Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > World Forums > World
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-24-2013, 05:32 PM
 
Location: Leeds, UK
22,112 posts, read 29,570,200 times
Reputation: 8819

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentoo View Post
I wonder if that's because Germany isn't really allowed to, due to it's history?
I was thinking that, although it could also be down to Germany not particularly caring about having global clout. Either way, I think Germans would be cautious about that - we've already seen Greek protestors labeling Angela Merkel a Nazi. In fact, many British tabloid websites are littered with user comments about Germany taking over Europe again. People just can't let the past go away.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-24-2013, 06:39 PM
 
Location: San Diego, California Republic
16,588 posts, read 27,377,194 times
Reputation: 9059
Quote:
Originally Posted by dunno what to put here View Post
I was thinking that, although it could also be down to Germany not particularly caring about having global clout. Either way, I think Germans would be cautious about that - we've already seen Greek protestors labeling Angela Merkel a Nazi. In fact, many British tabloid websites are littered with user comments about Germany taking over Europe again. People just can't let the past go away.
Ugh, people need to give it a rest already with that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2013, 06:43 PM
 
Location: SE UK
14,820 posts, read 12,014,042 times
Reputation: 9813
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
No offense to the UK, but it's not the most powerful or important in Europe. One of the most, but not the most. That'd be Germany. France is roughly the same, maybe even slightly ahead of the UK in most measures.
I think culturally it is, I can't think of any European country that has historically influenced the world as much as the UK, think Music, film and sports among other things is there any other European nation that has such well known musicians? Is there any other European nation that has as many well known film stars? Why is the British royal family such an iconic family around the world and not the Swedish or Spanish ones? Despite the German economy why is London the financial capital of Europe? Why does the world know intimately Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond or Harry Potter among many others? Why is it that English has become the worlds dominant language? I think its because the British Empire was at a time when the world first started 'shrinking' ie it all happened by chance. The fact that English is spoken in the USA, Australia and Canada has meant that more recent British culture remains quite visible.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2013, 06:54 PM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

Over $104,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum and additional contests are planned
 
Location: Western Massachusetts
45,983 posts, read 53,447,987 times
Reputation: 15179
Because Americans are very scary:


David Bowie (feat Nine Inch Nails) - I'm Afraid Of Americans - YouTube
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2013, 07:17 PM
 
Location: Where the heart is...
4,927 posts, read 5,310,736 times
Reputation: 10674
Default This...

Quote:
Originally Posted by dunno what to put here View Post
Depends on how you measure it. Germany is the most powerful within Europe, and by far the most influential regionally, but only the UK and France can exert their power on a global basis, and have significantly more clout and influence on a global basis.
for better (and not worse), politically, financially, culturally, and on a global scale the UK has a great deal of power, clout, and influence; imo.

Best regards, sincerely

HomeIsWhere...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2013, 07:59 PM
 
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
1,736 posts, read 2,525,573 times
Reputation: 1340
Americans are a people like any other. They live in the most influent country of the world, and some of them will naturally feel themselves better than people from other countries and many others from other parts of the world, especially in the developing world, will reject them, maybe due to envy, maybe due to feelings of injustice. The truth is, we cannot choose the country where we born, and the country doesn't determine the personality.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2013, 08:13 PM
 
Location: Brisbane
5,058 posts, read 7,495,551 times
Reputation: 4531
Quote:
Originally Posted by iNviNciBL3 View Post
This is something i do not understand.
"Why don't Americans travel enough!"

"Why are American tourist so loud and so poorly dressed!?"

"Why do Americans call it Soccer and not Football!?"

"America is a continent not a country!?"

"Why do you Americans eat so much!?"

Oh and around here, say one good thing about the United States and you will be called a "ignorant brainwashed nationalist"

I live in America so its hard for me to answer this but i'm just guessing its because we sorta live in our own little bubble, many of my fellow citizens don't know much or care about the rest of the world. the most popular sport in the world is probably the 5th most popular sport here and we have our own sports we follow. our news stations are very US centric.
You could insert Australia into every one of those paragraphs and come to exactly the same conclusion.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2013, 08:36 PM
 
Location: Melbourne, Australia
9,556 posts, read 20,786,339 times
Reputation: 2833
It's largely because the US is so huge, powerful and influential that it seems they're always in our faces. From Hollywood, celebs, TV, media, news, it's hard to escape Americanisation. Americanisation is also linked with globalisation which many resent. America also initiates a lot of wars.

