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.
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
—>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”.
“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?
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.
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.
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
(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.
“…the fact that I think that Obama is going to greatly disappoint a world (yes, like it or not the world is watching and waiting with great hopes) that is expecting “change”, well we will have to see. Perhaps you in America will see some window dressing, but the socialized medicine, decent public schools and social net envisaged by some over here in Europe will never come about. And in regards to American exceptionalism, I’m afraid he’s not going to just rip up the Monroe Doctrine and start anew.”
As a liberal, I just don’t peek at Neo-conservatives blogs to see what the latest conspiracy theory is. I also read articles and blogs written by the American progressive left. I think I have a pretty good idea about what the average liberal American expects of President-elect Barack Obama. I see realistic expectations. Surely, the tears, the “yes, we can’s”, the “yes we did’s”, the blood curdling screams, and the jumping up and down waving the US flag makes us appear like deluded lunatics. Fair enough. But deep down inside, those people are THAT desperate for change. No. Not desperate for blacks, not desperate to rely on Nanny government to take care of us while we live off of welfare for the rest of our lives, either. (Republicans need to keep in mind that it is and has always been the Liberals who make the most money and have the most successful careers in this country. And the large percentage of them are the JEWISH!)
If you don’t know why Americans are desperate, then you haven’t been paying attention and really don’t care to.
Most Americans have lived through days of both Republican and Democratic presidents. Most of us know that a politician is a politician whether he be Republican, Libertarian, Independent, Democratic, Green, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Male, or Female. They are all snake-oil salesmen. They all lie. They all break their promises. They all idealize. They all make mistakes. They all give us hope. They all make themselves look better than what they are realistically. Nothing new there.
WHAT HISTORY HAS TAKEN PLACE HERE?
Ask yourself: Has the United States ever been in a position so extreme before? Has a president’s approval rating ever been this low?This is also historical. Not as much as the fact that a black man won, but rather the fact that America, in the shape that it is in now, is at an all time low. This is History, folks. Why else would both parties be using the word, “CHANGE” as their campaign slogan? Why did evenMcCain distance himself from Bush?
Think about it. Have we ever been so desperate for CHANGE before?
There is HISTORY taking place all over in the US.
Two female candidates? That’s history too. Look at how close Sarah Palin got!
It is cliché that in desperate economic times, people lust over Democratic presidents. In the 2008 election, the desperation was not so much for a prez with a nice tan, but for a Democrat to clean up after 8 years of Bush’s mess! This is not to say that political apathists just blindly voted for a black man not caring about anything else. Surely, that happened. No doubt. But I hardly think that all or even most of the 65,102,280 Americans voted Democrat this time did so with superficial intentions.
It’s the economy, stupid.
Americans vote with their pocketbooks whether you like to believe this or not. It’s a fact. A harsh fact, indeed (especially to the far righteous Right), but it is fact.
We were in such dire straights. Now there is true hope. Not a miracle. Not a “Messiah”. Just hope.
But what about the hype existing outside the US over Mr. Barack Obama? To tell you the truth, I was surprised the progressives about the world are actually THIS happy about Obama winning. Too much hype. Too many expectations. Too much naiveté.
We Americans must sit down and remind foreigners that the United States is a RIGHT of Center country, and there’s nothing Obama can do to change that.
He proposes change, and I believe he’ll deliver that. But I don’t believe that he’ll deliver the change that Left-wing radicals and non-radicals may expect. If Obama doesn’t become a Centrist to a degree, reach across the aisle, and work cooperatively with conservatives, there will be outrage that may bring the Radical and looney Right-wingnuts back into office in 2012. And that’s what I’m particularly afraid of.
To the rest of the world: On a final note, I believe it is important to remember that our Democratic Presidents are synonymous to YOUR Conservative Prime Ministers/Presidents. So, let’s try and be realistic here.
Where do I stand politically? You hear me often say, “I’m a moderate with a liberal tilt”, and some people are probably thinking, “What the heck does that mean?”. So, I created this profile for myself and for you all to better understand where I’m at. By the way, this is in NO particular order. Have at me!
My Liberal Side
I believe in decriminalizing marijuana. (Just tax the heck out of it.)
I believe in decriminalizing prostitution. (Just tax the heck out of it.)
I’m against capitalist greed regarding the following issues and the following issues ONLY:
I do not support tax cuts for the rich.
I believe that our jobs should be protected. I don’t like them being sent overseas.
I don’t believe in free trade. There should be restrictions set.
Our government should allow for competition and prohibit the monopolizing of goods and services.
I do not support American Globalization. Let other countries make their own stuff in order to preserve their culture. We shouldn’t insult their intelligence like this as they are just as capable to create their own computer operating systems, all other technologies, their own blue jeans, their own music, their own TV programs, their own websites, their own advancements in medical science (including medicines and cures), their own literary pieces, their own military, their own arms, their own aid in case of natural disasters, and their own food and beverages. Americans realize that their stuff sucks anyway, and that it’s not making any sales abroad. America also realizes that she cannot survive as a country without YOUR exports. So, please continue sending us what you’ve got! This would benefit all parties involved.
I do not support Bush or Dick Cheney.
I do not support the war in Iraq.
I am against French-bashing.
I believe in multilateralism over unilateralism.
I do not support a Universal Health Care System, rather I believe that we should keep what we have right now, and have a UHC system (Medicare) accessible to those who cannot afford to purchase mainstream insurance. With that said, a private-public health care system would be the best fit for America. Or… wait a minute! I prefer the way the French do things!
I am an atheist. (I don’t know why this gets connected with politics, but it does, doesn’t it?) And here’s MY version of the “Ten Commandments”.
I believe that Church and State should be separate. (Psst… nobody’s saying that you can’t pray. You can do it at home, in church, or out in public!)
I believe in pro-choice.
I support stem cell research.
I believe in welfare, but I just think it needs to be reformed into stricter measures to prevent people from cheating the system.
I’m anti-fur, but if someone wants to buy a fur-coat, I WON’T taunt them. (I eat meat and wear leather, so feel free to call me a hypocrite!)
I support the Geneva Convention, and believe the Islamic prisoners (or any prisoners for that matter) should be accorded its protection.
I support Gay Rights meaning that I support gay marriage, gay adoptions, and support homosexuals who want to join the military.
I support DILDOS in Alabama. (I mean… c’mon – religion, STAY OUT OF OUR BEDROOMS!) (Is it any wonder why it’s hard to find cucumbers at a grocery store in Alabama???)
I’m STRONGLY against circumcision. Here’s why. More here.
I believe we should break the barriers with Cuba and start trade (with restrictions) with them again. I also want to be able to travel to Cuba if I want to!
I’m against the Patriot Act.
My Conservative Side
I believe in TIGHT border security and am against illegal immigration.
I support our presence in Afghanistan. (And *NO*, 9-11 was *NOT* an “inside job”.)
I support our troops whether or not I agree or disagree with the war. Click here to find out why.
I am FOR offshore drilling and am VEHEMENTLY AGAINST dependency on other nations for oil when we have our own areas to drill right here at home (Alaska, California, Florida etc).
I don’t have a problem with the Death Penalty, but don’t mind if criminals get LWOP (Life Without Parole). All I’m concerned about is that our criminals remain **PERMANENTLY** off the streets. And I don’t believe in any such nonsense that they can be “rehabilitated”.
Although, I don’t think that this should have anything to do with one’s political leaning, I’m proud to be an American, and consider myself a true patriot. If you want to know how I define patriotism, please see my glossary.
I’m against Americanophobia. Please see how I define it here.
I don’t believe that FULL multiculturalism works. Watch this to see what I mean. And read this for even more information.
I’m against the ACLU. (They are excessive and extreme. They need to be moderated and reformed.)
I’m against PETA. (I like their fundamental purpose, but they are way too extreme, and their own greed clouds their primary purpose.)
I’m AGAINST political correctness!
I can’t stand liberal elitist pseudo-intellectuals! What the hell is wrong with watching, “The Simpsons”??? You elitists are no better than the bible-thumpers who won’t let women in Alabama purchase a DILDO! Idiots! Stop complaining about religious fanatics and how “TV makes people dumb”. I think you tin-foil-hat self-righteous code-pinkos have a “religion” of your own that’s just as scary!!
Being that many countries are on the side of the terrorists and feel that they can fend for themselves without our help, can we get out of NATO?
I believe the laws here are way too lenient with drunk drivers and sexual offenders. WAY too lenient. What ever happened to victim’s rights?
Al Gore exaggerated and twisted the facts in his movie about Global Warming (Shame on him!)
Michael Moore exaggerated and twisted the facts in his books and movies, and right now other countries are giving him a virtual blow job. (Shame on him too!)
First off, the US has never been a Democracy (close, but no cigar), but for all that it’s worth (if you thought that our Electoral Voting System was corrupt, this is equally worse or even more so).
A survey of 10 swing states suggests Florida, Georgia and Virginia may have the most problems on Election Day.
As election officials brace for record-breaking voter turnout on Election Day, a close examination of voting preparedness in 10 swing states shows that significant problems in the basic functions of the American election administration system persist, and in a few cases have worsened over the last few years, a new report by Common Cause and The Century Foundation shows.
[Snip]
“While some states have taken steps to improve their election procedures, several still have a number of structural and statutory weaknesses that put voting rights at risk once again this year,” said Tova Wang, Common Cause’s vice president, a Century Foundation fellow and the report’s author. “In an election that we hope and expect will see unprecedented turnout, we are hopeful that steps can still be taken to make the election process a fair one for all Americans.”
[Snip]
As hundreds of thousands of new voters have been added to the registration rolls just in the last few months, one troubling finding is that problems with voter registration issues in many instances have gone unaddressed, or even worsened in the surveyed states. Many states have flawed procedures for matching the information voters give them when they register with other state databases, and some have no established protocols for doing so at all. Uniquely, Florida will continue to require that prospective voters prove eligibility by providing the exact information that appears on existing state databases. This policy often results in rejections of valid registered voters if the voter provides a variant of his or her name instead of a full name, a clerical error is made on the election administration side, or a voter makes another minor mistake.
[Snip]
Another problem in 2006 was state laws made it too easy to challenge a voter on a slim basis. The most famous example of this was the challenge to 35,000 voters’ eligibility to vote in Ohio prior to Election Day. There are already indications that with all the new voters registering, challenges to eligibility will be a major issue again this year. None of the seven states reviewed in this report have changed their laws since 2006 to lessen the chances of this occurring, and of the three new states included, Colorado and New Mexico have acceptable, though not ideal provisions to handle challenges to voters, while Virginia’s is fairly troubling.
The neocons have no problem listening to phone sex of private citizens in the name of “The Patriot Act”. So, Big Brother is OK there. But god forbid we universalize our election system. That would be too Communist and too “Big Government” for our leaders to take charge. With that said, the neocons need to quit whining about ACORN and “voter fraud” since they don’t support a federalization of one of our most basic, fundamental and important processes!
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sometimes, it pays to be pokey. Going slow has paid the state of New York about $27 million and counting. New Hampshire and Oklahoma, too, are sitting on a pile of federal money.
How did it happen? After the contested 2000 presidential recount, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, giving about $3 billion to states to replace old punch-card and lever voting machines. A lot of states, including California, Ohio and Florida, plunked down vast sums of money to buy shiny new machines, many of which were quickly deemed unreliable and mothballed.
America is beginning to look more and more like a third world country in my eyes:
No democracy regarding the voting process
Becoming a third rate economy and depending on other nations to clean up after our messes
Our Health Scare
Our products and food are losing quality day by day
The diminishing of the middle class
No separation of church and state (can’t become a president here unless you are a Christian)
Freedoms being stripped away from the Left and Right Wing
If you examine the above, those are qualities of living in 3rd world countries.
Soon, we’ll be jumping the fence to find solace in Mexico, Cuba (by way of Mexico), and parts of South America. Sounds funny now, but just give it another few decades, and you’ll see.
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.
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.
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.
The breaking story today (March 27, 2003) was that a few Canadian troops
were fighting on the ground in Iraq. This, however, is only the tip of the
iceberg. The truth is that Canada stands as the third strongest contributor
to US forces in the Iraq war, after Britain and Australia.
Isn’t it amazing how Canada can contribute so much to this war without even
being involved?
On March 25, the US Ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, told the Economic
Club in Toronto that he was “disappointed” that Canada failed to join in
the US-led war against Iraq. His was one of a huge chorus of voices
critiquing Canada for refusing to participate in the “Coalition of the
Willing.” (This was not the first time a US Ambassador to Canada meddled in
our affairs. See the note at the end of this email about the US-backed
regime change in Canada 40 years ago.)
The most significant statement in Ambassador Cellucci’s speech was his
observation that Canada is currently giving more military support to the US
for its war against Iraq than most of the nations that are officially
supporting the war!
I’ve known about this for quite some time, but took the opportunity to mention it now after having read this. Now, Canadian troops and I can’t be the only ones who know about this, right?
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.
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?
All fat people are selfish and stealing the food out of South Africans’ mouths
All fat people are in denial that they’re fat
All fat people are stupid
All fat people are poor
All fat people are rich
All fat people pretend to be ill to justify being fat
All fat people live in the bible-belt south
All fat people have guns and commit incest
All fat people will die young
Here’s what’s true.
Every group of people is stereotyped
All stereotypes do not represent the majority of any group
All stereotypes stem from a rumor or a biased organization
All stereotypes are repeated over and over again in the form of propaganda
People who create stereotypes do so out of having unresolved issues within themselves and are on a mission
People who believe stereotypes and leave them unchallenged and unquestioned are as stupid as the people who create stereotypes
The desire to want to hate all members of a group because of the mistakes of one or a few is only human. It’s proof that we’re alive. It’s proof that we react to our surroundings. Normally, once the anger is released, decent people realize later that labels are silly. Decent people also don’t carry their xenophobic attitudes and long-held grudges to public platforms either. If they say, “those fucking Americans”, they’ll only say that within their own private peer groups so as to not hurt the feelings of the target group that just may happen to be listening or reading.
Losers however, will continue their prejudice, try to find more people who agree, join a group that feels the same (an alliance) and attack and bully the race, creed, ethnicity, sex, body type and etc. in a PUBLIC forum in hopes to change, intimidate, and/or make their opponent surrender. Some eventually do quit the schoolyard bullying and intimidation tactics, move on, and mature. Or so I’d like to think.
Why do people have the “ALL” mentality when one or a few committed a wrong? It is because our anger is that strong (intense enough to fit the magnitude of an “ALL”) and our target is that unattainable. It’s rage that needs to be let out. It feels better and more satisfying to lump all individuals from a group along with the one or few that we’re pissed off with. I don’t know why that is exactly, but it works. It makes people feel better. I will speculate as to why this happens. For example, if I know some people from some country are behaving in such a manner that frustrates me (irrational anger) and I know that I cannot tell them directly how I feel (when I say “them” I mean those very people whom have committed the act that has me obsessed), I HAVE to make myself believe that all or most of their countrymen do the same. Why? Because it takes the responsibility off of myself and my unreasonable anger. Then it is displaced on to that person being a part of a group that all thinks alike. “That’s why they’re like that; they all are – they’re a part of that group after all!” “It’s not me and my irrational anger – it’s THEM! It’s THEM”“ I can say to myself that I have a good reason to be upset – that they’re the ones with the problem (whether that is the case or not). Anti-American Americans do this too. They like to think that all errors are a unique phenomenon of THEIR own country. Ask any left-wing or smug elitist American! Interestingly enough, the Anti-American Americans feel pretty much same way about Americans that the Brits and Canadians do. It’s ironic, really.
The above stereotypes depicted about Americans are globally felt especially by Canadians and Brits. We know this is irrational anger – an anger that people overreact to. Only when you are truly and directly hurt by another person can the anger be rational. However, if the anger becomes an obsession and is overreacted to, the one feeling angst needs to look within themselves as the problem is much deeper than an American eating 814224545422 Twinkies for dinner.
People only think of themselves. And I will never believe that Joe Canadian is genuinely concerned about Jane Doe in India who is starving from not enough Twinkies in Mumbai due to American over-consumption of said product (that is used to make rocket fuel anyway).
