in short, most of what YOU do for fun on a daily basis. You don’t want to seem like a hypocrite who secretly devours American culture. So, it’s better just to tell an outright lie.
As far as the “‘right’ kind of culture” as in VERY old historical culture that the Europeans bash us for not having, allow me to gently remind you that America and British Canada are roughly the same age. America and British Canada are culturally similar as well. I’d be curious what “culture” was like for Europeans when they were only about say, 232 years old?
And while we’re on the topic of culture. In the US, the Metropolitan Opera in NY is one of the best – most prestigious opera companies in the world. The US has two première ballet companies. We’ve got NYC Ballet and American Ballet Theater. Symphony and NY theater? Nothing in North America exists that can begin to compare with the NY theater scene. Look at the number of fantastic symphony orchestras in the US.
American writers? Let’s take a look at Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Melville, Hawthorne, Henry James, Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, need I say more?
America has a very rich influential and extensive cultural and literary history. Come to downtown San Antonio, Texas if you want to see some American rustic and raw history. And no. It’s not just the Alamo. Your sheltered and narrow-mind would hopefully wake up to the history that WE DO HAVE. Considering our 232 years alive, we have innovated and discovered more than any other country in the world. That’s a huge feat for a baby country, no?
And yes, I also know that we’ve committed crimes against humanity in our youth, but I’m not here to talk about that. That’s YOUR job. My job is to show the side of the story that is NEVER talked about.
It’s those very people who don’t want to hear the other side of the story who we Americans call “jealous”. Because what else would explain those individuals who continue to live so sheltered with their collective heads buried in the sand under the guise of being an “internationalist”, “a world traveler”, and “culturally aware and superior”? What else would explain the incessant comparisons to America as opposed to making juvenile comparisons to Japan, Colombia, Australia, Jamaica and the like? How else can you explain it?
This is also something you’ll never find in the US.
Anti-Semites, anti-blacks, anti-Americans… what else?
Only in Europe? What do you think? All I know is that if you’re going to peg an entire nation as homogeneous and/or racist, look in the mirror first. What you’ll see is even uglier if you’re open enough to spot the ills of your own.
While amusing, this can be somewhat annoying at times.
As most of my regular readers are aware, my blog is dedicated to bashing the fringe element of both the Right and the Left. With that said, I open myself up to a lot of criticism from both parties especially the radicals. I’m either loved or hated, but most of the time hated by radical groups – which attach themselves to my blog. (It’s all good though as I obviously do this because it’s fun.)
What I find to be an ongoing trend are the words used to describe other authors of this blog and myself.
I am characterized by those who call themselves “liberals” as
a self-entitlement-oriented, inbred, insular, nationalistic, inherently violent, unfashionable, paranoid, arrogant, unsophisticated, fat, lazy, vulgar, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, baby-killing, gun-toting, bible-thumping, flag-waving, and self-centered, globalizing, uncouth, swearmouthed and boorish non-human Neanderthal American obsessed with sex, celebrities and McDonalds that demands the entire world revolve around herself!
And I am characterized by those who call themselves “conservatives” as
a totalitarian intolerant libtard, secular jihadist, Hollywood parasite, Jew-hating, weenie, Nazi-appeasing-Hitler-apologist, hairy, smelly, tie-dye, tree-hugging, weed-smoking, homo-loving-marriage-destroying, lazy-welfare-mongering, acid-tripping, baby-killing, kool-aid-drinking, broccoli-granola-soy-tofu-eating vegan, treasonous, bra-burning, flag-burning, draftcard-burning, bleeding-heart, Jane-Fonda-loving and Charles Manson-admiring, constitution and freedom-hating, Anti-American incessant-whiner pinko commie A-rab-terrorist-sympathizer who has a hidden agenda to overthrow the American government and its people – especially those that are “accomplished females”.
…in so many words of course…
Does anyone see what’s happening here?
This is how I can spot right away whether one is coming from the lunatic fringe or not. They all seem to have these things in common.
Here are some more similarities:
—> They confuse dissent with radicalism.
—> They carefully filter what they read by “looking for things” as opposed to READING them.
—> They cherry-pick – thereby missing out on an author’s intended points.
—> They don’t attack the points made by an individual – rather the group that the individual is “perceived” to be in (“perceived” being the operative word here).
—> Any form or indication of moderacy is frowned upon. For example, I dislike Bush’s policies, but I also dislike Americanophobia. The Radical Right perceives the disliking of Americanophobia to be disingenuous, and the Radical Left perceives the disliking of Bush to be disingenuous. So, they LOATHE the “in-between’s” in life. Little do they realize that life is LESS about the ends of the rope and MORE about the knots in between.
—> They are knee-jerk reactionaries and it’s obvious by their hyper-emotional comments which only lead a reader to believe that what they’re commenting on hasn’t been thoughtfully read in FULL.
(1) Take this post. It was written, or at least posted on, September 11. Why would you post a piece about the American Dream on that date? There was NOTHING in this piece about the tragedy of 9/11. Why not?
I’m beginning to believe that people on the Left are uncomfortable with 9/11 because that tragic event exposes the stupidity of their worldview. The only way left-leaning people–and you seem to be one–can deal with 9/11 is by blaming America for it, hence the creation of the 9/11 conspiracy industry. Blame America, blame Bush; that’s the only thing the Left knows how to do. I find it both incomprehensible and frightening that the slaughter of 3000 of their fellow countrymen wasn’t enough to pry leftists from their anti-American narrative. If anything, 9/11 caused them to cling even more tightly to their blame America first doctrine. The fact that you are apparently blind to that phenomenon is disturbing to me. Your support for Barack Obama is also disturbing to me, considering your professed opposition to anti-Americanism.
Karen, how can you honestly claim to be against anti-Americanism while supporting for president a man who can accurately be described as a protege of the hate America Left? That would be like claiming to be against racism while supporting David Duke for president.
[SNIP]
If you are really against anti-Americanism, Karen, you have to oppose the domestic variety as well as the foreign. And unfortunately for you domestic anti-Americanism comes almost exclusively from the Left. It’s leftists who make movies smearing our troops; it’s leftists who pass ordinances calling Marine recruiters “unwelcomed and uninvited intruders”; it’s leftists who accuse America of operating another Auschwitz at Gitmo; it’s leftists who call 9/11 victims “little Eichmans”; it’s leftists who shout “God damn America!” from the pulpit; it’s leftists who trash, smear, denounce, and condemn America every chance they get. And I say once again, it’s on the Left where Obama has lived his entire political life.
Karen, I don’t know what you’re going to make of the above facts but I suggest you don’t ignore or deny them. I really want to believe that you’re a patriot, that you’re on America’s side. But some of your views are making me wonder.
[SNIP]
Please explain how supporting such a person doesn’t contradict your professed patriotism. I really want to understand. God bless.
As for your blog – perhaps it’s the overheated way that you write – but I’m starting to believe that this word “anti-americanism” doesn’t mean what you think it means. You say you have a lot of posts bashng the left – perhaps I need to see more of your archives – because I’m hard pressed to find that content in anything you’ve written since I’ve been a lurker. Look at what you’ve written over the past month – and show me where the balance lies. It’s your blog – you can write whatever you want from whatever pov you wnat. But writing a 1200 word diatribe about the evil and stupid conservatives with a little disclaimer towards the end of “oh, yeah, extreme leftists do this, too” is not balance.
And yes, when you use video from al jazeera tv to score cheap political points – then I believe the liberal in you trumps the american in you in that instance.
He also knee-jerked the following words into my mouth (if you scroll down a bit in that thread):
Obama’s great, all extremists are assholes, everyone on the right is an extremist while a few on the left are, Trig palin is Bristol’s son through incest, 9/11 was probably an inside job – what have I left out?
Is it just a coincidence that TWO times I have been linked to paling around with terrorists thinking that 9-11 was an “inside job” when I made no mention of it at all in the posts commented on? It amazes me! If these people had actually read the posts where I DID make commentary on 9-11, perhaps they would have their foot in their collective mouths… right about now.
OK.
So…. now, it has been thoroughly established that I am an America-hating Left-wing Radical.
You hear that, you Americanophobes that frequent this blog? See, after all, I am on YOUR side. How you people missed this is beyond me.
Alllllllrighty!
Now, let’s talk about where I am proven to be a hard-core Right-wing blind America-loving nationalist, shall we?
You indeed are an egoistical and blind nationalist, no matter what method of denial you use to console (sic) youself. It takes a little bit of reading you blog posts and comments for an experienced person like me to figure that out.
[SNIP]
You have shown that your views on anything concerning your country are typically nationalist and simplistic. For example, your claim that your country contributes the highest to developing nations is inaccurate and self-fulfilling, which can be debunked as easily as dropping a potato in a sack.
[SNIP]
Go and rant whatever you want about Canadians or any other country in your blog. Tell your American ‘friends’ how everyone who doesn’t worship Americans is a self-hating, ignorant Americanophobe brainwashed by the anti-American conspiracy around the globe.
If you feel that being an American entitles you to have an “we are the best” ego, then you must also be ready to handle the responsibilities that comes of being an American, even though they might feel discriminatory to your one-sided tastes. If you don’t like the criticisms, close down that American sense of entitlement and arrogance.
(Side note: after seeing evidence of Islamophobia on your site, I will not be visiting it again.)
Are you guys following me here? Funny how I can be an America-hating Islamophobe??? EH?!
(Never mind what I’m against is the radical Islamists – not the moderate Muslims, but that’s another topic for another day…)
This particular post was written to show how a knee-jerk reactionary friend of mine took my asking his view of WWII as being “a typical American” or “showing my Americanism”.
Suffice it to say that any time that an Americanophobe pointed out to me that Bush or the conservatives caused the financial crisis, I always told them that it was a BIpartisan responsibility. And did so here as well. I defended Bush here, and other times on my blog against ridiculous and extremist views about him. As much as I DETEST the Cheney/Bush administration, they aren’t responsible for every crooked mishap on American or foreign soil. I give credit to Ted Bundy for saving a girl from drowning, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to forgive all the crimes he committed. Same thing with Bush.
Labeling one a radical just because they dislike Bush’s policies or labeling one as a radical just because they defend their people from Americanophobic attacks IS an actual phenomenon of RADICALS, themselves.
What I gather from the contradicting comments that I get both in my emails, other blogs, and in my own is that some people only see what they want to see, read what they want to read, and hear what they want to hear all too selectively versus grasping the entirety of what they are reading. Only extremists can be capable of such.
If you wonder why I dance between commenting on American politics and Americanophobia on my blog and/or think I don’t post enough on Americanophobic topics and/or don’t post enough about American politics, THIS will more than likely answer all of your questions.
If you disagree with a particular post, please point-by-point argue it. If you’re going to give me a review on my blog, I would like to think that you’ve made a thoughtful attempt to get to know it better instead of cherry-picking for particular buzz words here and there. This is a common annoyance for not only me, but many other bloggers out there. The entire top of my page has links with information as to what you’re getting into when you read my blog. Nobody has an excuse to be shocked or surprised at anything written here with exception to the inane incoherent comments I receive here on a weekly and sometimes daily basis.
I wrote this post today to display the silliness of the radicals on both sides, the comments that say I hate America and am a blind nationalist at the same time, that say I hate Islam yet imply that I love terrorists, that say I love and then hate Bush, and put all sorts of words in my mouth that can’t be further from the truth. It’s comedy.
Not only is America the most divided that it ever has been, but since Obama’s win, there has been even more hostility among the Americanophobes as well.
The only people who “get me” seem to be those people not meticulously aligned 100% with any party, like myself. I only call myself a Liberal because I lean that way. It’s most curious how the majority of my radical commenters refuse to read my political profile, but it’s all part of the ongoing trend I speak of.
I rail against the extreme Right and the extreme Left. What makes me write about one more than another at any given time?
It is simple.
If I am currently being annoyed by leftist inanity, I will lean my posts toward that nature. The opposite is true. If I am currently being provoked by GOPtards, I will focus on them.
If you’re from the Right or the Left and you say something outlandish to me, someone else, or to a TV camera, just know that you’re only encouraging me. My blog is about YOU.
To find out exactly how you all see me (just for shits and giggles), please take some of your time to answer my poll:
Could I make myself any more clear than that little box above?
Do you think we Americans take for granted how good we have it here in some respects? Do you think there may be a reason why some coming back home from other countries learn that Americans aren’t so bad after all?
Unlike Europe, Americans seem to need expert guidance for everything, from how to wash clothes properly, cook an omelette, invest in shares or have sex. Every small aspect of their life seems to be guided by research findings, which are often doctored by the media to fit corporate and government interests. If they travel, they have travel staff and books giving them directions and guidance for every small aspect of their trip.
When I speak of Americanophobia and Ignorance, the above is what I’m talking about. It’s almost sad how grossly misinformed these people are. But I believe this is part of the “Americans are so spoiled, stupid and entitled” that they often speak of on their blog – hence my bringing it up here. And being that it’s so far-out-there and wickedly funny, I couldn’t but hesitate to share!
Maybe some of you can help me out – or bring perspective here in case I’m genuinely missing out on something.
What is “expert guidance”?
Expert guidance to do laundry? How can I get an expert to come to my home and show me how to make my husbands dirty socks from years ago look brand new? Any takers? A laundry expert? Let me check the Yellow Pages….
To cook an omelette? Oh, sorry… I forgot. In Europe, people are born knowing how to cook an omelette. Europeans don’t need instruction from anyone. It’s all innate. Damn they’re smart! Is there an “expert way” versus the traditional way that I’m missing out on here?
Surely, human beings from all over the world learn from their parents… But an expert guidance to cook? What in the world would that entail? I’m sincerely curious, here. My mother, for example, loves to cook and she’ll watch some cooking shows on TV to get IDEAS, but she’s good enough a cook to be able to do it HER way. Even beginner cooks have to get some ideas from somewhere in the case that they didn’t have a mother kind enough to show them the ropes.
Has any American tried cooking Japanese Ozoni before? I taped my friend cooking it in Japan so that one day I can make it on my own.
Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit! I am guilty as charged!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a stupid American!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Expert guidance to have sex? There are people all over the world that have problems with erections, having an orgasm, have performance anxiety, and have problems in that area in general. I know for a fact that *some* sexual abuse victims have a hard time enjoying sex again following the horrific event of being raped and need intense therapy.
I’m not stupid enough to believe that problems with sexual function is an “American phenomenon”. What are these poor people supposed to do? Stay a virgin or unsexed the rest of their lives as it would be “too American to seek help”??? That falls under psychological and sometimes physical problems.
I reckon that in Europe, there exists no psychiatrist, psychologists, proper doctors, self-help books of any kind, or knowledge of PTSD. No sex therapists? Sorry. I’m not gullible enough to fall for that.
Investing in shares? How do you not get expert guidance in doing so? Obviously the author of that blog has never 1) lived in the states, and 2) never needed to invest shares in this country. Most people that help are crooks, so without guidance, we lose our hard-earned monies.
Every small aspect of our lives need expert guidance? Really? How? Where? Why? When? And proof please that this is “all-American”? How compared to 194 other countries out there? Yoga started in INDIA. It is medicinal both to aid physical and emotional problems. There is ALWAYS a yoga pose that can be done for every little ailment one may have. And that’s no exaggeration! So, I suppose that citizens living in India are Americanized – all the way back from thousands of years ago before America’s birth???
When my doctor told my husband to cut his toenails from the top and not the sides, does this make him one of those “typical yanks” that need “expert guidance”? I’m genuinely confused.
Apparently we all research too much. We want to make the best out of our lives. We want to do things right. Perhaps, we don’t have the time to “guess at things” or can afford to play “trial-an-error” when we’ve got a family to raise and both mom and dad are working through the day?
Ironically enough, the above excerpt from the zany chauvinists puts Americans in a GOOD light, if you think about it.
It shows that …
We are perfectionists, or don’t like to make mistakes
We can get VERY passionate about our hobbies
We are humble enough to seek knowledge and ask questions
We are curious and have a deep thirst for knowledge
Research keeps us broad-minded and away from having narrow perspectives
We are critical thinkers and encourage opinions from other sources
We are INNOVATORS because we always find the best ways to do things!
Yes. You can look at it that way too, you know. How is ignorance cured? By learning. This is as basic as breathing. Who knows? Maybe Americans are the most intelligent people around? Ok. That may be a far stretch, but it’s something to think about.
The most important lesson I brought back from high school and college is the importance of asking questions. This reminds me of a favorite Chinese proverb:
“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.” – Chinese Proverb
If you read Bruce Bawer’s “Hating America”, it just reinforces how Americans aren’t afraid to admit to ignorance. The difference between an American and an Americanophobic snobby European is that while we are both ignorant, Americans are honest enough to admit it. Just because one hides their ignorance doesn’t mean they’re not ignorant.
At least where I have received my education, my teachers generally encouraged classroom participation as in answering “on the spot” questions from our teachers, being encouraged to ask questions, and being able to debate and discuss current events or whatever the topic at hand was. Of course, it depended on the class I took, but philosophy, psychology, history, logic, law, criminology and the like brought on mental stimulation. The mental stimulation comes from learning to think for oneself which in turn allows for one to use “critical thinking” over the “herd-mentality” or the “because she said so” thinking.
I don’t know how other country’s citizens are taught in school, but if classroom participation and raising your hand is an American phenomenon, than our education really isn’t as bad as made out to be. I’d rather become intelligent or a critical thinker than be good at solving a calculus equation, know exactly how long it takes to get from Mars to Venus, or learn how to memorize a lot of stuff that won’t be utilized later on in life. Priority and practicality is key.
Does anyone else not find it curious that we are criticised for not reading enough, and then when we do read, we are criticised? I mean, we read travel guides, travel books and carry them to Europe and other countries. But the Canadians, Japanese, Brazilians, New Zealanders, Moroccans, Jamaicans, South Koreans, Chinese, Mexicans, and Colombians don’t? I reckon the creation of tour guide services and travel books were created just for dumb Americans?
Actually, it is more common for the Japanese to use tour services when on vacation than Americans, but that’s a whole ‘nother topic.
I like Americans very much. In fact, I adore them. Americans are an open book. We wear our hearts on our sleeves. It is evident by this that we care less compared to other countries about what others think of us. We are confident. We are also down to earth. What makes me proud of my own people in general is the fact that we are open and don’t hide our weaknesses and ignorance. We don’t have as many airs about us, comparatively. There is a lot wrong with my country, but this is where I love this place so much. It’s a place where people are allowed and even encouraged to be human.
This is American-style freedom.
That totally rocks!
Speaking of what rocks, some of the best “expert advice” I received was when I was living in Japan. If anyone has lived in Japan for any length of time, people would realize that Japan and the US aren’t different in this regard at all. Actually, believe it or not, despite a lot of differences, the Japanese, S. Koreans, Canadians, the Chinese and the Americans share A LOT of cultural similarities when it comes to the so called “expert guidance culture”. Wanna bet that this includes Europeans too? That’s why it bugs the hell out of me to hear so much redundant ignorance coming from the flapping traps of the over-confident and self-aggrandizing Hitler sympathizers hiding behind a veil of puritanism.
Because of this blog, I am realizing how much I had been taking for granted in my country. Americans are honest. And I cherish honesty – even if its something I don’t want to hear. I am damned lucky to live among honest folk. (No, not our politicians, but the average man in the street)
So, Aby and co., thank you for this opportunity to make me even more grateful toward my fellow compatriots. It’s one of those benefits of Americanophobia that I speak of. You alienate us whilst bonding Americans and making us learn things about ourselves that we should feel proud of. Thank you for the cultural comparisons.
Occasionally, I read someone (who invariably has problems with Americans, or is obsequiously deferential to Canadians and Latin Americans) that says the term American should not be applied to the citizens of the USA, but to all citizens of the North & South American continents. They propose terms like “North American,” “USian” and other terms that don’t exactly roll off your tongue.
As pissed off as you might be about Americans, renaming us will not catch on, and what’s more, it doesn’t make sense:
1. The USA is not the only United States country. Mexico’s official name is Estados Unidos Mexicanos or United Mexican States (their term for the USA is Estados Unidos de America). So calling the USA “the US” is as egregious an error as calling it “America.”
2. The USA was the first sovereign nation in the Americas, and thus can lay claim to the name “America.” (Don’t like that? Should’ve declared your independence first)
3. No other country in the Americas has the word “America” in their name.
4. No other country national is called “American.”
5. People might say “americano/americana” in Latin America with respect to their residency in the Americas, but that’s in Spanish. Until we start, in English, calling Germans “deutch”, Armenians “hai,” and Croatians “hrvati,” I don’t see the point of adopting names in other languages into English usage.
6. “North American” is inaccurate since Canada is also in North America. (So is, arguably, Mexico)
7. “USian” could arguably apply to Mexicans. (See #1 above)
8. “Unitedstatesofamerican” is just stupid. (Even though it is the most accurate next to American)
9. Try calling a Canadian “American” and see what their reaction is.
10. I have a hard time imagining that the term “American,” which has become a dirty word worldwide recently, wants to be claimed by other nationalities in the hemisphere, who share nothing more with the USA other than the accident of geographic proximity and land bridge in Panama.
There are two French bloggers that I know of out there that fiercely dispel myths and defend their people from the incessant insults courtesy of the American media and the far and sometimes not so far Right wing in the US.
French-bashing is common in the US and synonymous with American-bashing. André Wernesson, a frequent commenter on Miquelon’s site, wrote the following to Comedy Central in response to bigoted French jokes. This is just an excerpt.
Since then, French-Americans, French expatriates, and French culture in general have been subjected to abuse on various levels, from large-scale, indiscriminate bashing to personal-level abuse such as insults, damage to property, being fired from work, &c.
I hope you will understand how painful it is for me, then, to see that these hateful feelings are alive and well, and being propagated through your site. It would do you much credit as a person of humanity and integrity if you were to see this as well, as there is no reason for which we French should be submitted to systematic abuse whereas replacing “French” with “Mexican”, “Jew” or “Chinese” would draw immediate backlash.
Anyone see the similarity? An acceptable prejudice is what it is. It is socially acceptable in the US to bash French people – just as it is socially acceptable and even encouraged to bash American people in Europe, Canada, New Zealand, South America, and Australia.
No repercussions. No backlash. No outrage. No blink of the eye.
This alone unites the French and the Americans. With one tiny exception, however…
Here’s one of many related examples. A French woman living in Canada who calls herself “Zhu” stopped by my blog many moons ago leaving me this message:
…in response to this thread. Very diplomatic, however, I am still “paranoid” and “overreacting” for noting Americanophobic attitudes. Right?
Then several months later, the same person, “Zhu” happened upon Superfrenchi’s blog who’s ENTIRE BLOG is devoted to Anti-Frenchism, unlike mine who’s blog is only roughly 20% devoted to challenging the Americanophobes and dispelling American cliches. And look at Zhu’s reaction to French-bashing.
Night and day difference, EH? Hmmm…..
That speaks volumes, and proves my point. Americans have to sit and suck it up while the French can scream, scratch, yell, rant, protest, or do whatever they want to counter act American and British Anti-Frenchism.
So, if someone asks you what unites the French and the Americans, just tell them that besides our friendship, we are both survivors of the last acceptable prejudice in the world.
Disclaimer:As always, I feel obligated to type up a disclaimer for the not so bright people who read my blog. When I say “American-bashing” I am talking about “American-bashing”, not American government bashing. Those are two totally different topics.
P.S. If you are French and reading this, I know this won’t make you feel much better, but please take note that American comedians bash Americans far more. The French only make up a fraction of all the bashing on Comedy Central and in the media in general.
UPDATE!
Despite some silly rumors circulating on some teenie-bopper website, I have never been Anti-French nor am I pro-French now. What have I to judge that by, anyway? I’m neither. I’m anti-Americanophobia. The issues addressed here are clear-cut. French-bashing and American-bashing are the last acceptable prejudices in the world.
“Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.
Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.
—Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion”
Here are some tips for those amateurs out there that are looking for more sheeple to join their cause.
Find a large city or crowded area anywhere in the states
Be prepared to be on your feet for a long time
Interview *willing* Americans (Legally, I believe one must ask permission of those videoed if it’s okay to broadcast their humiliating bloopers to the world electronically)
Ask simple questions to make the dumb Americans look dumber when they make a mistake.
Ask tough questions like what is the location and capital of Olowitchawawa on the map when you start getting desperate.
Pay people to say and do stupid things if you’re getting more desperate.
Interview 200.
Pick 20 dim bulbs.
Post it on Youtube, Facebook, Bebo, Myspace, your blog, and mass-email it as well.
Send it to all of your friends on Youtube and encourage them to place it in the center of their main page.
If a random American says, “Hey that’s not fair, you interviewed 200 and cherry-picked the dumb ones to represent the US….bla bla bla I could do that to you too bla bla bla”, just call them a “blind nationalist”.
And PRESTO!
Your work is done.
You have successfully convinced other like-minded zombies who, in return, will tell their zombie friends and let that video cycle about the internet for decades to come.
Since Nationalism is the center of a lot of cross-border debates, I find it important to introduce this article on Canadian and American Nationalism. While the focus is on relations between Canada and the United States, some of what is mentioned in this literature is relevant beyond Canada and extends to Europe and the rest of the world.
My personal comments will be based upon the text that I have bolded out.
Nationalism unites people of different classes and ideologies. It can create harmony, link our past to our present and give a people a sense of identity. But nationalism is also a tool used by dictators, despots and power-hungry politicians alike. It can create violent and mighty forces as well as divide people from different geographies. It is used to exaggerate differences, foster generalizations and cause discriminatory thinking. These two halves of nationalism can perhaps best be viewed in the context of World War II. Churchill, Roosevelt and King used nationalism to unite their nations against brutal enemies for the preservation of democratic civilization. Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo exploited nationalism to fuel an expansionist voracity the likes of which the world had never seen before. Therefore, we observe from history that nationalism can be a force for self-preservation, heroism and honor, or for vengeance, conquest, enslavement and dishonor.
This is why I am beginning to learn that those people from other countries that are bigoted toward Americans (not critical of US policies, but bigoted – big difference!) are staunch Right-wing nationalists in their own country. Those individuals I had once thought were on the far Left, are on the Right with a few exceptions.
[SNIP!]
While nationalism is a strong force in both the US and Canada, the expression of it is quite different on people divided by the arbitrary border line. The difference is not due to ideology or culture, but should be understood in historical and psychological terms. In many ways, the imagined differences are more powerful and divisive than any true realities.
One of my major complaints about Sarah Palin was her divisive speech and politics. Whether she was aware of what she was doing or not, she was encouraging a more clear split down the middle to separate America into two Americas: Right America vs Left America.
Americanophobes are equally guilty of dividing the masses as opposed to uniting them. But what else can we expect from xenophobic organizations?
The author then proceeds to explain how Canada was born. Then a psychologist takes the stand:
“If you step back, it’s very hard in objective terms to plot out what are the true differences between Canadians and Americans… Humans have a strong capacity to construct identities for themselves. It’s largely a social process of construction. Some of it is taking small differences and making them seem bigger. A lot of it comes not from the differences, but from feelings of a sense of identity. It’s tough to find things on which to hang an identity for all the English-speaking Canadians. It’s not really a language that makes them distinct. It only makes them distinct from French-speaking Canadians. It makes them more like the U.S. to focus on language. Food doesn’t work very well because, by and large food in Canada is the same as in the United States. What are you left with? Well there’s geography. It’s clear that if you live in Canada as opposed to the U.S., there’s a border between the two. There aren’t a lot of things onto which you can pin a distinctively Canadian culture, other than growing up and learning that you’re Canadian and not American. It’s identity by negation rather than affirmation.“
Thousands of Americans personally? Naw. Nobody with half a brain would fall for that. In my 40 years of being alive, I’ve never met so many people.
Visits to the US? Being a “captain” in the military, this wasn’t for pleasure, but for business. I wouldn’t consider that to be “seeing” the US.
Working and living with Americans for more than a decade? That’s very vague. And still, nobody will believe that all or even most of the Americans you met were these evil monsters that you make them out to be.
Rape is more prevalent in Canada and Australia. In the US, Americans rape Americans every day. Justice is not always absolute – anywhere in the world.
So, what is this guy’s point?
There is A LOT that Canadians should be proud of. There really isn’t a reason in modern times to identify themselves with negativity. Rather, the focus should be on the positives.
Pamala Sutton, a Canadian Expatriate living in the states tried to challenge her fellow Canadians in asking them if they could focus on a POSITIVE Canadian identity rather than the tired cliché “I AM CANADIAN because I’m not American” ho hum. It’s quite a challenge for some Canucks, you know?
Back to the original article:
There are of course many differences between Canadians and USAmericans, but there are few, if any, national differences that one can point to beyond the psychology of understanding that you are Canadian or USAmerican. As noted Canadian journalist and author, David Frum has pointed out:
“What we have here is one large, English-speaking North American culture with a number of components, of which Ontario is one, Western Canada is another. It’s true that you can get in a car at Anchorage and drive diagonally southeast until you hit Miami and speak the same language, use the same credit card, pump gas the same way. I think you’d be struck much more by the similarities than the differences. And the places where you would notice dissimilarities would not match the border.”
And more importantly…
While Canadian nationalism can often be described in these reactive terms, as largely an identity based on non-Americanism, the reverse is not true in the United States. As Canadian poet Margaret Atwood once said, this leaves Canadians looking through a one-way mirror into the United States, with USAmericans largely blind to on goings behind that mirror. USAmericans are far less likely to compare and contrast themselves and their country to Canada and Canadians. If they do, they are even less likely to look at Canada with contempt and righteous indignation. USAmericans largely look towards Canada with friendly feelings, and see Canadians as cousins or even as brothers and sisters, which of course was literally the case before the American Revolution.
This is what irks me the most about Americanophobia! The same can be said about Europeans as well. Both Europeans and Canadians are favored by the majority of Americans. Our media is generally good to them as well (with the exception of France on occasion). It’s really the case of “We’re nice to you, but you’re not nice to us”.
Try to imagine making this more personal. Think about being nice to someone because you like them just to have them be mean to you and all the people you know on top of it.
Since this second-class citizenship is undesirable, and since Canada could never match the United States in measurable terms due to relative size of populations, many Canadians often describe themselves as more civilized, peaceful and kind. Canadian historian George Woodcock notes it in this manner, “Canadians make up for their physical weakness by assuming an air of moral superiority towards the Americans, not unlike that which Scots assumed towards the English”. One example of Canadians acting out this idea is the strong Canadian belief that Canada is a nation of peacekeepers. According to the UN, Canada ranks 38th in UN peacekeeping, with 233 peacekeepers abroad working in UN peacekeeping missions as of Dec 2003, supplying less than 1% of international peacekeepers. Ghana commits about ten times the number of peacekeepers, at 2,306 while only having 60% of Canada’s population. Many will then go on to contrast their imagined leading role in international peacekeeping against the world policing of the United States. Even though Canadian soldiers have stood side-by-side with USAmericans in nearly every military action (UN-mandated or not) the US has taken. The only two notable exceptions being the Vietnam War and the recent Iraqi conflict, both of which were highly debated in both countries.
I really wish, not just Canadians, but everyone to stop telling Americans that they’re “peacekeepers”. People have really bastardized what that word means!
I would also like to point out that contrary to popular belief, Canada *DID* invade Iraq with the US. It’s amazing how many foreigners don’t know this.
So the next time a proud fellow citizen tells you that Canada didn’t join the Iraq War, remind them of Mark Twain’s famous quip: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
To continue with the article…
Many other Canadians have attached themselves to the belief that Canada is “a kinder and gentler nation” (ironically a phrase taken from President George H. W. Bush). Yet, when put to the test in terms of philanthropy “Americans give over two-and-a-half times more of their income to charity than do Canadians”, according to a Fraser Institute of Dec 2003 report. The average value of charitable donations in the United States is $3,494 US; the average value of donations in Canada is $998 CDN ($760 US). An argument could be made that this difference is largely due to higher levels of disposable incomes in the US coupled with a less demanding tax burden. However, little can be shown to prove that in contrast to the United States, Canada is a nation consisting of kinder gentler individuals. Finally, United Nations ratings in Human Development have often been used in the past as a basis for Canadians to point out their superiority. Since the most recent report ranks Canada one spot below the United States, this sort of talk has subsided into sullen silence.However, it was not that long ago that many argued loudly that this mere collection of three basic indicators: Life Expectancy, Literacy/Enrollment and PPP, determined which was the greatest nation on earth. The same individuals who trumpet this sort of thing usually ignore reports done by other institutions that put Canada beneath the United States. Of course, this is not a phenomenon unique to Canada. Comparisons such as these, which match up countries often, help fuel nationalism everywhere.
Helping fuel nationalism: I’ve read through many, many blogs of all sorts and rantings from those all over the world. Is it not very telling that if you venture into an Americanophobic blog that you will, without a doubt, find “research” that compares…
The Swiss to Americans
The Brits to Americans
The Canadians to Americans
The French to Americans
What is this? It’s called Nationalism.
—>Will we ever find the Swiss being compared to Equadorians?
—>Will we ever find the Brits being compared to Canadians?
—>Will we ever find Canadians being compared to New Zealanders?
—>Will we ever find the French being compared to the Japanese?
Nope.
All foreign research is [Country A] vs [America].
That speaks volumes right there. This probably also explains why many Americans attribute this juvenile behavior to jealousy and/or short man syndrome.
In any event, why the need to compare and contrast cultures, anyway? I can understand comparing the health benefits of dark chocolate vs milk chocolate, but comparing cultures in quasi-formal “studies”? How is this useful other then intending to hurt the feelings of others?
Some Canadian nationalists will point to differences in medical care, gun control, capital punishment, drug laws and more recently gay marriages. But these differences are in governance, not culture. British Columbia and Alberta have made moves to offer privatized medical care, but this makes them no less Canadian. California and Oregon have tried moving towards more universal healthcare programs, but they do not become less USAmerican by doing so.
JFK once said, “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer.”
One could say the same about America and Canada when change is trying to take place. Just replace the words “Republican” and “Democratic” with “American” and “Canadian”.
Another argument offered by those who believe that imaginary lines draw real differences, is that Canada is more left wing than the United States. Although a large number of liberals reside in northern North America, describing Canada in ideological terms offers at best a momentary snapshot of an evanescent state of affairs. Just as in the United States, Canada has experienced several shifts from left to right and back again over the course of its political history. Indeed, Canadian politicians in the late 1800s touted Canada’s lower taxes in contrast to the tax-and-spend USAmericans.
Anyway, yes, the US goes through political stages between Right, Left, and in between throughout history just as any other nation out there. Does not anyone remember Margaret Thatcher? How did Obama get elected by a supposed “right-wing dominant country” such as America?
