How do Americans generally perceive Britain?
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everlone_2000 — 15 years ago(September 02, 2010 08:47 AM)
Most educated, worldly Americans understand Britain has descended in to near third world status.
Probably not accurate to describe Britain as 'near third world status'. For eg, most third world countries don't have problems stemming from wipespread personal debt, or over-inflated house prices. They don't have funding problems on their national health services because they don't
have
national health services. They don't have Britain's problems with schools because they don't take education as a 'right' as we do here. They don't have the same issues with immigration because no-one emigrates to a third world country. People emigrate to countries like Britain because they are
nothing like third-world countries
. -
peachiega3 — 15 years ago(September 07, 2010 12:37 AM)
to jump in on this, i'm from america (half jordanian) i lived in england. a small village of 300. i never noticed any huge problems, people treated me right. i guess it's an economic class thing all in allwith all countries. but to me, an american who's been around the world, it shocks the hell outa me about the flag. in america we would never EVER put up with government telling us to not raise our flag because it would not be PC. i figure i like a lot of things about america, and one thing is how we accept different people but at same time we have basic rights we never give up, like our flag and our history. we defend freedom of speech more than a lot of places i've been. idk details about uk and freedom of speech though.
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everlone_2000 — 15 years ago(September 14, 2010 01:28 AM)
in america we would never EVER put up with government telling us to not raise our flag because it would not be PC. i figure i like a lot of things about america, and one thing is how we accept different people but at same time we have basic rights we never give up, like our flag and our history. we defend freedom of speech more than a lot of places i've been. idk details about uk and freedom of speech though.
Well, you have to bear in mind that alot of the time what you hear is a hysterical over-reaction from people who are wrongly convinced they are being maligned. The UK government would
never
tell a UK citizen not to raise the Union flag, and as someone else pointed out when there's an international rugby or football tournament the St George Cross is
everywhere
.
So when people say "You can't even raise the flag in this country anymore" what they mean is "You
can
raise the flag, but if you do people might assume certain things about you". Which is fair enough, in my opinion, because raising the flag is a symbolic gesture - the only reason you would want to do it is to demonstrate something. Throughout history the flag has been associated with some seriously questionable acts and therefore its symbolism has developed. All that happens if someone raises the flag is that people are like "What's your point with that?". So there's an engagement there with what the flag means (inevitably as I say, because a flag is a symbol) and frequently what it 'means' is not always pleasant. As well as being a symbol of unity and defiance, the Union flag has been used by violent racists, jingoistic armies, amoral businesses among throughout its history and these uses are what taint its display for some people.
If someone complains that they can't raise the flag because of political correctness, then they're wrong. If they feel uncomfortable raising the flag, its because of
violent racists
who used the flag as a rallying symbol. Either way, the Government's not going to stop you. The only thing stopping you is that somewhere deep in your heart you know that it might make some people uncomfortable, and that's probably not what you want. -
Sheriff_Of_Nottingham — 15 years ago(October 10, 2010 03:51 AM)
"The Union flag has been used by violent racists, jingoistic armies, amoral businesses throughout its history and these uses are what taint its display for some people."
This can be said of all flags throughout the globe. Many more so than the Union Jack. -
Yeti_575 — 15 years ago(September 07, 2010 01:06 AM)
"Most educated, worldly Americans understand Britain has descended in to near third world status."
yeah, i thought that was a pretty dumb ass statement too!
as a brit that grew up in the states and travel between the two countries often, i find most people from both countries have no great understanding of either culture. most americans do think that england is a great ally and friend to america. they do have this romantic view of english culture complete with rolling green country side, tea and crumpets and overly polite, conservative people dedicated to their queen and royal family. in a word i think most americans perceive englad to be "quaint". that being said, i find when i am in conversation about english culture, americans tend to be interested and engaged and eager to learn about the culture. i especially like to drop into my yorkshire accent and really twist their minds. unfortunately i can't say the same for many of my countrymen. i have found many english to be stubbornly set in their opinions and stereotypical perceptions of american culture. i believe the difference stems from geography. while i agree that most americans aren't very wordly, the shear size and diversity of the US (and believe it or not, america is way more diverse than england) enables many of them to understand a broader view when it is pointed out to them. on the english side i believe geography works against them. because of the size of the country much of the culture is the same. yes there are regional differences but when compared to american regional differences they are quite small. cultural differences between leeds and london are minimal compared to anchorage and miami. alaska and florida may as well be two different countries. also, leeds or london or manchester or whitby are all under the same tax structure, laws, and social services, where as, each US state has it's own laws and taxes and social programs that can differ completely from the state next door and in most cases even differ from the county down the street.
i hope i don't offend anyone with my thoughts except for the idiot that lumped england in with 3rd world countries. i'm trying not to generalize. i realize that when speaking of a combined population of 400 million or so, not everyone is going to represent what i have experienced. before i am completely attacked, know that i love both cultures and have close wonderful family in both countries. -
joseph-wyatt-677-63838 — 15 years ago(January 08, 2011 03:56 PM)
"Most educated, worldly Americans understand Britain has descended in to near third world status."
