Anti-American sentiment in SL forums

I AM PROUD TO LOVE AMERICANS!

Hairy and dumb, or smooth and clever!

I WILL NOT BASH YOU! (much)

People are always making excuses and exceptions for the marmosets. It's not right. Non-marmosets can't help being born non-marmosets. Why should marmosets get all the breaks?

Well I guess you just made his point for him.

eh.... I've met a fair amount of narrow minded arrogant French people in my life. Also a fair amount of ignorant ones. America certainly doesn't have the lock on narrow-mindedness nor ignorant. You may have met more Americans who are narrow-minded and ignorant but then again we have easily over 10 times the population and land mass of all European countries save one (Russia) and all Asian countries save two (India and China). It tends to make for broader coverage.

No, I call the current resident of the White House," Boy George W. Bush" to separate him from the Pop Star. Also you can substitute other nams , like Puke George W. Bush, or Punk. "Boy George W. Bush" means he is irresponsiable, stupid etc. needs impeaching, a trator, and a bible thumping liar. All these sums up Dictator George W. Bush.

Why?

Let someone else be on top and enact tarrifs and price controls to make things better for us. One place to start with price controls is to lower the Gas price to US$1.25 a gallion for Unleaded. And also free use of the Shermon Anti-Trust act against the mogol big businesses like Wal-Mart, Exxon-Mobil etc. will also help the citizens. We can put Tarriffs(SP) on Steel, all things that are made in foreign nations that were once made in the United States... We could even tell businesses that rob our citizens of jobs that they have to pay the foreign employees twice the amount that they paid the American citizens whose job they sent over seas.

so why do we have to be on top? We are so powerful we can ignore the rest of the world if we have to....... and just pay attention to the problems in this nation like jobs going overseas etc.

But not in the USofA, my friend!! God Bless America!!

I prefer to just call it 'shrub'

Well honestly I don't tend to notice that much of it except in political threads where it doesn't seem particularly out of place, and when I do, it really doesn't bother me at all. I think it should be tolerated and it surprises me that people get worked up about it. It's representative of the world we live in. Everyone pretending not to have opinions isn't. I tend to prefer realism over phony civility, and much of the criticism (even when expressed as generalized stereotypes) is valid.

If someone says "Americans are fat, lazy, and stupid" I don't take that as equivelant to them saying "You, personally, are fat, lazy, and stupid," and it really baffles me that people so easily surrender their individualism in the name of being offended by things not directed at them as an individual. That doesn't make sense. If you disagree with a generalization aimed at a group you belong to, respond with your own contrary opinion, or just ignore it.

I'd like to see less personal attacks on this forum and if you're suggesting we need more moderation I'd say it should be directed at being less tolerant of them. If they start cracking down on broad generalizations based on personal opinions and perceptions where do you draw the line? That kind of speech, while it may be offensive to some, should be protected. It's informative about the poster, if nothing else. I think we can do without more self-appointed enforcers of political correctness and stifling of opinions that aren't directed at individuals. If individual Americans want to be offended by things they can decide that for themselves and respond accordingly. I don't think they need you to be offended on their behalf.

10 times the population? The USA is just short of 5 times the population of the UK... and the UK is a *very* small country.

eh ok i was guessing. i actually had no idea. so its five times. Still...

Because I would rather rule than be ruled. Failing the ability to personally rule, I prefer to be a part of the ruling faction as opposed to the ruled. Again, read up on the Biggest Bully theory.



So... You are against free trade, you want to destroy big buisnesses, increase taxes, and somehow magicly lower gas prices by price fixing, nevermind the economics of the situation.

...

And you think BUSH is screwing up the economy?

I'm waiting for the part of it that you think will "help the citizens", beyond gas prices, which is a very very short-sighted view of what needs to be done, and NOT the right way to correct the situation.



Hint: We stay powerful by not ignoring the rest of the world.

It's legal in Texas, Montana, and thanks to the Hammond Fast Food Insults Accord, now legal in Alaska.

perhaps yes ... but for us it's cultural not educational you know ? the famous french exception

more seriously even if american are perhaps 2 or 2.5 times the french population there is a big difference ... america (notice I said america and not americans) claims to be the highest standard in freedom, success encouragment and all those high and pure moral values. When you claim to be the leader you are exposing yourself to the critics and flaming ... therefor you need to be -really- better than the others. America being what it wants to be should have the best and most objective educational program ... not one centered on themselves.


and no I haven't met more narrow minded, ignorant and arrogant american that "normal" ones ... it's just that they voice more. In France we hide our rednecks in the country where the only thing that can hear them are cows ... even though they rarely speak about international relations or politic but more about the weather and other natural things ... in US your redneck are interviewed so they can show their stupidity on TV ... and therefor not only in US but in the world ... not the best image you can give of a country.

