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The Greatest Country on Earth!

1246711

Posts

  • FarseerBaradasFarseerBaradas Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    DanHibiki wrote:
    Mahnmut wrote:

    There's no actual logical basis for nationalism, at least that I've seen. Even if you agree with the ideals, it's just a piece of land. All the ideals that people invoke to justify all of it can be found in numerous places, not to mention the long history of the country contradicting itself (the obvious example being slavery). When it comes down to it, it's just a place. You live there, and yes, you should try and make it better. But there's no reason to identify with it or put it on a pedestal.

    Limed for, dare I say it? the truth.

    Well, also consider that most of the population of the planet believes there is a man in the sky who is always watching you.

    And he can judge whether you've been a good or bad person.

    Edit: Fuck quotes.
    santa?

    Yes, santa.

    May santa rain down fire and brimstone, but only on those naughty.

    FarseerBaradas on
    sigeb2.png
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    What would you rather us do? "Oh, yeah. Americans really are ultra-conservative, mind-blowingly stupid fundamentalist christians. It's all true."
    Well, are you?

    Some of you are. Some aren't. But instead of that simple answer, we get "Oh, well, don't go to the midwest! And Texas, that's crazy! And the south, whoah! But the rest of us, we're the REAL americans. And how dare you lump us in with those others just because we happen to share a national identity?" I understand resentment at being stereotyped, and i think that's perfectly valid. But there's a lot of pre-emptive defensiveness, and it's almost impossible to speak of America collectively as an outsider and not have to put up with a busload of "You can't group us together like that! We're so different!"

    But we are so different. Are you saying we aren't? Or that because we are in the same country that arguement isn't valid?
    Course not. Arguing past each other here, I think. It's not that there aren't different segments of a society, or that the statement itself is invalid, it's that it's often defensive in the extreme. It's that when I here the "america is diverse" argument, it tends to be in the context of creating a "somebody elses problem" field. I'm not suggesting it is incumbent upon anybody in particular to solve those problems, just to acknowledge that as a country that acts as a collective entity, those problems are going to be seen by the rest of the world as being collective.

    tynic on
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    Well, I'm a member of a few anti-racism groups, but not active in any of them.

    Other than that I just tell racist guys that they're fuckin cockblocks whenever I see them doing their thang'.
    [
    I love that you're a "member of a few anti-racism groups" when you were the fuck-knuckle insisting that Australia was not a racist country a few threads back. Make up your mind, chucklehead.

    I can't remember what you're talking about but I don't remember much so I'll assume you're right. I still maintain that as a whole Australia is not a particually racist country, but even the best countries in the world (best is a sill word here, talking about the Swedens and the New Zealands of the world) have a level of racism.

    Sweden, like most of scandinavia, is a horribly racist country.

    tynic on
  • blizzard224blizzard224 Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    Well, I'm a member of a few anti-racism groups, but not active in any of them.

    Other than that I just tell racist guys that they're fuckin cockblocks whenever I see them doing their thang'.
    [
    I love that you're a "member of a few anti-racism groups" when you were the fuck-knuckle insisting that Australia was not a racist country a few threads back. Make up your mind, chucklehead.

    I can't remember what you're talking about but I don't remember much so I'll assume you're right. I still maintain that as a whole Australia is not a particually racist country, but even the best countries in the world (best is a sill word here, talking about the Swedens and the New Zealands of the world) have a level of racism.

    Sweden, like most of scandinavia, is a horribly racist country.

    Well color me suprised, I've never been there but I was under the impression that it was an increadibly liberal country. Care to give a source? Also give me another example for my argument against you. :P

    blizzard224 on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • redxredx I(x)=2(x)+1 whole numbersRegistered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    yeah, we're cunts.

    The point is not that anyone is a bigger cunt than anyone else, the point isn't that you should be personally responsible for what other people do, or even necessarily what your government does. The point is merely that I don't say "Oh, well, Queensland ... it's a different country up there. You gotta understand our diversity." We're nasty, brutish, racist bigots and the localized distribution of idiots doesn't make them any less attached to me, and it soils my country whereever they live.

    This is not necessarily at red, who made some good points. But I hear "oh well, state X is a hole, we're not like that" and it's not a very useful attitude. It's defensive buck-passing. Bitch and moan, be a bigot, don't be a bigot, live in Texas, live in New England, whatever. I resent the way that america's supposed diversity is used as an excuse by people to distance themselves from problems.

    so... fine.

