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Before I begin, I want you all to take note that no offence is intended here. This is merely my view on America and how they percieve us.
Anyone else think that America can be egotistical a lot of the time? I mean, I think that many Americans think that they're better than us, and that the 'good ol US of A' is any better than Britain. Is it just me, or do they have a different word for everything? Is it because they have to be better than us, or is it just for the sake of it, or something else? I'm stumped, so a little help here is appreciated.
How about ignorance of Americans in the media? A good example of this is Demolition Man. At an awards ceremony, Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone ignored Nigel Hawthorne, a co-actor in the film. Did I mention that he was british?
Do Americans think of us as posh? In television, I see a helluva lot of prejudiced or hilarity at the expense of us, as we are portrayed as crumpet eating, tea drinking people who are completely shielded from the bad matters of the world.
My friend has just come back from Florida, and he had the following conversion with a cashier in a resturant:
Friend: Hello. I'd like a bottle of water please.
Cashier: A what?
Friend: A bottle of water.
Cashier 2: He means a bottle of water (in American accent)
Cashier: Oh, here you go.
*Hands my friend a 'bottle of water'*
Who actually spoke the English language first - America or England?
I do admire America's patriotism though, something which is somewhat a rarity here, with people too scared to show their traits, because there are so many ethnic minorities in the country now (I dare say it's a bad thing, however).
I'm not keen on America, but I love their taffy :0)
What do you think?
Anyone else think that America can be egotistical a lot of the time? I mean, I think that many Americans think that they're better than us, and that the 'good ol US of A' is any better than Britain. Is it just me, or do they have a different word for everything? Is it because they have to be better than us, or is it just for the sake of it, or something else? I'm stumped, so a little help here is appreciated.
How about ignorance of Americans in the media? A good example of this is Demolition Man. At an awards ceremony, Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone ignored Nigel Hawthorne, a co-actor in the film. Did I mention that he was british?
Do Americans think of us as posh? In television, I see a helluva lot of prejudiced or hilarity at the expense of us, as we are portrayed as crumpet eating, tea drinking people who are completely shielded from the bad matters of the world.
My friend has just come back from Florida, and he had the following conversion with a cashier in a resturant:
Friend: Hello. I'd like a bottle of water please.
Cashier: A what?
Friend: A bottle of water.
Cashier 2: He means a bottle of water (in American accent)
Cashier: Oh, here you go.
*Hands my friend a 'bottle of water'*
Who actually spoke the English language first - America or England?
I do admire America's patriotism though, something which is somewhat a rarity here, with people too scared to show their traits, because there are so many ethnic minorities in the country now (I dare say it's a bad thing, however).
I'm not keen on America, but I love their taffy :0)
What do you think?
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Wow, i didn't know about that, thanks
Dr. Duck, your points are good, and unlike Tequila Sunset's actually true. I disagee on the BNP though as tehy are almost certainly linked to Combat 18, which is now classed as a terrorist organisation under the 2001 Anti Terrorism Act. If only one of the security agencies could definitively prove this....Combat 18 was responsible for numerous bombings in London in 1999 where they targeted ethnic minority and gay areas with nail bombs. No one has as yet been convicted of these attacks but C18 claimed responsiblity.
Boblin Brown wrote:
> My mate also went to Florida recently, and he also had a conversation with a
> cashier at a restaurant:
Friend: Can i have a glass of tap water
> please?
Cashier: Tap water?
Friend: Yeah, like you get out of the
> tap.
Cashier: Ahh! You mean regular water!
Honestly!
---------
That's because they call a tap - a faucet (is that how you spell it?)
To them, asking for tap water is like asking for water that taps
> My mate also went to Florida recently, and he also had a conversation with a
> cashier at a restaurant:
Friend: Can i have a glass of tap water
> please?
Cashier: Tap water?
Friend: Yeah, like you get out of the
> tap.
Cashier: Ahh! You mean regular water!
Honestly!
---------
That's because they call a tap - a faucet (is that how you spell it?)
To them, asking for tap water is like asking for water that taps
Well, i'm somewhere between the two extremes here, i think. And america and britain both have their shares of ignorant, biggotted individuals, but both have things you could claim to be proud of. I guess how you balance it all up is purely a matter of opinion, how important you consider various issues to be. Unfortunately, i doubt many of us have enough specific knowledge to override our stereotypes and really find a reliable conclusion.
