My fellow Americans

Anybody else find it hilarious that most of the world hates us, yet they ALL love our music, movies, clothes, sports and fashion? Man it pisses me off. I was just listening to a rant on the tv this morning from a man representing the EU, and a woman from Japan just ripping on this country that they are citizens of. It really rubbed me the wrong way....maybe our SeC foreigners can offer some perspective. They all hate us, yet they all wanna live here....Im not stupid enough to think we are far from perfect, but damn. It was harsh.


/rant

Ronald McDonald is offended, world.

lol thats great

It annoys me too man. That's how everybody up here in Seattle is, all anti-patriotic hippies. Obviously America's not perfect, but where the hell else would you want to live? Doesn't get much better than the U.S.

I hate those fuckers that rag so damn much on this country and they live in it. If you don't like it that much. Get the fuck out.

It's the cool thing to do.

Pretty much people who don't know anything.

Or people who believe that everyone should stay in their country of origin.

Yea and the thing is, most of them live in America, and still bash it, and US( the real Americans). I can promise you that if an American went to live in another country and did the same shit, we would be lynched.

There can be a lot of dumbshit that is put up with i guess that could be partly why.

It's true. I recently went back to the Midwest for a few days, and the difference was amazing. Here, nobody would be caught dead flying an American flag. In the Midwest, they're all over. Damn I miss living in the Midwest

Yea being from Ohio, and currently living in the Pacific NW like you Wacco, I know exactly what your talking about. The 4th here in Oregon is pretty pathetic. But when I was living in Akron and Columbus it was a city wide party.

I love what this country stands for. I love our culture. I love our history (well, most of it. That whole slavery thing kind of sucked hard). I love (some) of the people in the good old US of A. I love the freedom I have living here. I love the diversity here. I love our films, our music, our art, our literature. I love the fact that we are a giant melting pot.

But what makes me want to live elsewhere is the current state of the media and the political system in our country. The hypocrisy and sensationalism of the media. The division, lack of partisanship, and bigotry in the political system. The fact that, for all the good that we've done, we can't learn when to keep our nose out of something. It's bad enough to want me to take to the streets and declare myself a sovereign citizen.

What I especially hate is the fact that disagreeing with what your government does or criticizing it is called unpatriotic these days. Even more so, the people who charge forward yelling "AMERICA" and just do whatever the fuck the government wants them to do. Maybe it's just me being as liberal as possible, but calling out your government is as patriotic as you can get. It's what our fucking country is based on. As much as I hate the Tea Partiers, they got that much right.

I can understand why people hate us. We do meddle. A lot. Whether or not that meddling is justified, whether or not we should stick our noses in places, is irrelevant. And because we've taken it upon ourselves to be the watchdogs of the world, people hate us. But because there is such a disconnect between our politics and our culture, people can love one and hate the other. This works elsewhere, too: I think Japan, for example, has an amazing culture. But I'll be fucked if I ever even think about living there.

And before anyone calls me a hippie, let me say this. We have done a lot of good. We did good during WWII. We did good in Korea. We finally found Bin Laden. Hell yeah. But we've also fucked up a lot too, and that isn't something that we can just ignore. And don't tell me to move somewhere else, either. Moving to Canada doesn't solve the problem. If I think the US government is going to shit, just moving somewhere else is pointless. Staying here, starting a protest, organizing a movement, is what America is about. The whole right to freedom of speech and all that.

/rant

I agree with alot of your points. But most of that can be said for almost country in the world. At least the the US doesn't censor the citizens on voicing out opinions on our countries directions, and foreign policy. But I agree about out media, its a total joke. That I will admit freely. I dont know much about foreign media so I cant comment on its quality.

I stopped believing the media when they told me it was going to rain and it didn't.

Symbolic wrote:I agree with alot of your points. But most of that can be said for almost country in the world. At least the the US doesn't censor the citizens on voicing out opinions on our countries directions, and foreign policy. But I agree about out media, its a total joke. That I will admit freely. I dont know much about foreign media so I cant comment on its quality.

Oh, that goes without saying. It's gotten to the point where I find that the news I get from random people online tends to be more reliable than anything I see on TV.

scrittah wrote:

Symbolic wrote:I agree with alot of your points. But most of that can be said for almost country in the world. At least the the US doesn't censor the citizens on voicing out opinions on our countries directions, and foreign policy. But I agree about out media, its a total joke. That I will admit freely. I dont know much about foreign media so I cant comment on its quality.

