This is about bait-n-switch, people. Listen the hell up.
I am a 24/7/365 stoned freedom-hating socialist Neo-Nazi America-hating liberal jihadist Ayers-humping homo that has sex with goats. That is why I voted for Obama.
Obama made many promises to which he has yet to fulfil. The Right was right. He’s nothing but an empty suit full of nothing but lies, lies, lies.
AND I AM VERY ANGRY.
I voted for the candidate I thought would hate America the most, who would be one born on foreign turf with no birth certificate, who would side with the terrorists, who would let me be lazy and still get a salary, who would not talk to those godamned Republicans on the other side, who would be 100% partisan and divisive, and who would help make America an Arabnegro Supremacist Kenyan-clone-country that would force us whites to be slaves, to wear purple and orange, eat KFC, chitlins, collard greens, watermelon and learn rap songs.
HE HAS DONE NONE OF THIS.
—> I am still required to keep my job. Obama has yet to replace my full-time salary with a government pay check so that I can be unemployed for free — leaving enough time for me to get fat and watch Oprah all day.
—> I am pissed because he talks to white people.
—> I am pissed because he hasn’t gone on vacation yet.
—> I am pissed because he talks to Republicans and even asks their opinion.
—> I am pissed because he talks to religious people and wants to be in with them.
—> I am pissed because he said it was wrong to jump on fallen bodies at Walmart. As a liberal, I like to jump on bodies and cause human suffering – especially to infants.
—> He is still not a dictator.
—>Osama still hasn’t made us wear brown shirts yet.
—> I still have free speech and I fucking hate that goddamed stupid retarded idiotic free fucking speech.
Alrightly folks, 28 more days (from today) of Bush in the White House, there are. Still got some pent up rage left? Wanna take it out on the RIGHT person who tore America to shreds the last eight years?
Just click the picture below, and have you some fun before you start baking those Christmas cookies.
[Cross posted on culturepress, on November 26, 2008]
Culturepress is today’s guest speaker. You can find her blog over here.
Today’s tragic terrorist attacks and hostage crisis in Mumbai got me thinking about traveling as an American. The terrorists are specifically targeting U.S. and U.K. passport-holders, after all.
I’ve been lucky in some ways. I don’t “look” like an American, so I can pass as a citizen from another continent and feel relatively safe when traveling–even alone, even as a woman (well… okay, we’ll scratch that last part).
When I was in Bangkok a few years ago, I found that being American may cost me, but only in the sense that I was exorbitantly overcharged for various goods and services. My American accent’s what did me in.
When asked where I was from (which was occasionally preceded by, “Why you talk like white-lady?”), I said that I’m Korean-American. “Korean” got me in worse of a state, as Koreans are often seen as gratuitous spenders by other peoples of Asia.
As I uttered the words “Korean-American,” I saw a Ch-ching, ch-ching slot-machine-type effect in the eyes of these Thai vendors and cab drivers. The prices went up even further.
I thought, maybe I can fake a Chinese accent? No good. I can’t even fake a Korean one for more than five seconds with a straight face.
So, I started telling the Thai people that I’m Chinese-Canadian.
Guess what? Cab fares were cut in half. I started getting those killer deals that Bangkok marketplaces are famous for. All because I was no longer “Korean” or “American.” Interesting effect.
My (non-Asian) American friends travel with elaborate stories of Canada prepared and memorized, not so much as to get better deals, but because it’s “safer” that way. Hopefully, over the next few years, perhaps, if our nation begins to spend more time and energy on humanitarian causes as opposed to imperialistic or militaristic ones, the world’s view of America will change, and we’ll no longer have to fake-Canadian in order to travel safely around the world.
My thoughts are with the people of Mumbai tonight. Happy Thanksgiving and be safe. (–culturepress)
Look they even orchestrated the Mumbai terrorist attacks in India!!
It’s got to be true ‘cuz she said it. And so did they. True, we did warn Mumbai and they paid no attention. But hey, that was our strategy so that we wouldn’t get caught. Who wuda thunk that the KGB would be watching?
Americans killed almost 200 people in India. Do you think this must be because all Americans are INHERENTLY violent? According to these Right-wing Euronational propagandists, America is one of the most violent nations on earth, and inherently so!
(This Right-wing Euronationalist fringe group who call themselves “Liberal internationalists calling a spade a spade” from this blog swear that they aren’t Americanophobes and tell me that I’m just into “conspiracy theories”. (It’s not like anyone would admit that they’re prejudiced, though, right?) This is despite all the overwhelming material out there created by non-Americans living in other countries that proves Americanophobia is rampant, but I digress….)
It is just very interesting for me how all non-American evils committed are given a free pass. If that’s not an Americanophobic self-serving ideology, I don’t know what is.
Anyway, this all reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
“As someone who takes human rights seriously, I’m appalled by the lack of sympathy the left feels toward the victims of any regime other than the Bush administration. Let’s shout it to prisoners everywhere: If you’re not harmed by an American, your suffering doesn’t count.” –Erik Svane
These are things that myself as well as many others place into the “Hate America First” category. It doesn’t really matter what it is to the people such as referenced. Just so long as America will be found at fault. If we in America didn’t actually do it, why the CIA forced people from another country to do it!
Some reasonability is always necessary. The USA is far from perfect, but we are as a nation and as a people nowhere near the goons that the Americanophobic propagandists make us out to be.
You really can’t blame them, though. In their neck-o-the woods, it’s hip to hate Americans. And young kids want to be in the “in group”. Awww….. let them play in their little sandbox, no?
Or should we remind them that they may be just a little less than perfect themselves?
Not to mention past wars provoked by them and of course, that most of the rumors that these sheeple believe in about the American people have already been proven to be false or heavily exaggerated.
The ludicrous accusation for causing the Mumbai attacks reminds me of children when their parents catch them doing something wrong and how they blame it on their sibling.
Ohhhh Wal, ah’s jest gonna take mah nashunalist an’ unsophisticated fat uncouth an’ boreish ass out an’ hoof it an’ shoot up sum varmints…
“He was bum-rushed by 200 people,” said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. “They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too…I literally had to fight people off my back.”
The unidentified victim was rushed to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m., police said.
The cause of death was pending.
A 28-year-old pregnant woman was knocked to the floor during the mad rush. She was hospitalized for observation, police said.
Three other shoppers suffered minor injuries, cops said.
Before police shut down the store, eager shoppers streamed past emergency crews as they worked furiously to save the store clerk’s life.
“They were working on him, but you could see he was dead, said Halcyon Alexander, 29. “People were still coming through.”
Only a few stopped.
“They’re savages,” said shopper Kimberly Cribbs, 27. “It’s sad. It’s terrible.”
If you cannot afford to buy someone a gift during stressful economic times, what ever happened to giving someone a card?
Start your shopping in October, perhaps?
What a disgrace. The extent people will go to just to make or save a buck. Wanna bet Wal-Mart takes no responsibility?
A friend of mine who’s a military wife who had her husband in Iraq was trying to get a job there, and they wouldn’t let her take the day off to pick up her husband from the airport coming home from Iraq (after a year or so) on this particular day. So, she couldn’t get the job.
That company is messed up! They screw their customers and their workers. And they claim to be pro-troops. NO. They place money ahead of human lives as we noticed today.
And to you Wal-Mart shoppers that stepped on that poor guy and let him lay there dying? SHAME ON YOU!
An 8-year-old Arizona boy charged with premeditated murder in the deaths of his father and another man shot each victim at least four times with a .22-caliber rifle, methodically stopping and reloading as he killed them, prosecutors said Monday.
I’m not going to share my opinion just yet, but let me ask some rhetorical questions:
Can children be born evil?
Well, let’s see… he had the perfect all-American dad. His dad taught him how to hunt, spanked him regularly and was innocently trying to discipline his child. With that said, why is his child a bad boy? Don’t we usually blame the lack of spankings on such violent kids of our modern times?
Right? Every time kids commit violent crimes, the conservatives blame it on “lack of spankings”. Well,… this little boy got his.
Although investigators initially said they thought the boy might have suffered severe physical or sexual trauma, they have found no evidence of abuse, said Roy Melnick, the police chief in St. Johns, Ariz., where the shootings occurred. Psychologists say such abuse is often a factor in the extremely rare instances in which a small child murders a parent.
What in the world constitutes “evidence” of abuse? Just because a psychologist says…….
An investigation found no evidence that the boy had had disciplinary problems at school or shown signs that he was troubled, Chief Melnick said. “That’s what makes this case somewhat puzzling,” he said, adding that the court had ordered a psychological evaluation for the boy. “Our goal is to get him some help.”
Puleeeeezzz. This case is not puzzling. The fact that some find this case “puzzling” just goes to show you how dim some people are.
Why is an 8 year old child getting training on how to use a gun and to hunt? HE’S EIGHT YEARS OLD! Back in my day, boys were playing softball, soccer in the streets, basketball in their front yards, climbing trees, and throwing eggs at random passing cars. The most violent were using bb-guns and their own fists.
The boy in Arizona was no stranger to weapons — his father, an avid hunter, reportedly trained his son to shoot prairie dogs — and psychologists said that might have played a role.
DEFINITELY! The kid learned that life was insignificant. And at such a young and impressionable age. That in and of itself is child abuse. You never expose the innocent to that.
This particular case says a lot more about our times, doesn’t it? Interestingly enough, it is around that age and earlier that little kids start to be trained on how to use guns in the MIDDLE EAST.
Parents are very rarely parents any more. They are just breeders. The only reason they have kids is to gain control over the powerlessness they feel as adults. Mistakes in family generations are repeated. The cycle continues. This kid was only doing what he was taught. Violence was all he knew. The concept of Life meant nothing. He became desensitized by learning how to kill for the sake of the kill.
“The wrinkle here,” Dr. Heide said, “is that this boy is so young, it could possibly be immaturity and impulsivity.” In children as young as 8, parts of the brain that weigh decisions and consequences are so underdeveloped that a child might not understand the finality of death.
Didn’t he learn from his hunting lessons that when you shoot, the subject DIES. Look at the methodical style he used against his dad? The kid knew what he was doing.
Mr. Carlyon said the boy told the police that he had been spanked at home the night before because he was having trouble at school. But, the prosecutor said, the boy “did not say that was the reason he committed any of the acts.”
Well, of course he’s going to deny the reason. He’s protecting himself from embarrassment. His father taught him to be “a man”, not a weenie Liberal who can’t take a beating and some “rough-housing”.
I sympathize with the kid. Hopefully this will teach a lesson to future parents or people having sex to use condoms when they’re not ready to procreate.
My readers who know me realize that I’m ultra-conservative when it comes to crimes and punishment, but for this one — give the kid some counseling. I don’t think he’s too old to figure out the dynamics of what just took place here.
End Note:Just in case any knee-jerk reactionaries come here, I DO support the 2nd amendment. But this particular case goes above and beyond that. There’s a big difference between gun owners for self-defense and gun-owners who are irresponsible. This little boy’s dad was, sadly, the latter.
This is how a Frenchman (who goes by the name, “Borborygme”) feels about the US economic crisis:
What tangible unpleasant thing have you personally suffered from ‘this crisis’? Hearing bad news does not count. Has anything bad actually happened to you? A decline in the value of your house only counts if you have sold it or tried to sell it for the lower price. A notional change in value is meaningless if you are not in the market to buy or sell. The same can probably be said for your stock positions unless you hold stocks in the financial sector. Even then, I suspect most insurance companies will profit from this in the end, even though their stock is down temporarily, because they can buy things so cheaply now, which, eventually will show up as an elevation in their stock price.
Obviously this was written by someone who has never had to worry about money. Must be nice.
I won’t get into the domino effect this has on the middle class and lower income families because well, that’s just obvious if you are an American. You sorta have a clue. I am one of millions upon millions of families directly effected by this mess, and I don’t take too kindly to my personal situation being belittled and laughed at when I didn’t do anything to harm anybody else.
When I say that I am effected (or any American for that matter), that doesn’t mean I am sad because I cannot buy that 4747882002569 inch Plasma TV. Or buy my 352597889005th car for my 8 door garage. Like most people, I live a very modest life. Maybe the Americanophobes need to read this and then STFU!
An Australian basically thought that the economic crisis was funny and being overreacted to under the disguise of “satire”.
Another thing that confuses me is that people like Borborygme are usually whining about how the states effect their every day life. Every little thing that goes wrong is always “America’s fault”. We Americans have to hear constantly how we are ruining THEIR lives – all the time. I find it troubling that Borborygme and people that think like like him are constantly whining about Americans oppressing them. Borborygme expects Americans to sympathize with HIM. Because HE is thuffwerring… Puleeeeze…
This Frenchman is a frequent commenter on a blog that rails against Anti-Frenchism. You gotta love the irony and the double standards. Typical of your every day kook-aid drinking quack-in-the-box Americanophobe ankle-biter.
Non-Americans:They suffer. Americans:They never suffer; they only cause it against others.
The above is how the world see us, generally.
Most people in other countries are nothing but “The Yanks are out to get meeeeee“ paranoid school yard bullies that don’t give a rats ass about anybody but themselves despite their phony puritanism. They always whine that Americans are giving them the middle finger. Well, yanno what? We really should, actually.
Like I mentioned in this post, I find it fascinating that while the Americanophobes are belittling our situation here, they are crying about how American Wall Street has effected them so much. So, apparently, we Americans are supposed to “feel sowwy for them” when they are barely even touched by the crisis. They lie to Americans because they need every and any excuse in the book to find fault with the average American. Fuck that shit.
As Andrei Markovits from Romania said, most of the whiny brats in other western countries are rich elitist mother fuckers. And they lie like a seasoned politician.
This reminds me of the following quote:
“As someone who takes human rights seriously, I’m appalled by the lack of sympathy the left feels toward the victims of any regime other than the Bush administration. Let’s shout it to prisoners everywhere: If you’re not harmed by an American, your suffering doesn’t count.” –Erik Svane
But wait a minute. Millions of Americans have been harmed by the American government. I will update his quote for him. So long as you’re an American, no matter what you go through negatively, it
never happened
and even if it kinda did, it was deserved
I get as angry as I do because
I don’t take kindly to my personal situation being minimized especially when someone doesn’t even know me or my personal life, and
because I’ve (for the most part) been againstMY government and on the side of other countries.
Another thing that is ironic is that the Americanophobes living in Europe criticize Americans for being too positive about life. But when we mention the slightest inconvenience in our lives, we are maimed a bunch of lying attention seekers. So, which is it, really? We are damned either way, aren’t we?
I will say loudly and proudly that I have more fight in me than your average Americanophobic Euro-weenie. And I AM positive. But that doesn’t negate the fact that I am human either.
Any other Americanophobe want to downplay the effect that the financial crisis has on the average American? Come to the US. Trying living in an average to low income zone. Then you can judge. Think all Americans are spoiled rich, read this.
It is people like Borborygme why I dedicate a big FUCK YOU to the rest of the vile sonofabitches in the rest of the world.
UPDATE!!
Oh dear…. it figures. The guy that I had thought was a Frenchman, I just found out today wasn’t. He’s an American yuppy living in California obviously not effected at all by the financial crisis, the bailout, or anything crooked that government has done in its blind movement to become a 3rd world country.
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.
Watch this entire piece if you haven’t seen it yet. Watch it in full screen, even. Many liberal Americans including myself tire often from trying to explain what is patriotism to no avail. People in America and all over the world just don’t get it. Obama, during the middle of his acceptance speech explains American patriotism.
Additionally, many forget that it was American patriots that fought tooth and nail for freedom and independence from the unfair and often brutal British dominance long ago. Black people are where they are today because of their independent fight for freedom. Women are where they are today because of their fight for freedom. The list goes on. We are a nation of people who (most of us, generally)realize what’s wrong, and are a nation of fighters. We are still far from being perfect, but we continue to fight – even if the odds are against us – even though our Electoral Voting System is corrupt and unfair – even if we’re called “unAmerican” in the process, and even if the Anti-Americans STILL mindlessly lump us in with the “Uncouth Americans”. A true American never gives up. Why? Because we’re proud to be an American. It’s okay to be ashamed to be an American when things are rough, so long as we pick ourselves off the ground, kick the sand behind us and and continue to fight for what is right.
As you can see, none of these people I mention above fled north of America because “they felt persecuted”. They stayed to CHANGE it. This is what being American is all about. What’s broken? Let’s join together and FIX it.
You can’t do that if you don’t vote. You can’t do that unless you put your foot down and say, “no more”.
My own personal definition of what it means to be patriotic:
Most Anti-Americans 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 try to make changes, then our ancestors that died for this freedom, died for nothing.
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.
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.
When George W. Bush visited Indonesia last year, thousands of us marched down the streets, with banners saying things like “Bush’s feet are stained with blood. Don’t let him on our innocent land and force our government to kick the President of USA out of our country.”
These people, we suspect, were the same people who had protested many times before — and who would protest again in the future — against US international policies and any bad news from Palestine (or ‘good news’ from Israel) regarding the conflict between the two countries. These people, claimed themselves anti-Americans. They burn the so-called star spangled banner, threw rocks and rotten eggs at the American embassy building …while wearing Levi Jeans and keeping a Motorola in their pockets! These kinds of people are usually not so anti-American and harmless on normal days. They love McDonald’s fried chicken. Only a few of them were true anti-Americans. And I can say is that an anti-American here is also a fundamentalist Muslim.
Anti-Americanism in Indonesia is almost always about Islam and non-Islam. That’s why whenever their brothers in the Middle East suffer from Israel and/or USA actions, they get angry, and they gather people to walk the length of all roads to express their resentment. It’s a good thing for them that most of Indonesian people would come with these Muslims (or any Muslim at all), for free lunch.
We Indonesians, actually, are not quite familiar with anti-Americanism. We’re never even anti to anything at all! We’re too lazy to think, to busy with our basic daily needs like getting something to eat, some place to stay, and some clothes to wear. We don’t have time for anti-Americanism. So if we joined the parade and burned American flags, we did it for free lunch.
In fact, in normal life, we respect Americans. I know many of us would rather live in the US than in Indonesia, if given the choice. What we commonly have in mind about Americans is that Americans are rich and generous, and that they’re nice and fun people to get along with. Thanks to Hollywood.
Moreover, there are many people who kept their head up high simply because they had an American friend. They talked about their American friend all the time, and tried to think and live like Americans do.
Me, I’m with most Indonesian people — not an anti-American at all. Only I’m luckier than my neighbors here. I don’t have to burn flags for lunch.
Okay, happy 4th of July! I’ll see you again next time.
Australia has just officially kicked some Yank ass on this one.
AUSTRALIA has become the fattest nation in the world, with more than 9 million adults now rated as obese or overweight, according to an alarming new report.
The most definitive picture of the national obesity crisis to date has found that Australians now outweigh Americans and face a future “fat bomb” that could cause 123,000 premature deaths over the next two decades.
If the crisis is not averted, obesity experts have warned, health costs could top $6 billion and an extra 700,000 people will be admitted to hospital for heart attacks, strokes and blood clots caused by excess weight.
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.
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!
Despite criticisms going back and forth toward each other on occasion, on D-Day (which is today – I know … the day’s almost over), let’s reflect on the positive and see that they ARE our ally. They do appreciate us when appreciation is due. Give the French a chance please and let us open our minds a bit – even if it’s just a tiny bit (it’s better than nothing).
SuperFrenchie, a Frenchman of course, has a blog. The running theme in his blog is similar to that of mine in that he’s fighting against French-bashing / French stereotypes(he’s a lot nicer than me!!) so prevalent in the US media and in the US itself. SuperFrenchie is also dispelling common myths that many people are indoctrinated to believe. He sometimes criticizes the US as well in the form of “bashing back“. But naturally our government and its people deserve criticism as we aren’t immune or exempt from committing wrongs in the world, and he’s pretty fair and balanced about it too. After all, he’s been living in the states since the 1984 and has two kids going to school here! He has a big clue about American life!
SuperFrenchi sticks up for Americans where credit is due. I happen to find his blog very well-written, thoughtful, and also humorous at the same time. He, like Jean, is *not* Anti-American and just wants Americans to realize that we are friends, and also wants us to realize that the bashing of an entire people hurts them just as much as it hurts us. I stand up for their right to debunk myths and defend themselves and their country.
I was indoctrinated to fear going to France for expected arrogance, when it doesn’t seem that it is the case. It’s okay to be brainwashed. It’s a human thing. We are all guilty of this. But there’s a big difference between people that can listen to contrary arguments with an open mind and those that don’t. Of course, the argument has to be a compelling one, for me, at least. And the French have me convinced. You’d be surprised how much they really do appreciate our war efforts from reading this and this. I’d say it’s quite a refreshing change from hearing this on Memorial Day and this on D-Day.
Some notable facts that we have to remember about the French:
During the Revolutionary War, France aided the United States immensely. Had it not been for their aid, we, most certainly, may have lost against the British!! (Hence SuperFrenchie’s quote, “If it were not for the French, Americans would be speaking English today!”)
They gave us the Statue of Liberty that we Americans very often use to show our patriotism, right?
In WWI, they fought VERY valiantly against the Germans, so it is very ironic that they are now known as “cowards”.
In WWII, the fact that they surrendered to Germany is not an indicator of their courage or lack of. Hitler’s army vastly out-manned the French, and the German weapons were over-powering. It would have been an act of supreme idiocy to have fought against the Germans under these circumstances! To have done so, would have meant the needless deaths of thousands of Frenchmen. Even the US and Britain had to wait until 1944 before they could start their officialassault against Germany on the same landmass.
In any event, let’s take today to recognize the French. Of course, every nation needs to be recognized in their own special way, but I feel that the French get the very least amount of credit, and it’s time we open our eyes!!
I think that there have been some misunderstandings? This is not an Anti-American post – nor is it an Anti-soldier post. Quite the opposite!! If you would have clicked the links inside, you’d know. It’s VERY hard to *NOT* be touched when reading this(from a French Association called “The Flowers of Memory”)
Peace is precious and it has a price, it is an effort, always it is of blood, and too often its price is paid by men’s lives. The peace we know in Normandy and France was paid for by the sacrifice of the young lives of Allied soldiers.
In the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer there are 10,944 brave Americans remembered; in the American Cemetery in Saint James the markers of 4,908 Americans remind us of the supreme sacrifice paid for France’s liberation from the yoke of the Nazis. Today we know the liberty and happiness of freedom. We can never forget those that are buried in our country. Two generations have passed that to do not know the horrors of war.
Les Fleurs de la Memoire (the Flowers of Memory) is a French Association created to honor the memory of the soldiers, sailors and airmen buried in the American cemeteries of Normandy by placing flowers on their tombs.
Members of the Association commit in writing to lay flowers on the designated grave of a soldier, once a year, preferably on American Memorial Day. And to make sure the obligation is perpetuated, the family that takes responsibility for placing flowers on the grave is asked to pass it on to its children. If and when it becomes impossible, they are to notify the Association and try to find a suitable replacement.
As of last month, 8,648 graves were honored in that way.
On this D-Day anniversary, I couldn’t find a better way to say thanks.
I am French and moved from Paris to Pittsburgh (you can find my blog here), Pennsylvania, two years ago. The relationship between our governments being quite tense at that time, I did not know whether I should expect a cold welcome or a strong rejection, but I certainly did not expect being invited – two years later – to write a guest post on a blog about anti-Americanism! Thank you Virgomonkey for giving me this opportunity!
