My first thought when thinking of America is: everything is so fucking huge. Seriously. The menues at McDonalds, the cars, the buildings, even the people. I once meet an American who described the largest portion of Pommes you could get at a German Mcdonalds as "a handfull".

Ah. The Escapist. Where the United States is the most vile and corrupt force in the universe, and every other nation in the world are pure, uncorrupted, and full of nothing but intelligent saints.

Pffft. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Only a few people here at the Escapist actually believe that...Okay, more than a few. But a lot more people seem to be open minded to this sort of thing.

Edit: It's our government. We're starting to despise it as much as you guys as well. So we're not complete idiots.

ReservoirAngel:
In USA's case, it seems to be the Southern States that cause the most bad-feeling towards America.

What about the one(s) right in the middle? Like Kentucky? Which was important to both the North and the South back in the civil war that caused people to think of "the north and the south".

SmashLovesTitanQuest:

TheVioletBandit:

SmashLovesTitanQuest:

To be honest I didnt really make that post after thinking out a 5 step plan on how the US could collapse and exactly what repercussions such events could have. You are looking to deep into things.

Fair enough, I think when I originally responded to your post last night I was already feeling defensive from all the American bashing going on in this thread, so hopefully you can see why I may have taken your post to seriously. Anyway, my apologies if I miss interpreted your intentions.

No problem. I made sure not to read anything past the first page of this thread, these kind of threads usually attract a particular kind of argument I am not to keen on.

I wish I had avoided the thread altogether. As an American who knows a majority of the forum users on the Escapist are from the UK and Canada it has made me feel rather unwelcome. I only hope that eventually people well learn to judge others on their character instead of where they may have been born, which is complete happenstance. Though I don't think that's likely to happen. Nevertheless, I have learned my lesson about these kind of threads, as like you I'm not keen on the kind of argument they facilitate.

It's unfair to call you bad, although you have a slightly-off goverment...

At the end of the day, It doesn't matter where you are born - If you're a prick, you are a prick. If you're not, well then your not.

Personally i love your Vehicles, They just look so damn awesome.
UH-60 Blackhawk - The most awesome thing to ever fly

American morons are more likely to make themselves heard than morons from any other nation.

I usually think of America with a mix of fear and horror. I look at as an Australian and in your defense, there are a lot less of us in a much smaller place, so numbers dictate we just don't have the same sheer levels of crazy you guys have to put up with. These are some of my thoughts when I think about America:

Note: I'll be saying 'you guys' and generalising a lot because adding a disclaimer to every point seems tedious, but know that I'm thinking of America in general, not anyone on the Escapist.

~ Your politicians for some reason are allowed to make entire campaigns against each other that aren't just lies (Because that parts the same here) but that don't have -anything- to do with social issues or economics. We get American news during the late hours and I've seen entire debates where they just slander each other based on their personal lives that have no real connection to social/economic issues. Yet, you guys have to elect one of these people to run your country.
~ You guys can get guns easily and a lot of you don't see a problem with that. A common rebuttal I get is that criminals somehow inherently have guns so selling them everywhere arms good civilians, but no one seems to make the connection that easier access to guns gives people the opportunity to be criminals/dangers that they could not be without that access.
~ Your government hates you, hence the lack of medicare. (Which is being remedied now by Obamacare? Is that a nickname or just arrogant policy-naming?)
~ You guys write American rather than English, which puzzles me endlessly. I'm from a country of convicts and while we invented our own slang to piss off the British, we never changed the basic rules and spellings.
~ Education is more of a hobby where you're from than it is a must.
~ You guys have very low inter-generational mobility, meaning that a lot of you are forced into positions by circumstances rather than moving around by your talents. It also means a lot of your 'qualified' people probably aren't the best for the job.
~ Racism/Sexism and other isms tend to be shouted out loud by a lot of you, but very few of those people shouting grasp the concepts they're shouting about.
~ Some of you have really cool accents, others can have some unbearable ones.
~ A lot of your TV people love to get involved in issues they know little to nothing about.
~ Fox News is apparently watched by enough of you to still exist, for shame, for shame!
~ As far as I'm aware you people are responsible for Ebonics and some of you want it to be an official language, what the heck America!?
- You guys, in my experience, tend to be the proudest when it comes to your country, which puzzles many of us foreigners.
- I'm convinced that the vast majority of you are criminals.
- I think many of you guys overestimate what you're entitled to and like to do bad things and justify them with rights you don't actually have.