What makes a temporary heated knee-jerk reaction into into a life-long prejudice is within the individual’s own personal issues yet to be resolved that have nothing to do with the group that they’re mad at.
In both situations, we need not look at the group targeted, but the group or individual who holds strongly and publicly what they call their “justified” hatred.
I await the Americanophobes to come here and justify the unjustifiable and make an effort to sugar-coat the words “hate” and “anger”. It will be fun. As always. Brainwashed imps are fun toys to play with.
A Canadian commenter and cohort brownie-button-awarders are embarrassed about a beheading that took place in their own country. Rather than taking responsibility and showing the humility often bragged about having… rather than thinking of the victim, the family, loved ones and those passengers on the bus perhaps frightened to death, this Canadian (among others as you can see) decides to use this opportunity to express her disdain toward Americans.
There ya go. You just cannot make this stuff up. As they say, the truth is scarier than fiction. Blame America first. I am sure that in some way or another we Americans are to blame, right? Oh, well CNN was blamed for the Canadian media giving away too many details. Little do these imps know that if they were in another country outside the US, they’d see the same thing – the same media going into gory details. I know. I lived in Japan.
*sighs*
Ya just gotta love those Americanophobic Canadians who pat themselves on the back for being so tolerant toward Muslims while promoting and condoning hate toward Americans. Aah, the double standards!
And we get to catch another case of “short man syndrome” at play today.
Sad when you have to mix politics, ethnicity, and religion with human tragedy. There is hope though. Some.
It is most interesting that those who go out of their way to tout themselves as “compassionate” are always the most callous and opportunistic. These imps aren’t just your typical Americanophobes. They are your typical leftist elitists that come from all over. There are just as many in the (as the Americanophobes love to say) good ole USofA. And they are the same people who applauded 9-11. Go figure…
The below quote was written by an Anti-American skeptic, but if this isn’t any clue as to how prevalent this inanity is in Canada, I don’t know what is?
This is no different from a racist American thinking “must have be a black person” when a crime is committed.
“Well, are you doing the same thing”? Not quite. I’m reacting against this behavior. It’s called calling a spade a spade and showing how low some Canadians will stoop with their Americanophobic propaganda. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. I also make a big deal out of this as we are to see Canadians are a humble, peace-loving, victim’s right centered, we-are-all-people-of-the-earth-centered-who-care, generous, and morally superior to the yanks down below them.
I don’t know which is worse: The perpetrator or those belittling, minimizing, and denying what just took place?
I think I’ll go back to my Bushified cave with all the rest of my baby-killing American-wingnut friends.
This is what Canadian Patriotism is for the every day Americanophobic Canadian (found here).
Well, I ran across this article on the same page that discussed the myths of patriotism in both Canada and America. What some of us believe patriotism to be not only differs from country to country, but what we believe it to be (contrary to popular belief) is not really “patriotism”, but rather what we want patriotism to be. Simply, most people use the word “patriotic” and “unpatriotic” as a convenient means to threaten, intimidate, succeed with an agenda or to bully others. Not surprisingly, my own definition of patriotism is not all too different from what can be found in the aforementioned article.
My definition of patriotism can be found in my glossary.
Q: What is Patriotism?
A: Most Americanophobes will tell you that Patriotism is defined as unconditionally accepting its leader and every crooked thing that a government may do. But I beg to differ. Patriotism for me is being able to say that you’re proud of where you were born and have the willingness to defend your country from verbal slander or violent attacks. True Patriotism also believes in free speech in that if we disagree with what our government is doing, we will question it. Patriots don’t always approve blindly of every decision made by our administration. Patriotism also believes that you can be a progressive-minded liberal and still be a patriot. Patriotism is ALWAYS optimistic, believes in change, and sees room for improvement when needed. If Patriotism doesn’t speak up and tries to make changes, then our ancestors that died for this freedom, died for nothing.
“…we have to realize that really loving this country means working to improve it. Patriotism isn’t about painting your face red and white, or wearing a flag pin, or shouting “We’re number one” and telling the rest of the world to kiss off while silently hoping against hope that the Stanley Cup will make its way north of the border next year. Patriotism is about action, not show, and it happens at the community level every day…
[snip]
…patriotism is as much about criticism and at times anger as it is about pride and tradition; and it’s much more about humility and openness and learning than it is about anything else.”
My observations of American Radical Conservatives and Canadian Americanophobia on Patriotism:
—>In the US, too many right-wingers believe patriotism to be silently and blindly accepting authority: both the government and the bible.
—>For Americanophobic Canadians, patriotism is not being American or anything like them. In this article written by an American who lived in Canada, it would appear as if change in Canada = fear of becoming “American”. Ewwwww!
Nor should Canadian patriotism be simple anti-Americanism. Anti-Americanism is so common in Canada that it tends to go unnoticed. Not that there’s anything wrong with being against American foreign policy or the current presidential administration, but dismissing an entire nation of individuals simply to differentiate ourselves from them is both uncouth and disingenuous. There’s so much more to being a Canadian, to the national identity we incorporate into our personal identities, than the popular Joe Canadian rant ever suggested.
Interestingly enough, Canadian Americanophobes and Radical Conservatives in the US are quite similar in that (for the most part), both groups don’t believe in change. They both hate liberals. Both groups hold on to traditional values with every cell of their bodies. The pariahs in society believe in the future through change in those matters that need improvement. The pariahs in Canada are called “American” whereas the pariahs in the US are called, “unAmerican”. These characterizations are ridiculously unreasonable and selfish.
Feel free to read more of what I’ve written about patriotism here.
What’s the big deal with the whole 4th of July speech? “All men were created equal….bla bla bla….” Does anybody know who this was meant for and what it REALLY means??? Most of it doesn’t even hold true any longer as times have changed, and…. FOR THE BETTER!! How much do people really know about America? That speech actually degrades us and continues to make a laughing stock out of us. Not that we need too much help, but ya know…..
Here’s what is important. For several years, the Brits were bullying us around and taxing us like crazy. Being that the Americans don’t take being walked on very well, we stood for what was right, kicked some British arse and became independent from them! Now, that’s why we are as patriotic as we are – if we are. We got where we are today by fighting for what was right. Although I’m truly sorry we got rid off all that precious British tea (10,000 pounds worth was a lot of money back in the day). I’m not kidding. Take it from a SERIOUS tea drinker, as myself.
No. America’s not perfect. Read in my glossary how I define patriotism before the Americanophobes come here with THEIR automatic weapons and laundry list of American errs.
But it´s important to realise this: The basic experience of the USA as a nation is, that it had to fight for it´s freedom and independence (against Britain) and later in the american civil war… For this reason their believe in the USA and the strong patriotism of the american citizens are an expression of their pride, that they have survived and did not brake appart, and also on their strong believe in freedom and independence their fathers have fought for – and the strong believe that the USA is standing for these two qualities.
Listen to the lyrics of the national-anthem of the USA, it is all about this. Many Americans support their country, because it is assuring their freedom. Many Americans support the US-troops, because the troops are defending their country and the USA gained it´s freedom through war….
You may allow me to say… It is not that dumb to support your countries troops – it consists of your people and is fighting for your values and interests. (Let´s say – it should fight for your values and interests…)
[snip!]
Another thought on American patriotism: The USA is proud to be a separate and independent nation – it is proud, that it has become a wealthy and strong country (the Europeans predicted, that America would brake apart in anarchy and chaos) and it is proud to be the oldest democracy on this planet, that still exists…
Things one can actually be proud on. There IS a form of healthy and honest patriotism in the USA, which you should be careful to critizise. (some overdo it – but extremists are standart in human societies.) Be sure, that you understand what you are up to, before loading your weapons…
And remember people, if it weren’t for the French, chances are we would have never been able to have an Independence Day. There would be no “4th of July”. They fought courageously and helped us kick British butt! Give credit where credit is due. As SuperFrenchie says, …
If it were not for the French, Americans would be speaking English today!
Due to my chatter about Americanophobia on this blog, when I mention the “Far Left”, I’m talking about the Far Left in Canada and Europe (naturally some can apply to Americans). The “Far Right” will be the Americans. (Obviously this doesn’t mean that all Americans are “Far Right” and all Europeans and Canadians are from the “Far Left” – I’m just mocking the extremists!)
Let’s begin!!
—> They both think their country is the mmm bestest in the worldest.
–> Sports is less about entertainment for these people and MORE about Patriotism.
—> They both have an outstanding lack of intellectual curiosity.
—> They both believe that Obama was only elected president because he was black.
—> They are both overly obsessed with politics. It’s all they think about, it’s all they do, it’s all they watch, it’s all they read. They live it, breathe it, milk it, and feed it.
—> They are both against porn and those who look at it.
—> They are both against swear words and look down on those who use them.
—> They both feel morally superior and above others. (Self-righteousness is a good word!)
—> They don’t travel. If they DO, it’s only because they HAVE to.
—> They both think Bush won the 2000 election.
—> The far left call Bush “Hitler”. The far right call Obama “Hitler”.
—> Neither one of these groups have a sense of humor. They are the kind of people that you have to explain everything to, and they STILL don’t get it! They both have a tight ass. The concept of “having fun”, kicking back, enjoying life or a laugh is like a foreign language to them. The Right is wondering why you’re not taking the Muslim terrorists seriously enough, and the Left is wondering why you’re not taking the starving S. Africans seriously enough.
—> They are both THE most intolerant and xenophobic people on earth.
—> They are both very preachy.
—> They are both boring to be with.
—> They are both very closed-minded (OKA “mentally constipated”) to any dissent, new ideas, and other possibilities. Their minds are made up for life. All researched information are those ideologies that entertain their own belief system. All contrary ideologies and dissent is purposefully misunderstood and twisted brilliantly to suit their own ongoing agendas.
—> They are both obsessed with food. The Right eat too much and the Left starve themselves.
—> While they can be admired for their political activism, they both tend to protest violently and resort to destroying property and symbols as well.
—> They both have very bad tempers, but they both exercise so much constraint that people on the other end of the conversation/text will admire them for their “stoic response”.
—> They will unashamedly accuse other people of doing the very things they have perfected themselves. With that said, they are well known for being the most hypocritical people.
—> They pretend to care about others when, in fact, all they’re concerned about is their agenda.
—> They are both religious fanatics. The Right believe that Christian Fundamentalism is the “religion of peace” whereas the Left believe that Islamic Fundamentalism is the “religion of peace”. – (Yes, even if they’re not Islamic themselves!)
—> They both believe in the most hypocritical version of the word, “peace”.
—> They both hate cigarette smokers — I mean really hate them.
—> They are both technophobes. They just get by on the basics, but frown on anything that is or appears complicated. For example, both of these groups hate iPods and iPod users. They would also never know how to take care of their computer by themselves in the most basic ways should they have technical problems.
—> They are both very grumpy, whiny and pessimistic.
—> They are both the PC Police and the Grammar/Spelling Police of the world (unless, of course, you’re on their team). With that said, they get offended VERY easily over the pettiest of things. Even the word, “fart” causes them to run and take a shower.
—> They both don’t believe in the separation of Church and State. The Right support Christian Politics and the Left support Islamic Politics even if they’re not Islamic themselves!!
—> Neither one of them believe in Personal Responsibility and blame other groups for all of their problems and life failures.
—> Both are gay. It’s just that the Right are still in the closet.
—> They are both seduced by power and like to be told what to think and do.
—> They both H-A-T-E Hollywood with a passion and are vehemently *against* televisions and anything that resembles entertainment i.e. music, film, comedy, etc…
—> They both go out of their way to take away the freedoms of the opposing party.
—> They are both paranoid watch-dogs. The Right are watching the Muslims, and the Left are watching the Americans.
—> They both hate happy people.
—> They both hate me and my blog as I’m not a slave to either of the political wings.
—> They both hate themselves.
—> They both need a little more of , , , some more of , much more of , and not to mention , and , and it couldn’t hurt to do more of , , and , and either!
—> And last but not least, both groups will be offended by this post.
“Let me clarify that when I say America, I mean the United States of America, as a majority of people often do. Most people overlook the fact that America is actually a continent with a large number of interesting and varied countries that are not in the least bit as horrible as the USA….”
Interesting, coming from a British person who also claimed that the history books in the US were flawed and that only the best education can be taught in Britain. In fact, this entire group touts British superiority (on every possible level) over America.
Why exactly is it that only US citizens are called Americans when Canadians, Mexicans, etc. all live in the Americas? We don’t refer to citizens of the Union of South Africa as Africans to the exclusion of the rest of the continent, nor are the Saudis exclusively (or at all) called Arabians. We just steal everything from everybody, even the name. –Antinous (reply #54)
I hate America and Americans. More to the point, I hate the use of those terms in reference to this country and its citizens. Calling this country “America” and those of us living in it “Americans” smacks of the most vile and despicable arrogance possible and a self-centeredness that is an underlying cause of the hatred that many of the people of the world have against this country.
I would like to add that, to a lot of people, the term “American” does not just refer to US citizens, but to citizens of all of America – that is, North, Central, and South, not just “United States of”.
Sometimes it seems that people forget that it is the United States *of* America, and think it is United States *is* America.
Also, I lived in the USA for 6 years on an H1B via and it is most definitely required to have a passport to travel within the USA. Also, in practical terms, everyone does need some form of identification almost all the time – usually a driver’s license.
In any case, it should be confirmed that the statistics actually do refer to only US citizens.
By the way, you probably don’t realize that when you speak of the Americas, you include several countries on 2 continents and several island nations, some of which are British, French, Dutch and Spanish in origin. I think based on ignorance and not stupidity you are confusing the United States with “America”.
Wow. It’s not just American education. WESTERN education is going down the toilet.
So, here we go…
AMERICA IS NOT A CONTINENT!
Here is a list of all the continents for your review:
Antarctica
South America
North America
Europe
Africa
Asia
Australia (Oceania)
I circled North America to show that it’s called “North America”, and I circled North and South America to show that they are a part of “The Americas“.
In North America (psst… yeah – that’s the continent, HELLO!), there lies 23 countries. Let’s explore them.
NORTH. AMERICA
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
St. Kitts & Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Trinidad & Tobago
United States
I refuse to apologize to the Americanophobes and to other Americans for calling myself “an American” and *not* a “Unitedstatesian”. Some of my fellow compatriots have been given virtual black eyes online for claiming to be *gasps* “an American”(or even worse… “from America”!) and are often smugly corrected and pointed out that “it is arrogant to assume that you own all 23 countries…. bla bla bla [insert more pseudo-intellectual rhetoric here]….”
I’m not making this up. I could never be this inventive. Seriously. I’ve just gotten to the point where I’m sick and tired of hearing that America is a continent. Really tired.
If that elitist Brit was correct that America truly was a continent, than why is it then “OK” for …..
—> those from Canada to call themselves Canadians
—> those from Costa Rica to call themselves Costa Ricans
—> those from Mexico to call themselves Mexicans
—> those from Jamaica to call themselves Jamaicans
—> those from Cuba to call themselves Cubans
but it’s “arrogant” or “ignorant” for a person born in the states to qualify themselves to be an “American”. What is so very wrong with these people?
Once Canadians, Mexicans, Costa Ricans, Jamaicans, Cubans and etc. start to call themselves, AMERICANS, maybe I’ll start to listen. By the way, do Italians, the French, Germans, Brits, Polls and etc call themselves Europeans first? (However, when making comparative analyses with America, then they use the word “European”).
—>TO THE SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES, FOR FREAKSAKES, I AM AWARE THAT IN SPANISH YOU CALL US “Unitedstatians”, but my blog entry isn’t about that unless you consider Canada and GREAT Britain to be Spanish speaking countries.
Next, I DO connect the politically correct name for America with mindless Americanophobia. Why? When a Brit or a Canadian pretends that they “don’t know” which country that you’re talking about at the mention of “America”, they reallyDO know that you mean the United States. They just pretend that they don’t understand which country you’re talking about as a means to intimidate and to intimidate only. The reason why I’m 100% sure that when “America” is mentioned by an American in regards to it not being mistaken with any other country is because if Americans WERE speaking of any other country, they’d NAME that country (i.e. Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Jamaica, etc).
Additionally, there are still people living in countries all over the world who call people living in the US, “Americans”. What to do about them? For example, the Japanese call us アメリカ人 (Amerikajin) and our country アメリカ！(Amerika) How are the elitist left going to recondition them?
