USA social commentary - a visiting European view
POSTED BY: kpo
UPDATED: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 23:23
VIEWED: 4974
PAGE 3 of 8
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A lot of these posts sound highly defensive - "you're country is just as crappy as ours" or something to that effect.
Why would I care about that? I could hardly be considered a patriot.
I have been to these countries. I tended to observe more the fascinating culture, art, architecture and history, but I'm not blind. I saw problems. They existed. I'm commenting on them.
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My understanding is the original poster was commenting on the difference between America as depicted in the media, and America in reality. Not whether Europe is better than the US or vice versa
Then perhaps our exported image is very different from our internal image.
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Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
Subjects vs citizens.
Slaves vs free people.
Wulfie, can you point out to me who the king of France is?
Also, can you point out to me where in the French constitution it lists the French people as "subjects" and not citizens, and also where it lists them as "slaves" and not "free people"? I'd really appreciate it if you could find that for me. Surely in your vast knowledge of how Europe works, you must know the ins and outs of how the French system is set up, yes?
Mike
Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde
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So it's definitely possible to develop a naive, outside view of america as the 'pinnacle of human civilisation'.
Hell, Wulfie has developed such a view, and he purports to be FROM HERE!
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Eagleland
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Originally posted by dreamtrove:Quote:
KPO
What part of Europe are you familiar with DT? I hope you're not comparing America to Albania or something like that.
Ahh, the prejudices arise..
Most of it, actually. I tend to get robbed in *western* europe. It's a pretty common experience for americans.
Which is exactly like saying that it's a common experience in New York City, for people not from New York. Reason you get robbed in a strange place is because YOU look like an out-of-towner, and therefore not likely to stick around to testify or press charges. Pretty typical for any city I've been to - you get to the "touristy" areas, and you look like a mark, so the sharks come in for a bite.
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There are many Americas, and there are two New Yorks. The one I'm from has about 10 million people who live in settlements ranging from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand. Then there's a city of around 7 million, which is like an alien planet to me. I've been there several times, it doesn't begin to feel normal.
See, I feel most at home in the cities. I grew up in small towns (a few hundred) and small cities (40,000), but I've always felt most at home in places like Austin (1 million) or Los Angeles. I've never been mugged in any of them.
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I could hardly be considered a patriot.
It bothers me that you would say that, Byte. You ARE a patriot. Just because you're willing to acknowledge your country's warts and problems doesn't mean you don't love America.
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Mike,
Living in town bugs me. I can't handle it. 200 people. I want to get a place out of town ;)
Cities? I'm good for a weekend. That's about it.
Oh and theft happens everywhere, but I've found that it's a major facet of european life. Unfortunately, I think it's a side effect of public transportation, which overall I'm in favor of. But it does make crime a lot easier.
Oh, and Herman Van Rompuy is the King of France.
Magonsdaughter,
Sometimes you say things that make people think you're british, an occasional britism, or outright statements of a british nature:
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Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
I would never vote Tory (if I still lived in the UK).Quote:
and several others like that. I gather you lived in the UK for some time from the comments. I assumed that you had grown up in britain and moved to Australia at a later age.
You mentioned being under "thatcher's reign" for a long time, but I would hazard a guess that you were not in Britain under Tony Blair, since you seem to have a relatively high opinion of him (not to say "high" overall, just relative to people who lived in Britain under Tony Blair, Labour or not, whose opinion of Blair is something that Americans who lived under Bush can easily sympathize with.)
Anyway, just pointing out the source of the confusion, and the constant references people make to you as british. It's not the ignorance of the world, we get a lot of aussies, here in the US, and in Europe, the land of Oz gets a lot of coverage overall, as our own evil overlord, Rupert Murdoch, is from down under. Just so you know, it ain't just Farscape.NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
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Originally posted by Bytemite:
Then perhaps our exported image is very different from our internal image.
I guess the media image that you get is tempered by your own reality, but for those outside the US, it isn't. What you see in Hollywood movies is the image that most people would have of the US, just like your image of my country is probably based on the little amounts of media that you see ie that travesty of a film with nicole kidman and wolverine, which is about 0 on the reality rating.
eeek. my grammar
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Quote:
Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Magonsdaughter,
Sometimes you say things that make people think you're british, an occasional britism, or outright statements of a british nature:Quote:
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
I would never vote Tory (if I still lived in the UK).Quote:
and several others like that. I gather you lived in the UK for some time from the comments. I assumed that you had grown up in britain and moved to Australia at a later age.
You mentioned being under "thatcher's reign" for a long time, but I would hazard a guess that you were not in Britain under Tony Blair, since you seem to have a relatively high opinion of him (not to say "high" overall, just relative to people who lived in Britain under Tony Blair, Labour or not, whose opinion of Blair is something that Americans who lived under Bush can easily sympathize with.)
Anyway, just pointing out the source of the confusion, and the constant references people make to you as british. It's not the ignorance of the world, we get a lot of aussies, here in the US, and in Europe, the land of Oz gets a lot of coverage overall, as our own evil overlord, Rupert Murdoch, is from down under. Just so you know, it ain't just Farscape.
Oh, except I keep pointing out that I'm not British. I make comments about Britain, because I've lived there and experienced life there and if the topic is about the UK, I'll respond. I also talk a lot about the US, in complete ignorance usually, but that never stops me from commenting.
Not many topics come up about Australia, so I just talk about whatever, based on whatever I know. I was suprised to get the old 'kiss your queens arse then" response from Wulfenwhatever.
I'm not sure what happens in the US, but British and American news are reported here, and we would discuss stuff. "Hey, Obama is King now" or whatever. So assuming that because someone speaks about a country they are from there, seems a little odd to me.NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
...just like your image of my country is probably based on the little amounts of media that you see ie that travesty of a film with nicole kidman and wolverine...
Dang it - you mean you're not all hell-for-leather crazy drivers looking for the last stash of gasoline to fuel the last of the V8 interceptors after the apocalypse?
There go my vacation plans...
;)
Mike
Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde
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