Nearly all the lavish social programs in Canada, that some say define Canada today, were first created by the United States. Still, it is hard to dispute that today there are small differences between the attitudes of average Canadians and USAmericans.
[SNIP!]
All the major differences we find between Canada and the United States are regional. For example, the people of Arkansas when compared with the people of British Columbia are vastly different (in North American terms). They speak with a different accent; they have slightly different customs, cuisines and cultures. In short, if you put the average British Columbian in the middle of Arkansas, everyone would know that he/she wasn’t from there. But put that B.C.er in Washington State and it would difficult for a native Washingtonian to know he/she wasn’t a Washingtonian. One might argue Seattle and Vancouver are virtually identical, especially when compared to Little Rock. The same could be said when comparing Manitoba and Minnesota to Newfoundland, Ontario and Michigan to Wyoming, the Maritime Provinces and New England states to the Yukon, etc. Overall, the differences between the United States and Canada are best seen regionally, not nationally. We do not have thousands of years of differing histories; we do not have generations upon generations brought up to believe completely different societal values; and we do not speak different tongues or exist within confined communities unable to travel outside our own borders.
When will people understand that the US is way too diverse to pigeon-hole? We aren’t one or the other. We’re a little bit of everything – despite what the BBC, the CBC and trashy tabloids will brainwash you with.
One such region that does speak a different tongue, and one that some would describe as a nation unto itself, is Quebec. Quebec nationalism is perhaps the biggest irritant to Canadian nationalists, because without Quebec, Canada would be much smaller and much less culturally different from the United States, overall. Quebec is also often used by Canadian nationalists as an example of what makes Canada unique. Although most Canadians outside Quebec know little French, there is a strong tendency for English Canadians to attach themselves to French Quebec as a means of distinguishing themselves from USAmericans. This is directly related to the anti-American sentiments that many have. From time to time Quebec has risen up and attempted to separate from the rest of Canada, but each time the rest of Canada (and in the past Britain) has managed to quell the movements. English Canadians will vehemently argue that Quebec belongs in Canada. Yet, they do so somewhat hypocritically. They rally and cry that the differences between Quebec and English Canada are slight and we ought to be together, yet the differences between Canada and the US are too great, and we ought to be separate. It would appear that based on this view the true defense of the sovereignty of the political entity known as Canada is defined by “the narcissism of small differences” as Sigmund Freud would say.
Let’s once and for all set the record straight, shall we?
ENGLISH CANADA IS NO MORE BILINGUAL THAN THE UNITED STATES! Canadians speak as much French as do Americans speak Spanish as their second language.
Even Euronationalists that brag incessantly about being “multilingual” are full of toad poop!
Some of the positive aspects of Canadian nationalism include ideas such as freedom, democracy, peace, good government and multiculturalism. Of course, the same ideas also define the United States. Canadian multiculturalism is sometimes distinguished from US multiculturalism as being diversity vs. assimilation. This is reinforced in Canadian minds by the USAmerican habit of describing the US as a melting pot. To many USAmericans multiculturalism and melting pot are interchangeable. Certainly, there is quite a bit of assimilation within US culture. People are encouraged to learn English, and often find it most convenient to conform to North American norms. This isn’t really any different from Canada, where the government also awards learning English (and French) and helps people acclimatize themselves to North American lifestyle. A Farsi-speaking Iranian cannot move to Canada, work there and live a normal life without adapting to his surroundings, just as he would have to if he moved to the United States. Both countries welcome diversity.
This entire essay basically spells out Canadian ignorance.
Despite the large overall commonalities of North Americans, when contrasting USAmerican nationalism against Canadian nationalism, few parallels can be found. As mentioned previously, these are largely self-made identities created by the human mind. If one accepts this notion, it would be safe to assume that, for example, a US-born flag-waving US nationalist who has a propensity to embellish the greatness of his native USA, if born in Canada, instead would be a flag-waving triumphalist Canadian nationalist, and vice versa.
People all over the world believe that it is only the Americans that are nationalists. Yet, another example of the ignorance that stems from hate.
Contrary to what Juan McDaniel and his Nationalist Eurosociopath pack of wolves believe, I personally don’t think that America is the best country in the world. I don’t even know if there is a formula to determine such a complexity? But I will say that I am not ashamed or apologetic to give Americans credit where its due. I will be quick to passionately defend my people as well. I am an American patriot. I am grateful to be an American. This is not nationalism – this is patriotism. At the same rate, I will also call out America where she deserves harsh criticism. This is not unpatriotic as some of my fellow Americans would like to believe – either.
There is good and bad everywhere, and what separates a nationalist from a patriot is ignorance outside one’s borders and even within.
Feel free to read more about Nationalism here. I’m willing to bet that most Americanophobes don’t even know what that word means.
Post from JM at DailyCandor. You can find his blog here.
This is a bugaboo that I found galling. It’s worthy of a post because it’s probably far more common among American expatriates than most realize, and it’s probably not considered annoying or offensive to those guilty of it.
What is it? After being forced to listen to a litany of insults about Americans, an American is supposed to not take it personally because, “Well, you’re obviously an exception.”
It’s as if these morons want to enjoy their asinine (and often very hypocritical) stereotypes about Americans, but don’t want to piss off the American they’re unloading them onto.
Here are a few examples off the top of my head:
When I tell a Dutch man I’m American, he retorts, “But you’re not fat!” He expects me to chuckle along with him; I don’t.
Even though I speak several languages, a Ukrainian woman (who speaks Ukrainian and Russian, as well as Polish) tells me that Americans never know any other language than English. When I point out my Polish is as good as hers, and I speak other languages as well, she mutters, “Well, you’re an exception.”
A German I meet during my travels tells me confidently that Americans are a bunch of hyper-religious right-wingers. When I tell him I’m an agnostic left-winger, he says, “Well, you’re an exception.”
Depending on my mood, I find these sentiments (and there have been more) anywhere from amusing to really annoying.
First, I think it borderline idiotic to think the American caricatures that foreign (especially European) media delight in reinforcing trump live Americans that you actually meet. (It’s as idiotic as religious fundamentalists who happily ignore empirical data and fact in favor of the disjointed ramblings of a Jewish shepherd from a few thousand years ago – how’s that for an analogy?) I have even heard a Brit, living in London, say, “All the Americans I know are smart, but they must be exceptions to the rule.”
Second, at the end of the day, we’re still Americans, and you’re offending people that we know. Maybe it’s due to a sense that Americans are so individualistic, that we won’t be insulted when our friends and family are insulted. It’s wrong. If the majority of the people you know are bright, athletic and conscious of the world, you’re going to take issue to the contention that all Americans are stupid, fat, and ignorant of everything outside the U.S. I can only imagine a Brazilian’s reaction to “You’re smart and hard-working…are you sure you’re from Brazil? Well, I suppose you’re an exception to the rule…”
Third, sometimes the stereotypes that these people cling to don’t even make any sense. Do these people really believe a majority of Americans are obese, and that everyone voted for Bush in 2004? Does plurality mean majority, and does majority mean everyone (except, of course, the one or two Americans these people have actually met)?
When I’ve confronted imbecilic sentiments like these – supposedly softened with a “you’re the exception” – I’m always tempted to reverse it and say the same back. But I can’t. To do so would so ridiculous, that I’d be embarrassed for myself. The fact that some non-Americans can so brazenly do so is a sad reflection of their stupidity and provincialism — ironic, actually.
“Anti-Americanism is hypocrisy at its finest, You can spend your evening catching the latest episode of “24″ and then complain about Guantanamo the next morning.” –the Berlin bureau chief of Der Spiegel
It’s so true. The biggest users and secret lovers of all-things-American are those that can’t pop that big ole American zit off of their nose. They are in a perpetual state of waaaaa waaaaaa waaaaaaaaaa!
“But thank you Facebook, WordPress, Youtube, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Macintosh, Google, and such for giving me the platform to tell you how much I hate your guts and want you dead”. — Yours truly, the Americanophobes
I am the type of person that can read through veils and see right through all the smoke and mirrors. I can see the wolf beneath the sheep’s clothing. Well, most of the time.
Americanophobes all have one thing in common. They live religiously by the “Most Americans…..” Syndrome
Most Americans do…
Most Americans are…
Most Americans will…
Most Americans did…
Most Americans believe…
How does one measure “most Americans”, anyway? If most of YOUR experiences with Americans were bad, I’d think that says more about YOU than the American people as a whole. You were probably an asshole and received asshole in return. And that’s completely justified!
All “facts and figures” prove very little knowledge, a gross exaggeration of the truth, not sharing the whole story, being culturally unaware of how other cultures/sub-cultures exist in comparison, possessing no intellectual curiosity, or just simply being an angry xenophobic person on a mission (militarily or not).
You will be called a “blind nationalist” and be accused of thinking that “Americans are above any form of dissent or criticism” should you dare to disagree and show facts in the form of linkage that contradict their convenient blunders.
However, there are people out there that passionately despise the American government, are truly progressive, coherent, liberal-minded, tolerant, culturally aware, peace-loving, and pro-active regarding human rights.
I often talk about the bad on my blog, but today, I want to display the good.
This Canadian blogger tips VERY far to the Left of Center and mercilessly bashes the American government, yet has no perverted obsession with Americans. Additionally, he doesn’t resort to petty bigotry toward the American people, however, calling a spade a spade.
Any occasional knee-jerk reaction by the above blogger can be explained away by too much Vodka, but other than that, this blogger has lived in many countries, is culturally curious, and most importantly, he realizes that there is trouble and corruption to be found in places other than the United States.
I wanted to showcase the farthest to the Left non-American blog that I could find that wasn’t based on a nationalist militant agenda resorting to the redundant “We’re better than you and here’s why” mantra.
So, let’s look at the differences more closely. What differentiates a Humanitarian from an Americanophobe?
—>Humanitarians have financially contributed to humanitarian efforts; Americanophobes don’t donate.
—>Humanitarians recognize human suffering – even those suffering at the hands of non-American origins; Americanophobes only recognize the suffering at the hands of Americans.
—>Humanitarians acknowledge imperfections in their own homeland; Americanophobes acknowledge only imperfections in the US.
—>Humanitarians don’t try to act refined, polished, or sophisticated as they rely on content – not pseudo-intellectual jargon to get their message across; Americanophobes lack content and only score high in $3 words.
—>Humanitarians have life on their minds most of the day; Americanophobes have America on their minds most of the day.
—>Humanitarians are happy that Obama won but are still cynical as part of being a liberal; Americanophobes are pissed that Obama won because they can no longer continue saying that the monster American white man is oppressing the American black man (they never did see blacks as Americans, anyway).
—>Humanitarians display a sincere curiosity about the world; Americanophobes display no such humility.
—>Humanitarians aren’t afraid to be light-hearted and enjoy life every once in a while; Americanophobes are consumed by paranoid thoughts, delusions of grandeur, and too tight-arsed to let themselves loose (well, the Americans might be watching, right?)
—>Humanitarians enjoy debate; Americanophobes’ opinions are not up for questioning.
—>Humanitarians aren’t bigots because that defeats being a Humanitarian; Americanophobes are self-proclaimed Humanitarians on the outside, but a spiteful, vindictive xenophobe on the inside (some cleverly hidden – some not)
—>Humanitarians think two wrongs don’t make a right; Americanophobes think two wrongs DO make a right
—>Humanitarians care for others because they feel good in their own skin; Americanophobes are self-loathing and only pretend to care about others.
—>Humanitarians blame the perpetrator; Americanophobes blame America first.
Before I go, I would like to pimp another blog out there. Now, this one is an Anti-American blog,………… BUT, it’s based on a trying truth. It IS hyperbole, but it’s meant to be that way. It’s comedy. You know, I cannot really charge the author for too much as he is not only funny as hell, but is actually LIVING IN AMERICA and by reading his blog, you can tell.
With that said, the author of “58 Reasons to Hate America” doesn’t seem bigoted to me. It’s my personal opinion, but I think he just hates everybody. He seems to favor Muslims, though – but being that his “hatred” is PURELY indiscriminate and hilarious, I’ll sit back and laugh as we all have to learn to laugh at ourselves – something that true Americanophobes are incapable of.
One more.
This Irishman says he’s aware of the whole world. And he really is.
Just remember, if you call yourself a Liberal, act like one. Liberals do *not* resort to Neo-Nazi Collectivism.
Are we a nation of organized fear-mongering propagandists to maintain the status quo or shall I say, to maintain our “global imperialistic powers” to one day be the “New World Order”? If you hear the American-Neo-Nazi march in the back of your head, ask yourself the following questions that challege the above. If God and Right-wing fascists rule the United States media, then….
Why do the majority of Americans consist of liberals and moderates?
Why does Bush have the lowest approval rating in recorded history (23%)? (In 2005, it was in the 30’s if I remember correctly?)
How did Obama become the president?
Why did Sarah Palin have the lowest approval rating compared to any other running VP in recorded history?
Why are the conservatives always complaining that our media is controlled by the liberal elite?
Granted, many Americans were brainwashed to believe that there were WMD in Iraq and that the Iraqi government was truly a threat. No doubt about that. Most of us supported Cheney’s invasion from the very beginning for reasons to protect us as a nation rather than a sinister goal to “police the world” as some Americanophobes would suggest all too often.
In the years between 2001 and 2003, most Americans were vulnerable enough to persuade as we had just gotten attacked on 9-11. It was very easy, back in those days, to use the politics of fear to manipulate us into believing that if we didn’t “take care of business in Iraq” that we’d be a target yet again. That explains why 70% of Americans took the bait – in the beginning. Not because 70% of us were violent and just supported the invasion because we love blood, gore, and imperialism as suggested by those western countries that despise us.
But that didn’t last too long. Although not fast enough, information leaked out pretty fast through our press. Progressively, we Americans had come to find out that we went to Iraq under false pretences, hence year by year Bush’s approval rating was found to have been sinking, and sinking and sinking.
Forty-eight percent of our voices didn’t get heard in the 2004 election. That’s one year after we had occupied Iraq.
So, you can definitely say that a good 70% (in 2003) of us from the get-go fell for the scaremongering propaganda. Thanks to the liberal media in the US, we learned the truth thereafter so much as to get even Bush to admit in the end, somewhat indirectly, that we did make a mistake regarding the initial purpose to invade Iraq. And that invasion was organized and orchestrated brilliantly yet sinisterly by Vice President Dick Cheney.
Americanophobes consistently resort to hyperbole to attack the American people. Right-wing propaganda has been replaced by blind nationalists in other countries with their own Right-wing propaganda AGAINST the United States. And just how 70% of us believed that going to war with Iraq was justified, so are many citizens of the west believing so many lies about the American people.
What does this prove? It proves that most of us, out of fear and/or insecurity, believe what we hear if it suits us at the time.
Is this part of human nature? Or is it more part of human nature to question incoming information? We’ll leave that for the cultural anthropologists to answer. In the meantime…
One of my German friends wrote this post on propaganda. It’s worth a read.
What’s my personal opinion? With the exception of talk-radio (aside from NPR), our media is liberal/middle-of-the-road depending on what television station you are listening to in the United States. Our media, as evident here, is the least “controlled” media in the world.
The first point I want to make I feel is the most important point. Americans don’t have any more of an arrogant self-entitlement syndrome than your average European nationalist or child abuse victim from any country.
In case you missed it, America is a Neo-Capitalist nation. (Not by my choice – not by my liking) In the USA, we are on our own. We must fend for ourselves. We grow up learning that we must WORKfirst to get what we want. And we work damned hard to get what we want. Yes, even harder than Japan. In other parts of the western world, the pressure to work is unmatchable compared to Americans. People of Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia all have the envied luxury of being taken care of by their Nanny government. You can work if you want to or find any excuse in the book NOT to work.
Some Americans like myself started working since they were fifteen. Aside from Christmases and birthdays, as I was approaching my mid-teens, there was nothing that I was “entitled” to unless I worked for it even if that meant doing household chores. I got my first real salary from a company at age 15 washing people’s hair in a beauty shop, working in a rectory, babysitting, and doing other odd jobs here and there. I learned to appreciate the value of a dollar at a very young age. This is the life I have gotten used to – the norm. I wasn’t alone. Most families here in the states work very alike – not because we want to as much as because we HAVE to. Because we cannot fall into the erect nipple of Nanny Government anywhere nearly as easy it is to do in say, Europe.
A Euronationalist extremist group who seemingly has spent time looking for watching “American” tourists has come to the conclusion that Americans have a “sense of entitlement” problem. To quote this person who calls himself by multiple names – one being “Captain (Dr.) Alexandr Vasilevski”…
If you don’t like the criticisms, close down that American sense of entitlement and arrogance.
First of all, INDIVIDUALS should be criticised – not groups based on one’s origin unless you’re into Neo-Nazi-collectivism.
So… What is an “American sense of entitlement?” – I asked myself. And then I remembered something. I worked for a major airline for several years. My customers were from all over the planet. I must say that some Americans got under my skin for being overly demanding in situations that didn’t warrant it. This made my job VERY hard. Being the “uncouth boor and wild savage” that I am, it took a lot of tongue biting to get through the inanity of it all. However, being that I worked with international customers as well, I had also learned that there were certain other nations equally guilty of the “me me me” mentality. Those groups of people I will not mention. I will say, however, that the majority of these people came from third world countries.
And those from developing countries are ANYTHING but spoiled.
You see, the Americanophobes believe in some sort of a misconception that Americans are all spoiled and rich and that must explain how arrogant they act overseas.
I would like to take this time to challenge my Americanophobic and even non-Americanophobic audience on this particular stereotype.
Most people make the same mistake as they think of America as being one of the richest and most powerful nations. After reading my link up above, you’ll see that we are far from spoiled, and in all actuality, quite the opposite. Americans as well, also mistakenly think that we are the most spoiled, but that’s only because those same Americans don’t know what life is like in other 1st world countries.
I sometimes jokingly call the US “the most developed third world nation”, but if you think about it, we have been mirroring some similar qualities you’d find in a developing nation.
Which brings me to my point.
Those people who possess the “me me me” mentality are only that way due to not having been brought up in a loving, warm, and well-disciplined family structure. Some form of child abuse calls for this type of annoying behavior because truly happy and stable people aren’t self-aggrandizing and do not expect or demand waivers or favors in a situation where it’s not justified. This has nothing to do with being “spoiled”. This is neither a phenomenon of the “rich” or those that hail from the United States. This is a trait of a LARGE percentage of HUMAN BEINGS out in the world.
Having an abnormal sense of entitlement comes in all shapes, sizes, flavors, colors, and textures. Some Euroelitists may not see the ill of their own due to “blind nationalism” – hence they put the blame on another nation. The one they love to hate:
America. At least when you’re in doubt…
This is one example of how reflexive Americanophobia results in confusing Australians with Americans.
[Cross posted on culturepress, on November 26, 2008]
Culturepress is today’s guest speaker. You can find her blog over here.
Today’s tragic terrorist attacks and hostage crisis in Mumbai got me thinking about traveling as an American. The terrorists are specifically targeting U.S. and U.K. passport-holders, after all.
I’ve been lucky in some ways. I don’t “look” like an American, so I can pass as a citizen from another continent and feel relatively safe when traveling–even alone, even as a woman (well… okay, we’ll scratch that last part).
When I was in Bangkok a few years ago, I found that being American may cost me, but only in the sense that I was exorbitantly overcharged for various goods and services. My American accent’s what did me in.
When asked where I was from (which was occasionally preceded by, “Why you talk like white-lady?”), I said that I’m Korean-American. “Korean” got me in worse of a state, as Koreans are often seen as gratuitous spenders by other peoples of Asia.
As I uttered the words “Korean-American,” I saw a Ch-ching, ch-ching slot-machine-type effect in the eyes of these Thai vendors and cab drivers. The prices went up even further.
I thought, maybe I can fake a Chinese accent? No good. I can’t even fake a Korean one for more than five seconds with a straight face.
So, I started telling the Thai people that I’m Chinese-Canadian.
Guess what? Cab fares were cut in half. I started getting those killer deals that Bangkok marketplaces are famous for. All because I was no longer “Korean” or “American.” Interesting effect.
My (non-Asian) American friends travel with elaborate stories of Canada prepared and memorized, not so much as to get better deals, but because it’s “safer” that way. Hopefully, over the next few years, perhaps, if our nation begins to spend more time and energy on humanitarian causes as opposed to imperialistic or militaristic ones, the world’s view of America will change, and we’ll no longer have to fake-Canadian in order to travel safely around the world.
My thoughts are with the people of Mumbai tonight. Happy Thanksgiving and be safe. (–culturepress)
Hi. I am Patricksperry, and you can find my blog here.
Seems that someone posted here that is well beyond personal anti-Americanism. The international liberal is nothing more, and certainly nothing less than a classic perpetrator of propaganda. After reading the third hate mail, and checking the blog linked to there this was a pretty obvious conclusion.
Yes, my bit of commentary in Russian was, shall we say casting the fly upon the water. No, it was not taken, but my instincts were apparently still working.
Being anti-American because of childish hypocrisy and / or prejudice is one thing, and usually can be written off to sheer ignorance of fact. Organized propaganda has a much more sinister purpose though. That being the slaughter of innocent people at some point or other in time. Trying to lay the blame on the United States based upon a very tenuous connection to some Afghan Mujaheddin that fought the Soviets quite some time ago at best deals in historical fallacy. At worst it simply seeks to stir up blood lust against the American people.
Lastly, I find that blog’s failure to note that it was international parties that found Soviet land mines that appeared to be rocks and other common things that children might pick up. Nor Americans that just sat around and left them in place.
This is hate America first at a professional level.
A Right-wing Indian fringe group that finds my blog very offensive decided to forge my name on a comment that I didn’t make as revenge for posting their hate mail publicly on my blog, I am guessing. Some phrases were made by me in this post. The authors of the offending blog decided to copy and paste some of my words (out of order) and mix them up with someone else’s combined with some Valley-girl lingo.
Here’s the finished product. (Click the below to get to the source.)
I had to laugh at the ending, though, as Zontar had posted that in his comment reacting to the hate mail that I had received.
They have access to a thesaurus and a keyboard. What a feat!!!!
Who cannot laugh at the silliness of all this?
UPDATE:
The latest from Aby the “Liberal” and co.:
Once again, quoting things that I did not say. It’s not really that HUGE of a deal as those people that already know me know that I don’t talk like that. And people who don’t know me? Bring it on! They can just come here and read my site to find out for themselves.
Still laughing at the silliness!
UPDATE 2!
If that wasn’t hilarious enough, I took a screen shot of her commenting back to herself!
(Click below to access the source)
UPDATE 3!
Here is Aby’s latest instalment in her “testimonials” area of her blog (which is updated depending on her mood):
(Click below to access the source.)
If amusing people means challenging back with facts, then yeah… my blog is one hellavan amusement park. And will continue to be that way.
UPDATE 4!
Yet, another desperado instalment from my good ole friends next door – except this time, they’ve dragged their criminal acts of forgery to an online message board dedicated to ME! I am so a celeb!!!!!!!!!
Click the screen shot below to access the source.
In case you’re confused, Aby’s “partner in crime” goes under the following names:
- Captain Sasha
- Sasha
- Captain V
- Juan McDaniel
- Captain (Dr.) Alexandr Vasilevski
- Karmen
- Amy
- Bridgette
and god knows what else.
I’ve met a lot of cooky Americanophobes in my time, but Juan McDaniel undoubtfully gets to wear the crown!
Yes, the British are the worst tourists! Americans come in 2nd place for being THE BEST TOURISTS.
Who wuda thunk it?
Research by online travel service Expedia suggests Brits abroad are the least well-regarded by foreigners.
They are the rudest, meanest, worst-behaved, most linguistically incompetent and least adventurous holidaymakers, the study published on Friday claims.
Categories included behaviour, politeness, willingness to learn the language, trying local delicacies and spending on the local economy.
And overall, the British finished bottom of the league table of 24 nations, which was topped by the Germans, Americans and Japanese.
[Snip!]
And (drumroll) interestingly enough, ………..
Americans were judged the most courteous and the British the rudest, alongside the Russians and Canadians.
The Brits also seemed to make least effort in speaking the local language, a quality excelled by the Germans, French and Americans.
The funny thing to look at here is the fact that it is only Americans and Jews that are expected to act like the locals abroad. AND! It is only Americans that are expected to act like the locals abroad even on their own turf! However, Australians, hypothetically speaking, no matter how loud, rude or obnoxious they are will get a FREE PASS.
That’s very telling. Don’t you think?
Even more interesting, in Europe, having a travel guide is one of the many reasons Americans are considered, “stupid”. This is part of the cultural differences between Europeans and Americans. Americans aren’t ashamed at all to admit or show that they don’t know something – whereas Europeans are too embarrassed to look like “they don’t know” and hide it. This isn’t about stupidity at all. It’s about being humble and honest. And in this regard, people who ask for help or learn tips from books, are the ones that I’d like to call intelligent due to their curiosity and ability to ask questions which, in turn, causes one to LEARN. Read the blog entry and the comments in this post to see where I’m coming from. Here’s a sneak preview:
So, let me get this straight (addressing this entire blog post), if tour guides, tour groups, travel guides, and maps define what an American is, then why are there so many tour buses and tour guides in the United States? Why are travel books and guides sold in other countries and in the US to cater to YOU PEOPLE coming from your neck of the woods to America? Why do I continue to find Asians running around everywhere with cameras and travel books?
And wait a minute! I thought that Americans didn’t travel. It’s odd for me to see in every Americanophobic blog the following:
Americans don’t have passports
Stupid American tourists
You know, we’re damned no matter what we do! And this is what Americanophobia is all about. In my opinion, it’s very similar to the Nazi propaganda during and before WWII. If you are old enough to know anything about Nazi propaganda and are familiarized with Americanophobia, you will notice some significant similarities.
I would only expect that self-proclaimed internationalists would understand that a different country’s people would mean a different culture. We’re not all going to like, get used to, or be able to understand everyone’s unique culture and/or sub-cultures within. There are some things about Japanese customs that I don’t like. So what? I’m not going to create an entire blog devoted to how much I hate Japanese culture. I’m not going to obsess about how I think that Japanese are this or that all day and go out of my way to find them in the streets so that I can taunt them and write more about them in my blog so that I can feel better about my esteem-deficient being.
It’s human nature to fall victim to culture shock. We are all unique despite the fact that we all cry the same tears and bleed the same blood. People who are unable to appreciate the differences, more than likely, don’t even like themselves.
For more information as to how I feel about tourism and how to expect to be treated in certain areas abroad, you may want to read this before you pack your suitcases.
Look they even orchestrated the Mumbai terrorist attacks in India!!
It’s got to be true ‘cuz she said it. And so did they. True, we did warn Mumbai and they paid no attention. But hey, that was our strategy so that we wouldn’t get caught. Who wuda thunk that the KGB would be watching?
Americans killed almost 200 people in India. Do you think this must be because all Americans are INHERENTLY violent? According to these Right-wing Euronational propagandists, America is one of the most violent nations on earth, and inherently so!
(This Right-wing Euronationalist fringe group who call themselves “Liberal internationalists calling a spade a spade” from this blog swear that they aren’t Americanophobes and tell me that I’m just into “conspiracy theories”. (It’s not like anyone would admit that they’re prejudiced, though, right?) This is despite all the overwhelming material out there created by non-Americans living in other countries that proves Americanophobia is rampant, but I digress….)
It is just very interesting for me how all non-American evils committed are given a free pass. If that’s not an Americanophobic self-serving ideology, I don’t know what is.
Anyway, this all reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
“As someone who takes human rights seriously, I’m appalled by the lack of sympathy the left feels toward the victims of any regime other than the Bush administration. Let’s shout it to prisoners everywhere: If you’re not harmed by an American, your suffering doesn’t count.” –Erik Svane
These are things that myself as well as many others place into the “Hate America First” category. It doesn’t really matter what it is to the people such as referenced. Just so long as America will be found at fault. If we in America didn’t actually do it, why the CIA forced people from another country to do it!
Some reasonability is always necessary. The USA is far from perfect, but we are as a nation and as a people nowhere near the goons that the Americanophobic propagandists make us out to be.
You really can’t blame them, though. In their neck-o-the woods, it’s hip to hate Americans. And young kids want to be in the “in group”. Awww….. let them play in their little sandbox, no?
Or should we remind them that they may be just a little less than perfect themselves?
Not to mention past wars provoked by them and of course, that most of the rumors that these sheeple believe in about the American people have already been proven to be false or heavily exaggerated.
The ludicrous accusation for causing the Mumbai attacks reminds me of children when their parents catch them doing something wrong and how they blame it on their sibling.
Ohhhh Wal, ah’s jest gonna take mah nashunalist an’ unsophisticated fat uncouth an’ boreish ass out an’ hoof it an’ shoot up sum varmints…
OK. Now here’s the irony of all this. Those that have aggressively given us the “ignorant” label… well, only one is to assume that the Americanophobes are exempt from the same label, right?
Wrong.
Let’s me just put it this way. If Americans = dumb. Then we’re all Americans. Let’s have a look-see at the research, shall we?
Here’s just a tiny peek into minds of the Americanophobes:
A poll of nearly 2,000 Britons by YouGov/PHI found that 70 per cent of respondents incorrectly said it was true that the US had done a worse job than the European Union in reducing carbon emissions since 2000. More than 50 per cent presumed that polygamy was legal in the US, when it is illegal in all 50 states.
The poll was commissioned by America In The World , an independent pressure group that launches on Monday and aims to improve understanding and appreciation of the US in Britain and around the world.
Tim Montgomerie, its director, said factual inaccuracies and mistaken assumptions have contributed to Britons and Europeans taking a hostile stance towards their most powerful ally, which often acted against national interests.
“We wanted to find out how British people understood America and found that there was an unbalanced view. Maybe there are good reasons but if we cleared a lot of that factual ignorance we would have a better understanding of what America really is,” said Mr Montgomerie, who also founded the influential Conservative Home website three years ago.
The survey showed that a majority agreed with the false statement that since the Second World War the US had more often sided with non-Muslims when they had come into conflict with Muslims. In fact in 11 out of 12 major conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims, Muslims and secular forces, or Arabs and non-Arabs, the US has sided with the former group. Those conflicts included Turkey and Greece, Bosnia and Yugoslavia, and and Kosovo and Yugoslavia.
Interestingly enough, this person tends to think that the American media is responsible for creating Americanophobia abroad. Well, he just may have a point when you consider this. Some wonder if it’s the fault of the BBC. I personally think its both. America invented Anti-Americanism and we’ve perfected it. Well, in other words, the United States doesn’t hide her dirty laundry – rather she exposes it unashamedly to her people and those living abroad. Then the media establishments in other countries take the bait and over-sensationalize it on their turf. Ugly news sells.
To understand this dynamic, one must understand the purpose of journalism:
reporting the facts
sensationalizing and exaggerating them to keep you focused, hot, and bothered
twisting the facts subtly to meet a particular agenda
and leaving certain facts (good stuff!) out that could possibly give you a balanced perspective.
America in the World.com is a British site that has additionally discovered the many MYTHS that Americanophobic Europeans blindly believe in.
Here is a comprehensive list of all the MYTHS debunked:
Myth: America is not a truly free and open society
Myth: Black Americans are held back in a country plagued by racism
Myth: America refused any involvement in World War II, when the freedom of Europe was at stake, until the December 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbour forced her to participate
Myth: Americans allow tens of millions of their fellow citizens who cannot afford health insurance to go without it
Myth: Americans Aren’t Interested in the Environment
Myth: America is exceptionally ungenerous in its aid to developing nations
Myth: America is a violent, high-crime society
Myth: America is dominated by intolerant religious zealots, to the detriment of everyone else
Myth: The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 were committed by the US government
Feel free to read how they are debunked here. (The only one they were incorrect about was in saying that the 2000 Election wasn’t stolen. It was. Al Gore won by the popular vote. The Electoral system screwed him over.)
A viewer of all this blatant ignorance responded:
Edward Micheal George responds:
What a very pathetic lesson! That in clinging so unnaturally to an absence of value for our defining trait (that is: delighting in what we aren’t, rather than–what is more obvious–what we are), we have somehow come to embody that most boring of stereotypes about American folly: a crass and uncivilized propensity to dismiss, out of hand, a given group based on an untested and entirely superficial understanding of it.
Bravo, my non-American brothers and sisters! You’ve done yourselves unproud!
I have done independent research myself to myth-bust the Americanophobes. The proof that they are unlearned is endless, really. Let me just give you all a few examples:
Myth: Americans are the fattest in the world. —>Busted here. (Courtesy of news.com.au)
Myth: Americans get fat purely out of greed. —>Busted here. (Multiple sources)
Myth: Everyone likes Bush in the US. —>Busted here. (LA Times)
Myth: All/most Americans are jingoists. —>Busted here. (Multiple sources)
Myth: America has done no good. —> Busted here. (Multiple sources)
Myth: There is no “American Dream”. —>Busted here.
Myth: Only in America is the news, insular. —>Busted here.
Myth: Americans have no curiosity about the rest of the world. —>Busted here. (Multiple sources)
Myth: America has no culture: Busted here (toward the bottom).
Additionally, the British continue to bust more myths here.
Learn more here about what the rest of the world, including Americans, are saying about the aforementioned conducted research. More and more Americans everyday and learning that those who they once looked up to with high regard and admiration aren’t… all that.
Yes, we yanks are finally starting to wake up!
The only country left that we can look up to with some confidence would be Japan, in my opinion. They’re naturally not immune to criticism, however, they don’t stoop to the sanctimonious-holier-than-thou “us versus them” childish mob mentality like those I mention above.
Moral of the story: So, before you Americanophobic zealots talk about ignorance, you might want to pick up a book and clean up your own act first (and as a country as well) before you start pointing fingers. You may become over-confident thinking that Americans aren’t watching. But we are. The Ugly Europeans.
It’s very rare for ME to find Liberals out there that are vehemently against Americanophobia. Happy Leftie is one of them, and just very recently, I’ve met another person online who feels the same way we do. If you haven’t read Happy Leftie’s post yet, please go and read it now!
I find Liberal Patriots like I find rainbows in the sky. They are rare and beautiful to see.
The below is a guest post by JM from DailyCandor.com whom I’ve just recently had the pleasure to meet.
All of his points are spot on in sync with my own.
ON THE FAR LEFT AND FAR RIGHT
* I am steadfastly left-of-center, and I’ve been saying for years that the far-left and far-right resemble each other more than they do their respective centers, because they are driven more by ideological purity rather than a practical assessment of reality.
ON POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
I also think political correctness seems to be practiced more by the Right these days (having to pretend you’re for God, Godly, Christian, loving Jesus, praising Jesus, fearing Jesus, saying Christmas and not Holidays, talking about our “Judeo-Christian heritage”, etc in order to rise to even a tiny city council position), so while I’m against it too, I would put that in your blue/liberal column.