It is a strong belief in America that France is a bastion of anti-Americanism. Especially since France did not support the invasion of Iraq, the country became chroniclers’ favourite archetype of the “anti-American attitude” worldwide, according to the wrong but easy-to-understand statement that “who’s not with us is against us”. As a natural reaction, French-bashing gained ground in the US, and here we are, trying to stop that vicious cycle!
I’m convinced that both French-bashing and Anti-Americanism have no other ground than misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Living in the US, I’m amazed by all the clichés Americans have about the French, and vice versa, I must admit that I believed in a lot of stereotypes about Americans that (almost!) all have revealed to be untrue. But more surprising to me is why so many Americans are regarding France as anti-American. I’m not saying that France would be America’s greatest supporter, but it is certainly not the anti-American caricature that some media like to show here.
Images of violence, fear and hatred are much more “breaking news” than images of love and smiles. This very blog features a YouTube video showing French activists smashing down a Mc Donald restaurant as an evidence of anti-Americanism in France (watch at 3′51). I was in France when it happened. What the video does not show, is that the activists were actually protesting against the legal distribution of transgenic food, that has been pushed by the American food industry and that they think may be damageable for both the environment and human health, but they did NOT protest against America as a country! The same video features an interview of a French journalist saying that no French politician would ever win a presidential race by presenting pro-american views to the people (watch at 7′44). Well, I’m sorry for anti-americans to tell that the French just overwhelmingly elected Nicolas Sarkozy as president, who is and has always been a publicly known supporter of America and the American values. On the other hand, what you won’t find on YouTube or anywhere else are the pictures of French veterans and families respectfully flouring American graves in Normandy. This is not “breaking news”… and is usually not even taped.
My point is not to claim that everything your hear about French anti-Americanism is wrong. But to prevent you from buying into every single sign of supposedly anti-Americanism. France is a “maternal country” and a common French reflex is to stand with the weak and the poor against the powerful and the wealthy (remember we beheaded our king!) Because they are powerful, French love to make fun of Americans and opposing the American “hyper-power” has become mainstream. But, as Virgomonkey wrote on my blog, criticizing the Bush Administration is not hating America. Back in September 2001, the French most respected newspaper “Le Monde” reported the French feeling after 9/11 by titling: “We Are All Americans”. America had been deadly hurt, and it was a French role – as a “mother” – to stand with the injured. Once Bush pulled out the guns, it turned into another story…
I’m not legitimate to represent the French as a whole and, since I have not been forced to move here, you can easily guess that I’m not representing anti-Americans either! But I sincerely think that bashing the French for being anti-Americans just does not make sense. One last clue: unlike the supposedly more “American friendly” United Kingdom and Germany, France NEVER went to war with the United States and inspired its constitution. “We are family, and like in many families, we sometimes have a fight!” President Sarkozy said in a recent speech to the American congress. Love and fight: that’s what families are about!
Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to blog here. I hope that my English was not too painful to read!
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”.
Splogging, content theft, blog scraping, hijacking blogs, and ripping off blog posts is becoming increasingly popular, and an infamous site that does this is FAMLOVE.CN.
More information about stolen content can be found on this blog that has a FAQ and tips as to what you can do if it happens to you. You will also see a list of other blog scrapers and sploggers that have been found guilty.
Make your own post about it to spread the word so that when “famlove.cn” is googled, people will see them for who they really are!
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
WordPress’s Akismet (spam eater) has seemingly hacked into my spiked granola bars and has gone mad!!
Attention: To all those using WordPress.com as there blogging platform, you ARE getting comments. Just look in your spam folder and viola, they’ll be right there waiting for you. While there will be some genuine spam that needs to be flushed away, there may also be REAL comments from REAL people. So, please check it regularly.
I am making comments all over WordPress on dozens and dozens of blogs, but either I get the “discarded” error message or they just go into OUTERSPACE somewhere to which I’ve recently found out that they are simply HIDING in your spam buckets!!So, please pull them out for me, and if you don’t mind, please send a support ticket to WordPress.com and another one to Akismet and tell them I’m not trying to sell penis enlargement pills or “free” ring tones!
For some reason or another, there are some people on WordPress that are having this problem. And it’s a very recent problem.
This is *not* a result of sending a link or some links, sending abusive messages, or being caught in the “moderation queue”. This is a quirk in the system. And it’s quite the frustrating! And for the record, I’ve sent in already 4 support tickets.
UPDATE: My end has been resolved. Finally.
Should YOU have any problems with the aforementioned, this is the message Mark from Akismet left on the support forums:
@anyone else:
If you need to contact Akismet support you must include:
Name
Email
Website (if used)
IP address
If you do not include all that then I will just ask for it and that makes everything slower for you.
Earlier Friday afternoon, she told the editorial board of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Argus Leader that “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it,” she said.
“I think people have short memories. Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A.”
Uh huh. Was she “worried about Ted Kennedy’s brain tumor” then, too?
My name is David, I have been asked by the author of this blog to post a document that I wrote this morning regarding some postings that have been made on a Facebook group dedicated to the discussion of the problem of Anti-American Racism in western society. One member was making submissions stating that Anti-Americanism was not racism and that it was Justified. Click here for my response to that.
If you have comment or issue, please feel free to leave a comment under the relevant entry in my own blog, or this one.
I’m going to post an entire documentary here. While this is good for the whole world to see, I find it just as important – if not more, for Americans to see. At least for me, it made me appreciate the feelings that Europeans have concerning their relationship with the United States.
Note:If you have any problems getting any of these videos to play, try refreshing the page. If that doesn’t work, click the link above each video so that you can watch it on the Youtube site. Also keep in mind that my feedback about each video will be at the bottom of each one (not the top).
It will take an hour of your time to go through all of these videos, but I cannot begin to stress the importance of this material for those genuinely concerned about America’s relationship with Europe. As much as I’d like Europeans to open their minds a little bit about us, I feel that we, as Americans, should at least try to understand them. This is not to say, however, that I won’t be leaving my usual sarcastic and sassy comments in response to some of the odd misconceptions/distortions they have about Americans. In any event, please watch. It’s certainly an EYE-OPENER!
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:
I received a comment from a gentleman living in Austria on Youtube that confirms that we are just all humans who will, at one point or another, wind up mixed in with “the hype”. The comment is as follows:
Actually I WAS one of those Antiamerican morons, one of those “look at barbaric America” freaks. Fortunately I gradually woke up.
It is pure and utter brainwash by our media, politics and general liberal socialist Euro-era. I regret having been so stupid. But then again we also let ourselves be blown up and sympathizse and support those Islamofascist perps. (Nah, I am not exaggerating; for real; just check the web).
Europe right now is culturally in bad shape and hasn’t recovered from the WW’s. (In fact that’s one of the best signs to begin with when one starts to make comparisons between the US and Europe). The US certainly never plunged the world into a blazing crucible till its molten.
But whilst the Antiamericanism is just one of the many symptom (and 100% hypocritical), the disease is within us – and we are the ones hurting ourselves, you Americans are only the ones verbally attacked.
I am not posting this to glorify the US or support any political party. I just want to show that not everyone hates us, that some DO admit to having been brainwashed (that takes courage!!), and that some are willing to see issues at different angles. Additionally, all of this is even more proof that Americanophobia IS a problem (otherwise, other country’s people wouldn’t be standing against it) and not the result of “paranoia” that only “I” experience. (Some people just love to throw that word around, don’t they?)
I have a friend from England on Facebook (who now has his own blog). When I was looking throughout his profile, I discovered a blog post written by him that made a lot of sense. I’d like to share it with everyone. This is more evidence that some people are willing to step out of the gooey mold and question issues, but sometimes we just need an ice-breaker before we realize what is truly happening – as evident here:
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great regret and sorrow that I report that we have a poisonous and highly damaging trend sweeping through even the “sensible” ranks of our society, a trend that we would like to think that we had confined to the extreme and disenchanted minority: Racism.
Racism in all its forms is horrendous and degrading, not only to the targets but to those who perpetrate it. Most of the racism we see reported is either anti-black or anti-Islamic. Whilst there is a lot of this sort of discrimination around, that is not the topic of this particular note. This note is to serve one purpose: the prevalence of totally irrational anti-Americanism and antisemitism in all classes of our society, but particularly the middle-middle and upper-middle classes.
I am acutely aware that if I were to ask the average person if they were racist, they would be horrified at the suggestion and fervently deny it. It would not surprise me however, if that same person was to be found in their very next conversation accusing the US and Israel of being the sole cause of the world’s problems.
I myself have been in denial of this problem for many years, that was until an example of it was handed to me on a plate, when two of the least “racist” people I know who are almost universally kind and open to everyone, decided to take exception to another friend of mine simply on the count of their being American.
The view that is communicated to the public to create this irrational viewpoint is an over-simplistic one:
America: Most evil state on the planet, dedicated to killing, bombing and otherwise maiming peoples/societies with a less than friendly stance. Israel: America’s agent in the volatile middle east region Britain: America’s Poodle/Lap dog, obedient to the last to Washington and profits from the exploits of previous two. Palestine: a territory that is partially and illegally occupied by Israel Palestinians: A people that are brutally oppressed and pillaged by a far superior military force under the command of Israel.
[Further definition common to almost all viewpoints: Arab Neighbourhood: all Arab countries that surround Israel, Egypt and Jordan with peace deals with Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Iraq still wanting Israel's destruction.]
Sadly, too many people subscribe to this view. Very little could be further from the truth. Let’s start with Britain’s foreign policy: many people accuse the UK of having an anti-Israeli stance, whilst others consistently accuse it of being anti-Arab. The truth is that it is neither. British foreign policy has only ever been formulated as to look after one state’s interests: Britain’s. I’m willing to bet that the very moment it is no longer in our interest to act as US lapdog, we’ll be turning our economic and military ties elsewhere.
As for Israel and the United States, it is certainly true that the US (effectively) gives Israel $1.5 billion worth of free arms per year. (Which, given the price of technologically advanced arms, isn’t that much). However, that alone is not enough to demonise them in people’s minds. Many other countries have similar standing orders, and have no issues with anybody. So what galvanises public opinion so strongly against Israel and the US?
The answer is Fleet Street. By “Fleet Street”, I don’t just mean the daily papers, I mean the press in general. Newspapers have, by tradition, always been biased. The Telegraph has always been aimed at conservatives, the Times at centreline conservatives, the Independent at Liberal Democrats (that’s right… the Independent is not actually independent!) and the Guardian at socialists. (Tabloids do also have leanings, but they are less detectable beneath the celeb-gloss and scare mongering about the end of the world. That, however, is another note.)
As a result, the public are aware that a newspaper’s story will not be a totally impartial representation of events. They have however, come to expect a different story from television.
Unfortunately, Television has sided firmly with the Palestinian people. I have noticed that if a suicide bomber carries out his “mission” anywhere in the world, he is immediately referred to as a “terrorist”, UNLESS it is in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, whence the BBC never use the word “terrorist” and instead replace it with phrases like “freedom fighter” or “activist”, which either elevates him to the status of a local hero, or at worst, nothing more than an animal rights protester, where in fact, what he did is no better than anything the Israelis have done. There is no difference between an Israeli F-16 hitting a house, and a bomber taking out a busful of schoolchildren. They are both atrocious and tragic losses of life.
However, this is not reflected in reporting, which serves only to fuel an atmosphere of anti-Israeli hatred and anti-Americanism that, in the end, is only damaging to us all.
The BBC is supposed to be impartial… Pah! they’re as one-sided as a mobius’ loop! I’m not saying that the US and Israel are free of responsibility, but we have to realise that the situation is never as it is reported… least of all by our wonderfully unbiased media…
A group of like-minded people who wish to see an end to senseless anti-American and anti-Israeli bigotry across the world. This group exists to demolish the last bastion of so called ‘acceptable racism’ in western society. For the promotion of rational reason within debate, the abolition of politically correct censorship and the restoration of truly free speech.
Sadly, there are only just a few members in that group. I’m not surprised. However, if you look at any Anti-American group (and I’m not talking about those groups established to criticize American government or foreign policy), there are hundreds to thousands of members!
Anyway, you’re probably wondering why the word, “racism” is being used – as Americans aren’t a race, right? But he’s partially correct in that if you say, “I hate Amerikkanz”, you are including all those people from different races. And if you’re of the popular camp that associates the “Evil Americans” (namely, all of us) with the “white folk”, then that is a bit racist on behalf of American whites. But David did send me a message explaining his usage of the word for what it means to him – if you care to read it.
The most authoritative definition of ‘race’ in the anthropological and categoriacal rather than competitive sense I have seen to date is:
“Race /rãs/ n the descendants of a common ancestor, esp those who inherit a common set of characteristics; such a set of descendants, narrower than a species, a breed, a stud or herd (obs); ancestry lineage, stock; the condition of belonging by descent to a particular group; inherited disposition; a class or group, defined otherwise than by descent; a sex (obs); peculiar flavour, as of wine, by which its origin may be recognised, raciness, piquancy.”
(Source: Chambers 21st Century English Dictionary)
Couple that with (from same source):
“Rac’ism n hatred, rivalry or bad feeling between races; belief in the inherent superiority of some races over others, usu with the implication of a right to be dominant; discriminative treatment based on such belief.”
I think that a nested definition formed from those two would very much include anti-americanism within their scope. You are right in suggesting that it is a figure of speech, in that the use of the word ‘racism’ in reference to anti-Americanism is colloquially coined, however, unlike many figures of speech, this one holds accurate under even the most pedantic scrutiny.
The BBC published an article called, “Anti-Americanism ‘feels like racism‘”. After reading that, anybody with half a heart will feel disgusted. And yes, I can see why someone would say that Anti-Americanism feels like racism. Unfortunately, there are plenty more articles where that came from…
And… finally one more vocal Englishman on Facebook stands up in defense of the United States in a group designed to give perspective to the increasingly “blame America first” fit-pitching crowd of pessimist radical liberal elites:
Stop Anti-Americanism in Britain
This group is an attempt to shed some much-needed light on the blindingly ignorant attitude towards Americans as often expressed by British students.
I feel that many British students have adopted an unfairly arrogant attitude toward “yanks”. The prejudices are well-known: Americans are loud, rude, uncultured and ignorant of the world outside Northern America. All Americans are to be held accountable for the acts of their government (which is ironic, since the British government has been the most supportive in Iraq) or for certain ‘types’ of Americans. The conclusion, of course, is that Britons know better.
To all you dear anti-American British students:
It’s just downright dumb to make any generalization about a country as big and diverse as America. We’re talking about 300 million people of different heritage, culture and ethnicity. The differences between Americans are often greater than the differences between Europeans. To me, stereotypes of Americans always lack credibility because of this.
Then there’s the culture issue. This is a big one. Unlike Britain (which seems awkwardly stuck somewhere between 19th century tradition and the reality of the 21st century), America is much more forward moving than Britain is, and boasts a lot more cultural diversity and innovation. The 20th Century, in my opinion, belongs to America. In literature, which is my field, Americans have proven much more exciting and productive – from Steinbeck’s social criticism to the experimental and darker fiction of William S. Burroughs. America has also proven it can produce movies much more independent-minded and original than the usual Hollywood movies, and it seems almost too obvious to even mention music, another area in which American artists dominate and excel.
Yes, much can be said to criticize America and much of it is very just. It’s a weird and strange place and there are forces in that country that really worry me. But that comes with the territory of being, above all else, a country of extremes. Only in America will you find the most obese person you’ve ever seen waddling down the same street as the most fit and healthy person you’ve ever seen.
This group doesn’t aim to hinder the flow of criticism of America. That would be silly. All this group does is ask that the prejudiced British students addressed be a little more open-minded. The overwhelming irony of the situation is that they are what they accuse Americans of being.
And don’t forget that of all America’s critics, Americans themselves are the loudest voices.
I will conclude by saying that I’m still of the belief that there are more Americanophobes out there than there are not. Hopefully as more Europeans and Canadians speak out on more constructive ways to criticize America, the younger generation can take the lead. The problem is – is that they have to want to listen.
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
It hit me quite some time ago that on just about every account where Americans are criticized, the accusers themselves are guilty of the same thing or guilty of *isolating* Americans in a world where Americans should be *included*. (European and Canadian Bias under the Microscope)
Let’s start with our overall “genocidal behaviors”:
One German citizen (Robin Hood Im Schwarzwald) wrote in his blog a piece that rang so true for me:
Some Europeans display a moral superiority that is inconsistent with reality.However, that does not stop leftists from protesting in the streets about no-blood-for-oil, but when is the last time you see anything of consequence protesting the Chinese, Iranians, Radical Islam, or any other despotic regime?I would guess almost never! Even so that doesn’t stop leftists or cultural elites from perpetuating stereotypes of Americans and America.
Americanophobes will tell you that America has been the only evil and persists to be the only evil. What Americanophobes conveniently fail to include or acknowledge is the following:
The Congo Civil War in Africa leaving 3.8 million dead (just as many deaths as WWI). Currently, there are approximately 45,000 deaths taking place each month as reported in the UK.
Joseph Stalin who killed approximately 20 million, including up to 14.5 million needlessly starved to death. At least one million executed for political “offenses”. At least 9.5 million more deported, exiled or imprisoned in work camps, with many of the estimated five million sent to the ‘Gulag Archipelago’ never returning alive. Other estimates place the number of deported at 28 million, including 18 million sent to the ‘Gulag’.
Mao Tse-Tung who was responsible for 14 to 20 million deaths from starvation during the ‘Great Leap Forward’. Tens of thousands killed and millions of lives ruined during the ‘Cultural Revolution’.
The Holocaust that left 6 million Jews dead (although the number of actual deaths are debatable, a significant number of them were killed brutally and inhumanely).
How about European colonialism in Africa, Polynesia, Asia, Australia, and in the Americas? Great Britain was imperialistic and was the world power back then, and a very violent power at that.
What about Islamic Imperialism, Japanese Imperialism, Russian Imperialism, and Chinese Imperialism?
Have we also forgotten the British contribution to torture at Abu Ghraib? Read this for the grusome details.
And what about the Mongols, the Romans, the Ottomans, and the Nationalist Japanese?
And then we’ve got Saddam Hussein accomplishing murders approaching two million, including between 150,000 and 340,000 Iraqi and between 450,000 and 730,000 Iranian combatants killed during the Iran-Iraq War. And it gets worse, read more here.Do torture chambers, mass graves, and imprisoned children ring a bell?
From our ailing domestic left to overseas America haters, no one really cares about the fate of Mustapha the Murderer or Ahmed the Assassin. The lies told about Gitmo are meant to undercut U.S. foreign policy and embarrass America.
The Gitmo controversy is about many things, from jealousy of the United States and outrage that we refuse to fail, to residual anger that we won the Cold War and exploded the left’s great fantasy of a dictatorship of the intellectuals. But the one thing the protests aren’t about is human rights.
Read on to see that Americanophobes in Europe and in Canada don’t mind violence, mass murder, and torture at all. In fact, they approve of it. So, what is it, then, that makes them dislike us so…..?
America is now the Superpower of the world. While it’s not something to be jealous of, one is to only assume jealousy — as we’re the country of the world’s obsession, and a lot of those countries that are pouting and shaking their fists at us are the same countries that either feel threatened by our imperialism or jealous because they once used to be the leaders of the world and they no longer have that power (especially Britain). So, by consistently pointing out our faults, we see that this is the only way these anti-American countries can attempt to make us feel worthless. It’s a way of bullying us off of our “high and mighty” thrones. It seeks to humble us. It seeks to have us put our flags down. While some of the criticism directed at us IS note-worthy and merited, the convenient ignorance of other evils both past and present is clearly a sign that it’s not “evil” that anti-Americanism is against. There’s something else. What else could that be? Again… jealousy?
Side note:When it says “we” saved Europe from Nazism, “we” is all those who weren’t a part of the Axis of Evil during that time.
Oh, the horror about Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib! Damn Americans! Hmm… funny how THIS gets overlooked…… Well, of course, it went “unconfirmed” because it never happened, right?
With the index finger flapping away in disapproval, it never ceases to amaze me how many people from all over the world find that Americans are committing a genocide in Iraq. The war in Iraq, while I’m still not convinced it is a just war, I can tell you that it’s *not* a genocide. What is a Genocide? The deliberate, planned and systematic destruction of an *entire* ethnic, racial, religious, or national group. While I don’t support Bush, he is NOT another Hitler, rather, he’s a war criminal. There’s a difference. A BIG difference.
Number 2: Religious Fanaticism
Out of the majority of Americans that believe in God, within that group exists Christian Fanaticism. Because of this, Americans are seen as the biggest evil in the world. I call these people the “thou-shall-notters”(not any different from the Radical Left, mind you). They are on their high horse preaching to the world about how we should ‘be’ and not ‘be’ simultaneously being in denial of their own immorality. However, praise, support, and tolerance is, without question, extended to Islamic Fanaticism.
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.
Does anyone else not find this hypocritical? Here we have an example of the elitists condemning the cross, but making exceptions for Islamofascism? Very interesting. You can find another juicy example of that here: “British Muslim ‘bullied’ for converting to Christianity“.
During anti-war demonstrations in Britain left-wing marchers have unashamedly waved banners defending known terrorists, shouted abuse at American tourists and British pro-American supporters and described George Bush in terms usually reserved for serial killers. Banners decrying the attacks of 9/11 were nowhere to be seen. When Daniel Pearl was murdered there was no outcry from the left in Britain. Instead, leftist and liberal commentators concentrated their critical faculties on the treatment of Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners at Gauntanamo.
We can see here that the Americanophobic British like Islamic Fanaticism. Americanophobia blindly encourages and supports Islamofascism and their violent ways such as burning cars, burning embassies, attacks against the police, gang rapes of Infidel girls, wife beating, honor killings, the Madrid bombings, and last but not least the London bombings. Well, one can argue that the British didn’t like it happening to them, but at least we can safely say that Islamofascism is considered “OK” and embraced in Europe and in Canada.
Let’s take a look at Canada. She claims to be the “country of peace” and strongly (flapping the index finger) AGAINST the death penalty. …..That was until 9-11.
But of course there’s no hypocrisy in being pro-peace and against the death penalty, unless… death targets the RIGHT group.
“Far from being unreasonable fanatics, the terrorists fight for the same things we do. We have a common enemy.”
The common enemy the Canadians and the Islamic Terrorists share is America. Canadian Kevin Potvin shared the following after 9-11:
“When I saw the first tower cascade down into that enormous plume of dust and paper, there was a little voice inside me that said, “Yeah!” When the second tower came down the same way, that little voice said, “Beautiful!” When the visage of the Pentagon appeared on the TV with a gaping and smoking hole in its side, that little voice had nearly taken me over, and I felt an urge to pump my fist in the air”.
And he’s not the only Canadian that felt this way. By several onlookers, Americanophobic Canadians were visibly seen cheering wildly following the terrorists attacks. Examples of this very happy day in Canada can be seen if you look at my 9-11 tags here on my blog.
While Christian Fanaticism can be oppressive, violent, xenophobic, uneducated, arrogant, and is associated with Neo-Conservatism, — Americanophobia takes sides with the MORE oppressive, xenophobic, uneducated, arrogant, and politically extreme such as “The Religion of Peace” (Islamofacsism) as we know it.
