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I agree with you chielgirl, some Americans really T'd me off with the 'we're number one' and 'we need no one' when I lived there...and the lack of knowledge of geography..I won't even go there..Some think they won the wars they fought or started. Or if it hadn't been for them we'd all be speaking German...as if that's a threat!
I don't care what country I belong to politically. Speaking German is not a shameful thing.
I learned early on that if you're a visitor in a country, you don't go on about how you once saved them! just enjoy yourself and try their foods and language. Try to do as the Romans do when in Rome.
Loud and obnoxious is not the way to go.
I always say I'm a citizen of the world. I may not agree with everything but I try to respect the cultures of others. Americans should do the same when outside their country.
I couldn't care less if tomorrow I find I'm living in France and not Belgium. I could hold a conversation in French so I got that part down.. And that's another thing, most US people don't see the need to speak another language and it should be mandatory to learn Spanish at least. The world is changing, you should change with it.
I agree with you chielgirl, some Americans really T'd me off with the 'we're number one' and 'we need no one' when I lived there...and the lack of knowledge of geography..I won't even go there..Some think they won the wars they fought or started. Or if it hadn't been for them we'd all be speaking German...as if that's a threat!
I don't care what country I belong to politically. Speaking German is not a shameful thing.
I learned early on that if you're a visitor in a country, you don't go on about how you once saved them! just enjoy yourself and try their foods and language. Try to do as the Romans do when in Rome.
Loud and obnoxious is not the way to go.
I always say I'm a citizen of the world. I may not agree with everything but I try to respect the cultures of others. Americans should do the same when outside their country.
I couldn't care less if tomorrow I find I'm living in France and not Belgium. I could hold a conversation in French so I got that part down.. And that's another thing, most US people don't see the need to speak another language and it should be mandatory to learn Spanish at least. The world is changing, you should change with it.
There is no way. You should make people learn Spanish. Sure you could make learning any language mandatory but not just Spanish. I refuse to learn Spanish and I hate it. I grew up in a border state and there were so many Mexicans I met who would come over here illegally and not learn English so why should I learn Spanish? I read, speak and write French and German fluently as well.
The USA as a country is powerful enough where it hasn't needed to grovel at someone's knees and culture at this point. If it matters so much to you what Americans do then make them conform to everyone else. I'm not an expert on Americans so because there are 310 million plus but I'm not going to make sweeping statements about them.
I questioned whether or not your justification for intolerance is applied evenhandedly. Apparently that isn't the case and indicative of a tribalist. You have a xenophily mentality. You're overzealously trying to prove your globalist reputation by distancing yourself, to the point of justifying prejudice, from your nationality (Whether you identify with it or not). You don't have an ideology, you have the U.S. versus the world with the world being afforded protected status, not to be admonished or judged in any way...like a tribalist.
As Americans we often delude ourselves about the greatness of the nation but that is the fault of our Anglo heritage. We have traded British insularism for American isolationism. We often live in a vacuum of our own making. For example some one said we have the greatest military in the world but yet we haven't won a definite major military engagement since WWII. We fought to a draw in Korea, w, for all practical purposes, lost a 15 year war in South East Asia and we have not been able to beat two tag tag armies of irregular forces in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Yet we still believe we are invincible. We are lucky that we have not had to fight a foreign army on our own soil or we might well be speaking Chinese on Kansas City. And this is just one example. We are first however in obesity.
We need to get our house in order before it's too late and stop lying to ourselves. Soon other nations will stop bashing us because we will not be important enough to bash.
Our life expectancy rate has dropped from 1st to 40th in fifty years. Our education system is in shambles. We are 33rd in health in what we say is the best country in the world.
There is no way. You should make people learn Spanish. Sure you could make learning any language mandatory but not just Spanish. I refuse to learn Spanish and I hate it. I grew up in a border state and there were so many Mexicans I met who would come over here illegally and not learn English so why should I learn Spanish? I read, speak and write French and German fluently as well.
The USA as a country is powerful enough where it hasn't needed to grovel at someone's knees and culture at this point. If it matters so much to you what Americans do then make them conform to everyone else. I'm not an expert on Americans so because there are 310 million plus but I'm not going to make sweeping statements about them.
The US is not so powerful any more and would be better off if it went gracefully to the middle of the pack.
You look at assimilation as groveling.
Learn a language or not, you're the one who loses if you don't.
The only advice I give young people is to learn languages and travel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 5trillion
I questioned whether or not your justification for intolerance is applied evenhandedly. Apparently that isn't the case and indicative of a tribalist. You have a xenophily mentality. You're overzealously trying to prove your globalist reputation by distancing yourself, to the point of justifying prejudice, from your nationality (Whether you identify with it or not). You don't have an ideology, you have the U.S. versus the world with the world being afforded protected status, not to be admonished or judged in any way...like a tribalist.
As Americans we often delude ourselves about the greatness of the nation but that is the fault of our Anglo heritage. We have traded British insularism for American isolationism. We often live in a vacuum of our own making. For example some one said we have the greatest military in the world but yet we haven't won a definite major military engagement since WWII. We fought to a draw in Korea, w, for all practical purposes, lost a 15 year war in South East Asia and we have not been able to beat two tag tag armies of irregular forces in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Yet we still believe we are invincible. We are lucky that we have not had to fight a foreign army on our own soil or we might well be speaking Chinese on Kansas City. And this is just one example. We are first however in obesity.
We need to get our house in order before it's too late and stop lying to ourselves. Soon other nations will stop bashing us because we will not be important enough to bash.
Our life expectancy rate has dropped from 1st to 40th in fifty years. Our education system is in shambles. We are 33rd in health in what we say is the best country in the world.
In response to your post I give you the enlightened representative from the US South, Paul Broun. He sits on the Congressional Committee on Science and Technology, yet he believes the earth is 6,000 years old.
I want everyone to know about this fruitcake, and especially I want some educated southerners to know what kind of morons their region sends to our national govt. Very sad.
U.S. Rep. Paul Broun: Evolution a lie 'from the pit of hell'
The US is not so powerful any more and would be better off if it went gracefully to the middle of the pack.
You look at assimilation as groveling.
You are the type of US citizen that my post is geared toward.
Learn a language or not, you're the one who loses if you don't.
The only advice I give young people is to learn languages and travel.
You are deluded. You are saying the US would be better off if it was worse. You don't want the country to advance itself. You want the US to conform to the rest of the world. The US has been a superpower for many years and that fact has turned people off. The country has an aura of arrogance but any country would have if you know you can't be curb-stomped by just anyone. The British empire had it as well but then the big bad empire couldn't hold on to their colonies.
English as a language is the most powerful language considering the nations who use it as their main language. So no a monolingual English speaker doesn't lose out at all but now due to the political correctness of American society and the cowardice being displayed instead of standing up and making everyone play by the rules. Now, your statement may ring true.
I went to school overseas and my degrees are from a French university but still I recognize that respecting cultures isn't the same kissing their arse. I hope you can make that distinction as well. Americans would be liked a lot more if the USA was just a little pushover.
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