As for those stereotypes...Loud, poorly dressed American tourists? I haven't met any. And what do they mean by 'poorly dressed'? The American tourists I've seen wear the same thing as the majority of European tourists I've seen. You should dress for comfort and practicality. What I think is more ridiculous is some Eastern European women wearing high heels and designer clothes to go hiking. Actually for the loud thing...okay I have met a few loud ones, but I've met loud Brits, Aussies too...I remember there was a group of young Americans here in Australia and one girl was talking really loud, like 10 decibels above everyone else, and dominating the convo so it sounded like they were loud. I've been to America and I don't think the volume of their speech is any louder than other nationalities. In fact you should see some Asian, Middle Eastern, African, Eastern Europeans...

We call it soccer here too. We have our own football and it's far superior to soccer, American football OR rugby...it's Aussie rules and it's the best bloody sport on the planet and we don't care if others don't know about it.

Ah yes...I remember people saying 'oh it's not correct to call it America.' In a way, I feel sorry for United Statians. They don't have a country name that is completely their own. The 'United States (of America)' kinda suggests it's more a federation of states than a country. I personally interchange the US, USA or America.

Aussies, Brits.etc are really about as overweight as Americans. It's just the 'fat American' stereotype is so well known. I think plenty of countries need to cut down on eating though, not just Yanks.

It depends what. Nothing wrong with praising America's landscape or culture...in fact a lot of people who would otherwise bash the US love cities like Boston, San Francisco or New Orleans with 'culture' that are liberal. It's cities like LA that like they like to bash. It's more if you're pro American in a political sense.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2013, 10:24 PM
 
Location: San Diego, California Republic
16,588 posts, read 27,377,194 times
Reputation: 9059
Quote:
It's largely because the US is so huge, powerful and influential that it seems they're always in our faces. From Hollywood, celebs, TV, media, news, it's hard to escape Americanisation. Americanisation is also linked with globalisation which many resent.
I've heard these reasons given before and I can relate to that. Globalization is also something many Americans aren't too fond of. The people of various nations were never asked if they were ok with it. Remember, there were riots for 3 days in Seattle when the WTO met here. Globalization has killed the little guy in the US as I'm sure it has in other countries.
Quote:
As for those stereotypes...Loud, poorly dressed American tourists? I haven't met any. And what do they mean by 'poorly dressed'? The American tourists I've seen wear the same thing as the majority of European tourists I've seen. You should dress for comfort and practicality. What I think is more ridiculous is some Eastern European women wearing high heels and designer clothes to go hiking. Actually for the loud thing...okay I have met a few loud ones, but I've met loud Brits, Aussies too.
I worked in a theme park for two decades and I totally agree with this. While we can spot the American vs. European, overall, they still dress pretty much the same. Brits and Aussies can be every bit as boisterous as us. Among young people, no one can touch the Irish.
Quote:
The 'United States (of America)' kinda suggests it's more a federation of states than a country.
That's exactly what our country is, a Federation of states, a union. Our president doesn't give a state of the nation or state of the country address, he gives a state of the union. The USA is more complex than most non Americans realize. We are a Federation at the national level but unitary, like many other countries at the state level.
Quote:
not just Yanks.
Ugh, I hate that term. A Yank(ie) is from New England
Quote:
It's cities like LA that like they like to bash. It's more if you're pro American in a political sense.
LA is also America's favorite city to bash. It's probably the most hated city in the western world. In San Diego during the early 90's, there was a political campaign to "prevent Los Angelesation". San Francisco and Seattle frequently trash LA too. I agree with the pro American political part.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-24-2013, 10:30 PM
 
Location: M I N N E S O T A
14,773 posts, read 21,486,569 times
Reputation: 9263
Whats pro-American in a political sense?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > World Forums > World

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top