So, please fellow Americans, don’t fall for the “We are all Americans” line. They hate us. If they were neutral, they’d never PRETEND <—(that’s the operative word here) to be so “confused”. To put it frankly, the Americanophobes are full of cow pie and full of themselves. And any American who falls for their intimidation tactics to no longer use the term “Americans” to refer to *sighs* —> “Unitedstatesians”, is nothing more than a pussy-whipped lap dog that shouldn’t even be living in America.
I am American, and I hail from America. GET OVER IT!
———————————–
UPDATE!!
You can see here, and on many other websites that many agree to the “politically correct” Americanophobic substitute for America and Americans.
We are becoming less and less American everyday. There are more and more official instances of the term USAians, Unitedstatieans, and USians being used to replace “Americans” as a result of Americans being bullied online and wanting to appease the Americanophobes and give themselves up to Political Correctness.
Some examples:
If you look at sites on the internet, more and more are using these Americanophobic politically correct (yeah, I know that’s an oxymoron) terms everyday:
I have taken down the map that I had up here due to complaints about the circle not being meticulously aligned around the entirety of Canada and Mexico. Never mind that Florida was left out as well. Never mind that I had and still have all 23 countries that make up North America spelled out for the knee-jerk reactionaries in the list above. So, I have taken the map down. This entire update is in essence, a dumbing down for the dumb.
Leave it up to teenagers to be too lazy to read an entire post.
I for one am sick and tired of off the wall Anti-Americanism. I’m also a Canadian who happened to live in America for a year. Contrary to the stereotype of brashness and rudeness I found Americans, in general, remember their manners and are, in general, good Samaritans.
I flew down to Logan Airport from the Maritimes to make a connection flight to Albany and a family from New York state not only offered me directions but offered to buy me dinner as well. Man, woman and two kids. I took up their offer and they were really sweet people. It’s one of the few acts of random kindness I ever received, not from my fellow Canuckleheads but from those “evil” Americans.
In Albany one of those “evil” co-worker Americans took an evening from his schedule and helped me move from a smaller apartment to a bigger one and expected nothing in return.
When I was back home going to university an American from the South stayed in the room across from me. Nice guy with no pretensions. And, ummm, good manners.
I find some of my fellow Canadians give me a bad name, sure there are ignorant, rude Americans, but I’ll bet on a per capita basis there are way more rude, ignorant Canadians.
I have also travelled extensively through the USA and never once felt personally insulted. Canada, uh, a lot.
You see, when Canadians aren’t bashing each others’ regions they are busy bashing their guarantor of protection…the USA.
I think a lot of Canadians would rather speak Russian or German than English because of it wasn’t for being in the backyard of the US of A, Canadians would most likely be speaking one of those languages. There would be no Canada.
I just want to say that America has done some stupid things…we ALL do stupid things. It just so happens when you are a country that is as powerful as the US, stupid things get noticed.
But what about when Americans offer Atlanta-based CDC services. When Canadians got sick from SARS, who did they call first? Ottawa?
When someone needs to be rescued from thugs, who can get aid there the fastest? Canada?!!!!! Only if they hitch a ride with…American equipment.
This is one Canadian who will always consider America a friend. I am grateful to live beside a country who values the individual and who produces a good and kind people for the most part. If the US is as evil as some Canadians say, well we’d be singing the Star-spangled banner right now.
- Written by Troy (Reproduced with his permission)
After reading this, I feel even more proud to be an American. And no matter how more awful my country becomes – even if matters here result in unfortunate situations for me, I will always be proud and not want to live anywhere else. (It is said that if there’s a HUGE terrorist attack in America, that Canada will open it’s borders to allow Americans refuge. No way. I’m staying here even if it means I have to die.) I find Americans to have much better class, a much better education and are capable of more complex critical thinking and views that go beyond one dimension. And these feelings come from the link posted above.
If these clichés and bullying tactics were just coming from one, two, or even three people – or even a handful – I’d let it roll to the thinking of the individual. But this is a result of group think – a very sour and collective prejudice that Americans are moving beyond in the present. I find some other countries to be a bit back-dated when it comes to tolerance and acceptance. We are moving forward while I find other developed nations moving backward. The fact that you elitists don’t find Anti-Americanism a form of xenophobia is more than half the problem.
I would say Americans are more mean to each other than to those people that come from other countries. It’s true. We hate each other more – most likely because we don’t all think the same here. We are more critical of ourselves and each other than you are of us. And when we DO hate other ethnic groups, we don’t make as big a public spectacle over it like you do to us.
I know that I’m going to receive a lot of hate mail/comments because of this post. But ya know what? I really don’t care! If you’re pissed, it’s probably because you’re guilty of bullying yourself because usually your replies to me reflect the same old tired stereotypes and clichés that you refuse to grow out of. It’s always easier to walk to the beat of someone else’s’ drum than your own, isn’t it?
Here, where I talk about Americans, I’m not talking about the entirety of us. I’m talking about my version of the “average American” based on my experiences over the last 39 years:
—> Americans don’t make hundreds of groups, videos, and websites all over the internet depicting their hate for Britons and Canadians.
—> Americans don’t burn British and Canadian flags.
—> Americans don’t go out of their way at every chance they get to insult Britons and Canadians.
—> Americans don’t hold grudges over wars that happened 60-200+ years before we were even born like the Americanophobic Brits and Canadians do.
—> Americans ask questions and admit to their own ignorance when they’re not sure of something compared to Brits and Canadians.
—> Americans are the most critical of their OWN country (more than ANYONE ELSE! – We are our own worst enemies) and don’t hesitate to point out their OWN flaws. But I, on only very rare occasions, see a Brit or a Canadian admitting to a non-perfection about themselves or about their own country. As far as I am to know they are “perfect” or “near perfection” and have a shiny-clean past.
—> When Americans are young and in Jr. high school, high school, and in college, we spend our time studying and out having fun as children/young adults (at least that’s the way it was back in my day) instead of looking for nations to hate and obsessing over evil-run governments and people.
—> Americans make stupid mistakes confusing London with England or not being able to find something obvious on a map, thinking Canadians live in igloos…. BUT (!!), they don’t pretend to be smarter than Britain and Canada. On the other hand, Americanophobic Brits and Canadians ACTUALLY say they are smarter and better, but make the most outlandish and embarrassing mistakes in geography, history, and politics… all the time. Another HUGE cultural difference here!!
—> Americans don’t dance in the street and celebrate when we see others being attacked and blown up, even if they are the enemy.
—> I have always found myself to be very humble about my own country. Hell, more than half of this blog you are reading right now is aimed at pointing out the flaws in America! There are over 282 posts written here, and you can see for yourself my own America-bashing. This is why a lot of conservatives dislike me – because I expose where my country is WRONG.
—> When I lived in Japan and met Canadians and Britons for the first time, I had EXCELLENT relationships with them. We didn’t see each other as Brits, Canadians, or Americans – we saw each other as people living in Japan and nothing else. I liked you guys more than Americans back then. I used to think that you guys had us beat in terms of civility and intelligence. But since I have been connected to the internet, I no longer see that civility and intelligence. I see intolerance, hate, revenge, hyper-patriotism (yes, you guys are worse – especially the Canadians!), ignorance, narrow-mindedness, and simple-mindedness. (And it’s not just Facebook and Youtube. Many of your own people are complaining about the mindless and ignorant Americanophobes out and about in your own countries causing a huge decline in tourism!) But the hate, intolerance, and disregard for other people’s feelings stands out to me the most through your online and offline bullying. And NO! Hardly any of you have attacked me, personally. But you attacked my people. And when you attack Americans, you are also attacking my family, friends, all my loved ones, me indirectly, and innocents who have done NOTHING to hurt YOU.
With that said, I am sorely disappointed. My past views that we Americans had a big brother or sister to look up to or take guidance from are in the trash bin now crinkled up and ready to be taken to the dump. This is why I feel more patriotic and jaded then ever. I don’t feel proud because of this. I feel it to be my way of dealing with all the slurs against my people and myself. I’m sick of it and I DO take it personally because it IS personal. I could understand better if the insults you hurled about us were true, but they are not (for the most part) and it is these points that I have problems with. Call me out on something I did wrong, I may think about it, apologize or correct my behavior. Call me out on something I’m not guilty of, it says more about YOU than it does me and my people and you should not expect respect back in return. And it’s those things I cannot forgive. Americans MUST stick together and bond against this type of sickness in society. No matter how “evil” you think the “average American” is, I don’t find you Americanophobes to be any better of a role model in society. Think about it.
If you find Americans to be assholes or becoming prejudiced toward the likes of YOU, at least I can say with confidence that there’s a good reason for it albeit a bit juvenile and non-productive. Oh yeah — we have home-grown assholes here who don’t need a reason to hate in order to hate – of course! Nonetheless, I still feel the same.
If ANY group at all needs to be mean to Americans, it SHOULD be the French, non-violent Muslims, and African Americans over the past slavery days. And it’s justified if they’re angry. And I don’t bat an eyelash because I expect it. HOWEVER, these groups have more class and they are nowhere near as childish and petty as the Americanophobes that are super-bred and brainwashed well in Britain and Canada.
While I will still continue to point out America’s flaws in my blog and off my blog, I do feel a sense of superiority compared to the Americanophobic sub-cultures that are clinically obsessed with Americans, hate speech, and negativity.
Before you elites start running here with your laundry list of American-made-evils, let me just tell you that I ALREADY know where American is wrong. What I’m trying to say here is that YOU are no “better” than us “as a people” in regards to the link I posted. And Anti-Any-ism is not only nothing to be proud of, it gives YOU no bragging rights and certainly nothing worthy of patting your collective selves on the back over.
My question: Has anyone collected data as to how many Canadians, New Zealanders, Australians, Chinese, Japanese, South Americans, etc have passports that was used to visit Europe et al? Isn’t it interesting how exclusively and carefully America is watched under the microscope while other nations are ignored all together?
The title of this entry is the all time biggest obsessed over complaint that Americans receive from the “morally superior” and “refined intellectuals” that come from Canada and Europe. Just as the “you’re the fattest” and the “you’re the stupidest“, the “Americans don’t have passports” argument in an effort to “humble” and “humiliate” Americans is equally weak and easy to debunk.
If you think that we’re insular and don’t care about other countries,think again. And thinkone more time.
I don’t think we Americans have more or less curiosity about the world and other cultures than Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China and other non-European countries. The continent of Europe is VERY similar to the country of the US regarding travel and borders. In Europe, kids are practically born with passports. It’s a necessity! Let’s say for example, if you live in England, you can just hop on thechunneland be in France or many other places in a jiffy(as what’s done state-to-state in America). A LOT of countries in Europe are about less than half the size of California and border several other countries that border even more several other countries. (This also explains the multilingualism, but not necessarily the fluency.) You can probably visit a few countries in a day without getting too exhausted. Plus you have the luxury of sitting on a train instead of having to catch a plane or drive a car! What a convenience!!
I currently am living in Texas, and it takes 12 hours just to get OUT of the state! It takesforeverto drive through Florida and California too. If the driving gets too much, we have to spend money for a hotel!!
But what about Australia that is a VERY large country?
Americans DO travel to Mexico and Canada.We used to not be required to hold a passport to travel there and to the Caribbean as well! Mexico is VERY famous for their beaches, for American honeymoons, and some Americans take a cruise (who have money) to Cancun. Canada and Mexico are our only borders. We DO travel to those places (including the Caribbean), but that’s the only variety we have unlike Europe (i.e. Germany shares borders with 9 countries.) And again, it’s about how much money and time we have to spare.
Western nations are indoctrinated from birth to grow up hating Americans due to the grudges held over past wars (perhaps some to a lesser degree) – in the same way some people in the US are taught to hate black people, the Muslims and the French. (Some fall for the propaganda; some don’t.) Americanophobia has very little to do with Bush, Gitmo, Global Warming, Neo-Capitalism, Abu Ghraib, or the Iraqi War.
Aaron Hotfelder explains more about why Americans don’t travel as much. Please visit his site.
Last but not least, what’s wrong with Americans travelingWITHINtheir own country? First you criticize us for not knowing enough about ourowncountry, then you mock us because we travelwithin. I have done many cross-country travels in the US, and have lived in 3 different states. There is an extraordinary amount to be seen, a lot to be done, and a lot to belearned- something that an old textbook in grade school cannot begin to teach you. I guess some foreigners perceive the locals traveling within the US (that nobody has time to see in a lifetime) as yet another act of“patriotic arrogance”?
WHY DO YOU KNOW MORE ABOUT US THAN WE KNOW ABOUT YOU?
The British have taken this article and are having a field day with it in this group on Facebook.
Sure, the US has very little international news when compared to China, but that’s mostly because it’s illegal to report on negative domestic news in China. The news in other major Asian countries is just as inward-focused as that of the US.
The above quote was in response to this article written by a Chinese Americanophobe. From having lived in Japan for 6.5 years, I can testify that this is correct.
I just want to say that America has done some stupid things…we ALL do stupid things. It just so happens when you are a country that is as powerful as the US, stupid things get noticed.
Additionally, American Globalization has a lot to do with your knowing more about us than our knowledge of you albeit it all being about stereotypes, mind you.
It is actually true that local channels (not cable) don’t cover as much world news as does Europe. But for the love of all that’s holy, there’s a reason why.
“USA citizens are not given world news in the same way as most the other developed nations, and may well be genuinely unaware that much of the world is as poor as it is. European news is highly world-centric, whereas due to its size most USA news does not have enough time to cover news in all neighbouring states, let alone news from around the world. ” –Vexen Crabtree
And finally, all of your “research” on “other countries” is …:::limited:::… to the United States (out of 194 independent countries in the world). Why? Because you’re obsessed with America and are looking for any reason and any flaw to put us down. It would be one thing if you had your facts consistently accurate about us, but even THAT is not the case! For the record, there are 193 other countries out there to explore – including your own. To avoid sounding hypocritical, you ought to study them too.
WHAT ABOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT YOU?
Only unless you make a move that will effect everyday American life, will we pay attention.
People, please be realistic. Everyone (and I mean everyone – no matter what country you’re living in) only listens to and learns about what matters to them and what effects their immediate lives. I don’t care how “intellectual” that you think you are or you want me to believe you are, this is the reality. Human beings, by their very nature, are a selfish species. Like it or not, nature dictates that our interests come first.
Ever heard of the Arkansas Mafia? It’s not very likely a Canadian or a Brit has heard of this. Urban legend or not, it’s just more proof that you only learn what your media and parents feed you.
Is “learning” about another country from the news media really learning about another country? Actually all media systems are responsible for four things:
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.
Besides your obsession with tabloids, is this how you Americanophobes learn about the lives of all 300 million Americans?
It’s unfortunate to bring this news to you, but it is not just Fox news et al that are guilty of brainwashing and having political spins. Your media outlets are guilty of the same. Reporters across the world are only doing their jobs, and it is those 4 key points that I bring up – that is part of what they HAVE to do!
Once our presence in the world is usurped by another nation (and I can’t wait for this to happen so that everyone will STFU!), EVERYONE’S focus will be shifted. If history teaches us anything (keeping the British Empire and Imperialization in mind), it teaches us that the most powerful nation on the world stage is the most talked about, the most “learned” (<—notice the quotes) about, and the most hated. History has also taught us that everyone wants to be the most influential and powerful and that once that power is gained, it will be abused. This is life. Just open up a history book.
The media is a good starting place to learn about other nations, however, if you truly want a balanced and well-informed perspective on an issue, you need to do your research using a myriad of sources and literature. Ever hear the expression, “there are two sides to every story”? What ever happened to asking questions, critical thinking, objectivity, and open-mindedness? Yeah. This is why I’m outraged when pseudo-intellectuals have the colossal nerve to call Americans “ignorant“.
I’m a Canadian who has lived in the USA for the past 5 years, and I’ve also travelled throughout Asia during this time. In my experience, most people in most countries are most concerned with what is happening closest to them, and almost always think for some absurd reason their own news deserves to be heard around the world. The fact of media anywhere (including state run media like in China and Canada) is that it is an industry built to sustain those who it directly feeds. In the case of the USA, the fact is that Americans don’t look outside their own borders for media content because they simply don’t need to; there is ample sensational material at hand. In contrast, the fact is that, for example, in Canada, very little of the sensational nature actually happens, which makes for pretty boring television. Hence, CNN is popular with Canadians, but Canadians get pissed off because it lacks much Canadian content. Whatever.
