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Why do they hate us?

Discussion in 'Archive: The Senate Floor' started by The1, Jun 9, 2002.

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  1. Tod

    Tod Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 1999
    I could point out that there probably isn't a single democracy in the world. For example Finland which is often considered most democratic country is also a republic and so are most other "democratic countries". So it's rather pointless to keep saying that "we're republic not democracy thing".
     
  2. DarthYama

    DarthYama Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 16, 2001
    Wait! Hitler, Mussolini, Castro, and Stalin were Arabs? I did not know that!
     
  3. malkieD2

    malkieD2 Ex-Manager and RSA star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2002
    A lack of understanding of the outside world contributes to the dislike of Americans. Perhaps even a refusal to acknowledge anything outside of the United States.

    For example, I posted a message here where I was talking about my national soccer (I'll call it soccer, rather than football for the benefit of Americans reading this) losing a match to Portugal.

    The response to my post was "duh, we beat Portugal in the World Cup". The poster presumed I was American, not realising that people outside of America frequently post on these boards. (I can put a link to the thread if anyone is really interested).

    Perhaps he was confused because although I live in America, I'm from from America. I've only been here 8months, and I'm going home in a year and a half.

    I live with a guy here who teaches at highschool level. He thought Portugal was part of Asia :( he also thought that the UK was physically attached to mainland Europe, and had to be reminded which side Ireland was on :( :(

    I think a large part of it is the attitude that "we're america, we do it best, what could the outside world possibly have to offer us?"

    I should stop this post, as I'll just get myself out of hand.
    Basically all I ask is for you to be abit more open minded, and perhaps do a little study into world history, or at least Geography.

    M
     
  4. obhavekenobi78

    obhavekenobi78 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 20, 2002
    MalkieD2,

    I don't believe that your friend is indicative of most of the citizens of the United States. Stereotypically, Americans have generally been looked upon as less intelligent and less concerned with foreign or international affairs. I don't think that this generalization holds. I can tell you exactly where Portugal lies as well as England and Ireland. You just have to realize that stupid people exist everywhere. :)
     
  5. Darth_Omega

    Darth_Omega Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    May 19, 2002
    Actually Tod the differences between democracy & republic is vague.

    One difference at least is that you can call a dictatorship a republic...

    I live with a guy here who teaches at highschool level. He thought Portugal was part of Asia :( he also thought that the UK was physically attached to mainland Europe, and had to be reminded which side Ireland was on :( :(

    :eek:

    no comment... [face_plain]
     
  6. malkieD2

    malkieD2 Ex-Manager and RSA star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2002
    :) there are undoubtably stupid people all around the world, perhaps "Stupid' is too strong a word.

    The topic was asking why people hate America, I was adding what I felt was a major reason. The rest of the world laughs at American tourists (please see the first page for some great quotes). The result of this is that many people's experience of Americans come from meeting American tourists, who form a small percentage of your population. (when I say "tourists", you know I mean the stereotypical Yank with camera)

    Being from a remote part of Scotland, I frequently met tourists who wanted to know how we were doing with electricity, and if we had TV yet. (I'm 26 btw). Patronising and uneducated.

    So, this maybe why Americans can be disliked around the world. Oh, and the general comments like Glasgow being about 10 miles from London.

    Oh, and feeling it necessary to tell us at every opperunity how you have one that is bigger and better in America.

    Clearly, if *I* disliked Americans then I wouldn't have come to work here for 2 years. I'm just giving the opinion from someone outside the US.

    M
     
  7. sleazo

    sleazo Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 13, 2001
    Actually over one half of American high school students could not even find Canada on a map during a recent survey. When it comes to geography, lack of knowledge is the norm in the US.
     
  8. malkieD2

    malkieD2 Ex-Manager and RSA star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2002
    those surveys are always great !

    One was in the press recently that showed that a large percentage of teenagers didn't know the price of a pint of milk, but could tell you exactly how much a cell-phone call would cost, or the price of a new Playstation game.

    I'm amazed that americans don't know where Canada is, but I'll bet a serious amount of money that canadian teenagers know where the USA is.

    M
     
  9. sleazo

    sleazo Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 13, 2001
    I cant understand how a high school teacher doesnt know where Portugal is. This lack of knowledge by Americans regarding the rest of the world is a major reason why we are looked down upon. Americans in general are a very self centered lot.
     
  10. SirLancelot

    SirLancelot Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 10, 2002
    it is sad how dumb people are in america. im an American and i absolutly hate 75% of our education system because it teachs absolutly nothing.

    granted i know where Canada and Portugal are, but sometimes i jut have to hit my head on a wall and say "why.are.you.so.stupid?"


    i will bet you 50% of all Highschoolers in America could not tell you where Afganistan, Iraq, or perhapes even Pakistan are.
     
