Who should America invade next?

[D-Scythe]

That is a rather arrogant opinion, which is what causes this problem. To think that the world relies on America, and to think that America doesn't need to rest of the world, is a very outlook of the world. This over patriotic, borderline idiotic worries me, but I am just an insignificant person form another insignificant country (England).

 

 

Plus, have I missed something, but (3/5)+(2/3) does equal 19/15 = 1.266... (irrational)

 

That's a rational number, not irrational. An irrational number by definition is a number that CANNOT be expressed as a fraction or a ratio, like the root of 2.

 

19/15 obviously is a fraction ;)

 

About the video...come on guys. How many people did they show in that video? Less than ten? How many did they probably interview IRL? Probably a lot more. Besides, it's natural for people not to care about anything if it doesn't really apply/interest them.

 

Take the topic women's fashion/shopping, or romantic movies (aka chick flicks), for example. If we were interviewed about that, gauranteed *all* of us will fail ;)

 

At least I hope we all fail :D

[Pilotasso]

I really just find that video tragic, how did USA become like that? :icon_neut

Now, I'm not bashing, I'm just stating the (to me) obvious... when will USA grow up?

This is not aimed to offend people because obviously there are a lot of nice people in USA, but the country as a whole and how it is percieved in other countries are not so good. But as long as the attitude that "we don't care because we can kick your ass" remains, I guess we all have to live with how america is looked upon.

 

I guess you could say that USA is in its childhood, that's probably why the american ideals and to some extent the american way of life haven't really matured yet and are in some respect like other western counties where 100 years ago.

 

Again, this was not meant to offend anyone, this is not personal, it's just how I see things.

 

The key factor is interest. People are going to be interested if that afects their lifes. With a 100 chanels and not one airing inteligible porgrams, political intrugue, the sensasion of self suficience (even when its an illusoin), the dimention of the country itself, causes certain behaviours. I dont believe ALL US people are in need to "grow up" they just need to listen. And believing in studies Im am whilling to accept the Idea "only" 50% of the poeple there think this way. There alot of nice people from there in these forums, and they will promtly step in in this thread soon enough... ;)

 

Another interesting aspec is that those who use more heavily means of comunications, like internet are usualy are the most informed ones, not meaning that all the 70% of US citizens that have broadband are all smarter, it also depends if you use it for entertainment only.

[Guest DeathAngelBR]

Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the Earth. Seventeen percent believe the Earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005)

 

:rolleyes:

[Shaman]

Now I understand why Americans in year 1999 built home shelters and stockpiled food and porn videos and everything for next 100 years when they heard about Y2K bug. It's all clear to me now.

[VVanks]

Canada. :D As of Jan 1, I'll need to use a passport to cross the border. I'm an American citizen, for cryin' out loud. Just who so they think they are to require me to have a passport to get in? :D

 

Rich

 

Itself. :D Since 2001, I needed to use a passport to cross the border. I'm an CANADIAN citizen, for cryin' out loud. Just who so they think they are to require me to have a passport to get in? :D

 

Wyn

[Yellonet]

There alot of nice people from there in these forums, and they will promtly step in in this thread soon enough... ;)

I know, what I wrote was directed at the nation as a whole, not [all] its citizens.

[enigma6584]

This not funny at all. It's scary as hell.

 

Yes it is. What is even more scary is these people are probably voters.

[phantom_fly85]

I bet anyone could do this sort of poll in Switzerland, Germany, England, or Australia and get the lesser informed people to respond just like that video clip! Some people are interested in being informed and others are not, simple as that. These polls are done on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" all the time and they are FUNNY!

 

Really, anyone who believes these videos as fact are pretty ignorant. There is not scientific basis for these polls and should only be viewed for the comedy that it is, rather than take political sides.

 

Americans are smarter than you like to think. It's not about global dominance or controlling other countries. It's our duty to promote Freedom and the Right to pursue Happiness.

 

Last I checked North America is larger than the European continent and there are only 46 countries vs. the 48 contiguous U.S. states. I wonder how many countries could fit in the state of Texas alone? Also, anybody know where Malta or Leichtenstein is? With out looking at a map!

[Shaman]

Last I checked North America is larger than the European continent and there are only 46 countries vs. the 48 contiguous U.S. states. I wonder how many countries could fit in the state of Texas alone? Also, anybody know where Malta or Leichtenstein is? With out looking at a map!

I know where these are, and I'm just from a little country near the south pole Poland, where polar bears live.

Africa is bigger then U.S. alone, and a major part of common Americans would have problem to find this continent on the map. How they could describe where's Africa without it? I'd love to hear it.

 

These are facts. The fact is, that G. W. Bush alone doesn't know how many hemispheres Earth has. But maybe after so many years as US president he actually learnt it.

[Yellonet]

Also, anybody know where Malta or Leichtenstein is? With out looking at a map!

Yes. :rolleyes:

But in all honesty I might not have known if I didn't live in Europe.