    America is a bunch of homps who pose the greatest threat to the peace and prosperity of the human race.

    It is equally the fault of all of us, because that's what democaracy means.

    I've tried to change that, and though I could have tried harder, it was not enough. I can't really concive of anything that would be enough to change that.

    It's not a solution. It's not an excuse. It's just reality. It isn't really one which I can live with or really even contemplate while sober, but there it is.

    I could move somewhere else. But then that would be like those bullshit kantian solutions you are seeing in other threads. I can live here and try to change things, and fail miserably. I can ignore the problem or try to shift the blame. That last one lets me sleep at night, and doesn't really make much of a diffrence in the outcome. You're right, I guess. It isn't owning up to the problem, so just as soon as I see a better solution, I'll jump on it.

    Attacking y'all for your own issues isn't a solution either. You're right about that as well.

    OH, I'm sorry, I'm not agreeing with Tynic, he's just being an ass.

    Didn't mean to confuse you, I just thought I'd pipe in saying that some people do actually do something.

    no worries, I'm not really confused or anything. Tynic, is a she, IIRC. It's good that you are doing things to try to help.

    redx on
    They moistly come out at night, moistly.
  • saggiosaggio Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    urbman wrote:
    Im am absolutely proud to be an American and if the time arouse I would stand up and defend her. I am proud of the constitution and what this country stands for. To me the founding fathers are the greatest men to ever live.

    This is another aspect of American culture that I don't understand at all. I can understand the historical significance of having the first modern written constitution; but why are your so-called 'founding fathers' so special? I always see the infallibility of Benjamin Franklin (opposed the Quebec Act; wrote extensively about the need to snuff out Canadien culture) and Thomas Jefferson in discussions of constitutional politics - what makes these people beyond reproach?

    In my Canadian history class, we openly talked about what douchebags the fathers of Confederation were. I never see that from Americans about their important 'founding fathers'.

    saggio on
    3DS: 0232-9436-6893
  • FyreWulffFyreWulff YouRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2006
    While I don't hold them on as high a pedestal, it took balls to basically sign their own death warrants. They also taught us about how they constantly fought and Jefferson's illegitimate children, yadda yadda.


    re: buck passing: get over it. the US is 50 seperate states in a federal union. No two states are alike. If you want to issue blanket statements, at least figure out the correct state.

    FyreWulff on
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2006
    Missed the point again, ducky, but that's fine because I really wasn't responding to you. I was ranting at an unseen opponent who isn't even in this thread. Your post was heartfelt and appreciated, it just began with this uber-defensive "How can you outsiders understand such a disparate and multi-cultural society? How can you pass judgement on us without experiencing our myriad social varieties?" It's not ABOUT fixing problems or accepting responsibility ('own your shit' was a pretty aggressive phrasing that thoroughly obscured any point I was originally making). I just really hate seeing the "you don't understand" defense over and over again.

    tynic on
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2006
    FyreWulff wrote:
    While I don't hold them on as high a pedestal, it took balls to basically sign their own death warrants. They also taught us about how they constantly fought and Jefferson's illegitimate children, yadda yadda.


    re: buck passing: get over it. the US is 50 seperate states in a federal union. No two states are alike. If you want to issue blanket statements, at least figure out the correct state.
    So split up. You want to act like fifty countries, be fifty countries. Don't act as one and say "but it was them!" when people call you on it.

    tynic on
  • thorpethorpe Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    saggio wrote:
    urbman wrote:
    Im am absolutely proud to be an American and if the time arouse I would stand up and defend her. I am proud of the constitution and what this country stands for. To me the founding fathers are the greatest men to ever live.

    This is another aspect of American culture that I don't understand at all. I can understand the historical significance of having the first modern written constitution; but why are your so-called 'founding fathers' so special? I always see the infallibility of Benjamin Franklin (opposed the Quebec Act; wrote extensively about the need to snuff out Canadien culture) and Thomas Jefferson in discussions of constitutional politics - what makes these people beyond reproach?

    In my Canadian history class, we openly talked about what douchebags the fathers of Confederation were. I never see that from Americans about their important 'founding fathers'.

    Shockingly enough, different nations have different perspectives on historical figures.