  11. sleazo

    sleazo Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 13, 2001
    more like 85%
     
  12. ImperialFC

    ImperialFC Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 29, 2001
    The rest of the world laughs at American tourists (please see the first page for some great quotes). The result of this is that many people's experience of Americans come from meeting American tourists, who form a small percentage of your population. (when I say "tourists", you know I mean the stereotypical Yank with camera)

    I think tourists are laughed at and scorned no matter which country they are from. I can't tell you how many fair-skinned people from the UK I see in Florida who look like lobsters, because they've failed to use adequate sunscreen (and for Gods sake, is there anyone who comes to the US from that part of the world not a Manchester United fan? I'm sure Blackburn, Leeds, Everton, etc., or teams from the SPL have fans that want to come the US :)). Nor can I express how much of a fashion don't it is for european male tourists to wear brown short shorts and a flourescent green hip pack :). Lastly, and most importantly, Wal-Mart is not the place to buy all things American. Go to the mall people, the mall :)

    Seriously, though there a few jackanapes as Mr. Burns would call them who don't know how to act when they travel from the US to another country, but not all of us are like that. IMHO you are representing your country when you travel abroad and you should act as polite and courteous as possible.


     
  13. bedada3

    bedada3 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 9, 2002
    The English taught us everything we know about arrogance and prejudice.

    Other than that, it's understandable why many countries hate the US. Especially when you observe how we are represented to the world.
     
  14. sith_chick

    sith_chick Guest

    I come back to this topic very cautiously, I can see I've made some enemies with my comments, it was a cheap stab, I know, saying "where the hell was America during WW2?" Yes you were there, but I stand by my statements that you didn't help until the war came to you. Also my father's family are Polish so I am bias, the fact that Poland was invaded at all says to me not enough was done. Anyway, I digress.

    I'm not stupid, I know that no country is perfect, hell I'm from Australia, look at our history, a country begun by slaughtering its inhabitants, we have the highest greenhouse emissions per person of any country in the world and the list goes on but America is a superpower of the world and with that comes responsibility.

    It is so easy for me to sit here and bag America, but I've done that, and it's hardly been fair! You asked "why do they hate us?" I don't hate America but I do think that the American government has the power to do so much and yet they do so little. Sure most of us are guilty of that, but we are not the most powerful nation in the world!

    Also Darth Geist, I think the world would be a better place without the likes of Nike, Coke and Big Macs!
     
  15. bedada3

    bedada3 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 9, 2002
    Wow, foreigners go to WalMart to buy American things? That's very smart.

    Back to the high school teacher who doesn't know where Portugal is. For Tau's sake, I'm a college drop-out and I know where countries are around the world.

    The education system in USA is about BS-ing your way through to graduation. These people don't learn anything else.
     
  16. Jedi_Icicle

    Jedi_Icicle Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 2001
    I think America is great.... The American people are great... the concept of America is great... the opportunity in America is great.... but the American governement is extremely corrupted...even worst..most of us Americans are so stupid, ignorant, blind that we believe anything we are told and anything we hear on TV. Most of us here don't know anything about history...except our own! Most of us are stupid and arrogant enough to believe that we are the best and that everyone else is just jealous of us!
    Let me quote or great moron american president: Mr Bush! "America was attacked because those terrorists are trying to take away our freedom... they are jealous of us and do not want us to live free...etc"
    What a moronic statement...and to think that people actually believe this crap! 9-11 had nothing to do with our freedom...it was an act of hatred from extremists!
    We are hated throughout the world because our governement is arrogant, hypocrite, selfish and controlling...
    And the Arabs do hate us the most...and the reason is because of the BS double standards we have afflicted to them. Israleli/palestinian conflict is a perfect example. We always side with Israel no matter what...not because we like the Israelis, but because they're one of our puppets that we use to control the middle east! We say Saddam has violated 16 UN resolutions...Guess what? Israel has been violating UN resolutions for 50 years! We attack Saddam when he invades Kuwait and we go kick him out...Guess what again? Israel has been aoocupying Palestine for 50 years!! We say Saddam is a dictator... guess what? So are a lot of our Arab "friends" like Jordan, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Pakistan etc... Listen I don't like Saddam, but it cracks me up to see all the excuses our governement uses to attack Iraq in the "good of Humanity"...Give me a break..we only act when it benefits us and....The US governement doesn't care about "the good of humanity", they don't care what happens to most nations, they don't care wether it's a dictatorship or not, they don't even really care about the American people...they care only about what benefits them as individual politicians... Iraq is all about Oil and economics... We love and protect Israel because we use them as middle Eastern Police...not because we care what happens to them...we bombed Afghanistan for revenge...not because we cared about freeing the Afghans from the taliban etc... We have always sided against the Arabs/Muslims....and honestly I can't blame them for hating us as we have been very unfair with them! Ironically most Arabs don't actually hate the American people or their way of life, they hate our unfair foreign policies and they way our governements bullies them.
    And dpn't get me started on the United nations....We don't listen to them either... we do whatever we want...we only need the United nations when it's convenient to us.....because we believe we're above the United Nations and they should be our puppets too!

    We are a controlling and unfair Empire... and that's why people don't like us! As Americans we must be able to see what are our good points AND bad points...
    As the most powerful nation and leaders of the world, our duty should be Fairness and Justice....not control and abuse!
     
  17. Senator_Amory

    Senator_Amory Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 7, 2002
    Yeah, and we Americans go to car dealerships to buy Japanese cars. :)

    I would also like to point out that the sky is blue.