[Shaman]

I know where it is all going. The less educated people are the easier it is to govern and control them.

So it is in US goverment policy to keep obligatory education as basic and simple as possible, so they can make American people believe in almost everything they want. Still US elites make common Americans believe that they've come (American people) to their conclusions, opinions, ideas, you name it, by themselves. However these ideas are actually not their own but their leaders'!

It's scary and it's true. Every government in the world practices that on smaller or larger scale.

 

In my case I had together 7 (maybe even 8, can't remember) years of geography alone in obligatory schools - so it is elementary school, and highschool. On the first year of highschool I had to memorize each and every country, and their capitals plus all important geographical locations with peaks, rivers, lakes, etc. It was hard work, you'll never remember 100%, I was very pissed off at my teacher we had to learn that - but now I don't regret it. And I was not in some super nerd school for rich kids, no. It was a common ugly Polish school and I was a pretty bad student, I must admit that.

 

edit: typos, logic and grammar ;)

[golfsierra2]

Canada. :D As of Jan 1, I'll need to use a passport to cross the border. I'm an American citizen, for cryin' out loud. Just who so they think they are to require me to have a passport to get in? :D

Rich

 

C'ause they are not the 51st State of the USA...

It's still a sovereign country....

[golfsierra2]

Yes. :rolleyes:

But in all honesty I might not have known if I didn't live in Europe.

 

Definition of war (probable origin in Germany after Gulf War One):

 

What's war ?

 

A new way to educate US citizens in geopgraphy.....

[Doug97]

Canada. :D As of Jan 1, I'll need to use a passport to cross the border. I'm an American citizen, for cryin' out loud. Just who so they think they are to require me to have a passport to get in? :D

 

Rich

 

The usual American arrogance.

 

I am a British citizen currently in Canada. If I want to cross the border into the US, not only will I have to show my passport, I will be FINGERPRINTED, like some damn criminal.

 

Innocent until proven guilty? Land of the free? Not any more.

[golfsierra2]

There is a good posting within this thread about 100 tv channels available in the USA, but hey, all are broadcasting news and stuff only from an US perspective ! And think about the other media which are available to US citizens: Except the internet, their radio and press are same narrow minded.

 

In Europe, countries are much smaller and everybody has a border to somebody else, not only the Atlantic and Pacific, Canada and Mexico. Interaction of perspectives and opinions is much more intense here in Europe or should I say, we HAVE such an exchange while the US citizens have nobody to exchange opinions with.

 

From that setup it is quite understandable that for a big part of the folks there all that matters are the USA and all they know are the USA - so it becomes the centre of their universe....

 

Thank god I don't live there....

[phantom_fly85]

C'ause they are not the 51st State of the USA...

It's still a sovereign country....

 

 

This reminds me of the Comedy movie called "Canadian Bacon" with John Candy, Alan Alda, and James Belushi. Here's the plot: The US economy is in a rut, and so is the president's approval rating. What we need is a good war, but the Russians aren't interested. Hey -- how about that big polite country to the north?

Wow, could this happen? Sounds just like the political climate today with Bush. Guess who directed it? Michael Moore! Who also directed Fahrenheit 9/11.

 

Are all the planets in line!?!

[phantom_fly85]

oops, the forum board reposted.

[S77th-GOYA]

It's interesting to see some of the responses here and imagine the perspectives from which they were made. But, let me interject some new information: these same people you saw in the clip probably couldn't point out all the states on a map of the USA. If you want to believe this clip shows American arrogance or disdain for the rest of the world, feel free to do so. But if you want to think that, explain how these people's lives would somehow be enriched by knowing where Iran is on a map?

[phantom_fly85]

I believe that Iran is doing some enriching of their own.

[Raploc]

It's interesting to see some of the responses here and imagine the perspectives from which they were made. But, let me interject some new information: these same people you saw in the clip probably couldn't point out all the states on a map of the USA. If you want to believe this clip shows American arrogance or disdain for the rest of the world, feel free to do so. But if you want to think that, explain how these people's lives would somehow be enriched by knowing where Iran is on a map?

 

 

True and the problem here (Holland) would be the same. At the moment we (the people) would rather nuke Turkey then let them join the EU. But ask anybody on the street to point out Turkey on the map and we would have to nuke Greece. :icon_jook

[golfsierra2]

It's interesting to see some of the responses here and imagine the perspectives from which they were made. But, let me interject some new information: these same people you saw in the clip probably couldn't point out all the states on a map of the USA. If you want to believe this clip shows American arrogance or disdain for the rest of the world, feel free to do so. But if you want to think that, explain how these people's lives would somehow be enriched by knowing where Iran is on a map?

 

You're probably right about them unable of pointing out the right places for their own states, but I disagree with you that it isn't necessary for those folks to know the world outside the USA. It starts with plain things like geography and ends with foreign history and culture.

How will they understand what makes Muslims so mad about the USA if they don't know their culture, political, religious and social environment ?

