How do Americans generally perceive Britain?
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activista — 13 years ago(June 17, 2012 09:47 PM)
@bombsniffingdog
Seriously, you're a stunted-brain beep idiot, and practically EVERYTHING you're said has been disproved over the past year-apparently you're one of there right-wing nuts who can't think for themselves and believe everything they see on FOX News. These are ALL FOX News talking points, and they're ALL bull****. Especially the Black Panther case,which was basically overblown by a government Republican lawyer who just wanted something to throw at Obama and possibly make a name for himself. The case was never really pursued because no one ever made a complaint FOR the case to be pursued, because the Panthers in this case never actually harmed anyone. YOU'RE the one who needs to check YOUR facts next time you want to throw up some bulls*** like these so-called facts you threw out there! -
meddle712002 — 15 years ago(March 16, 2011 11:18 PM)
Yeah and Schwarzenegger is an Austrian immigrant and a Hitler admirer. So people are bothered by Obama's alleged birth place,and his religion. Islam, is getting more of a foothold in this country as the days go on while Christianity is getting to be more of a no no. I bet those leftists, would have a field day if Regan's family were Nazi sympathizers along with being Xstian.
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meddle712002 — 14 years ago(April 06, 2011 03:59 PM)
Lets see, proposing to close down a couple of military bases here, in the U.S. kissing ass of every country he has visited. Why should he aplogize for the bad ol' U.S.A.? Now he backs off on closing Guatanamo, remember when he promised that one? Cracking down on Arizona, for cracking down on illegal immigration, Hiliary whining to the U.N. and the Lawsuits on Arizona? Not only is he socialist minded he's an ass. Mao on the White House XMAS tree?Socialist gits in his cabinet and staff? Anita(I LOVE MAO) Dunn, ring a bell? Tongue wagging twit. Don't go thinking that I adored Bush, either.Just because I don't worship Obama, I'm no fan of Bush. I DIDN'T VOTE FOR HIM.Regardless of who is responsible for the cap n' trade, and carbon credits. I think it's stupid.Still the same, money for those in power, while the little guy gets it through the a s s. Also, I don't place much stock in either party, I'm more about the individual. You sound like one of those socialists who needs to take his or her blinders off.If you rooted for Obama you got just what you deserved. My problem wasn't that he was elected, pal. It was all that "HOPE N' CHANGE", drivel. I didn't believe for a second that the middle east war, would be over. We're still there, just like I knew, we would be. I'm not surprised that Obama, is sending drones at suspected terrorists. Health Care option? HA HA! Remember, "we won't know, what's in this bill, until it's passed!"? Now, you tell me, why on earth I should support a statement like that? Health Care option, my ass.Affordable Health Care? Take a look at California,San Francisco, in particular.They're broke.Pelosi is nuts.All that Botox, is making her nuts.She broke California, She can't trust her face, so why should I trust her? Yeah, she's a minor power now, but I still think she is in, no matter what. If you don't think Obama and his cronies aren't socialist(Marxist) then you need to look again.Yes, I see socialism as Marxist. I don't care what the hippies call it.From the regulating or all together banning certain foods, and offending condiments, to going after FOX NEWS, to educaton, union thuggery, climate change, to our daily lives. It is socialism, and it's going to get worse.
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activista — 13 years ago(June 17, 2012 09:17 PM)
@meddle712002
Oh.pleaseyou sound like a damn loon and one of these paranoid right-wing nuts who really dosen't understand what socialism islook it up online, please. You don't speak for ALL Americans either, so don't act like you do, because you damn sure as hell don't represent me. Also, I have some issues and problems with Obama too, but to sit there and claim that all these harangues against him by the right have nothing to do with his being black is total BSsince when has ANY sitting U.S. president EVER being asked to show his birth certificate to prove that he's a citizen? I mean, get realthe reality is you just don't know how to deal with CHANGE, and your rants sound like they're coming from someone who's old,bitter and decrepit and going insane after they got drunk as hell one night. So go scream this nonsense to other nuts like you who actually give a damn about what BS you're spouting! -
PippinInOz — 15 years ago(December 17, 2010 11:47 PM)
Well said evanmang87. I am English, living in Australia. George Orwell (I know it's a long time ago, but still valid) argued that Flag Waving was un-English and feel this is still the case. Yeah I know during sporting events (like The World Cup and the Euro's) the old flags come out, but otherwise all that overt flag waving, hand on heart national anthem singing in schools just isn't part of the culture. While John Howard was the prime minister of Australia there was a revolting rise in 'Nationalism' in Australia which is still around. Seems to be wearing off a bit now, but still there. Aussie flags outside houses for example - what's up? Can't you remember where you live or something? It appears to me that when there is insecurity about national identity, out come the flags and with it fear of 'foreigners' who are 'invading' - oh the irony. White fellas whose ancestors invaded this continent with a flag flying, talk about being 'invaded'!!
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firstwinsgop — 15 years ago(August 27, 2010 01:06 PM)
Most educated, worldly Americans understand Britain has descended in to near third world status. The people that still think of it as jolly old England are the types who don't travel or care much about anything outside America and similarly think most Dutch wear wooden shoes and that Germans goose step around in lederhosen.
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pubcrawler13 — 15 years ago(August 31, 2010 12:32 PM)
I can understand that to a certain extent, but at the same time, I hardly think that we as a society can be held responsible for the particular aspects of our culture that other countries choose to embrace. It's true that we do hold something of a monopoly on pop culture, such as it is, but at the same time, I'm not so sure that we can be held responsible for residents of other countries thinking "hey, that's cool" and voluntarily hopping on the bandwagon. Especially today, when anything and everything entertainment-related is readily available with a few mouse-clicks and a PayPal account (or completely free, as the case may be), people have the freedom to be as discriminating as they want to be.
Likewise, I can count on probably one hand the number of authentic depictions of Americans I've seen in foreign films; more often that not, if you're American, you're a gun-totin', cowboy-hat-wearin', drawl-slurrin' good ol' boy riding his horse to the supermarket, a greasy, cutthroat Wall Street type or an Italian-American mafioso. Not 100% of the time, of course, but I honestly think it would be disingenuous to say that we're the stereotypers more often than the stereotypees.
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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