    Not on Mars. 8-}

    The United States might not be a "true" democracy persay, but it is the best and strongest democracy, and the most purest democracy, ever in history...and to even last as long as it has would be a shocker to our fore-fathers. I have done my reserach, trust me.

    Al Gore would not have won. He didn't even win the popular vote, much less the Electoral College votes...which the Electoral College realy elects the president, not the people. Another count on how the US isn't that great of a democracy.

    John Adams only said that because the democracies from that time back were not democratic enough. They had constitutions and elected presidents, but the people never really ruled themselves. And I cannot count something as a democracy if they can allow a president crown himself as Emperor...similar to Bonaparte. But America is a democracy. A democracy is a government in which the people rule. And the Decleration of Independence had the famous words...of the people, for the people and by the people. Inwhich these same words were reflected by Abraham Lincoln. The United States of America is a "democratic republic". Because as it was stated before, a dictatorship can be called a republic...ex. "The People's Republic of China". Not a democracy...but a dictatorship. And many more.

    quoted from Webster's dictionary

    de-moc-ra-cy n. form of government by and for the people

    re-pub-lic n. a political unit or state where representatives are elected to exercise the power


    There you have it. The US of A is a "republican democracy" or a "democratic republic". Either way you put it...we are a democracy. And it was intended to be one. Even though it's not a pure one, it is the truest one to be established thus far in history.

    PS: Oh, and if you want to make your own "true" democracy, buy you a piece of land and create your own country. Check out "Micronations" on the internet. I think the idea is pretty cool.
     
  18. CmdrMitthrawnuruodo

    CmdrMitthrawnuruodo Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 1, 2000
    Yep we're a Democratic Republic.


    Btw Senator_Amory, you got post 666 [face_shocked] [face_devil]
     
  19. Tukafo

    Tukafo Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 18, 2002
    The US have NOT the best or purest form of democracy.
    The purest form of democracy currently in the world can be found in Switzerland or Finland. Citizens actually decide on the issues themselves in a referendum.

    The best form of democratic republics can be found in France or Germany. Those countries (among others) use a "proportional" representation which is far more democratic. If 20% of the voters vote for a particular party then I think it is the democratic duty of the state to have that party represented in parliament. The election system in the US or in Britain however would simply discard those votes and therefore discard the wish of 20% of the population. They would simply be ignored and not represented. Look at Britain - Tony Blair's Labour received around 40% of the vote in the last general election. That means that 60% (a majority) of the British public voted AGAINST Mr. Blair. But Labour hold three quarters of all the seat in parliament. Is that really the will of the people?
     
  20. Red-Seven

    Red-Seven Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 21, 1999
    We're getting well off topic here.


    The benefits and problems of a Parliamentary system are the subject of another thread.
     
  21. ImperialFC

    ImperialFC Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 29, 2001
    Wow, foreigners go to WalMart to buy American things? That's very smart

    Not really, especially when it comes to electronic goods. I remember seeing four people from England (and I won't use the UK designation because they were clearly from England :)), 2 adults and 2 kids, bring what essentially were glorified walkie-talkies to the check-out area in the electronics section. The clerk at Wal*Mart kept saying how great the product was when asked about it and how you could talk to each other in the store with them. However, when he tried to demonstrate how this "great" product worked, he evidently forgot it requires batteries. Eventually he put some in and he still couldn't get it to work. In the end those four people bought the thing, which is pretty much going to be useless as the only time I've seen people use them was during the Christmas shopping season in the mall and that was just to inform someone where the best sale was (which is pretty scary actually :)).
     
  22. obhavekenobi78

    obhavekenobi78 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 20, 2002
    Senator_Amory,

    If you were referring to my previous post, it was James Madison I was referencing, not John Adams.

    As an aside, I believe anyone who holds to the belief that the majority of Americans are of lesser intelligence than those from other nations is displaying ignorance.
     
  23. Tukafo

    Tukafo Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 18, 2002
    CNN conducted a poll before the last presidential election asking what areas are most important to the public when it comes to making their vote. "Foreign policies" was somewhere between position 70 and 80 on the list and I remember it was three places behind "UFO's"
     
  24. malkieD2

    malkieD2 Ex-Manager and RSA star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2002
    which is pretty much going to be useless

    why ?

    how can you pretend to know what they intend to use them for ? If a "glorified walkie talkie" is what they need, then why not buy one from WalMart ? Simple communication purposes across short distances are much better to a low powered walkie-talkie, rather than an expensive cell phone or high-powered professional CB device.

    Living in a free world you are entitled to buy whatever you want. Who you are to say what is purposeful, and what is not.

    They do have these sort of things in the UK you know, it wasn't like they made a special trip to the US to buy these because you can't get them elsewhere.

    I loved the comments about the lack of interest Americans have in foreign policy, I think that perfectly highlights why Americans are so disliked. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of people didn't actually know what foreign policy was all about.

    If its not on "Ricki Lake" then its not important.

    M
     
  25. obhavekenobi78

    obhavekenobi78 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 20, 2002
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