    Also, Benjamin Franklin is kind of a bad example. That guy was responsible for some pretty important scientific discoveries.

    thorpe on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • real_pochaccoreal_pochacco Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    FyreWulff wrote:
    While I don't hold them on as high a pedestal, it took balls to basically sign their own death warrants. They also taught us about how they constantly fought and Jefferson's illegitimate children, yadda yadda.


    re: buck passing: get over it. the US is 50 seperate states in a federal union. No two states are alike. If you want to issue blanket statements, at least figure out the correct state.
    So split up. You want to act like fifty countries, be fifty countries. Don't act as one and say "but it was them!" when people call you on it.

    I wish.

    real_pochacco on
  • ege02ege02 __BANNED USERS regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    FyreWulff wrote:
    While I don't hold them on as high a pedestal, it took balls to basically sign their own death warrants. They also taught us about how they constantly fought and Jefferson's illegitimate children, yadda yadda.


    re: buck passing: get over it. the US is 50 seperate states in a federal union. No two states are alike. If you want to issue blanket statements, at least figure out the correct state.
    So split up. You want to act like fifty countries, be fifty countries. Don't act as one and say "but it was them!" when people call you on it.

    Exactly.

    ege02 on
  • redxredx I(x)=2(x)+1 whole numbersRegistered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    I just really hate seeing the "you don't understand" defense over and over again.


    ahh. I honestly didn't know it was common. It is a pretty natural response to living...

    I'm doing it again. :)


    I alway did identify with him in 16 candles.

    redx on
    They moistly come out at night, moistly.
  • saggiosaggio Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    thorpe wrote:
    saggio wrote:
    urbman wrote:
    Im am absolutely proud to be an American and if the time arouse I would stand up and defend her. I am proud of the constitution and what this country stands for. To me the founding fathers are the greatest men to ever live.

    This is another aspect of American culture that I don't understand at all. I can understand the historical significance of having the first modern written constitution; but why are your so-called 'founding fathers' so special? I always see the infallibility of Benjamin Franklin (opposed the Quebec Act; wrote extensively about the need to snuff out Canadien culture) and Thomas Jefferson in discussions of constitutional politics - what makes these people beyond reproach?

    In my Canadian history class, we openly talked about what douchebags the fathers of Confederation were. I never see that from Americans about their important 'founding fathers'.

    Shockingly enough, different nations have different perspectives on historical figures.

    Also, Benjamin Franklin is kind of a bad example. That guy was responsible for some pretty important scientific discoveries.

    That's not what I meant. Generally, my perception is that many Americans are incredibly deferential to authority when that authority happens to invoke the 'founding fathers' or your flag. I find that odd, especially coming from a country that boasts about how it supposedly questions all authority.

    saggio on
    3DS: 0232-9436-6893
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2006
    redx wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    I just really hate seeing the "you don't understand" defense over and over again.


    ahh. I honestly didn't know it was common. It is a pretty natural response to living...

    I'm doing it again. :)


    I alway did identify with him in 16 candles.
    Nah, we're cool, red. My problem is hanging out with too many east-coast liberals who can't have a meaningful discussion about national policies without spending ten minutes on "we're not the south" caveats. I mean, once, YES, people need to know about the state's autonomy and different demographics and whatnot. But every goddamn time and it starts to wear on me.

    tynic on
  • thorpethorpe Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    redx wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    I just really hate seeing the "you don't understand" defense over and over again.


    ahh. I honestly didn't know it was common. It is a pretty natural response to living...

    I'm doing it again. :)


    I alway did identify with him in 16 candles.
    Nah, we're cool, red. My problem is hanging out with too many east-coast liberals who can't have a meaningful discussion about national policies without spending ten minutes on "we're not the south" caveats. I mean, once, YES, people need to know about the state's autonomy and different demographics and whatnot. But every goddamn time and it starts to wear on me.

    Yes, but (and this isn't directed at you) it gets similarly tiresome to hear "THOSE OBESE AMERICANS AND THEIR SUVS AND STUPIDITY LAWL" all the time from people who know as little about the United States as I do about Australia.

    International discussion of politics is frustrating, since it is all too often colored by national pride and bias.

    thorpe on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    FyreWulff wrote:
    While I don't hold them on as high a pedestal, it took balls to basically sign their own death warrants. They also taught us about how they constantly fought and Jefferson's illegitimate children, yadda yadda.


    re: buck passing: get over it. the US is 50 seperate states in a federal union. No two states are alike. If you want to issue blanket statements, at least figure out the correct state.
    So split up. You want to act like fifty countries, be fifty countries. Don't act as one and say "but it was them!" when people call you on it.

    Remember the last time some of those countries tried to split off?

