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You might find wherever you go in the USA that it's a country in the relative dark ages.
Xenophobic, paranoid, war mongering, easily brainwashed, polarized/balkanized, anti-intellectual, with crummy food and banality passing as culture.
Sad to say, but no longer a shining light in the world.
How could you possibly generalize an entire country that is over 3000 miles wide like that? That would be like saying that all of Europe smells funny, is lazy, and doesn't use deodorant. I'm sure there are parts of Europe where that actually is true too, and much where it is not. There are regions in Europe and other parts of the world that are nearly a Utopia, too.
As Americans, we share the same language here, as well as many of the same television shows, sporting events, and yes, in some areas, cookie cutter chain restaurants. However, travel from one region of the country to the other and you can sometimes discover vast differences in local culture, slang, mentality, morals, political views, etc. The West Coast is completely different than the deep South, and the New England area could not be more different than the midWest heartland areas. Compare people from New York, Omaha, Atlanta, and Portland Oregon, and other than our similarities speaking English, you'll find completely different people with completely different attitudes and ways of thinking.
Is America the best country in the world? No, as an American I'll say probably not. Some still have a 1950s view of it, but it's now 2008 and yes, things have changed. But then I'll also say that each person wears different shoes, and for SOME people, it IS the best country - for them. For others, perhaps not (even some Americans).
Our health care system truly stinks, we overindulge with shopping and having "stuff", and yes, our priorities are out of whack when the average parent here will freak out if someone's butt is on TV, yet allow their children to play violent and bloody video games, and in some urban areas, we have teens who commit home invasions and carjackings like pro criminals. At the same time, people from all nations move here and at least in the cities and surburban areas feel much more at home and are made more welcome than "outsiders" are in many other countries. With the exception of the deep South (read - Baptists), there is more religious tolerance here than in some other countries. While our leader and much of our government are certainly a jackasses, they don't round people up on the streets for secret executions or imprison those who speak out against them.
I could go on and on, but won't. The point is that America is a great country. So is England. So is Japan. So is Sweden. There are many geat countries in the world that are perfect fits for many who live in them, and for some of us, maybe we need to explore a bit to find that perfect fit. But you can't generalize the U.S. like you can a European country that is so much smaller. Someone might move to Atlanta and hate it, yet move 500 miles away to find a completely different way of life they love. There is no one way to describe America in real life - that's only in the movies, so stop watching so many movies.
Stay in Europe; even try Eastern Europe. The U.S. has never been more twisted. You will miss the culture and the sophistication and gentility of even the most uneducated worker. Here, Bud is king,Paris Hilton is queenette and the Holy Grail is a good ticket to a NASCAR race. Stay right where you are.
Wow, I want everyone to know I have been cruising the forums reading posts for over an hour- and after reviewing this one I felt EXTREMELY compelled to rebuttal an idiots close-minded perspective of whatever ****-hole they drew their opinion from.
Im really not quite sure what part of the USA this is true in- but its SURE AS HELL NOT 99% OF THE USA.
I dare you to order a Bud ANYWHERE near Texas, you'll be slapped and forced to drink a Shiner (aint nothin finer )
Maybe out in your cali landfill Paris always hits the headlines- but not here in Texas.
Oh and NASCAR, everyone knows the only reason to watch is to witness the crashes- other than that< FOOTBALL BASEBALL and BASKETBALL will always be the true staples of American Sports Entertainment, attempting to say nascar is well received by ANYONE other than a select few people in Missouri is naive.
Obviously im going to defend my homeland, the place where I grew up- I could toss to everyone what others have said about how great is is to live here, but ill leave it at this.
As a young teenager, I moronically thought Houston was a horrendous city.
After Traveling To Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam- I had a WHOLE NEW RESPECT FOR HOUSTON, AND TEXAS.
Please keep the Anti-American Rhetoric to you and your dimwitted friends, no need to spread bull**** here.
I was discussing with my wife last night. She asked me if I thought she could be a manager. I said "You can be whatever you want, you just have to work hard at it.". Then our discussion continued and ended up with the thought that Americans believe they can do anything. The many successful immigrants are a great example. I think the immigrants are so successful because they had to be. Because they came to the US with next to nothing. It's a great country.