Those are my honest thoughts, how correct they are is a different matter. I don't hate Americans in general, I just hate that a lot of good Americans I get to talk to online are burdened with problems caused by bad Americans. I'm thinking a lot of these problems aren't America-specific, but our media tends to show your country more than any other.

dyre:

ToTaL LoLiGe:

Regnes:
Well here in Canada we don't really hate Americans, even if we do consider them to be an inferior culture in general.

A lot of us do take issue with America's portrayal of WW2 though, how they ignore every other country's contributions and even take credit for famous battles they didn't win. Also quite rich when you consider most of the world still looks down upon America for joining the war two years late.

Here in the UK we value Canadas contribution to WW2. I'm pretty sure it's taught in high school history classes.

As far as I can tell, it's not that high school history classes here in the US ignore Canada's contributions to WW2; rather the problem is that they just teach so little of the war that the only thing people learn is that the Nazis were involved and that Americans were fighting said Nazis. The rest of the average American's education on WW2 comes from movies and videogames.

I take it you ignore the whole war profiteering aspect of USA and the World Wars then?

OT: Looking at the kind of people Americans let run their country? I'll go for idiots. But then I think that about most people.

Luke3184:

dyre:

ToTaL LoLiGe:

Here in the UK we value Canadas contribution to WW2. I'm pretty sure it's taught in high school history classes.

As far as I can tell, it's not that high school history classes here in the US ignore Canada's contributions to WW2; rather the problem is that they just teach so little of the war that the only thing people learn is that the Nazis were involved and that Americans were fighting said Nazis. The rest of the average American's education on WW2 comes from movies and videogames.

I take it you ignore the whole war profiteering aspect of USA and the World Wars then?

OT: Looking at the kind of people Americans let run their country? I'll go for idiots. But then I think that about most people.

No, high schools don't teach that sort of thing. They don't even teach the Russian front.

But on the subject of war profiteering, we didn't start those damn wars, and you guys certainly benefited from our profiteering.

Danzavare:

- I'm convinced that the vast majority of you are criminals.

The vast majority of 310 million+ people are criminals? Ok.

I was ultimatley torn when answering this. I have met enough PEOPLE from the US to know that they are no different from any other people.

However, in terms of the way the country is organized, and how the culture affects the way the people there act, I find that there is something...wrong. Something off, twisted, corrupted, rotten (not a single word there is accurate, but all of them are close enough to what i'm trying to express,to give a rough idea).

- A two-part political system that pretends it's a multi-party system (a two-party system is only one party a way from being a one-party system).
- Several archaic political ideals and practices, that simply have no place in the modern world.
- A cultural over-emphasis on warfare, military, and weapons, that includes legalizing non-hunting/sporting weapons to civilians.
- An extreme emphasis on the capitalist economic model (nothing wrong with it, but the extreme of anything is never positive), that spills into politics and culture so deeply, that USA is one of the few "developed" countries that doesn't provide basic education and healthcare to it's citizens, and the citizens in question seem to accept ti as a norm (Questioning whether USA fits the category of first-world country).

Since the poll was about the country, not the people I reluctantly chose "you are idiots". Not because I think the people there are, but because I know they are no different from any other people I have met, and therefore I know they can do better for themselves.

dyre:

Luke3184:

dyre:

As far as I can tell, it's not that high school history classes here in the US ignore Canada's contributions to WW2; rather the problem is that they just teach so little of the war that the only thing people learn is that the Nazis were involved and that Americans were fighting said Nazis. The rest of the average American's education on WW2 comes from movies and videogames.

