zargof

Interesting post from an American regarding the truisms about America that most Americans can't see. I pretty much agree with everything that's written, and I think it's all been covered on here at one time or other, but it's still a nice summary.

Also comes complete with comments of outrage at the temerity of criticising anything American naturally...

http://bananenplanet.wordpress.com/2...about-america/

Sally Redux

Very good.

Zen10

"1. Few People Are Impressed By Us. There are exceptions of course. And those exceptions are called English and Australian people. Whoopdie-****ing-doo."

I'm English, and Australian, and I'm not impressed by Americans, so he can cross that off his list as well.

"2. Few People Hate Us"

Say that to the Canadians I know who deliberately walk around with giant maple leafs on their jumpers and backpacks when they're overseas so people don't confuse them with Americans.

"3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World"

Correct. See US foreign policy 1895 - 2013 for evidence.

"4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection"

Probably no different to any other nation.

"5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great"

Correct. American standards of living for the bulk of citizens is way lower than most of the democracies.

"6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us"

Correct. Dozens of countries have US standards of living or higher.

"7. We’re Paranoid"

Correct. See Department of Homeland Security policies since its creation.

"8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention"

Correct. And worse, they export their materialism to other nations. Watching Britain and Australia turn into nylon-hairdo, zoomed teeth ambulance chasing plastic replicas of America is horrible.

"9. We Are Very Unhealthy"

Correct, but probably no more so than other English-speaking nations. The problem is 62 million Americans have no healthcare. A bad combination.

"10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness"

Possibly.

Really good article, thanks for posting.

Jan Alaska

I agree with most of his points and so does my USC hubby however I can see that the article would probably upset other 'mercans.

RoadWarriorFromLP

He makes some fair points. But he's also prone to hyperbole and exaggeration, he's long on stereotyping and short on analysis, and he has a tendency to beat his points to death.

All of which makes him a sort of stereotypical uber-American. And being an American, he'll most likely miss the irony of that.

Hiro11

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume this was written by a very young person who grew up in a very right wing household and is now "questioning everything" after spending a year abroad. It's sophomoric, patronizing and hilariously hypocritical.

Hiro11

The vast majority of the comments either agree with the author or very respectfully disagree.

Yorkieabroad

this one was particularly astute and concise - not so sure about polite!

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zargof

It would appear that some people are taking an irreverant blog post a bit too seriously...

Speedwell

I'm just sitting here crying quietly in a corner to myself because you're all meanies.

zargof

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume your comprehension skills aren't very good:

"A Little “What The Hell Does This Guy Know?” Background: I’ve lived in different parts of the US, both the deep south and the northeast. I have visited most of the US’s 50 states. I’ve spent the past three years living almost entirely outside of the United States. I’ve lived in multiple countries in Europe, Asia and South America. I’ve visited over 40 countries in all and have spent far more time with non-Americans than with Americans during this period. I speak multiple languages. I’m not a tourist. I don’t stay in resorts and rarely stay in hostels. I rent apartments and try to integrate myself into each country I visit as much as possible. So there.

(Note: I realize these are generalizations and I realize there are always exceptions. I get it. You don’t have to post 55 comments telling me that you and your best friend are exceptions. If you really get that offended from some guy’s blog post, you may want to double-check your life priorities.)
"

Sally Redux

It's not especially right-wing around here but almost everyone thinks America is the best at everything.

Hiro11

Ah, the internet ad hominem.

...so he's a whiny, defensive recent college grad who has spent an ENTIRE three years living abroad, not just one. Likely with mommy and daddy paying the bills. I'm not sure I stand corrected.

This is a handy catch-all excuse for just posting whatever the hell your opinions might be without having to back them up. It's weasily in that it allows the author to duck any criticism without taking ownership of his opinions.

Gingerert

Ooh, that was a good read!

Sally Redux

One of the comments also said. "He doesn't back his views up."

Rather an odd view, and symptomatic of what the author is talking about.