    Incenjucar on
  • Der Waffle MousDer Waffle Mous Blame this on the misfortune of your birth. New Yark, New Yark.Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    thorpe wrote:
    saggio wrote:
    urbman wrote:
    Im am absolutely proud to be an American and if the time arouse I would stand up and defend her. I am proud of the constitution and what this country stands for. To me the founding fathers are the greatest men to ever live.

    This is another aspect of American culture that I don't understand at all. I can understand the historical significance of having the first modern written constitution; but why are your so-called 'founding fathers' so special? I always see the infallibility of Benjamin Franklin (opposed the Quebec Act; wrote extensively about the need to snuff out Canadien culture) and Thomas Jefferson in discussions of constitutional politics - what makes these people beyond reproach?

    In my Canadian history class, we openly talked about what douchebags the fathers of Confederation were. I never see that from Americans about their important 'founding fathers'.

    Shockingly enough, different nations have different perspectives on historical figures.

    Also, Benjamin Franklin is kind of a bad example. That guy was responsible for some pretty important scientific discoveries.
    Indeed, that's one of those things I can never understand. Granted, Franklin is one of the admittedly neater members of that particular group.

    Washington, for example, has a special place in hell so to speak, in my culture. Hamilton (or am I thinking of Paine) weren't even well liked back in their time.

    Der Waffle Mous on
    Steam PSN: DerWaffleMous Origin: DerWaffleMous Bnet: DerWaffle#1682
  • redxredx I(x)=2(x)+1 whole numbersRegistered User regular
    edited December 2006
    thorpe wrote:
    saggio wrote:
    urbman wrote:
    Im am absolutely proud to be an American and if the time arouse I would stand up and defend her. I am proud of the constitution and what this country stands for. To me the founding fathers are the greatest men to ever live.

    This is another aspect of American culture that I don't understand at all. I can understand the historical significance of having the first modern written constitution; but why are your so-called 'founding fathers' so special? I always see the infallibility of Benjamin Franklin (opposed the Quebec Act; wrote extensively about the need to snuff out Canadien culture) and Thomas Jefferson in discussions of constitutional politics - what makes these people beyond reproach?

    In my Canadian history class, we openly talked about what douchebags the fathers of Confederation were. I never see that from Americans about their important 'founding fathers'.

    Shockingly enough, different nations have different perspectives on historical figures.

    Also, Benjamin Franklin is kind of a bad example. That guy was responsible for some pretty important scientific discoveries.

    well.... not really. He was one hell of a player, an amazing diplomat, a great entrpenure and pretty good at comunicating in any medium availible ot him. hell, he wasn't even too much of a douchebag.

    the lightning thing was probably not true, and really wasn't all that signifigant if you look at what other people were doing.


    Really though, a lot of out 'founding fathers' were pretty impressive if you take the time to do some research.

    You can knock america for a whole lot of things, but really reviering some of the greatest minds of thier generation for several generations running... well... that ain't one of them.

    We had a really good start.

    redx on
    They moistly come out at night, moistly.
  • thorpethorpe Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Incenjucar wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    FyreWulff wrote:
    While I don't hold them on as high a pedestal, it took balls to basically sign their own death warrants. They also taught us about how they constantly fought and Jefferson's illegitimate children, yadda yadda.


    re: buck passing: get over it. the US is 50 seperate states in a federal union. No two states are alike. If you want to issue blanket statements, at least figure out the correct state.
    So split up. You want to act like fifty countries, be fifty countries. Don't act as one and say "but it was them!" when people call you on it.

    Remember the last time some of those countries tried to split off?

    Yeah, but those states were douchebags or something. Anyway, the various states are nowhere near as independent from the federal government now as they were before the Civil War.

    thorpe on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2006
    thorpe wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    redx wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    I just really hate seeing the "you don't understand" defense over and over again.


    ahh. I honestly didn't know it was common. It is a pretty natural response to living...

    I'm doing it again. :)


    I alway did identify with him in 16 candles.
    Nah, we're cool, red. My problem is hanging out with too many east-coast liberals who can't have a meaningful discussion about national policies without spending ten minutes on "we're not the south" caveats. I mean, once, YES, people need to know about the state's autonomy and different demographics and whatnot. But every goddamn time and it starts to wear on me.

    Yes, but (and this isn't directed at you) it gets similarly tiresome to hear "THOSE OBESE AMERICANS AND THEIR SUVS AND STUPIDITY LAWL" all the time from people who know as little about the United States as I do about Australia.

