Views on America

jaydubbayu

I'm always hearing that other countries hate America. If they do, I'm not going to argue, because America does need to mind their own business sometimes. But, I live here, I love it, wouldn't live anywhere else.

Here's a rare opportunity for me to listen to other people's (from other countries) views on America.
So, what do you think?

No wrong answers here, ready to listen!
Americans can chime in too!!

gentsevetzak

I love the States, but their military interventions in places where they have no business being (Iraq, Afghanistan, tons of bases all around the world) rub a lot of people (including me) the wrong way.
For some reason most of the wars the USA wages to "bring democracy" seem to be located in places where there's a lot of oil in the ground.

kirstand

i cant say i hate it...ive never been there to judge! but my son loves the Miami Heat and just about every other American professional sport...sorry, gone off topic 8)

Carl01

D446

I'm Australian, and I have quite a few American friends (irl)... I love them, they are beautiful, smart, funny, and always awesome fun to go out with!

And I'm not going to make any generalizations about the whole of America, as anything I would say would pretty much be just a few stereotypes of what some people think about Americans, and is not generally true. Like 'all Australians do is drink pi**' which is only kinda true haha!

jaydubbayu

I'm Australian, and I have quite a few American friends (irl)... I love them, they are beautiful, smart, funny, and always awesome fun to go out with!

And I'm not going to make any generalizations about the whole of America, as anything I would say would pretty much be just a few stereotypes of what some people think about Americans, and is not generally true. Like 'all Australians do is drink pi**' which is only kinda true haha!

Drink Pi ss? HUH? I never made THAT stereotype!!

D446

I'm Australian, and I have quite a few American friends (irl)... I love them, they are beautiful, smart, funny, and always awesome fun to go out with!

And I'm not going to make any generalizations about the whole of America, as anything I would say would pretty much be just a few stereotypes of what some people think about Americans, and is not generally true. Like 'all Australians do is drink pi**' which is only kinda true haha!

Drink Pi ss? HUH? I never made THAT stereotype!!

It means alcohol! I'm sorry haha! I should probably change it before everyone thinks we drink our own urine

jaydubbayu

I'm Australian, and I have quite a few American friends (irl)... I love them, they are beautiful, smart, funny, and always awesome fun to go out with!

And I'm not going to make any generalizations about the whole of America, as anything I would say would pretty much be just a few stereotypes of what some people think about Americans, and is not generally true. Like 'all Australians do is drink pi**' which is only kinda true haha!

Drink Pi ss? HUH? I never made THAT stereotype!!

It means alcohol! I'm sorry haha! I should probably change it before everyone thinks we drink our own urine

Nah people will see this correction, good enough! Ha ha I've never heard alcohol called that before... I've heard people say "I got pissed drunk", see I'm learning things from this thread already!
BTW, the only Aussies I ever hung out with, I got pissed drunk with them!! Ha ha!

jankleberry

I'm from Scotland and I love America. Have only been to Washington though.

D446

Yeah, we call it a heap of different things. And we do call it pissed, if you get drunk, which is probably where it comes from.

jaydubbayu

Well, beer makes you piss, so I can see where it comes from!

engineman312

I'm Australian, and I have quite a few American friends (irl)... I love them, they are beautiful, smart, funny, and always awesome fun to go out with!

And I'm not going to make any generalizations about the whole of America, as anything I would say would pretty much be just a few stereotypes of what some people think about Americans, and is not generally true. Like 'all Australians do is drink pi**' which is only kinda true haha!

Drink Pi ss? HUH? I never made THAT stereotype!!

It means alcohol! I'm sorry haha! I should probably change it before everyone thinks we drink our own urine

our craft and microbrew beer has gotten better. unfortunatly, people still think all we do is drink coors light and budweiser. i won't touch that stuff.

Kymmu

There's wonderful and hideous people in every country....We can't generalise about one - it would be wrong.
I'm Australian and have met some lovely people on Mfp from all over the world.
They all have their own charms!

jaydubbayu

Yeah I'm a Yuengling guy myself. Just became available in Ohio about 6 months ago. BOMB!!

TaniaMcCormick

No hard feelings over here :P I want to visit America some day!

CShepherd91

I have a lot of friends in America. I love them to bits. As individuals they're amazing women.

But, err... (damn it, I hope I don't offend anyone right now) monitoring your political situation scares me so bad. Religion has no place in politics and I'm fortunate to live in a country which has separated Church and State.

I just can't get over that you don't have Universal Healthcare.
I can't get over the abortion bill in Virginia.
I can't get over the fact that the bill to allow employers to pick and choose what healthcare to cover only marginally got kicked out (we're talking like 4 votes between them).
I can't get over the fact that someone like Rick Sanitorium could run for president and spread his hateful views on gays, coloured people and women, and name it all as a religious virtue.
And although I love Barack Obama, I can't get over the fact that your President acts more like a celebrity than he does as a ruler of a country.