Oh, that goes without saying. It's gotten to the point where I find that the news I get from random people online tends to be more reliable than anything I see on TV.

Its sad but true. America- home of sensationalist journalism.

I love America and am damn proud to be an American. What grey said, if you don't like it then get the fuck out.

Though I don't really like our government that much...

I agree with you on a lot of that Scrittah. I think it is good to call out your government and that's one of the principals our country was founded on. However, I think some people take it to a new level where they refuse to acknowledge any of the good our country does. We do meddle a lot, and we have gone into wars we should not have. However, people still look to us to take action in the world.

And I'm definitely with you about the media being terrible. A lot of it just polarizing honestly. Fox News makes conservatives look like idiots, and the same goes for Keith Olbermann and other extreme liberals. I've just started ignoring the media.

You hear a lot more criticism of our government than praise because no one cares about the government until it does something wrong. Most of the time you never know about the things it actually accomplishes.

Politics is seriously terrible in this country. When I say it, I'm not being unpatriotic, I'm being un-human-nature-ic. Politicians seem to try and spout as much happy sounding or aggressive bull shit as possible to try and reel in the dumb americans who will get worked up over it. Take for example Mitt Romney's facebook campaign "QQ obama, I'm not a bump in the road, I'm a PERSON". He takes one quote out of context that makes no real sense and turns in into a campaign cornerstone. And people seem to be falling for it.

I think they should make it so if you become elected to an office you automatically maintain whatever your last salary was. That way accomplishing things and not money will be motivation for election. They should also have poll quizzes. If you don't know shit about the platform of the guy you're voting for, go home.

2 things I can't stand about the U.S.

1.- America is a continent. Americans therefore means citizens of the whole continent, as in, Canada, U.S., Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, etc.

Seriously. Americans =/= only U.S. citizens. Americans = America's citizens. I know that it won't disappear, and that's just how people say it, but it blows my mind when someone (foreigner or not) says "America" and they mean the U.S.

It just feels very arrogant when the U.S. refers to itself as America.

2.- The food. Damn, guys. I mean, you do have some awesome stuff. But more often than not, the food I eat in the U.S. is not particularly good. Maybe I've just visited the wrong places, but as of now my opinion is very poor regarding your food.

Other than that, you're all right in my book. Awesome technology is a wet dream for my nerdy self. Can't comment on your government, since I don't live there. Oh but, Bush won your elections. Twice. That says a lot about the average citizen.

Bush honestly wasn't as bad as everybody makes him out to be. If he sounded like an intelligent person when he talks, he wouldn't have gotten half the criticism he did. Obviously the wars he started weren't great, but I can't imagine Gore or Kerry would've done a better job. Especially Gore, I doubt he would've handled 9/11 as well as Bush.

Wacco wrote:Bush honestly wasn't as bad as everybody makes him out to be. If he sounded like an intelligent person when he talks, he wouldn't have gotten half the criticism he did. Obviously the wars he started weren't great, but I can't imagine Gore or Kerry would've done a better job. Especially Gore, I doubt he would've handled 9/11 as well as Bush.

Agree 100%

Plus we are the United States of AMERICA. I cant blame people for it.

Ars Diaboli wrote:2 things I can't stand about the U.S.

1.- America is a continent. Americans therefore means citizens of the whole continent, as in, Canada, U.S., Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, etc.

Seriously. Americans =/= only U.S. citizens. Americans = America's citizens. I know that it won't disappear, and that's just how people say it, but it blows my mind when someone (foreigner or not) says "America" and they mean the U.S.

It just feels very arrogant when the U.S. refers to itself as America.

2.- The food. Damn, guys. I mean, you do have some awesome stuff. But more often than not, the food I eat in the U.S. is not particularly good. Maybe I've just visited the wrong places, but as of now my opinion is very poor regarding your food.

Other than that, you're all right in my book. Awesome technology is a wet dream for my nerdy self. Can't comment on your government, since I don't live there. Oh but, Bush won your elections. Twice. That says a lot about the average citizen.

I don't know where you went. But I love our food.