    International discussion of politics is frustrating, since it is all too often colored by national pride and bias.
    I'm down with that. I imagine it is far more frustrating, actually, because America is so omnipresent that everyone has an opinion, whereas outside southeast asia more people are willing to say "Australia? I dunno."

    (I'm fully aware that the windmill I was tilting at was tangential to the thread at best, by the way. Stereotypes are horribly retarded. I think I once wrote a Limed post about it, actually).

    tynic on
  • blizzard224blizzard224 Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    thorpe wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    redx wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    I just really hate seeing the "you don't understand" defense over and over again.


    ahh. I honestly didn't know it was common. It is a pretty natural response to living...

    I'm doing it again. :)


    I alway did identify with him in 16 candles.
    Nah, we're cool, red. My problem is hanging out with too many east-coast liberals who can't have a meaningful discussion about national policies without spending ten minutes on "we're not the south" caveats. I mean, once, YES, people need to know about the state's autonomy and different demographics and whatnot. But every goddamn time and it starts to wear on me.

    Yes, but (and this isn't directed at you) it gets similarly tiresome to hear "THOSE OBESE AMERICANS AND THEIR SUVS AND STUPIDITY LAWL" all the time from people who know as little about the United States as I do about Australia.

    International discussion of politics is frustrating, since it is all too often colored by national pride and bias.
    I'm down with that. I imagine it is far more frustrating, actually, because America is so omnipresent that everyone has an opinion, whereas outside southeast asia more people are willing to say "Australia? I dunno."

    (I'm fully aware that the windmill I was tilting at was tangential to the thread at best, by the way. Stereotypes are horribly retarded. I think I once wrote a Limed post about it, actually).

    Tynic, you seem to know what you're talking about... care to give me the name of a country that isn't actually racist? I'm not attacking you or anything, I'm genuinely interested...

    blizzard224 on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    WHY wrote:
    thorpe wrote:
    saggio wrote:
    urbman wrote:
    Im am absolutely proud to be an American and if the time arouse I would stand up and defend her. I am proud of the constitution and what this country stands for. To me the founding fathers are the greatest men to ever live.

    This is another aspect of American culture that I don't understand at all. I can understand the historical significance of having the first modern written constitution; but why are your so-called 'founding fathers' so special? I always see the infallibility of Benjamin Franklin (opposed the Quebec Act; wrote extensively about the need to snuff out Canadien culture) and Thomas Jefferson in discussions of constitutional politics - what makes these people beyond reproach?

    In my Canadian history class, we openly talked about what douchebags the fathers of Confederation were. I never see that from Americans about their important 'founding fathers'.

    Shockingly enough, different nations have different perspectives on historical figures.

    Also, Benjamin Franklin is kind of a bad example. That guy was responsible for some pretty important scientific discoveries.
    Indeed, that's one of those things I can never understand. Granted, Franklin is one of the admittedly neater members of that particular group.

    Washington, for example, has a special place in hell so to speak, in my culture. Hamilton (or am I thinking of Paine) weren't even well liked back in their time.
    Hamilton was fine. Everyone liked Paine, then he went to France and pissed off the French, and they put him in jail. Then the Americans convinced the French to give him back. Then he pissed off the Americans. Then he died poor.

    matt has a problem on
    nibXTE7.png
  • thorpethorpe Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    thorpe wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    redx wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    I just really hate seeing the "you don't understand" defense over and over again.


    ahh. I honestly didn't know it was common. It is a pretty natural response to living...

    I'm doing it again. :)


    I alway did identify with him in 16 candles.
    Nah, we're cool, red. My problem is hanging out with too many east-coast liberals who can't have a meaningful discussion about national policies without spending ten minutes on "we're not the south" caveats. I mean, once, YES, people need to know about the state's autonomy and different demographics and whatnot. But every goddamn time and it starts to wear on me.

    Yes, but (and this isn't directed at you) it gets similarly tiresome to hear "THOSE OBESE AMERICANS AND THEIR SUVS AND STUPIDITY LAWL" all the time from people who know as little about the United States as I do about Australia.

    International discussion of politics is frustrating, since it is all too often colored by national pride and bias.
    I'm down with that. I imagine it is far more frustrating, actually, because America is so omnipresent that everyone has an opinion, whereas outside southeast asia more people are willing to say "Australia? I dunno."