But your people. I love your people. For the most part. Everywhere has bad eggs. Just your politics I cannot abide.

jaydubbayu

But, err... (damn it, I hope I don't offend anyone right now) monitoring your political situation scares me so bad. Religion has no place in politics and I'm fortunate to live in a country which has separated Church and State.

You can't even SAY something like that over here... I FULLY agree with you though!! People are just CLAWING to hold on to this concept.. It's going out of the window with so many people but the politicians are holding onto it like a baby blanket!!! Religion and politics shouldn't mix!!!

Kymmu

^^^ so well said and so true! How can such wonderful people allow these things to happen?

jaydubbayu

^^^ so well said and so true! How can such wonderful people allow these things to happen?

The freeminded individuals have no one to vote for.

Kymmu

It's getting harder to find someone to vote for here too- but the scenarios are not as drastic!

ToEKnee213

Ut oh

CShepherd91

It's getting harder to find someone to vote for here too- but the scenarios are not as drastic!

Before Santorum pulled out, I'd offered my living room to a handful of friends. I couldn't make them stay in a country with him at the helm!

There isn't much choice anywhere right now. I figure you just have to go for the 'Not Crazy' one.

And here in the UK, you don't vote for some one that looks like Wallace (from Wallace and Gromit)

Jade17694

No hard feelings over here :P I want to visit America some day!

Ditto

Snow__White

I like shopping in the states does that count?

neilwilk

Let's just say that an Ethiopian line taxi will comfortably seat fifteen Ethiopians, but would struggle to seat ten Americans.

MisterTEZ

absolutely love Oregon, good friends there and I have found the people I have met very friendly and helpful.

on a side issue I believe Matt Groening has revealed where he based Simpsons Springfield.

Springfield Oregon :happy:

xxx_Pink_Princess_xxx

Personaly I want to live in America - I want to do loads more research though so i know where best to go! One thing I dont like no NHS there xxx

sexforjaffacakes

I have a lot of friends in America. I love them to bits. As individuals they're amazing women.

But, err... (damn it, I hope I don't offend anyone right now) monitoring your political situation scares me so bad. Religion has no place in politics and I'm fortunate to live in a country which has separated Church and State.

I just can't get over that you don't have Universal Healthcare.
I can't get over the abortion bill in Virginia.
I can't get over the fact that the bill to allow employers to pick and choose what healthcare to cover only marginally got kicked out (we're talking like 4 votes between them).
I can't get over the fact that someone like Rick Sanitorium could run for president and spread his hateful views on gays, coloured people and women, and name it all as a religious virtue.
And although I love Barack Obama, I can't get over the fact that your President acts more like a celebrity than he does as a ruler of a country.

But your people. I love your people. For the most part. Everywhere has bad eggs. Just your politics I cannot abide.

This! There are lots of individual Americans who are lovely, but the system itself just seems so messed up.

As someone from a "1st world" country, it actually seems completely barbaric that you have to pay for health care in America. I have never in my life met anyone that thinks paying for healthcare is a good thing. In Scotland, and presumably the rest of Britain, the NHS (national health service) is one of our most valuable things.

Also, the guns thing, that is **** scary. I'd never seen a gun in my life till I went on a school strip to the American embassy in London, and it terrified me, can't imagine living somewhere where the police all carry guns and people can actually buy them legally.

And the uber religion - Americans always seem to be terrified of the dangers of fundamentalist Islam yada yada, but don't seem to realise that fundamentalist Christians probably do more harm - as far as I'm aware, the muslim religion doesn't affect laws on a daily basis.

I never met a racist person until I was 16/17, I have yet to this day meet a real homophobic person (beyond ewwww that's gross in highschool), and yes our laws (at least in Scotland, I understand it's more entwined in England) are LAW and not RELIGION. The religious argument has no place in politics.

I think the reason America is so internationally disliked is that it always seems so "big headed", marching into national affairs and acting like king of the world, when it's still internationally regarded as er "stupid". Again, not individual americans, but the stereotype of the dumb american is still very very much alive, and I dunno why, if it's the system, or if it's the steady stream of "only in America" stories (ie people suing mcdonalds for getting fat etc).

It's like, I get it, you're uber capitalists, but you need to find the balance between socialism (GASP! OMG I SAID IT!) and capitalism - when you have people in the ghetto starving and turning to real proper dirty crime for money, or people literally dying of illnesses because they can't afford health insurance, the capitalism has gone too far. If you want your world where you can chase your dreams and become rich, you need to understand it is not possible for EVERYONE to do this - there will always be waiters and street sweepers and people on minimum wage with no health benefits - and to have a truly complete society you need to take care of these people.

Massive rant there, I just have quite strong views, and I wanted to put them carefully so I didn't offend any of the good Americanos :P

And finally, my biggest issue with America... THE PHRASE IS COULDN'T CARE LESS! COULDN'T! COULDN'T!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

bio_fit

Religion has no place in politics and I'm fortunate to live in a country which has separated Church and State.