But anyway, let’s hope that Canada and Europe never have to find out what living under Sharia Holy Law is like.
It’s time to talk about how Americans are Stupid, Arrogant, Superficial and blind Patriotic Flag Wavers
In the Hudson Review, Bruce Bawer states the following:
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.) Yes, American television was responsible for drivel like “The Ricki Lake Show”—but Europeans, I learned, watched this stuff just as eagerly as Americans did (only to turn around, of course, and mock it as a reflection of American boorishness). No, Europeans weren’t Bible-thumpers—but the Continent’s ever-growing Muslim population, I had come to realize, represented even more of a threat to pluralist democracy than fundamentalist Christians did in the U.S. And yes, more Europeans were multilingual—but then, if each of the fifty states had its own language, Americans would be multilingual, too. I’d marveled at Norwegians’ newspaper consumption; but what did they actually readin those newspapers?
See, it’s not about reading, in general, that makes you ’smart’, but more to do with WHAT you’re reading. If they’re reading nothing but misinformation and garbage, then they’ve got nothing to brag about, really.
Read on to see even more hypocrisy of the Americanophobic Movement. You will also find out that at the end of the day, we’re actually not so different from one another.
Take a look at the top pet issues that the German media covers in the US by going to this blog entry written by David Kaspar. He comments on the German Americanophobic Hypocrisy:
Interestingly enough – the same European elites who complain about the supposed black-white world view ofthe American friends themselves enthusiastically disseminate and consume a hyper-simplified view of the United States (characterized by the pet issues listed above) that largely ignores the complexity, diversity and sheer expanse of the American experience.
I’ve realized these days, after seeing my people being attacked online constantly and outside in the world visiting other countries, that I’m starting to become even more patriotic than I ever have. In the past, before I ever realized how religious and vile Americanophobia was, I sometimes caught myself being pessimistic, feeling that America was doomed, becoming a third world country, becoming stupider and more violent every day while living under the reign of a Bushy Administration and a faux Democracy while watching our freedoms get stripped away by the radical Left and Right wings. To any non-Americans reading this, you may not see, often enough, Americans online discussing how depressed we are as some of us would rather repress what’s going on to find that being in denial allows us to keep our sanity until it’s time to vote again.
However, I realize that it’s not so bad to be an American and not so bad to be living here either – especially after reading this – which only reinforces what I’ve been feeling over the past few months.
This experience was only part of a larger process of edification. Living in Europe, I gradually came to appreciate American virtues I’d always taken for granted, or even disdained—among them a lack of self-seriousness, a grasp of irony and self-deprecating humor, a friendly informality with strangers, an unashamed curiosity, an openness to new experience, an innate optimism, a willingness to think for oneself and speak one’s mind and question the accepted way of doing things. (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 am the type of person that asks A LOT of questions; some would say I’m ‘clinically curious’. Would this fly in Europe? My thirst for knowledge, I guess, would leave me being pegged as “ignorant”? In my opinion, that’s quite contradictory in that it’s the ignorant that DON’T as questions! Hmm.. I’d like to think the natives have a better perception of what Europe is all about as opposed to a “text book” that is ridden with distortions. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:
“He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool forever.” –Chinese Proverb
It’s no wonder so many Americanophobic Europeans are clueless about us. They don’t ASK! I’ve also noticed that Europeans that hate Americans tend to be way too serious and overly political – whereas on the opposite end of the extreme, Americans can be way too superficial and politically apathetic. Both extremes are nonproductive and definitely *not* healthy.)
While harsh Americanophobes online try to bring my people down, I find myself much more bonded and united with my fellow citizens especially those that are balanced liberals. Surprisingly enough though, I find myself just as bonded with the balanced and sometimes self-righteous Republicans. I know that when I’m looking for understanding, that a Republican Conservative will always be there for me and fight against Americanophobia with me. Americanophobia tries to arrogantly push-and-shove their ways and dehumanize their target: Americans. However, when you’re trying to humble a person that’s already humble (admitting the faults of their own country), the humble begin to shift and can be quite defensive thereby turning quiet patriots into noisy ones.
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 proud of where you come from and being loyal to your country along WITH exercising the right to free speech and questioning our leaders when we see fit. That’s why I feel that you can be a patriot and be a liberal questioning the actions of the government at the same time. Now, I am still that same patriot except I feel more in tune with the “flag wavers”. This is NOT what the Americanophobes want. It want us to put our flags DOWN. It wants us to feel that we have NOTHING to be proud of and that we are all pieces of pissed-on shit deserving nothing more than death. What this is doing, however, is creating more pride among the American people. And with that, I will say the cliché saying in America: “You get more flies with honey than you do vinegar“. Americanophobia is Vinegar. Nobody’s listening.
I have yet to see any instances where Americanophobia has been constructive or useful. Americanophobia only sees the “white man”. (We can thank Michael Moore for that!) Americanophobia sees all 300 million Americans as lawless, obnoxious and retarded neo-con Christian Fundamentalists and tries to get this message out to them. But guess what? They aren’t the ones listening. Sadly and for the most part, it’s the curious, open-minded and educated liberals that are visiting your countries — that are (ironically) subjugated to your wild and woolly rants and occasional violent attacks. If we aren’t already “xenophobic”, that’s a great way to create it. Outside from the youth, most Americans are too busy to listen to your noise, anyway. We’ve already learned from the past (the 60’s), the origin of Neo-Conservatism. It sprung out as a backlash against the noisy Radical Leftists. We saw Liberals converting to Conservatism and Old Fashioned Conservatives moving the way of Neo-Conservatism. This is the result of both Americanophobia and Leftist Elitism when it gets loud and obnoxious.
“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
And it’s all because Americanophobia cannot distinguish between the government and her people. Of course, anybody who’s Americanophobic will be ignorant to the fact that we have an electoral voting system here and how truly unfair it is (hence the term, “faux Democracy). IsBush’s 30% all-time-low approval rating any indication that we’re not all approving of him? You guys made the same mistake with the OBESE saying that “most of us” are yet you still haven’t accounted for the 240 million that *aren’t* obese. Americanophobia refuses to learn. Americanophobia’s blind hatred toward the entire US is no better than the blind patriotism of the “flag wavers”. Americanophobia does not want to be humble, educate itself or be reasonably balanced. Americanophobia, like Homophobia, is extreme in its very nature, and is terrorism and genocide without the weapons. As you guys become noisier and noisier, we become more proud and united.
In the ideal world, it would be NICE for us Americans to have a righteous country to look up to with admiration. However, you all lose your credibility and potential respect through your hypocrisy that can be cited all too clearly throughout MOST of your rants. Another nice example that I’m very, very familiar with is noted here:
Citing a South African restaurateur’s assertion that non-Americans “have an advantage over [Americans], because we know everything about you and you know nothing about us,” Hertsgaard tells us that this is a good point, but it’s not: non-Americans are always saying this to Americans, but when you poke around a bit, you almost invariably discover that what they “know” about America is very wide of the mark.
European and Canadian Americanophobes are, if not equally ignorant, MORE ignorant than Americans. Having spoken with many Canadians and Europeans who hate people that they’ve never met, it has become painfully obvious.
America, in short, is a mess—a cultural wasteland, an economic nightmare, a political abomination, an international misfit, outlaw, parasite, and pariah. If Americans don’t know this already, it is, in Hertsgaard’s view, precisely because theyareAmericans: “Foreigners,” he proposes, “can see things about America that natives cannot. . . . Americans can learn from their perceptions, if we choose to.” What he fails to acknowledge, however, is that most foreigners never set foot in the United States, and that the things they think they know about it are consequently based not on first-hand experience but on school textbooks, books by people like Michael Moore, movies about spies and gangsters, “Ricki Lake,” “C.S.I.,” and, above all, the daily news reports in their own national media. What, one must therefore ask, are their media telling them? Whataren’t they telling them? And what are the agendas of those doing the telling?
This is why I find those that subscribe to the Church of Americanophobia to be just as thick and as arrogant as Americans can be. Arrogance is the unwillingness to think for oneself and be the first to always prop themselves up onto a finger-pointing “thou shall not” soap-box. And my question is HOW is YOUR hypocrisy any different from the hypocrisy stemming from Christian Fundamentalists?
Anti-Americanism in Britain has been blinded by its own propaganda which posits that America is run for the benefit of the rich at the expense of the poor – a judgement which ignores the reality of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It also promotes the idea that American education and culture is pathetically myopic. A number of critics have confessed they have never visited the United States yet feel qualified to sit in judgment unaware that the educational provision of thirty or so American universities put Oxford and Cambridge to shame.
The left also seems to be unaware that the highest numbers of Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Americans. In the modern arts – including film, urban architecture, popular music and comedy – America is pre-eminent. The country hosts over 1700 symphony orchestras. In the more traditional forms such as the novel the achievements of leading American writers dwarf their European competitors. Accusations by the European left that Americans are a philistine people seem ridiculous when set beside their museum attendance, more than seven million visitors per year, and the quality of their literary, historical and political magazines. American freedom of the press is unequalled throughout the world and citizen access to government documents under its freedom of information laws is envied throughout Europe. American advances in medical science have saved millions of lives.
We are told we have nothing to be proud of. Could a “stupid and superficial” nation really be capable of the above? I’m not trying to hide behind the harsh fact that a significant number of Americans are stupid. What I’m trying to point out is that Americanophobic “people” aren’t any ‘brighter a bulb’ than we are!
Anti-American sentiment does not engender any alternatives to what the American government poses in the way of foreign policy – its modus operandi is simply to spread the word that the United States is the moral equivalent to the Islamo-fascism it is trying to defeat. It recites its propaganda to summon up every American failure of the past fifty years without mentioning the nation’s successes.
What good does ignoring what we’ve done right do? Oh yeah… god forbid you should be more reasonable and balanced, you might have the unfortunate consequence of seeing the flaws in your own people and own country, no?
Americanophobia doesn’t practice what it preaches – nor is it willing to stray from it’s extremes….
In its hatred of the United States the European left find excuses for the wickedness of Saddam Hussein and the evil philosophy and cruelty of Muslim fundamentalist terror groups. Some pro-Arab intellectuals/celebrities like Vanessa Redgrave have even proposed that Al Qaeda prisoners stand as parliamentary candidates in the forthcoming British general election. Labour MP George Galloway, who was an admirer of Saddam Hussein, has disseminated the idea that Iraqi terrorists have every right to kill the “American invaders.”
Americanophobia has this impression that if you travel to the US, you will find the people dressed up in stars and stripes everywhere. You’ll have this impression that all the cars and homes here will be painted and/or decorated with the American Flag. You’ll be brainwashed to believe that Americans march the streets with their flags before and after work and on the weekends after watching, “Sex in the City”. And last, but not least, you’ll think that all we talk about and have on our minds is American Patriotism and “how better our country is than yours!“.
I am here to tell all Canadians, Europeans, Australians, and those from New Zealand, that your school books and media have painfully misguided you. I am currently living in San Antonio, Texas. I should be seeing this here, right? Where are all the flags? Where are all the alleged “stars and stripes”? I see them here, but not too much of it. I will say, however, that Americans will show their patriotism when they feel threatened.
A good example would be after 9-11 where we all bonded together. And hell… my husband and I even had the flag on our car! It’s like a way of saying, “We are one nation and we will have each other’s back – and not let those people get the best of us”. I think ALL countries (especially where Americanophobia is prevalent) misinterpreted this behavior post-9-11 as “arrogance”. You can also thank your media for sensationalizing that news, as well. But ’situational US flag décor’ is not arrogance or “blind patriotism”. Look at it this way: At least I know in the US, if someone’s house gets broken into and/or a crime is committed against a person in that neighborhood, the entire neighborhood becomes closer and unites. Acquaintances become friends. We’ve got each other’s back and look after one another. Generally speaking, if Americans feel threatened (with the exception of the radical liberals), we will unite… just like any other country would under the same circumstances. Hopefully, you’ll never have to find out.
In the case that you DO find Americans marching in the streets in ’stars and stripes’ attire loudly reciting the Star Spangled Banner, consider them mentally ill, and move on.
Stupid, superficial, arrogantly/blindly patriotic, and genocidal, we are, says our “NATO friends” who live on the other side of our border and across the pond. However, if only our NATO Americanophobic friends could look in the mirror, they’d not only notice a reflection of themselves, but they would also see “the Americans“.
WARNING: Do not drink any liquids while reading this blog post. You’ll know why… soon.
I just received the following message today:
(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.
My jaw dropped to the ground when I read this. Classic: It was written by not only a kid, but someone who’d not even stepped foot into the US. I was shocked that these kinds of messages were being sent to Canadian citizens everywhere. I haven’t heard something similar to this just once, not even twice, but many times. It puzzles me. It isn’t just Americanophobic Canadians that are guilty of this either. So, are some Americanophobic Europeans, but we’ll get into that later.
To challenge this cliche knee-jerk and ever so tired reactionary statement above, I will first say that Americans do *not* do the following:
We do not force people to eat certain foods. This is a free country. You have two hands and a mouth, and nobody but YOU controls what you put in there. If you become fat from over-eating, it’s YOUR problem unless you are sick. There’s a little something called “personal responsibility”, and in the US, you are accountable for your own actions. “Free will” if you must say. Nobody puts a gun to anybody’s head and forcibly shoves Big Macs, super-sized fries, and two chocolate shakes down anybody’s throat! If you decide to live a sedentary life, that’s again, YOUR choice, unless you’re disabled. And if it’s fact that we forcibly make our immigrants fat, then how can we explain for all those who have immigrated here that are thin and eat healthy? If you are swayed by our Big Mac commercials, guess what…? Again, that’s your problem and YOUR choice that you’re too stupid to think for yourself and choose to be brainwashed by a silly 30 second commercial. Sixty million people are obese in America. Now, if we were a fascist country, how do you explain for those other 240 million? How come they’re not obese? And how in the world does this have anything to do with multiculturalism or the lack of is beyond me…
America does *not* create or forcibly make someone “stupid”. This one, too, boggles my mind. Doesn’t this lie more in the hands of parents? If you cannot afford a decent college education, there are plenty of other ways to learn. Ever heard of financial aid? Community Colleges? Scholarships? Independent study? It’s up to the individual. The last time I checked, our government doesn’t police or meddle in the private affairs of others. Here in America, we have that much freedom: Freedom to be dumb and freedom to be intelligent and freedom to be dumb sometimes and intelligent sometimes. At least we have CHOICES here. Your brain cells aren’t served to you on a silver platter. You stimulate your own brain cells without expecting nanny-coddling-government to do it for you. And you call Americans lazy?
America does *not* coerce her immigrants to become “greedy”.How is this… I wonder? I’m sincerely confused. Greed by definition is the stepping on other’s toes to get what you want. This is not a quality that makes an American likeable – yes, even to another American! Yet again, these mindless teenybopper bigoted mental midgets are confusing the big corporate giants such as Halliburton and Microsoft (to name a few) with the general public. Sure there are greedy Americans that are a part of the mix. Again, it all starts with how one is to be brought up. If a Mexican person decides to risk their life crossing our borders (which most do) to come and live here, where exactly are they “taught” to knock other people over to “grab it all for themselves”? Who teaches them? How are they taught? Again, our government is NOT a dictatorship. You listen to what you want to; you choose to learn what you want; you choose to agree and disagree with what you want. There are just as many generous and cooperative players out there whom aren’t getting credit in this very cruel and unnecessary sweeping generalization. What some Americanophobes don’t get is the fact that Americans are victims of the Major Corporate Giant system too. We are to take personal responsibility for ourselves in this country. We’re on our own with limited help, and if nobody else is going to cater to our needs, we need to get off of our asses and fend for ourselves…. yes, those “lazy bastard Americans”. However, THAT can be a bit harsh for some people who cannot, for a valid reason, fight for themselves. But America understands this – which is why over half of American citizens are on welfare. Get a clue, people!
As far as using up all the world’s resources are concerned, you may want to also take a look at how Canada is viewed as the world’s biggest pig when it comes to the consumption of energy. Some also say that China is the world’s biggest green house gas producer. (Global Warming may even be a hoax and even if it’s not there are more people dying in the UK from the cold than the heat!) If we are eating too many twinkies and not leaving enough for South Africa, you’re wrong. We donate more than other countries … by a long shot. And South Africans appreciate our triple-processed twinkies.
Our donations including private donations to world hunger and foreign aid are quite generous. Sure, we abuse our power sometimes (which I don’t like, by the way), however dingy brainwashed monkies like to see the US only for it’s faults as opposed to ever looking at what we’ve done RIGHT. I don’t know how people can call all of us greedy pigs when we sacrifice the needs of our OWN citizens in need and constantly prioritize those in developing countries. If you remember Hurricane Katrina, and also the tsunami in Indonesia, you’ll know that Indonesia got support FASTER (much faster) and more efficiently than Kartrina did or could have ever dreamed to have gotten. Lots of Americans naturally complain that other countries “get the goods” before we do. Even if our selfish interests come to play when giving foreign aid, think twice before you collectively try to bully all of us into thinking that we’re “greedy“.
America has limited government. YOU choose your own destination in life – *not* your next-door big fat white hairy bible-thumping gun-toting neo-con hick neighbor. But see, you’ll never know this unless you’ve lived here, yourself. We are clearly more diverse than any other country (yes, and even the ‘evil whities’ don’t all think alike), but your press tells you that we’re all alike. This problem is not with your agenda-ridden media as much as it is with YOU that chooses to believe everything that you’re told. And you have the nerve to tell us that we’re not “free”? If Micheal Moore and Rosie O’Donnell is not any indication of how free we are, I don’t know what is? Just no dildos in Alabama, EH?
You people also confuse Americans with “being white” and I have the foggiest clue where you got that from? Oh wait. Thanks to Michael Moore for that. Just keep in mind that when you make hateful blanket statements about American people, you are also including ALL of those people that have immigrated here from all over the planet. Black people are American too, so you’re a racist as well!
Do me a favor: Ask all the immigrants if they’re happy here. Wouldn’t that be the TRUE test, after all? I mean, it SPEAKS VOLUMES that the majority of immigrants (both illegal and legal) come here ONE-WAY. They don’t return to their respective countries. Why? Ask yourself why most immigrants chose to immigrate to the states more than any other developed nation in the world. There’s got to be a reason for this.
America does *not* train her immigrants to be “obnoxious assholes”. We are allegedly somehow schooling people of all different ethnic backgrounds to “conform” to the “All-American Obnoxious Asshole Think-Tank Committee”? Does anybody have any substantiated evidence as to how America takes all of these (naturally smart and kind people …just because their immigrants) people from different nations and molds them from “nice to naughty“? This is actually a funny accusation if you ask me as it suggests that Americans are inherently mean, and also suggests that if you come from another country outside the states that you’re inherently GOOD. How does one tackle such a weak “black and white” narrow-minded argument?
The dumb kid who said this to me is a walking contradiction to it’s most frightening degree. To see the world as “black and white” and ignore the “gray areas” is to indirectly admit to being an elitist, ignorant buffoon that makes Bush look like a Cum Laude graduate.
Next, to assume that all Americans are “obnoxious assholes” is to make it VERY clear that you’re *not* an expert of the American culture – rather an expert at having your thoughts, thought for you. My burning question is.. how does someone that has had both a limited to none, face-to-face experience with Americans and not having ever come to live here, claim to be an “expert”? America (find my definition of “America” in my glossary) is too big for some of these ‘holier-than-thou’ small-minded simpleton multicultural elitists with a “small penis syndrome” to consume. Keep in mind that there are 50 states, and there are over 30,000 incorporated cities within those states and 300 million inhabitants. Every city in the US has it’s own unique style and personality.
At least we all don’t think alike here in the US unlike some other countries where those that have a different opinion are out-casted. Remember Michael Moore? We are proud that we can think any way we want to here and be who we are. I sometimes hate that there’s a virtual civil war going on in the US as the two parties (Republican and Democrat) are extremely bitter toward one another. There are times that I wished that we all thought the same. However, on the bright side, that’s the beauty of America. We have the choice of either thinking for ourselves or being dumb and following the crowd to get “social approval”.
(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.
…. is not a classic Gold Standard tell-tale sign of Obnoxious Asshole-ness, I don’t know what is?
My advice? If you’re going to have an opinion about the US and want to sound intelligent and “morally superior” at the same time, KNOW what the heck you’re talking about, for one. And two, if you’re going to accuse the entire United States of something, make sure that you’re own hands are clean first. You have the right to say whatever you want, and nobody’s going to stop you – even Facebook, Youtube, and any other websites in cyberspace where you whine, moan, pitch fits, and groan about the big bad neighbor to the south. We let you do what you want, however, you’re not sounding like too bright a bulb when you’re hand-fed your thoughts without having any REAL experience living in the states.
There are two-sides to every story. Dumb people only look at one side. And it’s that same kind of collective-Nazified-group-think that get dumb presidents elected too. Remember that. How DID Harper ever get elected? I sure hope that you don’t have a electoral voting system like we do here? Let’s just say that America is *not* the Democracy you’d like to think it to be, but that’s another story for another day….
“If Dinesh D’Souza or his publisher were concerned with being politically correct, this book would never have seen the light of day. D’Souza is not interested in defending an idealized version of America. Rather, he describes the real America, both the good and the bad, andreminds American citizens that they should be proud of themselves and their country despite the peevish criticism that the United States receives from others who blame them and their country for everything that goes wrong in the world. Not surprisingly, America’s harsh critics conveniently only tell one side of the story and never give the United States credit for any of the good things that happen around the world.”
“If all cultures are equal, if everything is relative, if no culture can really be termed “superior” to another, why is it that every year, all over the world, millions of people vote with their feet for America and the American way of life? People immigrate here from every corner of the world, and it’s virtually a one way traffic. How many Americans choose to emigrate to Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Thailand, or Poland? But people from other countries are so eager to come here that they will do it illegally if they cannot do it any other way. If America is so terrible, how did we become the richest, most prosperous nation on earth? I know many would say it’s because we are oppressors, and we have exploited the rest of the world, both people and natural resources, until we are on top, but this doesn’t wash. While we are no angels, to be sure, neither are we really comparable to history’s REAL oppressors, such as the Nazis, or the communists (who not only killed more millions of people than the Nazis, but had a far, far worse record of raping and polluting the environment than any Western country). I have yet to hear a multiculturalist give me a convincing answer to this.
Multiculturalists, like most modern leftists, live in an idealized universe; they have long since lost the habit of testing ideas against their actual results in the real world. If you look the facts in the face, it’s very hard to disagree with most of what D’Souza says.”
Another great thing about America, in my opinion, is that we’re a healthy combination of both being multicultural and a melting-pot. Like I had mentioned in this entry, when one immigrates to America, they get to keep their ethnicity, they get to continue speaking their language, celebrating their holidays and their religion, reading and watching news in their own languages, they get to keep eating their own foods, and do the same things that they did in their own country simultaneously becoming an American and learning English – (although there’s a HUGE amount of immigrants from many countries that have been living here for 20 + years that still cannot speak English). If that’s not a hint of multiculturalism and tolerance, I don’t know what is? Even those within the same ethnic group are allowed to be free-thinkers, say what they want, and be their unique selves – yes… just like the “ugly, fat, greedy, ignorant, white man”. There are several unique varieties to being an “ugly, fat, stupid, greedy, and obnoxious” white man. Come to America and see how they come in all different colors, shapes, and sizes.
