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That post was in reaction to posts from Canadians slamming the US.
If Canadians can engage in that behaviour, so can I. Btw, I got tons of rep points with comments saying things like it was about time somebody called Canadians on their rude behviour toward Americans.
I've been to Toronto. I had a friend of mine working for a pharmaceutical company move there for two years. I went there to visit, and was invited to a house party. Had Canadians there say to me "wow, am suprised you have a passport", etc. etc. They were rude and insulting. And then I see Canadians flooding American warm weather resorts where they barely open their mouth or say a nasty word about the US.
I have to say that my limited experience with Canadians hasn't been all sweet and precious. I am sure there are many great Canadians out there whose company is delightful - and I'd love to meet a few of them to offset the experiences I've had so far.
My husband used to be in upper mgmt for a company that was bought by a Canadian company which opted to leave current mgmt in place. So part of his job became entertaining "top dogs" and engineers out of Canada when they came down to tour or train or whatever. As his wife, that soon became part of my job as well.
Though we live in a great region nestled nicely between several large cities, our town itself is small and in a rural area. In other words, lots of us are far from "country bumpkins" and chose to live here SPECIFICALLY because it offers the best of both worlds - close proximity to a major metroplex (Dallas/Fort Worth) and several very nice smaller cities (Tyler, Longview, Shreveport - with Houston three hours away), PLUS the benefits of "country living" - spacious and affordable homes and land, quaint small towns with bustling town squares around historical courthouses, beautiful lakes, lots of hunting and fishing and horse and cattle farms, etc etc.
Anyway, most of these guys came down from Toronto. Yes, from Toronto - a huge international metroplex - to a small town in Texas. Now - if I had gone from Dallas/Fort Worth to a small town in Canada, I would have noticed the inevitable differences between a large cosmopolitan metroplex and a little country town. I wouldn't have been so arrogant or short sighted to assume that the small town represented the height of available sophistication in Canada.
Not these guys.
Besides immediately buying ridiculous western wear (the largest hats and belt buckles they could find - compensation issues perhaps? ) including the flashiest, most ridiculous cowboy boots imaginable - and truly awful western cut shirts that looked the Roy Rogers knockoffs - these guys then proceeded to make one sarcastic comment after another about Texas and the US in general - all the while quaffing down Lone Star beer and BBQ with Texans.
I honestly could not believe that this caliber of person was actually college educated and in management in a large international company.
Now - if I was as small minded and prejudiced as those guys, I'd assume that most Canadians were as rude and arrogant as they are. But I'm sure that's not the case.
I have quite a few European friends, on the other hand, who are a pure joy to be around. They are curious about the US, and we have many spirited discussions about the pros and cons of different European countries and the US - but without exception they are polite and upbeat about the US, with many positive opinions which balance their negative observations. We visit them and they visit us from time to time, and we are often bemused by what they enjoy about the US, and they are often bemused by what we enjoy about Europe.
Without exception, western countries all have positive and negative characteristics -as well as friendly and unfriendly citizens, those who are arrogant and self righteous, and those who are humble and realistic.
There's no shame in loving one's country and being grateful for the lifestyle one has in that country. Don't assume that love and gratitude are BLIND.
I visited many countries around the world, however, I would still must rather live in the USA. Yes, I am aware of it's problems, but I still like what the USA has to offer better than most other countries. Does this make patriotic or ignorant? No, because there are no perfect countries.
Americans are not europeans. Or, they are the slaves and pions who came from Europe....the cast offs, the thieves, the pions, and anyone else who had nothing but wanting terrific revenge for being so poor. So they came to america, with all their greedy hope and took over. I think that makes a lot of stink. Everyone smells it.
Welcome to City-Data. Hope you pick your game up a bit!
I've been to Toronto. I had a friend of mine working for a pharmaceutical company move there for two years. I went there to visit, and was invited to a house party. Had Canadians there say to me "wow, am suprised you have a passport", etc. etc. They were rude and insulting. And then I see Canadians flooding American warm weather resorts where they barely open their mouth or say a nasty word about the US.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
Anyway, most of these guys came down from Toronto. Yes, from Toronto - a huge international metroplex - to a small town in Texas. Now - if I had gone from Dallas/Fort Worth to a small town in Canada, I would have noticed the inevitable differences between a large cosmopolitan metroplex and a little country town. I wouldn't have been so arrogant or short sighted to assume that the small town represented the height of available sophistication in Canada.