I just can't get over that you don't have Universal Healthcare.
I can't get over the abortion bill in Virginia.
I can't get over the fact that the bill to allow employers to pick and choose what healthcare to cover only marginally got kicked out (we're talking like 4 votes between them).
I can't get over the fact that someone like Rick Sanitorium could run for president and spread his hateful views on gays, coloured people and women, and name it all as a religious virtue.
And although I love Barack Obama, I can't get over the fact that your President acts more like a celebrity than he does as a ruler of a country.

But your people. I love your people. For the most part. Everywhere has bad eggs. Just your politics I cannot abide.

Absolutely 100% agree with this - as an outsider, they just make me shake my head and think "what on earth are you doing? What happened to progressive society?". Oh - and guns - but i'm happy to agree to disagree, I know it's a sore subject for a country that is supposedly secular, politics seems to be influenced by religion in scary amounts!

I am from the UK, and we are not secular - but religion has by and large been separated from politics. Which I am exceptionally grateful for, based on the stuff I see coming out of the US.

The US appears to me to have a much bigger consumerist culture (I have visited a few times and am always blown away by the immense amounts of advertising) and I am amazed at how much more 'processed' everything seems to be. But aside from this outside impressions on the culture, the people i've met have always been lovely Apart from one guy who would be quite accurately described as an overly patriotic arrogant jerk, but you get those everywhere


Edit: Person above me has just written everything a lot better than me - and I agree with her too :happy: Also, the whole Israel/Palestine thing - not good. It appears from the outside that the US just unilaterally supports Israel in everything, despite the fact they are clearly doing so much wrong to so many people. Maybe they don't always support them, but that's how it seems. I don't think I could live in the US - but I do love visiting it and I don't think I know anybody who actively 'hates' America.

Fridaydalek

our craft and microbrew beer has gotten better. unfortunatly, people still think all we do is drink coors light and budweiser. i won't touch that stuff.

Here in the UK, Bud is seen as *the* American beer; my ex-boss, an American, put me straight on that!

People assume we Brits are polite, but last summer I had the greatest time in Southern California; people were so friendly and helpful to us as tourists - not just workers, but passers-by. I live near Oxford, a popular tourist destination in the UK, but you just wouldn't get locals here going out of their way to welcome visitors the way the Californians did.

So the bad rap you get is unjustified, and from an international point of view may be down to the previous administration's foreign policies. :noway:

So, I've *never* met an unfriendly American. (Not been to New York yet, tho )

EricNCSU

I have a lot of friends in America. I love them to bits. As individuals they're amazing women.

But, err... (damn it, I hope I don't offend anyone right now) monitoring your political situation scares me so bad. Religion has no place in politics and I'm fortunate to live in a country which has separated Church and State.

I just can't get over that you don't have Universal Healthcare.
I can't get over the abortion bill in Virginia.
I can't get over the fact that the bill to allow employers to pick and choose what healthcare to cover only marginally got kicked out (we're talking like 4 votes between them).
I can't get over the fact that someone like Rick Sanitorium could run for president and spread his hateful views on gays, coloured people and women, and name it all as a religious virtue.
And although I love Barack Obama, I can't get over the fact that your President acts more like a celebrity than he does as a ruler of a country.

But your people. I love your people. For the most part. Everywhere has bad eggs. Just your politics I cannot abide.

The politics has gotten out of control, but unfortunately that's what citizens of other countries see and that's what effects the way we interact with foreign countries, so for the OP, that can be part of the problem with other countries looking at us like "What are you doing over there?" I won't say hate.. but I know my friends in New Zealand are like "Yeah.. you guys just need to come here and get away from all that insanity"..

We supposedly do have separation of Church and State..... *sigh* In theory....... In practice... Not so much. I guess the point is, the Church or a church or any church doesn't run the country. But if a highly religious person and we have plenty of them, reaches office, then they are free to push that onto the american public.

I recently re register to vote and placed myself as unaffiliated. I can't side with the Republicans anymore, but I can't fully support the Democrats either, so now I am neither. Even when I was Republican I voted split ticket, some R, some D depending on how I felt the job would get done. My views lean towards Libertarianism, but I decided to just go unaffiliated.

I get the Obama celebrity thing, but I dont think it's his fault. I think the public made him that celebrity, as the first Afro-American president, and he is going to embrace that. He's a polititcian.. if the people love him he's gonna milk it for all it's worth, so if the people want him to be the "people's president" and walk around no tie, sleeves rolled up, shaking hands at a manufacturing plant, he's gonna do that. I assumed there was no way Obama would get re-elected.. but the Republicans can't get out of their own way! Ah well....

Enough about this, it's starting to stray off topic... but this is what other people see, so I can get the OP's point.