And finally, there’s one more point that I want to make. The last time I checked, traveling is supposed to make one more open-minded and tolerant. Am I right? However, all these cultural elitist snobs that hail from other countries love touting their 955100258787 page passport while (ironically) having a fierce xenophobic attitude toward those simply being guilty of having been born in the United States. Not everyone who travels acts like snobs – only some do. But the difference between those people who travel and snobs that travel is one thing: curiosity.
There are just too many people out there that flex their passport muscles. But its pointless. These people haven’t learned from traveling. They are still small minded, petty, and ignorant. Traveling doesn’t make you a better person. Curiosity does.
As Annie Rhiannon states in her blog as an English citizen,
90% of Americans don’t even have passports
Why is it always the British who use this (greatly exaggerated) statistic smugly, as if it somehow proves us to be so much less ignorant than them? Um, it doesn’t. We need passports just to get over to France for 40 quid on the Eurostar — otherwise we’d end up camping in our own gardens twice a year.
All you Americanophobes have proven to me so far is one thing: you’re no different from us regarding ignorance, cultural awareness, and tolerance outside one’s borders.
————————————
UPDATE!
AMERICANS TALK BACK!
After reading the comments on this blog entry written by a Brit, there appears to be more insight as to why Americans are so… “insular” and “Amerocentric”.
Hear from the Americans here for the short-cut version.
Edited to add:TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT TO THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS CULTURAL ELITISTS WHO KEEP COMMENTING HERE, … YES, I HAVE LIVED IN ANOTHER COUNTRY AND HAVE TRAVELED TO SEVERAL PLACES AROUND THE WORLD. IF YOU’D READ MY BLACK BOX DOWN BELOW, YOU’D KNOW THAT. BEFORE YOU MAKE INANE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW….. R-E-A-D! If not, your own comments won’t be read in full and will automatically be deleted! I have no patience for people that comment on posts that they haven’t read, and no patience for those who haven’t read my disclaimer!
The percentages of passport holders among those who travel between the two countries might help to make better comparisons with Europeans travelling between countries. (21 Nov 2005)
I have decided today that your average moderate liberal American is the same as your average conservative living in Canada or Europe.
I have found that other countries who (the Americanophobes) call themselves, “liberals” are really not, “liberals”. They are really leftist elitists (aka moonbats) who pretend to “care” about “the world”, “the people”, “the poor”, “the starving”, “the dying”, “the dead and wounded from wars” and “the earth”.
That is the irony. Leftist elitists put up a “because I care” veneer”, but underneath, they are only concerned about themselves.
This is why I like to make conservatives friends. Even though conservatives don’t really match where I stand on the political platter, I relate to them SO MUCH BETTER than those who “call” themselves “liberal”.
I find the term, “liberal” to be misused and abused – just like the term, “racism“.
This is how I see a “liberal”:
Note: Tolerance of the ideas and behavior of others? Pfft… this is why I cannot call myself a true full-throttle liberal because I am *not* tolerant of the leftists or any who subscribe to extremist or elitist views on both the right or the left. So, count me out. Broad-mined… yeah that’s me. A leftist is the same (to me) as a leftist elitist (see my glossary). “Liberal” is a loose term, though because there are conservatives who favor reform, open to new ideas, are tolerant and broad-minded. Those on my blogroll that are conservative fit the mold for being open and accepting. However, I think that the fundamental definition of conservatism lies more on tradition than anything else.
American Patriotism (or insularism?) is often misunderstood as well by the Americanophobes – as if defending one’s country is “unique” to Americans??? Just insult or mislabel the country and/or the people of any non-American, and see what happens. Watch how defensive they get. Sit back and watch the sparks fly!
American Patriotism is often confused with the type of patriotism that existed in Germany back when Hitler was running the show. This is why Americanophobic Europeans get offended by the term and “actions” behind “patriotism” – especially when they see how many Americans were led to believe that the Iraq war was justified back in 2003. This reminds Americanophobic Europeans of the German citizens hailing to Hitler’s command to exterminate the Jews. Americanophobic Europeans are seeing another Holocaust through the Bush administration in the sense that…
Bush = Hitler
The Iraq War = the extermination of all Arabs
The American people = the Nazi’s blindly following their leader, cheering on and participating in the deaths of all Arabs
No! I don’t believe the above example even though I’m against the Iraq War. The above is a disgusting hyperbole at best and insulting at worst. But this is how Europeans see American Patriotism!! My German friend wrote about this very topic in his blog which you can read here.
This was my response to his post:
Yes, all things need to be in moderation. Hyper-patriotism, in my opinion, is an angry response – rather than one of *true* pride. Americans (including myself here) become more patriotic when we feel (well a lot of us) threatened in any way whether it be verbally or physically. Americanophobia just makes people feel more patriotic and then we start to sympathize with the conservatives. Americanophobia is destructive like that. Rather than helping Americans, it gives us more reason to… wave our flags lol. And feel more bonded to one another.
Neo-conservatism began as a backlash to the loud and noisy leftist response to the Vietnam War back in the 60’s. I don’t actually feel this is a rational response, but it does happen.
In any event, I found your writing about European patriotism to be very interesting and informative!
Maybe each continent/nation/culture defines patriotism differently because I even see Canadians threatened by American patriotism as well. It’s very confusing yet curious for me at the same time. My gut feeling, however, is that Canadians just parrot whatever the British say. In my experience, I find Americanophobic Canadians to be just as patriotic or more (in a nationalistic way) than Americans.
The only way you can really understand American patriotism is by living here. Erik Svane posted a non-conventional argument in defence of the irrational fear of the American flag in this article, “Some Thoughts on American Patriotism”.
One common stereotype thrown at us is “excessive pride” to which one of my American friends responded to:
Excessive pride? Most of us love our country (the same way you do yours), but I don’t think its excessive. Most accept the flaws of our society and our government. Ever heard of Saturday Night Live, the Tonight Show, Conan, Comedy Central? we make fun of ourselves ALL THE TIME? Too little modesty? Please? Obesity and fat people, excessive use of energy, and the President himself get made fun of every day on some of the most highly rated shows on TV. Especially the president. According to most polls, about 4 out of 5 Americans dislike their president. yep.
Excessively religious, some of us, but in America’s youthful population, agnosticism and atheism are pretty widespread (and have been for 40 years), a trend that includes myself.
Our history may be short, but it’s full. And so what’s the problem with celebrating your nations history anyways? everybody does that.
And nobody carries a gun around. 1 out a 1000. and that’s in the south. in the rest of the US its more like 1 in 10000.
Sheltered! Relaxed! Gently and Calm! did you take American history? what about the frikin’ American Civil War! 600,000 dead in 4 years. battlefield sites spread throughout Virginia and Tennessee. 450,400 Britons died in World War II. (By the way, America had 418,500 deaths in WWII).
A lot of Americans don’t think we’re helping. there is no allusion at all. A LOT of people. how ’bout the entire Democratic Party (the most popular) and a lot of others too.
Don’t blame Microsoft and American automobiles for selling there video games and their cars. They’re just making a living. I don’t blame all those British manufacturers for falling short a making quality vehicles and going under (Jaguar, Rolls, Bentley, Lotus, do I have to go on?), its hard to make cars, and I understand those British companies and I understand GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Don’t forget, we can actually draw mirrors between the British and American auto industries. – Samuel Smith
This makes me wonder… do comedians and TV shows in other countries make fun of their own people, their own government, and their own leader like Americans do?
History tells us why American Patriotism exists as it does (reference: the Revolutionary War). But history also tell us why Europe hates American Patriotism (reference: the Holocaust/Nazi Germany). It’s about history. It’s about war. The PAST makes us WHO we are and WHO we hate.
This is why I believe learning History, as much as you can, is critical when it comes to appreciating where everyone came from and the cultural differences that come about through our unique histories and birth. After all, ignorance is one of the classic reasons for xenophobic attitudes, is it not? This is not to say I know as much history as I should (!!), but we all should at least be willing to learn little by little. And in my opinion, history is not something that can be taught solely by a grade-school text-book. Most of them are liars, anyway!
A common trend: Many Americanophobic leftists take much time out of their lives to critique America and Americans. However, they spend very little time (or no time at all) learning about America and Americans. In fact, they spend just as much time learning about the US as Americans do about other countries. It’s this type of hypocrisy that I like to talk about in my blog.
Back to the topic, I haven’t decided a fancy enough term to match my political standing. I sometimes alternate between calling myself a liberal, a moderate liberal, or a moderate. The last time I took the political compass test, my results basically required me to wear a tin-foil hat for the rest of my life.
I guess I just need more moonbats to piss me off, and then I’ll have my OWN M-16 and join the GOP!
I will drag my definition along with the video that sums it up over here for easy viewing:
Q:What is Anti-Americanism (aka Americanophobia?)
A: Anti-Americanism is *NOT* about the disapproval of Bush and the Iraqi War; it’s *NOT* about the disapproval of past wars and whatever our government has failed to do right, and it’s *NOT* about hating the Republican Conservative individuals in America. Anti-Americanismistheindiscriminatehatred toward the American people (the white folk only)as a wholeregardless of any American’s political positions and voting preferences. For more clarification, watchthis video. It defines Anti-Americanism in depth.
Now, let’s determine what “Racism” really means:
Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. Racial separatism is the belief, most of the time based on racism, that different races should remain segregated and apart from one another.
Racism has existed throughout human history. It may be defined as the hatred of one person by another — or the belief that another person is less than human — because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.
While I haven’t developed a solid opinion as to whether or not Americanophobia is a form of racism, one of my British friends, David wrote in his blog how he defines it as such.
So does Mish from New Zealand who wrote the following in my comment section – you may go here for the full story.
We can agree, perhaps, that “racism” IS an ambiguous term, but it’s hard to disagree (aside from those two cutting examples above) that it’s not overused and rather misused by insecure knee-jerk reactionaries as a crutch in an attempt to appear “morally superior” in front of the crowd because he really does feel “above all”. The formula for this knee-jerk reaction is simple:
I don’t like what you just said + you used the word “white” = You are a racist.
I don’t like what you just said + you used the word “black” = You are a racist.
Never mind the context in which the term “white” and “black” is used in. That’s irrelevant to one with an agenda. And ultimately, only HE knows what that agenda is.
However, what the mis-usage of “racism” really does is belittle those people who have actually been the target of racism and cause more friction between the masses (not less). The likes of Richard Warman automatically want to believe that someone is “racist” or “Islamophobic” even though they DON’T know what the word means! They are the cultural elitists/radical leftists, and in my opinion, the most INTOLERANT people out there! As a matter of fact, the same person that told me that I was a “racist” also unashamedly admitted to being an Americanophobic. They only care about themselves. Their “mission” to get the whole world undivided and all holding hands is disingenuous. Once again, we see the hypocrisy in Americanophobia. While Americanophobes may not be “racist”, we can all (free-thinking people) certainly agree that it’s prejudice, it’s bigotry, it’s discriminative and it’s *not right*.
Depending on where the Americanophobic person comes from, all depends on if they hate all Americans as a whole or just the white folk. My blog concentrates on the Americanophobes that live in Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. Why? Because I find them to be the most vocal about it. What about the middle east? They hate us the most. This is true. But we Americans expect middle eastern countries to hate us.
If you’re going to call me a “racist”, then you better call Michael Moore, in his book, “Stupid White Men” a “racist” too. Why? Because his principles are aligned with the Americanophobic sentiment that I speak of in my blog.
Yes, he DOES point out valid flaws within the US, however, a lot of his work has been based on LIES, LIES, LIES, so have his movies!
But why just the “white man”?
Leaving Michael Moore’s book aside, when Americanophobes make blanket statements about Americans, they ARE referring to the “white man”. Please keep in mind the stereotype that you use to describe us:
Now, ask yourself if you apply this to the “white anglo-saxon protestant (WASP)” or do you apply the above including the Blacks, Mexicans, Cubans, South Americans, Asians, Haitians and all those who’ve become naturalized citizens of the US?
Perhaps some Americanophobes DO wipe that big brush over ALL Americans regardless of where they came from or what their national heritage is. But will they a-d-m-i-t to even hating the minorities and include them too?… that…. is a whole different thing.
Americans have faces. Don’t treat us as a face-less nation.
Keep in mind, this is my opinion. While I may be wrong, I feel strongly about this issue that I bring up.
American citizens can be Asian, African, or Hispanic/Latino too. Heck, there are even naturalized citizens that have in recent times come from Canada, Australia, and Europe and the list goes on! These people are exempt from the wrath of Americanophobia because of the huge backlash (due to the strain of censorship in a politically correct society) that would result in public humiliation for the offender. They would be called a “racist” and that is the biggest nightmare of the holier-than-thou and “morally superior” multicultural elitists. The big fat greedy white American guy is always fair game because it is more socially acceptable. Remember the video that you just watched about how it’s frowned up on in Britain to slander a Chinese person? (it doesn’t matter if he’s Chinese or a Chinese American!)
In a recent conversation with a Canadian that is against Americanophobia, the following only reconfirmed what I had previously felt. She states…
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 judgmental 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.
In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if he were a French Canadian or a French American.
The likes of Richard Warman and political correctness having gone to such an overboard extreme, prevents people from taunting Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians (that have become or are US citizens) in the streets of Britain and Canada (or even online – once their heritage is discovered).
Here’s a hint.
—> Because being “racist” is one of the most typical stereotypes handed to us, WHO, really, are being called the “racists”: The minorities or the whites?
—> When you call Americans “white trash”, WHO, really are you referring to: The minorities or the whites?
—> When you say Americans are “oppressed”, WHO really are you referring to as the “oppressors”, the minorities or the whites?
—> What makes Canada so great and American so bad? Canada is “multicultural”. Who do Canadians believe are keeping America from being as “multicultural” as Canada: The minorities or the whites?
—> What will you tell America if Obama isn’t elected as president? What will you say if he gets assassinated?
Think about it.
I received this message from a Canadian who shared the following with me:
(sic) Its the fact that the american people and government are to ignorant to be able to embrace their multiculturalism and try to make everyone the same fat, stupid, greedy, obnoxtious asshole american people that the world tends to HATE.
A French TV comedy shows an interesting example of this.
At 9:50 (toward the end of this video), a reference is made suggesting that the American military is “out to destroy the commies and the blacks”!
Why is comedy so funny? Because TRUTH can be found through comedy. Yes, it’s funny. Yes, it’s a joke. But this IS the way the Americanophobes DO view us. They sympathize with the minorities and dodge the “white folk”. This evidently is not a reality that Americanophobes want to accept as, like I mentioned earlier, none of these self-righteous elitists want anybody to think that they are racist. What do I think? I think they are projecting.
But the radical left Americanophobes are damned either way. They’re in a really rough position as — if they really do hate all Americans meaning that they include literally ALL AMERICANS, couldn’t they be considered racist as they are including the minorities or those immigrated from other countries? If they are only talking about the “whites”, that is odd to me too because what makes America, America is EVERYONE – not just the white people. Come here and see for yourself.
Everyone makes this place what it is and contributes to any stereotype delivered to the “all American folk” determined by the Americanophobes.
This is why I define Americanophobia to be geared toward the white folk.
When Michael Moore did his research on “American Ignorance“, he evaluated indiscriminately, but named them in his book, “Stupid White Men”. See for yourself!
Do I feel like a target of reverse discrimination? Absolutely not. I’m just simply defining Americanophobia for what it is.
In short, the word, “racist” has been downgraded to mean anything, but “racism”.
This is my Comment Policy/Disclaimer. I am making this into a sticky post as it appears these days people are conveniently missing it even thought I post a little sticker linking to it at the bottom of every post.
WELCOME!
Please, before commenting on my blog, read the below:
This is my blog, you are only a guest here. Participating in discussions at [Waging a War on the Radical Right and the Radical Left] are a privilege – not a right.