Not to open a completely unrelated can of worms, but I believe you guys are onto something here
Well, what do you expect when one of your fellow Americans starts a thread asking for their opinion about the US? ...
But the people who said the "average" European does not care much about the US is absolutely right. I have never in my life discussed the US with any of my friends or family members. If you asked them to name US states they could probably only mention California, Texas, New York and maybe Florida and I doubt they could point to all of them correctly on a map. The assumption that Europeans (or people in general) care so much about the US as to be "anti-American" is actually quite arrogant. All countries have to deal with negative stereotypes ("French people are smelly and arrogant", "Germans are boring and have no sense of humour", "Greeks are lazy", "Italians are corrupt", etc.) but that doesn't mean the people who hold those stereotypes are actively concerned with any of those countries.
Linda: Congrats on such a well-formed response, very rare to have someone as coherent as you posting on these forums (absolutely no patronizing meant at all, BTW). I isolated two sections of your post because I found them the most interesting to address.
On the first, you and I both know that the original poster is twelve (or mentally so) so, for me, there's no point in addressing his/her post ... And you'll note very few subsequent posters did. What was more interesting to me was the ironic conversation that ensued (and you and I will simply have to part ways on that point).
Your second point is far more interesting, if for no other reason than that it reveals just how differently two people (with differing perspectives) can interpret the same information. I can almost guarantee you that if I substituted EU countries for US states in your "If you asked them..." statement, I'd get howls of derision about supposed American "ignorance" toward Europe.
And, yes, the assumption of a teen that all Europeans hate Americans is quite arrogant, but it comes with the territory But, then again, if you're honest about things, you'll have to admit just how quick Europeans are (particularly English and French ones in my experience) to label the US as devoid of history and, thus, culture - as if to suggest that any country with less than 400 years of contiguous history can compete on those terms with countries colonized by Romans. Can we re-assess the definition of arrogance? Cheers!
Oh, and BTW, at least one of these "European" posters is apparently an American poseur living in the UK, so let's be real.
P.S. I don't think it makes much sense to talk about "hatred" towards America when getting responses from Europeans, Canadians and Australians.
The discussion rather reminds of bickering within the dysfunctional family.
If one speaks about real hatred towards America, one should look somewhere else, in different countries/regions of the world.
Living abroad has opened my eyes, many Americans truly believe that they live in the best, and most free country in the world. I had an argument with my brother, who has never even left his state, when I returned about how much more freedom I felt in the UK, and almost every EU country for that matter, than I did in the US. He insisted, like many others, that no other country could ever have as much freedom as the USA because 'it's in our constitution.' Like a few have said already, we're told how great the USA is since the age of 6 or 7, saying the pledge of allegiance every day throughout middle and high school. National Pride is fantastic, but one has to feel it for themselves, not because they've been told it all of their lives. I look at it very similar to religion, either you believe in your country, or you don't. No matter how much people drill it into your brain, that doesn't make it right or wrong. How can many be so adamant to think that we live in the best country in the world while things like what is in the above articles are going on right in front of us? I think that is part of our problem, many are too proud, and caught up in displaying how proud they are to be American to take a good look at ourselves and realize that we have some pretty large problems with our society, culture and politics. This is not to say that we aren't a fine country. The USA is still a prosperous nation, and there are countless benefits to being an American citizen, but think about it, do we really have as much freedom as we think we do?
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) including the flashiest, most ridiculous cowboy boots imaginable - and truly awful western cut shirts that looked the Roy Rogers knockoffs - these guys then proceeded to make one sarcastic comment after another about Texas and the US in general - all the while quaffing down Lone Star beer and BBQ with Texans.
But, then again, if you're honest about things, you'll have to admit just how quick Europeans are (particularly English and French ones in my experience) to label the US as devoid of history and, thus, culture - as if to suggest that any country with less than 400 years of contiguous history can compete on those terms with countries colonized by Romans. Can we re-assess the definition of arrogance? Cheers!