But a couple of things i want to mention:
This whole national pride thing goes right over my head. Try as i might, i can't seem to justify taking pride in achievements of a bunch of people completely unconnected to me, except for the coincidence of the geography of their birthplace.
Maybe an example will show how fickle i think it is. I have a friend who was born in south africa. Both parents were english, the only reason he was born there is that he was a little premature, and his mother, who had been set to travel back to england the next day for the birth, was in south africa for some reason.
One day later, and south africa would have just been a place where his mother went before he was born, but because he happened to be born when he was, he'd felt tied to the place. Followed the politics and news there, had a national rugby shirt, all because he was born one day before his mother would have been in england. Doesn't sound like a great reason, does it?
I can't say i see living in a country for any amount of time as being any more convincing a reason for pride.
BNP.
It's kind of a catch 22. Democracy demands that if enough of the population want the party to exist, however undemocratic their principles, to deny members their democratic right to political participation and choice by preventing the existence of such a party is just as undemocratic as the principles their party supports, or more importantly, in theory, as undemoratic as any dictatorship that disallows a political party's existence. Ban the BNP and Blair becomes Mugabe (sic).
But a couple of things i want to mention:
This whole national pride thing goes right over my head. Try as i might, i can't seem to justify taking pride in achievements of a bunch of people completely unconnected to me, except for the coincidence of the geography of their birthplace.
Maybe an example will show how fickle i think it is. I have a friend who was born in south africa. Both parents were english, the only reason he was born there is that he was a little premature, and his mother, who had been set to travel back to england the next day for the birth, was in south africa for some reason.
One day later, and south africa would have just been a place where his mother went before he was born, but because he happened to be born when he was, he'd felt tied to the place. Followed the politics and news there, had a national rugby shirt, all because he was born one day before his mother would have been in england. Doesn't sound like a great reason, does it?
I can't say i see living in a country for any amount of time as being any more convincing a reason for pride.
BNP.
It's kind of a catch 22. Democracy demands that if enough of the population want the party to exist, however undemocratic their principles, to deny members their democratic right to political participation and choice by preventing the existence of such a party is just as undemocratic as the principles their party supports, or more importantly, in theory, as undemoratic as any dictatorship that disallows a political party's existence. Ban the BNP and Blair becomes Mugabe (sic).
Good points unknown kernel :) The west has created many economic migrants. You;ve hit it right on the head with your idea of classifying migrants, in Human Geography this is currently one of the big issues being covered by many Universities including the one I go to. Trying t odecide if someone is an economic/ political migrant/ refugee is really complicated, especially as there is no relevant definitive definition.
Tequila Sunset wrote:
> Ok so what I said about the Eurofighter was a little ignorant but we do really
> need something to replace the F-16
(and don't quote the F117 Stealth because it
> isn't up to the job).
SUPERB !!!! We don't have F16 fighter because they are American, our air defence/bombers are all Tornado variants. The F117 is a long range strategic bomber / nuclear delivery vehicle. For once you are right, we don't need this because our nukes are submarine based and we have no need of long ranger bombers at present. The American JSF is a far better option, and thankfully the Americans have offered it to us, and it will be replacig our Harrier jump jets by 2010.
> you can't distinguish the difference between there and their it's obvious that
> you won't go there!
Erm can we try having a sentence that makes sense ?
>I don't know about you but really I couldn't care less if I
> paid a tiny amount more for a product. It doesn't really >affect my life, and if
> people are worried about the prices of things they can >buy them from
> abroad.
If people do this then our economy suffers as a result and prices will only rise further, which is a reason for the high prices, its a vicious circle.
>Isn't it good that we're tolerant of people from other races coming
> into our country, you have contradicted yourself saying that we are not tolerant
> of different races then add that we are too tolerant.
And where did I say this ?? I think, at best, you have misunderstood something here.
> I never said that all
> asylum seekers are economic refugees,
A quote from Tequila Suinset everyone, from an earlier post, "* Not asylum seekers, econmic refugees, idiot. " His use of idiot shows how increasingly desperate hes getting here.
>Most people don't ignore the problems and do
> something about it, and i would like to know why our population is ever
> increasing if it is so bad here, surely it would go down?
It is going down. out natural increase is negative and the only reason our population is rising is through migration. The reason migrants come here, partly, is perception. They perceive us as a kind country willing to help others les fortunate, and they find something very different.