ON AMERICANOPHOBIA
* I have lived overseas; 2 years in Poland, 2 years in the Netherlands, and 3 months in Israel (even though I’m not Jewish, Polish or Dutch by extraction).
* Idiotic Anti-Americanism annoys the living shit out of me, mostly because it relies on tired stereotypes that media establishments play to that are often wrong (your point about Europeans thinking Jews being right-wing is a perfect example), and because it’s a thinly-veiled attempt to divert attention from people’s insecurities and embarrassment about their own countries. I’ve consistently seen a high correlation between those non-Americans who obsess about America’s faults, and….interest in getting a US residency visa, questions about green card lotteries, etc.
* I’m thrilled that there’s another American who has actually lived overseas, who is politically progressive but …still gets annoyed at the patent falseness driving most anti-American claims about this country. For all of its annoying faults and problems (and there are, of course, many) in this country, at least the US and its citizens are forced to confront them and deal with them, instead of pretending they don’t exist and choosing to attack a country abroad as the source of the world’s ills. I’ve come to see Americanophobes as delusional and hypocritical as the “magical thinking” religious nutjobs (whom I also can’t stand).
ON THE AMERICAN FAR LEFT
* I loathe the Far Left’s fawning (and completely wrong) portrayal of Europe as some sort of Utopia, mostly because they’ve never lived there long enough to see the ugliness that Europeans desperately try to hide from the world. I have to chuckle when Americans (and Europeans!) talk about how right-wing America is compared to Europe. All I have to say to that is “with respect to *what*?” When it comes to immigration and the advancement of non-white people in all sectors of society, Europe is far more to the right than the U.S.
* You’re one of the few Left people to be as annoyed at Michael Moore and Al Gore as I’ve been. I firmly believe that the facts are condemning enough; you don’t have to resort to hyperbole, irrelevant pieces of information, or messianic grandstanding to make a valid point.
Sorry for the bullet points, but I wanted to capture everything and not write a bunch of long paragraphs. I like bullet points.
Keep up the good fight! You have a friend in cyberspace. –JM from DailyCandor
“The fundamental role of anti-Americanism in Europe in general, and particularly among those on the Left, is to absolve themselves of their own moral failings and intellectual errors by heaping them onto the monster scapegoat, the United States of America. The U.S. is charged with all the evils, real or imagined, that afflict humanity, from the falling price of beef in France to AIDS in Africa and global warming everywhere. The result is a widespread refusal to accept responsibility for one’s own actions.” — Jean-Francois Revel
If you have read any of Jean-Francois Revel’s books or related literature, he is not trying to paint an unrealistic picture of the United States implying that we have done no wrong. As both Jean and Andrei Markovits said here, it’s the hyperbole, the hypocrisy, the false rumors, the assumptions, the mob mentality, the blatant ignorance, the inane labeling, and all the exagerrated truths Americanophobes believe in that they are standing up against.
This blogger’s intentions (from sorryeverbody.com) are genuine, thoughtful, and rather very touching. For some reason, however, he thought that by Obama having won the presidential race that Americanophobia would die?
Additionally, Aby the so called “internationalist liberal” reiterates the fact that she and her “crew” will continue to mercilessly bash the American people in her blog no matter who’s president. The self-proclaimed “tolerant internationalist” promises also to unveil even more of her self-loathing deep-seated hatred for Americans in future posts as in a series. Woo hoo. Her goal is to let her American audience know why they are hated and how the phenomenon of European tolerance Euro-bigotry is justified and has nothing to do with who is the POTUS. So, we’re all on the edge of our seats now, hey?
Why would things change post-election, anyway? I’ve been saying this in my blog for ages, but Americanophobia has N-O-T-H-I-N-G to do with the president of the United States and/or any human rights violations we’ve committed. NOTHING.
Barack Obama is on his Canadian honeymoon today, but tomorrow he is certain to become merely another target for those who reject America’s world view.
On April 29th, 2008 the article, “American Unpopularity Abroad: What It Really Means” was submitted online to prove to Americans that no matter what we do, Americanophobes will always be Americanophobes. William Moloney states, …
“The Democratic narrative goes like this: Get the troops out of Iraq and Barack or Hillary into the White House and American popularity abroad will soar. Group hugs will abound. Old allies will become new friends, and vie with one another to pony up more money and troops for all good causes. Arm in arm we’ll suppress the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, stand up to Russia and China, rally to the defense of Israel, and put an end to global warming…”
Right?
WRONG!
The linked article up above goes on to explain one of the many reason Americanophobes will continue hating and being as ignorant as a lobotomized duck.
With Obama, Spiegel and others will no longer be focusing attacks on the American executive (at least in the short-term) as was standard practice under Bush. Instead, as we have previously speculated, they will likely turn to attacking broader aspects of American society (the economic downturn is the current dominant theme) for all that is wrong in the United States and the world. Think World Scapegoat USA. Think pet peeves. Having to respect Obama just makes accomplishing what readers require a bit more demanding. Just slapping Bush and a desecrated US flag on the cover will no longer cut mustard after January 20…
But anti-Americanism did not begin with George W Bush and it wouldn’t end with Barack Obama in the White House The attacks of 9/11 were the ugliest and bloodiest ever manifestation of anti-Americanism. They may have happened when George W Bush was in the White House but they were planned when President Clinton was Commander-in-Chief. They were executed when Bush was still promising a humbler, less interventionist foreign policy. Although most of the world grieved with America in the weeks after 9/11, many of its critics rejoiced. Le Monde did publish the headline ‘We Are All Americans’ after 11 September 2001 but noted in the text below: “[T]he reality is perhaps also that of an America whose own cynicism has caught up with [it]”.[3] The US Ambassador to London was reduced to tears after a hostile BBC Television audience attempted to blame American foreign policy for the attacks on Washington and New York. Anti-Americanism was alive and kicking before the invasions of either Afghanistan and Iraq.
Just in case you missed it, Americanophobia began in the 19th century, folks. It’s here to stay. We have always been perceived as a bunch of typical, inbred, insular, nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, uncouth, vulgar, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, baby-killing, gun-toting, bible-thumping, flag-waving, self-centered, and globalizing Neanderthal Americans.
Sarah Palin, despite having the lowest approval rating in recorded history among VP candidates, is now THE NEW FACE OF AMERICA. Despite Obama being elected (by a large majority) as president of the United States, Sarah Palin is stillTHE NEW FACE OF AMERICA. So, yeah. Our image is increasingly getting worse and will only continue to rise once all of them find out that Obama is leaning toward the center or is actually a Republican.
So, dear America, stop wasting your time trying to get on anyone’s “good side”. It’s fruitless as you’re dealing with a bunch of hateful xenophobes that mirror similar values to those American neocon extremists that are equally annoying. The Americanophobes don’t give a hoot how liberal or how far to the Left of Center you are. They don’t care how many stamps and pages your American passport contains. They hate YOU and are waiting for the next terrorist attack in the US so that they have another excuse to mindlessly parade around with burning flags, celebrate, and cheer in the streets.
And if you think that the Americanophobes are just an extremist group that only represent the minority in Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and South America, you are sorely mistaken.
Americanophobia and anti-Semitism need to exist. It’s a necessary evil for those who feel small. Americanophobes across the globe, enjoy defining America by her Extremists. Their media’s slant focuses on American’s extremists and all of it’s flaws. Americanophobes abroad believe in fabricated images of the supposed “typical American”. Some of us believe that the “ugly American image” helps other countries feel more patriotic about themselves to avoid facing their own shortcomings. But my friends,… this is what Americanophobia is all about: mindlessness, laziness, genetic defects, misplaced anger, scapegoatism, brainwashing, the need to belong, belief without question, inferiority complexes, lack of pride in one’s place in the world, and just plain old ignorance.
And lastly, if you’re an Americanophobe reading this, you have no right to whine about how Americans stereotype YOU when you do the same yourselves. Get off of your high horses and look in the mirror for a change!
Side Note:Oh gee, I just remembered that when Barack Obama gets assassinated, how all the Americanophobes will have a field day, and are going to *NOT* blame the assassin (especially if he gets the death penalty), but rather blame the rest of the innocent 300+ million for it. It will be about how all 300 million of us are racists and how we all conspired together to kill him. Can you really expect any more from one of the most vile extremist groups in the world?
Don’t be naive. These people are just as much our enemy as the Islamic Fundamentalists. We need to get out of NATO and the UN and screw the rest of the world. Americans are starting to get fed up.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Marc R. Stanley, Chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), released the following statement:
Although some votes are still being counted, there are three certain outcomes to this election. The next leader of the United States of America will be President-elect Barack Obama, the Democrats have increased their lead in both the Senate and House, and American Jewish voters have once again overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Presidential nominee.
Obama clinched the vast majority of the Jewish vote, receiving 77% according to MSNBC exit polls Tuesday evening (Senator John McCain received 22%).
We congratulate Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden on this historic victory. This year, the American people and Jewish voters sent a clear message rejecting a continuation of four more years of failed Republican policies and leadership.
With Obama’s victory, we selected a candidate who shares the values of the vast majority of American Jews, including the separation of church and state, a strong U.S.- Israel relationship, and reproductive freedom.
American Jews have always made up the majority of our Progressive population here in the United States. Additionally, it is common knowledge that Jewish Americans are critical thinkers and more intelligent than your average American. Most of them graduate from high school and college with honors, they are self-sufficient, less violent, rarely do you find them on welfare, most of them are in very professional careers, and they make more money than most.
They are family oriented, good looking, health-conscious, get married and have children.
Jews – religious or not – are rarely found to be fanatical and obsessive about their religion. It is a private issue for them. They are not interested in “spreading the word” or “recruiting new members”. I respect them for that. That alone makes them more tolerant and considerate of their neighbors.
Jewish people have a deep thirst for knowledge, and can be very kind people too. THAT’S why they are liberals. Not the estranged far Leftists, but Liberals – by its very own definition.
Republicans secretly (and sometimes not so secretly)hate Jews for this. Republicans hate the amount of money Jews make and they are jealous of their success. And to find out that they are *gasps* Liberal Progressives, only cements that hatred.
Jewish people are, by far, the most successful people. They are always winning Nobel prizes. As of today, they are up to their 159th Nobel prize and counting! They havedone more for the US than we’ll admit or even begin to appreciate.
And the above is what irritates Republicans. Neo-Conservatives want the Liberals to be the “blacks-n-Mexicans on welfare” party so badly. And they are pissed that it isn’t the case. When you ever hear a Neocon talking about “socialism”, you’ll hear them make derogatory generalizations about the Democratic party saying that we are all just “lazy jobless welfare-mongers” out to get a free ride (of course with the exception of Joe the Plumber ). When they hear that 78% of the Jews voted for Obama, they realize that the stereotype of the the liberal is incorrect.
So, they press the panic button.
They go into a sweaty-palmed frenzy and try to brainstorm reasons as to why the Jews mostly vote liberal. I have heard all sorts of wild and desperate justifications that just make me shake my head:
Jewish Stockholm Syndrome: “The Jewish Americans have always been oppressed by the Democratic Party that they have bonded (aka trauma-bonding) to their oppressor and can’t let go”. (In other words, they have a severe cast of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that they’re in denial of.)
They have “Jewish Guilt Syndrome”. (Once again, a suggestion that they are neurotic)
“Voting for Obama is pretty much like lining up to enter the boxcars.”(Here suggesting that they are suicidal and/or very depressed individuals – again shows mental instability.)
“The majority of American Jews are non-observant, and therefore have no vested interest in Judaism or Israel. Observant Jews understand what they face under Obama, and rightly voted for McCain.” (Heavily suggesting here that there is a correlation between being God-fearing and informed, and that those who aren’t God-fearing are ignorant and clueless.)
This is what the far Right would rather believe that all Liberal Democrats just want to stay at home, play video games and get paid by Hitler Obama to do so…. which is just utterly ridiculous. And it says quite a lot about the far Right’s own intelligence and mental disposition that THEY are in denial of.
Sadly enough, the Right-wingnuts have deduced Rahm Emanuel to not being pro-Israel as he is a “Liberal” too. And a Liberal cannot possibly be pro-Israel. However, the Left are upset because they feel Obama has already abandoned them.
Go figure…
Just look at the below blog entry and comment section over at Moonbattery.com. The far Righteous 10-commandment-following Right is supposed to be the party of “Judge not less be judged”, tolerance, and most importantly pro-Israel and pro-Jew. I thought it was supposed to be the far Left that were anti-Semites until I read the comment section following this post:
Now, I do not believe that general American liberals are anti-Semites. I’m sure there are some on the far Left in the US. But where this bigotry is the most noticeable for me is in other western civilizations such as Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. To them, Jews (no matter their place of birth) are Americans. And your average American is hated passionately in these areas by the Americanophobic Left-wingnuts.
Unlike the far Right, the far Left Americanophobes are unaware that American Jews are progressive-minded. Once these people find out that American Jews like Obama, they will be equally sweaty-palmed and confused as their far Right-wingnut counterparts.
It’s funny how our votes “counted” when Bush was “elected twice”, but when Obama was elected, somehow Americans “didn’t vote for them”. These Euro-elitists did?
I find it troubling that European countries in particular regard Obama’s election not only as a wonderful event all its own, but that they view it as their very own victory; as a direct vindication of themselves. By so doing, they are using the Obama triumph to justify their moral superiority in that they claim Obama as a crypto or quasi-European who is basically an American by accident.
Of course being black and all, he’s not American – or let’s say a “true American”. The only “real Americans” are those defined by the Europeans, Canadians, New Zealanders, Australians, South Americans, and Sarah Palin. The real Americans “they” speak of are those trailer trash horrors. You know, the typical, nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, vulgar, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, baby-killing, gun-toting, bible-thumping, flag-waving, and self-centered Neanderthal Americans which represent the core and heart of America.
“…But I did encounter many white French people who felt sorry for what blacks went through in the United States. I couldn’t help but feel that these people were being awfully patronizing to some degree. I know that that wasn’t true. But the American in me just didn’t like the feeling that I was being babied. And after talking with many Afro-french people, I couldn’t help but feel that the French were ignoring their own racial problems. It doesn’t mean that one side is right or wrong about anything, nor does it excuse bad behavior, but I was still a bit perplexed by the sentiment…”
Additionally, what the Jew-hating Americanophobes don’t know is the fact that 78% of the American Jews VOTED FOR THIS WONDERFUL MAN TO LEAD THE WORLD BLACK GUY!!
Having watched German television over the past few days, listened to German radio broadcasts and read the country’s leading newspapers, there is an unquestioned sense of celebrating a German victory: The de facto “German” Obama, or the Obama with German sensibilities has defeated the racist, retrograde and yahoo Americans.
Yay! Obama has defeated the racist yahoo Americans!! Woo Hoo! Victory! Yeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Psst.Newsflash: It was those um “yahoo Americans” that erm sorta kinda voted for Obama. Uh yeah. See, Americanophobic Europeans think that all or most Americans are inherently evil and racist despite the fact that the Americans that ARE racist are the in the minority. Additionally, the 50-some-million people that voted for McPalin are not necessarily racist but conservative. There IS a difference.
Watching Micheline Calmy-Rey, the eminent French television personality, exclaim triumphantly and with glee that “Obama parle comme nous… (Obama speaks like we, i.e. the French, do), implicit in her gestures and demeanor was the unsaid “et pas comme les Americains” (not as the Americans).
If Obama doesn’t represent or think like “the Americans”, then who the fuck voted him in? Or is it just that most people living in America are “un-American”? Good Lord. If it weren’t for the Euro-support for Obama, I swear I’d think that these people hailed from the Right-wingnut house. Hopefully, you all now see what I mean when I say that the far Left and the far Right have A LOT in common? Both these groups are mentally deranged. In fact, if you go far enough to the Left, you will be in the Right zone and visa versa. Think of the Left and Right zones as the way the world is shaped (the globe). If you keep going in one direction and don’t stop, you’ll wind up in “the other territory”.
My point is simple: Countries in Europe are rejoicing in the Obama victory and claiming it as a direct result of their moral superiority over Americans while at the same time hiding their own shortcomings and intolerances, the weekly ugly racisms at their soccer grounds, the discriminations that are so common to their own societies and the very fact that a person of Obama’s racial, cultural and social identity, as well as his life’s story, would never be elected dog catcher in any of these allegedly enlightened societies, let alone head of government and head of state.
So true. And that’s why people likeTHIS are pissed off. They know their neck of the woods is far behind the US in terms of tolerance coupled with the fact that they never thought that Americans would ever elect *gasps* a minority figure – let alone a black man as their leader. So, it is no wonder that these Euro-elitists feel so threatened. More now than ever. More now than when Bush was out and about “policing the world”.
Obama’s triumph is an American story from start to finish as he has repeatedly stated. I hope that he — as well as we — will use this fact to deny Europeans their falsely claimed moral high ground by hijacking a unique event in modern history with which they had nothing to do. Just like we progressives have rightfully fought against American moral haughtiness, so, too, should we oppose such strains if they arise elsewhere, particularly if they are based on a usurped rather than achieved struggle.
(I go by the nickname, “happyleftie” and you can find me here on Twitter.)
When the geographically- and semantically-challenged Sarah Palin made her comment about being happy to be in a “Pro-American” part of the country, I was offended less by the inanity of the comment than the idea that being a liberal city-dweller was somehow equivalent to being “Anti-American”.
You see, I am a liberal. And I consider myself very “Pro-American” and a patriot. I am also an immigrant and have travelled to numerous countries, and am very vocal online. As such, I have often found myself defending our country from the criticism of foreigners who are phobic of anything American. Now, I find myself being attacked by both rightwing Americans and sanctimonious foreigners.
So, is it really possible to be a liberal supporter of Barack Obama and be “Pro-American”? You betcha!
I believe that some of us are liberal because we actually care about the founding principles of this country rather than its trappings and symbols. Questioning oneself is a form of self improvement – therefore, being constructively critical of your own country is a form of patriotism. It is when the criticism is mindless and cynical that it crosses over into the type of Anti-Americanism that Americanophobes indulge in.
Having said that, I believe that it is equally wrong to be dogmatically patriotic or religious, or both, as many in the extreme right tend to be.
When Obama said that we are perfecting our country, and when Michelle said that for the first time she was really proud of her country – that is when they got me. I actually felt I understood what she meant – that our country, during many times in its history, failed to live up to its ideals.
When I was younger, I flirted with what people may consider Anti-Americanism. I went through a phase where I felt that nothing was right about the Untied States. I found it fashionable to be cynical and blame the world’s problems on our country.
But, as I grew older and perhaps more mature in my thinking, I came to realize the United States, through its ups and downs, had the mechanism to re-invent and improve itself. I realized that our country’s major failures occurred when it strayed from its ideals of equality, freedom of speech, religion, and expression, and the principle of a representative democracy. In my early teens, I lived under a dictatorship, so I know just how valuable these ideals are, especially when they were trampled and discarded. You might guess that during the last eight years, I had frequent flashbacks to my early teens.
Ironically, my most recent epiphany about our system and its ability to fix its problems came from an unlikely source – I was on a business trip to Ethiopia, talking politics with a local lawyer over dinner. He was formerly a political commissar in the Communist Ethiopian army and was now a successful businessman in Addis Ababa, thriving under an imperfect but reasonably stable democracy.
He recounted the number of constitutions that Ethiopia had written, ratified, and adopted over the years. He said they all failed “because of personal agendas”. Then he startled me by saying that there was one easy way to solve the problem – simply by adopting the US constitution, verbatim. His simple statement reflected the wisdom of an objective outsider with a problem to solve. The ideals that our country was founded upon and give it its sustainability are almost perfectly encapsulated by two documents – the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Our current government, along with a few past administrations, had sought to subvert what this Ethiopian lawyer considered the epitome of legal codes.
The strength of our country lies in our loyalty to these ideals and the existence of these two documents as our collective memory of these ideals. The strength of our country does not lie in platitudes and slogans, but in our ability to aggregate the voices of our people to protect and if necessary, restore these ideals.
Last Tuesday, November 4, 2008, those voices were heard. We showed the world the resiliency of our democracy, and that we can in fact gather the collective will to restore our nation to the ideals from which it had strayed.
So, for those who still think that liberals cannot be patriots, think again. Blind loyalty without discernment of what is wrong and what needs to be fixed is just that – blindness. Finding fault in our government when it strays, refusing to be silenced, and gathering our collective will to fix what has been broken – there lies true patriotism.
For the record, America has been divided since its inception except that in the beginning after the revolutionary war, the queen-lovers became Canadians.
Dissent in America kicks ass, so don’t try to forge your name on it and patent our unique invention. We created it, we own it, we make love to it, and… HELL YEAH!
Can I get a HELL YEAAAAH FOR AMERICA?
We’ve got a country with over 300 million people, to begin with. And contrary to popular belief, we aren’t homogeneous either. We are a multicultural society despite the Americanophobic belief that the entire United States is South Carolina.
There are 50 states with 30,000 incorporated cites therein. And even each city has it’s own towns, styles, and personalities. If you live in West Virginia, chances are that you’ll have a different experience from one who lives in Denver, Colorado. It’s probably easier to look at the USA similar to the way Europe is set up. America acts like a continent because of it’s size and it’s uniqueness from city to city, state to state. (Actually, the same can be said about every country, right?) There are even cultural differences depending on the city you’re living in. I will give one example (although a general one). When you get married in some cities/towns in the south, the “proper” gift to give the newlyweds is a an actual tangible gift. Money would be considered an improper gift. It may even be considered as “lazy” if one were to hand over a check as opposed to actually going out and buying something. However, in NY, giving money gifts is more of the norm and said to be a convenience among those “just married”.
Basically, all I’m trying to say is that behaviorism and customs vary from city to city – state to state.
I have lived in Miami, Japan, and California. I am now residing in Texas. I’ve been here for four long years and I’m still feeling “culture shock”. LOL
Next, we have three different levels of government here: There is federal government, state government, and finally, local government. In some states, gay marriages are legal. In Nevada, prostitution is legal. (However, prostitution in legal nation-wide if you’re in the “call-girl” business. Just open up the Yellow Pages and see for yourself!) In Alabama, it’s forbidden to purchase a DILDO! Marijuana for medical purposes is legal in California – yet illegal federally (strange, huh?). The list is endless.
The scenery, cost of living, mannerisms, laws, crime rate, accents, dialect, ethnic diversity, food, fashion, flags, income, industries, tourism, weather, job opportunities, public transportation, and etc. differ depending on WHERE you live. There are some places in the US where people don’t lock their doors.
As you can see, this is why Americans can get so frustrated with over-simplified-one-dimensional views of the US coming from other countries.
Take a country with a HUGE population, let them have a chance to let their votes count in a presidential election, (Yes, our system is corrupt, but ultimately our votes are *supposed* to count.) give them YEARS of extremist presidents that will effect themselves and people all over the world, and they’re bound to be divided as well.
To all the Americanophobic brain-dead-abortion-survivors living in Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South America: It never ceases to amaze me that those who boast expertise on the US are the most ignorant. First off, we are a Constitutional Republic – *NOT* a Democracy even though most people say it is.
For further information as to why more votes didn’t show up for Obama, it is simply because of voter fraud and voting irregularities – which is nothing new in America. I am aghast that the media in your countries don’t cover this. But I’m not surprised as it’s easier to be an Americanophobe when you think Americans were “stupid enough to vote for Bush twice”. The CBC, Der Spiegel, and the BBC are brilliantly manipulative like that. It’s not just Fox News, guys.
As the US “election” draws closer, I find it so frustrating to watch the mainstream Canadian media treat the US circus as if it’s completely legitimate. Not a whisper about fraud, not a mention of disenfranchisement, no context even suggesting that the last two presidential elections were stolen.
I don’t scour the mainstream media, so perhaps I missed some twenty-word paragraph buried on page 23 somewhere, but as far as I can tell, Canadian media act as if the US election is everything it purports to be. The Democrats are liberal, the Republicans are conservative, and whoever gets more votes wins. To quote one of my favourite comedy bits: “Fake, fake, fake, fake.”
Allow me to shed some light. Here are a few good readings:
Maybe you’d like to explain to me why several people hit the Obama button and it registered as a McCain vote? Maybe you’d like to tell me that when people registered to vote, on November 4th, there was no record of them in the system — and why this only happens to Democratic voters?
If you’re going to confidently comment on our politics, one would think that you’d have some knowledge (other than relying on gossip mags, tabloids, unfounded rumors, conspiracy theories, and YOUR OWN biased bullshit media). I am embarrassed for you people. Please educate yourself – especially when you accuse Americans of the same ignorance.
To the Former Egomaniac British Empire Americanophobes: You’re just pissed because you’re not ruling the world any more. Don’t worry, my friends. Obama will more than likely get assassinated. Following that, aside from the riots that will emerge in the streets of the the US, the American Empire will fall. Then you can all rejoice and take over the world again replacing your third-rate power with your born-again-egos. Hopefully from 300 years of bullying the world, you have learned not only from yourselves, but from the yanks as well. When you reclaim your erection, hopefully, you’ll get it right next time. And hopefully before Saudi Arabia takes over YOU!
While the Republicans had the distracted media searching for links between Obama and ACORN, RNC operatives were busily completing one of the most massive voter suppression and purging efforts in American history, stealing hundreds of thousands of Democratic votes across the embattled swing states and striving to arrange chaos and endless lines at the voting booths next week.
First the facts about ACORN. Months ago, we obtained, as part of our investigation for Rolling Stone magazine, the Republican’s list the GOP alleged were the very worst cases of vote and registration fraud by ACORN and similar groups. We went through the names the GOP asserted were “obviously, undeniably and clearly fraudulent” voter registrations.
The Progressive Left tells us that they are the party that “cares”, they are set out to seek and hope for the non-Republican ticket to win in every American presidential election so that there is at least one eensie weensie tiny speckle of hope for world peace and a foreign policy that is at least a fraction less unilateral and humanitarian. Am I right? Is this not what the Left stands for?
Well…?
This Leftie surely isn’t. She confidently states on her blog that the Obama president-elect is nothing to be proud of or feel hopeful for. Trust me. I’ve heard from the average Americanophobes. This Sarah Palin wannabee is truly scary. And she also pals around with people who believe that “peaceful protests don’t work”. Well, I guess when you’re protesting for peace, one should be unpeaceful, right?
All over America and the entire world, citizens are cheering the Obama victory as the next POTUS. This was expected and predictable. Why? Because the Left cares about humanity and the future. Naturally, anyone is naive to think that this will be the end of Americanophobia, but for those on the Left that are GENUINELY(that’s the operative word here) concerned about human life, human interests, human rights, and the world are applauding America’s recent election results. Once again, Americans expected this.
BUT (!) Those who reallydon’t care about anybody but themselves and their Americanophobic self-loathing self-pitying agenda are furious.
Why, do you ask? That doesn’t make any sense.
Does it? Obama wins – the world is relieved to say SAYONARA to BushCheney and co. – and an Anti-American is pissed? An Anti-American preferred McPalin to take over?
Just like the title of this post suggests, this chick ain’t your garden variety Americanophobe. In fact, she puts the rest of them to shame. Yes, I said that. She gives those that hate Americans a bad name. Because it’s not about the welfare of the world and its people any more; it’s more about, “Damn, I can’t be as Americanophobic as I was now that Obama has won!” It’s all about the agenda.
Steph-tard and her cohorts(read the comment section) are, oddly enough, bitter because 56,302,960 Americans voted for McCain and Palin – which means 56,302,960 Americans wanted more of the same and believed in illegal wars, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, unilateralism, the Global Warming Hoax, and all of Bush’s policies. As she states it,
But 56,302,960 Americans voted for McCain and Palin. That’s 56,302,960 Americans who believe in the Bush doctrine and think that the surge is working. That’s 56,302,960 Americans who believe in perpetual war in countries they can’t find on the map or pronounce. Which means 56,302,960 will be opposing Obama every step of the way if he tries to end the wars and redefine America’s relations with its “enemies”, like Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Russia and China.
Never mind that 65,102,280 Americans voted for the president that will (hopefully, if he keeps his promises) put an END to (at the very least) half of the corruption that caused unprecedented outrage in both the US and in countries all over the world.
What I had expected to hear from the Americanophobes was a condescending, “Finally, America got it right this time” comment. At least that is expected albeit the smug tone and the ignorance revolving around Bush’s two-time-steal.
The economic crisis, which is worse than the one that caused the Great Depression, the War, and the hatred of the Bush regime, all ought to have contributed to a landslide of historic proportions or at the very least 60/40, but they didn’t. Let the Obama faithful rejoice in a black president if they want but it’s a pretty hollow victory if all that divides him from McCain is 6% of the popular vote.
America! Did you hear that? Put your head between your knees. There is no victory to be proud of. Six percent is nothing to be proud of. Voting in a Democrat that contradicts the Bush regime should have you ashamed of yourselves. Ya hear that? Go get a rope and a chair, apologize to the rest of the world, and kill yourselves… NOW!
And there’s always more to come from the “wise”….
“…all that talk about Obama symbolising change and uniting America was utter rubbish: he hasn’t…”
Oh wow. You mean that Obama’s been the president all this time and I haven’t even noticed?! Please accept my apology in advance. I had mistakenly thought that Obama would begin his presidency from January 20th.
AMERICA? ARE YOU LISTENING? OBAMA IS NOT ABOUT CHANGE. YES. HE IS MORE OF THE SAME. HE IS A BLACK-BUSH!!!! OMG. WE HAVE ALLOWED BUSH TO BEGIN HIS THIRD TERM! EXCEPT THAT HE’S SKINNIER AND HAS A BETTER TAN THIS TIME!!!
This Euroweenie used to be a happy blogger before Obama won. She, without too much interruption, whined, squealed, moaned, griped and groaned loudly and passionately about America and Americans attributing them all to every rumored stereotype possible from all the British tabloids that she read. She buys and uses all the snake oil sold to her without question or challenge. She’s a gullible one, and the poster child for having a bad case of the infantile “blame America first” syndrome coupled with an outstanding lack of curiosity about the world. Devoid of substance and/or facts to back her drivel, she calls herself a maverick too as she says that America is “too partisan”.
But then Senator Barack Obama came along, and her world crashed. Yes. It dived into the ground, nose-first. Worse than that fatal Windows98 blue screen of death. A black man became president. Her world is no more. When Brits should really be concerned about this, this Hitler-apologist-Holocaust-denier is afraid of the African-American Bogeyman that will now take over the world! Oh. The horrors.
And yes, she was the same person that thought our election was rigged. Apparently a secret committee sought out to conspire to have Obama become the next president per “Affirmative Action” laws of some sort. It’s got to be that because I just cannot imagine 63,877,116 Americans all conspiring to vote for “black” instead of “change/hope”. A fraction? Yes. A majority? Nope.
Wow. Just wow. Amazing that people like her are allowed to breed…. Little Steph-tard (the wordpress.com abortion survivor with a keyboard and a lot of hate) is the last person who should be talking about “American Ignorance”. But I just couldn’t resist to share this train wreck with you all. She is definitely a character and one that deserves special attention on my blog because you know, after all, she’s a Maverick.
(psst… never mind the fact that Palin would have made history too if she had won). (Oh, and never mind those who voted for Palin cuz she’s hot, right? Or military wives, Wal-mart-moms, Iraqi-war-supporters and vets who voted for McCain cuz he was a POW, or never mind those who voted for Bush because …oh he was just the likeable kinda guy you could have a beer with. Oh and not to mention all the lesbians and women who voted for Palin just because they wanted to see a female leader having been sexually seduced by her power. And the Democrat Staunch Hillary Supporters that became a traitor to their own political belief system and voted for McPalin instead of “the other guy on the Dem ticket”. Shall I go on about how superfically some people vote while kicking the issues to the curb?
Oh, and these “secretly appointed underground officials” who conspired to make Obama the 44th POTUS out of “Affirmative Action”, for what reason did they do this? Can the self-righteous Americanophobes humor me here?
Do I also need to mention that superficial voting and stupidity isn’t an American phenomenon? From the above it is quite obvious, that the author of this Americanophobic blog is not playing with a full deck and drinking the same kool-aid as Scarah Palin.
It looks like many people are seriously troubled by a Democrat taking office. People are desperately grasping at straws everywhere to find some reason to discredit the victory of a non-Dubya-like president. They just can’t handle it. It is a reality that will never be accepted. Look. If I were on the other side of the table, I’d be depressed. I’m not gonna lie. I’d probably even say people voted with their genitals. I’d say “fuck America, we’re doomed”, and all sorts of dramatic drivel. I may have even given Mr. William Ayers a bootie-call. Who knows? I guess I’m just tired of the race-card still being used IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. Fuck race! I guess I’m also just tired of listening to even more Americanophobic nonsense?
Well, here’s my conspiracy theory. We can already count on the right-wing to continue bitterly clinging to their guns-n-religion, but the Foreign Americanophobic Elitist Leftards are pissed off as all hell about Obama’s win. They truly wanted McPalin to take over the white house so they can have even more ammunition to flex their smug Americanophobic muscles to continue their mindless mob-mentality mud-slinging against random Americans. Liberals in other countries are genuinely happy for us. However, the looney far Left is on top of the conspiracy bandwagon driven’ full speed ahead.
—>And another one:(Left/Right-wing conspiracy)Obama won due to Affirmative Action! Wow! Since similar rhetoric was being spread before Obama won, I wrote this post. You might want to read it as it covers how I feel about these types of statements being made. But Affirmative Action???
Are you kidding me?
Well, you really cannot expect an Americanophobe living in England (that is MUCH more racist than the US ) to understand what Affirmative Action means. For those that don’t get it, let me explain. Affirmative Action is to give everyone such as Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, Women, etc. an EQUAL opportunity in the work force, colleges, the film industry, the media, the military, and the like. And the quota-filling is done by authority figures or those hired to do so. Obama won clearly by the people. There were no “designators” or “delegates” that “decided” that they must fill some kind of quota.
And for what reason, anyway, when your average yank is a typical, nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, vulgar, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, baby-killing, gun-toting, bible-thumping, flag-waving, self-centered Neanderthal?
For those that think that the vote for Obama was just because he is black, I have a question:Liberal Americans We already know that would have voted along party lines, so we can omit them. What do we have left? We have Republicans and Independent voters. Now, are you people implying that Republicans have abandoned their party just to vote for a black? I can imagine swing voters voting black, but Republicans? Dropping all that they stand for just to get an African American elected? Really? What about the black voters as they were the majority who voted for Obama. Are they the ones you are talking about when you call “racism”? Does this imply that blacks hate their own skin color?
I will continue to update this post whenever the right or the left come up with some juicy and entertaining conspiracy theories. They just aren’t as good as my own conspiracies, I say you.