And by the way, how did Arnold Schwarzenegger get elected as governor of California? How did Obama get where he is now if we’re so “intolerant”?
Here’s a speech about what makes America a great country by a German immigrant at Wisconsin’s McCain campaign event.
Now, this is something that you cannot find in any textbook in any classroom across the globe. Sadly, there are too many people from developed nations on the world map that have no clue about what the Americans did for Germany. Who cares if you’re from the right or the left? Who cares if we didn’t go to WWII until we were attacked first (mind you, an attack from a country that was part of the Axis of Evil – hello?) Another hint, we DID get involved BEFORE the Pearl Harbor attacks – ever heard of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941? That’s all trivial regardless of any “hidden motive” or unsubstantiated “conspiracy theories”. The fact of the matter is that we did good that we never get credit for from a bunch of leeching, dependent, ungrateful and stubborn little elitists that think their cow pie doesn’t stink. And they have the nerve to call America “arrogant”?
But the prepubescent teen had more to say.
Also, in my country I have been brought up to respect and admire the us from my PARENTS, from my TEACHERS, and also from the MEDIA. This is just the result of my own reaserch and conclusions about the country and its fundamentals.
No, hun. Your teachers and media are biased. Let’s have a look-see at my research. You cannot claim to have done your research yet have a one-sided view of a VERY large group of people (say, 300+ million?). You’re credibility is lost. Not to mention the hypocrisy in most of the statements made by Americanophobes like yourself.
And Mr. “I’m an expert of all those places I’ve never been to” continues his little rant, ……….
The fact that you went to Japan and lived there for 6 1/2 years and learned their culture and language doesn’t impress me. It was your choice to do that not anyone elses. Not only that but you lived there temporarily so you weren’t forced to essentially become Japanese. Im sure they veiwed you in the same way that the rest of the world does plus your country dropped TWO nuclear bombs on their country so they probly dislike you even more then most.
Living in a country for a long time and learning their language and participating in their customs doesn’t automatically give someone a shiny gold star. However, my experience having lived in Japan made me grow in so many ways. I worked under their system there which is entirely different from where I come from. Speaking a second language does make you more open-minded. While I didn’t strip myself of my own “American identity”, I also blended into their culture or at least gave it a good shot. I feel, I have more a say as to how Japanese people behave and about their country than some little dweeb in secondary school who just got done learning the alphabet and hasn’t even stepped outside of his own comfort zone.
While I wasn’t forced to “do as the Japanese do…“, I did it because I wanted to. It’s called respect. I think this says more about my ability to tolerate diversity as opposed to some disgruntled Canadian teenager judging from a distance.
The most amusing part of his rant was the fact that he says, “the Japanese hated me more than any other group in the world”. (???) I’m sorry, I had to share this with you all just to show you what kind of people are out there. It’s no wonder why some Americans think that Canadians live in igloos. (joke) Anyway, I find this rather interesting as in my college days, the majority of my friends were….. JAPANESE! I mean, I sorta decided to pack my bags, live and work there for a reason. The Japanese are, with no doubt, the nicest people I’ve ever met! By the time I arrived in Japan, I was fluent in Japanese because all of my Japanese college friends helped me immensely with the language a few years before that. When I arrived in Japan, I lived with my friend’s family for two months. They took very great care of me as I was there until I found an apartment. But no… the Japanese are supposed to hate ME for something that happened before I was even born??? The Japanese have much more class than that; they put people like YOU to shame. This little whiny brat feels that it is right to judge a person based on wars that happened in the past ?
As a matter of fact, friends, one of my students in Japan (I was an English teacher there) was 70 years old – from the WWII days. She was learning English….. *gasps* …. in Japan! She treated me with utmost respect and told me that she wanted to learn English because a lot of people from other English speaking countries were frequenting her liquor shop. Now, would an Americanophobe (who even lived through WWII) come seek me for help? Would an Americanophobe learn English in Japan so that she could chat with other English speaking groups? And for the record, there are thousands of Americans living in Japan… happily.
I also had a Japanese boyfriend and was, overall, well-liked and respected in Japan. If any nation should copy another nation’s “best practices”, Japan should be the role model of the world. Other countries, including America, should be more like the Japanese. And if this is not any indication of a positive experience in Japan, I don’t know what is, folks. I have over 400 photographs showing something a bit.. uh different than “being hated“. That country is amazing, and I wouldn’t be saying that if they all “hated” me or was keeping grudges over past wars like a retard.
And for the love of all that’s green and bushy, the attack on Japan in WWII was JUSTIFIED! Go read about Pearl Harbor and how Japan partook in the Axis of Evil in WWII succumbing to Hitler’s regime. We gave them warnings before the dropping of EACH bomb, and they refused to pay attention. They didn’t surrender until the third time we asked them to. I’m not going to do that research for you because I don’t think you’ll want to read it anyway as god (the secular one) forbid the US should defend herself and do something RIGHT. That picture is too pretty for you.
Now, how in the world am I to take the rantings, of an arm-chair political science/international affairs expert wannabee, seriously?
So, you probably want to know why I wasted all this time on an insecure ignoramus who’s probably celebrating his first arm pit hair, right? I’d better waste my time with some more intelligent feedback if I’m going to waste my time at all, right? Well, while that does make better sense, and while this type of goon doesn’t reflect the opinions of the majority in his respective country, I do find more often than not, similar sentiments being expressed on the internet and found it important to voice my feelings on the issue, spread awareness as to what kind of freaks are out there, and debunk yet even more misconceptions about the US – which ultimately is the purpose of this blog… right now.
Suffice it to say that, I found this idiot’s profile picture on Facebook to be the most telling of all.
Now, if that doesn’t spell “insecurity” and a bit of jealousy toward America, I don’t know what does. Additionally, he belongs to the “Canadian Action Party“.
The “Canadian Action Party” is very telling in and of itself. Never mind the fact that Canadians roam about cyberspace flaunting their Canadian Pride and telling all the Americans off simultaneously. Notice how Canadian Pride is non-existent without the mention of the USA. Anyway, lets see what the “Canadian Action Party” is all about. And I quote….
“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.”
Actually, the Canadians DO have the power to un-join NATO. They can make their own computer operating systems, their own websites, their own technologies, and everything else that they’re taking advantage of. I think this makes them feel insecure and weak as a nation – considering how dependent they are. But see, the US depends on goods from China, Japan, and all other parts of the world including Canada, yet… that doesn’t make us feel … small. I love this convenient “blame my sorry-assed life” on America” banter when they’re supposedly a “democracy” to which they claim Canada to be the only nation that truly exercises FREE SPEECH. If they were THAT free, they’d become independent, make their own stuff, get out of NATO, defend their selves militarily (if London, Paris, and Madrid aren’t immune to terrorism, neither are they!) and make changes for themselves without playing the “look what you did to us” card.
The only thing I can think of to explain the type of behavior expressed by this bitter Canadian is that people like to feel a sense of “belonging”. A lot of people don’t question things when everyone’s thinking alike, right? Americanophobic Canadians feel that if the whole world hates America, then that means that America merits the hatred and it’s logical and correct, right? The Nazis in Germany were brainwashed to hate Jews, right? So were two other countries. Weren’t they the majority? Was it right? That’s what the “mob mentality” is all about: feeling validated in a group. When are people going to grow a pair of cahones?
This is simply a continuation from yesterday’s posting. I’d also like to mention that the purpose of both Part I and Part II of these entries is to challenge those people that have told me that I was overreacting to this phenomenon. Additionally, I was once one of those clueless people, in the past, that had absolutely no idea that Canada (or a rather large percentage of their population) disliked Americans. I didn’t, myself, really “get it” until I saw one rant after another about the internet about how “bad” we are.
I wasn’t too far off when I mentioned in another post that at least half or more of the Canadians were guilty of Americanophobia. Here’s a poll and an article that says that over 40% of Canadian teens think that America is evil. And that’s just the teen population. What do the adults think? I’d rather believe that when kids grow up that they become open-minded, educated, become critical thinkers, and lose some of their prejudices. Well, sometimes this is the case, and sometimes it’s not as I’ve heard that some Canadians were brought up by their parents to hate Americans. And this means that mom and dad had/have their prejudices too.
But let’s go back to the article.
In one telephone poll of teens between the ages of 14 and 18, over 40 per cent of the respondents described the United States as being “evil”. That number rose to 64 per cent for French Canadian youth.
Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish was picked up on a boom microphone saying, “Damn Americans — I hate those bastards“. Not only did Parrish not apologize for her remarks, but she later appeared on a television show hosted by alleged comedian Mike Bullard and laughed about the incident. Parrish played to the Anti-Americanism of the youthful studio audience by saying that she couldn’t guarantee that she wouldn’t do it again.
Not only did then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien not take any action against his staff or caucus members, he himself engaged in America-bashing. The depth of his anti-Americanism surfaced shortly after the 9/11 attacks when he blamed the arrogance and greed of the West (read the United States) for those attacks.
Here is yet another example of how Canadians feel that we deserved 9-11. Canadian media and education is mostly one-sided, so that explains the hostile “mob mentality” of those Canadians that chose to be brainwashed and hand-fed their thoughts.
Crime committed: Arrogance and Greed
Justified punishment: Death (9-11).
Yes, again coming from the same Canadians who are against the death penalty and claim to be “peace-loving”.
The name of the topic is, “What Makes You Proud to be a Canadian” in the group, “Canada Kicks Ass“. (Names removed for privacy sake) Let’s here what they had to say:
(Vancouver, BC) wroteon May 21, 2007 at 4:21 PM
The fact that I don’t have my head up my ass, which is the difference that solely defines an American.
(Edmonton, AB) wroteon May 23, 2007 at 1:26 PM
the fact that pretty much anywhere we go, people like us more than americans. also we have a canadian team in the cup finals for the third year in a Row!!
(Vancouver, BC) wroteon Jun 22, 2007 at 5:27 PM
Hockey,Hotter Women,Better Beer,No Ignorence,need i say more.
No ignorance? Hotter women, even? I wonder how they came to that conclusion?
(Algonquin College) wroteon Jul 25, 2007 at 9:28 AM
the fact that everyone likes canada better than the US and (sometimes) go out of thier way to not kill us when we’re touring in africa and europe is well enough for me. Its the respect, dawg
(Burnaby Mountain Secondary) wroteon Dec 7, 2007 at 3:30 PM
The fact that we actually can properly use the term ”Canadian.” The other day I was in portland and someone asked me if I SPOKE Canadian. I was dumbfound and almost started to laugh. I told him i didn’t know of such a language as Canadian but that i definately spoke English.
Surely, one stupid American ruins it for the other 300 million.
(Stayner Collegiate Institute) wroteon Feb 17, 2008 at 9:56 AM
i can tell u the story of our flag
i can tell u the story of our constitution
i can tell u the story of our law
i can tell u that all of canadas stories tell us THAT THIS IS THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH
…….and…..i can tell u THAT WE ARE THE BIRTH PLACE OF HOCKEY
Notice the subtle references to Americans in comparison. Well, just about all of these posts are. I also find it entertaining that one of the biggest criticisms that they have against Americans is American Patriotism. Lots of pots and lots of kettles calling each other black, no?
(Toronto, ON) replied to [...]’s post on Nov 9, 2007 at 4:56 PM
diversity! were not a melting pot! and we’re free and one of the most friendliest kind of people out there! being canadian is awsome EH!?
Ok. The concept of a “melting pot” (according to Canadians) is to force every ethnic groups that comes to live in the US to become American – meaning to leave your ethnicity at the door and mold yourselves to become just like us, learn English and etc. This is yet another convenient myth that is believed by Americanophobes. We do *not* force people out of their identities. Rather, it’s a mixture of the two. We are more like a Salad Bowl.
We were taught that the salad bowl was the better metaphor for us to learn about American and immigrants. In a salad bowl, different ingredients are all mixed together to make one thing, yet each ingredient also retains its own characteristics. They aren’t blended into some bland goo.
And here’s a good example of that:
Go on and ask your grandma,
Hear what she has to tell
How great to be American
And something else as well.
I came across a group on Facebook called, “I Hate Everyone Who Hates America“. Granted, the title of this group is a bit strong for me, and could have been worded better. And, mind you, there are plenty of arrogant Americans to go around. But there was some bashing going on here as well. One woman thought that she’d do all of us a favor and define Americans as how she saw fit:
[...]wrote (wall post) at 6:35pm
you only have to look at all the groups on here to see that there are hundreds of “hate america groups”. How come it is only Americans who dont know why they are despised. You just have to read the low level trash from people like Matt to see why Americans are so universally loathed. I suggest you go to a few groups to get a general picture of how americans speak. It doesnt take long to see there are idiots like Matt on every single group.Some uneducated retard saying how great America is.It cannot be denied Americans are uncouth, uneducated low life trash that no more deserve life than a cockroach.
Men trying to be so macho it makes you want to puke. And women so dumb and slutty it sets back the feminist movement years.
Why do Americans have no perception of how shitty they are? How can anyone be so fucking ignorant and so arrogant at the same time ?
It is the unconditional pride which is the most off-putting. How can people be proud of such a shameful and immoral country?
All Americans are flag waving hypocritic smug moralistic intolerant arseholes!
And in this topic, someone mentions the following:
replied to [...] on Feb 10, 2008 at 1:53 PM
Are you all indoctrinated at birth or is it the fact that you are completely blind to the way the rest of the world views you. Do you not know that you are hated with a passion all over the world. Your president is ridiculed, your last few defence secretaries have been discredited, and you have the greatest number of fraudulent “men of god” than in the rest of the entire world. Your health system is accessible only by the rich, racism is prevalent in the south, the jokes I heard coming out of America after the hurricane hit Louisiana, were far greater in number than the assistance offered. Your obesity levels have risen to over 50%, you value celebrities and pay them ludicrous amounts of money in a week which would be more than anything a doctor or a teacher could earn in years.Your defence lawyers have made a mockery of the word justice.
Your gun laws are made by people who benefit vastly in financial terms from the pro gun lobby.
And there is plenty more where that came from. I see this group struggles to gain members, I can understand why.
In a group called, “Canada vs America“, a young man asks Canadians why they hate America. To save some space, you can read what more Canadians think about us here. Additionally, more Facebook Americanophobic hate groups can be found here.
Molson Golden, a Canadian brewing company, had a commercial years ago. It was meant to be funny, and it IS just a commercial. However, it’s as usual, showing Canadian Pride, while giving the US an “innocent” kick in the butt. Watch it here. Is it really necessary to reinforce these stereotypes that Canadians REALLY DO have about Americans? I’ve already found two groups on Facebook that use the following lines (song) as their group motto/mission statement. They DO take it seriously.
If you know anything about Canada at all, you know that we both speak the same. And we’re both the same in regards to diversity as well. I’ve been told by Canadians that they DO, in fact, wear their country’s flag on their backpacks when they travel. But then when Americans show their flags, we get busted. So, there’s some hypocrisy here. And, depending on which province you live in, some people really DO say, “a boot”. But it’s okay. America’s the same in that regard because we speak differently depending on where we live as well. In any event, as “innocuous” as this commercial appears, the message delivered is that of an Americanophobic one.
Anti-Americanism is a sort of “legitimate prejudice” in a world of increasingly stringent political correctness. “Substitute any other group for ‘Americans’ in Ms. Parrish’s comments – “Damn Palestinians – hate those bastards’ or Damn Africans – hate those bastards – and imagine the firestorm” (National Post editorial, Feb. 28, 2003). The U.S. is a wonderful whipping-person – so large, so rich, so many nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, such a powerful set of widely-shared values, and such a successful exporter of popular culture. What’s not to “hate” (loathe) if one is an insecure Canadian?
Now, I’ve mentioned in previous postings that there’s a group on Facebook called, “Canadians Against Anti-Americanism“. The most telling stories of Canadian’s experience of Americanophobes is mentioned in a topic called, “Why did YOU Join this Group“. Let’s here what they have to say:
(San Jose State) (Canadian living in the US) wrote on Jun 10, 2007 at 10:17 AM
I used to be one of those people who was anti-american for no reason. When we first moved to the States, all our family and friends in Canada warned us that moving here was going to be a big mistake. It turns out they were wrong, and after adjusting to the change, I ended up loving America. I think its sad that Canadians are so easy to spew hateful thoughts about America in order to feel better about themselves. It’s disgusting that I have to defend my new home to my friends in Canada whenever they attack it for no reason. You can hate the administration, but to hate everyone just cause they’re American is..i dunno…stupid. I guess the reason I joined the group was to let my good American friends know that I’m not an UGLY CANADIAN.
[...] replied to[...] post on Jun 10, 2007 at 10:45 AM
I think many Canadians are raised anti-American either from family or the media. The idea that to be Canadian is to be be “not American” is a pretty crappy cultural benchmark. But alas, I will admit that in my less informed days I was like many other Canadians swinging my feet as the bandwagon drove over the bumpy trail. However I have spent some time working with Americans, living with American soldiers while in Afghanistan, and travelling through many states and speaking with Americans and I have found that Americans are often painted by Canadians with the same brush and that should never happen. I will just say that there are a lot of intelligent Americans who are very caring people and want to help other countries. Most Americans I’ve spoken to are more informed about politics and foreign policies than Canadians are and at least when they share their opinion they know what they’re talking about. Many Americans are great people, great neighbours, and an amazing ally and friend to Canada.
(Toronto, ON) wrote on Jun 10, 2007 at 6:44 PM
While travelling in my youth I noticed that fellow travellers from America were treated differently than myself and others. They were often harassed or at least not made to feel welcome. These individuals did not deserve any different treatment than the rest of us and I felt bad for them. Many Canadians wore the maple leaf on their backpacks not as a symbol of pride, but rather as a way to say “I’m not American”. That also felt very wrong to me.As I’ve grown up here in Canada I’ve observed that anti-Americanism seems to have become increasingly acceptable. It has crept into our lives at so many levels that for many people it has become “normal”. Kid’s are subtly fed it in their schools, our national broadcaster treats it as comedy, and our politicians use it to garner popular support. Rather than contributing to my national pride for me it is a source of shame.
Simply put, anti-Americanism is wrong.
(Ottawa, ON) replied to [...] post on Jun 11, 2007 at 1:16 PM
I don’t really have any personal story like the ones above. It’s merely that, I was raised in an anti-American family, and like most of Canada, I was quite anti-American in my formative years. Then I started to think for myself. Once that happened, I stopped believing in God and also stopped believing America was evil.. seems to follow naturally when you actually think for yourself and stop believing everything that’s fed to you.
(Thunder Bay, ON) wrote on Jun 11, 2007 at 2:07 PM
This group and these posts have touched my heart. I am an American who has been living in Canada for the past 25 years. I have heard the anti-American sentiments from friends, family, strangers, the media, etc. Oh yes, anti-Americanism is very hurtful.
I have 4 Canadian/American children and they too have felt the sting of anti-american sentiment at one time or another in their lives.
The absolute worst for us was after 9/11. As a former New Yorker, the attack on the USA and NY was personally horrifying. For many hours and days I wasn’t sure if any of my family or friends had been killed. To see what had happened to my home town was heartbreaking and surreal. Then to hear on the CBC various broadcasts about how the Americans deserved what they got was like rubbing salt in this huge wound.
For years I’ve been telling my husband about the anti-American sentiment in Canada and he denies its existence and minimizes it.
Gee… I surely can relate to that!
So, to read these entries today validates my feelings and in some way it helps to know that there are others out there who feel it and acknowledge that it is wrong. To all of my facebook friends who read this posting, I hope this group and the sentiments expressed here help you become more aware.
I thank all of you.
(Montreal, QC) wrote on Jun 18, 2007 at 8:39 AM
I’m always shocked to find out that most people I meet who have a negative opinion of the U.S. have actually never set foot there. They know no Americans personally. In fact, it would be quite hard for them to interact with America here in Québec, since most of my fellow classmates back when I was in high school and Cégep only spoke French. All they know about America is what they’ve seen on Canadian/Québec TV.
Some seem to believe that hospitals in the U.S. will let you die if you have no money. Some seem to believe that there is no welfare in the U.S. And these same individuals also often believe that all Americans are fat, stupid, ignorant bastards without even an inkling of a culture and a total lack of class. Of course, you know as well as I do that absolutely none of this is true. But THEY still think that, because they don’t know better. If only they were only hurting themselves… When 80% of what you produce gets sold south of the border, these are not very intelligent thoughts to have. And it’s even more economically suicidal and stupid to say it out loud in the media. That doesn’t stop people from doing it. We should be thankful Americans don’t lavish more attention upon Canada and what we think of them. Gosh forbid they ever start focusing on our media, we’ll be in for a rough ride.
(Duluth, MN) replied to Pamela’s post on Jun 19, 2007 at 6:39 PM
My purpose for creating this group was quite simple. Although I am interested in the sociological aspect of Canadians smelling of anti-Americanism, I had no agenda. Just a personal story and a little curiosity…Like many Canadians, I grew up around anti-Americanism. It’s subtle but everywhere. My father would be the first to admit his hatred. However, having been stigmatized as a young school girl, I learned early that judging on the surface of things is hurtful and usually a wrong assumption. At a young age, I questioned my father’s hatred of Americans because I had been hurt by presumptions, too. What if he was wrong and Americans aren’t the bastards he said they were? And it seems I may have been right….
After graduation from high school, I attended college in Wisconsin. It was there that I realized most profoundly that (“SHOCK!”) Americans are people a lot like me! As I grew to know and love my new Americans friends, the anti-American sentiments I heard when I came home began to hurt. It had become personal.
It became even more personal after I found an American guy I thought was wonderful enough to marry. Going home to Canada is always interesting as I watch my father try to hold back his hateful comment about the States. However, he doesn’t always do too well. My husband, who has been nothing but patient with him continues to endure comments like, “All Americans want to do is kill…” or some comment about how awful Bush is (or any president, for that matter). These comments are indirectly aimed at my husband. (This showed me how it is difficult to separate the government of a country from its people.) My brother once blurted out to him in anger, “You’re just pro-American!” (Justwhat does that mean?!) I can have respect for Canadians who have intelligent reasons to be anti-American but it is Canadians who are anti-American without thought that confound me.
I have called Minnesota home for the past 8 years. I mentioned in a prior post that I have three children who are dual American and Canadian citizens. I want them to proud of BOTH of their countries. However, if they experience the same stigma I have when I come home to Canada, I doubt they will feel as welcome there as they do in the States. We can politicize it all we want and argue socialism versus capitalism but when it all boils down anti-Americanism is a deeply personal issue.
I took 9/11 personally, too. As I watched those planes fly into those towers, I was shocked and angry. For the first time, I was really for the Americans. I was ready to fight for them. And yet, shortly after the attacks, I heard Canadians joking about it saying that they deserved it and using it for comedy. It was disgusting to hear. For the first time, I was actually embarrassed to be a Canadian.
When I visit home, I have a Minnesotan license plate. I was driving through Winnipeg shortly after 9/11 when a fellow Canadian drove by and gave me the finger for no apparent reason than perhaps, I was American? This just made me realize how disgustingwe can be.