    (I'm fully aware that the windmill I was tilting at was tangential to the thread at best, by the way. Stereotypes are horribly retarded. I think I once wrote a Limed post about it, actually).

    Tynic, you seem to know what you're talking about... care to give me the name of a country that isn't actually racist? I'm not attacking you or anything, I'm genuinely interested...

    There's like, that mile long country in Italy. Italians are usually pretty level.

    And I'm not talking about the Vatican.

    thorpe on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • blizzard224blizzard224 Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    thorpe wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    thorpe wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    redx wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    I just really hate seeing the "you don't understand" defense over and over again.


    ahh. I honestly didn't know it was common. It is a pretty natural response to living...

    I'm doing it again. :)


    I alway did identify with him in 16 candles.
    Nah, we're cool, red. My problem is hanging out with too many east-coast liberals who can't have a meaningful discussion about national policies without spending ten minutes on "we're not the south" caveats. I mean, once, YES, people need to know about the state's autonomy and different demographics and whatnot. But every goddamn time and it starts to wear on me.

    Yes, but (and this isn't directed at you) it gets similarly tiresome to hear "THOSE OBESE AMERICANS AND THEIR SUVS AND STUPIDITY LAWL" all the time from people who know as little about the United States as I do about Australia.

    International discussion of politics is frustrating, since it is all too often colored by national pride and bias.
    I'm down with that. I imagine it is far more frustrating, actually, because America is so omnipresent that everyone has an opinion, whereas outside southeast asia more people are willing to say "Australia? I dunno."

    (I'm fully aware that the windmill I was tilting at was tangential to the thread at best, by the way. Stereotypes are horribly retarded. I think I once wrote a Limed post about it, actually).

    Tynic, you seem to know what you're talking about... care to give me the name of a country that isn't actually racist? I'm not attacking you or anything, I'm genuinely interested...

    There's like, that mile long country in Italy. Italians are usually pretty level.

    And I'm not talking about the Vatican.

    The Vatican.

    :lol:

    What about Russia? Or china? :wink:

    blizzard224 on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2006
    Tynic, you seem to know what you're talking about... care to give me the name of a country that isn't actually racist? I'm not attacking you or anything, I'm genuinely interested...
    Ah, yes, the fabled no-racists zone of Shangri-La. How could I forget?

    Dude, people are cockholes everywhere. Some places are worse than others, NZ isn't so terribly bad, for example. I just found it funny that you pointed to Swedon as a bastion of enlightened race-relations, given their problems with Jewish (formerly) and Turkish (latterly) immigration. I will say this for Scandinavia, they've got the social institutions to do something about it. The Swedish government has been relatively open in its immigration policies, it's the inbuilt xenophobia of non-blondes that now has to be overcome.

    tynic on
  • redxredx I(x)=2(x)+1 whole numbersRegistered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    Nah, we're cool, red. My problem is hanging out with too many east-coast liberals who can't have a meaningful discussion about national policies without spending ten minutes on "we're not the south" caveats. I mean, once, YES, people need to know about the state's autonomy and different demographics and whatnot. But every goddamn time and it starts to wear on me.
    I'd imagine it would wear a bit.

    I'm an east coast libral living in the south.

    not grabing a hammer and stoving people's heads in, is an every day struggle.

    Really, if a day goes by when I don't look at someone and think "what the fuck is wrong with you?" it probably means that I didn't leave my house.




    hey, so do people have bumper stickers down there?

    redx on
    They moistly come out at night, moistly.
  • FCDFCD Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Also guns.

    I really don't get it. Why does the stereotype american you see on sitcoms or in movies (I really don't know another kind, so feel free to correct me/call me a moron if this isn't the way many think) remain so stanchly pro-guns. They kill people. I don't think they should be outlawed - they certainly have their purposes, but goddam there's no need to keep one in the house 'for protection'.

    I think the media plays a central role in this, both on the local and national level. Since it tends to concentrate on news stories that involve murder, rape, kidnapping and other nasty things happening to ordinary people, the American public at large ends up with a wrongly magnified picture of how dangerous life is in our own country. And the reason the networks and newspapers do all this? For money, of course. Carnage is horrible, but it attracts attention, and attention means more rattings for the news networks, and more circulation for the papers. Money makes the world go round, as they say, as well as keeping the people fearful of all the wrong things.

    FCD on
    Gridman! Baby DAN DAN! Baby DAN DAN!
  • JinniganJinnigan Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    China loves white people, trust you me.