I think the Americanophobes in other countries are just jealous that America has progressed or taken a step forward, racially speaking — as one of the common stereotypes pinned to Americans is “racist”. They are bloody angry as hell that they cannot say this any more as confidently as they once did. Never mind that racism exists all over the world. Never mind that racism is still alive and well in the US. Never mind that racism will never die. Never mind balance, reason, logic, understanding, and perspective. The Americanophobes want Americans and America to be the evilist existance, and when one stereotype goes a bit blurry, they go into delusional hysterics or like one Canadian guy said, “an identity crisis”.
And screw the Americanophobes in other countries. There’s absolutely nothing America can do to please them, anyway. With that alone, it surely justifies the continuation of selfish unilateralism in foreign policy. This Canadian guy said it best(aside from the digg at Obama):
America could disappear from the face of the earth and the idiots who hate her will still teach that she is evil and to be hated, even for generations.
Obama nor anyone else can change that. 200 years without slavery has not freed black Americans (in their minds) how would one president change a centuries long induction of hatred against a people? I actually think if Osamabama is elected matters will be worsened because the economy of the US will crash and the whole industrialized world will follow. Then people will blame the yanks for that. People are very small minded and I claim no exception. I do however love America and must admit I am quite envious of her and her citizens.
And this:
I am a liberal Democrat. I am happy because a liberal Democrat will be taking office. Duh? I mean, look at my political profile fer allahsakes! But am I “racist” to say that I am also happy for the black people? Am I a racist to say that I cried with white and black people as I watched Obama’s victory? Many African Americans are walking around crying tears of joy. There is something to be happy about other than saying SAYONARA to BushCheney and co. Let’s be realistic here.
Sour grapes are for little kids. Let’s grow a pair of balls and accept reality like adults.
One thing that some of you weren’t realizing is that behind the “YES, WE CAN!” chants were desperate people who genuinely wanted change. Surely on the surface it looked like typical American superficial chanting. Underneath that was pure desperation. This is something that those in other countries will never understand because they didn’t have to live with BushCheney for 8 years. No. Newsflash: Bush didn’t just ruin YOUR country. He has a 23% (a historical low) approval rating in the United States for a REASON!
Here’s a list of people that think YOUR vote for Obama was a racist one:
This just further clarifies what being an Americanophobe is all about. Anti-Americanism began in the 19th century and it’s here to stay, folks. Fuck the Americanophobes. The middle finger really should be pointed at THEM!
With that said, I hope that Obama continues Bush’s unilateral foreign policy. Why should we care when they’re gonna hate us, anyway?
At its birth, the title of my blog was “Trials and Turbulations”(that’s not a typo). Having an interest in forensic science, true crime stories, criminal trials, all things Japan, and eye-brow-raising headlines, I initially began this blog back in Feburary of 2005. Going into full-throttle mode after about a month or so, headlines in politics moved me enough to share my thoughts and opinions on our leaders and their actions. So, I took the political ball and ran with that too. Some of my readers just wanted me to focus on one subject, but I wanted to discuss many. If you look back deeply into my archives, you will see the variety of subjects that I’ve entertained.
From June of 2005, I began to slow my pace down. I picked up my pace once again in September of 2005, and then I posted roughly once a month until April of 2008.
Why did I pick up my pace in April of 2008? Had something inspired me to write again? I had been a Facebook member for over a year by that time and was amazed and confused (not at the criticism of our government) but at the blatant and unashamedly bigoted attacks against the American people as a whole. I was also puzzled to find that what people thought about the United States were mostly rumors or the truth frighteningly exaggerated. I ate out of their hands (not just at Facebook) for a year before I got to the point where I wanted to shift my blog’s focus to challenge both the hurtful rumors about the American people and the US. So, I set out to do this in April of 2008.
At that time, I changed the title of my blog from, “Trials and Turbulations” to “Waging a War on Anti-Americanism”. (It’s my blog, I can change the title of it everyday if I wanted to. Life is complex. Things change. People change.)“Waging a War on Anti-Americanism” was to mirror my latests rants, myth-busting, and my challenging of the Americanophobes on their perception of the “average American”. I was, am, and will always be firmly against xenophobic behavior.
During that time, naturally like all other Americans that care about their country, I was watching and reading the news for updates on Election 2008. It was very hard for me to talk solely about Americanophobia without commenting on the election. But I did it. I bit my tongue for a month. I know that’s such a short period, but it was tough. MY aim was to be more organized then. I was trying to keep my blog to one topic: Americanophobia.
I was a bad girl. On May 23rd of 2008, I just couldn’t keep silent any more. With this post about Hillary Clinton, my silence was broken. Little by little, the American presidential election was grabbing me in a chokehold. And to the disappointment of some of my conservative readers, I opined about the election. And it’s not like my readers weren’t warned that I was a Liberal beforehand!! Some just turned a blind eye to it because they were so happy to see me aggressively myth-busting the Americanophobes! My over-the-top strident, sarcastic, and hammy writing style never bothered them, then.
I am 40 years old. I have been a Liberal since my young adult years. This was no secret. I am proud of myself and my beliefs, and for nobody or no reason, am I going to apologize for what I believe in. I like my opinions and my writing. Ain’t nothin’ gonna change, my fellow prisoners.
When one of my readers noticed me barking about the election a lot, I realized that it was time for me to change the title of my blog again – not just for myself but for my readers. People need to be clear of my focus. Even though since my blogs inception, I had always been mercilessly bashing the radicals on both the left and the right, I realized that “Waging a War on the Radical Right and the Radical Left” was the PERFECT name for my blog.
Why?
I am bashing the American Left for crap like this.
I am bashing the foreign Americanophobic Left for crap like this.
I am bashing the radical Right for crap like this.
And I tried to differentiate extremists from the majority with a post like this.
Lastly, I tried to summarize my thoughts of the radicals on both sides in a humorous wayhere.
The only people who “get me” seem to be those people not meticulously aligned 100% with any party, like myself. I only call myself a Liberal because I lean that way.
I have been accused of so many preposterous things since my “shift” – an Anti-American Liberal incognito conspiracy theorist that thinks all conservatives are racist – to be the most amusing.
Anywhoooooo……
I rail against the extreme Right and the extreme Left. What makes me write about one more than another at any given time?
It is simple.
If I am currently being annoyed by leftist inanity, I will lean my posts toward that nature. The opposite is true. If I am currently being provoked by GOPtards, I will focus on them.
If you’re from the Right or the Left and you say something outlandish to me, someone else, or to a TV camera, just know that you’re only encouraging me. My blog is about YOU.
This is how a Frenchman (who goes by the name, “Borborygme”) feels about the US economic crisis:
What tangible unpleasant thing have you personally suffered from ‘this crisis’? Hearing bad news does not count. Has anything bad actually happened to you? A decline in the value of your house only counts if you have sold it or tried to sell it for the lower price. A notional change in value is meaningless if you are not in the market to buy or sell. The same can probably be said for your stock positions unless you hold stocks in the financial sector. Even then, I suspect most insurance companies will profit from this in the end, even though their stock is down temporarily, because they can buy things so cheaply now, which, eventually will show up as an elevation in their stock price.
Obviously this was written by someone who has never had to worry about money. Must be nice.
I won’t get into the domino effect this has on the middle class and lower income families because well, that’s just obvious if you are an American. You sorta have a clue. I am one of millions upon millions of families directly effected by this mess, and I don’t take too kindly to my personal situation being belittled and laughed at when I didn’t do anything to harm anybody else.
When I say that I am effected (or any American for that matter), that doesn’t mean I am sad because I cannot buy that 4747882002569 inch Plasma TV. Or buy my 352597889005th car for my 8 door garage. Like most people, I live a very modest life. Maybe the Americanophobes need to read this and then STFU!
An Australian basically thought that the economic crisis was funny and being overreacted to under the disguise of “satire”.
Another thing that confuses me is that people like Borborygme are usually whining about how the states effect their every day life. Every little thing that goes wrong is always “America’s fault”. We Americans have to hear constantly how we are ruining THEIR lives – all the time. I find it troubling that Borborygme and people that think like like him are constantly whining about Americans oppressing them. Borborygme expects Americans to sympathize with HIM. Because HE is thuffwerring… Puleeeeze…
This Frenchman is a frequent commenter on a blog that rails against Anti-Frenchism. You gotta love the irony and the double standards. Typical of your every day kook-aid drinking quack-in-the-box Americanophobe ankle-biter.
Non-Americans:They suffer. Americans:They never suffer; they only cause it against others.
The above is how the world see us, generally.
Most people in other countries are nothing but “The Yanks are out to get meeeeee“ paranoid school yard bullies that don’t give a rats ass about anybody but themselves despite their phony puritanism. They always whine that Americans are giving them the middle finger. Well, yanno what? We really should, actually.
Like I mentioned in this post, I find it fascinating that while the Americanophobes are belittling our situation here, they are crying about how American Wall Street has effected them so much. So, apparently, we Americans are supposed to “feel sowwy for them” when they are barely even touched by the crisis. They lie to Americans because they need every and any excuse in the book to find fault with the average American. Fuck that shit.
As Andrei Markovits from Romania said, most of the whiny brats in other western countries are rich elitist mother fuckers. And they lie like a seasoned politician.
This reminds me of the following quote:
“As someone who takes human rights seriously, I’m appalled by the lack of sympathy the left feels toward the victims of any regime other than the Bush administration. Let’s shout it to prisoners everywhere: If you’re not harmed by an American, your suffering doesn’t count.” –Erik Svane
But wait a minute. Millions of Americans have been harmed by the American government. I will update his quote for him. So long as you’re an American, no matter what you go through negatively, it
never happened
and even if it kinda did, it was deserved
I get as angry as I do because
I don’t take kindly to my personal situation being minimized especially when someone doesn’t even know me or my personal life, and
because I’ve (for the most part) been againstMY government and on the side of other countries.
Another thing that is ironic is that the Americanophobes living in Europe criticize Americans for being too positive about life. But when we mention the slightest inconvenience in our lives, we are maimed a bunch of lying attention seekers. So, which is it, really? We are damned either way, aren’t we?
I will say loudly and proudly that I have more fight in me than your average Americanophobic Euro-weenie. And I AM positive. But that doesn’t negate the fact that I am human either.
Any other Americanophobe want to downplay the effect that the financial crisis has on the average American? Come to the US. Trying living in an average to low income zone. Then you can judge. Think all Americans are spoiled rich, read this.
It is people like Borborygme why I dedicate a big FUCK YOU to the rest of the vile sonofabitches in the rest of the world.
UPDATE!!
Oh dear…. it figures. The guy that I had thought was a Frenchman, I just found out today wasn’t. He’s an American yuppy living in California obviously not effected at all by the financial crisis, the bailout, or anything crooked that government has done in its blind movement to become a 3rd world country.
To the Americanophobic moonbat knee-jerk reactionaries abroad, you now have a friend.
The Americanophobic Leftards in Canada, Europe, Latin America, New Zealand, and Australia will absolutely LOVE this video. Get out your pom poms and chant with your friend, Winkmaster Sarahcuda, the Female Sancho Panza.
Oct. 7, 2008 | “My government is my worst enemy. I’m going to fight them with any means at hand.”
This was former revolutionary terrorist Bill Ayers back in his old Weather Underground days, right? Imagine what Sarah Palin is going to do with this incendiary quote as she tears into Barack Obama this week.
Only one problem. The quote is from Joe Vogler, the raging anti-American who founded the Alaska Independence Party. Inconveniently for Palin, that’s the very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd, belonged to for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier this year. (“Keep up the good work,” Palin told AIP members. “And God bless you.”)
The AIP actually reminds me of the Americanophobic Canadian Action Party that is calling (unsuccessfully, mind you) for an independent Canada so that they don’t have to depend on the US any longer. I think the Canadian Action Party and the Alaskan Independence Party should merge. How convenient since they are so close to each other in proximity too. Not Russia-close, but you know what I mean. Their messages are similar:
The Canadian Action Party is, above all, a pro-Canadian party dedicated to the principle that Canada can best serve its citizens and the world by re-claiming and maintaining its political and economic sovereignty as an independent country.
It is opposed to the ascendancy of “corporate rule” and those aspects of unrestricted global investment that promote colonization of the world’s smaller powers and in Canada’s case its absorption by the United States of America.
Minus the heart-clenching, tear-jerking, human dignity bit (if you continue reading further), notice the similarities.
“I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions.”
–Joe Vogler
Yep. You betcha.
Naturally, Sarah Palin and Joe Vogler aren’t your only friends in America.
I’d like to say that Bill Ayers is one of your friends as well, but I won’t. He’s not an Anti-American. He used to be, but he has cleaned himself up and has been doing good for America by way of charity projects and becoming a professor. He wants to fix what’s broken in America and I admire that. Better than the incessant whiners any day. (RE: ACORN: I want to know that Obama/Ayers are directly involved with encouraging voter fraud before I say anything, but that’s besides the point.) Ayers stayed in this country, after all, and did what he could to help after he rehabilitated. Americanophobes abroad would never think of helping a fallen American (obviously). Rather, they would step on them and mush them into the cement. But they like to call themselves, “tolerant”, “peace-loving”, and “considerate” all the time while patting their backs. I love the irony.
Now, I’d introduce you to Pastor Jeremiah Wright, but scratch that. Why? He believes in God, and Americanophobes loathe people who are religious. So, forget that.
Anyway…
There are more Americans that hate America than all those that hate America abroad combined. But see, you wouldn’t know that you have so many friends over here in the US because you know as much about the US as Americans know about the rest of the world. Because after all, Americanophobia IS based on ignorance and underdeveloped brains. You know, brains like this and this. Don’t matter how you sugar-coat it, bigotry IS bigotry. And bigotry stems from, once again, ignorance. DISCLAIMER:Before you people start foaming at the mouth, let’s not confuse being disgusted with America with Anti-Americanism because they are two different things.
Now, go on. Show Governer Sarah Palin your unwavering support, hold hands, and join together as you do whatever it is you do best i.e bullying innocent people and hating those that aren’t like you.
What’s wrong with anti-Americanism? I live in Australia and think it’s perfectly normal to be anti-American seeming as America is responsible for the global financial crisis.
I see anything involving anti-, as a means of freedom of speech. There’s no such thing as anti, only free speech. Well that’s what I think.
What is America? Is it a person? Is she faceless? A faceless group, perhaps? Is it those responsible for financial fraud on Wall Street? Is it our political figures? Is it all 300 million Americans? Or am I personally guilty by association because I happen to have been born in America – you know the kind of guilt-by-association like Obama is to ACORN/Voting Fraud as McCain is to Keating or as Sarahcuda is to AIP? Does it depend on who voted for who? Is it all Bush’s fault? Is it solely the fault of the Republicans? Is it solely the fault of the Democrats? Or were both parties equally at fault?
Some collective guilt here, much? Whiny mindless Americanophobia at its finest!
Most Americans (who sorta actually live in America) have a clue (probably because they live in America) as to what caused the financial meltdown. Most people with half a brain know that it was a BIPARTISAN DISASTER, but leave it to the neo-cons and the Americanophobic acne-puberty-stricken leftists door knobs to put the blame in the wrong ass direction.
Some recommended reading for those that are clueless and genuinely want to learn:
While the Americanophobes are squealing in their little shiny castles afar barely touched by the tragedy, Americans are pointing, blaming, and complaining. And rightfully so.We are the true victims. Furthermore, we did not choose our fate. Why would someone choose to become broke or purposefully want to loose what they’ve worked hard for, not being able to take care of their families, their health, becoming homeless etc. Sure, these unfortunate happenings have been going on despite the crisis, but it is worse now.
I worked hard to complete college with a professional degree. Despite being in academia for most of my career, I tried to save money regularly, and had built up a nice sum towards my retirement. I wasn’t rich, but at least I had saved some money and invested it. Now, because people who never should have been loaned money in the first place were given credit to the extent that it undermined our financial security – I find the markets in free-fall, and the investments that I had to be in a similar state. Meanwhile, the same people who caused the crisis are now getting bailed out with MORE of my money in the form of taxes.
Read the rest of this story from Expat Texan here.
Are Americans really trying to purposely destroy the rest of the world?
No. It’s your ignorance about the world around you. You’re so stupid that you don’t know you affect anyone else. You make one stupid mistake after the next.
How about you’re so stupid to be ignorant of the fact that there are more Americans being affected by the financial crisis than there are Australians, New Zealanders, Europeans, Canadians, Latin Americans, and the rest of the world put together? Yes, more Americans are effected. Now, get that through your fat thick xenophobic constipated heads!
The average American is *NOT* responsible for making your economy fall down with ours. We, Americans are actually the victims of this crisis. YOU Americanophobes are responsible for yourselves since you come from a free speaking democracy that you feel is superior to America, you’d think that you’d change things so that when the big fat elephant that is America rolls over or twitches, you don’t have to get squashed. What kind of country are YOU , how fragile a country are YOU, that you cannot fight to be independent enough to be immune from America’s failings, that you cannot fight to be independent enough to wipe the drool off of your own chins instead of waiting on Americans to make it better? Or how about becoming more resilient? Or making it so that fat elephants don’t affect you at all. You claim to live in a free-speaking democracy, don’t you? If so, campaign to become a sovereign nation INDEPENDENT from America and get off our lawns!
How about you’re so stupid to not being able to make an intellectual distinction between the American people and her government?
Yeah, but you voted for Bush twice, so you caused this mess.
When life sucks for you, you cry like a baby at the drop of a hat and point to America. That’s a crutch. Weak and cowardly people use crutches. Grow a pair, look in the mirror for a change, and turn the finger back at yourselves.
Being a young guy (20 years old), I don’t have any serious investments. I tend to stay away from investing stock or anything like that. I don’t own a house yet, but will one day. The financial crisis doesn’t affect me whatsoever, it’s over-dramatised and I say it’s time to shut the fuck up about it.
That’s funny. It’s that same lackadaisical attitude that Americans are accused of typically. And the only reason your media goes on and on about the crisis is because your own stock market crashed and some people in your country WILL be effected, ya dingbat. And your media is also aware that most people who hang on to every word at face value are tools like YOU. You fell for it. You adore your tabloids. Keep following the herd having others do your thinking for you.
Until people start jumping out of 25 story buildings, it’s not really an issue yet is it? I mean when people start to jump out of buildings onto the side walk it’s obviously an issue, because someone has to clean up that mess, luckily not me.
Little kid, I actually think it’s time you take a jump. In any event, it absolutely amazes me how one who claims to be unaffected by the crisis feels effected enough to moan about it in their own blog and on mine and give that as a reason to hate all Americans.
The spoiled brat continues…
If you were stupid enough to vote for George Bush once or even twice, you caused your own demise and I’ll happily watch you burn away. We all know the crisis was caused by government deregulation in regards to giving poor black people loans who could never have paid it back.
I guess the main reason the crisis doesn’t affect me is because I don’t make foolish long-term decisions when it comes to money. I make foolish short term ones, which usually still leaves me with money until my next pay day.
Well, of course, a foolish long-term decision can only be made by a yank, anyway, right? As the saying goes, “to err is to human American”. It can be pretty amusing to watch these moonbats play that “victim card” like nobody’s business.
And finally, the blame-gamer prepubescent 20 year old acne-face leaves some solid advice for America:
Lesson learnt: Don’t give poor black people home loans when they obviously can’t pay them back, lose their houses and the bank loses money because property values in that area went down when they try selling the house to get the money back.
Uh. Um. Mmm’kay? So, when Americans sign a loan, they don’t have to read the terms of their agreement? Wow. Is this the way things are run in Australia? No personal responsibility in your neck of the woods? You have the freedom to live carelessly and when your panties get soiled, you blame someone else like you blame the yanks for all of your woes that you claim are no big deal anyway unless you are jumping off of a tall building? Oh wait, but just a paragraph ago, you were blaming the problem on the buyers. Hey, you wanna make up your mind sometime in the near future? Anyway, I hate to break the news to you, but it wasn’t just black people that needed loans. More typical whiny Americanophobic elitist rhetoric.
Now, I await to hear how I’ve ruined the lives of the Canadians, Europeans, Latin Americans and the New Zealanders. I had no idea that I was so powerful. Thank you for rubbing my ego. One crossed off and four more countries to go.
Canadians have more sex, have multiple partners, are planet-friendly lovers, are more adventurous in bed, don’t have to go to jail for crimes committed and more!
After digging through the data, here’s what we found: the staid, underpaid Canadian is dead. Believe it or not, we now have more wealth than Americans, even though we work shorter hours. We drink more often, but we live longer and have fewer diseases. We have more sex, more sex partners and we’re more adventurous in bed, but we have fewer teen pregnancies and fewer sexually transmitted diseases. We spend more time with family and friends, and more time exploring the world. Even in crime we come out ahead: we’re just as prone to break the law, but when we do it, we don’t get shot. Most of the time, we don’t even go to jail.
Additionally, Canada is a way cool place if you like to smoke pot, but ……… BUT(!) if you have smoked pot in the US (which is considered a criminal offence in the Great White North) Canada doesn’t like that and they may not let you enter the country without a fight.
But the good news is that Canada, (just a few months ago) took their very first step toward national sovereignty for the first time since her birth, and now has her own porn channels with …. *ACTUAL CANADIANS* (yes I did say that – Canadians are on TV!) instead of those nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, FAT, ugly, lazy, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, prude, sexless, monogamy-obsessed, raunchy, cheesy, dirty, smelly, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, baby-killing, gun-toting, bible-thumping, flag-waving, and self-centered neanderthal yanks from that cultural wasteland the the south. ———->
Is it not interesting that on Youtube, (a website monitored by American-big-brother) bigoted hate speech (not criticism of US policies) against Americans is perfectly acceptable? Think about it. However, dare you say anything badly about Islam, your video will be banned or close to it. This is not, actually, the first time this has happened either. (Cartoons also making fun of Mohammed are also not very nice….)
But, wait a minute! Aren’t the Bush-loving-warmongering-red-white-and-blue-McD-Walmart-Americans in charge of monitoring and taking names on Youtube supposed to be banning hate speech against Americans along with Islamic hate speech?
Just some food for thought.
Feel free to see the video on Pat Condell’s homepage.
Pat, hold on a second, I thought the biggest problem facing Britain right now was McDonalds and denim jeans. Are you actually trying to say you find that Sharia Law and Muslim Extremism could actually be worse than walking past a Coca-Cola sign? Please tell me it isn’t so……
I don’t actually think anything will be done about Sharia Law in Britain. The Americanophobic Radical Left are too busy trying to persuade Americans that Bush is bad. (Psst… we’re still waiting for you to tell us something we don’t know…) But by the hair of their chins with any residual fight left in them at all, the Americanophobic zealots are trying to hold up Sharia law because anything other than that would be “racist”. I love the irony! Never mind that all these British “activists” are defending Muslim extremism at the expense of women’s rights(the very movement that they have historically stood behind, to make things even more ironic…) It is always fascinating how so many Americanophobes defend, protect, and even condone Islamic Fundamentalism, but should a flight attendant wear a cross, it is considered highly offensive. <—(Psst… that’s cuz God waz invented in AmeriKKKa, so……)
Nadia Eweida, who worked for British Airways, came to work wearing a necklace with a little cross on it.
Nadia Eweida (55), a Coptic Christian whose father is Egyptian and mother English, working for seven years at British Airways as a luggage inspector, was suspended from work for two weeks without pay because of wearing a cross.
The airline’s uniform code states that staff must not wear visible jewellery or other ‘adornments’ while on duty without permission from management. It makes exceptions for Muslim and Sikh minorities by allowing them to wear hijabs and turbans.
Congratulations to the Elitist Left. You have hit a home run.
UPDATE:
It turns out that Pat Condell’s video, “Saudi Britain” was taken down as Pat said that the country was mentally ill. There are over 1000 videos of that similarity to the US and its citizens. They are never taken down by Youtube. Americans are overseeing the site and agree with the Americanophobic attitudes. Like I mention often in my blog, nobody hates America more than Americans, themselves. If you’re interested in this topic, feel free to read how Americans are the most self-critical people in the world and condone all forms of Anti-Americanism. Yep. That is something you’ll never hear on the BBC, CBC, Al Jazeera, and all of your other favorite tabloids.
If I have heard, “….but you voted for Bush twice!!!!!!1111″ once, I’ve heard it at least 989920033697 times. In fact, this is the most predictable Americanophobic cliché and misunderstanding of Americans, their political system, their history, and government as all the other rumors that I have challenged in my blog.
It was one of the country’s greatest political myths:Americans went to the polls every four years to directly elect the country’s president. Then, courtesy of the 2000 election — with its hanging chads, star turn by the Florida Secretary of State and intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court — we received a crash course in the intricacies of living in a constitutional republic.
It turned out that all those years when many thought we were directly selecting a presidential ticket, Americans’ votes were in fact being filtered by the Electoral College, the body of 538 electors that actually chooses the country’s president and vice president. Once the popular vote has been tallied, these electors — often culled from the ranks of state elected officials, party leaders and politically active private citizens — cast their ballots for the candidate who received the most votes in the popular election. The system is winner-take-all in most states, meaning that whichever ticket receives a simple majority of the popular vote wins all of that state’s electoral votes; the minority candidate, by contrast, receives no votes at all. And it is this electoral vote, not the popular vote, that ultimately determines an election’s outcome.
It wouldn’t be so frustrating if Americans weren’t called “dumb”, “stupid”, and “ignorant” on a routine basis. But the “ignorant Americans” are beginning to realize that the pots are only calling the kettles black. The Americanophobes are hypocrites because their “what they call truth” are merely rumors, knee-jerk reactions, fabrications, hyperbole, propaganda, and pure ignorance. But how surprised can I get as it is becoming common knowledge that Americanophobia IS based on Ignorance.
As I have mentioned at least 84 times on my blog, George Dumya Bush was *NOT* – I repeat *NOT* elected twice (aka 2 times). In election 2000, Al Gore WON by the people – for the people – yes, that would be the popular vote.
I know. It’s hard to look at – especially when you’ve been told differently by the BBC, the CBC, Faux News, and your favorite tabloid that talks AmeriKKKan dirt like no other.
What was all the ruckus over for a whole month after the 2000 election that made Michael Moore write a whole book about it? Well, see (and Micheal Moore being not all too often right on the money about anything, he was right about this)BUSH DIDN’T EVEN WIN THE ELECTORAL VOTE!
It may surprise you to know that Russia has a more direct presidential election process than the United States. In the United States, a system called the Electoral College periodically allows a candidate who receives fewer popular votes to win an election. In fact, there have been several presidential candidates who won the popular vote, but lost the election because they received fewer electoral votes. In Russia, where no such system exists, the candidate who receives a majority of popular votes wins the election.
For more information on how the Electoral College works, please continue reading here.
LET THE TRUTH BE KNOWN. AL GORE WON THE 2000 ELECTION. RECALIBRATE YOUR MIND AND RE-WIRE YOUR BRAIN. INPUT CORRECT INFORMATION. ERASE THE PROPAGANDA. PUT DOWN YOUR BRITISH TABLOIDS.
Please click below to get informed. Because when you’re talking to Americans, you want to give a good impression that you are aware of American politics to avoid any embarrassment. (Or at least when in doubt, ask questions instead of quoting “The Daily Star”.)
Tuesday, Nov. 7—Election Day. Pundits have predicted a tight race between Texas governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore, but few expect one of the closest elections in U.S. history. By early evening, it’s clear the election hinges on Florida.
Wednesday, Nov. 8—Gore calls Bush at approximately 3 A.M. to concede, but retracts the concession shortly after, because Bush’s razor-slim lead prompts an automatic recount. He leads Gore by about 1,210 votes out of nearly 6 million cast in Florida. Meanwhile Gore leads in both the national popular count and the electoral college.
An unusual amount of votes for third-party candidates in Palm Beach County leads to disputes over the county’s “butterfly ballots.” A number of ballots in other counties are disqualified because the chad > the small piece of paper punched out of punch-card ballots—did not fully detach from the ballot.
Thursday, Nov. 9—Gore’s camp requests a hand recount of the approximately 1.8 million ballots cast in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Volusia counties, Democratic strongholds.
Friday, Nov. 10—Florida’s automatic recount is completed. The Associated Press reports that Bush has retained his lead but only by 327 votes.
Saturday, Nov. 11—The Bush team, led by former secretary of state James Baker, files suit in federal court to block Gore’s request for a hand recount.
Monday, Nov. 13—Florida secretary of state Katherine Harris announces she will not extend the Nov. 14 deadline for the submission of all state results, excluding absentee ballots from overseas.
A federal judge in Miami rejects Bush’s efforts to halt manual recounts. Bush appeals the decision.
Tuesday, Nov. 14—Harris postpones certification of the state’s votes until Nov. 15, so Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties have time to prepare an explanation of why they should hand count their ballots.
Wednesday, Nov. 15—Harris decides that no county offered adequate evidence to justify further hand recounts.
Florida Supreme Court denies a request from Harris to stop the hand recounts. Certification is again postponed.
Thursday, Nov. 16—Bush’s lawyers present written arguments to the U.S. federal appeals court in Atlanta to end the manual recounts. Gore’s team files a counter motion.
Friday, Nov. 17—The Florida Supreme Court blocks Harris from certifying election until it rules on the Democrats’ motion to include hand recounts.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denies the Republicans’ motion to stop manual recounts on constitutional grounds.
Saturday, Nov. 18—With a tally of absentee ballots, uncertified count has Bush ahead of Gore by 930 votes.
Tuesday, Nov. 21—Florida Supreme Court rules that results of hand counts of ballots in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Broward counties must be included in the vote tally if the counts are completed by Nov. 26.
Sunday, Nov. 26—Harris certifies Bush as the winner of Florida’s 25 electoral votes, with a 537-vote lead over Gore. Gore pledges to challenge certification in court. The tally does not include results from Palm Beach County, which finished its hand recount hours after the deadline.
Monday, Nov. 27—Gore contests the Florida results in a circuit court in Tallahassee.
Wednesday, Nov. 29—Leon County Circuit Court judge N. Sanders Sauls orders that all ballots from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties be sent to Tallahassee for a hearing on whether the hand count, which was incomplete at the time of the court-ordered Nov. 26 deadline, should be included in the final vote tally.
Thursday, Nov. 30—Florida lawmakers, voting along party lines, recommend holding a special session to name the state’s 25 electors if the election dispute is not resolved by Dec. 12, six days before the electoral college meets.
Friday, Dec. 1—The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on whether the Florida Supreme Court acted properly when it forced the Florida secretary of state to accept manual recounts submitted after the legal deadline.
The Florida Supreme Court denies Gore’s appeal to immediately begin recounting ballots and rejects motion filed by some Palm Beach County citizens who questioned the integrity of the “butterfly ballot.”
Gore requests a count of approximately 14,000 “undervotes” from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
Monday, Dec. 4—Judge Sauls rejects Gore’s contest of the election results, saying the vice president failed to prove that hand recounts would have altered the results. Gore appeals to the Florida Supreme Court.
U.S. Supreme Court asks Florida Supreme Court to explain why it ordered Harris to accept results submitted after the Nov. 14 deadline mandated by state law, thus returning the case to Tallahassee.
Thursday, Dec. 7—Gore’s legal team appeals Sauls’s ruling. Bush’s lawyers argue that the decision should stand.
Friday, Dec. 8—The Florida Supreme Court, ruling on Gore’s appeal, orders manual recounts in counties with large numbers of undervotes. Bush appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court and seeks injunction to stop recounts.
In two separate lawsuits, Leon County Circuit Court judges refuse to throw out absentee ballots from Seminole and Martin counties that had been disputed by Gore.
Saturday, Dec. 9—The U.S. Supreme Court votes 5–4 to halt the hand recounts and sets a hearing for Dec. 11.
Florida Supreme Court hears appeal on whether absentee ballots in Martin and Seminole counties should be counted.
Tuesday, Dec. 12—The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bush v. Gore 7–2 to reverse the Florida Supreme Court, which had ordered manual recounts in certain counties. The Court contends that the recount was not treating all ballots equally, and was thus a violation of the Constitution’s equal protection and due process guarantees. The Supreme Court of Florida would be required to set up new voting standards and carry them out in a recount. The justices, however, split 5–4 along partisan lines about implementing a remedy. Five justices maintain that this process and the recount must adhere to the official deadline for certifying electoral college votes: midnight, Dec. 12; other justices question the importance of this date. Since the Court makes its ruling just hours before the deadline, it in effect ensures that it is too late for a recount. The decision generates enormous controversy. Those objecting to the ruling assert that the Supreme Court, and not the electorate, has effectively determined the outcome of the presidential election. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg writes in a scathing dissent, “the Court’s conclusion that a constitutionally adequate recount is impractical is a prophecy the Court’s own judgment will not allow to be tested. Such an untested prophecy should not decide the Presidency of the United States.”
Wednesday, Dec. 13—In another decision, Florida Supreme Court decides not to hear an appeal from Gore asking that absentee ballots from Martin and Seminole counties be thrown out.
In televised speeches, Gore concedes, and Bush accepts the presidency.
Monday, Dec. 18—Electoral college representatives meet in state capitals and cast votes to select president.
Wednesday, Jan. 5—Congress meets to tally electoral college results.
Saturday, Jan. 20—George W. Bush sworn in as 43rd president of the United States.
The above is not news for most Americans. We expect this. We live this. However, we have fought this. Even in the 21st century, we are still fighting this until they fix this corrupt system owned by very rich and powerful bankers. The Republican party is all for the rich people. It does not represent the people. It does not represent the average man on the street. Admittedly, there are many poor Americans that vote Republican (the party for the rich) sacrificing some of their own interests for the party that stands for God and Guns. Don’t ask. The Neo-Conservatives don’t like hearing that Al Gore won the 2000 election. They cringe at it as do the Americanophobes that think for some godforsaken reason that Americans all have the same DNA. Hoo hummm….
A Canadian Intellectual even comments on our Electoral Process.
“…I figured it’s time to let everybody in on a secret, not that well kept mind you… it’s all a giant waste of time, come November 4th, the results of the election will be determined by 3 voters.
[Snip!]
In case you missed it, the president of the US is determined by what’s known as the electoral college. In this arcane system, the winner is determined by whoever manages to receive the most electoral votes. Each state is allocated a number of votes more or less based on its population, California the most with 55 and little states like the Dakotas, 3 each. If you receive the majority of votes in, say, Oregon, you get all 7 of Oregon’s votes, making the votes of all those who voted for another candidate completely irrelevant in the final count (*see below). This is done on a state-by-state basis, and the winner is determined by who gets the most electoral votes.