I am not all that politically correct, nor do I sugar-coat my posts. What you see is what you get with me. So, don’t tell me that I didn’t warn you. Feel free to challenge my views. That’s perfectly fine. I welcome it. I want people to be honest. Not only that, but I encourage a variety of people from all walks of life to share whatever they have on their mind as it may prompt me or others to think, re-think, learn from, or in return, disagree with. But attack the subject, not me. Should you resort to personal attacks (yes, that includes bigotry or stereotyping), your comment won’t be approved.
Please be mindfulthat I have several people contributing to this blog, and as common sense would dictate, the articles published in my blog, “Waging a War on the Radical Right and the Radical Left” represent the opinion of their respective authors only. You’ll know who’s talking by the introduction to their post. For most of them, English is theirSECONDlanguage. I correct/edit as much as I can without trying to take the spirit and uniqueness away from them – so some things I leave alone.
On my blog, the calling out of Americanophobic people is FAIR GAME. It’s bigotry and the lowest form of humanity. So, whatever I have to say about bigots is justified. I never heard from the Westboro Baptist Churh or the KKK that I was “stereotyping” them and therefore being “hypocritical”. If you stereotype and make sweeping generalizations about an entire nation of people, while you’re not on the same level of severity with the WBC and the KKK, the mentalityis the same.
Americanophobics are *not* a race, culture, or a nation of people. They are, rather, a group of people that can come from anywhere including America who all think the same. Keep in mind, I’m calling out a “mindset” – a “way of thinking” – not a people of any nation!
Also, in my blog, I rail against radical conservatives, radical liberals, and religious fundamentalism. They, just like the Americanophobics, are a “mindset” – a “way of thinking”. I don’t agree with extremism and hypocrisy. So, I challenge their beliefs as well.
This is what it’s all about, folks: DISAGREE all you like. If you are going to take the time to comment, please also take the time to post WHY (I can’t stress this enough) you disagree in a manner that is respectful. Name calling and personal attacks against any of my readers or myself WILL NOT BE TOLERATED and the offending TROLL will be banned.
What is a Troll? LGF explains the meaning the best:
A troll is someone who only wants to stir up trouble, not have an honest debate. Some signs that a poster is a troll:
* Dodges questions from other posters
* Refuses to give sources
* When one of its arguments is shown to be false, either ignores the proof or moves the goalposts
If you’re going to take the time to comment, wouldn’t you think it would be a great idea to READ MY ENTRY IN IT’S ENTIRETY, FIRST? One would think that’s quite obvious. But midgets of the mental variety, neglect to *finish* reading, and consequently jump to irrational and simple-minded conclusions that suit their agenda. So, if you can’t do at least that much, don’t even bother commenting. Please. If it’s clear that you…
haven’t read my guidelines for posting
haven’t read the post you are commenting on,
are condescending,
resorting to personal attacks
are a hit and run commenter
are supporting bigotry or come from a blog that does
not interested in a healthy debate, or
are off-topic,
your comment won’t be approved, and don’t expect it to be read in full either.
(I do, however, believe in giving people the right to defend their political positions on whatever is being discussed in the comment sections of my blog. And with that said, I am not a Neo-Nazi (like most bloggers are) when it comes to links. Post as many links as you like. I don’t care where they come from. If it’s relevant to the discussion, post 10 links if you want. They don’t scare me.)
I expect to be called names. It’s par for the course. (No bigoted group of “people” like to be exposed for what they are, so naturally the little people will protest!) But this doesn’t mean that you get the stage on my blog to do so. Again, this is what YOUR blog is for. If you don’t like people acting like idiots on your blog, then make a comment policy of your own.
If you want to be ugly, do it on your own blog. Not mine! Nobody’s putting a gun to your head and forcing you to read subject matter that you aren’t interested in. Accept that and go on your merry way. Complain about the terrible person I am in YOUR blog. If you don’t have one, create one and dedicate it to me. Bring me some more visitors. I love the pings and extra hits. Bring me some more publicity. I love the attention.
If you have no sense of humor or don’t appreciate occasional sarcasm and hammy remarks, you better run for the hills… now! (Yes, it’s my blog – I get to do this!)
This is MY policy. You DON’T have to like it. And it doesn’t have to be fair!
And if you see a LINK, click on it. That’s what they’re there for! The reason I have links within my blog entries and quote sources is not for the sake of my health, but to give alternate substance to my post so that people can read opinions other than my own. When you’re making a point, I believe, it’s always best to have back-up so that people can do their own research. If you find commentary coming out in my text without back-up, then consider it an opinion. Everyone has one, don’t they?
Kindly read my “about me” section to get to know where I’m coming from, the purpose of my blog, what I have been blogging about for the last 4 years, and more about who I am as a person. Being against Americanophobia is often thought to be linked with neo-conservatism. Not Always! See where I stand politically here.
If there’s something you don’t understand, just ask. I’d be happy to clarify or provide further substance to back up my case… if you wish. Additionally, I define terms subjectively in my blog. Please see my glossary for further details.
Being that my blog is controversial, I get a lot of incoherent and impatient folk reading a few sentences, jumping to odd conclusions and then rushing to comment. To avoid you having a nervous breakdown because you’re too angry to read my entire post, first stop and breathe. Then, to get a better idea of where I’m coming from, I highly recommend that you read my FAQ section. Then, maybe you’ll understand and perhaps avoid wetting your bed tonight.
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LEARN SOME MANNERS!
If you’ve been inspired by a post of mine or are using information of mine on your own blog, I would appreciate it if you return the favor and link back to me in your post as I’ve mentioned above. While there’s no real written rule regarding this kind of blog etiquette, to not give recognition as to where you got the information or inspiration for your post is just plain rude and selfish. A trackback would also be nice. You can find more information on how to use trackbacks here.
My comment policy is subject to change without any warning.
I don’t think I’m asking for too much.
Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.
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A Canadian Tribute to Independence Day, Memorial Day, Globalization, Igloos, Maple Syrup, Hockey, Polar Bears and More!
I just ran across Mr. Multicultural Jeff’s blog, and in celebration of the American Independence Day from 2006, Jeff had some quoted material in his post that sounded familiar.
And in his “about me” section, I found the following quote written by him:
“I am a very vocal Canadian who speaks out against the “Americanization” of Canada”.
Side Note:Thanks to Jeff’s command of good-hearted self-contained Canadian spirit and ambitious contribution, I am now aware that Pierre Trudeau’s quote was referring to the separatism situation between Quebec and the rest of Canada. More information can be found here about that. I had confused the “wanting to feel that Canada belongs to Canadians” with the ongoing problem of “Americanization” in Canada where Canadians are fighting to be a sovereign nation ( independent from the US) as exemplified by the Canadian Action Party.
My apologies for the misunderstanding! America loves you. ♥♥♥
My point still remains the same, however. Let’s continue…. shall we? Many Canadians feel this way. Many Don’t. An example can be found from this topic on Facebook, “Which is better: Canada or America?”
(sic) I totaly agree, we dont start wars everywhere and the only reason we’re so full of gay stuff is all cuz we are so close from the usa and by that i mean the medias and commercial music, fast f00d and tv that make everyone lazy and fat…we live right next to the kingdom of greasy food and bad tv so we might end up like that. an oh yea, there’s more ppl smoking dope in canada than in the usa
I am so sad more people are smoking dope in Canada. I am jealous and heartbroken too. Since having read that, my heart skipped a few beats and any spirit left in me has vanished leaving me with feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, and ruin. But I shall try to continue to tread… Oh Canada.
I also found out today that America is a “cultural wasteland”. But I am here before you to tell you what America really is. The only true Americans are those whom are native. Everybody else whether their ancestry be European, Canadian, Mexican, Cuban, Haitian, Brazilian, Jamaican, Japanese or the natives themselves, —> it is all these mixed cultures in the US that make up what American culture is today. We are a country that is what we are today due to its multinational make-up. Immigrants built America and immigrants continue to build it. America doesn’t pretend to be perfect as there will always be something to work toward. And the salad bowl that we are, we continue to strive without giving up. Americanophobia only makes the true American spirit more alive as we become more bonded as a family.
I made the following comment in Jeff’s blog: (especially after my finding that his favorite TV show is *gasps* Family Guy).
If you are against “Americanization”, why do you watch our TV and use our stuff? Most stuff we have in the US was made in China and you don’t hear us screaming about “Chinesation”. I am happy that you’re vocal about it, though. I mean, it’s not our fault that you guys are doing and using the same stuff as Americans. We’re not pointing our guns at you and forcing this stuff down the throats of Canadians. It’s your choice. You are a democracy. You should be able to change this rather than blaming us for “Americanizing” you.
In my opinion, I find Canadians need to have more confidence in themselves and not look to your neighbors to the south as a scapegoat.
These are the thoughts of MANY Americanophobes living in democracies. And that’s why I’m devoting a whole blog post to this issue. Americanophobes, in their infantile nature, have one thumb up their bum with the other being sucked on. They are in this constant mode of looking for a nipple. A more concise way of saying this: Americanophobes play the “victim card” all too much. We hear them cry often. We hear them play the “blame game”. One thing we never hear them doing is taking responsibility for themselves.
What an awful way to live!
I sincerely do not understand all this whining about “Americanization”. It’s hypocrisy at it’s finest.
Another point that I believe is hypocritical is the fact that the Americanophobic Canadians blame us for voting in Bush twice thinking we have more power than we do. (Hint: electoral voting system). If you’re going to make all Americans (even those that didn’t vote for him) responsible for Bush, then I find it fair enough to hold Canadians RESPONSIBLE for rampant “Americanization”.
I find it only practical and logical to
boycott our products including our movies, TV, any websites, our disgusting fast-food (heck, if it wasn’t making money in Canada, it couldn’t exist) technology, products, blue jeans, popular websites, or inventions by Americans. That will teach us because then we’d lose a lot of money and it won’t be worth it anymore to export our “Americanisms” across the border.
and to keep it a Canadian Problem and not a problem with American people.
I realize that this gentleman wasn’t outright accusing Americans of this misfortune in his country, but I’ve seen enough Americanophobes whine, moan, and groan about “Americanization” to American people (blogs and social networking sits are public, by the way) as if they think we can change this for them? What’s the point? What can I do about this? How is this ONLY the problem of America? Isn’t trading a two-way street – a *MUTUAL* commitment, anyway?
I’m genuinely trying to make sense out of all this.
This reminds me of a quote by Jean-François Revel:
“Is Euro Disney Land a threat to the French Culture? If French culture can be squashed by Mickey Mouse, or more exactly by simply moving Mickey geographically, it would have to be disturbingly fragile.” Moreover, Revel argued, culture always circulates and, in the case of Euro Disneyland, California was merely repackaging for Europeans such European stories as Cinderella and Pinocchio. According to Revel, French culture was not being colonized and if any culture was in crisis, he contended, it was that of America with its fad for political correctness and other forms of “neoprovincialism.”
Here’s one more interesting point Mr. Multicultural Jeff jotted down in celebration of the Fourth of July in his blog that I found equally confusing:
“Canadians have an abiding interest in surprising those Americans who have historically made little effort to learn about their neighbour to the North.” -Peter Jennings
(I know who Peter Jennings is and I am aware that he’s passed away). On air in the US, Peter Jennings wept over 9-11 and began to smoke again on that day. He doesn’t sound all too Americanophobic to me – at least from what I know of him. However, this is a redundant argument used by Americanophobic Canadians – not figuratively – but LITERALLY like a broken record.
Same ole song. Same ole song. *yawn*
There’s much hypocrisy to be said here. It is fact that Canadians learn about America in school. They are forced to memorize our states and capitals and well as “learning” about our history. It is also fact that Americans get limited knowledge about Canada in school. (This is another reason for rampant Americanophobia in Canada as they are said to be always feeling left out, unnoticed and unappreciated. In any event, though, our lack of knowledge about Canada is out of our control as young grade-school pupils in a classroom. You cannot blame the average American for this. However, you CAN blame the system for this. The “system” does NOT represent the average American. Later on in life, as an adult, it’s up to them to learn about Canada if they want to – especially if they plan a visit. Canadians need to think more reasonably and realistically about this issue.)
(sic) I do NOT live like an American. Trust me on that one. I watch real football, hockey, speak four languages, don’t carry a gun, am not scared by watching the evening news, and spell colour and flavour with a u
The evening news? Are you the same people that tell us yanks that all of our news outlets are biased and to not watch them? So, which is it? Make up your minds!
Oh Canada!
Actually there is more!
I never denied the Canadian ego problem. Our bear is better. Our food tastes better. We have REAL maple syrup. And we kick your ass again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again… in hockey. Just as it’s the man with the smaller phallus that needs too belittle the other by ‘trying’ to redirect the argument, it’s the confident, larger phallused male who can take the slings off the arrows of argument. Nothing like having the ego of a field moose, EH?
You can call it what you want: A poor attempt at trying to sound funny or a fashionable display of his unwell hidden “short man syndrome”. I say BOTH. While the above quote may appear as a “joke”, if you look at his blog and the comments he left for me down below, this is “truth” for him.
Mr. Multicultural Jeff!!
A Columbian blogger against Americanophobia wrote a piece in her blog challenging the views of so many South Americans and Europeans who had gotten upset with her for standing up for Americans and calling out the rest of the world for their irrational hatred.
I had wanted to talk about the American people for a long time, especially since I received a shower of criticism due to a piece I wrote in my Spanish blog called “Que Europa se Vaya al Carajo” (To Hell with Europe). There were a lot of comments that demonstrate the immense gap existing between the rest of the world and Americans. This is not news. Nevertheless, that piece made me realize that Americans are not the ones who have closed minds and conserve stereotypes of others. I had been reading what some Colombians, Spaniards, French, Germans, etc. think of Americans, I now know that they are the ones who conserve exaggerated stereotypes and they refuse to recognize the true face of America.
I really don’t know exactly what she meant by “to hell with Europe”, but if you can read Spanish, this is the piece that she wrote referring to her feelings about Europe (a different blog post).
Stereotypes and Americanization go hand in hand as noted in this article.
It is my belief that Americanization gives other countries a false sense of the American way of life and, in the end, causes hatred for the U.S. and threats on our power and freedom.
[snip]
Americanization is not only changing the world, but also causing wrong judgments to be made about American life. In a recent French poll of images that come to mind when thinking of America, 67% of those polled said “violence” and 49% “inequality” as opposed to only 20% who said “freedom” and 4% “generosity” (3). In Europe, Americans are stereotyped by globalization as being shallow, spoiled, and shortsighted. Tim Synder writes that only a little more than ten years ago, America was a great model of democracy. “As an American I was asked about Paul Revere, Thomas Jefferson, and the Constitution. In 1998, I’m asked about Paula Jones, William Jefferson Clinton, and the Fifth Amendment” (4). What happened between those ten years that would drastically change the way Europe and the world view American life? Even President Bush isn’t exempt from this kind of stereotyping. When asked to describe President Bush in France, the most popular answers are “a ventriloquist’s dummy” and “the Forrest Gump of American politics” (3). In Singapore, words like violence, workaholism, and disrespect for authority are all synonyms for the “American Way.” “In your movies and your materialism, we don’t see the real America,” writes Simon Tay, a Harvard grad and lawyer from Singapore trying to explain this misperception (6). When looked at around the world, Americanization seems to have the opposite effect than what was imagined, causing many nations to incorrectly stereotype America.
Aside from American TV and celebrities, I had never thought that American stereotypes could also stem from American globalization, so I found this an interesting read. And I must say that if I had lived in a different country, I would be against “Americanization” too! (I prefer all-things-Japanese if I had my way!!) However, I believe this problem has a solution. Being that American globalization has taken over the world, I feel the French and Germans raising taxes and tariffs on foreign companies and investors justified. I feel that other countries should also follow suit as those in Israel are doing too. With that said, I also believe in the boycott of American products as well. For example, when I was living in Japan, I saw McDonalds, Coca Cola, and other Americanisms – so to speak. Because I favor Japanese food and products over American, I would, for the most part, buy Japanese over there. I also had a TV in my Japanese apartment and had a choice of what to watch. I had absolutely NO problem in Japan avoiding American products. Easy beans.
While I believe that globalization IS a REAL problem, I find it troubling when I watch other countries consume what we make and feel that all Americans are “such and such” when you really cannot place such a “label” on over 300 million people that come from all over living in America.