In France, you are what you are and you don't change. Employment is often for life. A career is almost always for life, rarely changed. People believe they cannot do whatever they want. My wife always says a French expression "Faut pas rever!" which loosely translates as "Stop dreaming" but literally it means "Forbidden to Dream" or "One must not dream". And I think that says a lot about the French. Their "faut pas rever" vs. "the American Dream".
I don't want my kids growing up thinking they shouldn't dream. I want them to think they can do whatever they want.
You've got it 100% right, cunparis.
"Faut pas rever " we say it all the time, it's negative thinking.
And how we complain : hypocondria is widespread...
As a French guy, I can tell there is nothing to dream of here, except for naive tourists or starving Africans who see France as their Eldorado (I always wonder how come they are so eager to live in the mostly cloudy, damp, seldom warm climate here coming from hot climes).
With the exception of the deep South (read - Baptists).
Actually, Baptists are quite tolerant of others, and will always at least talk to you regardless. Please don't make a false generalization that is just as bad (if not worse) than the original generalization you were replying to.
Actually, Baptists are quite tolerant of others, and will always at least talk to you regardless. Please don't make a false generalization that is just as bad (if not worse) than the original generalization you were replying to.
I've lived in the deep South now for 23 years. I've had jobs that dealt very extensively with Southern Baptist churches. Yes, true, not every Southern Baptist would fall into certain categories, but I can tell you without a doubt that as a whole, those who are "devout" followers of that denomination are indeed extremely judgemental and intolerant of many others. Oh yes, they'll shake your hand and smile to your face, but once you leave the room... well... luckily, not everyone who place themselves into the Southern Baptist slot are "devout" with it.
Anyway, that's from first hand experience, and there you have it, I clarified the subsection it applies to. It's not "worse" than generalizing an entire country that is thousands of square miles in size. The American South has always been much more conservative than the rest of the country in many ways, and that's unlikely to change. But there are many regions in the country, and while you can *somewhat* generalize about the attitudes in one region here, you cannot clump all of America into one stereotype - it's simply too large for that.
Go to Canada. They have free health care, speak English everywhere and French also (if you want to live in Quebec). It'll be like living in both places at once.
There is no one way to describe America in real life - that's only in the movies, so stop watching so many movies.
What many Europeans fail to understand is that American movies and TV are simply entertainment and not at all representative of much of anything at all. Our news programs, publications, etc. are all commercial enterprises (even PBS to an extent) and are not regulated by the state. The FCC does put limits such as nudity and obscenity but beyond that, the content is not censored. Many Europeans accept what they see on their state sanctioned news as gospel and don't understand that Americans don't generally accept what they see on the "boob-toob" as anything more than what it is. I find it amusing that so many people try to put "meaning" into various forms of entertainment. Ok, here it is...The hidden message behind every movie, song, or book published... Buy this!
Europeans see themselves as free thinkers. I find it odd that so many free thinkers have failed to notice that their overwhelming majorities seem to be having the same free thoughts.
Many Europeans seem to be under the impression that Americans are completely unaware of what's going on in the rest of the world and that the world has a generally low opinion of us. Again, many of them fail to realize that we simply don't care. That may sound heartless but we care more about ourselves than the rest of the world. We are at least honest about that to ourselves.
I've heard so many Europeans cite the fact that few Americans have passports and few leave the US for more than 2 weeks. To be quite honest, the US is a massive country and whatever they've got, we've probably got more. Next, until very recently, passports were not required of US Americans to have access to the entire North American continent. With all that we have here, there's very little reason to leave American shores. We are a United group of mostly independent states, each with varying topographies and ideologies. We can pass freely from one state to the next without having to present ID at each border. I can surf today, ski tomorrow, climb a mountain the next, visit ancient ruins the next.... We've got it all.
Last edited by Joe_Ryder; 04-16-2008 at 10:18 AM..
Reason: Pour Schpellin an gram-err.
I can surf today, ski tomorrow, climb a mountain the next, visit ancient ruins the next.... We've got it all.[/quote]
Really? Where is the American Acropolis, C[SIZE=3]oliseum etc. Where were Americans living a few hundred years ago? EUROPE! We have lots here, they have more....and way less urban crime. [/SIZE]
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