As has happened in the past it is quite possible for the winner of the election to actually receive less votes than the loser (in fact it’s happened 4 times: 1824, 1876 and 1888 and of course 2000). Now, the fact is a majority of voters in the US are either Republicans or Democrats and it wouldn’t matter if Krusty the Clown was their party’s candidate, that’s who they will vote for. Additionally, most states tend to be either Republican or Democrat states, for example California will be Democrat and Oklahoma will vote Republican. Of course these preferences change over time, slowly, but why are we wasting so much energy on this when we already know most of the results?…”
There are also some states that have lighter shades of red or blue or just about 50-50, but what he said in his blog entry was accurate. Feel free to read the rest of his post here.
In 2000, a clear majority of Americans voted for Al Gore. But the winner is determined by the Electoral College, so the winner in each state must be considered. The vote in Florida was so close that it took a month to declare a winner. Before Florida was declared, Gore led in the Electoral College with 266 votes to Bush’s 246 votes. When Bush was declared the winner of Florida by 537 votes, he picked up 25 Electoral College votes which gave him the Presidency.
So, with that said, Bush didn’t even win the ELECTORAL VOTE! Feel free to read the rest of the story here.
The Americanophobes and staunch Republicans will deny all of this until the pigs with lipstick come home, but the jury is *NOT* out on any of this. It is fact. But it is a hard one to swallow. To suggest that the “Greatest Nation on God’s Green Earth” is anything less than a Democracy is foreign to the ignorant or those that refuse to accept a harsh truth – especially one that places a threat on a life-saving mission for those with inferiority complexes.
It is true, however, that Bush DID get considerable support back in 2004. One commenter on my blog theorizes,
The Bush stuff never fails to amuse me, “OMG!!! THEY ELECTED BUSH”. I’d like to quote The late-great George Carlin on that one, “I still call him Governor Bush because that’s the last office he was legally elected to”. George Bush was appointed by the U.S. Supreme court (by daddy’s appointees) in 2000. Had he not been, he wouldn’t have even been an option in 2004.
Why was he re-elected in 2004? The war. Was it necessarily support for the war on moral grounds? Not really. Bush got a ton of red state support in 2004. Why? This is just a hunch of mine, but not one without careful and considerable observation. It comes down to one thing: Vietnam.
It’s a very personal, walking-on-eggshells sort of issue. The U.S. military has always recruited heaviest in the south and midwest. A lot of men in “fly-over” states either enlisted, or were drafted into Vietnam in the 60’s. They thought they were doing the right thing. They saw all these hippies burning their draft cards and running off to Canada. They went off to war and when they came home, were treated very badly by the country they thought they were serving.
Something like that you never forget. Their kids and grandchildren hear tales of how all these hippies and “intellectual sissies who think they’re so damned smart” spat on their loved ones way back then, calling them “babykillers”, god knows what else, and it breeds quite a bit of contempt. As a result, as long as there are people protesting the war, they will be there to support it, even if only out of spite. I don’t agree with it, but I understand where it comes from. That’s just how it is.
It is human nature that leftist Americanophobic intimidation causes people to veer toward the right of center. I’m not saying that it is right, but that IS how things are. And there are many who have converted to Right Wing politics for the reasons mentioned above. Many. And that is also the cause of the birth of Neo-Conservatism.
Those who chose Bush did not do it because they do not care what happens to the rest of the planet. Bush managed to convince many Americans that his intentions were to liberate the Iraqi people and to eradicate terrorism of the face of the Earth; an idealistic notion to believe in, but never a selfish one. This is why I think that the “Average American isn’t selfish in regards to the world”. On the contrary, they care too much. This has been an altruism that has cost them dearly and continues to go unappreciated.
I wrote this piece not from the point of view of a foreigner living in America, but from the perspective of an immigrant who has fully integrated into this society. After I posted this in Spanish, people continued to say mean things about Americans. They still believe that Americans are blind and selfish; something they feel was confirmed by the reelection of President Bush. Never mind that nearly half of us voted for Kerry. But even those I know who voted for Bush, did not do it because they want to destroy the world. Many of those who voted for him did it because they truly believed he would rid the world of tyranny and terrorism. How can someone call that selfishness? Naive maybe, but not stupid or selfish.
To all Americans, Bush voters or not, feel proud of what your country stands for and keep your heads high. Have faith in yourselves and your values… Truth will always prevail…
To non-Americans: Throw the first stone if your country is free of wrongdoing.
I encourage you all to criticize all-things-American-corruption. Tell me what’s on your mind. Get it all off of your chests. Tell me you hate Bush, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, the Iraqi War, Neo-Capitalism, American Globalization and Dominant Monopolies that threaten competition. I will agree with you. We can have a nice conversation while bickering about the Bush administration over delicious Tequila Shots. I bet you are not as passionate a critic of the US as I am. I don’t object to any decries about those who run the American government … AT ALL. But when you start with the inane stereotyping, the sweeping generalizations about me, my family, my friends and those whom you have never met before, I lose respect for you and stop listening. There is no excuse for pubic bigotry, in my book. I would like to think that those who label themselves as “informed”, “enlightened”, “worldly”, and “educated” to be more “in the know” of the topics they discuss.
Criticism of ANY kind should be fair, balanced, informed, constructive, and thought provoking.
I now hope that you are all aware of how the Electoral Process works during American presidential elections. Not that this will put rampant and mindless Americanophobia(that has been alive and well since the 19th Century) to rest or anything. I don’t expect Americanophobia to end. It actually HAS to exist because how else would the Americanophobes in Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and Latin America survive their own shortcomings without the crutch of the American scapegoat?
And let me just leave with you a sample of Election 2008’s Electoral Vote before the major election coming in November:
So, as you can see, the votes in Idaho do not count on the electoral level. And yes, that means that if I lived in Idaho and I voted for Obama, it wouldn’t count. (I vote regardless just to have my vote on paper as I think that is important especially to further expose the flaws of the electoral college.) Naturally, the above map is subject to change on November 4th, but is merely just an example of how it works. And before you Anti’s start crying about that, YES, we Americans are trying to CHANGE this system.
Read, listen, and learn with an open mind before you criticize (if your herd leader allows you to do so).
UPDATE!!
If that wasn’t enough to show how undemocratic our voting system here is, THIS is equally worse – if not more so:
This has got to be the most ridiculous, tired, somewhat amusing, and jacked-up phrase chanted frequently by the Foreign Americanophobes.
I really don’t understand what it means or what it is supposed to do, but, let’s explore.
This argument is grossly flawed a few reasons:
Forty-eight percent voted for Kerry in 2004 and 51% voted for Bush while 30% didn’t vote at all. Now, ask yourself the following questions:
Did those who voted for Bush deserve Bush?
Did those who voted for Kerry deserve Bush?
Did those who didn’t vote at all deserve Bush?
Did those who voted for Nader deserve Bush?
Or better yet…
Did all 300+ million Americans deserve to be told that bad things should happen to them from other countries that tout “peacefulness”, “intellectual refinement”, and “moral superiority”?
(1) Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that the 30% who didn’t vote at allDESERVED Bush (even though some of them are the elderly that could really care less). No excuse, though. No excuse for anybody! I know. I know. They deserved Bush. And I hope Bush made them really, really, really mad and their lives miserable beyond belief. So, let us all consider the apathetic already punished by Bush’s wrath. Good. Done. Next….
(2) What about those who voted for Kerry, campaigned for him, demonstrated for him, and even sought to get Bush impeached after Bush won office? Did these people deserve Bush? Well, according to some Americanophobicextremist groups, yes. Some think that any administration can be toppled. However, what they don’t realize is that Americans have no more power over their leader as do other Democratic nations (as we can see with Britain, Canada, Australia etc in our war efforts). In the end, you just have to remind yourself that there really is nothing any American can do to please the Americanophobes and to just move on continuing to be the Ugly American that you are.
(3) What about those who voted for Bush? Yes!!!!11111 like O. M. G…. they like sooooooooooooo DESERVEDDDDD him. Like OMFG and stuff!!!1111!!!!!!
A little clue for the Americanophobes:Psst… (don’t tell anyone I told you this, but….those who voted for Bush, actually sorta kinda wanted him as president and most of them are happy with their choice. Saying that they deserved Bush is synonymous to saying that the bonus you hoped for at work came true, you received it, and that you deserved it. Aside from the comedic nature of your statement in an attempt to punish all those so unfortunate as to have been born in the USA, there is no substance inside and makes YOU folk look very silly.
(4) What about those who voted for Nadar? I say kill them all. What say you?
And last but not least, the Americanophobes in saying that we “got what we deserved” is ironic when all we hear from you is “pity me” and stories of woe as to how the Bush administration has “ruined your lives” and how Amerikkkans only think of themselves…. [insert continued whiny rhetoric]… So, can we yanks say that YOU got what YOU deserved since ultimately you got “worse” punishment than we did?
If you think you know what Punishment IS, wait until Palin takes over with her pack-o-wolves (or what’s left of them) administration. My advice to the whiny spoiled brats: Try to use different scare tactics against the Americans, come 2009, because the ones you’ve been using for the last two centuries…. well,…. haven’t worked.
It may surprise you to know that Russia has a more direct presidential election process than the United States. In the United States, a system called the Electoral College periodically allows a candidate who receives fewer popular votes to win an election. In fact, there have been several presidential candidates who won the popular vote, but lost the election because they received fewer electoral votes. In Russia, where no such system exists, the candidate who receives a majority of popular votes wins the election.
“There is a big difference between being anti-American and being critical of the United States….critiques are appropriate and necessary, provided that they rest on facts and address real abuses, real errors and real excesses–without deliberately losing sight of America’s wise decisions, beneficient interventions and salutary policies. But critiques of this kind–balanced, fair and well-rounded–are hard to find, except in America herself…” — Jean-Francois Revel
I don’t think even Americans can be as fair and balanced as Jean-Francois Revel claims. You can read about how I feel about Anti-American Americans here. Other than that, I stand by his quote. I wish more people out there understood what Anti-Americanism(aka Americanophobia) really is. Andrei Markovits, from Romania, says it just as well.
Yah gotta love the double standards that our NATO friends put on the table for us Americans. Apparently, we should abide by these rules when traveling abroad. We are expected to walk on eggshells in other countries that call themselves
multicultural
tolerant
curious about other cultures and people
and intelligent.
Americans are demanded to behave a certain way to avoid offending the thinnest of skins and to cater to the inferiority complexes of the masses. However, ironically, when the same people visit the US, we have no rules in place for them(written or unwritten). And let me just say that there are as many ugly, arrogant, stupid, and ignorant foreigners that travel to the US — if not more.
Wait. I thought that Americans didn’t travel… or at least enough to made such an ado over! What is wrong with this picture?
2. Greet people properly. Whether it’s shaking hands or kissing, ask a local what the customs are–and then follow the customs.
Hmm… do we require YOU to adjust yourselves to our culture when you visit? You don’t know how to properly “greet” Americans either. It depends on which state you are visiting, anyway. And generally I never hear of Americans making a huge stink over greetings.
3. Avoid careless judgements. Travelers love to talk about how places are different from home. Unfortunately innocent observations can come across as superior and judgemental, as in: “Your cars are so small here!”
“Your cars are so small here” … How pathetic. Yes, they ARE innocent observations. And it’s not America’s fault if others are paranoid or insecure about themselves. Especially when other groups of people say they are experts on American culture, you’d think they’d know an innocuous comment when they hear one, no?
5. Speak the language. Even if you can only stammer out a few phrases.
Whoa… wha—– Americans learn here in the US that everyone else in the world can speak 4-7 languages. You’d think English would be one of them? I am not saying that I or my fellow countrymen don’t try. I am just pointing out the double standards and the hypocrisy here, is all. Either you people speak all the world languages or you don’t. Which is it?
7. Dress respectfully. Especially in restaurants and houses of worship. Conservative colors–grays, blues, blacks–are generally safe bets. If you’re going to a warm climate, avoid the temptation to pack only shorts and sandals.
WOWOWOW! THIS IS AMAZING STUFF. WE HAVE THE SAME RULES OVER HERE FOR OUR OWN CITIZENS. Golly. Who wouda thunked it? Actually, in the US, it really depends on which restaurant you go to. Perhaps in some parts of the world, they are more posh? If you are going to a restaurant for rich people, then you dress “respectfully”. We have casual family restaurants in the US as well. They do in Japan and in Korea too.
It is just so ironic to hear from people that cry poor mouth often to be complaining about tourists who dress like the poor. Is dining out (outside Asia) only for the elite classes ? I’m very confused.
This is nothing new, however. Having poor taste in clothes is a stereotype pinned to the Americans. It is close to impossible to satisfy the rich elitists without selling your first-born in order to buy a whole new wardrobe that pleases the refined tastes of the sophisticates across the pond.
Hmm…. And “houses of worship”? I thought they only existed in Amerikkka!?
How about this as a rule? Just be nice, polite, and use common sense no matter where you are going whether you are in your own country or outside? This should be a given when traveling ANYWHERE.
And you know what is weird about this long list of “rules”? The very fact that it is made for Americans. Yes, you heard that right. They are special rules for us. Well, it’s probably because Americans ARE special. But here is what the Americanophobes will say:
In addition to my linked article, many of us wear backpacks with the Canadian maple leaf on it, have maple syrup dripping from our eyelashes, reek of poutine, and tell everyone that we’re Canadian to avoid rampant and reflexive Americanophobic pablum.
Americans also get better service when they pretend they are from Canada.
…they do have a less than stellar reputation internationally, either in general or as travellers. That imperfect reputation has resulted in people from other countries, mistaken as Americans, getting bad service. Many in that situation have found that just by making it known they’re not from the USA, the quality of service in restaurants, hotels and elsewhere increases greatly.
See? If there’s any hint that you are either American or Jewish (which is the same thing anyway in other parts of the west), these kinds of things will happen to you. Only in Europe. In America, stuff like this wouldn’t fly.
Furthermore, you allow other cultures to be themselves on your turf even it if IS annoying for you. But see, if you were to publicly point out your frustrations with non-American cultures, you would be considered, a “racist” and a pariah among your people. And you cannot handle that. However, since it is hip and cool to heckle Americans, you provide rules exclusively for them. And last but not least, we make no rules for YOU over here on OUR turf. We let you play ball how you like, and for the most part, we Americans keep our prejudicial views to ourselves. Unlike others. And others. Meh. There’s always more. And more.
I think it is time for an article for tourists about how to act in my country, the United States. People seem to think it is alright to visit here and act obnoxious. People love to denigrate Americans even while being given our hospitality. I am as proud of my country as they claim to be of theirs. –Jan Taylor, Greenville, Miss.
————————–
It’s really so easy to blame American Tourists for acting rude.
But it takes 2 to tango. LOCALS can also be VERY RUDE, UNFRIENDLY and downright hostile to American or other tourists.
I have been all over the world and I have experienced rude local people, even if I have been gracious and courteous by using all the articles “tips”.
For Example, I was just in Eleuthera, Bahamas, and the people there are very unfriendly, rude, and hostile. I would say hello or good morning, ask a question, etc, and many would just look at you with hostility, like you were the cause of all their problems.
I think a lot of local people in other countries are jealous and envious of Americans, and don’t like depending on tourist money for their livelihoods, and so when they encounter them, they don’t feel they have to be nice and can act rudely.
Posted By Mike F. on June 25, 2007, 6:52 AM
How true! How about a host being nice to a guest? What a concept!?
And what’s up with Americans always being called, “loud”?
I hear Britons theorizing that we’re loud when we travel abroad because we want everyone to know we’re American and we’re the best in the world. Some say that we’re looking for special “waivers and favors”. This is the most preposterous statement I’ve ever heard. Well, I hate to break the news to you Americanophobes, but hello? We’re LOUD on our turf too. I don’t know why. We just are. Call it a cultural difference. And while we’re on the topic of how loud and obnoxious we fucking yanks are, here’s a little hint that there are other cultures out there that are even LOUDER than Americans. Oh snap!
Q: i live in san antonio and have been accustomed to seeing wealthy mexican families shopping it up over here at the exclusive stores. one thing that i have noticed is that they frequently will yell (or at least speak loudly) across the room. i have also noticed it when vacationing in florida, so i know that it’s not just a “mexican” thing, but one that many latin american cultures tend to share. why do they talk so loudly?
———————————————–
A: My mother always says: “because we are too tired to walk across the room and ask quietly”.
In all seriousness though, my observation of our latin culture is that we like to “involve” other people in our lives. Where as most white or asian people tend to speak privately almost as to hide something from being intercepted. Latinos tend to speak openly in a manner to gain interest and start conversation.
We also tend to be around lots of family members, which makes us comfortable to be louder. Sort of like if you were to visit family for the Holidays your family might be a little loud…
Well everyday is a family holiday for Latinos!
And since the Americanophobes don’t consider black folk born in America to be American, here’s another hint. I’ve heard people say that the Arabs, the French, and the Brits were loud. There are MANY LOUD CULTURES OF PEOPLE OUT THERE. You’d think that the Americanophobes who preach expertise on worldly issues would know (out of 194 countries and sub-cultures in between), the loudest cultures on a scale of at least 1-10.
My best friend who is Lebanese …. well, nobody can talk louder than her and her family.
Like I always say on my blog, the Americanophobes only “study” America. They are obsessed with us. So, we can’t be really THAT bad.
Yes, there are rude Americans. And I am probably among the guilty ones regarding loudness, although my volume is not motivated by rudeness, but by passion and enthusiasm. I do try to restrain myself when overseas, but perhaps my efforts are not enough.
Like others, I have encountered many in other countries who are rude to American tourists. A couple of examples:
1. Canadians at a Nova Scotia B&B bashing the U.S. president in front of me at the breakfast table
2. A saleslady at Galleries Lafayette, a Paris department store, who rudely and brusquely said “CLOSED” repeatedly a full 15 minutes before closing time as I nicely and respectfully tried to purchase a travel iron
Posted By Laura M on June 5, 2008, 1:07 PM
When I am loud, personally, it is for the very same reason (although I do have a slight hearing problem – I wonder how that would fly in GREAT BRITAIN.) I happily cheer, and it doesn’t take much to make me laugh out loud and feel good loudly. We Americans do excite easily, don’t we? We also like to enjoy life and have a positive attitude for the most part. I think that this may be a point of envy when others see us roaming freely and cheerfully and enjoying every minute of our vacation. You ARE aware how little vacation we get in the states, right? So, when we party, just like the Japanese, we party HARD!
This Anti-UNITEDSTATESIAN below hates that freedom and wants to restrict US tourists:
For me the most disgusting habit that you have is to wear sandals everywear, doesn´t matter the country or the place when you are on vacations. Why sandals everywhere!!?? — From a Costa Rican
In my opinion, this is what makes America, Japan, and other countries that welcome foreigners unconditionally, great. See, here in the US, we don’t care what you wear in casual environments. Heck, I’d like to bet that most of us aren’t obsessed with watching people’s feet and taking names all day, either.
And the other habit that I don´t like of you, mostly young people (I´m 25) is that you don´t appreciate the culture, all you do is look and that´s it, don´t try to understand the culture or be open to explore.
Yeah. We’re so closed to your crap culture, and that is the very reason we spend a lot of money and time to travel to your shithole. It’s because we hate it and are not interested “enough to explore”.
I wonder how this elitist snot finds out all these people guilty of wearing “the wrong” footwear and guilty of “just looking” are, in fact, Americans. The more I read this crap, the prouder I am to live in America. We really are free, aren’t we?
And we don’t expect foreigners who travel to the US to adhere to elitist “codes of behavior”. And because we have so many ethnic groups living in the US, it is hard to determine who are “the tourists” unless they are taking pictures everywhere. We basically allow for people to be who they are whether they are tourists or actually living here. And I think the reason we Americans are as tolerant as we are is because we are the most diverse country in the world – aside from the fact that our nation was built on immigrants. Not just diverse, but we allow other cultures to be themselves even if it means that we have to watch them burn the US flag on our streets. (Yes, on Mexican Independence Day in the US, that is how hundreds of Mexicans celebrate it on the streets.) We might not like it, but we accept it.
Burning the Mexican Flag = “Hate Speech” But Burning the American Flag = “Protected Speech”. Actually, it is also the case if we burn any flags of Muslim countries. We get punished for that too. But those who burn American flags, don’t get punished. Now, how’s that for the good old US of A?
“In spite of the constant accusations of “arrogance,” Americans are really very self-deprecating in many ways and often place the French, and other Western Europeans, on a pedestal of cultural superiority; this probably goes further back into world history than virulent anti-Americanism does.” –Jennifer
Once again, all of these erroneous “rules” that Americans must adhere to when visiting other countries is sickening and reeks of bigotry and xenophobia nasty enough to peel paint off of a wall.
Avoid careless judgments. Doesn’t that mean attempting to group all people from a certain country as being this or that? Now that is truly ignorant. Anywhere you go…half the people are nice and half aren’t…same as for travelers…some are some aren’t …any broad generalization is just worthless!
Posted By Susie from Denver on June 5, 2008, 1:26 PM
Research by online travel service Expedia suggests Brits abroad are the least well-regarded by foreigners.
They are the rudest, meanest, worst-behaved, most linguistically incompetent and least adventurous holidaymakers, the study published on Friday claims.
Categories included behaviour, politeness, willingness to learn the language, trying local delicacies and spending on the local economy.
And overall, the British finished bottom of the league table of 24 nations, which was topped by the Germans, Americans and Japanese.
[Snip!]
And (drumroll) interestingly enough, ………..
Americans were judged the most courteous and the British the rudest, alongside the Russians and Canadians.
The Brits also seemed to make least effort in speaking the local language, a quality excelled by the Germans, French and Americans.
In any event, it is no wonder more Americans are choosing Asia over other parts of the west when they travel. Japan, who doesn’t get on her high horse and boast about being “multicultural”, “tolerant”, “curious about other cultures and people”, and how they are “the smartest people in the world”, is ironically the most accepting and welcoming to those that travel to their fair land. And even more ironically, they are homogeneous and have zero discrimination laws. And ever since some Japanese shop owners complained of loud Brits, Russians and other Europeans, Japan has stopped allowing foreigners into certain public places in Japan. The irony is amazing, isn’t it?
The Americanophobic Britons and Canucks are always going on and on ad nauseam about how they are the humblest. <— Isn’t bragging about “being humble” defeating its purpose??? Just askin’.
Anyway, they aren’t. People only brag about what they wish to be. It is the Japanese. The Japanese don’t have to go out of their way to label themselves in their favor or on a higher and morally superior plane than Americans. They just are. They don’t HAVE to say it. If you have to go out of your way while ripping your shirt off saying how wonderful you are, guess what? You’re probably not, and just have a severe case of short man syndrome in need of therapy.
Why are all the american tourists so fat & loud & have no fashion?
Not only must we dress “respectfully”, but we also must mind our fashion? How much does it really cost to travel to Europe? And wait. Who are truly the materialistic ones? The ones who are fashion-conscious or the ones who dress for comfort? I think when the Brits call us materialistic, they are simply projecting.
If you are seriously looking to visit Europe in the near future, I highly recommend this read: “Keep Your Hopes Up, Overseas Americans, Help Is Available!”. It’s a little 12-step program to teach you how to hate yourself for being an American help you survive the childish scolding and interrogative behavior that sometimes (sadly) happens in Europe. (No 12-step programs are available for tourists in Canada as of yet. But as soon as one comes out, I’ll post it. All I know is that you won’t be needing one of these T-Shirts.)
Lastly, here is some more commentary coming from those who have traveled to Europe.
In the beginning of my trip, I was slightly excited to be thought of as a ‘cool’ or ‘good’ American. People said I was ‘different’ because I was traveling and seeing the world and not just holed up in my country Snowy Eve watching one of 300+ channels on my TV or driving my big, gas-guzzling SUV on some big highway somewhere (these are obviously more stereotypes). By the way, I sold the only car I’d ever owned, a 1989 Honda Prelude, before my trip began.
Well, ya kinda have to sell a lot of things just to be able to afford to adhere to their pretentious dress code for restaurants.
I only drove about once a month and hope to not buy another one since I normally use public transport anyway. I was happy to also defend and explain to people that all Americans are not created equal and we are all different just like the rest of the world. But, I have to admit, as time went on I began to get sick and tired of trying to make sense of it all and either defending or renouncing other Americans. I grew weary of debunking the negative stereotypes that I really can’t do much about.
[Snip!]
A few times I did encounter the stereotypical “ugly Americans” (as well as other English-speaking Flag from dad’s house nationalities that shall remain nameless) during my travels giving us all a bad name, but I still tried to give them the benefit of the doubt because of the fact that they still made the decision to travel and see other parts of the world in the first place. But I also met and know wonderfully kind and open Americans. Just remember also that the Americans who are traveling abroad are there to open up to new experiences and engrossing themselves in new cultures, but by Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…making comments about these very visitors to your countries, that open-mindedness can quickly turn to defensiveness.
Notice how she didn’t mention the other English speaking tourists that had a bad attitude? If this were the experience of a non-American, wanna bet they wouldn’t hesitate to scream the offending nationality off of the rooftops?
Back to the lil’ old book of “rules” for traveling abroad…. Remember, it’s America’s job to police the world and give orders to everyone. Not you. You think Bush was bad? Wait ’till Mizz Sarah Palin takes office!
UPDATE:
Yet, another pompous pseudo-intellectual creates a list of “rules” for Americans to abide by when they travel overseas.
There are probably more out there. But why? I thought that yanks didn’t travel.
Hi. I am an Expat Texan living in Canada. You can find my blog over here.
It always amazes (but no longer surprises) me when a random Canadian feels the need to disparage the country of my birth. This is even more baffling to me when the snide comments are made by someone who has come to me for help.
A few weeks ago, I was doing a physical examination on a patient who had come to me for a consultation. Everything seemed to go well, up until the auscultation part of the exam. For that, I use a stethoscope that has an American flag painted on the acoustic bell head (like the one shown here). This was apparently too provocative for the patient, who wasted little time in sharing their opinions with me:
Patient: Why do you have a stethoscope with an American Flag painted on it?
Me: Because I’m an American
Patient: Well, I would think that’s a fact you would rather keep to yourself.
Me: Why on Earth would you say that?
Patient: Well, you must know that everyone hates Bush – it just seems better if you would keep from making political statements in your place of employment. I find it offensive.
Me: I’m not sure how me wearing a symbol of the place I’m from is making a political statement.
Patient: Well, it just seems like you wouldn’t want to advertise the fact that you’re an American, is all.
This kind of attitude is fairly pervasive – to the point that a complete stranger felt the need to lecture me on the evils of my country. Let’s play a little substitution game, and see how it flies:
Patient: Why are you wearing that scarf on your head?
Me: Because I’m a Muslim
Patient: Well, I would think that’s a fact you would rather keep to yourself……..
Do I really need to go on? Do you think that kind of attitude would be tolerated for even a second? But of course, hatred of Americans is justified – while other groups can never be condemned, regardless of circumstance. As I said above – I’m no longer surprised by the anti-Americanism that is just a part of life in Canada. I would say my experiences closely mimic those described by this Washington Post author:
Although I enjoy my work and have made good friends here, I’ve found life as an American expatriate in Canada difficult, frustrating and even painful in ways that have surprised me. As attractive as living here may be in theory, the reality’s something else. For me, it’s been one of almost daily confrontation with a powerful anti-Americanism that pervades many aspects of life. When I’ve mentioned this phenomenon to Canadian friends, they’ve furrowed their brows sympathetically and said, “Yes, Canadian anti-Americanism can be very subtle.” My response is, there’s nothing subtle about it.
…
In “officially multicultural Canada,” hostility toward Americans is the last socially acceptable expression of bigotry and xenophobia. It would be impossible to say the things about any other nationality that Canadians routinely say — both publicly and privately — about Americans. On a human level, it can be rude and hurtful. (As it was on the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, when an acquaintance angrily told me that she would now have to curtail her travel plans because she was afraid she might be mistaken for an American.) And there’s no way to argue against it. An American who attempts to correct a misconception or express even the mildest approval for the policies of U.S. institutions is likely to be dismissed as thin-skinned or offensive, and as demonstrating those scary nationalistic tendencies that threaten the world.
Actually, I could have just cut and pasted the entire article as a mirror of my own experiences, impressions, and observations. But that wouldn’t be very “fair use” friendly of me, now would it? Stealing other people’s content – exactly what one might expect from an American. At least if that expectation comes from a Canadian.
This is news to me. I used to think that this was a joke until I had heard it so many times. I have come to find these people are actually serious.
Wow!
What I find most interesting is the fact that those living in Europe, Canada, and other Western countries clearly live better than Americans. This is a fact.
Surely if you compare our materialism with those living in developing countries, I can understand. But when you compare “our stuff” with what people have in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, and in Europe? Are you kidding me?
For those that are just as clueless as I, this is an actual stereotype pinned to the Americans. I have found no evidence to support how Americans are “spoiled and rich”. But I HAVE found evidence to support that our government is RICH but also trillions of dollars (if not more)IN DEBT. Yep. You guys are supposed to know this stuff. I think you Americanophobes conveniently like to “confuse” the average man on the street with the $$$$ BIG $$$$ FAT $$$$ CAT $$$$ CORPORATIONS $$$$ that run the country.
Anyway, I have only found evidence to support the opposite of the claim that all Americans have 589001456 SUVs, have 4 story homes with 9 garages on 6000 acres of land.Ironically enough, the same Americanophobic propagandists who who call us “spoiled and rich” are also the same people who say American lives suck.
In the U.S. politicians are defined as pro-family values if they:
• Oppose abortion.
• Oppose stem cell research.
• Oppose gay marriage.
• Give lip service to the sanctity of traditional marriage and the importance of the traditional family
• Attend church regularly.
——————————————
As far as the French are concerned, these issues have little if anything to do with family values.
For them “pro-family” means supporting policies that play a major role in helping families — parents and children — in their daily lives. Politicians are considered pro-family values if they vote for continued government support for:
• Universal, accessible medical care.
• Family allowances paid to parents of young children to help them with the costs of raising children.
• Minimum of four day stays in hospital for mothers giving birth.
• Social workers available cost-free to help parents of newborns with child-rearing, finances, and other issues.
• State-run day care for children from the age of 4 months, with payment based on parents’ income, and free preschool programs for all children starting at age 3, all with teachers who have completed a two year program in pedagogy.
• Free education, elementary school through university, including graduate school, medical, law, and other professional schools.
• A work year of approximately 1440 hours and one month paid vacation which makes for more “quality time” for parents and children. (Americans work approximately 1800 hours per year according to World Policy Institute researchers. The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation days and paid holidays, according to economist John Schmitt of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.)
Believe it or not, we now have more wealth than Americans, even though we work shorter hours. We drink more often, but we live longer and have fewer diseases. We have more sex, more sex partners and we’re more adventurous in bed, but we have fewer teen pregnancies and fewer sexually transmitted diseases. We spend more time with family and friends, and more time exploring the world.
[Snip!]
The data shows that it’s the Canadians who are living it up, while Americans toil away, working longer hours to pay their mounting bills.
Am I supposed to feel spoiled? NO! I’M ENVIOUS!!!!
How about the Nanny States that most of you live in? My friend who lives in Finland told me that her husband GOT PAID for going to college! You have Nanny who takes care of any problems you may have. You people as self-sufficient as Americans are, generally speaking. Americans must fend for themselves. Granted, Americans DO have access to social programs and the like such as welfare, social security, Medicaid, SSI, SSD, scholarships for college, financial aid for college, public school, and free emergency care if you don’t have insurance. But compared to Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, you are afforded more luxury living conditions that don’t pressure you to work hard. And you receive more handouts from Nanny that the Americans envy.
My fiance, from England, can’t believe we (in America) only get two weeks holiday a year to start. They get five. To him it’s INSANE that companies don’t take better care of their workers. When he was here in December, I couldn’t take off from work, because I hadn’t accrued any vacation time at that point. Also insane. And now I have to ration my time off for when he moves here and we get married.
He also says that in England, they cannot schedule your shift less than 12 hours apart (8 for sleep, 2 hours for commuting both ways, 2 hours for breakfast and dinner). During the Christmas season in the US, it was common for me to close the store at 11pm, and be back in to open at 6am. That made him angry to hear.
And, in England, if your employer wants you to work the overnight shift (for example, filling in for a co-worker for a day or two), they have to give you the day prior off and the day after off, and pay you for both, to let your body adjust to the schedule change. In other words, two free paid days off, in addition to your regular days off! If only they’d schedule him for one overnight per week!
But sometimes Nanny can get evil and start preaching to you how you must live your lives, but you guys don’t seem to mind that. (Well, at least the braggart Americanophobes don’t)
Here’s one American’s take on “how spoiled we are”.
We’re NOT SPOILED
I’m sick of being told we need to cut back and that America is spoiled. I guess it’s better if we’re more like the “world?” It’s my fault that I need to get to work, need gas in the car, food on the table, and want to see a movie once in a while? Oh yeah, baby I’m living way past my means.
Someone’s starving, somewhere so I need to give up my car to drive to the store and ride a bike. Of course! What was I thinking!
What in the “world” are they talking about? Because some other country doesn’t live like we do doesn’t make us automatically spoiled.
Why does America have food, fuel, housing, roads? We “have” because people here worked for “it.” We became what we are because we PRODUCED! Production doesn’t make you spoiled; it shows you’re smart.
Collectively, we have more because we produce more.
Stop telling me I’m spoiled and I should just cut back so the TRULY spoiled – BIG OIL COMPANIES – can keep THEIR riches, enjoy their yachts, big tax breaks, government subsidies, AND spoiled style of living.
Feel free to read the rest of her justified rant here.
Should we appreciate what we have? Yes. But I’d never go as far as saying that we’re spoiled or that we have more than other 1st world countries or that we want material goods that others don’t crave. That’s a crock of poop.
What about rich American Celebrities?
American movies make more money (because they are shown all over the world), so the celebrities get paid more here compared to the celebrities abroad. However, celebrities on the whole, areRICH all over the world. Every country’s celebrity makes more than their doctors and lawyers. And naturally, these people along with the government, shoudn’t be “confused” with the average Joe American.
Salaries
Before we talk about salaries that the average men on the street make, and before we discuss who makes more money, let’s look at the LIVING EXPENSES in each country. I’ll leave you to do that research yourself. In any event, it is insignificant because the average Joe American is *NOT* rich. Not even close.
In the US, only a small few are considered “rich”. The rest of the population are part of the upper middle class, middle class, lower middle class, working class, and then the indigent.
Even if Americans were mostly or all rich upper middle people?
…So?
What does rich mean – other than rich? How does money equate to being “spoiled”? Or content? Especially when we can see that there are other countries out there that are happier than America. Some significant differences follow.
Feeling sad? Researchers at Britain’s University of Leicester reckon you might just be in the wrong country. According to Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist at Leicester who developed the first “World Map of Happiness,” Denmark is the happiest nation in the world.
