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I have traveled to other countries and have seen people from US, UK, France, honestly anywhere in Europe, Australia all act like idiots. To say that an American is worse is outright stupid. However, what I really don't understand is the patriotism thing. I've never seen an American abroad, preaching about the United States and wearing some American Flag tshirt. Honestly, it all sounds fabricated or maybe a friend of a friend of a friend said they saw it and now the entire social group talks about it like a first hand story.
As an American, oftentimes I notice people ask my opinions on things dealing with my country in politics. They ask what I think of this or that. I don't tell them a fake view to sound more PC, I tell them what I think whether or not it's "correct" in their eyes. I don't see any problem with that. I can't think of any times I've faced real animosity from people I have no connection to, from any country.. in real life. Online is a different story.
I have traveled to other countries and have seen people from US, UK, France, honestly anywhere in Europe, Australia all act like idiots. To say that an American is worse is outright stupid. However, what I really don't understand is the patriotism thing. I've never seen an American abroad, preaching about the United States and wearing some American Flag tshirt. Honestly, it all sounds fabricated or maybe a friend of a friend of a friend said they saw it and now the entire social group talks about it like a first hand story.
As an American, oftentimes I notice people ask my opinions on things dealing with my country in politics. They ask what I think of this or that. I don't tell them a fake view to sound more PC, I tell them what I think whether or not it's "correct" in their eyes. I don't see any problem with that. I can't think of any times I've faced real animosity from people I have no connection to, from any country.. in real life. Online is a different story.
Totally agree with you.
Plus, why on Earth should someone feel the need to express "patriotism" abroad?
Why on Earth should I irk some foreigner displaying my "patriotism"?
I wear a t short with an American flag because I like it and it looks good, I don't really care how some sensitive foreigner is gonna react
That's not "showing Patriotism", I have several friends who wore t-shirts, hats etc with the logo "ITALIA" or the Italian flag.
I would never care of what you wear.
Funny note, a friend of mine who literally loves US, has respectively: a sheet,a blanket, a pillow, the I-Phone cover, the mouse, a carpet and a tablecloth in American colours.
Using the term 'America' to refer, in a general sense, to countries in North and South America is just fine if a bit vague. 'The Americas' would be preferable.
To do it to be deliberately obtuse, like saying, "I want to go to America." when you specifically want to visit Canada (or Panama, or the Bahamas), is not the behavior of a normal person.
If you want to be considered an insuffereable pedant and contrarian, continue to berate people for using the words 'America' and 'American' when refering the the Unided States of America.
That's not "showing Patriotism", I have several friends who wore t-shirts, hats etc with the logo "ITALIA" or the Italian flag.
I would never care of what you wear.
Funny note, a friend of mine who literally loves US, has respectively: a sheet,a blanket, a pillow, the I-Phone cover, the mouse, a carpet and a tablecloth in American colours.
How a about a "back to back world war champs" shirt?
Totally agree with you.
Plus, why on Earth should someone feel the need to express "patriotism" abroad?
Why on Earth should I irk some foreigner displaying my "patriotism"?
I think it also depends on why you go to another country. Some people have to go there, but would prefer not to. For instance, there are tens or even hundreds of thousands of Portuguese in various European countries such as Luxembourg because of the economic problems at home. And many of them are very patriotic, displaying their little flags wherever they can, sticking together in their sizable expat communities.
Others visit another country for a soccer match, they usually don't give a damn about the host country, either. Actually, soccer fans are among the worst visitors a country can receive. With soccer even city patriotism within a country can get ugly.
Now, tourists who really want to go abroad and meet locals are not the kind to display patriotism, unless they are disappointed and can't really understand why things are so different from - and in their view worse than - wherever they came from. But I think most of such disappointed people manage to keep it to themselves.
So, the motivation plays a certain role, just like with permanent immigration.
People going abroad are always considered kind of representatives of their country, whether they want to or not. Just ask Germans going to India or Arab countries, they are often very welcome because locals think those Germans must be Nazis and admire Hitler like many Indians and Muslims do. And they are disappointed when those visitors don't match their expectations. Now, in Israel it is the other way round, Germans going to Israel should certainly not display patriotism.
Likewise, American travelers might be confronted with what people associate with the US as a whole, regardless of whether those visitors actually agree with or oppose their own country's politics or whatever.
Using the term 'America' to refer, in a general sense, to countries in North and South America is just fine if a bit vague. 'The Americas' would be preferable.
To do it to be deliberately obtuse, like saying, "I want to go to America." when you specifically want to visit Canada (or Panama, or the Bahamas), is not the behavior of a normal person.
If you want to be considered an insuffereable pedant and contrarian, continue to berate people for using the words 'America' and 'American' when refering the the Unided States of America.
My impression is that 99% of people around the world don't really distinguish between the US and Canada, Canada is just considered a kind of appendix, but basically the same thing. I bet not even one percent of people living outside North America could even name the Canadian president, prime minister or whatever they have there. I wonder what the percentage for US Americans is, many of them probably don't know, either
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