I take it you ignore the whole war profiteering aspect of USA and the World Wars then?

EDIT: lol spambots XD
OT: Looking at the kind of people Americans let run their country? I'll go for idiots. But then I think that about most people.

No, high schools don't teach that sort of thing. They don't even teach the Russian front.

But on the subject of war profiteering, we didn't start those damn wars, and you guys certainly benefited from our profiteering.

What high school did you go to? At mine, I learned more about Europe in WWII than I did America.
EDIT: lol spambots XD

TheOmenCorpse:

Mortai Gravesend:

TheOmenCorpse:
America is the combination of South America and North America. I think it's funny that citizens of USA seem to believe their country spans two continents. I understand that this is just a colloquialism, and no one really believes it, but if a brit started talking about Europe being occupied solely by other brits people would look at him as if he was an imbecile

It seems so much easier to call those the Americas, and I'm pretty sure that's how it's usually done.

Call it a pet peeve, but I always think it implies a level of arrogance you do not see in other countries.

Well, what else do you want us to call ourselves? United Statesers? U.S.-ians? Miss South Carolina made damn sure that no one is going to take "US American" seriously, so that's out too. We sort of shot ourselves in the foot in that regard when we named the country. At one point, there was a bill in Congress proposing a name-change to "The United States of the World", what would we be calling ourselves if that had passed? Point is, everyone knows that "American" refers to something or someone from the US, otherwise, they'd say "Canadian" or "Bolivian" or whatever.

To the thread in general: I'd just like to say that America is like the Internet. Most of us are reasonable and intelligent, it's just that the idiots are louder and get far more attention.

At least, this is what I tell myself so that I can sleep at night.

Silent Anima:

dyre:

Luke3184:

I take it you ignore the whole war profiteering aspect of USA and the World Wars then?

EDIT: lol spambots XD
OT: Looking at the kind of people Americans let run their country? I'll go for idiots. But then I think that about most people.

No, high schools don't teach that sort of thing. They don't even teach the Russian front.

But on the subject of war profiteering, we didn't start those damn wars, and you guys certainly benefited from our profiteering.

What high school did you go to? At mine, I learned more about Europe in WWII than I did America.

In my high school history class, we glazed over WWII in about a week. The Industrial Revolution, on the other hand, got a month and a half of attention.

America is the worst, first world, country in the world. Overly religious, overly patriotic, retarded use of guns and backward health care. Worst of all is that Bill O'Reilly, someone who wouldn't be allowed on television in other countries for being a dick, is succesful and highly watched.

Silent Anima:

dyre:

Luke3184:

I take it you ignore the whole war profiteering aspect of USA and the World Wars then?

EDIT: lol spambots XD
OT: Looking at the kind of people Americans let run their country? I'll go for idiots. But then I think that about most people.

No, high schools don't teach that sort of thing. They don't even teach the Russian front.

But on the subject of war profiteering, we didn't start those damn wars, and you guys certainly benefited from our profiteering.

What high school did you go to? At mine, I learned more about Europe in WWII than I did America.
EDIT: lol spambots XD

Like storm dragon, the high school I attended hardly bothered with teaching about the war. I think we may have had three classes on it. Of course, learning about WWII is pretty easy to do on your own (though it's also easy to end up with an inaccurate, biased version of it if you go about your research without some level of intellectual integrity), but in high school we learned a lot more about stuff like Manifest Destiny, the Industrial Revolution, the populist stuff and other pro-worker movements, that sort of thing.

I went to a pretty good, fairly wealthy high school in the suburbs of NJ.