LOOOL )) Another funny post today

USA: 295 million people (50 states)
European Union: 450 million people (25 countries)
(EU includes Germany: 82 million ppl)
Russia: 143 million
India: 1000 million
China: 1300 million

(From the CIA World Factbook)

BTW, Russia is NOT an European country, at best it has a BIT in Europe, but it's Asian.

And how does land mass correlate with the number of 'silly' people? The bigger the land is, the more probable there are more 'silly' people?

Yeah!!

I enjoy the fact that you just appear out of the blue with the most random comments, Merwan

So basically, we are honest enough not to hide our rough underbelly and we show the world how we really are. For this we get derision. You pretend to hide (oh watch out -- riots! weee!) and think you are superior? Sorry I don't get it.

You could turn the TV to a different channel you know. I do. And I do watch some foreign TV. When it gets too crude or icky (eiww benny hill eiww rush limbaugh eiww that japanese show where they make the people make fools of themselves) I change the channel. Every country has their icky crude redneck humor and culture. Every country has their xenophoic side. Every country has their right-wing put other countries down idiots. Every country has thier dirty politics. We certainly don't have the lock on ANY of this. Nor did we invent it or make it better or worse.

You want to criticize my country fine -- but make sure yours is squeaky clean first. I guarantee you -- it isn't.

Me to!

I'll be inWorld this week - will IM ya and we'll plot the next move to deal with the mal-contents!

as I said I a not criticising your country I give my honest opinion, spiced with a bit of sarcasm I admit, on what I see of america.

when I said we were hiding our rednecks it was simply to say that french country people are often too self centered to be interested in international politics doesn't mean they are more intelligent that american rednecks.

I have never said US had all the flaws and europe was a standard for good reference. however I have never and will never feel superior to anybody ... if you knew me you would know I'm more into self analysis and criticism ... and when I actually do criticise somebody I often do it in a humorous and constructive way.

So no I don't include myself in the bunch of people targetted in this thread ... but I maintain that sometimes american ... as any other "civilized occidental" country need to be reminded they aren't better than the rest of us ... they are just a country among others even if it has an invading "culture".

EU isn't a country.

I said Russia India and China had larger populations. So I was wrong about Russia. I also said, in another post, that I was guessing about the amounts.

Did you have a point besides ridicule in mind?

Anti-American bigotry is nothing new and has very, very little to do with the current administration.

Back in the 80s, I'd go to Germany every other year to visit my mother's family. I can't count how many times I felt judged by the "sophisticated" Europeans who looked down at me for my nationality. I don't know how often I had to apologize for Reagan being in office, even though I was under 18 and too young to vote anyhow.

And before that, back in the 1960s, my mother herself was a bigoted anti-American. She thought that anyone from the U.S. had to be boorish, uncultured and dim-witted. Imagine her surprise when she fell for my dad, a G.I. at the time, over a discussion on non-Euclidian geometry!

George W. Bush was just a school kid then, so I doubt he was the cause of her own anti-Americanism.

The real reason, I think, that anti-Americanism exists? It's fashionable.

It gives foreigners something to do to feel better about themselves while secretly lusting after our fast food, pop culture and shiny cars (buy more of those, please).

And it gives self-hating Americans a way to feel more sophisticated than everyone around them.

I say this as someone who used to think like that. Now, it just turns my stomach.

i am a natural born citizen of the USA it has always annoyed me to be called American as there are 2 other countries on North America alone i believe that as a group USA citizens are arrogent, woefully ignorant of world affairs and geography self centered, and the most wonderfully generous people history has ever seen! have a earthquake? Aid from the USA in on it's way! in many cases it arrives before the local gov't can organize it's own relief efforts. Have a drought US colleges send avaiation students to seed teh clouds to help induce rain. The USA is a land of Plenty and we are spoiled and thank God i was born here.
But as long as we chose to take teh role of world cop we are teh target of disdain, and in many ways it is very very well deserved, in others it is nothing but pettiness. As for being upset about your own culture being subverted by McDonalds well... i guess that is your cultures problem not ours, if your culture didn't accept it, it would not grow.
i have aquestion though for all our non US peopel here...do peopel in your country identify themselves with their ancestoral lineage liek they do here? ie Irish American..do peopel call them selves French English?or German Dutch? Japanese Austrailian?or American Danish?
or is this rideculous thing only here?

France being the center of the world's finest culture why would we mix ourselves with inferior people ?

more seriously I speak only for my country but as soon as we are born in France and with at least 2 generations before us that are born there too we call ourselves french ... that is, at least in my mind, the best process of integration.

Well, never heard the term other than from the US. I'm part Irish and part Welsh... if you ask what I am, I'm British (sometimes Celtic, depending on the conversation).