>I'll leave you with
> one more thought;
If your hatred of this country is so much why don't you
> leave it Belldandy?
It is not hatred, it is sadness at what we have become. I don't want a return to the colonial past, but our future is becoming increasingly depressing and there is less to be proud of. I see Americans at St Patricks Day parades and tehy are proud of their country and their flag. I want to feel like that about our flag, our country, one day.
Why don't I leave ? Firstly I'm not old enough, secondly running away is no response to a problem, thirdly I believe we can change as a nation, eventually.
> Ok so what I said about the Eurofighter was a little ignorant but we do really
> need something to replace the F-16
(and don't quote the F117 Stealth because it
> isn't up to the job).
SUPERB !!!! We don't have F16 fighter because they are American, our air defence/bombers are all Tornado variants. The F117 is a long range strategic bomber / nuclear delivery vehicle. For once you are right, we don't need this because our nukes are submarine based and we have no need of long ranger bombers at present. The American JSF is a far better option, and thankfully the Americans have offered it to us, and it will be replacig our Harrier jump jets by 2010.
> you can't distinguish the difference between there and their it's obvious that
> you won't go there!
Erm can we try having a sentence that makes sense ?
>I don't know about you but really I couldn't care less if I
> paid a tiny amount more for a product. It doesn't really >affect my life, and if
> people are worried about the prices of things they can >buy them from
> abroad.
If people do this then our economy suffers as a result and prices will only rise further, which is a reason for the high prices, its a vicious circle.
>Isn't it good that we're tolerant of people from other races coming
> into our country, you have contradicted yourself saying that we are not tolerant
> of different races then add that we are too tolerant.
And where did I say this ?? I think, at best, you have misunderstood something here.
> I never said that all
> asylum seekers are economic refugees,
A quote from Tequila Suinset everyone, from an earlier post, "* Not asylum seekers, econmic refugees, idiot. " His use of idiot shows how increasingly desperate hes getting here.
>Most people don't ignore the problems and do
> something about it, and i would like to know why our population is ever
> increasing if it is so bad here, surely it would go down?
It is going down. out natural increase is negative and the only reason our population is rising is through migration. The reason migrants come here, partly, is perception. They perceive us as a kind country willing to help others les fortunate, and they find something very different.
>I'll leave you with
> one more thought;
If your hatred of this country is so much why don't you
> leave it Belldandy?
It is not hatred, it is sadness at what we have become. I don't want a return to the colonial past, but our future is becoming increasingly depressing and there is less to be proud of. I see Americans at St Patricks Day parades and tehy are proud of their country and their flag. I want to feel like that about our flag, our country, one day.
Why don't I leave ? Firstly I'm not old enough, secondly running away is no response to a problem, thirdly I believe we can change as a nation, eventually.
I'm not sure you can really make a real distinction between economic and political migrants: both are fleeing from intolerable conditions of poverty and persecution. We have a responsibility to provide for others, I think, and especially so when our actions are a real factor in the conditions that provoke immigration.
The west (and I don't differentiate between us - Europe - and America on this) has intervened and exacerbated many conflicts across the globe: wars that make normal people into refugees, and lead to recriminations and persecution. We have international responsibilities to look after these people. But what about economic migrants? I think we owe them something too. The industrialised world couldn't survive without the cheap labour and agricultural produce that Asia, Africa, S. America and E. Europe provide. If we are going to live in globalised free market world, then restricting the movement of people is just a way of entrenching inequality.
The west (and I don't differentiate between us - Europe - and America on this) has intervened and exacerbated many conflicts across the globe: wars that make normal people into refugees, and lead to recriminations and persecution. We have international responsibilities to look after these people. But what about economic migrants? I think we owe them something too. The industrialised world couldn't survive without the cheap labour and agricultural produce that Asia, Africa, S. America and E. Europe provide. If we are going to live in globalised free market world, then restricting the movement of people is just a way of entrenching inequality.
Ok so what I said about the Eurofighter was a little ignorant but we do really need something to replace the F-16
(and don't quote the F117 Stealth because it isn't up to the job). I don't pay tax at the moment so it doesn't affect therefore I cannot comment (not VAT obviously but Income tax etc).
Well since you can't distinguish the difference between there and their it's obvious that you won't go there!
I don't know about you but really I couldn't care less if I paid a tiny amount more for a product. It doesn't really affect my life, and if people are worried about the prices of things they can buy them from abroad.