The U.S. is big in both influence and size. The influence means we get a lot of global exposer, the size means radically different cultures from region to region. That is a bad combination for global opinion. Thats why even many Americans from both sides of the political spectrum are disappointed in their own country.

dyre:

Luke3184:

dyre:

As far as I can tell, it's not that high school history classes here in the US ignore Canada's contributions to WW2; rather the problem is that they just teach so little of the war that the only thing people learn is that the Nazis were involved and that Americans were fighting said Nazis. The rest of the average American's education on WW2 comes from movies and videogames.

I take it you ignore the whole war profiteering aspect of USA and the World Wars then?

OT: Looking at the kind of people Americans let run their country? I'll go for idiots. But then I think that about most people.

No, high schools don't teach that sort of thing. They don't even teach the Russian front.

But on the subject of war profiteering, we didn't start those damn wars, and you guys certainly benefited from our profiteering.

Not entirely true, my US History class taught a little about the WWII Russian front. Mainly the turning points, Operation Barbarossa, and even a little about the Winter War and the political mumbo jumbo behind it. But we learned much more about the Pacific front.

You are alright. I mean I'm glad you won the cold war over the Soviets but meh, you fuck up, though pax Britannia wasn't a barrel of laughs and I can't imagine south east asian states look at china's rise with hearts entirely free from fear.

So could be better could be worse. But I am quite right wing so I'm not like the average escapist user.

European here. I think Americans are largely batshit-insane imbeciles.

Sure, plenty of normal folk in the US, but they're being vastly outnumbered by, quite frankly, a bunch of psychopaths.

Evilpigeon:
You guys are the most brazenly patriotic nation I can think of. It's incredibly annoying. Then again I dislike any nationalism. We live in a world where I can chat daily with people living anywhere in the world, for the price of an internet connection. Countries are fast becoming obsolete concepts and everytime I hear "God bless America!" I cringe at the idea that there are still people who sincerely think like that.

this is my number one reason why i dislike americans in general... you cant walk anywhere without getting the a flag shoved in your face. every country has idiots, religious mad men and assholes... but the US. is the only country i can think of that is so zealous about their national identity... save for north korea.

i too find nationalism disturbing. maybe its because the country is too young or because being european, we have been thoroughly educated in the dangers of patriotism.

as for the country itself... i dont find the callous way the government treats its citizens appealing at all. but that is an entirely different subject.

Rationally, I know you have your normal people and you have your idiots, just like everywhere else, and that your country is so huge that any generalisation is going to be woefully inadequate. I mean, it's bad enough when people stereotype "the British" when there are such massive variations not only between the four different COUNTRIES that make up the UK, but even between regions and cities within those countries. Seriously, what the fuck is a "British accent" meant to sound like?! Having said all that, it's hard to get away from the impression the media/stereotypes give about America sometimes.

I have never been to America myself, but I would like to visit some day. There are a lot of things about the place and the culture that appeal to me.

However, I wouldn't live there if you paid me. There are two main reasons for this:

1) Politicians and other people in the public eye routinely say (homophobic/racist/sexist/plain dumb) things that would end a career over here and actually gain support for it, becoming presidential candidates and the like.
1A) A disturbingly large number of people in America are prepared to vote for these people.

2) Healthcare. The thought of living under the American health system terrifies me. Now, I'm well aware that the NHS is not perfect (both parents work in it) and that some people over here choose private healthcare over it. But at the end of the day, I know that if I get sick, need medication or an operation, I can have it without having to worry about the cost (for the most part). Not having that safety net just seems wrong to me. Denying people medical attention because of their financial situation is, in my opinion, completely and utterly immoral.
2A) A disturbingly large number of people in America don't seem to have a problem with this and actively reject the idea of universal healthcare.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

Well at least here in America we don't have riots at the drop of a hat. Like the U.K.

Edit:

Blargh McBlargh:
European here. I think Americans are largely batshit-insane imbeciles.

Sure, plenty of normal folk in the US, but they're being vastly outnumbered by, quite frankly, a bunch of psychopaths.