    Jinnigan on
    whatifihadnofriendsshortenedsiggy2.jpg
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2006
    redx wrote:
    hey, so do people have bumper stickers down there?
    I was behind a car with three different AFL stickers the other day. My god but they drove badly.

    After much observation, I am forced to conclude that bumper stickers seriously impinge upon a cars braking, acceleration and handling. Especially if they're shaped like a fish.

    tynic on
  • BewisBewis Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    I really have to suggest this book by Andrew Bacevich, Andrew_Bacevich_The_New_American_Militarism_sm.jpg

    Unfortunetly, I haven't read all of it yet but from what I have, the basic premise is that, since World War II, we've been relying more and more on the military to carry out our foreign policy, to the point where most Americans tend not to view it as a measure of last resort, and where some believe it should be used before other policy measures, i.e. shoot first ask later. It's really a very good book, I'm just extremely lazy about reading it, hopefully I'll get to it after "The Lexus and The Olive Tree."

    Secondly, this thread just reminded me why I'm majoring in Government. Thanks, thread.

    Thirdly, if I ever need a reminder of what can happen when American Nationalism/Patriotism is taken to it's ideological extreme (and unfortunetly, I think this includes at least a few million Americans), I just head on over to Freerepublic.com. Honestly, it's a kind of twisted entertainment akin to a car crash, it's so unbelievably horrible that you can't look away; it makes one wonder, "are humans capable of believing such sentiments?" before the terrible realization dawns on you that these are your countrymen spouting this filth on topic after topic after topic. It's like some maniacal caricature of the absolute worst American stereotype.

    Sorry, that was a bit of a rant. I'm really hoping I get to study abroad at Cambridge this summer. That would be fairly to pretty damn awesome.

    Bewis on
    donatedestruction.png
    Please, think of the children.
  • IncenjucarIncenjucar VChatter Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited December 2006
    FCD wrote:
    Also guns.

    I really don't get it. Why does the stereotype american you see on sitcoms or in movies (I really don't know another kind, so feel free to correct me/call me a moron if this isn't the way many think) remain so stanchly pro-guns. They kill people. I don't think they should be outlawed - they certainly have their purposes, but goddam there's no need to keep one in the house 'for protection'.

    I think the media plays a central role in this, both on the local and national level. Since it tends to concentrate on news stories that involve murder, rape, kidnapping and other nasty things happening to ordinary people, the American public at large ends up with a wrongly magnified picture of how dangerous life is in our own country. And the reason the networks and newspapers do all this? For money, of course. Carnage is horrible, but it attracts attention, and attention means more rattings for the news networks, and more circulation for the papers. Money makes the world go round, as they say, as well as keeping the people fearful of all the wrong things.

    To be fair, we do have a pretty insane violence rate for a developed country.

    Canada has more guns per household, but far less gun violence (I honestly think that being cold as fuck tends to keep modern people civilized - heat waves make people violent even.)

    Hell, here in Fresno, you hear about some horrible thing pretty much every day. They don't even need to dwell on one for a week, there's horrible things in the valley EVERY SINGLE DAY.

    Incenjucar on
  • blizzard224blizzard224 Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Jinnigan wrote:
    China loves white people, trust you me.

    I've been to China. They love is hard and fast for my white-guy money. People are so damn friendly over there though, even when there's nothing in it for them.

    blizzard224 on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • FCDFCD Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Incenjucar wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    FyreWulff wrote:
    While I don't hold them on as high a pedestal, it took balls to basically sign their own death warrants. They also taught us about how they constantly fought and Jefferson's illegitimate children, yadda yadda.


    re: buck passing: get over it. the US is 50 seperate states in a federal union. No two states are alike. If you want to issue blanket statements, at least figure out the correct state.
    So split up. You want to act like fifty countries, be fifty countries. Don't act as one and say "but it was them!" when people call you on it.

    Remember the last time some of those countries tried to split off?

    Yep, that worked out pretty badly. Mostly cause we tried to stop them. Seriously, I'm a damned Yankee, and I think we should have let the Confederacy secede. They were a millstone around our neck then, and they still are now.

    FCD on
    Gridman! Baby DAN DAN! Baby DAN DAN!
  • CorvusCorvus . VancouverRegistered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Elendil wrote:
    Marx wrote:
    Also, I find it pompous that citizens of the United States of America call themselves Americans, when there are two whole continents that bear the name America.
    I don't know.