How will they understand why some European countries were Allies for the war on Iraq while others choose to stay out of the game ?

 

The world has become a village, like it or not and you can either choose to ignore the folks outside your garden fence or to arrange with them somehow. I prefer to know them....

 

By the way: There are similar tv shows in European countries, and many Germans don't know where Pakistan or Kenya lies....

Stupidity is no American prerogative....

[KILSEK]

Oh boy, I don't know where to begin. VVanks posts a vid showing 5 silly people for, I am going to assume, entertainment purposes. Now we are going to have a serious discussion about American intellegence & civlization.

 

Yeah we have our problems, but throwing out math and geography questions over the net is not going to prove we are stupid or smart.

 

Although the stereotype for Americans is that they know nothing outside their own country, and believe America can survive alone, and other countries can't survive without them (as demonstrated in a previous post).

I can tell you right now, at the sites I work at and the folks I know, we don't think that at all. Then again, that is a small sampling of us.

 

@|kabalah|: I too did not know he was being sarcstic, Maybe you saw a smiley or something that I did not.

 

a large portion of US citizens dont worry too much about getting themselves informed

I don't think that is true. I know folks who do and folks who don't.

 

and generaly they are content with everyday mundane life and are simply not much interested in the problems of the rest of the world

I am not sure what your definition of "everyday mundane life" is. Is it getting up @ 5:00am, on the road by 5:45am, get to work by 6:40am, get off work by 3:30pm, get home by 4:30, cleaned and dressed by 5:00pm, chores and whatnot til 7:00pm, and then finally getting to either spend time with your girl/wife/family, then getting to find time for your hobbies or whatever till 10:30pm, when you go back to bed and start it all over again. Adjust these times by 1 or 2 hours if the person has to work a 9 or 10 hour day, and for some make this 6/7 days a week instead of 5 for some folks. Tell me when would you like folks to find time for world issues when their life is like that described above. I should ask those who work in sweatshops if they have found time for anything at all with the free time they have.

 

Now this point may be the most relevant:

when will USA grow up?

That is a damn good question. America is, and has been, trying to find a culture that is it's own. We are a nation of many cultures, and we cannot just pick one and say that is they way we are, and begin advancing that particular one. If you are looking at us from outside the box, I am sure you can see that we can be divided on any issue in a second. Religions, races, sexes, hell, we even disagree on what rights we should have. We are young and immature as a nation. Until America can define itself and become stable, it is going to be forever young.

 

We have many problems, so does many other countries. I ask you, what would help us to not be such a focal point in the world, but rather another nation of equal stature? Less world involvment? A giant wall where nothing enters and nothing leaves? The U.N. being here? Our involvement with the Middle East? Germany? Korea? Bosnia? Iran? Iraq? Afganistan? Some folks I work with feel we should stop getting involved in every nations BS, and let what happens....happens. Some folks feel we should be involved.

 

Is it that we were awakened in ~1941, and since then have been involved with the world. One of our presidents, Eisenhower, gave this warning to our country:

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

 

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

 

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

 

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government

He saw this happening for 20 years after WW2, and I believe this is what makes us a target for the world. Our goverment with ties to a corporation, say, Haliburton, Blackwater, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, Exxon, and any other, who can make our leaders want to get involved somewhere in the world that many of us here don't care about.

 

-DELETED PARAGRAPH ABOUT IRAQ-

 

Yes, after the internet porn phase wears off, folks with broadband are really self aware of the world around them. Having good healthy conversation with other folks in the world, learning more than school taught. Anyway, after 1-1/2 hours of typing I am going to take a break.

 

Oh yeah, and Y2K.....LOL.

 

-KILSEK

[Pilotasso]

Its hard to make a critic on the US without someone else adding some regretfull comments as well. I was hoping for an adult discussion, but then soon or later positions will radicalize. This thread is soon to closed...petty.

[golfsierra2]

Yes, after the internet porn phase wears off, folks with broadband are really self aware of the world around them. Having good healthy conversation with other folks in the world, learning more than school taught. Anyway, after 1-1/2 hours of typing I am going to take a break.

 

Oh yeah, and Y2K.....LOL.

 

-KILSEK

 

Hi KILSEK,

 

quite some open minded and self-critical statements from a redneck. Really, I am very positive about your comments. I have had conversations and chats on other boards with other US citizens, and most of them literally went up like a rocket after reading some critical comments about US foreign politics or what is percepted as 'typical' US attitude (is there really something like that ? C'mon, it is real as much as there is the typical criminal Polish guy or he typical distinguished British gentlemen or the typical rude Netherland socker fan or the typical German guy, always sharp and working hard - just forget this !)

 

There is nothing typical - we are all just a bit different.

 

Thanks for your words, you encouraged me that there indeed is intelligent life over there on the other side of the big water.... :-)

[upyr1]

this was funny I imagine you can find idiots like some they found an any coutnry as some one once said about half of all people are bellow average.

There is a reason some of us are isolationists...