guuuude

Depends on the situation ;-)

littlejimmy

Gotta love a bit of 'Allo 'Allo and one particular episode of Fawlty Towers.

Dexter Manley

Good thread Alexa

britexpat76

I have spent half an hour thinking how to answer this post, I have lots of american friends, very good friends and I realiSed that they all have one thing in Common, they understand sarcasm.

Let me clarify that when I say America, I mean the United States of America, as a majority of people often do. Most people overlook the fact that America is actually a continent with a large number of interesting and varied countries that are not in the least bit as horrible as the USA. My complaints are exclusively targeted at the USA.

Well, I complain about the Americans on a regular basis, and as far as I am concerned, with plenty of reason. I often say that I hate Americans, which is a bit of a heavy-handed statement and not entirely meant. In reality, there are plenty of nice and plenty of horrible people in every country. The difference is that American society and culture frustrates and annoys me immensely.

The main things that get my goat-

- Obsessive pride. This really irritates me. I’m British, and a major component of the British sense of humour is insulting yourself. It doesn’t really matter if you mean it or not (and often I do, we have lots of problems of our own (the ****ing clowns running our country)) but it’s the actual act of mocking oneself. I just can’t see Americans being able to find the modesty. There are bloody flags everywhere. Let me just explain that in stark comparison, I can’t think of anywhere I know of within 10 miles where I can see the flag of my country being flown.

It’s not because we don’t like our country or are not proud of it. We don’t need to demonstrate that pride continually. I almost applaud the sense of national pride that Americans have, but I don’t. It’s over the top and besides, I don’t think they have much to be proud of.

- Sport. I could rant on this subject for ages but will keep it brief, World Series??(Played only in the US) The Ryder cup-Players and Fans showing no respect to the European players. Soccer, ITS FOOTBALL! Foam Fingers, why?Though I do like the invention of the beer hat.

- History. I realise that Americans try to make the most of what history they have, which is very minute. There are pubs in my home town that are older than the USA. Most of the buildings in the town centre are probably older than the USA. The Grammar school that I went to was founded in 1552, that’s nearly 500 years ago.

And that’s nothing. Nothing at all. The Great Pyramid, 4000 years old. Ancient Roman and Greek structures ranging from around 2000 years old (the Colosseum) to things like the Parthenon which is around 2500 years old and even neolithic structures in places like Scotland that can be around 6000 years old.

The USA is a very VERY new country, and it needs to realise that fact. There is no history in the USA. So stop banging on about the founding fathers and whatever else you think is history. Anything in the USA absolutely pales in comparison to places elsewhere that absolutely ooze history. Jericho is over ten thousand years old, Istanbul is over five thousand years old, Athens, 5000, Jerusalem, 4000 and so on.

- Culture and Society. American Culture is spreading across the globe like a virulent plague and Americanisation and Commercialisation are gradually destroying many places. American culture is cheap and nasty, American products are cheap and nasty, I like to use the xbox 360 as a relevant example. It feels cheap and shoddy, it looks cheap and shoddy, it breaks easily, its ugly, and it is designed and made with the express intent of making money for rich white men. It’s shit. The same can be said for American cars which is my specialist subject (I had to sell them for over 10 years), electronic products, the whole lot.

American society is also very violent, America has had a very very gentle and calm history. List the number of times the USA has been invaded. List the number of empires that have conquered it, subjugated the local population and slaughtered dissidents. From every perspective, the USA has had a very sheltered and relaxed history. You can rightly complain about 9 11, but it is nothing compared to, say, Africa which is ravaged by wars and massacres.