Like I said, it just feels arrogant. It can tick people off, America is a continent, not a country. It feels arrogant because it's a way to somehow dismiss the rest of the continent, and say that America is only that piece of land in the north.

Not that such a thing is what would get you hate like the ones you are talking about. Since I don't hate you guys, I don't really know much of it.


I also remembered one thing that tends to annoy a lot of people. The U.S. acting as the "world police" sometimes, getting their noses in other's business. Truth or not, I've heard that a lot. If you ask me of situations when that happened, I wouldn't know one to point out, but I've heard it plenty of times.

Doctor Whoof wrote:I don't know where you went. But I love our food.

Don't know man. I've been in the U.S. countless times, and I've just liked like 2 or 3 restaurants. You do have some awesome ones like I said, I remember one with very nice beef, potatoes, etc. One of the best I've been at.

But most of the time it's just... not to my liking. I remember when I asked for a lemonade, and they got me a soda. I was like, "do you have real lemonade?" "What do you mean real?" "... you know, with REAL lemons?" "Ohhhh!!! Hahaha, I wish!". Fun stuff.

I can agree with you on those points Frost. We do make it seem like we won WWII single-handedly, which isn't true. The Brits/Australians/Canadians/New-Zealandians helped a lot, but the French did absolutely nothing And a lot of Americans do come off as ignorant, and I think it's because a lot of Americans are. A lot of Americans never leave the country and never see the world from other people's perspectives.

Because your crazies actually get TV time.

There, I said it, the secret is out.

Ars Diaboli wrote:Like I said, it just feels arrogant. It can tick people off, America is a continent, not a country. It feels arrogant because it's a way to somehow dismiss the rest of the continent, and say that America is only that piece of land in the north.

Not that such a thing is what would get you hate like the ones you are talking about. Since I don't hate you guys, I don't really know much of it.


I also remembered one thing that tends to annoy a lot of people. The U.S. acting as the "world police" sometimes, getting their noses in other's business. Truth or not, I've heard that a lot. If you ask me of situations when that happened, I wouldn't know one to point out, but I've heard it plenty of times.

Doctor Whoof wrote:I don't know where you went. But I love our food.

Don't know man. I've been in the U.S. countless times, and I've just liked like 2 or 3 restaurants. You do have some awesome ones like I said, I remember one with very nice beef, potatoes, etc. One of the best I've been at.

But most of the time it's just... not to my liking. I remember when I asked for a lemonade, and they got me a soda. I was like, "do you have real lemonade?" "What do you mean real?" "... you know, with REAL lemons?" "Ohhhh!!! Hahaha, I wish!". Fun stuff.

you have obviously never been to trader joe's

Lol Ars, im basically the opposite with you in terms of our food. I love pretty much everything there is to eat here but I honestly can't stand mexican food, or any spanish food. Dunno why, I just... don't like it.

Isn't the term "American food" a huge [******]?

Considering that America itself is a melting pot of different cultures, you can't really say "This is American!" any more than you can say "This used to be British, but was changed (evolved) over the years do be something slightly different!"

Heck, even in Canada I can't name much. Donairs are originally from Greece as the a different food, so the only original thing we have is Pacific salmon, native-style. Because we also have Pacific salmon, Japanese-style.

pshhht, who cares what they think when we've got shit like this!

The US isn't the only country that has arrogant pricks. It's the same in every country, personally I think the British come off as some of the snarkiest (new word) assholes on the planet. Of course, they seem to hate everything, even themselves. *shrug*

Frostbyrn wrote:British have a right to be like that

Theyre the old men of the Western world waving their sticks at those damn kids playing on their lawn

haha, good way to put it

I just don't like the seasoning. Other than barbecue, the food barely has flavor man! Mexican food is famous precisely because it has a lot of seasoning and spices.

I fucking LOVE Mexican food. I love spicy food. I douse everything I eat in spices. The spice must flooooooooooooow.

Now, Ante is a good example of good taste in food. Food is supposed to have flavor.

I'm also white Frost. I like good food though

there's really no such thing as United States cuisine though...

Please tell me this isn't going to be an "American isn't a race" debate

+1 AC Scrittah.