Some say that the “Mexicans are taking over” here in the US. I find (read carefully, now)ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION to be a REAL problem too —– HOWEVER, I don’t blame the Mexicans. That would be stupid. If I was Mexican, heck, I’d try to leave my country illegally too. I find their motives justified. But I blame the American government/Bush and $$$$ Corporate $$$$ America $$$$ Fat $$$$ Cats $$$$ for allowing this to happen —- NOT the Mexicans.
Anyway, this is not to imply that Mr. Multicultural Jeff, the author of the aforementioned blog is a full-throttle Americanophobe nor is it to suggest that he is guilty of being indoctrinated to believe in the “Ugly American” stereotype that blankets us all. I read his “about me” section and he notes how he traveled two different cities in the US. He describes the US as being a “cultural wasteland” as proudly noted in his blog. I mention what I mention because what’s stated in his blog is nothing out of the usual from what one would hear from an Americanophobic Canadian – which is definitely not uncommon.
Same ole song. Same ole song. *yawn*
How is the United States a “cultural wasteland” when other countries continue to buy and use this “waste”? See, the hypocrisy? Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
For every few fit-pitching disgruntled and insecure Americanophobe, I find one civilian who doesn’t subscribe to such blind hatred. One can only assume from this post —> (a Canadian Tribute to Memorial Day) that this Canadian gentleman judges people by the individual and notthe group they belong to. Go visit Fracas. He’s a nice guy, has a nice blog, and if you’re a WordPress user, he’s also very helpful.
Before I end this post, may I just formally apologize for my fellow Americans that think you guys live in an igloo and ride polar bears? I am profoundly humiliated and embarrassed by this. My first experience with Canadians head-on was when I was living in Japan. They used to work with me. I never thought these crazy things about them, and am having a HUGE problem with those Americans that do think you all live in… igloos. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. So, please accept my apology. I feel your frustration as I’ve been on the end of stereotypes being an American. But please know that not all Americans are this STUPID.
To any Canadians reading this, if you have a problem with my challenging the views of the Americanophobic Canadians, you should be just as upset (if you’re fair and impartial) with the thoughts that I’m challenging. If AA Canadians are bold enough to flaunt publicly about how they feel about Americans, then they should also be just as bold and prepared to expect a reaction. I also recommend taking the thumb that is in the bum and switching it with the one that is in the mouth for a change… or to mix things up a bit. Amuse me. I get bored easily
You want to know the best way to put those yanks in their place? Just tell them, “You Amerikkkans are all stupid!” Tell them how low their IQ scores are, how they can’t pass the SAT, and how they cannot find any countries on the map. Tell them how they don’t know anything about their own countries let alone anything about the world outside them. If you still haven’t irritated them enough to get them off their “superior” throne of “religious patriotism”, one thing that is sure to make a yank fall flat on their feet and surrender to their holy righteous elitist friends across the pond and to the north of the border is to send them a link to this video.
By now, you should feel better. The yank has listened. He or she may become defensive, but you know in your heart that, “you won”.
But did you? Well, you may have fooled some yanks into thinking that they’re less superior to you. It is those yanks that truly don’t know about the rest of the world and about the people living in their own country. Pray (in the secular way, of course) your darndest that you’ve insulted a dumb yank. But what if you are insulting a yank who knows… a little something. We yanks who DO know a thing or two are a bit more common than you’d like to think. So, be careful — as you don’t know who you’re running up against.
So, did you really win?
Anybody who knows about this “jaywalking industry”, will also know that they interview hundreds of Americans and just pick the dumbest ones to broadcast on air. And this is another thing to keep in mind: (Courtesy of Bruce Bawer)
One reason why Europeans view Americans as ignorant is that when we don’t know something, we’re more likely to admit it freely and ask questions. While Americans, I saw, cherished liberty, Europeans tended to take it for granted or dismiss it as a naïve or cynical, and somehow vaguely embarrassing, American fiction.
I found myself toting up words that begin with i: individuality, imagination, initiative, inventiveness, independence of mind. Americans, it seemed to me, were more likely to think for themselves and trust their own judgments, and less easily cowed by authorities or bossed around by “experts”; they believed in their own ability to make things better. No wonder so many smart, ambitious young Europeans look for inspiration to the United States, which has a dynamism their own countries lack, and which communicates the idea that life can be an adventure and that there’s important, exciting work to be done. Reagan-style “morning in America” clichés may make some of us wince, but they reflect something genuine and valuable in the American air. Europeans may or may not have more of a “sense of history” than Americans do (in fact, in a recent study comparing students’ historical knowledge, the results were pretty much a draw), but America has something else that matters—a belief in the future.
I will be the first to admit that there ARE many Stupid Americans. Yes! Yes! We ARE stupid! Very! We are stupid when we compare the US to …the US. BUT… when you compare the US to other countries, mmm…. things change a bit to the tune of…. well, we’re *not* all as “different” (in the department of smartness) as you Americanophobic Canadians and Europeans would like to think.
Why don’t we do a little exploring?
The problem with Americanophobia is a strong sense of “moral superiority” coupled with “over-confidence”, so much over-confidence to the point where Americanophobes typically filter what they read or learn to suit their own agenda leading to just about the same amount of ignorance that they accuse 300+ million Americans that they’ve never met before of. And here are pages and pages of examples of British unintelligence and ignorance.
People like me know that a lot of you Americanophobes get your information from the biased media, hearsay (mom and dad), Noam Chomsky, Al Gore, and your all time favorite hero, Michael Moore. (He’s the one man you excuse for being fat.) But is he FAT with knowledge when it comes to accurate statistic gathering and information?
Let’s take a look at that, shall we?
Remember that book you read so many times that you’ve lost count of called, “Stupid White Men” by Michael Moore? (Psst…. yes, that’s the same book that brainwashed you to believe that all Americans are white.) Anyway, some people took him to task and challenged his statistics. What did they find? They found data that Michael Moore conveniently left out. You can read the full rebuttal here, and I’ll just leave the key points for you to examine.
Case Study #1:
Many factors help to explain why so many adults demonstrated English literacy skills in the lowest proficiency level defined (Level 1). Twenty-five percent of the respondents who performed in this level were immigrants who may have been just learning to speak English. Nearly two-thirds of those in Level 1 (62 percent) had terminated their education before completing high school. A third were age 65 or older, and 26 percent had physical, mental, or health conditions that kept them from participating fully in work, school, housework, or other activities. Nineteen percent of the respondents in Level 1 reported having visual difficulties that affect their ability to read print.
Not to mention that 4% of those surveyed (1,100 of 26,000) were serving time in jail. Surprise: functional English literacy is not high among the blind and visually-impaired, people learning to speak English, and prison inmates. This hardly makes the US a place that “GOES OUT OF ITS WAY TO REMAIN STUPID AND IGNORANT,” in Moore’s typically capitalized phrase. (SWM, p. 87). By the way, as the National Adult Literacy Survey confirmed, a disproportionate share of those Moore labels “STUPID AND IGNORANT” happen to be blacks and hispanics.
In any event, as Michael Moynihan points out, limited functional literacy is a worldwide event: “almost 20 per cent of Australian adults had inadequate literacy skills to be effective in everyday life;” “some 25 per cent of Irish adults are functionally illiterate and approximately another 20 per cent can perform only simple reading and writing tasks;” “American teenagers rank higher than the Germans in all three subjects (math, literacy and science); 30 percent of Germans drop out of university, roughly equivalent to Mexico;16% hold university degrees, compared with 35% in the United States.”
Frankly, if Mike was of the working class, instead of a pretender to it, he’d understand something that I learned back in the No. 1 tunnel at Pima Mines. These guys may not write like Shakespeare, or go home to read Neitzsche and Spengler, but they are smart, live in the real world, and know one heck of a lot about the things that matter. I was in college, working summers, eventually bound for a doctorate in law — and they left me in the dust when it came to knowledge of current politics.
Case Study #2: Is it purely an American phenomenon when it comes to the inability to read maps properly?
Young adults worldwide are not markedly more literate about geography than the Americans. On average, fewer than 25 percent of young people worldwide could locate Israel on the map. Only about 20 percent could identify hotspots like Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Of all the young adults in the survey, only about one-third in Germany, Sweden and Japan, could name four countries that officially acknowledge having nuclear weapons. In the rest of the countries that number dropped to less than a quarter. In France 24 percent did not know that that their own country was a nuclear nation.
The facts…
89% of Canadians couldn’t locate Iraq on a map, a higher “ignorance rate” than that of the United States.
81% of Canadians couldn’t locate Israel on a map
5% of Canadians couldn’t locate Canada on a map
90% of Britons couldn’t locate Iraq on a map, again a worse figure than that of the US
21% of Britons couldn’t locate the USA on a map
7% of Britons couldn’t locate the England on a map
Swedes scored highest in the poll — but even there 70% couldn’t find Iraq.
And possibly the world record on geographical foulups? The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has a granite map of North America on the floor of its lobby. A few minor problems: it shows shows Vancouver Island as a peninsula, and shows no trace of the Queen Charlotte Islands. In compensation for that loss, it gives Canada the state of Alaska. As the Ottawa Citizen reported,
This isn’t the first time a bold new geography has been created for the North American continent. In July, the inaugural issue of the Canadian Tourism Commission’s magazine, PureCanada, contained a map that eliminated Prince Edward Island, Labrador, Halifax and Fredericton.
And just last month, Ottawa International Airport’s new terminal was opened, and a map in the baggage area located Atlanta in the middle of Alabama, Chicago in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., in Virginia. Perhaps the map was meant to indicate where your luggage would end up. You know, if you fly to Atlanta, you’ll have to pick up your bags in Alabama, and so on.
Case Study 4: Stupid British people
To show American ignorance isn’t different from Canadian ignorance, you may want to look at these two reads:
Oh Canadians love to exalt themselves above Americans for their lack of knowledge about Canada. Yet Canadians are equally ignorant and arrogant about even their own country. Surprisingly even the CBC seems to agree on this one:
“It’s not the first time I’ve encountered this kind of ignorance. When I arrived at Carleton University in Ottawa to study journalism, some of my classmates wondered if I was there because there were no universities in Alberta. I am not making this up! Others found it curious that my parents would choose such a province to live in. They never spelled it out but it was always, “Oh, you’re from Alberta? Really? I thought only cowboys lived there.” Then the ha-ha.”
But you ask, why do we always find videos about Stupid Americans on Youtube and on TV all the time?
Dumb Americans are a money-making machine in the US. We don’t mind internationally humiliating ourselves in public. Americans love to poke fun at the dumb just as much as you guys do! However, the difference between Americans and those from other countries, is the televised exposure of said ignorance. The very fact that you are entertained by our stupidity, puts money into our pockets. (Psst… remember, we’re the fat greedy capitalists that will do ANYTHING for money – ANYTHING.)
A blogger from a non-American country (I don’t know where he’s from) mentioned possible reasons as to why Americans can come off as “stupid”.
I feel quite perplexed sometimes as to why there is so much animosity towards American’s and their culture. I feel as though I have missed something because as far as I can see, and from friendships I have with American’s, I just don’t see anything wrong with them (on an individual level). They are the most positive people I have ever met.
Then he starts to talk about our TV over here:
“…Actually on that point, I believe that TV is the main culprit that contributes to the animosity towards America. Firstly the programs that we have on TV do not paint American’s as the most brightest of people.
We are all influenced by our senses, and what rewards those senses. When what we see on TV is full of a collective of people that are doing humiliating things then we are rewarded by almost feeling empowered that we are not part of that culture. Does that make sense? To me it does. I may seem quite bent against the media at the moment, which I am, and also is a quite contradictory as my family is full of people in the media – like my oscar/bafta winning sister – my internationally known photographer brother – etc etc – but I can really see that a lot of ills in this world are the direct consequence of what is on TV. Is that really a surprise though? We are all but sheep looking here and there for where to go. Even the most head strong of people are to a point easily influenced. We are all born a blank slate. I really did digress.. must focus!So I believe that a lot of what feeds this anti-American sentiment is the direct result on what we see on TV and read on the paper.”
When I was younger I travelled quite a bit but now that I have to pay my own bills I am forced to work, which has reduced my travel abroad.
Each country has their own strange quirky trait. But I’ve tried not to classify the people of that region based on that.
I am from the US, as you can probably tell, and the funny thing is that nobody in the US watches that kind of TV unless you are unemployed or brain dead.
I’m not saying you are, but for some reason this stupid TV is passed to other shores.
When I was younger, I based my opinion of Brits on Benny Hill.
Americans, for the most part are hard workers and care about the things that are important. Please note; just as in every society, in every country there are different levels of socio-economic classes. The US has the same.
It is very true that a picture of the average “Uncle Sam” is created in one’s mind from the TV that Canadians and Europeans secretly love to watch. They say that they hate these shows and only watch them to laugh at the Americans. Newsflash: That’s the same reason that those stupid shows are so popular over here. Why are they so popular in Canada, Europe, America and all over the world? Because we (everybody) actually DO feel “empowered” or better about ourselves when we watch a bunch of idiots making FOOLS out of themselves. I even talked to my husband about this phenomenon. I have my own short-comings as much as the next person, and by watching goofy people on Jerry Springer(which is 95% fake anyway), I feel that I’m not so bad after all. Any current problem that I may be tackling in the present is no longer the big issue I had thought it to be after watching someone on The Maury Show having banged 1554500645 guys and wonder whom the father is for each baby. My life isn’t so bad any more…..
And the end of the day, we’re all humans, aren’t we?
Next, if you read, “Hating America” by Bruce Bawer (an American living in Europe), you will see that Europeans put the same amount of smart cards on table as Americans. We’re just about even. Or are we?
I moved from the U.S. to Europe in 1998, and I’ve been drawing comparisons ever since. Living in turn in the Netherlands, where kids come out of high school able to speak four languages, where gay marriage is a non-issue, and where book-buying levels are the world’s highest, and in Norway, where a staggering percentage of people read three newspapers a day and where respect for learning is reflected even in Oslo place names (“Professor Aschehoug Square”; “Professor Birkeland Road”), I was tempted at one point to write a book lamenting Americans’ anti-intellectualism—their indifference to foreign languages, ignorance of history, indifference to academic achievement, susceptibility to vulgar religion and trash TV, and so forth. On point after point, I would argue, Europe had us beat.
Yet as my weeks in the Old World stretched into months and then years, my perceptions shifted. Yes, many Europeans were book lovers—but which country’s literature most engaged them? Many of them revered education—but to which country’s universities did they most wish to send their children? (Answer: the same country that performs the majority of the world’s scientific research and wins most of the Nobel Prizes.)
Yep, you guessed it. America. Oh and the hypocrisy?
“…And while Americans’ relative indifference to foreign news is certainly nothing to crow about, the provincial focus of Norwegian news reporting and public-affairs programming can feel downright claustrophobic. Hertsgaard illustrates Americans’ ignorance of world geography by telling us about a Spaniard who was asked at a wedding in Tennessee if Spain was in Mexico. I once told such stories as well (in fact, I began my professional writing career with a fretful op-ed about the lack of general knowledge that I, then a doctoral candidate in English, found among my undergraduate students); then I moved to Europe and met people like the sixtyish Norwegian author and psychologist who, at the annual dinner of a Norwegian authors’ society, told me she’d been to San Francisco but never to California.”
Americans dominate medicine and science: US medical schools are at the top of the world. Doctors come from all over the world to train in the US with the biggest teaching hospitals being the Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins. We globally dominate the modern pop culture that YOU secretly devour. The most inventions and patents in technology are attributed to the US. Some examples are the lightbulb (Thomas Edison got the 1st one working *commercially*), telegraph: Samuel F. B. Morse (“Although many researchers had worked on similar projects prior to Morse, his was the first instrument that could successfully send messages across wires utilizing electricity”).
More information on our inventions can be found here.
James Dreyer has some insight on “Stupid Americans”.
Let’s define “stupid” before we begin to answer the question, “Are Americans really stupid versus the rest of the World?”. Webster defines “stupid” as being “slow of mind; given to unintelligent decisions or acts; lacking intelligence or reason”, etc.
Well, that clears that up.
