zargof

It's a good job you have the moral high ground isn't it?

If you didn't even read the bit I quoted which was at the start of the post, how can we really know if you actually read the rest or just automatically hit the "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" key?

You do appear to be rather wound up about all this, which I think is a little ironic given the content of the post.

SultanOfSwing

Seemed a pretty harmless article to me.

The knee-jerk reaction for many is to take it as a negative criticism rather than bringing up a few points that more people should be aware of.

Anian

While he makes a few errors, most of it is pretty true. And of course, he proves how bad Americans are by doing some of the same things that he complains about them doing. The best parts are the comments that call him a liberal, or ironically compare the US to a third world country as an example of why the US is so great - I'm not sure if it is because they know that another western country would beat them or if they only know about those places from bad things that happen in the news.

Zen10

I agree. Also worth mentioning is that Americans are changing faster than any other nation on earth as well. Three generations ago they were essentially Europeans in all aspects, cultural, racial, political, etc., but in two generations' time the majority of Americans will be black or Hispanic. This means the majority will have inherited a different culture. This is the only time in history this has happened (so far), so it's unprecedented. It will change the way all Americans feel about themselves a great deal and the rest of us will feel that change around the world. When you factor in that China will have a stronger economy than the USA by around 2015, and a bigger military by around 2025, I think the "we're the best" attitude will slip and they will become more introspective.

HumphreyC

You forgot he's a dating coach who assists men with 'their emotional and psychological issues' and writes books on how to pick up women.

paranoidandroid

I wouldn't go along with many Brits being generally impressed with America, but apart from that it seems pretty (stereotypically) accurate.
Funny that it's written by an American, if any of us Brits had made any one of those observations, some sensitive american soul would have automatically taken offence and decided we were being rude just for the sake of it.

Ichigo-chan

scrubbedexpat099

There was a post on VJ from someone who had petitioned their Irish Fiancé living in Jersey.

USCIS sent the paperwork to Paris, they thought Jersey was a part of France.

zargof

Well at least they didn't send it to Trenton.

Speedwell

ROFL.

Well, the NVC originally gave my Northern Irish husband a Dublin case number instead of a London one, despite him saying he had a British passport and giving his address as United Kingdom, and having an address and work history completely in the UK. Fortunately a supervisor caught it or we'd probably still be trying to sort it out.

Manc

the very people that should read it, are exactly the people that won't.

Sunshinestate

Hello,

While searching the net for another reason, I saw this board pop up and out of curiosity I ventured in to see what it was about, and got curious. I saw this thread and found it interesting.

I am an American Citizen, born and raised and realize this is a board by and for British Expats, but I wanted to respond to this one as I see a large measure of truth in what the author says. As you might imagine, I also see some bad generalizing going on as well.

Points one and two I agree with. I have visited several European nations, Turkey and Israel briefly and have been in most South American countries. I never found the people in these countries to be impressed by the fact that I was from the US. In fact it was quite the reverse in France and Italy as the "Yankee go Home" look was clear and evident. Granted, I was traveling on the dime of Uncle Sam's Yacht Club, and the unfriendly attitude might have been because of my obvious military appearance.

On his point three, that is mostly true. We are for the most part an insular people.

His point four is totally out to lunch imho.

Five and six seem related. Standard of living rankings vary across the net, but the US ranks high enough for me...as if I cared really. My life changes little with these country rankings.

Obviously there are other great places to live besides the US as I have seen them and liked much of what I saw. Not enough to immigrate mind you, but enough to know the rest of the world is not a dump in comparison.

On seven, you aren't paranoid if people are really out to get you.

I guess we are, but any more than the Russians?

His point eight is a load of bilge imho.

On nine, yes we have a lot of work to do in regards to health. Guilty as charged.

On Ten, again, some may, but many more do not. US citizens are not a monolith of thought and attitudes anymore than the Citizens of the UK or France or Germany. However, some self reflection is warranted.

Anyway, thanks for letting me intrude. Looked at some other threads before I posted and I appreciate the different perspective. Also, I wish you luck in your transition to life in the US and salute your courage. I am sure it was not an easy decision to leave family and friends and come out of your "comfort zone" to move to another country that is far different than you might have imagined before.

And now, a shameless plug for my home state. There is more to Florida than Disney World. If you like a wide variety of insects, have a love for intense heat and humidity, and always fancied living on a glorified sandbar, then give us a look.

Regards,

SS

Sunshinestate

There are also a few other things that Americans do not know about their own country, and it is due to the same list given before..our educational system.

1. The United States was never an isolationist nation.

2. related to number one, we had a foreign policy before 1941.

3. The relationship between the US and European powers during the 19th century was mostly one of antagonism, and that includes the French.

4. The Democrat party started the KKK and created Jim Crow Laws, not Republicans.

5. Before the truth was known, FDR admired Mussolini, calling him that "admirable Italian Gentleman".

6. Wilson was one of the biggest racist and political thugs ever to be put in the White House.

7. The "success" of the Marshall Plan is a total myth.

8. American schools do not teach the Federalist papers. IT shows what the founders wanted, and that will not do in today's government control schools.

9. There is no reason to continue to fleece the American tax payer "defending" nations that can do so themselves.

10. While we claim to be anti-marxist, we have done more to promote that philosophy than even the Soviet Union.

Sunshinestate

The point here is that how can Europeans expect the average American to understand the nuances of the European Union, when they do not have the faintest damn clue of the history of their own country?

It is pathetic and sad. Ok, I am done now.

SS

Speedwell

Um, you're not a libertarian or anything, are you? I'm having a hard time these days telling the difference between far-right rhetoric and the mainstream views of my countrymen, though maybe they aren't much different.

You're going to find a couple people on these boards who agree with the "government bad, poor people bad, founding fathers good, business good" line, in general, but I'm not sure how many of us are going to tag along.