I am now an American citizen as well as Canadian. Because of this, I have American I.D. It is always an experience for me when I have to show my I.D. in Canada. I consciously think, “Should I show American I.D. or my Canadian I.D?” I consider this because when I show American I.D. I am treated shortly and sometimes rudely. However, when I show Canadian I.D. I get a more friendly response. This is my fun experiment whenever I get to come home.
My assumptions continue to fall to the wayside as I learn to think for myself about America and its citizens. I have learned that most Americans are proud and patriotic, not arrogant. I have learned that they fight for peace and have made many positive changes in the world. I have gained a deeper appreciation not only for Americans but for the many, many good things about America as a country.Not only did I create this group because of my personal connections to the States, I also created this group out of curiosity. Was I alone? Was I the only Canadian who was tired of the anti-Americanism? How aware of it are we? Slowly, but surely, people began joining the group and I must say, I have been encouraged.
I created this group to create discussion and visit about how we can impact our Canadian culture for the better.
And last but not least, from this thread on Facebook:
I can’t imagine anybody needing any more proof than this.
I just so happened upon this blog that is written by a Canadian who sticks up for Americans and is against Americanophobia that is VERY prevalent in Canada. The author of this blog was asked by a Republican friend if we were hated by Canadians.
I was asked this question today by a new Republican friend of mine, and giving the answer just about broke my heart. What could I say but yes? It’s quite obvious that my home country despises her longtime ally and my adopted homeland.
The United States, as a whole, has an amazingly thick skin. Call their president a moron a few times and they don’t even notice. They still even defend your airspace for you, whether you ask them to or not. But eventually, it starts to seep in that they really just aren’t all that appreciated. My fellow Canadians, let me outline this for you in simple terms: “oh, ****ing ****ty ****. We are so ****ed.”
Feel free to read the rest of his story here along with the comments to his post. I think some of my posts are being misconstrued to sound like I’m insisting that ALL Canadians hate Americans – which is not true. In fact, there are a bunch of Canadians that will report that while they disagree with the Bush administration, that they don’t hate the Americans as human beings. The purpose of my blog is to report that Americanophobia DOES exist. And I’m not about to believe that the amount of Canadians and even others living in industrialized nations are just a small few. At least it’s not obvious based on my personal experience, the experience by other Americans, and the backlash from the Canadian community who is firmly AGAINST Americanophobia.
I also expect other Americans to be unaware of Americanophobia in Canada. After all, our media is, for the most part, very hush hush about this. It IS true that many don’t know of it as I’ve mentioned in previous postings. There is also a lot of denial and apathy toward how Canadians feel about us.
Paranoid, as I may seem as I’m so passionate about this subject, I beg to differ. Let’s listen to more opinions made by Canadians as to what they think (not of our just our government), but of the people living in the US. Coming from the blog post above, some Canadians had some things to get off of their chests:
(sic) canadians do hate Americans. You are right about that. Its the toughts of people line JON PURGASON that made us that way. To be truthful, the only thing i felt sorry about in Sept 11, 2001 was the innocents that were harmed in the WTC. Americans cry “boo hoo, poor me” why? Because someone finally kicked the mighty US in the ass? and expect people to feel sorry for them? screw them! The reason terrorists hate america so much is because America cant keep they’re friggin noses out of where it doesnt belong. America attacks Iraq under the pretense that they have weapons of mass destruction. I have yet to see evidence to support that fact. The real reason is one thing, OIL! exchange a few thousand american lives and our prices go up in the market again. Thats a fair trade.
I’ll put it this way: Canadians dont need americans for **IT. Americans need canadians for our resources. The only bad thing is that america is between Mexico and Canada. They our not our soldiers in Iraq, They are yours. Kill em all if you want. Dont expect sympathy from us. WE HATE GEORGE W BUSH! THANK YOU FOR BOMBING CANADIAN SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN WHEN WE ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU. **** YOU! ALLY, YEAH RIGHT. WHO NEED’S TERRORISTS WHEN WE HAVE A HARD TIME JUST WATCHING OUR BACKS FROM YOU.
And to think that I’ve been called “paranoid”?
One of the last commenters from that blog post above replied,
(sic) I am attending an international school in Grenada. For the first time in my life, I have Canadian students for classmates. I never new that our [america] neighbors hated us so much. I know the rest of the world hates America, but I never expected out of the Canadians.
There’s a rising tide of Anti-Americanism in Canada. It’s partly about anti-war sentiment, which runs deep in this country. It’s partly about the perception of George W. Bush as a cowboy. But it’s largely about America’s wealth and power. And in that sense, anti Americanism is as pernicious as anti-Semitism, rooted in envy rather than grievance.
In a fashionable Montreal restaurant the other night, one man’s loud table talk included frequent references to “les maudits Americains,” in the same contemptuous tone some Quebecers once spoke of “les maudits Juifs.” In Toronto, in Ottawa, and everywhere in our English media, we constantly refer to “the Americans,” the way the Americans might talk about their inlaws — a bother in their lives.
An American commenter on the above blog post replied the following:
As a student, I listen tirelessly every day to sanctimonious reasons as to why Canadians are the God of the universe and how Americans are the pond scum that deserve to be deprived of human rights. I listen tirelessly, as teachers and academics strive to preach the peacefulness of Canada and the stupidity of the trigger-happy Americans. If I am to argue with these notions, I am maimed anti-Canadian and verbally spat upon.
In polite conversation, I’ve come across a fellow traveler who discussed their latest trip to Cuba as a refreshing vacation away from the Canadian winter without all the Americans. On another occasion, a person made some rather bold comments about Southerners based on “several” visits to Myrtle Beach, SC and Houston, TX. I’m still a bit baffled as to how “several” visits translates into such insight on Southern culture. I got the distinct impression this was an instance of someone harping on Southern peculiarities to reinforce stereotypes.
However, the most troubling part is that, when identified, even by fellow Canadians (e.g., Andrew Cohen), the trend continues unabated. In fact, it seems dangerously acceptable.
As this post, no doubt, admits, Canada possesses its own unique brand of negative perceptions of the US, and they may or may not influence foreign policy. But it seems more than presumptuous, if not dubious, to contend that they shape Canada’s internationalism.
Americanophobia sells in Canada, and Bush-bashing reaps bounty. Especially East of Portage and Main in Winnipeg, Canadians love to hate Americans. And, despite denials, the reek of bigotry, bias, and ethnocentrism is hard to miss. In recent years it’s reached new heights with George W. Bush in control of the oval office, but prior to that, the insidious existence of Americanophobia has long been a part of Eastern Canadian culture.
Canadian Anti-Americanism has always been a perfect reflection of the pathological nature of Anti-Americanism as a whole. Indeed, in Canada, where I am a citizen and have grown up most of my life, Anti-Americanism has literally defined the national identity and culture of this country – and in the most repulsive and embarrassing ways.
This psychic illness is founded on Canada’s desperate desire to be “different” than the Americans — a result of Canada being built on the “counter-revolution.” When the British colonies revolted against their masters in 1776, Canadians became the first anti-Americans. Canada is based on anti-Americanism. Without anti-Americanism — as one author has quipped — Canada would cease to exist.
Anti-Americanism continues to grow more powerful and to mutate into increasingly bizarre and pathological forms. After 9/11, masses of people from all over the world not only celebrated America’s tragedy, but even blamed the victims rather than the perpetrators for the terrorist attacks.
We know all too well about the Canadians who celebrated 9-11 with joy as exemplified toward the bottom of this post that I wrote last week. A Canadian blogger commented in agreement in the comment section of that post to which he, too, has covered similar material in his blog.
To continue on about the article written by Jamie Glazov on mainstream Americanophobia in Canada, she continues….
In this context, it is time, once again, to take a close look at anti-Americanism. What are its causes? What new forms is it shaping into? What are its consequences to our future? To discuss these and other questions related to the hatred of America, Frontpage Symposium has invited Paul Hollander, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and author of Political Pilgrims, anti-Americanism and most recently Discontents: Postmodern and Postcommunist; Stanley Kurtz, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a contributing editor at National Review Online; Dan Flynn, the Executive Director of Accuracy In Academia (AIA) and the author of “Why the Left Hates America” and Victor Davis Hanson, currently a visiting professor of military history at the US Naval Academy and author of the new book An Autumn of War: What America Learned from September 11 and the War on Terrorism.
Several people are interviewed in this article and give their opinions on the dominant Americanophobia in Canada:
As I grew up in Canada, I noticed that many people hate America. This confused me profoundly. I always wondered: how could you hate such a beautiful nation, a nation that gives so much freedom and protects freedom throughout the world?
Is there any easy answer to this? Indeed, why is there such a strong strain of anti-Americanism that is constant, anti-empirical, and seems to persist no matter what issue is raised?
Flynn answers the questions above and writes,
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.
This Frontpage article covers significantly more reasons as to why we’re hated. It’s an amazingly fantastic and informative read for anybody who is interested in examining this subject in depth. Facts are not always that scary. Sometimes you can learn from them.
I found this poll in a Canadian Forum. The original poster is an Americanophobe and explains why. Clearly this doesn’t depict every Canadian (and we know this poll isn’t scientific), but the 41% who feels that the Americanophobic attitude is justified speaks volumes. Can we jump to conclusions and assume that they’re talking about anti-Bush rather than Anti-all-Americans? For me, however, I associate Americanophobia with a disliking to the American people as a whole. For example, there are brutal leaders in the world that make Bush appear like a meek little kitten. Let’s take the situation with Iraq under Saddam (before he was killed and was in power). We cannot deny that he was a brutal dictator and horrible to his people and to other countries as well. With that said, I could never say that I was anti-Iraq or even anti-Iraqi. However, I would express my sorrow for the citizens who were oppressed under his leadership. The same goes for people who live in Arab countries living an oppressed life.
I mean, how could you be anti any country because of the way their leader behaves? But then again, it wasn’t like his people voted him in as with Bush. While that’s a good argument, at the same time, it isn’t a reason to be an Americanophobe because, well… it’s all explained here. With that said, being Americanophobic is unjustified. Because being an Americanophobe means that you, by default, and blindly hate people that you’ve never met before. And even considering all those in Iraq who supported Saddam… why make blanket statements about the country and it’s people as a whole? It’s stupid. And it’s ignorant. And juvenile at best.
There are over 30 million people that live in Canada, and quite obviously, I don’t pretend to know how each individual feels about Americans or America. However, if it were just a small minority of people that hated Americans, there wouldn’t be so much ado about it in mediums all over both the Canadian and American press and throughout social networks and websites all over the internet. If you still don’t believe me, just Google the following: “Anti-Americanism in Canada” or “Canadians hate Americans“. The search results will amaze you! Then go on Youtube and type into the search field, “Anti-Americanism” and/or “I hate Americans” and be prepared to see video after video, ad nauseam, on the negative reactions all over the world pertaining to America and Americans. It’s not a rocket science!
For “brevity” sake (if that’s what you can call it) *grin*, I’m going to stop here. But there’s always more, and I could always go on as there is *literally* endless information to further my argument that most Canadians (or very close to most) hate Americans.. as a whole. However, the sole purpose of this blog is to confront the distorted views of both America and it’s people. Help yourself to all the linkage on my site for more information in the case that anybody is confused.
I wholeheartedly recommend that you think this through first before you make any decisions … whether you’re going to Canada on trip or moving there. I’m not trying to talk you out of it, but there are a few things that you should know that the American media won’t tell you.
Many Canadians hate Americans. I’ve mentioned some things that they dislike about us in this post. But that’s not even the tip of the iceberg.
Hear from one American Expat from Texas(wow that’s a double charge right there, right? TX, US Yikes!):
It is not at all unusual to have a completely random Canadian make some snide comment about the current White House administration – with the obvious assumption that I must agree with them. Why else would I be seeking safety in the welcoming busom of Canada if it wasn’t to get away from the neo-fascist regime of Bush? An equally interesting phenomenon is that these people invariably believe they know everything there is to know about the American political landscape – and are more than happy to share with me exactly what is wrong with America (hint: pretty much everything), how we need to go about fixing things, and especially how Canada is a “civil society” while America is peopled with ignorant savages relishing the death of anyone that stands in the way of our pursuit of empire. OK – perhaps that last bit smacks of hyperbole – but not by much.
I have lived in Ontario for a while now, and I am tired of having everyone tell me that all Americans are illiterate gun-toting hicks. Not that they mean me personally, but they mean all of my friends, family and everyone else I ever knew.
Someone named, “Sadealz” replied,
I never knew they felt this way about americans.
Actually, MOST Americans don’t know this. Keep in mind, the US relies heavily on Canada and Canada relies heavily on us in terms of trading. Do you think our government would allow our media outlets to tell Americans how poorly they think of us and how many Canadians celebrated and applauded 9-11 and felt that we deserved it? (Hypocrisy: Those same Canadians also claim to be against the death penalty and all about being “peace-loving”)
One of the last commenters from this blog post above replied,
(sic) I am attending an international school in Grenada. For the first time in my life, I have Canadian students for classmates. I never new that our [america] neighbors hated us so much. I know the rest of the world hates America, but I never expected out of the Canadians.
Another person (Jade) replied:
Seriously, I also think alot of their press tends to point fingers at us and call us bad names. (Because Canada is SOOOOO great and all and we are the wild, rouge, cousin to the south.) My Uncle lives in Ontario and he says the press really makes us out to be heathens. No wonder why people think that when that is what they see and hear all the time without having experienced it first hand. People always assume the worst.
Indeed you are correct, nothing is ruder than an Eastern Canadian realizing you’re an American visiting their country. When my family took a summer vacation in Nova Scotia the populace could not have been more rude or mocking of us- our accents, our clothes, our careful review of the currency that wasn’t ours. Most often it was guys in plaid shirts calling us F___s for wearing t-shirts!? I never again will spend money in Canada. Their rudeness is only matched by their lack of self-awareness regarding their rudeness. In the Maritimes. I’ve been told Vancouver is more open, but still, more provincial and monocultural than any US city. –DCER (reply #27)
Randall who lived in Montreal replies,
I’ve noticed this too! I live in the United States but go to school in Montreal, and it really does seem that all Canadians hate Americans. Part of it is that they seem to feel like they are culturally superior to us, i.e. Americans are all sort of uncultured swines, but they have culture. A lot of it has to do with the media, too. Americans and Bush in particular are given a really bad rap by Canadian and other international news broadcasts and newspapers. They also feel like they are politically ahead of us because of their laws on many social issues. Some of it must be jealousy though as well because when does Canada get any recognition in the world? And, let’s face it, Canada is very dependent upon America for all sorts of things and if America were to go down, Canada would go with it. Canadians don’t like this dependency upon another nation.
I never could understand why some throw the “culture card” at us. It makes no sense. But I attempted to explain it here. If you don’t want to read the entire post, you can just scroll down to the part of the entry where I talk about “culture”.
The Americanophobic Canadians do have a long list of inane complaints about Americans (that have nothing to do with Bush, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, and the Iraqi War, by the way) which I’ve discussed in great length on my blog, so to avoid being redundant, I won’t get into everything here. However, these two posts will give you an idea of the over-the-top Americanophobia in Canada:
It’s not just overreaction or Yankee imagination. Anti-Americanism is not only alive and well, it’s spoon fed in Canada.
The Three `Rs, Canada style, have been teaching school children as young as grade school an image of Americans as dishonourable, churlish and even bullying. This less than admirable image emerges in a presented this week to the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, hosted by the University of Manitoba.
Down through the decades, in Canadian textbooks American society has been portrayed as revolutionary and lawless. America’s contribution to World War 1 is dismissed, textbook form, as coming late, when the tide had already turned.
America’s children are portrayed as being brought up in “filthy tenements, driven out upon the streets to play in `gangs’,” according to a 1934 textbook that was prevalent in Canadian classrooms of the day.
In contrast, Canadians are depicted as orderly, harmonious and gentlemanly.
States the study author: “After the Second World War, the United States emerged as a champion of democracy around the world. This allowed Canada to trumpet its status as middle-power to negotiate and compromise in a way that the United States couldn’t.”
This explains where little Paulie (Martin), little Johnny (Chretien) and the plethora of Anti-American Canadian journalists got their base for Yankee bashing. They, too are among the masses, which were educated in Canadian classrooms.
Running for re-election in the Canadian June 28 federal election are Carolyn Parrish, a Liberal MP who stated publicly “I hate those American bastards” and MP Colleen Beaumier, whose visit and sympathies for Iraq earned her the nickname “Baghdad Beaumier“.
Meanwhile, while Anti-Americanism flourishes in America’s next door neighbour, the U.S. is Canada’s number one trading partner and because of Canada’s marginalized Armed Forces, its chief protector.
Clearly there’s some indoctrination going on there. Nobody can deny that. However, most interestingly enough, that’s one of their big criticisms against the US as noted in the comment section of this article:
How can I continue or have respect for a nation of citizens who choose to be (sic) indoctinatred on their own free will? Who are letting their system of government slide towards fascism without lifting a finger?
Insanity! We have just as much control over Bush being elected twice as they do have control over Harper and any other prime minister that submits to Bush. On just about every account, there’s much hypocrisy to be noted. Canada turns a convenient blind-eye to themselves. I don’t know about the Canadian system of voting, but in the US, we have an electoral system where not the popular vote wins, but the electoral college vote wins. And for the record. Al Gore won the popular vote back in 2000 – *not* Bush. Fifty-one percent wanted Bush back into office in 2004, and at that time, he did win the popular vote. I cannot understand how Americanophobic Canadians think that we’re “not lifting a finger” after several attempts to get him impeached. This is further proof that Canadian Americanophobia is not only hypocritical and selfish, but also ignorant.
Many Americans are brainwashed by the media over here. But just as many Canadians are brainwashed by their own media systems. Ignorance is on BOTH ends. So is stupidity.
…So I could certainly identify with the disappointed John Kerry supporters who started fantasizing about moving to Canada after Nov. 2. But after nearly four years as an American in the Great White North, I’ve learned it’s not all beer and doughnuts. If you’re thinking about coming to Canada, let me give you some advice: Don’t.
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 Americanophobia 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 Americanophobia can be very subtle.” My response is, there’s nothing subtle about it…
Ok, today I was at Eaton Center’s Sears store and I happened to be shopping at Canada gift shop for a friend. The lady at the cash desk was talking to an Indian-American family in front of me and she loudly said: Are you from America? Well, I hate Americans. I didn’t care as she didn’t address me and I was not an American and the clueless Indian family probably didn’t care enough to say any thing back. But when I got to her I threw the t-shirt I wanted to buy and I said I am not buying this because you said you hate Americans. I tried to cool off by wandering around the shops but couldn’t, so I went back to her and asked to see her supervisor. The supervisor was not around so I asked to get her manager’s phone #. I talked to Ed (manager of the shop) & I told him the story that how I was offended. He, the gentleman he was, apologized and promised to take action immediately. Long story cut short, all I’m sayin is that how ugly this sense of Americanophobia is among some idiots in Canada
Need more proof? Just check my link section under “Americanophobia – not just Bush’s fault” and take a good long look at my sidebar which features too many accounts of Canadian bigotry toward Americans.
Visit Canada if you like. Go and live there. Maybe you’ll experience something different. The purpose of this post is to prepare YOU for what you may encounter. I remember in my college days that I decided very early on that I wanted to live in Japan. Most of my friends in college were Japanese. If they warned me once, they warned me dozens of times of what negative things I could expect from living there. Figuratively speaking, I was “well-armed” (typical yank, right? ) when I got there. However, not everything they said was spot on – even though the warnings came from Japanese nationals, themselves. Nonetheless, I was very grateful for all the advice I received.
We need to be more aware of how the world see us, anyway.
I get lost every now and then with the latest in “slanguage” (if you will), and am finding myself looking up the new slang on the Urban Dictionary website. I am either in stitches laughing my ass off or am horrified at what I’m reading. So, here I was looking up another word when I came across the tag for the definition of ‘myspace’. It is a must-read for all of those who are familiar with “the scene”.
Here’s one definition that caught my eye:
Myspace is the ultimate game of testing your ego. It becomes a competition of seeing who has the most friends, so you add everyone you’ve made eye contact with in the past 6 years, constantly posting bulletins telling people to comment on your NEW PICZ PLZ or die. Also a way for every garage band ever to make a Myspace Music profile without even have talent and/or experience as other bands have. Also a new place for every hott girl in the world to prove how slutty they are by making a Myspace and putting pictures of themselve’s where they only have 1/5 of their clothes on with the quote under it “I used photoshop to cover my boobs, So What.”
Comment on my myspace plz LOL! (Written by Brett)
I plead guilty in trying to look up all those whom I’ve befriended since elementary school.
I also plead guilty to getting my cheap thrills when I see this:
Allie had something interesting to contribute as well:
Myspace is an absolutely pointless “networking tool” that high school students overuse in an attempt to gain and then flaunt popularity. A potentially useful dating/networking tool for adults gone awry because it became a contest to see who could get the most “friends” added… (and by friends I mean other insecure teenagers adding you back in order to increase THEIR OWN friends count). An addiction where you must sign on every .3232134 seconds to see if anyone posted a comment, sent you a message, or put up a bulletin (to tell them to check out their new “hawt sexy pics!” a horrible pixelated shot of an underdeveloped highschool freshman in their underwear trying their best to make a seductive face)
Add me on myspace so my popularity can soar!
I do like the numbers, but I am happy with the small cozy count of friends I have. But even more than the numbers themselves, they are people whom I’ve either met online or in real life. I don’t really like email that much, and I’m not all into instant messaging (although I have IM available for those special occasions). For me, myspace is a fun way to stay in contact with those I’ve befriended and have made me smile. Being that I work at home, I don’t have much human contact with others outside my husband and family, so myspace seems to fill that gap for me. I love to meet new people and having friends are very important for me and for my sanity.
Here’s another definition I found funny by deathsymphony.
1. The ultimate contest of seeing how many friends you could have without seeing any of them.
2. A place for people who have no lives to post comments about their new pics in their “friend’s” myspace.
3. A place where loners get semi-celebs.
Ex 1:
Person 1: OMG i have 200 friends on myspace.
Person 2: LOLZ i have 300 friends, loser.
Ex 2:
Person X: i love ur new pix! u better post a comment on my myspace also!
Myspace is an online website for making ‘friends’, and over 70% people up there will have the following things in their profiles:
1. has ’tila tequila’ as their friend
2. the music they like include: my chemical romance, the used, green day, killers, or kottonmouth kings
3. they all hate drama and fake people
4. have a music video playing on their page
5. your computer is more likely to freeze when log on people’s pages if you have an older model due to the over-decoration.
6. we will see this “This profile was edited with Thomas’ myspace editor” somewhere in their profile.
Need an “ice-breaker” or a “pick up line”? Thanks again to Annie for this:
“Aren’t we friends on Myspace?”
“Haven’t I seen you around Myspace before?”
“Your Myspace pictures look HOT…lets fuck”
“Oh my god I was flossing my teeth this morning and I just couldn’t figure out what it was I pulled out from between my teeth and gums, is chicken? It couldn’t be chicken, I don’t eat meat, maybe it’s tofu? I showed it to my roommate and she thought it was cheese, then I remembered I had baked bread and brie last night, so that must be it. Then I thought wow I better run to my computer and blog about this experience on myspace.”