White’s research used a battery of statistical data, plus the subjective responses of 80,000 people worldwide, to map out well-being across 178 countries. Denmark and five other European countries, including Switzerland, Austria, and Iceland, came out in the top 10…
And that’s not even the half of it. If it is true that everything about America sucks, then how do you think the people must feel?
Actually, if anybody is spoiled, that would be any country that is not forced to take care of themselves knowing that the government will always be there for you.
Before you call Americans “spoiled”, please check our quality of life compared to other developed countries, and then get back to me with your revised verdict.
I have been calling out the US on her violence for ages, but having read this article published by the BBC, it gave even someone like me some perspective.
A British man I met in Colorado recently told me he used to live in Kent but he moved to the American state of New Jersey and will not go home because it is, as he put it, “a gentler environment for bringing the kids up.”
Brits arriving in New York, hoping to avoid being slaughtered on day one of their shopping mission to Manhattan are, by day two, beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. By day three they have had had the scales lifted from their eyes.
I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place, the lack of the violent undercurrent so ubiquitous in British cities, even British market towns.
“It seems so nice here,” they quaver.
[Snip!]
They will occasionally kill each other in anger or by mistake, but you never feel as unsafe as you can feel in south London.
It is a paradox. Along with the guns there is a tranquillity and civility about American life of which most British people can only dream.
Gun crime, inequalities in general and access to healthcare, in particular, are also used by America’s critics as ammunition. Michael Moore’s films – Bowling for Columbine and Sicko – portray a particularly negative view of America. American citizens have their own personal experiences which they can set against the films of Moore – and of the wider Hollywood – but for overseas observers they are often unchallenged propaganda. There are occasional attempts by opinion-formers to put contentious subjects into context – as the BBC’s Justin Webb recently did in his defence of America’s record on gun crime[13] – but these are exceptional.
This fact is very important. Only in America are Micheal Moore, Al Gore, Noam Chomsky et al challenged on some of their exaggerations, inaccurate fast facts, and generalized distortion of the truth. However, abroad, these people’s statements are digested without a burp!
Critics of America are very useful and have fundamentally good intentions, however, some of these multi-millionaires who critique this country get carried away beyond the facts to pure theatrical hyperbole.
If you are interested in this subject, you also may be interested in my posting about the flaws in Michaell Moore’s argument in his movie, “Bowling for Columbine”.
Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear from YOU. Please answer this question in my comment section. Any ramblings not addressing this question will get deleted and not read in full.
Thank you.
NOTE: This post is now closed. I had this up for an entire month and the majority of the responses were irrelevancies. To those of you that had the courage to give me your own definition of Anti-Americanism, I thank you.
In this entry, I’d like to discuss how I see the difference between the foreign Anti-Americans versus the American Anti-Americans. Because there IS a difference the way I see it.
Most of you are familiar with how I define Anti-Americanism and American Anti-Americanism in my glossary section. I’d like to elaborate on that here.
Foreign Anti-Americanism(aka Americanophobia) has nothing to do with critiquing our government or even protesting against it for that matter. Those whom are thoughtful enough to distinguish our government from the average man on the street are *NOT* Anti-American. Those who are mindful enough to know that America is no more a Democracy, and that Americans have no more control over their government than any other developed country are *NOT* Anti-American. Simply put, another word for Foreign Anti-Americanism is B-I-G-O-T-R-Y.
What about the Americans, themselves? It’s a similar concept. Criticizing the government, again, is not Anti-American. However, it IS when Americans take it to another level.
The Anti-American Americans are the same people who keyed the cars of innocent civilians in the streets of San Francisco during a massive and violent demonstration against the war.
The Anti-American Americans spread false rumors and exaggerated truths about the Americans and America to foreigners.
The Anti-American Americans are the same people who spat on our soldiers when they came back home from Vietnam.
The Anti-American Americans are those that say 9-11 was an “inside job”.
The Anti-American Americans hate this blog as they say that Foreign xenophobic attitudes toward Americans are justified.
The Anti-American Americans cannot see anything good about America or anything good that America has done.
The Anti-American Americans do not pay attention to any news or any historical facts that prove injustices happen under other regimes other than the United States and believe that the only “true victims” are only those victims at the hands of Americans.
The Anti-American Americans are against all American military and against all wars that America has ever participated in.
A: We have plenty of these – perhaps more over here in the US of A – more than you can imagine. These people do nothing but whine, whine, and whine while sitting on their collective rear-ends without lifting a finger to make a change. They play “woe-victim” and blame all of their shortcomings on America. Some of them are spoiled rotten and never had to work for anything, and don’t know the value of a dollar. They are terrorist sympathizers. They also fabricate and modify American news and then share it with the Anti-Americans living abroad as their cheerleader. They appreciate nothing and hate all-things-American while they enjoy their trip to Las Vegas and milk the goody out of what they can get from living in the US. Additionally, they condone international Anti-Americanism saying that “we deserve it” while not even knowing what Anti-Americanism is and while not even realizing that the FOREIGN Anti-Americans are stereotyping them too lol. Yes, the American Anti-Americans are lumped together with the rest of America and are EQUALLY LOATHED. With that said, Anti-American Americans are as mindless as the rest of them.
—>Anti-American Americans typically don’t know what the 1st Amendment means. They are constantly saying that our speech is silenced here when it is not.
—>Anti-American Americans appease the foreign Anti-Americans in any way that they can. For example, they call themselves “Unitedstatesians” and use the British spelling of words instead of what they learned in the US.
Unlike Conservatives, I can handle the Anti-American Americans BETTER than the Foreign Anti-Americans because at least I know that if I run into one of my own people in the street that they won’t automatically call me names until they find out about where I stand politically – unlike the Foreign Anti-Americans who just see an American and automatically SEE a nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, gun-toting, bible-thumbing, baby-killing, flag-waving and self-centered Neanderthal American — from their place of birth ALONE!
See the difference?
Too many people confuse Anti-Americanism with being critical of the US government. And that frustrates me to no end!!
Jean-Francois Revel said it best:
“There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between being anti-American and being critical of the United States….critiques are appropriate and necessary, provided that they rest on facts and address real abuses, real errors and real excesses–without deliberately losing sight of America’s wise decisions, beneficent interventions and salutary policies. But critiques of this kind–balanced, fair and well-rounded–are hard to find, except in America herself…”
I was just feeling fits of rage over the Republican radicals and Evangelicals as I read through newspapers on the internet. Then I happened upon this article written by Einstein. I don’t know who I am angrier at: The Americanophobes or the Neo-Conservative Evangelicals in the US. These two groups are both equally closed minded and selfish as all hell. There’s no balance in their speech, and as usual, facts are distorted.
So you can understand my pessimism. But it’s now combined with a rising frustration. I watch as the Democrats stumble, uncertain how to take on Sarah Palin. Fight too hard, and the Republican machine, echoed by the ditto-heads in the conservative commentariat on talk radio and cable TV, will brand Democrats sexist, elitist snobs, patronising a small-town woman. Do nothing, and Palin’s rise will continue unchecked, her novelty making even Obama look stale, her star power energising and motivating the Republican base.
To be fair (which is what I’d expect from REAL journalists), the criticism goes BOTH WAYS. There ARE radicals on BOTH ends of the political spectrum. And both teams have unfair players. It is biased to only mention the foul Radical Republican players. Here’s one sick example out of many. There are rumors going about the internet surrounding Palin and Obama that are just simply that: RUMORS (lies!). The radicals on both sides believe everything they hear without question or challenge. And they are seriously misbehaving!
We know one of Palin’s first acts as mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska was to ask the librarian the procedure for banning books. Oh, but that was a “rhetorical” question, says the McCain-Palin campaign. We know Palin is not telling the truth when she says she was against the notorious $400m “Bridge to Nowhere” project in Alaska – in fact, she campaigned for it – but she keeps repeating the claim anyway. She denounces the dipping of snouts in the Washington trough – but hired costly lobbyists to make sure Alaska got a bigger helping of federal dollars than any other state.
She claims to be a fiscal conservative, but left Wasilla saddled with debts it had never had before. She even seems to have claimed “per diem” allowances – taxpayers’ money meant for out-of-town travel – when she was staying in her own house.
Is the author implying here that Democrats are as clean as a whistle and never lie? Who does he think that he’s kidding?
Remember, this is a woman who once addressed a church congregation, saying of her work as governor – transport, policing and education – “really all of that stuff doesn’t do any good if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God”.
I am hardly impressed with this statement even though it’s true. Why? Because the Americanophobes are no different with their extremism and their “religion”. Because if you think about it, Americanophobia REALLY IS a religion. And let’s not pretend that we don’t know what Americanophobia is. So, how really are the staunch Anti-Americans different from Palin and Co.?
Of all the pseudo-religions corrupting our thinking–Freudianism, Marxism, Darwinism, to name a few–anti-Americanism is the most bizarre and dangerous. The facts of American life and American history simply do not support the widespread view that the United States, in the lunatic words of playwright Harold Pinter, is a “fully-fledged, award-winning, gold-plated monster” that “knows only one language–bombs and death.” Such hatred usually is spawned by a diseased religious sensibility, an irrational passion for a narrative that bestows meaning on the world and one’s exalted place in it as a champion of the revealed truth and righteousness. Yet the cult of anti-Americanism is worse than any dysfunctional religion, for it masquerades as reasoned analysis based on historical fact.
Flynn: As I point out in “Why the Left Hates America,” anti-Americanism is the religion for people who hate religion. It comes complete with a devil (the United States); sacred texts (I, Rigoberta Menchu, The Communist Manifesto, etc.); saints (Noam Chomsky, Mumia Abu-Jamal); zeal (in putting together my book I was attacked, subjected to a book burning, and ejected from a conference for dissent); and many of the other characteristics that we find in various faiths.
If Sarah Palin defies the conventional wisdom that says elections are determined by the top of the ticket, and somehow wins this for McCain, what will be the reaction? Yes, blue-state America will go into mourning once again, feeling estranged in its own country.
Then why don’t you Americanophobes leave us alone already? May I remind you that you’re not mad at the Neo-Conservative Republican party who choose people like Palin and Bush as leaders, you’re mad at ALL OF US. You just like to kick people when they’re down, don’t you? Do you push quadriplegics out of their wheelchairs where you live? If your answer is “no”, then why are you so harsh on the American liberal-wing no matter how hard we fight for a better life? We’re not trying enough, you say? Give me a break! We have no more power than you as far as government is concerned, and we’ve busted our asses trying to get Bush impeached. BUSH DIDN’T CHOOSE YOUR PM TO BE HIS LAPDOG, YOUR PM DID. We’re not going to apologize, AGAIN, because your own country cannot make peaceful decisions by herself – even if your only flaw is selling arms to terrorists like the yanks did. At some point in time, you people are going to have to take some responsibilities for yourselves!
And for the record, liberals ARE already in a constant state of mourning, if you will, even if they don’t show it on their faces. I’d like to think that we liberals realize what is wrong with our country. And it is so.
A generation of young Americans – who back Obama in big numbers – will turn cynical, concluding that politics doesn’t work after all.
Why do you Americanophobes always think it is the “young” that are liberal. I find that most curious. That is incorrect. Not only that, but we Liberals have ALWAYS been cynical and knew that politics rarely worked. Thirty-six percent of eligible citizens didn’t vote in the 2004 election. Have you ever did any research as to why people chose not to vote? It’s because they’re sick of our corrupt system and find solace with apathy. That is as far Left as you can go, sunny. The rest of the disgruntled Left have moved to Canada and Europe.
McCain might talk a good game on climate change, but a repeated floor chant at the Republican convention was “Drill, baby, drill!”, as if the solution to global warming were not a radical rethink of the US’s entire energy system but more offshore oil rigs.
Count me in as part of the “Drill, baby, drill” movement. I loathe having to depend on Americanophobes for ANYTHING. And some of us Americans are also getting sick and tired of the Americanophobic Canadians telling us how America wouldn’t survive without them. Even thought I’m voting for Obama, I would really like to get out of NATO and the UN and be the isolationists we once were, and let the rest of the planet fend for themselves for a change. Yes, Americanophobia abroad has hardened me THAT much. Yes, that’s me – a cynical mourning liberal.
If Americans choose McCain, they will be turning their back on the rest of the world, choosing to show us four more years of the Bush-Cheney finger. And I predict a deeply unpleasant shift.
Due to Global Warming? Then, how come you haven’t yelled at Australia for not signing the Kyoto Treaty? Due to War? Then how come YOU keep choosing leaders that send you to war or fund it? How come your leaders sold arms to terrorist groups like the yanks did? Is it the economy? Where is your own personal responsibility involved? Fix your OWN economies so that you don’t have to be so dependent on the USA. Follow measures of best practices and watch Japan in action. What else is on your laundry list of woes that our barbarian leaders put you through? Are you afraid of us? Because if that’s true, you’re the last group of people we would hear this from because the term, “paranoid” is usually pinned to the Americans. This gentleman from Romania thinks that you guys are just looking for something to whinge about.
Until now, anti-Americanism has been exaggerated and much misunderstood: outside a leftist hardcore, it has mostly been anti-Bushism, opposition to this specific administration.
You guys love to kick your own country’s flaws under the carpet in the name of “the extreme few”, don’t you? If that is true, YOU(like the US) certainly harbor MANY (a little more than a few) hardcore people.
Next, how in the world will the last two elections differ from this one??? It’s the same thing, no? The 2000 election was honorably won by Al Gore. Thanks to our Electoral Process, Bush took the seat, however. In the 2004 election, Bush won by 51% with 48% having voted for Kerry.
I predict the same scenario for the 2008 election. Whether the electoral vote wins or loses, McCain will win narrowly. And once again, 48% OF AMERICANS WILL BE AS PISSED AS HELL!You Americanophobic Brits and Canucks have absoulutely no clue how most Americans feel. And that is why you Americanophobesdeserve the middle finger you get from us. We will be idiots if we apologize again because we aren’t doing anything TO YOU on PURPOSE. Talk about paranoia!
But if McCain wins in November, that might well change. Suddenly Europeans and others will conclude that their dispute is with not only one ruling clique, but Americans themselves. For it will have been the American people, not the politicians, who will have passed up a once-in-a-generation chance for a fresh start – a fresh start the world is yearning for.
Are you kidding me? Did we not have a “fresh start” back in 2004 with Kerry? It was kinda tolerable to withstand the hardcore leftist xenophobes back in the years between 2000 and 2008, but it’s now 100% acceptable to lump all Americans under one convenient umbrella if Obama doesn’t win? Are we going by the Euro-Canadian Three Strikes and You’re Out Doctrine? Oh Daddy, why don’t you go ahead and ground us, already?
Perhaps Americanophobia shouldn’t provoke me, yanno. Why? Well look at who’s throwing the punches? A bunch of imbeciles. We have an expression in the US: “Consider the source”. There are no intelligent people on the face of the earth that labels an entire nation by the outcome of 51%.
You guys have the audacity to call Americans “selfish”. If you people were as SELFLESS as you so smugly claim to be, then how come you don’t sympathize with the 48% who must bear the wrath of another 4+ years with Evangelical Neo-Conservative Extremists running the show and making more and more Americans suffer?
My Colombian friend challenged her Spanish speaking friends with some logic:
Those who chose Bush did not do it because they do not care what happens to the rest of the planet. Bush managed to convince many Americans that his intentions were to liberate the Iraqi people and to eradicate terrorism of the face of the Earth; an idealistic notion to believe in, but never a selfish one. This is why I think that the “Average American isn’t selfish in regards to the world”. On the contrary, they care too much. This has been an altruism that has cost them dearly and continues to go unappreciated.
I wrote this piece not from the point of view of a foreigner living in America, but from the perspective of an immigrant who has fully integrated into this society. After I posted this in Spanish, people continued to say mean things about Americans. They still believe that Americans are blind and selfish; something they feel was confirmed by the reelection of President Bush. Never mind that nearly half of us voted for Kerry. But even those I know who voted for Bush, did not do it because they want to destroy the world. Many of those who voted for him did it because they truly believed he would rid the world of tyranny and terrorism. How can someone call that selfishness? Naive maybe, but not stupid or selfish.
To all Americans, Bush voters or not, feel proud of what your country stands for and keep your heads high. Have faith in yourselves and your values… Truth will always prevail…
To non-Americans: Throw the first stone if your country is free of wrongdoing.
It is common knowledge that Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada lives much happier and is effortlessly afforded a better standard of living and quality of life than the US… by a long shot. The US is the only country in the world that is behind the times regarding social issues, foreign and domestic policy, and civil rights. Why in the world do you guys believe that this is the life that all of us (or even most) choose? You Americanophobes say that we’re all spoiled and rich. Where on earth do you get this from? Oops, confusing the Fat Cat Government with the average man on the street again?
What I find very curious is that when a barbarian president is elected in the US, you get pissed off and say one or both of two things that contradict one another:
(Bush won): Fucking Americans only think about themselves; they don’t care how much we suffer from their voting choices
(Bush won): Fucking Americans deserve Bush
What? Which is it? Either you’re a victim or you’re not. Either Americans are out to get you or they’re not. Either Americans want a typical, nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, gun-toting, bible-thumping, baby-killing, flag-waving and self-centered Neanderthal American to rule them or they don’t and deserve it as punishment instead – even if they voted for Kerry or Obama. ???
Perhaps once you goons make up your minds, only then, will Americans start to take you more seriously. Right now, you’re making Bush look …. *gasps* …smart.
And the manner of that decision will matter, too. If it is deemed to have been about race – that Obama was rejected because of his colour – the world’s verdict will be harsh.
Aaaah, so nice to hear this from the proudest braggarts of all-things-multicultural and tolerant. Let’s look at the developed world, shall we? America is the FIRST country to have one of African decent RUNNING for the leadership of an entire nation in the western world. Look at where the man’s been and where he is now. There are NUMEROUS amounts of minorities (including women) serving in high rank positions all over our government. And are we not the first country to have one that wasn’t even born here as a governor? (Arnold S.) What about Affirmative Action where colleges, employers, and the like are REQUIRED to fill a quota over one’s merit/qualifications?
Please do *NOT* talk to me about racism while the rest of you talk in private or to yourselves about the minorities that you despise in your own neck of the woods. Furthermore, please don’t discuss racism with me while a large mass of your people indiscriminately hate 300+ million Americans that they’ve never met before. Please do not talk to me about tolerance when your own country is known for judging people based on their social classes. And finally, what was your excuse when Bush won over Kerry in 2004? Were we racist, then? We’ve had more Republican presidents than we’ve had Democrats. Now, enter Obama. He doesn’t win and ALL Americans become racist?
Most certainly there ARE plenty of racists in America. But we are no more racist than any of you on a per capita basis. In fact, if anything, we are a less racist country. Here are some good readings for you:
The above are just opinions and proof this is a more complex subject to tackle than the whiny Americanophobic Crusade is making it out to be. Once you guys are qualified to make an informed or more balanced decision on this topic, than maybe, we Americans will listen. And finally once you stop attacking Americans in the street solely based on their place of birth, than we will look up to you as role models for tolerance in the 21st century.
In that circumstance, Slate’s Jacob Weisberg wrote recently, international opinion would conclude that “the United States had its day, but in the end couldn’t put its own self-interest ahead of its crazy irrationality over race”.
Hmm… some Americans are trying to figure out why the people in other parts of the world couldn’t put their own self-interest ahead of their crazy irrationality over “place of birth”. Or is that your self interest? Once people in other nations clearly show that they really ARE ahead of America regarding “tolerance”, then you can have your say.
…For America to make a decision as grave as this one – while the planet boils…
Come again?
While that planet boils? And you’re calling from Britain, right? Here’s a newsflash for you: Your current “boiling state” is saving many-a-lives. Here’s more additional reading for you to prove that Global Warming is not as “simple” as you make it to be.
…and with the US fighting two wars – on the trivial basis that a hockey mom is likable and seems down to earth, would be to convey a lack of seriousness, a fleeing from reality, that does indeed suggest a nation in, to quote Weisberg, “historical decline”…
Wait. I thought it was because we were all “racist”. So, which is it?
Well, you HAVE TO find some reason to hate us, and I must say I do give you credit for your determination and endurance to sift through the straws… Let me just reiterate. Nobody hates America and Americans better than America and Americans themselves. But see, you wouldn’t know that. Your “expertise” on American Culture is limited to your own backyard and trashy tabloids.
Let’s not forget, McCain’s campaign manager boasts that this election is “not about the issues.
I may be wrong, but I think only Americans understand what the “American Dream” really is.
Those from other countries have deluded perceptions in thinking that
all Americans have it or are striving for it, and that
it is served on a silver platter without having to lift a finger.
No!
The American Dream is something that one must work for and work hard for. It also involves Personal Responsibility which is the antithesis of the Nanny/Welfare states in other parts of the developed world. America is VERY unforgiving in this manner.
The American Dream is being who you want to be with America being the place to have the opportunity to do so. It’s *NOT* about having more shiny expensive gadgets than your neighbor. The American Dream is *NOT* about spending plastic money and then going into debt to buy that 1558800069877 inch plasma TV. It’s *NOT* about having a family of 6 with a dog and a big back yard with a barbecue made for cooking 4 inch hamburgers in liquid smoke and with green grass and daddy on the drivable lawn mover.
Immigrants from impoverished nations move here (both legally and illegally) not in every case for the “American Dream” but to make fast cash to send back home to their respective countries in a lot of cases. Other nations have this illusion that if a person from a 3rd world country comes to America, that all they have to do is sit back with their hands out and that the Americans will give them everything they wish for requiring no effort from the newcomer. And when the Americanophobe finds out that the immigrant has to work toward their goal, the “American Dream” then becomes a “myth” and we have to hear how “racist” and “cruel” we are to foreigners… for offering them work or requiring it to live. Suffice it to say that the ILLEGAL immigrants do much better than the poor folk that were actually BORN, bred, and pay taxes in America.
This article, “Special Canada Day Report: How Canada stole the American Dream“ while accurate on many accounts regarding the Canada vs America debate, is a perfect example of how other nations don’t get where the term “The American Dream” came from or why it is even used.
The article above is biased in that the author is comparing ALL Canadians with only the Evangelical Neo-Conservative population in the US rather than looking at ALL Canadians vs ALL Americans in its entirety. But Americanophobic Canadians are insecure and their mentors feel a compelling need to teach even more patriotism with hopes that Canada will feel less self-loathing. You know, like the kind of “America – love it or leave it” type of patriotism that we’re taught here at home.
I will say that America is still known as “The Land of Opportunities” which is why many from other nations come here to make something of themselves or to expand even greater on their goals. The American Dream is to take advantage of that opportunity whether it be for work or a higher education at one of our renowned ivy league universities.
This is not to say that you cannot afford opportunities in Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan or in other places around the world. What makes us different (in context to this topic) is minor. But when people from other places around the globe make it big in the US, you cannot help but to wonder that there just may be a difference between the US and other developed countries, in this regard.
This group is for other Canadians who are tired of Canadians attacking America.
We left the junior high social life behind, began to think outside the mob mentality and can say, “America is okay.”
It is not that we come straight out and say that we hate America. We grow so tired when we sense hatred of the U.S. It is in the news. It lies beneath conversations. It lowers us. It is truly sad.
This group is for Canadians who do not have the “short-man complex.” We know we’re a great country. We know we are more than just “not American.” We don’t need to insult another to build ourselves up. Our identity is greater than the “chesterfield,” “eh,” “tuque,” or “poutine.” We can clear the gravy and cheese off our brain by setting aside our pride to see what is good in our neighbor, America.
Canada, we love you! And America, you’re not so bad either….
Maybe I’m just crazy, but I’d like to think that the TRUE peace-keepers are the ones against stereotyping, profiling, and hating people that they’ve never met – let alone all 300 million Americans that come from all over the planet. What do you think?
May I take this opportunity to apologize to American friends and readers? I am guessing the typical reaction is, first, “What?” and, then, “Whatever.” And indeed Ms. Parrish deserves the dismissal we reserve all for kooks and cranks. The trouble is that there are millions of like minded kooks and cranks in my fair country.
Anti-Americanism is rampant. Many Canadians now make free with the most derogatory comments about their southern neighbours. They are pleased to call Americans stupid, aggressive, and vulgar. They are quick to say that Bush is a moron. (And here I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying, “well, he may not be Stephen Hawking but he is almost certainly smarter than you.”) Want an easy laugh at a gathering of Canadians? Say something anti-American. No sooner have you spoken than the room is awash in self congratulation. American bashing is now a Canadian pastime, as passionately pursued as road hockey and Tim Horton do-nuts.
[Snip!]
Canadians pride themselves on being open minded and cosmopolitan. But here they are stupid, aggressive, and vulgar.
[Snip!]
Really, there is no comparison. The US leads in scientific accomplishment (see Nobel lists and patents awards), athletics (see Olympic wins), education (see Ph.D.s produced), business innovation, technological innovation, and cultural innovation. Oh, Canada. Poor Canada. Your neighbour outstrips you on every dimension.
But I have never heard a Canadian admit to admiration or even acknowledgement of this difference. Instead, the strategy is to claim moral superiority. Canadians are better, they suppose, because they have better social programs, pay more taxes, and do not go to war. Why is that, I wonder? The reason that Canada does not go to war is because it lives within the protection of the US. This is the reason it has an Armed Force that would be hard pressed, if transplanted to Eastern Europe, to defend itself from an attack by Estonia.
So true. I go by the following belief (in regards to what I bolded out in the last paragraph): “If people could, they would.” Feel free to read the rest of his post here.
There are just as many Canadians against bigotry who take a public stand on it. There are MANY Canadians against mindless Americanophobia out there. What is sad is that there has to be groups, topics, clubs and individuals crying out for fair and balanced criticism in the defining of Americans over the usual schoolyard bullying.
Additionally, you can also find many Canadians in this particular thread, “What Does it REALLY mean to be Canadian?” who recognize that there is a problem in Canada with patriotism being linked with Anti-Americanism. I’ve discussed this topic here. However, this thread focuses on it more deeply, and there, you will even find some proposals for change in Canada. Some examples follow:
It is sick that to be Canadian one must hate other people. I’ve been to US hundreds of times and England as well and they never equate their nationality with hatred of others. It seems we are a nation of people that are in serious need of therapy. Thank god I enjoy visiting other countries and felt no need to hate or denigrate others. When ever I go to United States or England I always leave the Canadian stuff at home and I get along just fine. I would recommend this for others.
————————————
[Snip!]
One of the main problems is with our identity. We choose to identify ourselves with things that can not be recognised by others as being Canadian. Compassion? Big deal. Scandinavians and the Dutch are just as progressive and compassionate as Canadians.
Peacekeeping? Give me a break. Ask the people of Haiti if they’re grateful for Canadian peacekeepers? Talk about betraying our supposed legacy. Socialist medicine? Thank God for socialist medicine! I’m sorry, but it’s true that European health care is miles ahead of the sacred cow that is Medicare here in Canada.
Foreign Aid? So what? Japan and America contribute just as much if not more per capita than Canadians do. Canada’s foreign aid is paltry when you consider that Belgium contributes more per capita than Canada does. And we are suppose to be a G8 nation? Give me a break!
Hockey? Well, it is a great sport. But compared to rugby, cricket, and football (the real kind of football that rest of the world plays) it’s not like people in other countries can join us in our admiration for hockey now can they? No wonder we’re so good at hockey. We only have to really play against six other countries!
Thousands of years from now when archaeologists and anthropoligsts come to what was once Canada, all they will find is a Golden Arch and what is left of a man still waiting in line for orthopaedic surgery. And they’ll come to the conclusion that these Canadians did not consider themselves to be Americans, even though everyone else did. Oh, and that they played hockey. Not much of a historic legacy?
But keep repeating that superficial drivel that is put into your mouth by the media and the Liberals about us being compassionate, multicultural, peacekeepers. You’re just living in denial.
Another problem is hockey (there I said it!) We’re so bloody obsessed with what is essentially a violent sport, it’s our only means of expression. The notion that Canadians are a kind, polite, and compassionate people is a complete and utter myth. Canadians are humans just like the rest of the world. There are as many assholes here as there are elsewhere.
But instead of expressing ourselves by marching in a demonstration, becoming involved in a political movement or throwing our corrupt politicians out of office, what do we do? We don’t get mad, we play hockey. We get pissed off, so we play hockey. We don’t get our hands dirty, we just play hockey. It’s the only kind of expression we’re capable of!
We weren’t Americans, but we are becoming American. So much attention paid to protecting the sacred cow that is Quebec has seen what identity English Canadians had developing for itself after independence become sold off for a cheap plastic American imitation.
If you’re an American you have to ask yourself, how would I feel if Americans behaved in such away? You’d loathe it as much as Canadians do. If you’ve ever bought an album by Pulp, you’ll see something written in the inside booklet when you open the CD up…
“Please understand. We don’t want no trouble. We just want the right to be different. That’s all”
I think that’s all Canadians want. But poor leadership in our country is to blame, not evil Americans. We’re responsible for our own actions and instead of lookin south for excuses, let’s look in the mirror?
I’m not afraid to say Quebec should leave. Given the current status quo, I’d probably be happy to see them leave. I’m sick to death of the Quebec elite, they’ve been given far too much influence in this country while western politicians for example are ridiculed here in the east for being redneck bigots.
A big problem too is Ontario and Toronto. You have to realise, over four million Canadians live in the Toronto area, an aree littered with federal ridings. Ontarians are just out of touch with reality.
It’s the media centred in Toronto that’s to blame. It’s not that they are for the Liberals and against the Conservatives. They’re not for the NDP either (with the notable exception probably being CityTV). It’s that the media is so bloody Liberal in their allegiance.
For example, on Global News tonight they did a piece on how kind and compassionate Paul Martin was in making amends with the Italian community over internment during the Second World War. They then followed this story with, and I quote “the opposition leaders in Ottawa plotting their next move”. If you don’t think Ontarians are being saturated with propaganda think twice. Sometimes those little signals can be quite influential.
The way I look at it is that I’m a Canadian. I’m a North American, I’m English (more towards the English sense, then the American sense of the word), and I live in country that is not a democracy, but an out dated 19th century imitation banana republic. My country is massively insecure and divided, spoiled, and sadly self-righteous.
What we need is a new choice and new leadership. I doubt we’re going to get it. And should Canada break up, I’ll take solace in the fact that there’s always Australia…
To those Canadians who are also pro-peace, I salute you!
There are quite a few Canadian bloggers out there who are also *AGAINST* Americanophobia, and here is one of the many.
Multicultural fetishism. Anti-Americanism. Smug superiority. Faith in Internationalism. Mockery of morality. Tolerance of the intolerant. Self-hatred. Europhilism. Quebec: a political obsession. All this, and more, from the Great White North!
Unfortunately, some Canucks will argue that to be pro-peace (standing up against Anti-any-isms) that one must certainly be Anti-Canadian. What does this mean to me? It just reminds me of the neo-cons that call ME Anti-American for standing up against the Bush Administration and the stupid things my fellow Americans are capable of!!
It can take guts to be against Americanophobia in Canada. Or not?
In Canada, one cannot say anything derogatory about any other culture without being politically incorrect or racist. Save the natives and the Americans, who are fair game. This is so ingrained in the “Canadian” culture that Canadians cannot/ do not think for themselves. If I said “French men are rude”, then GASP – Jenny! You are so rude and judgemental and how on earth can you look yourself in the mirror stereotyping an entire country like that! Yet, someone from Ohio comes into town and all the Canadians are whispering “That fucking American. He probably doesn’t even know we have a different currency up here. He is so ignorant and rude.” There is a blatant double standard here and I get treated like a pariah when I point this out.
If any of you (it doesn’t matter where you come from) have a Facebook account, don’t hesitate to join the above group. It was started by Canadians who are now living in the US who are sick to death of the Americanophobic pablum. Now, that they’ve seen America, they’ve learned that what they were spoon-fed in Canada were lies and exaggerated rhetoric. You can read more opinions from Canadians here. It was quite refreshing after my having seen these groups.
…from the PC Police, mind you, regarding the most controversial post I have ever writtenin my 4 years of blogging(no kidding!). I got into big trouble today. From one who is in denial that Anti-Americanism even exists, told me today that I was stereotyping the Americanophobes or so to put it in his words,
You talk about nation-states as if they were singular entities with personalities and traits. ‘Japanese’ do this, ‘Americans’ are like this, all the ‘anti-Americans’ say this. You even talk about anti-Americanism as an object that does things
“But this is what Anti-Americanism is all about. It’s mindless bigotry. It doesn’t listen.”
Anti-Americanism is an it?
Perhaps you should think a bit more critically about your own black and white thinking before accusing others ‘out there’ of it.
This comment followed his initial comment to me which was this:
あんたアホちゃう？
In English this means, “Are you a dumbass”?
I laid out how I interpret Americanophobia over here. Admittedly, there is controversy and heavy mud slinging, hair-pulling, killing of first born children, and nail-biting debates over what the ambiguous term Anti-Americanism actually is. And depending on the person, Anti-Americanism (aka Americanophobia) is something different. The word is just as ambiguous and controversial as the term, “patriotism”. This is more the reason that I must go out of my way to define it(along with other often used terms in my blog including what is patriotism) how I experience it so as to avoid confusion. Nonetheless, despite all my efforts to LINK the “offensive” and “politically incorrect” word to my glossary at every mention of it, people are still confused. Either that or they’re too LAZY to click on my link to these words defined.
It is also interesting how this person finds the concept of Americanophobia to *not* be an noun or a mindset. I wonder if the terms bigotry, prejudice, xenophobia, or racism are also not an “it”. The last time I checked, the proper pronoun for a mindset is an “it” and for a person is a “him or her”. I sure hope that Mr. Nippon Blogger is not teaching English in Japan because this could be very dangerous. (I could understand typos, but pronoun usage???) Maybe he’s an American?
This knee-jerk commenter reminds me of how important I find the following quote that I highlighted in this post, “The Audacity to Respond”:
“Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.” –Winston Churchill
Because trust me, the Westboro Baptist Church gets all defensive when they are called out. So do white supremacists, anti-Semites, those who use the words nigger, spics, beaners, gooks, limeys, ginnies and the like. These people all go out of their way to silence dissent and create lame excuses for their crooked beliefs. Then there are some bigots who deny that bigotry even exits (especially if they’re guilty of it themselves). Then, some people are just pollyannas and like to think that hate doesn’t exist. Then some people defend hate and knock those who react to it. If you think about it, nobody likes their mission to be criticized.
Views and Commentary on Politics, Culture, and Environment in Japan
And in his carefully written and balanced blog, he stereotypes the Japanese. You can find one example here.
For those who don’t know samba, most of the outfits are quite skimpy and t-back bottoms are the norm. Also, for those who don’t know–Japan is quite famous for chikan, and for odd-varieties of chikan. Anyway, the whole thing was almost too much to take. Some of these lecherous folks had arrived at the wee hours of the morning to secure a good spot for their ass hunting. What surprised me most was that there were quite a few older women getting in on the action too (apparently they sell the photos to websites and magazines–yuck).