Are Americans slow of mind? Some are; some aren’t.
Are Americans given to unintelligent decisions or acts? Sometimes.
Are Americans lacking in intelligence or reason? Some are.
Are all Americans stupid? No. Are Americans the only Nationality that are slow of mind at times, make unintelligent decisions every once in awhile, or may be lacking in intelligence or reason? No.
I think that the topic may have been better worded to ask, “Why do American Students appear to be lagging behind students in other part of the World?”. I have an answer for that one…
Bush won the popular vote AND the electoral college vote. He won by 2%
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an electoral voting system in America that, in my opinion, is unfair and not indicative of a democracy. In EVERY election, the electoral colleges decide. The popular vote doesn’t really count.
So, to you yank-haters out there, no… we Americans don’t all think alike. With 300+ million Americans, how could anyone think that we’d all think the same? We’re very diverse in every way, shape, and form. And I like America because of this.
But really, we still have a problem with Stupid Americans. Here’s one man’s explanation. I find it to be very true. And at the end, he says something that we all should keep in mind:
It all boils down to the fact that knowledge and intelligence are two different issues. Rote memorization of world capitals does not equate intelligence.
I do find it interesting that Europeans have such strong opinions on this, considering that there are many more pressing issues to be concerned about. Perhaps the steady European refrain of “Americans are stupid” is a reflection of their own deep-rooted insecurity. You know — an inferiority complex.
Anyway, let’s just say for the sake of argument that ALL Americans are “stupid”. Why would that be something to get so alarmed about insomuch to wait all day for an American to pass by on the internet or in the streets of London to flame them? Why be obsessed so much with a group of dumb people? Do you argue with people who have Down Syndrome? Well, of course not! Then, why do you chase Americans around all day? There are American Pride groups on Facebook (not as much as there are Canadian Pride groups, mind you). Here’s what’s interesting for me. In every American Pride group on Facebook, the number of Britons and Canadians significantly OUTWEIGH the number of Americans in those groups. I find that quite the fascinating. Brits and Canadians purposefully search for American Pride groups for this purpose and this purpose only: to taunt. Now, if you don’t do this with the mentally retarded, why… oh why do you pick on the stupid, stupid fickle-minded Americans? If they don’t know what they’re talking about, why bother with them? Could it be that you’re just as stupid as THEM and you feel an irresistible emotional connection?
I will fess up. I argue with the Americanophobes. And, yes, I’m very stupid for that.
And when you call all Americans stupid (by the way), you’re not only wrong, you’re not only being inflammatory and juvenile, but you’re also being racist. Did it not ever occur to you that blacks, Mexicans, Asians…etc are all Americans too? But now that we’re on the topic of “racism”, you might not want to be too overly confident about your IQ scores.
In any event, if you cannot find any other ways to piss off the mentally-challenged AKA “the Americans”, you can always use this as a last resort.
I wrote this post a while back in response to the popular notion that Americans (white Americans) “mold” every person that decides to immigrate to the US into doing things the “All-American-White-Way” in that we train immigrants to be obnoxious, obese, racists, stupid, and greedy.
I must say, I’m increasingly getting sick and tired of people accusing American-whites left, right, and center of being “racist”. It infuriates me that just because of the color of my skin and where I was born (had no control over that, by the way), I am assumed to automatically be a “racist”. Interestingly enough, the African Americans are nowhere near as noisy about “racism” as the “cultural elitist” white population in Canada or Europe… who have never stepped foot in the US. And if someone can tell me how Caucasians are “oppressing” the blacks in the US, I’d really love to know. Yes, I’m aware that hate crimes exist. Yes, I’m aware that racism STILL exists in America. Yes, I feel that it’s wrong. But coming from Americanophobic Canadians and Europeans who claim to have the “upper hand” on “worldly matters” are nothing more than *clueless* as to what truly is both going on in the states and in other countries (including their own) abroad.
My friends, it’s “Guilt by Association” – just for being White (…and living in the US). Let me start off with this video:
If you are European or Canadian and aren’t a Americanophobe (see definition), can you have friends that are Americanophobes and visa versa? Can you speak about any positive feelings about the US publicly in your country? How about Australians? Or New Zealanders? I’d be most curious.
A gentleman named, Chris, who lives in Germany was kind enough to not only answer my questions, but also gave me a lot of his personal experiences (as a German citizen) about his country and his people. He replies after reading my blog post:
And for the questions you ask:
Yes, I am able to express positive feelings on the US, I am able to write it to you and on YouTube and I have never been shot or insulted for this I don*t believe all Americans are of the same opinion (would be hard work to reach this in such a big and multicultural country) And to do it in short…. Americans and europeans are not that different as some would claim.
I made it clear to him that that I knew he’d never get shot at for his opinions. He understood and gave me a thorough answer.
I decided to have a new try, to answer your question, when I woke up this morning and thought about it… it would have been really easy for me, to simply reply: “hmmm? Oh yes sure, sure – can do that, whenever I want to…” but then I decided to simply – try it I got a discussion going with the people in my class (many of them are not of my opinion in some things, so I thought, it would be the best place to start this ^^) and our history teacher… nice thing – this is surely not representative, but I think at least the evidence, that I can do it.
I asked this… “Isn*t it ridiculous, how many people here in europe judge the american citizens, without even having talked to one of them? Surely not everything the US is doing is great, but this rather is concerning the american politics and not the USA at a whole! I think the USA is a great nation!”…. And we discussed about that – some were of my opinion, some were more cirtical on the US – some simply didn*t care or participate… and our teacher participated, too - even if this was completly terminating his plan for the lesson ^^…. We even discussed this while we had brake and so any teacher was arround to concern about an anti-american answer… but… the people were taking this serious and really thought about it – not one attacked or even insulted me for being of this opinion. Thanks for the idea ^^, this was interesting ^^
This was very interesting for me to read. I see diversity in thought. Not the “just following the crowd” mentality going on there at all. Could it be because it’s a college community? I don’t know. But how refreshing is that? A stark contrast from what you can find here.
It appears that Canadian grade schools have a reputation for teaching their students to compare themselves to the United States. We know America is no angel, but I’ve heard no evidence of Canadians ever being taught anything the states did RIGHT. As you can see from my sidebar and previous postings, their knowledge of past wars are frighteningly distorted (the Americanophobic Canadians, that is). I’ve heard many Canadians say that America’s role in WWII was, if anything, minimal and at maximum, self-serving. All I hear, basically, is “Shame on you for Hiroshima and Nagasaki!!”. If you hear this once, you think… well, that person’s just clueless. If you hear it twice, you think … “Well, I ran into another bad egg”… If you hear it time after time after time, it makes you wonder, “What are Canadians learning about the US in their school system – especially when they’re in grade school at that young and vulnerable age?”. They are also led to believe that they successfully burned down the White House in the War of 1812 – when technically the credit is reserved for the British. (Aren’t Canadians about “peace-keeping”, anyway?) While there may have been Canadians among the troops, the main Gold Star goes to Britain. So, I wonder. But when you read articles like this, it makes you wonder EVEN MORE. Perhaps, maybe a Canadian can give me some clarification on this?
To be fair, I’ve seen Americans online announce publicly that the US (and the US exclusively) was responsible for defeating Nazism in WWII. I feel embarrassed when I hear these things. I wonder where they get this from, but suspect that it was taught to them by their parents. The fact of the matter IS – is that ANY COUNTRY not part of the Axis of Evil in WWII WON the war and liberated the Germans! It was a TEAM effort.
So, with that said, young people are brainwashed from their own homes. Sadly.
Let’s hear what Chris learned about WWII in Germany.
What am I taught at school….
WW2 and the NAZI-regime were the biggest mistakes in german history. The victory of the allies and the reconstruction of the european nations and their lasting peace were possible through the participation, help and engagement of the USA. Without the participation of the US after WW2, france and other european nations would have ripped germany appart. (The french for example wanted to make us a agrar-nation (farm land)… in other words… a third world nation – so we could never attack them again. By reminding me, that we attacked their country in both world wars I can understand this position.)
The USA are the ones who taught germany how to run and start a democracy. The USA are the nation, who prevented germany from being overrun by the russian communism.
We are educated to LOVE the USA for their work here. And actually – many germans emigrated to the USA – In the past – starting with the colonialisation of America – to avoid the several german dictatorships and wars, or simply because they liked what they heared about the USA and wanted to live there.
Nowadays – because the USA in our eyes is a great nation and is a big economic power….. and maybe simply because many of our relatives already live over there Just by the way… Every time I see an american on tv, who has an german first or second name I have to smile – sometimes simply because of the spelling of this name (american style)
Chris also criticized some things about America as well, and could not have put it in a more constructive way.
I have a couple of friends in America and so am more in touch with what is on vogue in the US, than many people here… The US have a BIG problem – which is not actually, that you attacked iraq, but that you (dangerous word—I don*t really mean you as a person, or the citizens of the USA) put a really scary picture of the US in the world.
To be honest – simply the way mr.bush tends to explain his intentions is frightening me… I hear about a “crusade” against the “evil” of a worldwide war on terror… of an axis of evil, which is not clearly defined, so that I don*t know which nation is next (Iran or Syria I guess).
I hear and see, that the USA attacks nations without respecting international law – using torture and mercanaries as an instrument for the modern war – I hear and see on YouTube, how patriots are grunting at everyone, that they could “f*** the whole world – and every nation in it” and so on and on and on.
I*m scared and frightened (as many europeans), that all this will result in additional international instabilities, or another worldwar. So much for the european perspective… they can*t do anything about it and they are frightened of big, powerfull USA raging arround all over the world – and this creates anger and maybe even hate…
The Europeans can*t really support the US and they can*t really judge their actions, for they are threatened by the islamic fundamentalists, too – our own extremists (extreme left or right) over here use this situation for their own benefit, by giving simple answers to the big questions (USA is evil – fullstop) So don*t feel too offended by them, for they are only a minority and in an adition – maniacs (I mean it – I know the Neonazis over here – And you know your maniacs over there.)
I*m not going to write about the unbelievable things islamic fundamentalists are doing to their and our people (here and in their originate countries), because I think we both are well informed about this, through media. And I don*t think, that I really have to point out, that every human being should be terrified by this and though I am not going to try to justify it, nor do I think, that it could ever be justified by anyone.
The big question for me is… what do I want to think about all this?
- The USA has been attacked -
Fact for me! I don*t believe WTC was an inside job! And even if it was – this would denounce the US-gouvernment to consist of total barbarians, but would NEVER justify the islamic terror on the other hand – which IN FACT is existing
- and as every nation, responsible for the safety of it*s citizens, the USA has to react.
So the “war on terror” is not to evade and – from my point of view – justified. The way this war is fought is odd, and as every war dirty – and as every crusade it*s about profit, too. International right is violenced, Iraq is more likely to be an chaotic Anarchy, than a Democracy after this and the target of a clean and reasonable war was failed once again – for there will never be a war to ensure peace and war will never be clean.
This is very fair, balanced, and constructive criticism of the US. Notice how up above he stated very positive things about America, but also was able to talk about his disappointment without insulting Americans. Also notice how he *included* other crimes (re: his own folk and Islamic Fundamentalists) not associated with the US. He’s not part of the “blame America first” committee. He doesn’t blame ME for all of his problems. He *doesn’t* have a black and white view of the complex world that we live in. This is the kind of criticism that I can handle because it sees me as a human being and is intelligent enough to differentiate American people from the government. A lot of people are ignorant about the US and assume that the people have the control and power to moderate the actions of our government – when, in fact, we don’t have that power. Yes, we ARE a democracy. But we only have so much control. We have the same amount of control Canadian and British citizens have or those from other developed nations. I don’t know where people get the idea that I can just go to the White House and throw Bush out and re-write foreign policy. Sadly, some people expect Americans to do this. I said this before, and I’ll say it again. We have an electoral voting system here that I find to be a bit unfair. (Bush did *not* win the 2000 election, by the way). The popular vote doesn’t assume the next president. The electoral vote decides. I disagree with this. And even for those that DID vote for Bush… who would have known in advance about the Iraq War? Don’t get me wrong, though. We have many Iraqi War supporters here. While I disagree with them, I don’t judge them.
Chris is obviously educated in a sophisticated kind of way and knows how to communicate his feelings intelligently, thoroughly and reasonably.
It is becoming increasingly VERY popular on Youtube to create, “Why People Hate America” videos. Just put those terms in the search engine over at Youtube, and you’ll find so many videos like these, that you’ll be overwhelmed. I received 1,230 results.
This is my point of view: If you see something as ALL GOOD or ALL BAD, you’re not thinking. There’s (aside from the obvious evils) good and bad in EVERYTHING. Too many people who critique the US neglect to mention anything positive, and just as importantly, neglect to mention the evils that exist elsewhere in the world. Some radicals go as far as sympathizing with the terrorists. But there’s something else that’s not mentioned in a lot of foreigners’ criticisms of America. Can you guess? In this article, there’s a tiny hint:
Britain’s opinion of the United States has sunk to an all-time low, according to a YouGov poll that revealed only 12pc of Britons trusted America to act wisely on the world stage.
The Daily Telegraph defended the superpower in a Leader article, “To Hate America is to Hate Mankind”arguing that to dislike such a diverse country is misanthropic as well as ungrateful, given America’s benign intervention in various European conflicts.
Do you think it is hypocritical of Britain to demonise the United States, while supporting its foreign policy and copying its social trends? Or does the UK have a legitimate case for backing away from the ’special relationship’?
Have recent controversies such as the war in Iraq and the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo bay affected your feelings about America?
Yes….. they forget to mention that their own countries (i.e. Canada and Britain) are doing the same things. It’s also interesting to note that these two countries are the MOST vocal in their hatred of the US… on the internet, that is. A lot of people like to say things like, “… and YOU ALWAYS DRAG US INTO FIGHTING YOUR STUPID WARS….” Who’s dragging who? America is *NOT* responsible for your leader’s decision to send their troops to Afghanistan OR Iraq. Nobody has a gun to anyone’s head. Remember how YOU blame us for voting in Bush? It would be nice if the Americanophobic Canadians and British could own up to some of the responsibility instead of using that tired “victim card”.
You can take a look at the comment section of that article too. It’s very interesting. You’ll see both balanced and unbalanced views there. There are 286 comments posted. The majority of the comments are obviously posted by British people. But I cannot help but to share one view from an American that’s after my own heart (which are comments # 8 and 9).
As an American, please allow me to begin by asserting that our nation has had its strengths and its weaknesses, its successes and its failures, and its justices and injustices throughout history and continuing into the present. Although I sense much patriotism for my homeland, I recognize our need for humility to understand that our country is not above questioning or reproach but is rather under the same standards as all other nations of the world. I would simply like to ask those who view our country from afar to maintain a balanced perspective and realize too that there exists good and bad in America, both in terms of its domestic society and politics as well as in its relations with other nations.
Whilst there may be growing anti-Americanism in the United Kingdom I do not believe such sentiment to be reciprocated on our side of the Atlantic. I viewed a recent survey that indicated most Americans view England positively, and never have I seen the flag of your country (or any other foreign land, for that matter) burned in the streets of our cities. Clearly we as American citizens have not meant to be your enemies.
This is exactly how I feel.
Speaking of “copying America’s trends”, Cappl spoke about this going on in Germany too.
We germans are listening to your music, eat your food (ok most of the time your _fastfood_, but hey we really like it anyway), watch hollywood films, many dress american style (I dislike HipHop, but it may show this the best.), we are learning your language – as it*s the world language… and watch thousands of documentaries about your – history, culture, problems – and so on and on and on… And by the way – we are using many english words even while we speak german! Want to see some examples?
“Das ist so verdammt cool!”
“OK, das hab ich verstanden.”
“Verdammter Bug! Immer, wenn ich das Game starte, flieg ich raus und lande auf meinem Desktop!”
!!! hey we guys like you !!!
ok – most of us like you…
This is not specific to Germany, either. In fact, the majority of those who moan, groan, and spit at the USA and it’s people are ’secretly’ devouring our popular culture. Here is just one of the numerous examples that was mentioned in the article and in the video, “How European Media Damages America“:
“Anti-Americanism is hypocrisy at its finest,” he added. “You can spend your evening catching the latest episode of “24″ and then complain about Guantanamo the next morning.”