If any of you have any interesting things to share related to this entry, please don’t hold back.
Let me give her some credit. She’s got a good point when she states that some people use the death of a loved one as ammunition to either support their cause, get attention, or to accomplish their political or not so political agenda. And she’s right. You can’t fight back or say a word in the name of the following drivel:
You don’t know what it’s like to lose a [insert relation to loved one].
How dare you! I just buried my [insert relation to loved one].
Don’t you realize [insert name] is dead?
These people can say whatever they want, when they want or how. But you can’t respond back to them. If you do, you are being “insensitive” to their “disability”. This is just downright selfish and self-serving at best. An individual who is genuinely grieving the absence of a relative will not pull these attention-whoring stunts. Rather than mourning, they are using the deceased as a guided missile to those they want to change. They also manipulate their tragedy as a shield against themselves. What they don’t realize is that there are actually people out there that won’t buy into their bullshit. I don’t.
It begs the question… How much do you really love this person you lost? Oh, so you need to grieve? The last time I checked, grieving involves focusing in on that person you’ve lost. Yes, anger IS an integral part of the grieving process, but it is no longer “grieving” when you focus outwardly on things and people you have an ax to grind with. It is no longer “grieving” when you find any and every excuse to argue. It is no longer “grieving” when you treat your loved ones that ARE ALIVE like shit. It is no longer “grieving” when you talk out of your ass and expect an intelligent conversation. It is no longer “grieving” when you angrily spew pure venom and mutter incoherencies and expect the other person to just sit there and listen.
In the end, these pseudo-mourners are only making themselves more miserable. If you sincerely love the one you lost, you will seek help and learn to grieve the healthy way. A “healthy way” meaning one that is beneficial to you LONG TERM. A “healthy way” also meaning a way in which people will actually want to be around you to help you and love you as you go through this. You want people to realize that you’re going through a rough time, right? Don’t alienate those that love you and want to help. Keep your poison toward others at bay and admit that you have a problem instead of pretending to be “the tough one” and displacing your anger inappropriately. I see too many people get stuck in the grieving process. They say they are “over it”. They say they have “moved on” with their lives and have the colossal nerve to boast about it. They are the “holier-than-thou — I’m better than you because I did it” crowd. While denial is a symptom of grief, there is denying in a nice way and denying in a way that makes people want to run away from you. Don’t be one of those people that Ann Coulter speaks of. While you may get temporary relief in knowing that you’ve just hurt others because of your “misfortune”, there is no permanent relief – sorry to say.
I appreciate Ann Coulter for saying what some of us think but are too afraid to say out loud ourselves. She is honest. I admire her for that.
“Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all
levels of government,” Bush said at a White House news conference with
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. “And to the extent that the federal
government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want
to know what went right and what went wrong.”
I have to admit, I commend Bush for stepping up to the plate and taking some responsibility for this. While it is expected due to the National Response Plan (NPR) that he signed in 2004 (that some Republicans conveniently chose to ignore), I’m amazed with the amount of courage it took for him to apologize.
For all you intolerant, people hating, mental midgets out there who think that Katrina Survivors are doing better now than they they have ever before, ….
*%#@#* YOU!
While it IS true that there are some people who take advantage of welfare, food stamps, and SSI, and while it is true that somemay be doing better off from this little handout and more, to make these blanketed judgments about these people with bitterness, resentment, and hate is despicable!
You can give them all the money in the world. But that doesn’t bring back Mrs. Jones 18 month little girl that died. It doesn’t bring back Mr.Smith’s wife. It doesn’t bring back joy in your life if you’ve just been raped. It doesn’t sugar coat the memories of watching people next to you at the Superdome being mutilated and killed covered in blood. It doesn’t bring back dignity lost after everything that they did have and worked hard for got washed away in the water. It doesn’t bring back lost or missing pets or memories in a photo album. It doesn’t bring back Grandma who died in her wheelchair outside the convention center. It doesn’t bring back the old home movies of Carla first learning how to walk.
As much as you people like to think those “refugees” only care about getting a free ride off the government, that is not the case with most people. Don’t some of you punks realize that some of the evacuees (even though they were poor) were WORKING???
All those people who think that they can speak for the victims are totally clueless.
Some things are not replaceable. So, NO if I were grieving over the death of my husband, you could give me 300 billion dollars and I wouldn’t give a shit.
So, to think these people are better off is a crock considering what they’ve just been through!
Side Note:
You know what I find hilarious? The biggest and whiny-est Libertarians out there — given the situation and the means, they’d, too, take advantage of a government handout as fast as you can say the word “HYPOCRITE”! I’ve seen it before. You all should be ashamed of yourselves!
This is why I can’t talk politics with some of my family members — as we’d probably never speak again. I just have to sit there and bite my lips.
Well, it appears to me that Natural Disasters bring out the worst and the best in everyone.
We all know that everyone (whether directly or indirectly) has been affected by Hurricane Katrina. But another thing that we also know is that the minority groups and the poor are being mostly affected by this tragedy. I’ve also noticed another thing that’s going on in both Blogsphere and through conversations with people in the “real world”: the real bigots out there are showing their true colors.
We get some people who believe that this hurricane was sweet justice for the poverty stricken African Americans and Mexicans – that they shouldn’t blame anyone but themselves for watching their family members die, for not being able to locate them, for having not been able to afford transportation to evacuate in time, for starving, and for having to wade in high waters to seek help. It’s all their fault because if they had good jobs, they wouldn’t be in that rut in the first place. They deserve to die and meet the devil.
And I just heard of someone today that refuses to donate any money to the victims because of some black people (victims of Katrina) they saw on TV that disgusted them.
That’s the spirit!
And it’s these same people that call themselves “Christians”.
Never mind that there are MILLIONS of people including those in the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana that are suffering from this STATE OF EMERGENCY disaster. It’s not just the shirt off one black guy. Not just the Mexican female looter who stole food for her dying son. It’s more than that. If you’ve been watching/reading the news, I’m sure that you realize that the “men in suits” have been affected too. The victim list also includes those who have fully supported the Iraqi war, those who voted for Bush and stood by him all these years, those that own guns, those people who have served in the military, those that read the bible and go to church every Sunday, those that work 12-14 hours a day who make a lot of money, those that drive SUVs or pick up trucks, and all the rest that belong to the Ultra Conservative Party.
While the minority groups have been affected probably the worst, this is a bipartisan DISASTER!
People are also blaming “the idiots” for not evacuating when told to do so. OK…. I’m one of those people who were thinking that those people were “idiots” too until a family member of mine gave me some rationale as to why it would be difficult for some to do so. To get a better explanation why “the idiots” didn’t follow orders, read the following testimony by The Gun Toting Liberal.
On Hurricane Katrina: How does anybody get caught in a hurricane when you see it coming for days? Your answer.
I hear this question all the time coming from people who don’t live anywhere near one of the hurricane zones, but it COULD happen to anybody; you’ve heard about the hurricane, but one day, you look up at the television and the hurricane’s projected to hit your home within hours. The escape routes are clogged to the point where you realize there is a very real possibility you’ll find yourself stranded on the Interstate in your car to deal with tornados, flood waters, winds, debris, or whatever else. NOT a very good situation to be in!
I also believe that there were some who couldn’t get transportation to the evacuated areas or couldn’t afford it.
You know, I’m not one of those people blaming Bush for the lack of a quick response to this catastrophe. I honestly can’t say why there was a delay. I don’t work for our government. I’m not at the White House. I’ve never been involved in politics or the military. I don’t know who to point a finger at or if there’s any reason to. If I were a direct victim of Hurricane Katrina, would I be frustrated? Of course. But I guess there are just some things that I don’t know, hence my digression for having an opinion in this matter.
I have to admit, though, that it appears that there are more warm hearted people out there that are genuinely concerned about the victims of this storm than those who just don’t give a hoot and use this calamity for their own purposes: a platform for hate speech and vile.
UPDATE!
I blame Bush. Sorry.
UPDATE TWO!
I don’t know what the hell I think anymore. I’ve never been so torn between the Left and the Right like this in my life, and as I said in Cao’s Blog’s comment section, it’s all due to a lack on knowledge on my behalf. I recommend that you go there and read what the Right have to say. So far, they are tame in their responses. It is safe. But I think it’s important to have an open mind.
Yes, there IS an ongoing debate here between the Libs and the Conservatives. However, this does not mean that we don’t care about the victims even though we are going off on a tangent from time to time. I think it’s normal.
My biggest most burning question is — Is there any proof that people on the internet are any more of a liar than those people that we meet face to face?
When we meet people face to face, can we really read into what kind of person they are? Really? Are you really sure?
Do Fox News,CNN, and other professional journalists always keep their story unbiased and straight?
What about our own spouses? When they respond to us saying that they’re “not cheating” (even though there’s evidence) can we trust that they’re telling the truth?
THE image of internet dating as a “fickle world” full of liars and chancers is far from the truth, according to research released today.
Instead, relations formed in cyberspace enjoy a 94% success rate, an academic study has shown.
Men who go online for love are more committed to the relationship and more emotionally dependent on their “e-partners” than women.
The study shows that where couples build up a “significant” online relationship by emailing or chatting and then meet face-to-face, 94% went on to see each other again.
Relationships lasted on average seven months, with 18% lasting over a year, according to the University of Bath research.
Dr Jeff Gavin, who carried out the survey, said: “Given that the most successful relationships lasted at least seven months, and in some cases over a year, it seems that these relationships have a similar level of success as ones formed in more conventional ways.”
He said because men went deliberately online looking for love they tended to be more committed, whereas women tended to be more cautious and safety aware.
“Men open themselves up more when chat is anonymous,” he said. “Rather than lying to each other, this means couples can form deep relationships by being more honest than they would be face-to-face.”
Sexual
Women tend to be more sexual online than they would normally as they cannot be judged when anonymous, he added.
And although there may be still a stigma attached to online dating for older generations, for younger people meeting people online is just the same as meeting in a bar, he said.
Some couples who have met online even spend their anniversaries chatting with their partners in cyberspace as the place they met “is special to them”, he added.
Some 229 people, aged between 18 and 65, were interviewed online for the study.
More on People and the Internet
As far as good old fashioned dating is concerned, let’s say that us ladies meet (face to face) a very nicely dressed man who has a very good job, a good education, a perfect IQ, talks very intelligently, is very good looking and tall, comes from a wholesome and religious family, he is rich, and has a good sense of humor to boot.
While there are whackjobs out in this world that are so obviously “criminal-looking” where we can spot them out in a heart beat, there are those who aren’t “criminal-looking” that fool even the most vigilant type of people.
You can do your part to a certain extent to be safe, but we only have so much control.
Florida‘s legislature has approved a bill that would give residents the right to open fire against anyone they perceive as a threat in public, instead of having to try to avoid a conflict as under prevailing law.
Outraged opponents say the law will encourage Floridians to open fire first and ask questions later, fostering a sort of statewide Wild West shootout mentality. Supporters argue that criminals will think twice if they believe they are likely to be promptly shot when they assault someone.
Republican Governor Jeb Bush, who has said he plans to sign the bill, says it is “a good, commonsense, anti-crime issue.”
What is it with Florida??? I’m sure glad that I don’t live there anymore. (Miami’s the exception!) Let me just say this. I tend to annoy a lot of people. If I were living in Florida, my days would be numbered.
Whoa! Jeb! Bro! Whatchya doin’, pard??? THIS is NOT gonna work!!! What the HELL are ya thinkin’ ya KOOK!
Hey now, I’m all for personal protection with handguns and concealed carry / “right to pack” but dude, you are going to create a DISASTER with this new legislation that will only give the “anti-gun nuts” plenty of “ammo” to take our guns away with. Check it out:
“.. perceive as a threat in public…”??? This is completely SUBJECTIVE, completely up to the interpretation of the “perceiver”.
I can just see it now, a wild-eyed Floridian telling Judge George Greer: “The way he was looking at me in that bar, Judge, I just KNEW he was gonna pull out a pistol and blow me away so I shot first and asked questions later”. Then I see Judge Greer pounding the gavel and saying “NOT GUILTY!”. Holy CRAP! Jeb, pull your head out of your BUTT!
GTL is right. It IS subjective, and that’s what the problem is. I wonder how these future shooting sprees will hold up in court. If you go right by the Letter of the Law, you’re free to shoot anyone.
Here’s one scenario: What if boys are playing ball and the ball happens to roll into an unknown neighbors yard? According this this new law, you can shoot whomever trespasses – even if you’re innocent. But it’s too late to find out in the end because you’re already dead.
Florida’s been known for people lacking in patience on the road and will shoot if you honk your horn at them. They also shoot over parking spots. Florida makes Texas look like Disney Land.
As we all know, many Texans carry guns. But if you ask me, as far as I’m aware, Texans use their guns more responsibly. I don’t think Floridians can handle that type of power in their hands. Because everybody gets angry. Everybody gets impatient. Everybody has mental problems to an extent, and when you give them the right to uphold the law in their own hands, they will it to their advantage and abuse the hell out of it.
And ma’am, I’m not talking about self-defense here.
I understand that there are a lot of people that are newbies to the Internet or about 10 + years behind the advanced world in technology. Also there are quite a few people that are new to blogs. In today’s crash course, I’m going to cover Blockquotes and Hyperlinks.
.::BLOCKQUOTES::.
There is what they call a “blockquote” . Click on the word, “blockquote” for the definition. I will give you a LIVING example here:
Everything that you see on my blog that is “blockquoted” is NOT my own original text. My links provide the sources.
.::WHAT IS A LINK?::.
Next, for those of you who don’t know what a link is or how to identify one. Let me explain:
(I must say that I’m surprised in 2005 that there are STILL people who cannot distinguish a link from normal text – yet somehow wind up on my blog!)
A link is really short for what is really called a “hyperlink”. The best way that I see fit for identifying one is to move your mouse around the text. Do you notice a little hand or symbol appearing over certain parts of the text that are either highlighted, a different color, or where the style of the text changes? Yep. You got it. That is a a “hyperlink” or a “link” for short. And……… if you click on it, it will take you to an EXTERNAL WEBSITE that will give you additional information aiming to prove or back up my case!
An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document. Typically, you click on the hyperlink to follow the link. Hyperlinks are the most essential ingredient of all hypertext systems, including the World Wide Web.
There is a site called World Wide Learn. It provides courses and tutorials for those of you who are either still in middle school, lived under a rock all their life and just came out, for Britons, or for those people that have been using a computer for some time and need some brushing up.
The “hyperlinks” you find in my entries cite external sources. It is there, where you can find it’s origin. I hope that I am making myself clear?
It is only then and hopefully then that you will be able to notice the difference between quoting text that’s not my own in the form of a blockquote or just simply copying and pasting text tricking my readers to believe it came from me.
Seriously though, for those making an attempt to comment on anyone’s blog, online news articles/reports or anything of the like REALLY should learn how to use the internet regarding the aforementioned because if you cannot identify blockquotes and links or truly even understand the usage/meaning of them, you will never understand what you’re reading online or at least enough to make a proper comment or contribute to the discussion sounding intelligent. If you, however, are just simply lazy, commenting without having clicked the links in said text that you are responding to, it will make you look like a clown for the whole world to see.
ATLANTA, March 24 — The woman who said she gained
the trust of suspected courthouse gunman Brian Nichols by talking about
her faith while he held her hostage was presented with $70,000 in
reward money Thursday for helping authorities capture him.
Ashley Smith, a 26-year-old widowed mother of one,
was held for seven hours by Nichols at her suburban Atlanta home March
12 before he let her go. She then made the 911 call that led to his
arrest.
The world’s largest fast-food chain said on Thursday it is looking into using remote call centers to take customer orders in an effort to improve service at its drive-thrus.
Ok…. now tell us the REAL reason.
“If you’re in L.A…. and you hear a person with a North Dakota accent taking your order, you’ll know what we’re up to,” McDonald’s Chief Executive Jim Skinner told investors during a presentation at the Bear Stearns Retail, Restaurants & Apparel Conference in New York.
I heard a rumor that they might outsource to India too? Is that true?
Why oh why do people use their “real names” on the Internet? There are two different mindsets as to why people particularly use their real names on their blogs. One reason is because they think they are being more “brave”. So, if some passerby uses a nickname in their comments section, they call them cowards. This is the case where a commenter proposes an opposing thought. Another reason people use their real names is so that nobody thinks they’re a coward.
Anonymous is being a coward; using an alias is being smart.
I’ve read some comment policies on other people’s blogs before, and damn… they are asking way too much when they want everyone’s real name. But then again, they may not be asking for their last name too. However, even if you submit your first name, that’s only one step closer to being either stalked or being the victim of either a violent crime or identity theft.
I see the looks on all your faces now. You are telling me that I’m too paranoid. Well, maybe I am. But I choose to be paranoid because the alternative is frightening to me. Why? Let me give you all two very important reasons. Listen up!
I . don’t . want . to . get . fired . from . my . job. While some of you think it may not be that much of a risk, I would rather be called “paranoid” or be told “It’s not your name that gets you fired” than be courageous stupid and find myself the next day on the unemployment line and not being able to pay the electric bill.
I’m leaving this up through Friday night. There have been some odd things happening lately that makes me believe someone is stealing my identity. Others have brought the idea to my attention, based on what’s happened, and I’m beginning to believe it.
1. Yesterday, I noticed an unauthorized charge for $596.18 in my account. Wells Fargo immediately declared it a fraudulent charge and stated that I should suspect identity theft. I shrugged it off and thought that it was a bank error. They have since credited back the money, but have not completed their investigation.
2. The other night, while I was leaving work, I had this strange feeling that I was being watched. When I went to get into my car, an odd boom sound was made close to my car. It was like my trunk door was open and someone had slammed it. All the way home, my car made a rattling sound in the back. I had stupid paranoia thoughts like someone was in my trunk, but then justified that it was stuff that got loose and was moving around. I was right, but it didn’t explain the loud noise.
3. Today, I receive a call from a medical company telling me the following: “Hi, this is so and so from Big Name Medical Company calling to setup an appointment with states my first and last name.” I say, “Um, ok?” And she goes, “So, when do you want to come in to have the surgery done?” I say, “Surgery? I don’t need surgery.” She says, “Were you not in this morning for a check up? You had a insert medical condition here that needs to be taken care of?” I say, “No ma’am, I wasn’t in there today, or ever.” She says, “Ok, well, um, sorry for the inconvenience,” and hangs up. About 3 minutes later, she calls back and says, “HottTxBoi, I have just spoke to my supervisor about this and she suggests that you call our customer service hotline and report this to them. Let them know that they are using your card so that they can take action against it.” I ask her, “What card?” She says, “Your Big Name Medical Company card.” I say, “I’ve never had one of those cards.” She says, “Then you need to let them know that someone is using your number on their records.” I ask her, “Ma’am, what address did they use?” She tells me the address. Luckily, it’s not mine. I would have freaked if it was.
However, why is someone using my number and my name? All of these three things happened in the same week and I’m exceedingly freaked out. Scared, even. So, after tomorrow night, this blog will no longer be open to anyone for a very long time. I hope all is well with everyone during this time period.
This freaked the hell out of me! However, I have to admit, I don’t know whether or not someone really stole his identity. There’s no update in his blog about it. But regardless, it makes you think. If it doesn’t put a BIG FAT WARNING sign in front of your head, I don’t know what will.
You know, I’ve never heard of a person being violently attacked because of something “offensive” they wrote in their blog. It may or may not have ever happened. But I wouldn’t put it past some of these wackos I find every now and then in Cyberspace. I don’t trust a face I cannot see, and even then I’m weary until I actually feel I know the person well enough. I have some very controversial beliefs, and I can easily imagine someone showing up at my front door one day with an AK-47. Yes, I have riled people up that much and even in the past in Blogsphere.
So, here I am trying to keep my life, my job, and my identity intact. It’s worth all the “outrageous” points of views I may have regarding the non-usage of my real first and last name.
Folks, if you want to be considered “non-cowardly” on the Internet, when you leave a comment or write something controversial in your blog or journal, leave your email address and a referral to your blog. How simple is that?
I am Ticklebug and will always be Ticklebug in Blogdom. If someone thinks I’m too cowardly for not using my real first and last name, then the hell with them. I will just laugh in their face if their real identities come back to haunt them one day.
With the advancement in technology these days, I can imagine anything and everything happening. Some people are smart enough to put two and two together with your little clues about yourself that you write in your blog, easily — that is, if they want to. Don’t be naive.
My links are always traceable whether it be by my email address or my blog’s URL. So, if someone wants to reply to my “offensive” comment, they are welcome to do so. If you dish it out, I agree with you all, that you must be strong enough to welcome the reciprocation. But for the life of me, why do some of you feel the necessity to reveal your real name? What purpose does it serve?
lurking around automatic teller machines (ATMs) and phone booths in order to capture PIN numbers (by watching through binoculars as the numbers are being entered, or more simply, by casting a watchful gaze over someone’s shoulder). Travelers are a particularly favourite target;
stealing mail from mailboxes or re-directing mail in an effort to collect credit cards, bank statements, credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, tax information or other personal data. Privacy Journal has also pointed out “how automated credit bureaus freely accept an address change without confirming it or notifying the consumer who is the subject of the file. An impostor can easily have a retail store enter a change of address for a consumer whose identity the impostor has misappropriated, and that is what thousands of credit fraud perpetrators are doing …;
illegally obtaining personal credit reports;
setting up telemarketing schemes to elicit account numbers from unsuspecting consumers;
accessing personal information accidentally sent to the wrong fax number, e-mail address or voice mailbox;
scavenging through the garbage in search of credit card or loan applications, employer’s files, and identification/authentication data such as login IDs and passwords. Similarly, thieves can search erased disks for any retrievable data;
sending false messages on the Internet (spoofing) in an effort to collect private information. For example, posing as travel agents or other service providers, identity thieves can make off with your credit card number once it has been entered to purchase a ticket or service;
sending e-mail using someone else’s computer or e-mail address;
using various software programs such as “signals analysis” and “sniffer” programs to intercept financial data, passwords, addresses or other personal information being sent over networks;
breaking into computer systems and gaining access to personal data. For example, names, addresses and credit card or social insurance/security numbers (SINs/SSNs) located in the databases of governments, financial organizations, employers, creditors, and credit bureaus can be downloaded by employees, former employees or external hackers. They can then sell the information or use it to open fraudulent accounts.
One security expert found that nearly 70 percent of the websites he surveyed in December 1996 had “security lapses.” Surveyed sites included banks, credit unions and government agencies.8 Even more recently, a 14-year-old boy faced multiple charges after making $3000 worth of fraudulent purchases using a collection of debit card numbers that he had downloaded from the Internet.
So, we know there’s no real way to prevent Identity Theft, but there are ways you can decrease the risks. It’s also frightening to think that if your real name is displayed somewhere on the Internet, that someone else can link it to you somehow. It’s happened before! As the odds are slim, I still have to go with the popular cliche expression that “it’s better to be safe than sorry”.
Whoa! Wait a minute here! I thought that problem was solved?
WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. intelligence officials warned Wednesday that the threat of al Qaeda or other terrorist groups attacking the United States was still likely — probably in the form of a car bomb or other low-tech weapon.