These perverts were totally unabashed in their quest for bum shots. Good god all mighty.
Hypocrisy at its finest, might I say? For those that don’t know the word, “chikan”, in Japanese, it is basically those men who grope and touch women where they shouldn’t be touching women. They are mostly found inside crowded trains in Japan. When I was living in Japan, I called them “touch men” as a joke. But for someone who calls me out as seeing the world with a “black and white” view, I found his post about Samba to be quite the ironic.
See, we Americans are already defined as being overly-simplistic in our views of the world, so I take much pleasure in pointing out where the Americanophobes are being overly-simplistic. It’s as simple as that.
But I did feel guilty because “Nippon Blogger” was correct on one of the points that he made. As I’ve mentioned in my disclaimer/comment policy and in my “about me” section, I claim to fight against stereotypes and bigotry expressed publicly, and here I am demeaning and harassing the Americanophobes as well as other groups. What a hypocrite I am!!
With that said, I owe an apology to several groups of people for my having offended the Americanophobic population and stereotyping them. Shame on me. I would also like to take this golden opportunity to also apologize to the Westboro Baptist Church, the KKK, the homophobics, the extreme right wingers, and Christian and Islamic fundamentalists whom I have also labels as “bad” in my blog. I’m really sorry. I’m sure you guys really do mean well.
For those unaware of the Westboro Baptist Church or Godhatesfags.com, here’s a brief introduction:
WBC engages in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. We display large, colorful signs containing Bible words and sentiments, including: GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP, NO SPECIAL LAWS FOR FAGS, FAGS DOOM NATIONS, THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS, FAG TROOPS, GOD BLEW UP THE TROOPS, GOD HATES AMERICA, AMERICA IS DOOMED, THE WORLD IS DOOMED, etc.
If it weren’t for the righteous and all-things-moral “Nippon Blogger”, I would have never realized the simple-minded racist I really am.
I am most grateful for him to have taken his time to give me a heads up on my current status of morality or lack of.
Besides being a nation of backwards nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, gun-toting, bible-thumping, baby-killing, flag-waving and self-centered rednecked Neanderthals living in the most disgusting chunk of the globe, have we done ANY good? Any good at all?
Could backwards nationalistic, paranoid, arrogant, fat, lazy, greedy, racist, spoiled-rich, slutty, ignorant, stupid, humorless, loud, obnoxious, gum-chewing, carbon-emitting, gun-toting, bible-thumping, baby-killing, flag-waving and self-centered rednecked Neanderthals be capable of anything deemed worthy or noble?
I am finally beginning to understand Canadian Americanophobia. All I had to do was watch the movie, “Bowling for Columbine”. All of my answers as to how the AA Canadian public got their information was getting increasingly obvious. I used to blame it all on the education, child rearing in the homes, the CBC and the BBC. But there’s another element to consider:
Had I underestimated the power of Snake Oil Salesman, Michael Moore?
“The Culture of Fear” was tossed into my lap several times from so called “experts” on American culture. So, I thought about it and realized that this label is both accurate and inaccurate at the same time. Let me explain. But before we continue, it’s necessary for me to point out that there are two different definitions of the word, “fearful”.
My main point with this blog entry is to explain the reasoning behind people owning guns (aside from hobbyists), why Americans look or act paranoid, and possible reasoning as to why Americans are more homicidal than those from other developed nations. Also as a disclaimer, please keep in mind while you’re reading this that I am *not* defending criminals. That’s the job of the Americanophobes – not me.
My opinions as to how we got so violent and out of control:
(1) First off, I don’t think many are aware of how most Americans are raised. Forget about history and past wars. If Americans walk around feeling “fearful” all their lives, there’s got to be a reason for it, no? One must look no further than how we are raised. Most Americans learn the difference between right and wrong via very violent and painful punishments in the home as toddlers, kids, and as adolescents. And many of our ancestors used to get their ass kicked in school by the nuns. There are gray areas when it comes to child discipline, and I’m confident to say that many forms of discipline over here are actually child abuse just veiled under the term, “discipline” to make the offenders feel better about what they do. Violent discipline varies from family to family and can happen on several different levels. We learn to fear our parents. If we are good boys and girls, we are only doing so to avoid a “can-o-whoop-ass” from our parents. We are not behaving because we have “learned” or because “we want to”. We don’t know the answers or why we do what we do, but for the most part, we’ll do anything to please our parents (until the end) and to avoid as much pain as possible in the process. We go out into the world as an “independent” adult carrying that same fear – although irrational.(Please keep in mind that I am generalizing here. If you want specifics on how I feel about violent discipline, read this.)
But wait. This way of being brought up isn’t specific to Americans. This “doing things to avoid an irrational or rational fear of getting spanked” isn’t specific to American culture either. I would like to bet, however, that there is more domestic violence (especially of the torturous kind i.e. tying kids to bed etc) in the US compared to any other developed nation. Or is it just that America talks about her violent problems more? Australia being similarly jaded, I’d be curious of what their crime rate is in comparison to America’s.
One in three Americans girls and one in 5/6 American boys are sexually abused in the US, and these are just the stats that are reported. There are symptoms of being sexually abused and those include hyper-vigilance, watchfulness, and the inability to trust like the unabused are capable of doing. This is to be expected. Even those victims who claim that they are over the rape still possess a somewhat paranoid nature to them that is to be expected. Another name for this is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Add this in with the mixture of violent attacks on innocent Americans (whether it be coming from the home, school, or in the big wide open spaces) and you get a lovely cocktail of jaded Americans. Because that’s what we are.
Americans are jaded. This is a more accurate way of describing us. By calling us fearful (in the form of schoolyard bullying) is actually belittling and mocking all the victims of crimes here. It’s a condescending and pretentious way of spitting on people that have been hurt. Let’s see you do any better considering the circumstances. The fact of the matter is that one’s place of birth does *not* dictate how one deals with a traumatic experience. Unless you’ve been there yourself under the very same circumstances and past, you have no right to get on your high-horses and preach how someone is to feel their feelings – especially when you don’t even live here in a less than modest neighborhood to know what the hell you’re talking about. Now, this is no excuse for people to wave their guns at every suspicion, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about paranoid and fearful Americans, right? Americanophobes aren’t angry at the criminals here because they mourn their death when they get the death penalty. Americanophobes are mad at the peaceful gun-holders and non-gun-holders in America. Even though I don’t own a gun myself, I defend the responsible and peaceful law abiding citizens living here who are being unnecessarily attacked. Anyway, after reading this, I grew confused. It shows that Australian and Canadian rapes far outweigh American rapes. Hmm…. I am positive there is a connection between rape and jaded behavior, but am not convinced it causes violent behavior leading to one’s death.
(2) If you look at other developed countries, America is the only country where one must look after himself. We do have social services and welfare programs here, but compared to the rest of the world, the US stands alone and its people stand alone and must fend for themselves. It’s about the “I” not the “we”. This is verystressful for everybody living in the statesexcept for those people who GENUINELY love their jobs (which are the minority). There’s much contempt here for others that don’t work as hard regardless of their excuse. (Who woulda thunk it?) There’s also much contempt for those countries that have more free time, work less, live longer, and enjoy life more. Superfrenchie displays very good examples of this here and here. There are many in the US who pretend that they love to work long and hard hours at stressful jobs, but deep down inside they are bitter, jealous, angry, and resentful and take out these frustrations on other people – namely those who are defenseless (their kids) and not working as hard.
(3) Putting the blacks through slavery has much to do with our violent beginning as well. Not that the evil whities weren’t already violent to begin with (hey, weren’t the British who were powering the world for 300 years with THEIR blazing firearms white too? Oops!?!? ), but it doesn’t help that the Blacks fought back very violently (and justifiably so!). Has not anyone ever heard the term, “violence begets more violence”? It doesn’t matter who’s the perpetrator or who’s the victim. Violence simply begets more violence. Now, whites beat/kill each other up, blacks beat/kill each other up and so on. Many countries (both past and present) have been guilty of keeping slaves (both black, white, and other races). And Americans held on to slaves the longest.
(4)Poverty: There is more unemployment in Canada and other socialized countries compared to the US. But this doesn’t mean that they are poverty stricken. My bet is that there’s more poverty in the states. My bet is that this contributes significantly to our crime rates.
(5)Could it also have something to do with the fact that we don’t have proper institutions for the mentally ill here as other countries have? Most of our severely mentally ill are the homeless that you see when you come here. Thanks to our “compassionate” government, this may be just another of several reasons why there is more crime here.
(6)More examples of bad parenting in America:Read from 1-4 in this article written by “Mohammed”. It is an opinion, but I concur with all that he says because I see this too much over here. It is hard to live in America, in my opinion. Don’t be fooled by the sunshiny smiley faces. Some of us pretend that we are happy just to keep our sanity. Life is very stressful here compared to other developed nations. Some Americans make bad decisions to have too many kids that are shoved into daycare centers while mom and dad work all day. They trust day care as the kids’s virtual parents more than they trust themselves. Parents don’t pay attention to the signs when their kids come home from school or the day care depressed or acting funny. If America has shown anything, it has shown that kids living here are not important. They are too little to worry about as adults are struggling for survival and have their own “adult problems” to worry about daughter and son. All of these bad choices and stressful living conditions that we are subjected to and subject ourselves to is bound to show on the people…somehow…someway, wouldn’t you think? Kids are treated here with no more respect than dust particles, so in the end they act the way they are treated: no self-esteem and running on auto-pilot until they crack. This is not a rocket science.
It’s not that uneducated and stressed-out people hump more than others. It’s that they don’t use birth control and want to make more kids so that they can feel in control and have others to powerhouse. These reckless parents come out of abusive homes too, and the cycle continues from one generation to the next. Where one feels powerless in their lives due to past abuses, they feel the need to establish power through making babies – or by making babies to have someone love them unconditionally, for once. It’s sad. And it’s a continuous cycle in America which begs that each of you reading this watch the movie, IDIOCRACY. Once seeing that, everything I’m typing here will make more sense.
With that said, those suffering from severe cases of PTSD and/or (REAL!) Paranoia will more than likely be purchasing a gun. Or not? PTSD is not just for vets and is more complex than what people make it out to be. Let’s look at the symptoms:
* sleep problems including nightmares and waking early
* flashbacks and replays which you are unable to switch off
* impaired memory, forgetfulness, inability to recall names, facts and dates that are well known to you
* impaired concentration
* impaired learning ability (eg through poor memory and inability to concentrate)
* hypervigilance (feels like but is not paranoia)
* exaggerated startle response
* irritability, sudden intense anger, occasional violent outbursts
* panic attacks * hypersensitivity, whereby every remark is perceived as critical
* obsessiveness – the experience takes over your life, you can’t get it out of your mind
* joint and muscle pains which have no obvious cause
* feelings of nervousness, anxiety
* reactive depression (not endogenous depression)
* excessive levels of shame, embarrassment
* survivor guilt for having survived when others perished or for not having done more to help or save others
* a feeling of having been given a second chance at life
* undue fear
* low self-esteem and shattered self-confidence
* emotional numbness, anhedonia (inability to feel love or joy)
* feelings of detachment
* avoidance of anything that reminds you of the experience
* physical and mental paralysis at any reminder of the experience
This is not something to laugh at, by the way, as Canadians and people all over the world suffer from PTSD too. Even animals suffer from this.
All I’m trying to say is to dig behind and beyond the simplicity of just thinking all white Americans are born evil, non-human, and inherently violent, nuts, and paranoid. This is yet another case of the Americanophobes taking a COMPLEX subject and looking at it with a narrow black and white view. What else is new in Anti-America?
Can people be born evil? Or are the Americanophobes claiming that all white Americans are born evil? Most of us? Only the white people? Or just the white people BORN in America? If you say that people aren’t born evil, than you’ll be forced into a more complex route of admitting that the Americans that ARE criminal are under environmental duress and past abuse. Whichever the case, both answers show criminals to be victims as well. Criminals: victims or not should be treated as such: not with sympathy, not with empathy, but with punishment, in my opinion. However, the people the Americanophobes yell at are the non-criminal gun holders and non-gun holders which is very curious. Does anyone have any answers for THAT?
If you’re talking about those who possess guns and leave them lying around loaded for any kid to pick up and start shooting, then you’ve got an argument. We are then talking about irresponsible gun holders. If the access to guns decline in the US, so will the accidents. This is a HUGE problem here. I still stand by the 2nd amendment, but what I don’t stand by is how easily obtainable they are (just like in Canada and Switzerland) as background checks are a joke. There should be a more formal process in which the person trying to buy a gun is examined mentally with a fine tooth comb.
I am no arm-chair psychologist or anything. I, just like other curious people, wonder why we kill people so easily as we know it’s not so much to do with firearm possession as it is to do with the gun owners themselves! Suffice it to say, there are plenty of stabbings, stranglings, and other forms of homicide here that don’t involve guns.
One Brit flaunts his expertise on Guns in America.
(sic) Sorry, do americans not have fists like the rest of the world?
Since when was shooting a acceptable method of self defence? As for killing food, that can be done with other means.
He goes on to explain his point further:
(sic) My point is, it isnt exactly an acceptable reason to have a gun. If someone is armed with a knife, then its only right then that you defend yourself in the same way.
What would be better, getting rid of guns and decreasing the amount of deaths or keeping it for self defence and having those deaths at the same level?
Theres a reason, besides the huge population that USA has such high crime/homicide rate.. Its because the majority of the rest of the world dont let you own a gun for no reason. Just seems stupid that they continue to have it for self defence, when their are so many alternatives.
What are we debating here? Criminals (who kill PEOPLE as a sport) or gun holders (who are responsible and using it for defense or other hobbies not relating to murder)? You can’t conveniently blur these two together. There IS a difference. Irresponsible people with guns ARE the minority.
Do the Anti’s not realize that there are very nice law abiding citizens who have guns that only use them for defense and not offense? Do the Anti’s not realize that most of the people in the US who commit homicide out of OFFENSE are holding ILLEGALLY OBTAINED or stolen firearms? Do the Anti’s not realize that even though we own guns here, that British people have found the US to be a more peaceful place to live? Do the Anti’s not realize how EASILY accessible firearms are in Switzerland and how most males have them (and the same with Holy Canada)? As you can see here, simply HAVING a gun is VERY different than having urges to kill innocent people for fun. Is this concept too hard to grasp? If it is not just holding a gun that automatically makes one a criminal, then what is it? This just simply proves that we must look deeper to find the answers as to why Americans are more violent. And we ***shouldn’t*** just limit our research to gun crime, it should be ALL crime! It’s most curious how the Americanophobes talk more about gun control in America than they do about crime where a gun wasn’t used. Those crimes are completely blacked out. It seems more likely that they just want guns prohibited than wanting crime to decrease. I don’t think that the Far Left really care about innocents getting killed at all as their agenda to flex their supremest muscles at the yanks are more important than anything else. This is what the “morally superior” Far Left is all about: their agenda (not human lives).
Michael Moore was comparing the violence in the US with Canada. You’d have to be retarded *not* to understand why Americans are more fearful. The stupid Americanophobic Leftists are thinking that Americans live day in and day out thinking that some Black or Arab “boogie-man” is hiding in the bushes waiting to kill us whether we’re in our own countries or abroad. Naturally folks, where violence is MORE prevalent, the normal response to lock your doors and not walk alone at night in some areas of town is NOT“racially motivated” nor is it “unique” to Americans. I feel almost retarded myself for having to explain the obvious.
I was amused. One Canadian woman was interviewed by Micheal Moore in this movie (Bowling for Columbine) and she stated that her home was broken into AND vandalized while she was sleeping at night. She stated that the incident didn’t scare her , and that she continues to *not* lock her doors at night because that would be, yanno, too Americanshe doesn’t want to disconnect herself from the rest of the world. I think she’d feel very comfortable over here in the US as we harbor the most mentally ill people in the civilized world, so she’d feel right at home. Welcome, drunk Blondie!
*sighs*
You know, it’s these people like HER that deserve to be vandalized and robbed! As a matter of fact, I could use some things as money is a little tight where I am. I wonder if she’d give me her address in Canada, and then I can come over and take what I like while she’s sleeping? She seems very generous to me. And hey, aren’t the AA Canadians all about sharing their money with the less fortunate? She should have gone one step further and just gave her address out publicly considering how “open to visitors” she is. One question, though: Do Canadians lock their door when they have sex? Hmm… OK, I know I’m getting hammy here, but if you had watched the film, you’d see what I mean. We UHHMERICANS are considered anti-social and again, insular, for locking our doors as well. After all, that’s not friendly behavior, right?
Surely, Americans are painfully and clinically “guilty” of locking their doors more than Canadians, but Michael Moore gives this impression that none of us over here leave our doors unlocked. And as a matter of fact, there are certain towns and neighborhoods where people feel comfortable keeping their doors unlocked in the US – just as there are town, cities, neighborhoods in CANADA where people LOCK their doors. How stupid does Michael Moore and Co. think Americans are??? And I don’t believe that ditsy Canuck who said that she wasn’t scared after the break-in. She was TERRIFIED. She’s just trying to make Canada out to be something that it’s not. I don’t care what country one is living in. At the end of the day, we are all people just trying to get by in the world. We all bleed the same blood and cry the same tears and feel the same feelings. I am not convinced, otherwise.
It’s funny how Americans are looked down upon for locking their doors, yet that was also the case in Japan when I was living there. I also had never heard of a girl living living in an apartment alone in Japan that kept her doors unlocked. (I’m sure they leave their doors open in the country areas, though.) My Japanese friends even told me to avoid certain areas as they were deemed “dangerous”. Hmm…. (are they ‘fraid of the blacks too?) Has any research taken place in other developed countries regarding this “issue”? Naw. It’s just got to be America, right? Well, of course!! Let’s not defeat the purpose of Americanophobia!
To move on, the perceived uniqueness of learning by “cause and effect” is not a phenomenon peculiar to the “American Culture”, either. Once again, look at the violence here in proportion to people “acting careful” to prevent such things happening to them.
Another question comes to mind. Should our media not cover crime news or perhaps not cover it as much? We know for a fact that it is real. It does happen. And anybody with 1/4th of a brain should realize that crime news is hardly covered in Canada because it DOESN’T HAPPEN ANYWHERE NEAR AS MUCH IN CANADA. So, what ARE the benefits of covering crime news? Is it just there to cater to the gore-loving, blood-thirsty audience? Is it there to make Americans realize what’s going on out there so as to take precaution and promote safety? What if there’s someone in the neighborhood that is a sniper killer? You know, it is so easy for a Canadian living in Peaceful Canada to lecture Americans on what and what not do do regarding safety. Don’t you think? What about the black people in the US that have guns and lock THEIR doors? Have you a fitting label for them? Paranoid? Fearful? Mentally Ill? Republican? They need to take measurements because they’re defending against the evil whities? Which is it?
Here’s my answer: I think that people all over the world should never be over-confident in thinking it’s not going to happen to them. I also think that people all over should never live in fear, either. What ever happened to this concept we call, “balance”?
Can we not learn anything from crime? I think we can. No. When I say “learn from crime”, I’m not talking about (after watching the news) running around waving your pistol because you heard that Jane Doe was brutally raped and murdered and the perpetrator’s on the loose. What I mean is that without crime news, we’d be a very naive and over-confident society leading to people trusting everyone thereby putting innocents in harm’s way. We don’t want THAT, do we? Learning from crime, makes intelligent people look for why these things take place to begin with as what was done here. My belief is that if we know what makes a killer, we someday will know how to prevent a killer. But you don’t figure these things out by having the reality of the world cut off from you. It may very well be the case that American local news is too centered on crime, and I can only guess it is there to raise people’s eyebrows. However, thanks to Michael Mooreisms, other countries are now successfully brainwashed to believe that the US media reports homicide only to make white people hate black people. Never mind the high number of crimes committed everyday between the Black and Mexican communities (gangs). Never mind the fact that most serial killers and sexual predators are WHITE!!!! Yes, that’s on our television channels too, people!
WE CAN SEE VERY CLEARLY THAT WHITE PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES TOO! WHITE CRIMES, BLACK CRIMES, BROWN CRIMES, YELLOW CRIMES, PURPLE CRIMES, GREEN CRIMES, AND ORANGE CRIMES ARE ALL REPORTED E-Q-U-A-L-L-Y! But you clowns wouldn’t know that unless you lived over here! Or are living here with your eyes OPEN and not living in grandma’s basement.
At the end of the day folks, what does TOO MUCH CRIME NEWS do? It makes people numb and desensitized. Yes, you heard that correctly. Crimes news does *not* make the average American “paranoid”, or “fearful” nor is that why we “search the bushes for the boogie man”. Hearing on the news about another homicide for us is like hearing a commercial for Crest toothpaste. The reaction is the same, really. Some stories touch us and make us cry or shout at the TV, but generally speaking the surprise revolved around crime just isn’t there anymore. And in America, if we don’t want to watch about violence in the news, a remote control and cable television was invented for that very purpose.
Additionally, it was absolutely deplorable to hear Michael belittle the victim’s families of 9-11 calling them and anyone else affected “a culture of fear”. If you don’t think that a terrorist attack has a effect on its people, you are callous and have just as much blood on your hands as the terrorists themselves. Interestingly enough, it is those countries living peaceful lives taking for granted what they have, that are the ones mocking the reactions of trauma survivors. You will always see the Americanophobic Canadians and Brits cry for those at the hands of our Capital Punishment system in America. But you won’t get that same “understanding” and “sympathy” from the Americanophobic scumbags regarding those “victims” that WERE ACTUALLY INNOCENT. There’s the blatant hypocrisy right there. Anti-America says that 3,000 innocent Americans from all over the world deserved the Death Penalty on 9-11 (even though 24 Canadians died in the towers as well). As the saying now goes:
“As someone who takes human rights seriously, I’m appalled by the lack of sympathy the left feels toward the victims of any regime other than the Bush administration. Let’s shout it to prisoners everywhere: If you’re not harmed by an American, your suffering doesn’t count.” –Erik Svane
When Americans watch “Bowling for Columbine”, they do so with a grain of salt (for the most part). Even liberal Americans do and even some leftists. We live here. We see what happens in our country. We know “Bowling for Columbine” is for entertainment’s sake and not to be taken too seriously. We are also well aware that Michael has lied and fabricated stories in his past pieces. We are aware of the manipulative tricks that he does with his footage to make people believe things that aren’t true. We know. We’re Americans.
BUT…
Those living elsewhere will take “Bowling for Columbine” to heart and because they hate Americans as well, will hang on to Michael’s e-v-e-r-y word. That is where Americanophobic Canadians and Brits go for their comfort food: The Michael Moore library.
And we know it’s not just UHHMERICANS that are vigilant after major disasters. Take 9-11 for example. Do some research on how following that day, people traveling coming from other countries took a downward spiral…for years. I was working at the airlines during that time and flight routes were canceled to and from other countries for years. Only in the last couple of years has travel from abroad increased since the attacks. Uh. Could it actually be that tourism declined because those from elsewhere were afraid of the Muslim that could be hiding in the bush to behead them? Hmm… Why, after 9-11, did the Japanese government begin fingerprinting all foreigners coming into the country if it is only Americans that are “taking precautions” against further attacks. In all actuality, nothing too drastic a change in the US has happened post 9-11 to show that we are seriously preventing further terrorism. The Iraqi war (creating more terror, in my opinion) and the Patriot Act are laughable. Airport security is a joke as it’s always been. Innocents from other countries as well as American citizens are unnecessarily being detained and abused too often while people board the planes with all sorts of weaponry. America is still a place where you can standby for a flight check in your luggage, miss the flight, and have your luggage travel alone (if that doesn’t say anything). What I’m trying to say is our “paranoid” measures to be a more secure country are about other things – NOT about being “fearful”. Please! And before you Anti’s get into your diatribe about “stupid Americans’, read this first and learn how you’re just as dumb if not more.
Right-wing Americans are always talking about “the war on terror” and how it’s “protecting us”. Propaganda is put out so that we do fear terrorists and submit to silly wars out of pure greed. But I’m also going to say that Americans are no more fearful than your average Canadian is about America turning on its side and squishing Canada. All this fear that the AA’s perceive is rather hype; it’s about following the crowd, the leader, the authority, it’s about the desire to belong and the inability for one to take responsibility for his own shortcomings. Weak people are seduced by power. This is the same way Americanophobia works. And it’s not too different from Nazi propaganda.
If you really want to explore racism in America, here might be a good start.
You want to pin an “Ugly American”? How about your beloved and millionaire Michael Moore himself?
MOORE MANIPULATES VICTIMS:
Moore held a screening of Bowling for Columbine in Littleton and charged admission the families of the victims.
• Columbine victim mother Anne Hechter: “It’s laughable that Moore attempts to portray himself as an anti-establishment liberal who is the voice of the common folk, when in fact he is no better than the greedy capitalists he shuns. Maybe now that he has made millions of dollars off the blood of our children he could toss a DVD or two our way to view.”
• Mark Taylor, one of the victims that Moore took to K-Mart headquarters, on Moore: “I am completely against him. He screwed me over. I had no idea what Moore’s agenda was. And he had an agenda. He had it all planned out, completely. I believe that every American has the right to have a gun. We should have the right to protect ourselves.”
Read more here about how “Bowling for Columbine” was a FICTION documentary along with the rest of his work. Credits to Mike, however. He is brilliant at what he does. His work is also very entertaining.
Lastly, when we examine the word, “fearful”, we must ask ourselves:
Are all 300+ million Americans feeling this fear or just the gun-holders and the evil whities?
What percentage of these people are fearing something real?
Is it irrational fear brought on by a degree of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Is this fear really just Paranoid Schizophrenia that is being experienced?
Something interesting to note. The Americanophobes frequently call us “paranoid” and “fearful” by having invaded Iraq. But those same Anti’s said that we went to Iraq for oil and money for Bush’s rich buddies. Which is it? You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You don’t want to sound like an opportunist, do you? So, pick one and stick with it.
Secondly, in the beginning of “Bowling for Columbine”, Michael shows how Americans weren’t reactive enough when suspicious noises from crimes being committed were happening nearby. But then later, he accuses us for not being suspicious enough. He needs to take a pick too.
For all I know, everything I write in this blog may be a fallacy. So, take me with a grain of salt as well. All I’m trying to say here is to not always take to heart everything you read and see in the media. If you Americanophobic Canadians and Britons are truly the smarter and superior ones, question and challenge the literature you come across and make sound and balanced arguments in the public forums you use to communicate. Only then can you say that you’re better than Americans. The Americanophobes are so obsessed with Anti-American news that the concept that there are other ideas out there is unknown or thrown out immediately without properly looking at all the angles in its complexity.
If you truly want to learn about American culture, take courses or read books about Anthropology, Sociology, and Criminology. Actually live in the US and move around while you are here with an open and curious mind. If you don’t know why these three subjects are important to understand groups of people, culture, sub-cultures, and society, than you are part of the dumbing down of the world.
To say that Americans are just simply fearful for the sake of fearing alone is to deny that America is a violent country. And you don’t want to deny such if you are Americanophobic.
Canada is afraid of America. Now, how’s that for a blanket statement? Sleeping with the elephant, right?
Ha! I was just doing a little searching on the web for the Olympic basketball game information between China and the US since I had missed it on TV. I stumbled across this page and stopped in my tracks when I saw the following:
(Keep in mind, the above is *not* N. Korea, but S. Korea.)
Could it possibly be that the Americanophobes are insular, isolationists, and inward-thinking? Nah… wait. They are supposed to be smarter and better than that, no? Because after all, they are leading Americans by example, right?
But then again, we can see from here, that the Anti’s just after all may be the ones who need to realize that the world is bigger than their own perception of it. The world is THAT big. One hundred and ninety four countries make it quite the big. But I guess to the small-minded individuals who have a narrow overly-simplistic black and white view of the world (one with no shades of gray), the labels they glue on Americans come to no surprise. Their little world is them and us.
I’ve been to Seoul and lived in Japan for 6.5 years and S. Koreans and the Japanese are anything BUT Americanophobes, so I’m not talking about these two countries. It’s just very telling how all-things-imperfect are conveniently an “American phenomenon”.
Oh, and as always, it’s not just the Anti’s in other countries who perceive the world so small. America has her own home grown versions as exemplified here:
Television? Admittedly, you need to have cable television in the US to be able to have permission to say that you watch TV. It’s true. I think you just get 3 stations on a snowy screen without it. Now, let’s look at basic cable in the US, shall we? We’ve got…
The History Channel
The Learning Channel
Court Television
The Animal Channel
The National Geographic Channel
The Discovery Channel
The Discovery Health Channel
Fox, Cnn, Cspan, and loads of other news channels
Comedy Central (where you can hear about how horrible the US is and laugh at the same time!)
Harmlessness, no? When people think of TV, they only think of “Sex in the City”, “Celebrities Uncensored” Reality TV, and/or other “trashy” programming. Never do people think of those channels I listed could possibly be used as a tool to LEARN. Hmm…
As far as “what is funny” and “what is humor” is concerned, everyone has their own taste. I’d like to think that Seinfeld, Everyone Loves Raymond, The Simpsons, The Daily Show, The Colbert Show, and Carlos Mencia, are pretty damned funny. But maybe that’s just me? And yes, I have also watched “The Young Ones” (even have their videos), “Benny Hill”, “Monty Python” and other British comedy in the states as well as Japanese comedy from having lived in Japan. I love to laugh.
And trash TV? Meh. It’s just as popular in Europe, Canada, and actually…. ALL OVER THE WORLD. (Seriously, go to Japan and watch their variety shows, and you’ll see what I mean!) Admitting that you are addicted to “Desperate Housewives” or “American Idol” is a toughy. It is my opinion that Americans are more likely to admit they sin watching such trash, though (we have been bullied into calling them “guilty pleasures” something akin to masturbation and the like). And I am positive that Americans, Europeans, Canadians, Asians, etc all watch trash TV for the same reasons: it’s entertainment – especially when you can laugh at how stupid people act while the cameras are rolling. Makes ya feel better about yourselves and your own humdrum yogurt bland life.
Speaking of restaurants in the US, to be fair, the person who wrote the above quote was only 19. How much can you really see from age 1-19, generally speaking? When I was 19, I was only aware of my neighborhood – let alone the actual city, state, and country I was living in. To perceive the depth of any country this huge (yes, I know Russia and Canada have a larger landmass…), one must have many experiences in it – and not just in their little comfortable neck of the woods. Americans are guilty everyday of taking the diversity and size of the US for granted. This doesn’t mean that the US is “better” than anyone else. It’s just that coming to the conclusion that E-V-E-R-Y restaurant in the US contains “loud and obnoxious” individuals who just want to yell vulgar obscenities for no reason and gobble down food as fast as possible causing heartburn and indigestion while ignoring their friends and family ….is silly, and not something I’ve ran into, actually and I’ve got 40 years under my belt! And no! Chuck E Cheese is NOT my idea of a “restaurant”. If you want peace and quiet, you don’t go to a restaurant with that is popular for children or even where the elderly hang out because they’re all deaf!
If you want to get into semantics, then we’d have to define “what is a restaurant”. Hmm… there is variety in that too.
To add to this, I’ve actually heard the “loud and obnoxious” theme to be used on the British as well.
My guess is that when you’re pissed, you want everything neatly organized into directories and sub-directories where you categorize groups of people as such. It helps the anger/contempt/frustrations come out better with more intensity and strength. I am just as guilty at times. Nobody’s an angel. But you Anti’s must admit that you are rarely correct with your assumptions on the American people as a whole in a world where even Americans cannot claim to be “experts” on America. In other words, you cannot take a subject matter so complex and simplify it while expecting to look intelligent or more “superior”.
…:::America: the Honest, the Brave, the Free, but Far from Perfect says our media:::…
America’s Self-Critical Nature in the Media Goes Unnoticed All Too Often
One Americanophobic rant that is particularly annoying is where we are collectively accused of
patriotism
overboard patriotism
blind patriotism
arrogant patriotism
nationalism
jingoism
being a constant flag waver
thinking that America is the center of the universe
having mostly a red, white, and blue wardrobe
not realizing that other countries exist
What we are, actually, and what we are accused of is really THE OPPOSITE! Across the pond and past our borders, the media gives their audience a picture of the “average American”. And it’s distorted. Well, I am here today to tell you the other side of the story to broaden your perspective on American culture aside from the few flag-waving-Joe-the-Plumbers you met in your travels.
The media in the USA is the most self-critical/honest on earth. Why? How? We have the freest press, by far.
Give me a chance to explain myself.
While we do have our fair share of jingoists living over here, on a per capita basis, I have found no evidence that supports the theory that America contains more blind and arrogant nationalists than any other country. At the end of the day, it probably equals out to about the same.
Next. One of the most identifiable aspects of American humility, honesty, and courage lies in THE AMERICAN MEDIA as a whole, itself. Unashamedly all of our networks publicly broadcast to its own people and the rest of the world our dirty laundry, our weaknesses, our screw ups, and all things grossly embarrassing.
Where else in the world can you find a media and TV personalities that do the following: (Please pay close attention to the BELOW examples.)….
(2) truTV: This is a television station devoted to catching American scum on tape doing the most unmentionable ridiculously stupid things that even Americans themselves cannot comprehend. Similar shows such as “Cops” and “Forensic Files” are also popular over here. On truTV.com’s website, they even have a section dedicated to dumb Americans called, “Dumb as a Blog: A Daily Digest of the Dumbest Stuff People Do”. Check out their video section as well and join in with millions of Americans poking fun.
(3) American investigative reports by their very nature, show Americans looking at their worst.
(4) Noam Chomsky
(5) A very famous Mexican American comedian, “Carlos Mencia” sings the “Dee Dee Dee” song making fun of stupid Americans.
(6) The “Loose Change” producers(that say 9-11 was an “inside job”) and cohorts are widely accepted in mostly America and in other countries as well. Yes, “Loose Change” was created by those nationalist Americans you speak of.
(10) Americans not only enjoy laughing at other Americans, but we laugh at ourselves as well. We don’t take ourselves all too seriously, and our best comedians practice self-deprecating humor. (May they RIP) George Carlin, Rodney Dangerfield, and Chris Farley, just to name a few, exhibited this very well. Americans love this kind of humor. And we Americans, just like our dearest neighbors to the North and across the pond, generally dislike arrogant behavior too.
(12) American media is LIBERAL(and at times considered to be “middle of the road”) – not “right-wing-biased” as the Americanophobes claim.
