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Is that enviable, though? If a country is in a dire situation, then simply sitting back and accepting it is surely a lot more damaging than taking to the streets and demanding change?
Of course, I don't think the situation in the US is anywhere near that bad, but people shouldn't be too apathetic.
That's a huge problem with a lot of people in our country. The ones that do take the streets for change are the conspiracy theorists and wall street occupiers who do nothing but make our country look even dumber. Like we need more of that kind of press lol
You're right though, we were never really in a position to take to the streets. It was more important to come together as a country than it was to take to the streets and protest.
However, Americans aren't completely apathetic and stupid. Obama wanted to go to Syria, and the people said no way. Congress stopped him dead in his tracks when they saw how we responded.
I don't see Katrina and 9/11 similar in scale, effect, or psychology...
9/11 was a specific terror attack that targeted specific locations and certainly killed a lot of people as well as destroyed the physical infrastructure that hosted many jobs... however, Katrina was a natural disaster that nearly wiped out a whole city and its infrastructure.
9/11 caused every corner of the US to immediately rally to not only help the survivors of the attacks, but their families, and swear to rebuild the infrastructure and bounce back stronger than ever. It also caused the US to rally behind a war and spend untold billions of dollars, ostensibly, for revenge and to prevent future attacks.
Katrina was met, initially, with very little interest or response by the greater public. When the full breadth of the disaster became known, the government was still slow to respond to the disaster. Sympathy certainly came in for those affected by the disaster, as did a heavy dollop of scorn, based largely on the (real or perceived) economic, social, and racial makeup of the areas affected. The mobilization of aid and subsequent rebuilding after Katrina really seemed like more of an afterthought than something that the US Government and many of its people felt it needed to do for its fellow Americans.
People will say that they are afraid of natural disasters - "Oh, I could never live in California, what with all those earthquakes!" or "I worry that Florida is going to get wiped out during the next hurricane." But at the end of the day, millions upon millions of people live in these disaster areas and go about their lives. One bad day comes along and messes things up, but they pick up and rebuild and go on with their lives. When I, for example, decided to move to Los Angeles and then later to San Francisco, I was well aware of the risk of earthquakes, and that if I chose to live there for the rest of my life, it was more or less inevitable that at some point I'd get to encounter a medium-to-large scale earthquake.
The odds of being affected by terrorism as an American are practically slim to nil, but it's the fact that it's an external threat that doesn't need to happen and isn't a force of nature that strikes fear into the heart of people and makes them feel like it's a bigger threat than a yearly hurricane cycle. Again, people will knowingly and willingly move to and embrace life in an area where risk of large-scale natural disasters is a given, but who will knowingly and willingly move to and embrace life in an area where risk of a large-scale terrorist attack is a given?
The direct material damage was bigger with Katrina, with 9/11 the financial losses were largely due to hysteria and other psychological effects. But at the end of the day the data suggests a similar scale in terms of $$$.
I agree with most of what you wrote, you confirm my view regarding the psychological difference between a terrorist attack and a natural disaster...
Very interesting thread - one of the best here!
I definitely recognize my old self as the one hating one's country. I now have more like an indifference state towards it. Most people - inside and outside - criticize Romania and I always perceived this to be a handicap. Also I dread that I love technology and built my career around it, and yet I live in a developing country and feel stuck if it weren't for the Internet as well.
I used to idealize USA and less so Western Europe. I am now at an age where I found out the grass isn't always greener on the other side and after some experiences abroad, I found the good parts of Romania like our vegetables and fruits tasting great (not like plastic) and the hidden entrepreneurship that is abundant everywhere (almost every Romanian has its own business, that's how we cope with meager wages) - too bad that our individualism keeps these businesses small as everyone wants to be a boss
Few people know anything about Romania. I don't think there is a negative attitude towards it, neither a positive one. Unfortunately there are quite a few criminals from Romania in other European countries, but most people are aware that those are not the average Romanians.
Romania is quite beautiful in terms of landscape and nature.
Maybe it is pretty common for people to hate their own country? And once they have moved to another, I notice people tend to exaggerate the good things about the new country and tend to not want to see the not so good things about the new country. And get quite angry when you point out those not so good things to them. I am planning to move to Germany btw in a year or so, originating from the Netherlands myself.
Maybe it is pretty common for people to hate their own country? And once they have moved to another, I notice people tend to exaggerate the good things about the new country and tend to not want to see the not so good things about the new country. And get quite angry when you point out those not so good things to them. I am planning to move to Germany btw in a year or so, originating from the Netherlands myself.
That is correct. At least initially it is the same with me whenever I move to a new place, be it city or country. One tends to be more lenient, after all one wants the confirmation that one made the right choice. With one's original country there is no need to be lenient as one had no say in where one was born.
It is a bit like with people. When you fall in love with someone you ignore the negative traits of that person that you would immediately notice in anyone else.
The Netherlands is similar to Northern Germany. But you might find the southern third or so more different in case you move there.
One thing I see a lot, especially in universities are people who incessantly whine about their own country. These people usually have other countries in mind that they feel they "belong in" or feel they are the best countries in the world. This just seems weird to me, I see this a lot and most of the people I see that hate their own country the most and call people closed minded are typically the ones who have traveled the least.
Is this something you guys notice or see in your countries also?
It makes sense that people who are hypercritical of the United States are college-age and haven't had enough life experience to have a more realistic view of some of the cultures they seem to favor over our own. But that can work in the reverse, too: I think a lot of us in the United States assume that the rest of the world admires (or should admire) us, or that the world is envious of the life of the average American. Truth is, they probably couldn't give a toss about American life, and they're quite satisfied living right where they are. That seems to offend a lot of Americans when they find that out for some reason, I've observed.
I think the U.S. is currently on a decline (despite what the mainstream media says), with today's generation carrying the burden of the previous generations' deferred debt.
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LOL
