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That may have been where I saw it LOL Can't really remember now. Didn't say I believed her necessarily but at some point, she said it and who knows how many others feel this way whether it's true or not.
ahhahahah that's really funny. I wasn't attacking you though, I was just commenting on it
In terms of being critical of the American government, culture, the society/people in general:
I would say:
Canada
UK
France
New Zealand
Germany (to a smaller extent)
Not too sure about other European countries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevxu
You hit the nail right on the head. And no one in the U.S., no matter who they are, who they blame or who they hate, is anything but grumpy at best. My fellow Americans strike me as a chronically unhappy nation now. I think that is why they delight in entertaining the idea that everyone else hates them, because it is only in their angry defensiveness that they feel good about themselves.
What a sad change in U.S. society in the past thirty years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentoo
Interesting perspective. This country has been divided almost as soon as it was born and even led to a civil war. We were the most united during the cold war and now that has been over for a while, we're back at each other.
Why do you politically obsessed people like to think the whole population is just as radical as you people?
Trust me the rest of the population is doing fine and getting along with each other.. its the radical conservatives and liberals that hate each other. well hate each other on the internet.
Anyways, most people are aware that the average American is not overly nationalistic, war/gun-loving and religious, but it still amazes us that there is a pretty loud minority who is exactly that. Something we don't really have to deal with. It's more curiosity about those oddities than blind hatred...
That said, the only thing I can think of Europeans get emotional and angry about is US foreign policy. With good reasons in my opinion. But we criticize other countries for their actions abroad as well. France, Israel, Germany, ...
Things like the US gun policy are just amusing to us. It's certainly not something we are "hating" Americans for...
I fond it strange how people didn't seem to care back in the 90s... but they are worried today (when gun violence is much lower and still in decline)
Just for anyone having trouble understanding this dscussion vis-a-via the word 'Western',
"Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization, Western lifestyle or European civilization, is a term used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, and specific artifacts and technologies that have some origin or association with Europe. The term has come to apply to countries whose history is strongly marked by European immigration, such as the countries of the Americas and Australasia, and is not restricted to the continent of Europe."
I fond it strange how people didn't seem to care back in the 90s... but they are worried today (when gun violence is much lower and still in decline)
Actually nobody in Europe is worried for your gun-violence unless we are there.
Whether guns are effective or not, whether guns are rightfully owned or not, whether Americans should abolish that right or not aren't of our concern.
In Europe there's a different line of thought and I don't feel unsafe without a gun, you do?
Good for you, I'd never question the right of Americans to rule their own country. Do you want guns? Keep the guns.
We simply think differently, just that.
If I think that having so many guns for "safety" is stupid is my opinion and I am entitled to have one, this doesn't make me "Anti-American".
I fond it strange how people didn't seem to care back in the 90s... but they are worried today (when gun violence is much lower and still in decline)
I don't think people today care too much either... besides on forums like this one.
American gun ownership is a non-issue here in Austria... As said before, most people are just baffled by the fact that the gun debate is able to dominate American media outlets at times. That plus the power the NRA has. That's just completely obscure to us. But to each his own
Those here in Austria who really want a handgun or a hunting rifle have one, most of the male population knows how to operate a Steyr AUG or a FN FAL due to mandatory military service... And we don't talk much about it...
I don't think people today care too much either... besides on forums like this one.
American gun ownership is a non-issue here in Austria... As said before, most people are just baffled by the fact that the gun debate is able to dominate American media outlets at times. That plus the power the NRA has. That's just completely obscure to us. But to each his own
Those here in Austria who really want a handgun or a hunting rifle have one, most of the male population knows how to operate a Steyr AUG or a FN FAL due to mandatory military service... And we don't talk much about it...
It's an issue here in Australia.
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