I'm trying to figure out how you got that sentiment. That's like saying most Germans are Nazis or most British are racist, slave trading, exploitative sailors or most Mexicans are drug dealers.

I'm not reading all the posts here because these threads always piss me off with their rampant xenophobia toward the U.S... I would like to throw a couple of things out there, though.

Those of you who're invariably saying something along the lines of, "I hate the government and those people elected them, so I hate the people, too.":

Our control over what our government does effectively ends when they're elected. All that's required for someone to get elected in the U.S. is a majority of the vote. That means that it's quite possible that nearly half the people in any given area did not vote for someone who got elected, so why in the hell should they be looked down on because of what other people did? Oh, right, they're from the United States. Being born on this chunk of land must mean they've done something to earn your ire. Which brings me to..

Those of you who get pissed off that some of us like our country and think we oughtn't because "it's just a patch of land you happened to be born on," etc? If you want us not to be happy about happening to be born on a certain chunk of land, how about you try not hating us for no other reason than we happened to be born on a certain chunk of land? Seriously, it makes you look stupid.

Finally, are you the exact same person as every other person in your country? No? We're the same as everyone else in the world - we're all different. We have our own hopes, dreams, opinions, etc. Our country has problems, just like every other country on the face of the earth. We, as citizens, can only do so much and it's pretty fucking stupid to try to hold ME responsible for what someone ELSE has done. If you don't want to be considered responsible for and judged on every single occurrence that happens where you live, don't do that to us. We're just people, too. People who're trying to get by in life the best we can.

Please be aware that if you quote me, I won't be reading it or responding. I'm not going to get dragged into the United States bashing BS that these posts always turn into.

nathan-dts:
America is the worst, first world, country in the world. Overly religious, overly patriotic, retarded use of guns and backward health care. Worst of all is that Bill O'Reilly, someone who wouldn't be allowed on television in other countries for being a dick, is succesful and highly watched.

The United States is not overly religious and patriotic. Few people actually show any patriotism and religious people here aren't any different from religious people elsewhere.

O'Reilly and Fox News is successful because every other news network is left wing. Maybe one day there might actually be a news network with a neutral stance towards politics, but I doubt it.

Barry93:

nathan-dts:
America is the worst, first world, country in the world. Overly religious, overly patriotic, retarded use of guns and backward health care. Worst of all is that Bill O'Reilly, someone who wouldn't be allowed on television in other countries for being a dick, is succesful and highly watched.

The United States is not overly religious and patriotic. Few people actually show any patriotism and religious people here aren't any different from religious people elsewhere.

O'Reilly and Fox News is successful because every other news network is left wing. Maybe one day there might actually be a news network with a neutral stance towards politics, but I doubt it.

Reading this thread, it seems that people agree with me, even if they're from the US.

As a people you seem okay ( excusing the occasional bigot or racist obviously)

But your Government mixes region with its policies far too much and the fact someone like Mr Santorum could come even close to power is disgusting

Also the general view over here in England is that you are nice people but you have a far too narrow world view as shown in this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9INBcpcjkJY

Generally it's also thought that we get far too much of your culture over here than our own which worries a great many people.

Personally though , aside from the politics , you seem a nice enough bunch

gammyfootify:

Also the general view over here in England is that you are nice people but you have a far too narrow world view as shown in this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9INBcpcjkJY

Its the Jay Leno gambit, interview a bunch of people, only show the ones that say stupid things.

Oh boy, it's this time again. Time for sweeping generalizations about a country that's popular to hate.

But the biased poll options are new. Bonus points!

nathan-dts:
America is the worst, first world, country in the world. Overly religious, overly patriotic, retarded use of guns and backward health care. Worst of all is that Bill O'Reilly, someone who wouldn't be allowed on television in other countries for being a dick, is succesful and highly watched.

Out of curiosity, what is your definition of "highly watched"? Because it seems to me that given your other characteristics of Americans, you're overgeneralizing. Fox News is only watched by a minority demographic, indeed the same "overly religious, overly patriotic" minority that you seem to think represents the entire country, and is laughed at by the rest of us.