Why, then, are there so many murders? Why do people need bloody guns? Carrying a gun around annoys me more than anything else. A gun is designed for the express purpose of killing. Some people carry them for “self defence”, perhaps of the opinion that it will deter another attacker. Ultimately though, you don’t address violent crime by allowing everyone to carry around a potential murder weapon. Lets remember that the murderer can buy guns too. And lets not forget 7 children tragically gunned down in a school yesterday. (Though we have had our own instances of this happening it is much less frequent)

- The illusion of benefiting the world. I will admit that there are a number of things invented by Americans that have benefited the world, but that list is very insignificant. Perhaps the only truly significant invention is artificial flight. The Wright brothers are the fathers of air travel, and air travel truly changed the world we live in. You can argue about various electronic technologies and the Internet, but these things are not exclusive to the USA.

If you compare this to, say, the inventions of agriculture, music, metalworking, language and writing, maps, philosophy, gunpowder, sailing, government, steam power, steel, wheels and axles, sanitation, medicine, currency, printing, clocks, telephones and computers. All of these are important and critical inventions that drastically effect our lives and the world we live in. None of them have anything significant to do with the USA.

Just to clarify again. I don’t hate America(ns) as such, but I do get very irritated by the country as a whole.

commander

The shermans pay my salary. For that alone we love them. Plus they stepped up to the plate and smashed the Jerry's in WW2 and saved us all from the axis of evil.

Oh and shiner boc beer, the world would be shit without shiner..

I have loads of yank friends and their opinion that the world revolves around USA aside, they are great guys...all fat pie munchers though..

britexpat76

The claim to that they ‘saved our ass’ in two wars, but in truth,

WW1: they gave us almost no help, and only joined when the Germans sank many of their ships and tried to persuade the Mexicans to invade Texas

WW2: they refused to join, left us to deal with Hitler, and gave us no help. They SOLD us help, but that wrecked our economy after the war, which is why we’re no longer a superpower. Then they joined the war because Japan attacked THEM and Germany declared war on THEM.

But they have given us fast food, which for me living in the ME has been a god send.

commander

You are of course correct, PH triggered the USA into the war, however their sacrifices from D-Day onwards was huge.

guuuude

Sacrifices from the Americans????

**** them!!! The think they are world sherifs and whatever they do to do it only to keep their economy (oil the blood of economy) running!

They give a shit about everybody else then americans!!

And iits not because of WW2 that i dont like them, that was a war from our grandparents and not my generation. I evaluate only what they are doing in the younger historie and this is a **** up!!! Not for them for sure but for the rest of the world!

my couple of Rials!

britexpat76

The sacrifices I agree with, though far too many people believe the films they watch depicting only Americans winning the war, that kind of grates me too.

commander

Oh I agree, if you watch band of brothers or shaving ryans private's you can't help but think they won the war single handedly.

My grandad (the one who survived) fought with the yanks in france, he spoke highly of them to my father.

And this isn't any form of anti German post, like the dude above says, this was 2 generations ago..

scrubbedexpat141

Hahahahah, I saw a candidate who was called something Dickshit.

Awesome stuff.

Meow

I used to know a chap whose first name was Ashit.

scrubbedexpat141

Alexa

Ah...a movie grates you? Wow! Well, each to their own
Anyhow, see, the good thing is that you have a choice, a. you decide what bothers you (which apparently is the USA, its citizens and all that comes with it.

b. You never have to go there! You do not have to listen to any of it, and you do not have to watch American movies!

Isn't it fabulous to have choices?

Dexter Manley

I've spent significant time in the states and




- Obsessive pride-Only half of the country, the other half holds the stupid half in contempt
- Sport- The World Series is just a name, it's of no significance to Americans
- History- They don't know or care about any history, thats why they are returning to the medieval times or the turn of the last century.
-The USA is a very VERY new country, and it needs to realise that fact.- I guess you want them to act like guests on the planet?
-Culture and Society.- They make the best music- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VkA8HoB5m8
-American society is also very violent- What doesn't kill them makes them stronger..Its dog eat dog, but thats good for a man. If you want to live a rich and full life, you have to live dangerously.
- The illusion of benefiting the world.-98% of Americans aren't under that illusion. Thats a company line, no one believes it.

And I think weve watched more American sitcoms than most Americans have, they are considered tripe there as well.