I'm sorry, I've been able to sit and read the rest of the comments in this thread, but that "third world status" comment is complete and utter bullsh*t. Go spend a week in a genuine third world country and you'd realize that, bad as some areas of England may be, it has NOTHING on areas like the Soweto or Khayelitsha townships in South Africa, and they're in one of the wealthier countries on that continent. The United Kingdom was ranked the 2nd richest country in Europe, and the 8th richest country by GDP in the world in 2010 by the International Monetary Fund. Like any wealthy country, we have cities with large poor areas and a hefty number of immigrant families, admittedly ours being bigger than most due to our more relaxed immigration policies. But even UK-standard "poor" would be considered relatively well-off compared to your average Khayelitsha family.
Anybody with half a brain and a basic knowledge (i.e. the kind of knowledge you can get from reading a newspaper) would know that England is about as far from being a third world country as you can get. We're a fully developed country, with a large population considering our limited amount of landmass, and we have all the flaws and issues that come with that kind of territory. We're also highly multicultural, relatively liberal, and a damned sight safer and more pleasant place to live than a lot of other countries I can think of (and no, I'm not talking about the US here - I've never been, I can't comment).
The flagwaving comments are rubbish as well, a few moronic incidents that the tabloid press, being the tabloid press, chose to completely blow out of proportion. No, we're not as patriotic or religious as the US are but I don't personally see either of those as bad things.
I also wholeheartedly support the claim that anybody wanting to experience England properly should get away from London - it's about as representative of the rest of England as humans are to the rest of the animal kingdom. -
gbh1 — 15 years ago(September 07, 2010 04:08 AM)
Firstly, you've got to remember that the British empire has had it's fair share of raping and pillaging of other countries throughout history, and that in spreading our ancestory across the planet, exporting dominant white populations to America, Africa and Australia, we kind of owe it to the world to open our doors proudly as a multi-culutral society
The trouble is that "flag waving" in the UK has too often been associated with people who constantly complain about immigration, lack of 'cultural identity' and crime-rate statistics (soundbytes often lifted from the trashy tabloids); Basically people who are one step away from just screaming beep it, I'm voting BNP!"
It's not that our flag "intimidates foreginers" - far from it - This year I saw more ethnic minorities in Birmingham decorate their cars with patriotic fixtures during the world cup than white - No, the real problem is that "ENGLISH" people (Or 'indigenous' English people, as those idiots in the BNP would say) are actually ashamed of the Flag becuase of it's close association with this hostile minority who have has been using it to rally-up the poor, alienated, uneducated and angry lower classes of this country for the past 30 or 40 years - Not to mention the way British hooligans have been acting abroad for the last 20 years or so, binge drinking and acting like total thugs whilst brandishing the flag like a bunch of morons.
Another problem is that our flag doesn't represent 'freedom', 'hope', 'equality', 'peace' or any of those things this world truly needs right now; it represents dominance and a pride of power. What we really need to do is re-asses it's connotations and what it could mean and embrace our flag in a whole new light -
rdbphhqeujum — 15 years ago(March 06, 2011 04:34 AM)
You make it sound like abad thing that there is little religion
It is.
It is not. Britain can be proud for not having so many Christian extremists like in the beep Bible Belt, with Creationists museums, Darwin being banned from school books and all that beep They're heading straight for the middle ages again -
nomadski — 15 years ago(September 07, 2010 06:01 PM)
I cant really argue against anything the OP says, but if you travel around Europe you will see some hell holes that make London look like Wonderland. Hell Ive only been mugged once in my life, and that was in Italy (Rome!).
That said, to see a high quality of life in England its worth travelling outside of the two big cities, something Americans AND Londoners don't tend to do.
I once talked to an American couple for half an hour in a bar in Leicester Square, and told them I came from Durham and they said how my accent had changed. I thought it was queer that an American would know the difference between a Durham accent and a London one. I only realised they must have thought I meant Durham, USA (Bull Durham) a couple of hours later!
So yeah, there's some beep craic going on in England. There's also some wonderful places to see and visit. Sometimes our own population give our own country a bad name without themselves seeing a tiny percentage of what it offers. this tiny island offers a HELL of a lot outside of London.
As for America, well my last 6 holidays have been to different cities there, and I guess my next 6 will be too. Love the place, love the people, hate their politics and their airport staff, but a small price to pay to enjoy a few weeks in a completely different, yet very familiar environment.
Americans - come to Devon, Durham, Manchester, Newcastle, Cornwallin fact google England destinations before you automatically click on the London hotel link. You will find not all of England is inhospitable, rude, overpopulated, arrogant, expensive (well, not so much!) and dirty. And there ARE some rolling hills and castles left to visit too!
I find that ducks opinion of me is very much influenced over whether or not i have bread.