But they stressed that terror groups were trying to circumvent U.S. security measures and obtain weapons of mass destruction.
Let’s have a look-see at our progress since our soldiers have gone to Iraq:
Fired for Blogging?While it’s true some may have deserved to be fired, for the most part, these individuals made no mention of their company and still got fired.
Finally, these two circus freaks have been arrested.
They were found here.
They fled the state driving all the way from Tampa, FL to Utah when they were required to attend a hearing regarding the torture of their adopted children.
The arrest ended a search that attracted national media attention Friday. CNN and America’s Most Wanted posted mug shots of the Dollars on Web sites and broadcasts.The children told investigators that the Dollars starved them, shocked them with electricity, pulled out their toenails with pliers, bound them with chains and strips of plastic and struck their feet with hammers.
A 16-year-old boy weighed 59 pounds. Twin boys, age 14, weighed 36 and 38 pounds, the Sheriff’s Office said.
DCF released documents that showed the Dollars adopted three children in Hillsborough County in 1995; at that time, they already had five children.
This had been going un-noticed for years because The Dollars had all the children bound to the home. They were never let outside of the home – which is also the place where they received all their schooling. Mrs. Dollar was a stay home ‘mother’ and home-schooled her children.
Friends and neighbors, meantime, described the Dollars as religious and strict, and said the children hardly ever were seen.
Now, is it just me that keeps hearing stories of child abuse where their parents are so called ‘devout Christians’? Religious? Why do I keep hearing stories of ‘religious’ parents committing the most heinous
acts? Typical.
The investigation began Jan. 21 when Mrs. Dollar called an ambulance for her 16-year-old son, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Gail Tierney. The boy was taken to Seven Rivers Regional Medical Center near Crystal River, where he was treated for head and neck injuries.His injuries weren’t the only thing that caught the attention of law enforcement. No one in the family seemed able to explain how he got the injuries, including red marks around his neck, Tierney said.
The children were kept hidden for years while The Dollars kept moving back and forth from Tennessee and Florida. Between that and the fact that these two psychopaths fled like a bat out of hell following the unexpected accusations of said crimes, one would have to have their head up their bum to not see the obvious Consciousness of Guilt there.
One very frightening thing: One of the children was starved to death so much that it was said that this boy who looked as if he were six years old was really sixteen!
On Monday, the Dollars failed to appear at a hearing where the court system would determine, among other things, whether their children would remain in DCF custody or be returned to their parents, Tierney
said.When the Dollars didn’t show, authorities went to their home and found two of their vehicles missing and much of their belongings cleared out, Tierney said.
A breakthrough came late Friday morning when investigators found the couple’s motor home abandoned in a Polk County RV park.
After tracking the couple’s cell phone calls, law officers determined the Dollars were near Salt Lake City and likely traveling in their gold Lexus SUV, which the motor home had been towing.
“I was shocked,” said Frank Stanley, who knew the Dollars years before, when they lived in Indiana. “When I knew them, I never ever thought they would do that.”
What else is new? Who do you think you REALLY KNOW? Isn’t it becoming a cliché now that every time a crime is committed, the neighbors are surprised? I don’t blame the neighbors. But people would have to be really stupid not to realize that what YOU see is not always what is really there! Do you actually think if one of your Bible Thumping, friendly and loving neighbors were to be doing illegal stunts behind closed doors that they would not go out of their way to keep their little secrets hidden?
“They seemed to move around a lot, and they seemed to acquire children everywhere they’d go,” Stanley said.Stanley said the couple moved frequently between Florida and Tennessee.By 1995, the couple had adopted five children and were looking to adopt three more, according to DCF records in Hillsborough County.
EGADS!
In applying for a foster care license, John Dollar described himself as a commercial real estate appraiser with a bachelor’s degree. Mrs.Dollar said she was a housewife with a master’s.Mrs. Dollar wrote that she “would be interested in adopting (a) sibling group that would jell into our family unit to share lifetime of love.”She listed “time out, spending time alone in room, loss of rewards, discussions” among the forms of discipline she found most effective.
John Dollar said Mrs. Dollar was his third wife and guessed she would call him a “loving, caring, good father and a good provider, hardworking,” the records showed.
“We have 5 adopted children and have seen what we can do to help those less fortunate,” he wrote. “We see so many
children who need special care, love and an opportunity to be a part of a warm, loving, caring home atmosphere.”
He said he was looking forward to “seeing a child’s eyes response, and attitudes change from fear, neglect and apprehension to one of being accepted, loved and needed.”
Uh huh.
Well, enough of that. You can read the rest of the story and the tidbits I left out here.
One more thing I’d like to add…. You know how we adults get together and discuss how today’s teens are so out of control, filled with angst, rage, and rebellion? I think from now on it is best to try to understand where they came from.
We’ve got teenagers who
are suicidal or commit suicide,
are overdosing on drugs,
are suffering from extreme introversion or depression,
kill their parents or another family member or are violent with them,
get into trouble with the law,
run away from home, and
are addicted to sex.
Does anybody ever stop and wonder WHY?
Hypothetically speaking, if the children of Mr. and Mrs. Dollar were ever to be surrounded by people or have gone to school outside the home, would we not see something different about them? In any way? They
don’t necessarily have to be “mean”. Imagine how some people would criticize them and stop — right there — looking no deeper.
This happens way too often.
In most cases, children defend their parents and keep the lives that they have behind the closed doors of their own home a BIG SECRET.
“Many children are far too young to understand what has happened to him/her. Unable to communicate verbally what has happened. Remember sexual abuse knows no age limits. Unfortunately, it can and does happen to even the smallest of children whom are only weeks old.
Children are often threatened and or bribed by the abuser to keep the abuse a secret just between the two of them. It is a scary thing for a child to have their life or the lives of family members threatened if the tell the secret. Often they are afraid that even if they do tell no one will believe them. We must prove them wrong. It is very rare that young children lie about (word omitted) abuse. You must let them know you believe them. Assure them it is not their fault, they did nothing wrong and they are not being punished. This kind of attention can be confusing, causing them to feel ashamed and embarrassed and stirring up mixed emotions especially if it is someone they know, love and trust. They then worry about getting into trouble themselves or getting a loved one into trouble. —Children Are Worth saving…. C.A.W.S. —caws.com”
With that said, I’ve always believed that no child is born evil.
Employers have recently tried every carrot they can think of — including cash incentives and iPods — to persuade employees to quit smoking. Now some are trying the stick.
Pointing to rising health costs and the oversized proportion of insurance claims attributed to smokers, some employers in California and around the country are refusing to hire applicants who smoke and, sometimes, firing employees who refuse to quit.
A sheriff’s office in Florida is asking job applicants who have a recent history of smoking to pass a polygraph test proving they no longer smoke outside of work.
Employees, workers’ rights groups and some unions are decrying the smoking bans as an invasion of individual rights. “What you do in your own home after work or on the weekend is none of your bosses’ business,” says Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute in Princeton, N.J., a spin-off of the American Civil Liberties Union. “The last time I checked, tobacco is a legal product.”
Critics of the smoking bans say it’s not clear that smokers are more costly than other workers, such as people who are obese. Though some studies have shown that smokers have higher absentee and lower productivity rates than nonsmokers, economists say the research is limited. It’s possible, they say, that smokers don’t dramatically increase health costs with chronic and expensive conditions like emphysema, heart disease and cancer until they’re much older, when they may be employed elsewhere or retired.
“It sounds right for employers to say, ‘If we get rid of them, we’ll save money.’ But no one has the concrete data to prove that right now,” says Tom Morrison, senior vice president of Segal Co., an employee benefits consulting firm in New York.
Critics are concerned that if more companies follow suit, it will lead to other employer intrusions on workers’ lives. What is to stop companies from telling workers they can’t ride motorcycles? Or eat junk food?
Maltby, of the Workrights Institute, says employees are facing a variety of challenges to their freedoms outside of work. A worker in Texas was fired in 2003 for having an affair off the job. This fall, a woman in Alabama lost her job for refusing to remove a John Kerry bumper sticker from her car. (She was later hired by the Kerry campaign.)
Wow! Now, Big Brother’s watching our sexual activity and denying our right to have an opinion?
I understand the prohibition of smoking in the work place or in an area where non-smokers are located, but I find it very absurd that some employers are now not hiring or even firing employees that smoke even in the privacy of their own homes. Insurance costs? Really? Do these people not take in consideration that there are many who die from lung disease, lung cancer, and emphysema who have never even touched a cigarette? Do they not realize that there are several factors that can lead people to get ill or even terminally ill? I know people that spend several hundreds of dollars a month alone on psychiatric drugs. What about the food we eat? What about obesity and the very common heart conditions that come from it? If they start firing smokers, then they’re going to have to start firing obese people too! What about those that are anorexic or bulimic or those that just plain don’t eat right? Look at the health risks there!! They fail to think about heredity. What if an employee has a predisposition to certain illnesses, cancers, or diseases? Should they fire those people too based on thier family’s medical history?
If employers are so “worried about the cost of insurance”, they should follow through with the program and hire only healthy people. However, in order to carefully monitor each employee’s health, the privacy one has in their own home will no longer exist. Big brother will be watching you. Big brother will be making sure you work out at the gym everyday. He will be making sure you eat your veggies and stay on a proper and balanced diet.
I don’t see any consistency here. So, that’s what brings me to believe that these companies have an ulterior motive in their “no smoking laws”. I also believe this because I have personally known people that go absolutely berserk when they discover that someone they know is a smoker. What someone chooses to do that could potentially harm their body is their own business unless they’re bringing someone else down with them.
There is a strong hatred and prejudice against smokers in this society. My question is do they really care about YOU and YOUR health? If they did, then why do they get so angry and want to avoid you all together even if you don’t smoke around them. People just like to control others they hate for their own political and selfish reasons. It’s not the second hand smoke; it’s just that your smoking reminds them of some painful memory in their past that they have not recovered from. The smoking just merely symbolizes a person of their past that they hate. The hatred is then misplaced on an innocent smoker in their present life. What else could this be? The anti’s are carrying around years of baggage and are using smokers as a scapegoat so that they don’t have to deal with their own problems. People that really care about you won’t alienate you or get angry. If anti-smokers have any warm and fuzzy feelings in their heart than they will understand that people who wish to smoke do so for their own personal reasons and they will respect that because well, .. they just like you and want you to be happy. They will mind their own business because they know that “preaching” doesn’t work as there is nothing more incredibly annoying than unsolicited advice. These smoker-haters love to hide behind the “because I care” mantra. Well, that’s just one theory I have.
Of course, I understand “second-hand smoke”, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.
Look at all the existing hatred toward the obese! They aren’t hurting anyone but themselves. Some people are very openly cruel to them. I wonder if they have a plan to monitor people’s drinking habits too?
This type of predjudice reminds me of the Neo-Nazis, the KKK, and the God Hates Fags group. Same thing. Different prejudice. And when these control-freaks are given a position of high authority, they take advantage of their power to make the lives of those people they don’t agree with, miserable.
It’s all very simple, folks.
While we ARE technically free here in America, little by little our government and justice system are protecting the elitists and easily-offended, consequently jeopardizing the privacy and the “freedom” of those people who just go about their own business. The control-freaks pretty much prevail and get what they want.
Just for the record, I do realize that third-world countries DO have it worse than we do. And no, I don’t wish to leave this country for another one. It’s just that when you are used to having certain freedoms, just to have them taken away, doesn’t sit very well with me. But if I have to pretend I’m “Pro-Bush” to get or keep a job, so be it. How else are the bills going to get paid?
When Clyde Blount’s non-violent, relentless efforts to protect his son failed, the bully, Lonnie Hillery, had to learn his lesson the hard way. While my opinion is not a politically correct one, and one that is emotional and extreme, I’m glad dad got rid of the bully.
Too many victims of bullies eventually begin to feel that they deserve the beatings and their self-esteem goes down the drain and the trauma follows them for a life time, but I’m willing to bet the bullied son (C.J.) will grow up remembering what his father taught him: Bullying is wrong.
The ones who feel it deserved (even if subconsciously), will just continue the cycle.
It’s too bad it had to end the way it did. I also feel for the son who has to live years without seeing his father, whom I believe loved him very much.
While I don’t condone something as final as a murder as a resolution, the bitter, sour part of my heart is rejoicing the outcome. As biased I am on this topic, I would never be able to sit on on a jury for a case like this. Clyde Blount is obviously guilty, indeed. He was wrong for taking the law in his own hands — no doubt about that. It also frightens me to think that he could have shot another student in the crowd accidentally. So, please don’t get me wrong. I realize the father made a mistake, but again (not able to separate my feelings from the law), I am happy about the conclusion and hope that the jury finds him guilty of manslaughter rather than second degree murder! Unfortunately, he won’t be found innocent.
You know why his father went to this extreme? That’s right! The school’s faculty and staff didn’t give a hoot. They just merely told Lonnie Hillery not to do it again. Like that’s going to work? What does history prove? They should have expelled him!
The schools never do anything to solve this predicament. Well, I’ve only heard of a couple success cases, but they are few and far between.
CANORA, SASK. – The town of Canora is struggling to come to grips with the recent suicides of two teenagers who may have been victims of bullying at school.
On Monday night, hundreds of people packed a school gymnasium in the town to talk about whether the way the youths were treated by their peers contributed to their deaths in December.
One of the teenagers, 16-year-old Travis Sleeva, was subjected to harassment over an extended period said his parents, Gary and Carol Sleeva.
The school failed to deal with it, said the couple, who were at the meeting.
Look at this. Here again, the school didn’t take the matter in their hands and do anything about it.
A few weeks after Sleeva died, a female Grade 9 student also took her own life. Other students say fighting and intimidation are part of the daily routine at the town’s high school. Some parents are blaming the school for not doing enough to curb the problem.
“I’ve had no response from anyone,” said Carol Sleeva…
Parent Tracy Hannotte says the bullying problem must be stopped.
“There’s no repercussions for bullying,” she said. “I don’t think the teachers
are doing enough and I don’t think the parents of the bullies are doing enough.”
Some students walk out of meeting
The meeting upset many students, and a dozen walked out halfway through the event.
“I expected some of the problems to be confronted,” said one student. “This was just covering it up.”
This makes me even more enraged. Why is it that teenagers can see what these stupid adults can’t?
In November 2000, Dawn-Marie Wesley, 14, of Mission, B.C. hanged herself shortly after three teenage girls called her. Wesley’s suicide note said that she had been threatened by bullies and she believed death was her only escape.
In her ruling, B.C. Provincial Court Judge Jill Rounthwaite said that it was clear that one of the accused had bullied Wesley repeatedly, giving the victim reason to fear for her life.
Rounthwaite noted that bystanders added “to the power of the bully” by letting the harassment go on without intervening.
“None of those people had the moral strength to tell the bully to stop or go away,” the judge said.
Well, there you have it. You know, it’s no wonder Clyde Blount killed his son’s bully. Remember Clyde tried
the civil way to stop the relentless torment against his son. It didn’t work. I suppose years in prison for Clyde is worth it all to save his son.
Unreal. Should we just kill the bullies from now on? It seems like the only resolution.
In his suicide note, Hamed mentioned that when he was bullied in school, he always pretended that it didn’t bother him. He would just walk away and ignore the bullies. He continued that even though he put up an “I’m okay” facade, that he was really crying inside. This is very common, I believe.
The straw that broke the camels back was when he was punched in the stomach. Following that, he took his own life.
I know somebody that was continuously harassed because he didn’t take showers after P.E., and a gang of bullies tried to force him into the shower. On another occasion, he was punched in the stomach in the rest room. One day he tried to defend himself upon being made fun of, and he decided to stand up for himself. He made an appointment to meet his bully after school where he tried to fight his bully by pushing him. He
was then sent to the principal’s office and he got the beating of a life time on his behind. He told me that it hurt him so much physically that he was “dancing afterwards”.
That was my husband. An update? He says he doesn’t think about his school days of being perpetually taunted and beaten. When he goes back in retrospect, he feels that it means nothing to him today. Yet, by his behavior, to an intuitive person, it is very obvious that today at 49 he is still affected by that experience.
I believe that this is very normal. Our defenses work so very hard to repress the horrid memories, and to make one believe that it either never happened or that it was no big deal. Some have better defense mechanisms than others. For those that have, by nature, weak defenses, I guess wind up killing themselves. On the flip side, while our defenses save a lot of lives (thank God, including my husband’s), we wind up in denial of the memory and subconsciously, the “school-day torture” haunts us throughout the rest of our lives.
When my husband’s mother found out that the school’s administration did nothing to fix the problem, she persevered until more than half the staff got fired and were moved to different schools.
Hamed, in the above video documentary, said that he often gave out non-verbal signals to his parents. He said that he doesn’t blame his parents that they didn’t understand, and that he still loved them.
What about in the days where it was acceptable for teachers and principals to hit or whack their students as the parents not only condoned it but celebrated this ritual. Remember those days? For any students being bullied back then, can you imagine them coming home to mom and dad about being bullied by their classmates? Impossible. Children know that if mom and dad think it’s great that their child’s receiving regular “paddling sessions” for being naughty, what makes you think they’ll come home to report abuse from their “peers”? Especially if their being bullied by their own parents.
Give me a f’n break! And for the dolts that think bullying is a modern phenomenon as a result of minimal or no corporal punishment, you’re wrong! Bullying has been going on since ancient times — yes, including those days when teachers could do ANYTHING they wanted to “bad” pupils.
It’s 2005. Do you think adults have gotten the message by now? When’s the wake-up call? Do we have to sit on our rears waiting for more children to kill themselves for a few more years before some
action is taken?
Comes home with torn, damaged, or missing pieces of clothing, books, or other belongings
Has unexplained cuts, bruises, and scratches
Has few, if any friends, with whom he or she spends time
Seems afraid of going to school, walking to and from school, riding the school bus, or taking part in organized activities with peers (such as clubs)
Takes a long, “illogical” route when walking to or from school
Has lost interest in school work or suddenly begins to do poorly in school
Appears sad, moody, teary, or depressed when he or she comes home
Complains frequently of headaches, stomach aches, or other physical ailments
Has trouble sleeping or has frequent bad dreams
Experiences a loss of appetite
Appears anxious and/or suffers from low self-esteem
What to Do If You Suspect That Your Child Is Being Bullied?
If your child shows any of these signs, this does not necessarily mean that he or she is being bullied, but
it is a possibility worth exploring. What should you do? Talk with your child and talk with staff at school
to learn more.
1. Talk with your child. Tell your child that you are concerned about him or her and that you’d like to
help. Here are some questions that can get the discussion going.
Some direct questions:
“I’m worried about you. Are there any kids at school who may be picking on you or bullying you?”
“Are there any kids at school who tease you in a mean way?”
“Are there any kids at school who leave you out or exclude you on purpose?”
Some more subtle questions:
“Do you have any special friends at school this year? Who are they? Who do you hang out with?”
“Who do you sit with at lunch/on the bus?”
“Are there any kids at school who you really don’t like? Why don’t you like them? Do they ever pick on you or leave you out of things?”
If I’ve gotten my message across to at least one person, I’ve done my duty. Parents, teachers, and school administrators really need to keep their eyes open. I have hope that some day, this problem will be nipped in the bud.
The Community Page has commented at length on socially-sanctioned exclusionary practices in Japan. However, it has rarely touched upon their quantifiable, longer-term effects. Exclusionism is bad for business. Why? Because non-Japanese residents are not the only ones affected by “no-foreigner” policies. So are visiting representatives of international corporations. This makes for unfavorable overseas impressions, not only of northern Japan (famous for its decade displaying “JAPANESE ONLY” signs), but also of the entire country.
The author of this article, Arudou Debito, explains further, that the extent of this over the past couple of years has reached 12 cities in Japan.
And this was just all over some Germans, Italians, and British men getting a little rowdy in the bars during the World Cup 2002 which had caused the police to appear on the scene. It is believed that the Japanese had wanted to keep foreigners out of shops, restaurants, bars, doctors offices, salons, and the like the whole time and that the World Cup 2002 just gave them the perfect excuse for them to pull this off.
“In Nagoya this year, I was invited to the Suzuka Formula One auto races as a guest of a Western company supporting this event for a long time,” Jackson recalled. “Walking down the street in Nagoya’s nightlife district with senior reps of this company, people on the street passing out flyers to their bars pulled their hands back when they saw us. We even got refused rides in taxis. That’s pretty stupid. What kind of an image is that supposed to create?”Jackson said this company is considering changing its support to the Shanghai Formula One because of this and other ill-feelings incurred.
“And Nagoya is going to be hosting the 2005 Aichi World’s Fair? You’re joking. Just more people to come to Japan and leave with a sour taste,” he said.
Amazing, isn’t it? A WORLD’S FAIR??? A Homogeneous World’s Fair? Oh no, wait a minute. Foreigners can come, but they can’t stay in a hotel, can’t use the public baths, can’t get into any of the shops or attractions, (God forbid they get sick) they can’t get in a hospital anywhere, and can’t use public transportation except for the trains.
Furthermore, it’s not only visitors or residents who feel the alienation. Japan spends millions annually bringing people over on Ministry of Education Scholarships, and through organizations like The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).Just how long does the Japanese government think it can get away with no redresses for discrimination, including a law against racial discrimination? Can it merely coast along on half-measures while prejudicial policies spread nationwide?
As lawsuits rack up involving refusals at a jewelry store, bathhouses, a real estate broker, a bar, and now an optician, the problem is getting worse.
Oh my. I had no idea the problem was getting this bad. I lived in Japan for 6.5 years, and I never once saw anything like this. I am appalled by the recent change, and stunned that this has reached all the way to Tokyo — of all places. Tokyo, the most metropolitan, modernized, and one of the largest cities in the world is beginning to follow suit in slamming the doors on the faces of foreigners. I am so glad I am not there to witness this. I don’t know what I would do. Racism and discrimination is so very sad, and “sad” is an understatement. It actually makes me sick to my stomach to hear what is going on over there.
Granted, I always knew they had no laws over there regarding discrimination. I had always known that, even in Tokyo, foreigners were denied housing in certain apartment complexes. That was a norm that all foreigners had gotten used to over there. If there’s a brawl between a drunken foreign guy and a drunken Japanese guy outside a bar and the police arrive, it’s normal for the police to side with the Japanese guy. We don’t raise our eyebrows over this stuff. It’s Japan. And naturally, we’re there because we want to be there. However, now (gaijin) or non-Japanese people are given the the x-sign with the arms if seen approaching a shop or any place of business in some areas. The hatred spreading is almost surreal.
Look at this:
HAIR SALON KITAMURA (barbershop)
(Wakkanai Minato 1 chome 1-19, Ph 0162-24-5045)
Roy had also been excluded from this place at the door and despite speaking Japanese. I decided to try my luck. The place was open and the proprietor was halfway through a head of hair. He left to come to the door, where he made an X-gesture with his hands. I spoke in Japanese, “Do you refuse foreigners?” (gaikokujin, okotowari desu ka). He paused, surprised that I spoke in Nihongo, and left his X-ed hands up. I repeated the question, and he said “That’s right.” (sou desu), indicating that he understood me. He went back to his head of hair and I stepped outside, thinking it best not to inquire further.