Our country was founded upon revolution. Our freedoms that we take for granted (or cherish deeply) were born from dissatisfaction with British rule. Criticism of government isn't always a bad thing. We as citizens of the United States are part of a democracy. That means that EVERYONE is a part of the government. Our politicians are there to represent us (ideally) and when they don't, it is our duty to call them out on it.
Anyone who blindly follows our leaders and accepts their decisions without giving their own input should go fuck themselves. Question everything. Otherwise they'll rob you blind...
Which they are doing, by the way. Governor Scott Walker and my Governor Ted Kasich are trying to do away with collective bargaining, cutting teachers, firemen, police, etc... all in the name of fixing the deficit.

But let me ask you something. Remember when our firemen, teachers, and police played fast and loose with our investments and crashed the stock market, sending our economy into an uncontrollable downward spiral?

Me neither.

More than 50% of the wealth in the united states is held by only 1% of its population. Take it from the top. Tax the fuck out of the billionaires. The rich are getting richer and the middle class is getting poorer.

Bank of America? Citibank? J.P. Morgan? I could name a dozen. They all have off-shore tax havens in the Cayman Isles, and the Bahamas and a bunch of other little island territories.

Bank of America paid nothing in taxes in 2010. Any American citizen, even scraping by on minimum wage at a fast food joint paid more than Bank of America did. Not one fucking cent. And you know what they did? They collected government bail-outs. TARP payments. So not only are they not paying their fair share, they're stealing from everyone.

If you give a fuck about what I've said, check out US Uncut on Facebook. Also, if you belong to Bank of America or Chase bank or any other national banks, pull your money out and put it in a local credit union or small regional bank. Those crooks don't deserve your business.

Also, I fully support Wikileaks. People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.

Ahem. America, fuck yeah!

That is all.

Question:

Are Republicans that are able to accept climate change/global warming Republicans?

Because that's what I don't get about politics, people not being able to agree when on opposite sides.

global warming lol



*throws smoke bomb and disappears from thread*

Jinouga wrote:Question:

Are Republicans that are able to accept climate change/global warming Republicans?

Because that's what I don't get about politics, people not being able to agree when on opposite sides.

Here's the thing. Most people can't think for themselves. They subscribe to whatever their parents or their religion tells them to believe. Some people don't even understand the platform a candidate is running on, but will back them based upon the fact that they share one common belief (i.e. voting for someone who is pro-life and not understanding any of the other issues). People also tend to agree with the people around them due to peer pressure, so they end up backing a candidate just because everyone else they know is doing so. It's quite pathetic, but that's our population. We have a lot of fucking idiots.
Another problem is that we have a two-party system. Blame the electoral college for this. I don't think we'll ever get away from having Democrats and Republicans in office. Their ideals may change, but the names will stay the same. Sure, sometimes green party or libertarians get elected on smaller levels, but rarely does a third party make it national. So due to this two party system, people end up aligning themselves with a particular side. Also, like I said earlier, people can't think for themselves. They end up believing everything the party stands for, regardless of whether it makes sense or is good for the country, or even good for the voter themselves.
Then there's the media. If you're a republican, chances are you watch Faux News. If you're a democrat, it's CNN. These people become inundated with these channel's agendas. They DO have an agenda. Neither is fair or balanced. Each is pushing a set of beliefs onto you. You're better off not watching it at all, and instead reading from news aggregates to get the story from all sides, but that's another issue.

Anyway, there are some Republicans who believe in global warming, I'm sure. But like I said most people are fucking stupid, and they just believe what their favorite talking heads ramble on about.

So its basically Highschoolikus Maximus?

People can agree with other sides. I consider myself a conservative and generally lean Republican, but I think global warming is a problem, am fine with gay marriage, and think we should tax the hell out of the rich. I'm with Cram on that one. That's what pisses me off about the Northwest though. Everyone here claims to be the biggest liberals, but when an initiative that would tax anyone who makes more than 250k a year, and only what they make PAST 250k, came up, NOBODY passes it. It was being supported by Bill Gates Sr., but all the other greedy, rich hippies that live here and claim to be so damn liberal and voted for Obama because they wanted to tax the wealthiest in America wouldn't vote for it.

ohhh climate change... all im gonna say is that you shouldnt look at SCIENCE through the lens of partisan american politics. ever.

people who deny climate change... dont get me started.

Is political discussion really the best idea on here? I'd like to throw my opinions out there, but I know it's just going to start an ugly argument. Politics and religion do nothing but cause strife.


Btw, global warming is not a threat.