(13) Our media is self-critical on ALL levels: Local, State, and Federal. Because of our aggressive media coverage during the time Nixon was in office, Nixon knowing in advance he was going to be impeached, stepped down and surrendered. Now, you’re going to ask me why that hasn’t happened with Bush. The reason why is because what Nixon did was a clear-cut crime (within American political law) whereas Bush waging an illegal war (while impeachment-worthy) was not a clear-cut crime. The Senate AND the House both gave their go-ahead to invade Iraq. Please try and understand the difference. I sympathize with the Anti-Americans here as I am against Bush and Iraq, myself. But there’s a difference between Bush and Nixon (even though Bush is worse, in my opinion).
Our media spent weeks and months blasting Bush, FEMA, and governments on every level for the lack of immediate assistance following Hurricane Katrina. What the Americanophobes who accuse Americans for being self-absorbed and isolationists don’t realize, is how quickly we arrived in Thailand and other S. East Asian countries following the Tsunami a few years back. And of course, this as well. Oh, how easy it is to be ignorant with the Americans!
(14) Our mid-day and late-night talk show industry takes pot shots at the same “ugly Americans” that YOU spend your lives obsessed with. Let’s take “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” for example, shall we? If you watch (and you don’t even have to watch carefully), you’ll notice that these people are FREQUENTLY bashed:
Stupid celebrities such as Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie
Bush (they even have a Bush impersonator that appears on the show often, that looks and acts just like Bush)
Cheney, The Clintons (blow-jobs and Hillary), and other fools in American politics
Lazy Americans and products that we use to keep us sedentary and fat
Stupid Americans(i.e. American headlines, dumb criminals, Jaywalking with Jay Leno, and he also has dumb Americans appear on the show to further expose American ignorance) We don’t know how much is scripted or manipulated – nor do we care, but it’s still exposed and Americans love to watch this stuff!!
Inbred Hillbillies and American Southernisms
Fast Food
LA superficiality (i.e. fake boobs and other fake body parts, bad drivers, ditsy blonds driving while talking on cell phones, eating, and putting on make-up while operating a vehicle)
How Americans take the voting in an American Idol more seriously than voting in a president
Only in America can you find this kind of honesty. What other countries make fun of themselves like this?
(15) Even if Americans look stupid on game shows, we still air them instead of covering them up to paste a false image on a viewers screen.
(16) American Blue-collar comedy pokes fun at rednecks. Basically, all non-rednecks make fun of rednecks.
(17) After 9-11, America got VERY critical and became very aware that the terrorist attacks were preventable if you look at all the clues leading to 9-11 that weren’t taken seriously. The terrorists were the last to be blamed following that day. We were angry as hell at our leaders, the FBI, the CIA, the cheapskate TSA, and all others that turned a blind eye to the evidence that we were as vulnerable as we were. At least half of us are aware that our government is corrupt. Just look at our electoral voting system and how Al Gore really won the 2000 election. If we have less liberals and lefties in the US nowadays, it’s only because millions of them have moved to Canada and Europe. This is true. The same thing happened right after we got our independence from Britain. There are still millions of Americans loyalists honoring the British Crown and the way of life over here.
( 18 ) Our blatant display of STUPID AMERICANS IS a precious $$$$ lucrative $$$$ industry $$$$. (Cha Ching!) Yes, my friends, in America. No. No. No. No. Not just YOUR country. In America.
Right.
Here.
In.
America.
Yes, you heard that right. In fact, it is so popular OVER HERE IN THE USOFA, that other countries (our bestest friends Britain and Canada) have copied us and are starting to interview Americans in the street as well. LOL. Notice, how we NEVER see any other country’s people being interviewed? I find this very telling. It speaks volumes that America is in no way sweeping its flaws under the carpet. And ironically what the Americanophobes don’t realize is that Americans ♥♥♥LOVE♥♥♥ watching these videos too. Hello? Anti-America? Hello? Yes, you’ve heard that correctly.
Americans.
Love.
Laughing.
At.
Other.
Americans.
(19) The Jerry Springer Show: What the Americanophobes don’t know, though, is that 99% of those preforming are actors. As always, these people are willing to act and make a buck at the expense of more mindless Americanophobia simultaneously entertaining Americans and those all over the world. Mexico has been the only other country to emulate. Now, you can find a Mexican version of Jerry Springer on Mexican television in Spanish preformed by Mexicans, themselves.
(20) If you read the bottom of this post, you’ll see that many Americans out there are complying with the demands of the Americanophobes to stop calling themselves, “Americans” and to stop saying that they were born in “America”. Americans are now calling themselves by other terms. We may look tough toting our guns on the outside, but some of us really enjoy being pussy-whipped whether it be by our own government or by the Anti-American Elitist Left.
( 28 ) Doug Soderstromfrom Texas published several articles about what is wrong with America and Americans:
A Letter to My Son Regarding the Problem of War
The Day America Died
Why I am Ashamed to be an American
Behind The Mask of Evil
The Crisis and Challenge of the Christian Faith
On Coming to Terms with Society
A Fundamental Evil
Progress Mans Greatest Mistake
A Prescription for Peace
If Only George Bush Had Been Amish
Impeachment: An Apology the World Will No Doubt Understand
Untying the Gordian Knot of The Christian Faith
Young People of America Rise Up and Rebel
Arrogant Nation
The Dumbing Down Of The American Mind
The Most Evil People in the World
Why I Cannot Support The Troops In Iraq
The Only Hope For the World
The Morality of Neoconservatism
Some Thoughts about Jesus, The Church, My Country, and The War
If Teachers Were Congressmen
Advice From An Old Man
The Mindless American: A Tragedy In The Making
(29) I wonder if this can happen on any other country’s turf? On Mexican Independence Day, hundreds upon hundreds of Mexicans living in the US wave their Mexican flags wildly to the beat of their chants and songs as the march down the streets simultaneously burning American flags. It is perfectly legal. The very fact that Americans allow these kinds of things to occur on our own turf says a lot.
(30) NPR (National Public Radio) The American right wing hates this radio show as it is too liberal for them. NPR is also international as well and doesn’t stop at touting how well and better off people are living in other countries such as this example. On iTunes, you can subscribe to one of their radio shows. And as you can tell by the current menu, they have made mention of different parts of Europe where the health care is much more humane and civilized. I bet that you wouldn’t expect America to praise other countries letting us know that Europe does some things better!
(31) 2008 Financial Crisis, anyone? You betcha. Americans have mercilessly criticized ourselves there too. Here are just a few of never-ending examples:
(32) Sarah Palin – She is one staunch Anti-American.
Sure there’s patriotic brainwashing in the US, but we have just as much media that goes in reverse! Balance, people. It’s all about balance. And that’s what America has. I don’t see Americans anymore inclined to accept without question their government than any other country in the world.
Of course the Canadians, Europeans, and South Americans etc. are not alone in feeling ill treated. Many Democrats have a visceral dislike of the Bush administration and their feelings are reflected in American population as a whole. Literally millions upon millions upon millions of Americans simply loath the man; one result of this is that Bush bashing is a billion dollar industry in the States. Another result of this is that while Bush bashing is international in scope it has a distinctly American face to it. Michael Moore is arguably its most recognizable figure and a good number of critiques have a Chomskyian like flavor to them. Of course, South Korea’s Roh Moo-hyun and German’s Schroeder are not the only politicians to capitalize on the phenomena either. Howard Dean was the first American politician to capitalize on it and his doing so set the tone for the Democratic primaries.
In an article titled, “Stupid Americans”, a blogger found some research on the subject:
Although the way other nations encourage this stereotype of Americans seems atrocious, the worst enforcers of all are other Americans. Not, however, those stereotyped, but those who are “different.” Everyone, it seems, is trying to separate himself or herself from the rest of the country. “Oh, yes, they are idiots, but I’m different.” People seem determined to prove that they are not idiots by pointing out that they are able to tell the brainless from the brained: “Look, I am so special that I can point of the idiots out for you right now! Oh, we, the extremely vocal minority, are so oppressed by our obese fellow man.” Instead of trying to correct the cultural faux pas of their brothers and sisters, they distance themselves from them, and laugh at them, along with the rest of the world.
One of the reasons that some Americans are reluctant to travel is that statistically anti-Americanism is growing, interestingly enough nowhere more so than in the US itself.
But, the most successful anti-Americas, like Michael Moore, are home grown. Asked recently whether Americans were “greedy” 64% of Brits agreed. But 70% of Americans were in agreement. Some 26% of Brits believe that Americans are “immoral” but 39% of Americans agreed.
Additionally, I came across this blog post written by an Indonesian that rang true for me. He describes the same America that I’ve been living in for most of my life.
American society is the most open and, at the same time, most intensely and continually self-critical in the world. Any country that was founded on ideals, as the United States was, and that declares them openly and defines itself through them, will constantly have to measure the distance between where it is and where it should be. The distance between the reality of life and the hope for a better one is also the basis of the American Dream. It is has been hotly argued not only by Americans, but by the rest of the world as well. This debate about America is at the center of what it means to be an American and the strength of the argument reflect the view that America is different or should be. The literature of America has also demonstrated this tradition of self-criticism.
Many Americans feel that such continuing self-tradition, the terrible attention by the media, the publishing of the things best keep secret, the hunts for scandals, has gone too far. They point out that in few other western societies can political cartoonists so openly ridicule their leader.
…But I think that hard-core existential anti-Americanism–the idea that the USA is by its very nature, and from its conception, an evil nation–is more common in the US than in Canada, even accounting for the 10:1 population ratio.
For example, consider Noam Chomsky.
If he were Canadian, and said about Canada the things he says about the US, he’d be tarred and feathered and laughed out of public life.
I guess this is mixed up with the matter of Canadians being excessively patriotic, even in the face of reality (”We have the best health care in the world! We have the best education system.” “Everybody loves Canada.”), to the point of irrationally hating the US. On the other hand, MANY Americans whom I have no problem identifying as traitors are quite successful in the US, in the media [Dan Rather], Hollywood [Jane Fonda], Academia [The Professors], Politics [Gore], etc. And of course if they are criticized, instead of responding rationally, they always say that is “proof” that the “dissent” is not tolerated in “Amerikkka”….
I find this most interesting as the Anti-Americans IN America whine, moan, and groan ALL-THE-TIME about how we don’t have free speech… which is a farce! EVERYONE here (including myself at times) CONVENIENTLY FORGETS what free speech is and how it IS free over here. Let’s remember the following:
The 1st Amendment addresses what the government cannot do:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I explained more about America’s 1st Amendment in this post in much more detail. Sometimes there is a threat to free speech, but we always win in the end.
More from Akira:
The US is a great place to be anti-American
By Gerard Baker, The Times, October 19, 2007
Anti-Americanism is on the wane at last. All over the world, Americans are being fêted once again as farsighted, liberating heroes.
Al Gore has won a Nobel Peace Prize, an Oscar and an Emmy, the triple crown of recognition from the self-adoring keepers of bien-pensant, elite liberal, global orthodoxy. Michael Moore is treated like a prophet in Cannes and Venice, as he peddles his tales of an America that poisons its poor, sends its blacks off to war and shoots itself. Whenever a loquacious Dixie Chick or a contumacious Sean Penn utters some excoriating remark about the depravity of his or her own country, audiences around the world nod their heads in sympathetic agreement. Bill Clinton, of course, is a god. Though protocol dictates that he may not say things that are too unkind about the country he once led, a nod and a wink will suffice.
It has always amused me that the same people who denounce America as a seething cesspit of blind obscurantist bigotry can’t see the irony that America itself produces its own best critics. When there’s a scab to be picked on the American body politic, no one does it with more loving attention, more rigorous focus on the detail, than Americans themselves.
It has always been this way. The fiercest and most effective opponents of US foreign policy in the 1960s were not the students in Paris or the Politburo in North Vietnam. They were Jane Fonda, Bobby Kennedy and Marvin Gaye.
Background
* The inconvenient truth about Al Gore
* A Stormy Climate
* Michael Moore’s healthy skepticism
* A convenient Nobel prize for politics
Today I can only laugh when I see the popular portrayal of George Bush’s America in much of the international media. Supposedly serious commentators will say, without evident irony, that free speech is under attack, that Bush’s wiretapping, Guantanamo-building, tourist-fingerprinting regime is terrifying Americans into quiet, desperate acquiescence in the country’s proliferating crimes.
The truth is that America not only harbours the most eloquent and noisy anti-Americans in its own breast, it provides a safe haven for people to come from all over the world to condemn it.
Take a stroll through almost any American university campus and you will hear a cacophony of voices in a hundred different languages, slamming everything America does, from fast food to hedge-fund capitalism. For years one of America’s most celebrated academics was Edward Said, the Palestinian agitator-cum-professor, who lived high on the hog at Columbia University, near the pinnacle of the American intellectual establishment, dispensing his wisdom about US wrongs in the Middle East.
Hollywood is the global mecca for angry denouncers of everything American. From all over they come, forcing themselves to live in their green-lawned mansions carefully tended by cheap migrant labour from south of the Border. This autumn, unsuspecting Americans (and everyone else, of course) will be treated to an especially unsettling stream of antiwar, anti-American propaganda, much of it produced in Hollywood by foreigners – such as this weekend’s likely box-office hit, Rendition.
I can only laugh at the last paragraph up above because the Americanophobic Left are hysterical when they condemn Hollywood (AKA Hellywood). Yet… Hellywood is the same place that they all went to see…
The Corporation
Bowling for Columbine
The Big One
The Awful Truth
Sicko
Captain Mike Across America
Fahrenheit 9-11
An Inconvenient Truth
Talking to Americans
And read these books created by Hellywoodian authors…
Stupid White Men
Will They Ever Trust us Again?
Dude, Where’s my Country?
Downsize This!
Adventures in a TV Nation
TV Nation
The Assault on Reason
American Earth
Earth in Balance
The Anti-American Left also cheered Madonna when she gave a free concert to the French to thank them for not supporting the Iraqi War. The Anti-American Left also cheered the Dixie Chicks for apologizing to the English for the Iraq War while they were over in England on tour. The Anti-American Left also cheered Rosie O’Donnell for telling off Elizabeth Hasselback on “The View”. The Anti-American Left also cheered when Jane Fonda went to Vietnam to apologize. The Anti-American Left also cheered when Mel Gibson made Anti-Semitic remarks.
Wait a minute. Do I really need to continue? For crying out loud, most Hellywood celebrities belong to the staunch Left in the US. Yes, right here in the US. The list of celebrities that have loudly cried against the Iraq War, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Bush, Global Warming and the hellhole that is the USA is an endless list, my friends. It is endless. The Left only condemn Hellywood because and only because it sounds “intellectual” and “elite” and “smert” to be against Hellywood. But when nobody’s watching, they are jacking-off to Leftist entertainment provided by the very people they claim to hate.
It’s true that self-criticism is always more effective than an outsider’s observations. Let’s be honest, how much real moral weight do Vladimir Putin or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad carry when they decry American motives and actions? All but the most unhinged of America’s critics know, deep down, in a part of the brain they try not to consult, that whatever they may think of the Bushitler in Washington, they don’t feel comfortable agreeing with the ex-KGB hatchet man of the Kremlin or the Holocaust-denying Dr Strangelove sitting astride his Islamist bomb. It sounds so much better when Al Gore or Michael Moore says it.
Akira is correct. In which other country can you find those people speaking against their leaders and government like this or this? And there are many more pundits out there that won’t stop at anything to get their voices heard. Anti-American Americans are also making mini-celebrities out of themselves on Youtube. Dear Anti-America, please feast yourselves with her and her. And there are more of us that think the US is a shithole.
So, as you can see, Americans don’t hide their dirt. Americans don’t hide how stupid they are. Unlike other countries, Americans are more likely to admit when they don’t know something and ask questions. There is never a shortage of American arrogance. However, when it comes to ignorance and curiosity, America wins hands down in the humility department as we don’t suffer from short man syndrome, we don’t have anything to prove consequently not hiding the fact that we want to learn, say the words, “I don’t know”, and ask questions. Americans don’t kick things under the rug like other countries do in an attempt to look perfect for the sake of making “blind patriots” out of their own citizens and for the sake of showing how great they are to the rest of the world. I take pride that America shows almost everything both domestically and internationally – even though it frustrates me at times in the sense that we take our clothes off for other countries yet they don’t do that themselves. Other countries try to paint their stinky shit pretty. America shows her shit and may even blow it up more to ooh and aaah its audience. America doesn’t care who’s watching. America makes money off of this shit, but doesn’t care if it is at the expense of creating mindless Americanophobia abroad and even on her own turf. Americans support, join in, and embrace Canadian and British Americanophobia more than the foreign Americanophobes allow themselves to believe.
Give us Americans more credit than that.
Americanophobia is irritating to those who are proud of where they were born and to those whom are fully aware how self-critical and self-reflective American culture is. It is obvious everyday when you turn on your computer, radio, or TV in search of news or comedy. There is some indication of America showing its ugly face for the world to see. And then when the same aware-people listen to Americanophobic rants, we are confused as the purpose of rampant Americanophobia is to shed light and awareness to the home front of America. But nobody is more aware of what’s wrong with America than America herself.
Here’s where America is obviously ignorant. Most Americans have never even heard of Americanophobia! If it has been heard of, it is more likely that an American will vehemently deny the existence of Americanophobia. Regardless of what political leaning one has, these are the same over-confident Americans that thought America was invincible and were surprised by 9-11. I reckon that this is the American insularism that Canada and Europe talks about. But by foreigners creating websites, forums, threads, topics, groups, cults, clubs, and blogs to spread awareness in hopes to make America change is a waste of time, in my opinion. At least over the last few centuries, the Anti-American Crusade hasn’t proven productive. America has never been good enough for the Americanophobes. This will not change.
Back to the subject!
Our self-critical coverage in the mainstream media (be it comedy, sitcoms, talk shows, investigative reports, or the news itself), is what causes many Americans to believe that we are the only ones in the world who are guilty of committing wrongs. Americans are (like Americanophobes living in other countries) brainwashed to believe in American clichés and that America is the anti-Christ. There are just as many Americans that are brainwashed the other way around, of course. But we can always find that stuff, anywhere. Today’s post is specifically made to show that America is not as one-dimensional as it appears to be due to imbalanced agenda-ridden (although very entertaining) media systems that exists throughout the world.
I also write this post because most people think that these kinds of things only happen in America. No. The difference between America and other countries lies in the fact that some other countries are too ashamed to show their dirty laundry.
Perhaps if America successfully kicked their problems under the rug, our NATO friends wouldn’t have anywhere near the ammunition they have to tell us off with.
Most of my commenters confuse me for being a member of the Right-Wing. “Whaaaat?”, I think to myself. I see no evidence of such anywhere in my blog. In fact, a good 75% of my blog is comprised of my OWN rantings regarding American politics and society. See, Americanophobes are the REAL dingdongs with a black and white overly simplistic view of the world.
Americanophobes across the globe, enjoy defining America by its Extremists. Their media’s slant focuses on American’s extremists and all of it’s flaws. Americanophobes abroad believe in fabricated images of the supposed “typical American”. Some of us believe that the “ugly American image” helps other countries feel more patriotic about themselves. But my friends,… this is what Americanophobia is all about: mindlessness, laziness, genetic defects, displaced anger, scapegoatism, brainwashing, the need to belong, belief without question, inferiority complexes, lack of pride in one’s place in the world, and just plain old ignorance.
Trust me. America knows that it is sick. But America also knows where she is well. I’d like to think that it is only healthy to be aware of both. Not just for Americans. But for the world. There will always be Americans who display the “Ugly American” image. But then again, there will never be a shortage of Canadian and British “ugly images”.
Americanophobia is pointless because the ones that should be self-reflective aren’t listening to your rants and really don’t care whether they exist or not. And the ones that are listening to your rants are those Americans who are ALREADYself-critical.
Lost cause.
UPDATE!
I was speaking to a British friend of mine on Facebook the other day and I was surprised that he wasn’t aware that American comics and TV didn’t bash our own people, stars, and political figures. So much of what happens in the states doesn’t reach your end of the pond, sadly. But hey, bad news sells… It does over here too. The only difference is that the bad news we watch over here is about OURSELVES.
“Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.” –Winston Churchill
Read the above quote. It’s so true. Is it not?
The audacity to respond… to anything.
Just about all of my commenters here on the topic of Americanophobia are in shock and are surprised that I have something to say about it, that I have an opinion about it, that I’m responding and have a reaction toward the Americanophobes. Shame on me! But too bad too sad!
I wrote about a topic like this more than three years ago. It still rings true for me. We Americans are “supposed” to be the bullies riding Bush’s back yelling giddy up. But the Americanophobes are proving that they are no different – just an unarmed version of an American. Naturally, if you gave the Americanophobes REAL weapons, they’d be blazing away and taking hold of power like no other. They’ll deny it, of course, but only fools believe them. Only the reasonable can read beyond their veil of puritanism.
Look at this thread carefully. Did I do or say anything offensive? If you are confused about my definition of Anti-Americanism, you can read my reasoning here. Leave it up to the Americanophobes to have no clue what their cause is about.
A couple of Americanophobes out and about in the world have told me that because America is so BIG, POWERFUL, STRONG, MIGHTY and “America is a country that can look after itself bla bla bla….” that Americans shouldn’t dispel myths and stereotypes and Americans also shouldn’t complain about it.
If we take a look at all the groups in the world that are hated (both past and present), and ask the bigot himself, he’ll think that he has a good reason to be prejudiced toward said group. Keeping that in mind, “the hated should not attempt to defend themselves”.
Also consider the fact that any time that a person tries to silence someone trying to defend themselves, that is a classic sign of bullying (putting prejudice aside). If you know anything about bullying at all, you’ll know that bullies = cowards. People with true courage will not attempt to silence their opponent and will be open to retaliation. You are aware of the expression, “They can dish it out, but they can’t take it”, right? Those are true cowards/bullies. And interestingly enough, that is what the Americanophobes also call the Americans.
It is justified to hate all Americans considering the aforementioned philosophy. Why? Because they’re big. They should be able to take it.
What’s wrong with this argument? It is unreasonable to confuse the big, powerful, almighty government with the general average man in the street in America (the general population). It’s our GOVERNMENT that is BIG, POWERFUL AND STRONG. The American people, however, are no different from the people living in any other different nation aside from cultural and language differences. The American people have no more / less control/power than the average citizen living in ANY country with an established democracy. With that said, people are people. People are human beings everywhere; they have feelings no matter their whereabouts and their country of origin. A government catering to the $$$$ Fat $$$$ Cats $$$$ and Oil $$$$ for Halliburton $$$$ with Gunz-a-Blazin’ $$$$ doesn’t make me (as a person) a stoic – nor change the fact that I feel compelled to react to the world around me (including strong words toward my own government).
People need a reason for their xenophobia and will scrape and scratch at anything.
In conclusion, prejudice and sweeping generalizations of ANY group is irrational and UNJUSTIFIABLE.
Another thing that I find quite the interesting is that there’s a French blogger out there. He is quite famous too. That would be SuperFrenchie. His entire blog is devoted to dispelling Anti-French myths and defending his people and country. The French are stereotyped throughout Europe and America (far worse in the US). Well, in case you didn’t know, the French do not appreciate being called a the ever so infamous “cheese eating surrender monkies”. SuperFrenchie describes his feelings:
Surrender jokes are offensive, period. This episode of our history is still painful. We have not yet come to terms with many aspects of our defeat to Germany and the ensuing collaboration. And even if we had, jokes about them would still be demeaning and offensive.
[snip!]
In conclusion, no, French bashing is not racism. Maybe a mix of xenophobia (fear or contempt of that which is foreign or unknown, especially of strangers or foreign people), inferiority complex, superiority complex, salt, pepper and conflicting universalisms. It should nevertheless be kept in check, as such stereotypes are the seeds of more elaborate racist feelings that could ultimately lead to violence.
A guest blogger (Flocon) on his site had been linking French-bashing to Nazi Propaganda in this entry. Here are some snippets:
I had long ago made the comparison, which some contested, with Radio Berlin talking about the Jews in 1943. I must stand by it.
The fact that an association between the anti-French discourse and Nazi rhetoric may be unacceptable to the American conscience is understandable. Nevertheless it happens to be the same mental process, which consists of lowering a certain category of humans to the point of suggesting that said category is unworthy of being part of humanity. Are we not speaking of animals, after all? And then you add the fact that the French are hairy (like animals), that they stink (like animals), etc…
The author gives some examples about hatred toward other groups:
Let’s imagine that, in France, we should systematically associate blackness with “So, you likes dem fried chickens?”Oh, but it’s just a stereotype, a trope, …
Or let’s say constantly talking to a black man this way: “Yessum, you’s a good nigga, you ain’t no happy here in France?”Haha, giggle, it’s just a stereotype, a trope…“You’s not happy? You’s susceptible. You’s hafta learn real men know how to laugh at jokes. You not real man yet.”
To a Jew, who would be regularly asked,“Why does it always smell like Zyklon B when you enter a room?”haha, giggle, just a trope, just a stereotype. It’s a satirical show with no intention of doing harm.“Are you still lacking a little bit somewhere?”Laugh, laugh…
To an Arab:“Are you gonna behead me? Have you had your jihad juice? Where’s your camel?”Haha, giggle, it’s just a stereotype, a trope…
Now try to imagine a black, a Jew, or an Arab who, for several years, would have beensys-te-ma-ti-ca-llyassociated with this kind of stereotypes; yeah, they’d enjoy it, no doubt.
[snip!]
We are indeed in the realms of the unspeakable, but they want to make us believe, probably in good faith, that it’s just meaningless jokes. Yeah, right…
People use all sorts of excuses and reasons to prevent their enemies from responding:
It’s just a joke
You’re big; you can take care of yourself
You brought it on yourself
You deserve it
Turn the tables around. Let the Canadians and Brits be on the tail end of universal hate and irrational stereotypes and see how they feel. They write defensively all the time on my blog right here – which is proof that they have feelings and just as much pride as the next guy. At the end of the day, nobody likes to be accused of something they didn’t do. We know the French stereotypes. Here is the American stereotype as we know it:
And the million dollar question: How can we assert that every single American (all 300+ million) or even most Americans fall under the above stereotype?
This pretty much turns the American people into less than human (like the French stereotype), doesn’t it? But the French can stand up and defend themselves without much ridicule. The Americans, on the other hand, are told to shut up.
Firstly, I’d just like to say how refreshing it is to have returned to the blogshpere to find people such as yourself speaking out about the ridiculousness of what seems to be happening in the world with regards this hatred. I’m so thrilled to see Americans speaking out against this.
While I have a feeling I’ll be posting about this on my personal blog, it is an absolute pleasure to be a guest blogger on topics relating to this. I think I could give a different perspective as I’m not American, yet simply because I’m with an American I seem to be part of a very strange “secret hate club“, so to speak.
I think there’s opportunity to post about many topics, such as:
Anti-Americanism in the NZ media, how it seems to encourage it and the false reporting on America.
The NZ Government and their Anti-American comments.
The “we hate Americans but thanks for McDonald’s” attitude or “Anti-Americanism over a cup of Starbucks”.
Weird things being blamed on America, recently I saw a news article on TV that blamed all gang activity on America .. what the?
I understand that disapproval of the policies of the US government is not bigotry against the American people. I do find that many Canadians subscribe to stereotypes about Americans, as many Americans do about Canadians.
I wonder if Laura Kaminker from “We Move to Canada” can find as much evidence as I have on the “just as much as” part of her argument on the stereotypes Americans and Canadians have about each other? From having read some posts on her blog and having personally interacted with her, this woman has a tendency to make things up to aid her agenda and gets very defensive when shown proof of any sort in the form of a link that may have a contradictory opinion. So, I’ve learned that she’s not as credible as she tries so hard to portray. Surely, there are more Canadians and Americans like her around that drink the same kool-aid.
Anywhoo…..
We both have stereotypes about each other. But which of these two stereotypes are more hurtful? Let’s have a look, shall we?
The Canadian stereotype:
All Canadians ride polar bears to get where they’re going
All of Canada is snow 24/7
All Canadians say “aboot” and “eh” after every word
All Canadians live in igloos
Everybody knows everybody in Canada
If that’s the worst things that Americans can come up with, you Canadians ought to consider yourselves lucky! And you’re right. These yanks that think this stuff about you guys, really ARE clueless as to what the real problems are with Canadians and Canada. But you all should appreciate the fact that the misconceptions stop at just plain old ignorance and misunderstood jokes.
I am sure that there are more stereotypes, but these cliches that Canadians moan about aren’t hurtful, and the above cliches are the ones that they ALWAYS mention when discussing American’s feelings about Canadians. These stereotypes, however, don’t discriminate or represent hate. They simply come from ignorant Americans (not that Americans are the only people that hold these stereotypes about Canucks). However, in person, most Americans would be nice to Canadians and not discriminate against them because of their place of birth. I wish the the opposite were true, though.
Ok.
Now, let’s have a look at the American stereotype as depicted by our neighbors to the North, shall we?
Like the stereotypes Americans have toward Canadians, these also stem from ignorance, however, also coupled with abuse and discriminative behavior.
Even if one were to say “most Americans”, it’s still offensive and just as ignorant because how could one prove that – out of over 300 million people from all over the world that live in the US? How could one ever be an expert on the American people unless they’ve lived and been to several different states holding an open mind? Or what about having an open mind period?
Every bigot needs a reason for their hatred to make themselves feel better about it, so naturally, a bunch of self-righteous, shoulder-patting, muscle-flexing lemmings will come here saying, “but at least what WE think about YOU is true haha!”. ….Which of course only proves the points I am making.
What about the stereotypes toward black people?
All blacks are criminals
All blacks are poor
All blacks wait on government handouts
All blacks are uneducated
All blacks are illiterate
All blacks are lazy
All blacks stink
All blacks have bad taste in clothes
All blacks are fat
All black men abandon their wives and children
All blacks are oversexed
All blacks don’t use birth control
All blacks play the victim card and/or the race card
All blacks like gansta rap
All blacks are liberal
What about the stereotypes toward Japanese people?
All Japanese carry a camera everywhere
Every Japanese woman wears a kimono in Japan in the streets
All Japanese men wear eye glasses
Japanese men cannot satisfy any woman because his dick is too small
All Japanese women are subservient
All Japanese people are the same as Chinese or Korean
What about the stereotypes toward the French people?
on 23 Apr 2008 at 12:13 am
EH?!
And stupid. 
I find it troubling that Borborygme and people that think like like him are constantly whining about Americans oppressing them. Borborygme expects Americans to sympathize with HIM. Because HE is thuffwerring… Puleeeeze…
I think she’d feel very comfortable over here in the US as we harbor the most mentally ill people in the civilized world, so she’d feel right at home. Welcome, drunk Blondie! 
WE CAN SEE VERY CLEARLY THAT WHITE PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES TOO! WHITE CRIMES, BLACK CRIMES, BROWN CRIMES, YELLOW CRIMES, PURPLE CRIMES, GREEN CRIMES, AND ORANGE CRIMES ARE ALL REPORTED E-Q-U-A-L-L-Y! But you clowns wouldn’t know that unless you lived over here! Or are living here with your eyes OPEN and not living in grandma’s basement.
Americanophobia, Anti-Americanism, atl, blog banning, blog trolls, clearing the air, comment policy, country vs continent, dealing with trolls, europe vs america, european anti-americanism, hormonal teenagers, juan mcdanialisms, kids with keyboards, lol, teen hut, teen hut anti-americanism, the 1st amendment, the misconceptions of free speech, wtf
Continents vs Countries, Rebuttals, and Clearing the Air
In Americanophobia, Blame Europe, Censorship / Freedom of Speech, Troll Droppings and Responses on January 2, 2009 at 3:14 PMCountry vs Continent? I’ve been indirectly “paged” so to speak on my hypocrisy of having found it odd that a European compares the diversity of Europe vs the United States. Yes, it is entirely unfair for anybody to draw conclusions about a nation based on how they pale in comparison with a CONTINENT of 49 countries. And I firmly believe that everyone agrees with me there. The intent of the “bloggers” that wrote this piece is crystal clear – yet they deny any bias or motives.
With that said, I have been accused of hypocrisy due to writing about Euronationalist Americanophobia.
Here’s a little hint: If you call yourselves Europeans, will we note you as such and return the favor. In case you missed it, Americans call themselves “Americans” - not “North Americans”. We, unlike some Europeans, recognize ourselves as a country and *not* a continent. The map on this page may be of some assistance.
FREE SPEECH: One more thing I’d like to clear up before I go. Dissent is perfectly acceptable on this blog. If you are familiar with my blog, you will see tons of debates throughout between people all over the world. But you must ask yourselves the following questions before commenting:
Coming to one’s blog to comment is synonymous to being a guest in one’s home. You are not protected under the United States Amendment of Free Speech granted by the government. For the record, every developed country has rights to free speech. But this has nothing to do with blogging. Apples and oranges. Just ask yourself – if you go to a person’s house to vandalize and act like a total ass, and they kick you out, are you going to cry like a baby that they don’t allow free speech or dissent?
This reminds me of a quote that rings true here:
Another thing that people with a short fuse tend to forget is that there is a HUGE difference between DISSENT and SILENCING SPEECH. It’s funny how only those banned for not adhering to my comment policy seem to continue to cry about how I’m a speech-silencer of some sort. Everyone is aware when they comment here how this blog works and don’t have any excuse to act surprised.
This has nothing to do with being American as much as having high standards for stimulating and thought-provoking debate. Here is a perfect example for those that are a little slow.
It’s most amusing that the same people that moan and groan about censorship are those same people that have me banned from their blog.
Hmm….. Learn the meaning of censorship. Censorship would be if I banned speech from someone else’s blog. But coming from Aby and co., I am not the least bit surprised at the perpetual ignorance.
Now, for some fun stuff!
Aby “the liberal- the ‘Internationalist’” and her crew now have an entire forum on the internet devoted to me and all around American-bashing under the guise of “helping teens”. (The message board is OWNED by them.) It’s a riot! I’ve received ample hits from them, and now I feel like a celebrity!!
I’m not even going to bother rebutting the other arguments against me because they’re not being honest and not worth my time. How do you respond to lies?
To make matters more interesting, here are the rules that Aby and co. made for those who utilize their site:
Interesting. I have also noticed some of the members to be complaining about Juan McDaniel (Aby “the liberal”’s partner in crime) deleting some member’s posts… for possibly… dissent… perhaps? !!
Uh oh.
Hee hee. Oops. Deleting innocuous dissent that may give away his little game secrets? This is f’n hilarious! And for the record, this post was just deleted!
Another complaint about deleting dissent:
In case you’re confused, Aby’s “partner in crime” AKA (“the protector of mankind)
goes under the following names:
- Captain Sasha
- Sasha
- Captain V
- Juan McDaniel
- Captain (Dr.) Alexandr Vasilevski
- Karmen
- Amy
- Bridgette
and god knows what else.
It is now confirmed that I’m dealing with hormonal teenagers!