I’m going to continue this topic with a Part II, but I’d like to finish this with one fine quote:
“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
We live in a very “black and white” world where if you’re not a slut, you must be prudish. If you agree that a conservative person was right about something, you must be a neo-con. If Obama doesn’t get elected as president, all Americans are racist. If Hillary doesn’t get elected, all Americans are sexist and primitive. If you openly admit you didn’t vote for Bush, you must be an acid-tripping-tree-hugging-bleeding-heart hippie leftist. If you’re into moderate politics, you must be either a radical liberal or a radical conservative hiding underneath. If you say that you’re agnostic, some people think that you’re just too scared to say you’re an atheist. If you’re against Americanophobia, you must be pro-Bush. If you welcome the freedom of Christians to practice their religion, you are automatically assumed to be a bible-thumping red-neck Fundamentalist. If you support Israel, you’re automatically pinned as “hater” of Islam. If you feel that invading Afghanistan was justified, you are to be presumed a “war monger”. If you support the troops, you are thought to be FOR the war. If you make friends with liberals, you are to be assumed that you are one too. If you make friends with conservatives, you are assumed to be one of “them”. If you are against the violence of Fundamental Islam, you are considered to be “Islamophobic”. If you’re an American, you must be white, fat, lazy, stupid, individualistic, ignorant, arrogant, a greedy capitalist, a racist, a homophobe, materialistic, rich, overly patriotic, a religious fundamentalist, a neo-conservative, a war-monger that is obsessed with McDonalds, guns, violence, SUVs all while stepping on the poor man’s toe to obtain it all. This is how Americanophobic nationalists from other western countries perceive Americans.
But does this mean that if you’re a non-American, you are non-Caucasian, slender, politically correct, hard-working, intelligent, generous, humble, tolerant, don’t buy expensive things (because you’re saving that money to send to South Africa), you’re poor or belong to the lower middle class, you share your money with those that need it without question, you say “we” instead of “I”, you’re not patriotic, you’re an atheist, a radical Noam Chomsky liberal, against all wars, eat very healthy, exercise a lot, have no guns, are non-violent, you drive a tiny car, and if someone you know at work wants to get ahead or promoted, you do whatever you can to cooperate to help your co-workers move up in the company sacrificing your own status. You are a very nice and self-less person who never throws his trash on the floor?
This is the world we live in. Simple-minded people come from all over.
Critical thinking is beginning to phase out little by little as insecure, bitter, and lazy individuals find it always easier to follow whatever the popular hype is at the time. They find strength in numbers. They are blind. They are sheep. They refuse to see the world in the complex shades of gray that it really is. Forget America. The entire world is dumbing down. The media has latched on to many people and have taken them hostage. Is it really the media’s fault, though? In my opinion, no. It’s always the fault of the one who chooses to be manipulated. Canadians and Europeans (the Americanophobic ones) will claim that their media is flawless. I find it natural for them to say this. If you are correctly brainwashed, you WON’T realize that you’ve been brainwashed. Your ears, to anything other than the popular consensus, are closed. Your eyes are forever shut to anything “out of the ordinary group think”.
Many Americans are brainwashed too.
But one thing that I admire about Americans is that we tend to vary more in our political opinions and opinions in general. We don’t have here a majority that thinks one way to such a degree that if someone were to deviate from “the norm”, we’d be considered a pariah.
Here are my questions: If you are European or Canadian and aren’t an Americanophobe (see definition), can you have friends that are Americanophobic and visa versa? Can you speak about any positive feelings about the US publicly in your country? How about Australians? Or New Zealanders? I’d be most curious. My guess is that it’s easier to have diversity of thought in a land that has over 300 million inhabitants such as America.
In a recent conversation with a Canadian that is against Americanophobia, the following only reconfirmed what I had previously felt. She states…
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.
Some say that all Americans do is watch Fox news and are brainwashed to believe that whatever Bush does is correct. But then we have people like Bill Maher, Howard Dean, George Carlin, Rosie O’Donnell, Michael Moore, Madonna, and literally TONS of American folk (or how about almost ALL of Hollywood) that speak out for the liberal party. Our press, as well, for the most part is liberal. You can find information on that here. Micheal Moore is a millionaire. If all of his profits were just made overseas, he wouldn’t be the success he is right now in the US. He has MANY fans here. But Americanophobes still run their mouths and complain that everything we touch, see, hear, smell and feel in the US is stars-and-stripes coated conservatism…. which is not true.
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 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.
How come people from other countries cannot see this??? Bush is hated just as much in the US. It’s the “black and white” simplistic-world-view phenomena. A bottled-up hatred that needs an outlet finds [insert nation] as a convenient target for its release. Whether it be temporary anger or anger-management issues in general, an angry person only sees “black and white”. However, a person willing to look at an issue at several different angles seeing all of its complex shades of gray is not an angry person with an ax to grind. I’ve watched myself make sweeping generalizations before, and in retrospect, I realized that I had been furious. When you’re angry, there’s no will or time to reason and explore both sides of anything. Your vision is narrow and you’re on a mission. Seeing the shades of gray would only cause a person to look inward and find faults within themselves. And when you’re angry, you don’t want to see that!
Here’s a black and white example for you:
“Anti-Americanism is at base a totalizing, if not totalitarian, vision. The peculiar blindness of fanaticism can be recognized in the way it seizes on a certain behavior of the hated object and sweepingly condemns it, only to condemn with equal fervor the opposite behavior shortly after–or even simultaneously….According to this vision–in the sense that Littre confers on the word: a ‘phantom projection, a credulous fantasy of fears, dreams, delusions, superstitions’ – Americans can do nothing but speak idiocies, make blunders and commit crimes; and they are answerable for all the setbacks, all the injustices and all the sufferings of the rest of humanity.” — Jean-Francois Revel
Being a moderate, it is hard for me to find other Americans that share the same views I have. I know that they’re out there though. I base my political stances on what the issue is. I know that I’m in the minority here. This is one political class that you don’t find as often in the states. We find more a mixture of liberals, radical liberals, conservatives, radical conservatives, and “apathists” (my new term for those that just don’t care).
Anyway, America is very diverse in thought. And while we are not an entirely a free country in every aspect, how many other countries out there would put up with a person who aggressively challenges its government, and globally exposes his country’s weaknesses via creating books and movies one after another? What would YOUR country do about a Micheal Moore equivalent?
In my last post (Part I), I discussed America’s “genocidal” behaviors and how other country’s mass murders and torturous behaviors are either overlooked, applauded or unknown. I also noted how Americanophobia criticizes Christianity yet embraces and supports Islamofascism. We also saw the hypocrisy in other countries saying the tired, “We know everything about YOU, but you know nothing about us” – which is not true as what our NATO “friends” know about us are distorted, exaggerated, and fabricated ‘truths’ consequently knowing very little to nothing about the US, the people, and our lifestyles. I would like to continue with more examples of Americanophobic hypocrisy, favoritism (bias), and just how off the wall ridiculously selfish and illogical it is.
Americans are often known as the “world evil” because of our Death Penalty
First off, not ALL states in America have the Death Penalty. Let’s take a look:
Next, please continue to protest against our harsh death penalty (lethal injection for 1st degree murderers), but while you’re marching, it would be only fair to *include* the death penalty in China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran and etcetera… wouldn’t you think?
This place is not Texas. It is Japan — the only industrial democracy other than our own that still regularly executes convicted murderers. In 2004, the Japanese conducted two executions by hanging, the sole method employed there. In some years, the rate is double or triple that. This is nowhere near the rate in the United States, where 59 convicted murderers were put to death in 2004. But there are many more murders in the United States than in Japan, and our population is 295 million people compared to Japan’s 127 million. When you adjust for those facts, Japan has recently been about as likely as Texas and Virginia to sentence killers to death.
You are judged according to the Sharia, the holy law; in the holy month of Ramadan a traditional moratorium of executions is observed. Death penalty is (sic) comminated for sex crimes, drug crimes, sabotage, corruption, witchcraft, mastication of qat, production/distribution/assumption of alcohol. The execution are often after unfair trials, without any security. The defendants can also have no defender lawyer, and the confessions, even if they are taken with torture, are accepted like valid evidence and could also be the only evidence for the death sentence. Used methods are the beheading with a sharp sword for the men and the firing party for the women; the married women who are culpable of adultery can also be stoned.
Executions take place in the main centres of the Kingdom, usually during the Friday afternoon prayers, in a square in front of the provincial governor’s mansion; a doctor is there to certify the (sic) condemned’s death. Beheading is particularly violent for the victim and for those who assist: the death caused with this system is often estimated fast and pitiful, sometimes many strokes are necessary to kill the victim, who dies after a very heavy suffering.
But of course, only America gets the spotlight for this.
Canada is Multicultural ….and non-arrogantly Patriotic?
I just ran into this blog posting. I thought Facebook might have been where most of the aggressive and bully-like Americanophobic Canadians hung out. I was wrong again. Let’s take a look at what I saw:
Proud Canadian | October 27th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Congrats,
being canadian is the best thing ever,
just a small comment to ” Eddi | September 18th” we are happy paying taxes as long as our government dont do anything stupid to make others hate us and kill us,
americans are afraid to go to all countries because 74% of world’s population hates americans.
What if she were an American, and it read, “Proud American” at the top instead? Well, it IS true, that for the most part, Americans get busted for showing any kind of liking to their homeland – even in the most innocent of ways, however, Canadians get a free pass. I’ve seen so many Canadians brag about the fact that they can travel anywhere and not get killed. Interesting, no? Does anyone not see the irony? NOTHING at all is said about those who murder Americans abroad. Nothing. Not even the tiniest bit of criticism is expressed. But if a crime is committed by an American, it’s a TERRIBLE thing. However, if committed on an innocent American, it’s justified. But we must keep in mind that “being a Canadian is the best thing everrrrrr“.
JMM | October 30th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Good game, but just remember that being Canadian is more than just possessing a passport. It means learning about and caring for our culture, our history and traditions.So my first suggestion for you is to move to Canada and live here for a while and start to discover the priceless gift of Canadian nationality that your mother passed on to you.
Hi Jmm? But aren’t you a “Multicultural Country”? Hmm….. No. Wait. Canada IS multicultural, but only for those people non-American-born. Sounds quite self-serving, doesn’t it? Remember, the Canadian nationality is a “priceless ‘gift“. Oh wait. I thought Canadians were more humble than that? As far as my experiences are concerned, I’ve never heard Americans taunting a to-be-citizen saying that “they must learn American culture“. Never. Wow.
Kevin | December 17th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
The great white North(CANADA) is the best Country in the world. I am proud to be a Canadian. And for all you stupid Americans. We gotta tell you it does not matter if we need visas for 5 additional countries than you ….but the matter of fact is that we are respected more than you in this world. so shut up EH!!!!!
I wonder… where are all these “quiet and humble patriots” that Canada often brags about. One of the things they say America doesn’t have is “humility”. Ya think?
josh | March 11th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Funny how every on knows the highest tax rates and the cost of Gas & Milk… What they don’t realize is that the average wage is about 30% higher… and the minimum wage is (on average) 25% percent higher… Not to mention 11 paid holidays, and a minimum 2 weeks vacation…… One thing I didn’t realize is that we seem to have a better education system too.
Is this another example of “humble Canadian pride“? Hmm.. Here’s another interesting contradiction: Now, they’re bragging (humble?) about their vacation time…. yet, they call Americans lazy? So, which is it? Oh, and it IS always nice to have a better education. (humble?).
Josee | March 25th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Hey man,
Good for you on citizenship. A few notes: It’s true – Canada has a fabulous reputation generally speaking in the international community and slapping a maple leaf on your backpack and flashing a bilingual passport wont make you Canadian.Please uphold the standards expected of us! I have faith though, you have the beard of a Canadian (aka, a champion).
Please “uphold the standards“? Again, Canada isn’t multicultural if you immigrate from America. Yet, at the same time, if you immigrate as a Muslim, they (the Americanophobes) will happily modify their “superior and refined ‘culture’” to suit yours to make you feel warm and welcomed. Americans, on the other hand, must “uphold their standards“. Islam, however, if you must commit an “honor killing”, we will respect this as it’s YOUR culture and we are so proud to be Canadian as we’re “multicultural”.
Let’s just be realistic and call it a myth, EH? Canada is the face of pseudo-multiculturalism. And I’ve witnessed many cases of this with my personal experience included. Once, a long time ago, I was very frustrated with how things were going on here in America, and I expressed this disappointment publicly also mentioning how it would be nice to move to Canada (this was a situational disgust that I was going through – I wasn’t very serious), and a Canadian came by to tell me that I wasn’t welcome to his country in fear that I would make his country “Americanized” or “too Republican“. Unreal. Never mind that I had made it VERY obvious that I was liberal….. Hence my definition of Americanophobia.
doesn’tmatter | December 17th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Congrats to your citizenship! I’m still working on becoming a permanent resident here in Canada. I am from Germany. I love both countries and I have to say that the friendliest people live in Canada. In the states I didn’t make any good experience. It starts already at the airport. You get treated like shit. I come from a country where you (as a single person) pay more than 50% taxes on your income. You pay 19% GST on everything you buy. But we also have a healthcare system that works. We don’t have to wait days to see a doctor. We care for the people with less than the others. We have people from all over the world living and studying there. Do the states care for their people? Why is it, that a country wastes every year 50% of its whole budget for defense when there is not even a real enemy? Couldn’t they use the money to repair their own country instead of destroying one after another? Just think about it…
While this person isn’t a Canadian, I found some of her comments to be interesting to say the least. Funny how 300 million people get all lumped together because of a few rude people. She came to the US already knowing that Americans were “the meanest people in the world“, so she was also probably looking for things. Little does she know that even Americans have a hectic time at the airport – especially post 9-11. There are two sides to every story. Maybe she was being smug (as she was in her post above) and she was disrespected back? I wonder if those people from other countries expect Americans to just take it up the arse… hence this article having to be written to survive the wrath of Canadian and European arrogance abroad. These days, hardly anybody comes back from either country with a good story. And they have the nerve to complain about us?? Give and take, no? (Another reason why Americanophobia isn’t productive)
Next, yes our health care is in trouble, but why did you even attempt to live in America when you knew this beforehand? And finally, America, being that it’s a superpower,(regardless if we have a REAL or “imagined” enemy), we must spend A LOT on our defense because if people like YOU get into trouble, we’re one of the first countries to defend your freedoms or pick up after your messes should there be a natural disaster. So, with that said, our defense money spending IS justified. We are the parents of the world. Not saying whether I agree with this or not; it’s just the way things are. My advice would be to get used to this and find more constructive ways to deal with it.
You know, if Europe and Canada don’t need our help, then why are they still a part of NATO? I think this kind of attitude is out of sheer selfishness and ungratefulness. I am beginning to doubt whether or not some of these countries are learning proper history in school. I guess this is the “thanks” we get for being partially responsible for saving Europe from Nazism and for getting rid of the Berlin Wall. In fact, I’ve heard on a few occasions of people saying, “What did America ever do, anyway?”. This is proof that it’s not just the US that is slipping in “education”. This is also why I believe that it isn’t just Americans that are “stupid“.
Americans don’t care about other countries and only a very few have passports?
Where did you get that we’re all like that? My husband and I buy recycled furniture and items. Craigslist and Ebay in the US IS very popular when it comes to buying used stuff, and so are thrift stores and yard sales. Only the minority
EH?!
), 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.
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.
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I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. So, please accept my apology. I feel your frustration as I’ve been on the end of stereotypes being an American. But please know that not all Americans are this STUPID.
Unreal. Never mind that I had made it VERY obvious that I was liberal….. Hence
I would like to add that, to a lot of people, the term “American” does not just refer to US citizens, but to citizens of all of America – that is, North, Central, and South, not just “United States of”.
Sometimes it seems that people forget that it is the United States *of* America, and think it is United States *is* America.
Also, I lived in the USA for 6 years on an H1B via and it is most definitely required to have a passport to travel within the USA. Also, in practical terms, everyone does need some form of identification almost all the time – usually a driver’s license.
In any case, it should be confirmed that the statistics actually do refer to only US citizens.