    United States-ian sounds pretty retarded.

    Yeah. Plus, the USA is the only country that actually has "America" as part of its name. We don't need "American" as a generic term for the countries on the two American continents. In North America, theres only three countries. Its just easier to refer to the countries by name or refer to "North American" or "South American"

    Pomposity really has nothing to do with it.

    Corvus on
    :so_raven:
  • Spaten OptimatorSpaten Optimator Smooth Operator Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    It's good to be the best.

    When will we stop arming countries so we can later a) force them to fight a proxy war for us or b) decimate them?

    Spaten Optimator on
  • matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    FCD wrote:
    Incenjucar wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    FyreWulff wrote:
    While I don't hold them on as high a pedestal, it took balls to basically sign their own death warrants. They also taught us about how they constantly fought and Jefferson's illegitimate children, yadda yadda.


    re: buck passing: get over it. the US is 50 seperate states in a federal union. No two states are alike. If you want to issue blanket statements, at least figure out the correct state.
    So split up. You want to act like fifty countries, be fifty countries. Don't act as one and say "but it was them!" when people call you on it.

    Remember the last time some of those countries tried to split off?

    Yep, that worked out pretty badly. Mostly cause we tried to stop them. Seriously, I'm a damned Yankee, and I think we should have let the Confederacy secede. They were a millstone around our neck then, and they still are now.
    Yeah, nothing like losing your entire agricultural base. All the manufacturing plants in the world are for naught if you don't have someone supplying the raw materials. Moron.

    matt has a problem on
    nibXTE7.png
  • FCDFCD Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Incenjucar wrote:
    FCD wrote:
    Also guns.

    I really don't get it. Why does the stereotype american you see on sitcoms or in movies (I really don't know another kind, so feel free to correct me/call me a moron if this isn't the way many think) remain so stanchly pro-guns. They kill people. I don't think they should be outlawed - they certainly have their purposes, but goddam there's no need to keep one in the house 'for protection'.

    I think the media plays a central role in this, both on the local and national level. Since it tends to concentrate on news stories that involve murder, rape, kidnapping and other nasty things happening to ordinary people, the American public at large ends up with a wrongly magnified picture of how dangerous life is in our own country. And the reason the networks and newspapers do all this? For money, of course. Carnage is horrible, but it attracts attention, and attention means more rattings for the news networks, and more circulation for the papers. Money makes the world go round, as they say, as well as keeping the people fearful of all the wrong things.

    To be fair, we do have a pretty insane violence rate for a developed country.

    Canada has more guns per household, but far less gun violence (I honestly think that being cold as fuck tends to keep modern people civilized - heat waves make people violent even.)

    Hell, here in Fresno, you hear about some horrible thing pretty much every day. They don't even need to dwell on one for a week, there's horrible things in the valley EVERY SINGLE DAY.

    True, some areas of the US are worse than others. But overall, I really do think our sense of danger is overemphasized by the media, for the sake of monetary gain.

    FCD on
    Gridman! Baby DAN DAN! Baby DAN DAN!
  • redxredx I(x)=2(x)+1 whole numbersRegistered User regular
    edited December 2006
    tynic wrote:
    redx wrote:
    hey, so do people have bumper stickers down there?
    I was behind a car with three different AFL stickers the other day. My god but they drove badly.

    After much observation, I am forced to conclude that bumper stickers seriously impinge upon a cars braking, acceleration and handling. Especially if they're shaped like a fish.

    guh.

    I was just wondering if you could go out and grab a sandwich and a pack of smokes without having 50 diffrent people political and religious belifes shoved down your throat.

    guess not.

    god, I'm rather suprised none of the vistors to the states had mentioned it. I guess it is pandemic.

    redx on
    They moistly come out at night, moistly.
  • thorpethorpe Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    redx wrote:
    tynic wrote:
    redx wrote:
    hey, so do people have bumper stickers down there?
    I was behind a car with three different AFL stickers the other day. My god but they drove badly.

    After much observation, I am forced to conclude that bumper stickers seriously impinge upon a cars braking, acceleration and handling. Especially if they're shaped like a fish.

    guh.

    I was just wondering if you could go out and grab a sandwich and a pack of smokes without having 50 diffrent people political and religious belifes shoved down your throat.

    guess not.

    god, I'm rather suprised none of the vistors to the states had mentioned it. I guess it is pandemic.

    I don't get it much in DC actually, which is kind of a big surprise.

    thorpe on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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