O maestre:

Evilpigeon:
You guys are the most brazenly patriotic nation I can think of. It's incredibly annoying. Then again I dislike any nationalism. We live in a world where I can chat daily with people living anywhere in the world, for the price of an internet connection. Countries are fast becoming obsolete concepts and everytime I hear "God bless America!" I cringe at the idea that there are still people who sincerely think like that.

this is my number one reason why i dislike americans in general... you cant walk anywhere without getting the a flag shoved in your face. every country has idiots, religious mad men and assholes... but the US. is the only country i can think of that is so zealous about their national identity... save for north korea.

i too find nationalism disturbing. maybe its because the country is too young or because being european, we have been thoroughly educated in the dangers of patriotism.

as for the country itself... i dont find the callous way the government treats its citizens appealing at all. but that is an entirely different subject.

I wonder, have you actually been to the U.S? If so, where? Because I've lived here for a couple decades now and have never had "a flag shoved in my face". Secondly, what is your definition of "shoved in your face"?

Taunta:
Oh boy, it's this time again. Time for sweeping generalizations about a country that's popular to hate.

But the biased poll options are new. Bonus points!

nathan-dts:
America is the worst, first world, country in the world. Overly religious, overly patriotic, retarded use of guns and backward health care. Worst of all is that Bill O'Reilly, someone who wouldn't be allowed on television in other countries for being a dick, is succesful and highly watched.

Out of curiosity, what is your definition of "highly watched"? Because it seems to me that given your other characteristics of Americans, you're overgeneralizing. Fox News is only watched by a minority demographic, indeed the same "overly religious, overly patriotic" minority that you seem to think represents the entire country, and is laughed at by the rest of us.

O'Reilly has won large numbers of awards for his raicst, homophobic and stupid work. To recieve awards more people have to like that work than other work. The fact is the United States loudest and most influential people fall under at least one of the attributes I mentioned.

I am choosing the fuck you all, not because I mean it, but because it made me literally fall onto the floor laughing XD

nathan-dts:

Taunta:
Oh boy, it's this time again. Time for sweeping generalizations about a country that's popular to hate.

But the biased poll options are new. Bonus points!

nathan-dts:
America is the worst, first world, country in the world. Overly religious, overly patriotic, retarded use of guns and backward health care. Worst of all is that Bill O'Reilly, someone who wouldn't be allowed on television in other countries for being a dick, is succesful and highly watched.

Out of curiosity, what is your definition of "highly watched"? Because it seems to me that given your other characteristics of Americans, you're overgeneralizing. Fox News is only watched by a minority demographic, indeed the same "overly religious, overly patriotic" minority that you seem to think represents the entire country, and is laughed at by the rest of us.

O'Reilly has won large numbers of awards for his raicst, homophobic and stupid work. To recieve awards more people have to like that work than other work. The fact is the United States loudest and most influential people fall under at least one of the attributes I mentioned.

Ohhhkay. Let me try to get to the bottom of these generalizations.

"Large number of awards"

Did you know he's only won three awards?

"Awards for his _________________"

And only one of those was for The O'Reilly Factor? Did you know he had other work as your everyday news reporter before he got a job for Fox News?

"One of the loudest and most influential people"

Is he loud? Yeah, I'll give you that one. Influential? Only to his very small minority audience that he caters to. O'Reilly is a talking head that only a very small number of people take seriously. You keep misunderstanding that part. You want to make him more important and more representative of the US than he actually is.

Hey in America you're constitution doesn't offer freedom of speech except in cases of blasphemous (technically you can get fined for blasphemy) or offensive material or anything that can "undermine the authority of the state". Basically the Irish constitution lets you say what you want, as long as what you want to say doesn't upset anyone ever. Because everyone knows freedom of speech needs to exist to protect popular speech and popular speech only.