Says I:”What in heaven’s name would make him want to refuse foreigners? Onsens claim a hygiene problem. Regular stores claim a pilfering problem. But what here? People aren’t getting naked and sharing a bath, and the only thing to pilfer would be shampoo and scissors. What goes?” It goes further.” Reported by By ARUDOU DEBITO
And yet another lame excuse for discrimination….
“HIKOKUSAIKA”(“anti-internationalization”):NON-JAPANESE NOW OFFICIALLY SEEN AS PART OF JAPAN’S SOCIAL ILLS AND CANNOT BE TRUSTED IN THE EVENT OF A DISASTER
WIRE:04/09/2000 03:44:00 ET Japan Troops Told ‘Foreigners’ Likely to Loot, Riot
“TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese troops were told on Sunday to target foreigners to prevent looting and rioting in the event of a major earthquake, Kyodo News Agency reported.
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said in an address to Ground Self-Defense Force troops that foreigners were likely to riot and commit crimes because of the breakdown in order.
“Atrocious crimes have been committed again and again by sangokujin and other foreigners”, he was quoted as saying.
“We can expect them to riot in the event of a disastrous earthquake.”
The Japanese slang term “sangokujin” means “people from Third World countries” and was used in post World War Two Japan as an insult for residents from the former Japanese colonies of Korea and Taiwan.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials could not be reached immediately for comment due to the weekend holiday.
A fervent nationalist, Ishihara has angered China by doubting its accounts of Japanese wartime atrocities and referring to it by the derogatory term “Shina.”
After the Great Tokyo Earthquake of 1923, which killed about 100,000 people, unfounded rumors about riots among Tokyo’s Korean residents led to Japanese mobs attacking and killing several hundred Koreans, many of whom were brought to Japan as slave labor.
Thus Japan is starting to feel the tugs of a pluralist, multicultural society. Some degree of social hesitancy is natural. One of our jobs in this society will be helping make the transition smoother–by urging a more representative legal infrastructure and a more tolerant social policy approach. We do this in hopes that the future will herald a better place for everyone–citizen, immigrant, or visitor–to live. More to come.”
Dave Aldwinckle
Sapporo
Oh, okay. Now, I see where the racism is stemming from — the 1923 Tokyo Earthquake. How many years ago was this? The hate continues….
In another article in The Japan Times written again by Arudou Debito, an African American man accompanied by his wife and his African American friend were told by an eyeglass shop owner, “Move to the other side of the street! Don’t touch my store window!”
To read further regarding “information for people concerned with social issues who want to help make life better for everyone in Japan”, I highly recommend Arudou Debito/Dave Aldwincle’s ACTIVISTS’ PAGE
You will get a lot more information here. It’s very interesting. You will also see the improvements that Mr. Debito has made with his lawsuits as well. Mr. Debito, by the way, is American. You can find his autobiography here! His real name is David Christopher Aldwinckle.
There are still foreigners all over the place in Japan – especially in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. Now, as racism isn’t happening everywhere in Japan, if it happens in a couple of public places, it’s already happened too much. For all those who love Japan, (including myself), let’s all hope that the hatred stops over there sometime soon, and that Mr. Debito progresses even more than he already has. I have a feeling that he will.
“Laci
Peterson’s image appeared to Amber Frey in a nightmare about the time
police believe the Modesto woman was murdered, Frey says in her new
book.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever felt that kind of fear in my life,” Frey wrote in her book about the murder investigation that became a national saga.”
Frey talks about how she once saw Scott Peterson as the “perfect man”, but then came to realization for the sociopath he really is.
“Frey
says Modesto police didn’t call her back after she first phoned them,
but officers later pumped their fists in the air as they listened to
her question Peterson on a tapped phone.
Frey also at one point
appears to question Peterson’s sexuality, saying it was “a little odd”
that he felt it was a compliment when a male waiter flirted with him.
She
also said she had growing suspicions of the man she hoped to form a
family with after she heard him phoning her from the bathroom as a
woman in the background called his name.
Much of the material in
the book will be familiar to those who followed the trial closely. Frey
wrote about their first date in Fresno and trips with Peterson and her
daughter.”
I highly recommend listening to Amber Frey and Scott Peterson’s complete recorded phone calls if you haven’t already heard them.
And don’t forget Amber Frey’s going to be on Dateline tomorrow night and Oprah Wednesday afternoon!
After those who have lost their lives to a murderer, a genocide, war, and natural disasters, isn’t it true that in many cases especially if it’s high profile, that we find a book written about it? I guess I’m just getting tired of all those criticizing Amber Frey for having written a book on her experience and her involvement in the Scott Peterson trial. I’m wondering why she is being singled out here.
Have we forgotten about Michael Fleeman, the author of five books based on True Crime stories – one of which is written about the murder of Laci Peterson?
What about the publishers of all these books? Shouldn’t they too be among the “guilty” of those financially gaining off of the death of others?
I bet you all forgot about Aphrodite Jones as well. She is a True Crime author.
“The first step to fighting crime is to try to understand it. In my books, I provide a psychological profile that will allow us to get inside the minds of the killers and analyze the victims upon which they prey. I ask my audience to read between the lines, to examine the statements of killers, cops, lawyers, and victims, so they might better recognize the warning signs that can lead to needless brutality.”
Remember Michael Peterson? He murdered his wife too, and Aphrodite Jones covered his trial and conviction in the book, “A Perfect Husband”. And as we speak, this woman is writing a book that covers the entire Scott Peterson trial. It should be out soon.
Now, here we have twenty-six pages of True Crime Story authors and their books! And you and I both know that there’s more out there that are not covered on this site!
Shall we say another one with blood on her hands to be the famous Ann Rule?
Ann Rule
“Ann Rule is regarded by many as the foremost true crime writer in America, and the author responsible for the genre as it exists today. She came to her career with a solid background in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Both her grandfather and her uncle were Michigan sheriffs, her cousin was a Prosecuting Attorney and another uncle was the Medical Examiner. Raised in that environment, she grew up wanting to work in law enforcement herself. She is a former Seattle Policewoman, former caseworker for the Washington State Department of Public Assistance, former student intern at the Oregon State Training School for Girls.
Ann has been a full-time true crime writer since 1969. Over the past 30 years, she has published 20 books and 1400 articles, mostly on criminal cases.
Ann’s books deal with three areas: the victims’ stories; the detectives and prosecutors and how they solve their cases with old fashioned police work and modern forensic science, and the killers lives. She tries to
go back to the killers’ early childhood, and even back into their family histories to find some of the genesis of their behavior. She spends many months researching her books, beginning with the trial and with many subsequent visits to the locale where the crimes occurred. Once she has finished her research, she returns to her office to write her books.
Ann is active in support groups for victims of violent crimes and their families, in the Y.W.C.A.’s program to help battered and abused women, and in Childhelp and Childhaven, support groups for children.
Ann’s hobbies often take a backseat to her writing, but she has many interests. She loves animals and has two dogs and five cats at last count. She loves to garden, and collects “way too many things,” including: antique bottles and pill boxes, miniature cars, cobalt blue glass, police
paraphernalia, wind chimes, and teddy bears. She is still working on her dollhouse, a rather unusual one–a house of ill repute. She tries to walk two or three miles every morning before she starts writing, and loves to beach comb and go to second-hand stores.”
The amount of books published just on Amazon.com alone under the category, TRUE CRIME is never ending – page after page! These books wouldn’t be out there if people didn’t like to read them. Should the readers be just as “guilty” for contributing and encouraging all these “greedy and insensitive” authors?
And this is not even the tip of the iceberg!
Remember the Holocaust? How many died? There’s a lot of debate regarding how
many Jewish people died during this tragedy. Everybody gives a different number all the way from 74,000 deaths to 8 million according to the author of this website.
We all know how much printed material and films came out of this genocide. And I don’t want to hear that books were published and movies were made for educational purposes. While that is true, why wouldn’t a book written about Laci Peterson be educational? If anything, couldn’t women get something out of it? Why belittle her death and write it off as a book for “fun”, but a book on the Holocaust — an educational read? What? That doesn’t make any sense!
Full Metal Jacket
More than 38 million people died in WWII. I would be here all day long just covering all the books and movies released following this war. Not just this war, but what about all the other wars in history. What about all the books and movies made as a result of them? I saw the movie, “Saving Private Ryan” and “Full Metal Jacket”. Does that make me a supporter of those who make “profit off dead people”? Am I just as bad as Amber Frey?
And last but not least, from watching CNN tonight, I discovered a book that just came out “intended to educate American people”on Al Qaida. More blood money?
And, surely enough, we can’t forget the infamous….
I wonder if you get my point now? Several people dead; several people made money. Everything is education whether it be attributed to the death of millions or just one person. That’s why we watch the news. Information is knowledge. While there are many sickos out there who “get off” on reading about the gruesome details and viewing graphic pictures of those who died in the hands of a murderer, I’d like to believe that most of us don’t.
Just wait until the books and movies start coming out about the recent Earthquake/Tsunami disaster in Asia….
With that being said, can we try to cut a little slack for Ms Frey?
Hello all, and welcome!
In my blog, I discuss Americanophobia, politics, political extremism (my rantings about the extreme right and the extreme left), anthropology, crime news, psychology, LOTS of humor, and try to debunk common rumors spread about the American people. The variety of topics I discuss are in 360 posts ... Continue reading »
“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
"The fundamental role of anti-Americanism in Europe in general, and particularly among those on the Left, is to absolve themselves of their own moral failings and intellectual errors by heaping them onto the monster scapegoat, the United States of America. The U.S. is charged with all the evils, real or imagined, that afflict humanity, from the falling price of beef in France to AIDS in Africa and global warming everywhere. The result is a widespread refusal to accept responsibility for one's own actions." — Jean-Francois Revel
"Anti-Americanism is hypocrisy at its finest, You can spend your evening catching the latest episode of "24" and then complain about Guantanamo the next morning." --the Berlin bureau chief of Der Spiegel
"Of course some Americans are stupid, but... "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 Canadians and Europeans have such strong opinions on this, considering that there are many more pressing issues to be concerned about. Perhaps the steady Canadian and European refrain of "Americans are stupid" is a reflection of their own deep-rooted insecurity. You know -- an inferiority complex." --Mohammed
"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." --Seth
"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
"Ambivalence, antipathy, and resentment toward and about the United States have comprised an important component of European culture since the American Revolution at the latest, thus way before America became the world's 'Mr. Big' -- the proverbial eight-hundred-pound gorilla -- and a credible rival to Europe's main powers, particularly Britain and France . . . . While the politics, style, and discourse of the Bush administration -- and of George W. Bush as a person -- have undoubtedly exacerbated anti-American sentiment among Europeans and fostered a heretofore unmatched degree of unity between elite and mass opinion in Europe, they are not anti-Americanism's cause. Indeed, a change to a center-left administration in Washington, led by a Democratic president, would not bring about its abatement, let alone disappearance." --Andrei S. Markovits (author of Uncouth Nation - Why Europe Dislikes America)
"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." --Jean-François Revel
"Anti-Americanism is the only face of xenophobia still broadly accepted in Europe." --Mary Fitzgerald (New Statesman)
"Americans find themselves damned either way. If they remain within their own borders, they are isolationist hicks who are shirking their responsibilities. If they intervene, they are rapacious imperialists." --To hate America is to hate mankind
"The British find it very difficult to come to terms with the loss of their global dominance. We felt a deep sense of hurt and loss. We used to run the world, and we don’t anymore. So, in order to palliate that insecurity, we tend to run ourselves down too much. And we’re also snooty about the people who DO run the world." -- Boris Johnson (Member of Parliament)
"It is tragic that Anti-American ideas are so easily passed through rumour, while reconciliatory ideas and notions must be backed up with catalogues of evidence before they are even considered, purely because of the fact that it is so much easier to hate than to keep an objective open mind." --David Hatton
"Other common anti-American objections are ignorance and stupidity. In dealing with these two, I have no reason to suspect that the average American is any less intelligent than the average person from anywhere else. One trait I have noticed is that other cultures are generally much more ashamed of any deficit in the intellect of the individual, especially ours (the British), and as such will make a much greater attempt to hide it. If all cultures bar one are scared of looking stupid and take action to prevent that happening, then that one remaining culture is inevitably going to be lumbered with that image." --David Hatton
"We became not a melting pot, but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams." --Jimmy Carter
"Most of the anti-Americanism these days stems from plain old nationalistic jealousy by a lot of countries that are born of insecurity about their own place in the world and their painful self awareness of their own failings and shortcomings...like the kids in the next block who are jealous of the boy who has a better bicycle or a newer fancier skateboard....phuque 'em all." --Robbins Mitchell
"Europeans, like the rest of the world, hate America and Americans, but love our aid when in distress, and our soldiers to die for THEIR COUNTRIES. You need to work, live and pay taxes from this side of the Atlantic to understand our vision of Europe and the rest of the world." --Jerry
"Unjustified hatred of Americans:
There is much unjustified hatred in the world. There is unjustified hatred of the USA. Much of this arises from the victimisation complex that sweeps much of mankind. Whoever is in charge, whoever is powerful or successful will also be hated. This immature hatred often evaporates quickly with a little reason or thought. There are some some invalid, unjustified criticisms. The most widespread hate is the hate by people the world over who fall victim to their own shortcomings, and want a scapegoat." --Vexen Crabtree
"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
"Despite the USA's dominance of mass media, it is frequently only the pro-USA, self-congratulatory messages that seem to arrive in Europe, the USA citizens criticism and disbelief of their own government is not apparent, which gives the overall impression that Americans are either gullible, ignorant or honestly uncaring." --Vexen Crabtree
"If a person outside of American culture is a hateful person, they may actively hate and verbally attack America. If the person takes this to include a hatred of Americans themselves, they are inconsiderate and have become a fool. If a person like this is brought up by people with vested interests in attacking America (and there are many), a person can be driven to take his opinions to a violent level. Generic hatred is not solved or soothed by adding more layers of hatred.
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
"I think it is best, when faced with people from other nations, to treat them as individuals. Yes, you can "hate" the injustices that governments perpetuate on us all, and yes, you can despise ignorance in all its' forms. But any sort of blanket prejudice punishes yourself more than anyone else, because it thwarts the opportunity to learn from someone else. It stops you from making potential connections that could ultimately change your life. As an "american" living abroad, I pity my fellow countrymen who still have the wool over their eyes, but I don't hate them. The fact that when I meet them, they are indeed traveling at the time, says to me that they are in the process of opening their minds. Being in Europe, for many Americans, is the first step to realizing that other cultures do indeed exist and thrive, and that other forms of social structures are both possible and desireable.
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Many ask me why I left. Political reasons aside, when I mention that my family now enjoys free health-care and that my daughter will have the opportunity to go to university virtually for free (O.K. not free exactly, because we all pay taxes, but these services are included in what we as citizens receive for our tax dollars here in Europe,) they always respond with a sigh as they realize that this is the way all societies should be run. They know that something has gone terribly afoul in their beloved "homeland."
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Americans, in essence, need to be re-taught what is possible in the world, they do not need to be shunned. Shunning them will only help to produce more negativity in the world. If we all, from without, can help them to change what is wrong with their country from within, by sharing our knowledge of alternatives, then the whole world will benefit." --Lily
"Sometimes the caliber of a nation is found not in why it is liked, but rather in why it is not." --Victor Davis Hanson
"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
"With a military that has become a laughing stock and her increasing irrelevance in the world around her, I believe that the Canada I know and loved is gone. The sad truth is, Canadians have only themselves to blame since they meekly chose to accept everything without question and without fighting back. Most of them even pat themselves on the back for being so “progressive” and “multicultural” and “diverse,” while failing to recognize that all of those things will bring about Canada’s demise. America may not be perfect, but at least there is a strong conservative movement and a population who will fight to keep their rights." --Jayne Gardener (Why I left Canada)
"Regarding Race Relations in the South:
I once read an observation that ONE (and there are many) of the differences between the Northern and Southern approach to race is that the North tends to reject the Individual while embracing the Race. The South conversely seems to have prejudice towards the other Race while embracing the Individuals. It's a generalization to be sure but one with more than a grain of truth.
Blacks and Whites have always lived closely in the South, most southerners have an aquantince of another race whom they like, while at the same time generalizing about the 'others'.
The North has always been more segregated and less mixed in ordinary commerce and interaction. They accept the race but interact with few individuals of another group. Leading to less real experience with the other group. Fewer Northerners subsequently have friends of a different race.
I think we a need to be cautious when making these generalizations but I believe they still offer food for comment.
I guess I'm just saying that one shouldn't assume the South has a less open society because of some who have lingering, isolated, racist attitudes towards 'Canadians'. It just seems that these notions, are more exposed, and carry more gravity due to their past. --JG (reply #70)
"My “two cents” to all you Americans out there: speaking as a Brit, it pains me to see some of the comments emanating from this page by alleged British sophisticates. Much of the real reason for anti-Americanism of this type — though it will be hotly denied — is nothing more than envy. Truth be told, many an Englishman yearns for the day when we were the number one dog in town, with the world sitting obediently at the feet of hordes of short-back-and sides public school boys lording it over primitive tribes of Africans and Asians, whilst men such as Joseph Chamberlain and Winston Churchill sincerely speculated on the chances of the USA being welcomed back into the imperial bosom.
Americans, don't lose heart; you are the great power of the age. It is your lot to be envied and feared. Do not fall for the soft hearted illusion that this translates into moral superiority of any variety." --James
"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." --Nov. 12th, 2005 5:08PM
"The only thing more annoying that a 'typical American' (and they do exist!) is a Canadian with a superiority complex! Americans do get the piss ripped out of them behind their backs but with the flag on your pack you probably will as well." --travoholic
"I grew up on army bases my whole life and nothing makes me prouder than watching Canadian soldiers do what they can, when they can, to help out more impoverished nations. I do, however, become angered at people who begin talking about who has the better, or bigger army and who can beat whom. Soldiers sacrifice their lives for the betterment of mankind, not to win pissing contests." --Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:12 pm
"I attribute European anti-Americanism to a state of prolonged “adolescence” from being protected by American treasure and military might throughout the post-WW2 era. I think about how teenagers rail against their parents actions and restrictions, all the while knowing, deep down, that they cannot provide for themselves.
On a somewhat lighter note, there was a program on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) a while back about why Europeans don’t like America. One interviewee attributed it to the Europeans knowing that America won’t hurt them." --Denis Eugene Sullivan
"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
"Yes, anti-Americanism is a sad reality all over the world. I feel its simply part of "hatred of the superpower". Britian for most of its empire's history was mocked harshly by English speaking colonies and much of mainland Europe. Nobody likes the "big kid on the block". I think the fact that American media plays a more dominant role in English speaking societies around the world further reminds us of our inferiority complexes.
In short, America's ok with me. I can only hope that reason and the shedding of jealous ignorance can let other people see that America isn't that bad." --Matt
"Conservatives love America the way a six year old loves his mother. Mommy is perfect, don’t be mean to mommy, etc… Liberals, according to me, have a grown-up love for America — the kind that recognizes faults and works to improve the nation out of love." --Al Franken
And stupid. 
(Psst… beware… it’s Faux News, so they’ve probably got it wrong anyway, hey?)
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.
american stock markets crashed, Americanophobia, americans are suffering more from financial crisis, blame america first, business, cheese eating surrender monkey, crisis on wall street, eurotrash commentary, euroweenies belittling financial crisis, french frogs, French-Anti-Americanism, fuck the rest of the world, fucking french, fucking frog, koolaid drinking leftist elitists, money, politics, rich european elitists, shut the fuck up, stfu, stock markets crashing, us economic crisis, us financial meldown, wall street, wall street v main street
Americans are Overreacting to the Financial Meltdown?
In Americanophobia, Blame Europe, Current Affairs, Human Waste, War and Politics on October 11, 2008 at 3:20 PMDISCLAIMER: Lots of foul and vulgar language down below. If you are a mouse and get offended easily, please stop reading now. Thank you.
My Fellow Prisoners…
This is how a Frenchman (who goes by the name, “Borborygme”) feels about the US economic crisis:
Obviously this was written by someone who has never had to worry about money. Must be nice.
So, here’s a video of a bunch of Americans overreacting:
I won’t get into the domino effect this has on the middle class and lower income families because well, that’s just obvious if you are an American. You sorta have a clue. I am one of millions upon millions of families directly effected by this mess, and I don’t take too kindly to my personal situation being belittled and laughed at when I didn’t do anything to harm anybody else.
When I say that I am effected (or any American for that matter), that doesn’t mean I am sad because I cannot buy that 4747882002569 inch Plasma TV. Or buy my 352597889005th car for my 8 door garage.
Like most people, I live a very modest life. Maybe the Americanophobes need to read this and then STFU!
An Australian basically thought that the economic crisis was funny and being overreacted to under the disguise of “satire”.
Another thing that confuses me is that people like Borborygme are usually whining about how the states effect their every day life. Every little thing that goes wrong is always “America’s fault”. We Americans have to hear constantly how we are ruining THEIR lives – all the time.
I find it troubling that Borborygme and people that think like like him are constantly whining about Americans oppressing them. Borborygme expects Americans to sympathize with HIM. Because HE is thuffwerring… Puleeeeze…
This Frenchman is a frequent commenter on a blog that rails against Anti-Frenchism. You gotta love the irony and the double standards. Typical of your every day kook-aid drinking quack-in-the-box Americanophobe ankle-biter.
Non-Americans: They suffer.
Americans: They never suffer; they only cause it against others.
The above is how the world see us, generally.
Most people in other countries are nothing but “The Yanks are out to get meeeeee“ paranoid school yard bullies that don’t give a rats ass about anybody but themselves despite their phony puritanism. They always whine that Americans are giving them the middle finger. Well, yanno what? We really should, actually.
Like I mentioned in this post, I find it fascinating that while the Americanophobes are belittling our situation here, they are crying about how American Wall Street has effected them so much. So, apparently, we Americans are supposed to “feel sowwy for them” when they are barely even touched by the crisis. They lie to Americans because they need every and any excuse in the book to find fault with the average American. Fuck that shit.
As Andrei Markovits from Romania said, most of the whiny brats in other western countries are rich elitist mother fuckers. And they lie like a seasoned politician.
This reminds me of the following quote:
But wait a minute. Millions of Americans have been harmed by the American government. I will update his quote for him. So long as you’re an American, no matter what you go through negatively, it
I get as angry as I do because
Another thing that is ironic is that the Americanophobes living in Europe criticize Americans for being too positive about life. But when we mention the slightest inconvenience in our lives, we are maimed a bunch of lying attention seekers. So, which is it, really? We are damned either way, aren’t we?
I will say loudly and proudly that I have more fight in me than your average Americanophobic Euro-weenie. And I AM positive. But that doesn’t negate the fact that I am human either.
Any other Americanophobe want to downplay the effect that the financial crisis has on the average American? Come to the US. Trying living in an average to low income zone. Then you can judge. Think all Americans are spoiled rich, read this.
It is people like Borborygme why I dedicate a big FUCK YOU to the rest of the vile sonofabitches in the rest of the world.
UPDATE!!
Oh dear…. it figures. The guy that I had thought was a Frenchman, I just found out today wasn’t. He’s an American yuppy living in California obviously not effected at all by the financial crisis, the bailout, or anything crooked that government has done in its blind movement to become a 3rd world country.