Isn't it good that we're tolerant of people from other races coming into our country, you have contradicted yourself saying that we are not tolerant of different races then add that we are too tolerant. I never said that all asylum seekers are economic refugees, it's just annoying when people from Romania for example (a country which is developing at a rapid rate) flocking to our country for little reason except the idea of a 'better life'. At least we tolerate refugees and emmigrants, the US hate the Mexicans next to their borders and they even fund Dictatorships in Southern American countries to try and stop them leaving their countries.
Most people don't ignore the problems and do something about it, and i would like to know why our population is ever increasing if it is so bad here, surely it would go down?
I'll leave you with one more thought;
If your hatred of this country is so much why don't you leave it Belldandy?
(and don't quote the F117 Stealth because it isn't up to the job). I don't pay tax at the moment so it doesn't affect therefore I cannot comment (not VAT obviously but Income tax etc).
Well since you can't distinguish the difference between there and their it's obvious that you won't go there!
I don't know about you but really I couldn't care less if I paid a tiny amount more for a product. It doesn't really affect my life, and if people are worried about the prices of things they can buy them from abroad.
Isn't it good that we're tolerant of people from other races coming into our country, you have contradicted yourself saying that we are not tolerant of different races then add that we are too tolerant. I never said that all asylum seekers are economic refugees, it's just annoying when people from Romania for example (a country which is developing at a rapid rate) flocking to our country for little reason except the idea of a 'better life'. At least we tolerate refugees and emmigrants, the US hate the Mexicans next to their borders and they even fund Dictatorships in Southern American countries to try and stop them leaving their countries.
Most people don't ignore the problems and do something about it, and i would like to know why our population is ever increasing if it is so bad here, surely it would go down?
I'll leave you with one more thought;
If your hatred of this country is so much why don't you leave it Belldandy?
Oh, and to add;
I can afford all those things, easily, but I am sick of seeing people pay more for what is much cheaper in other countries whilst being the same product, if you're proud to pay more for less then, again, I see little pride in this aspect of being English. your comments abouthe english flag, again, show how wonderfully tolerant we are as a nation to others....... and if you think every asylum seeker is an economic refugee you're sounding very short sighted. In short, you are proving all my points for me, esepcially the British trait of sticking our collective heads in the sand and ignoring problems or laying hte blame on others.
I can afford all those things, easily, but I am sick of seeing people pay more for what is much cheaper in other countries whilst being the same product, if you're proud to pay more for less then, again, I see little pride in this aspect of being English. your comments abouthe english flag, again, show how wonderfully tolerant we are as a nation to others....... and if you think every asylum seeker is an economic refugee you're sounding very short sighted. In short, you are proving all my points for me, esepcially the British trait of sticking our collective heads in the sand and ignoring problems or laying hte blame on others.
Well Tequila Sunset , once again you quote the entire part of my post with little to back up anything in your arguments apart from boring one line questions. You have no answers.
For example, the Eurofighter - your reply ? Our airforce won't need them. We're paying for them, millions of tax payter dollars for an air superiority fighter, who on earth is going to attack us in the air ? You're not bothered about all that money wasted ? Would I want to go to those trouble spots I mentioned, yes, if the army would accept me but I have asthma and sight problems, I tried. Your comments about going private healthcare further illustrate that America is better, you believe so much in this wonderful country that you've abandoned one of its modern foundings, further proof of this country's decline.
Regarding the statistics, all I can say is I hope you don't go to Cambridge like you're brother if this is how you grasp there workings....
Lets see some argument with facts, not rubbish one liners that sound like they've ben extracted from a drunken pub conversation.... So far you're only further proving my point that theres no pride in being English, or very little.
For example, the Eurofighter - your reply ? Our airforce won't need them. We're paying for them, millions of tax payter dollars for an air superiority fighter, who on earth is going to attack us in the air ? You're not bothered about all that money wasted ? Would I want to go to those trouble spots I mentioned, yes, if the army would accept me but I have asthma and sight problems, I tried. Your comments about going private healthcare further illustrate that America is better, you believe so much in this wonderful country that you've abandoned one of its modern foundings, further proof of this country's decline.
Regarding the statistics, all I can say is I hope you don't go to Cambridge like you're brother if this is how you grasp there workings....
Lets see some argument with facts, not rubbish one liners that sound like they've ben extracted from a drunken pub conversation.... So far you're only further proving my point that theres no pride in being English, or very little.
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