What are Americans so scared of?

[Pat494]

Good ole science may find " the evil gene ". Remove that and peace and harmony is restored

 

[Splitlink]

Good ole science may find " the evil gene ". Remove that and peace and harmony is restored

We would not be the same humans, then, would we? That's another thing that we must watch. If administration got control of that we'd end up like zombies.

All very interesting stuff, but it is all coming. I won't be here but----

Watch it fellers! :cheesy:

The Yanks who read this will be happy that I have taken the thread off topic for a bit.

 

[Pat494]

Just looking back at the past it seems humans that get into power have an absurd destructive urge. Whether it is against supposed rivals or enemies we are cursed by violence.

To urge peace etc. just has to be the great benefit of religions. Countries caught up in strife whether external or internal don't prosper or survive very long. The Bush/Blair wars have bankrupted and virtually destroyed the Westernised civilization.

 

[Splitlink]

Just looking back at the past it seems humans that get into power have an absurd destructive urge. Whether it is against supposed rivals or enemies we are cursed by violence.

To urge peace etc. just has to be the great benefit of religions. Countries caught up in strife whether external or internal don't prosper or survive very long. The Bush/Blair wars have bankrupted and virtually destroyed the Westernised civilization.

We (and everyone else) want peace on our terms. 42% of Egyptians earn less than $2 per day. What are they supposed to buy for that? Mubarak has brought peace to Egypt so that the West can live a higher quality life- To maintain that the US supplies military aid to Egypt to the tune of $1.3 billion per year.

I am no different from anyone else. I am just trying to see the point of view from the other side.

An American poster said that it was interesting to know what the rest of the world thought of them. I am very pro-American and worked, happily, for an American oil company for many years. That is not to say that I did not see what American capital was doing to other countries. Does Obama see that? Personally, I think that Ike had a better and more humane perception of world matters but he was before his time.

 

[Pat494]

Rulers are just going to have to get used to treating people they rule properly or else imho

:clap:

 

[Ambrose Ackroyd]

9/11 has a lot to do with the Americans running scared these days.

The perpetrators of 9/11 ( whoever they might be ) were rather more successful than killing a couple of thousand poor souls.

They actually succeeded in mentally screwing over a nation of 250 million people who became deranged paranoids overnight.

Now, nearly 10 years later the Americans show no signs of regaining mental normality.

They are just as screwed up as they ever were and continually want to start wars and invade nations who are mild irritants.

Problem is that the Yanks don't know how to win wars.

I would wager that the Chinese would be pretty proficient in the business of winning armed conflicts.

Watch your back and your shadows Sarah ( Fruitcake ) Palin et al.

 

[Pat494]

As long as human behaviour remains fundamentally unchanged, empires will fall and other empires will rise. Whether this is done geographically, geopolitically or using newer forms of territory won't make any different IMO Pat. All that's happened is the landscape has changed, not the motive and behaviours behind it.

I think the world has become tired of American Imperialism. They have been quite a benevolent dictator in historic terms but people of the world are looking for a change. Like any authority that is losing control, they try and tighten their grip but this seems to be backfiring. As most US citizens as I understand it have little comprehension of US foreign policy and goings on because of domestic focus, I sense that the people know something is going wrong but have little information to substantiate it because of their natural introspection and focus on home affairs. Their reaction is to be scared and/or lash out.

It's the start of the US identity crisis as they lose domination.

100 years on for the British, we are still struggling to figure out who we are and what our place in the world is.

I call it American pigsty culture imho
Not wishing to anger our US friends but it really has been a major culture shock around the world for decades. Almost all that was held dear ( perhaps for the wrong reasons ) has been swept away by blaring movies of the badly behaved Hollywood culture, blaring pop music of the drug culture, crime on a never seen before scale, porno photos in mags and on billboards, overpaid money grubbers of dodgy financial deals, overstuffed politicians meddling in other country's affairs and so on and so on.
Thousands of years of home grown culture under attack and now being rushed towards a conclusion that looks suspiciosly like huge mountains of garbage from this run away consumer culture and an overheated trashed planet.

 

[dick_dastardly]

Is anti-Americanism the last acceptable form of racism?




dd

 

[montmorencyt2w]

Its loads of fun listening to what foreigners think Americans think.

At least we think about what Americans think.
Does the average American care about what foreigners think?

 

[montmorencyt2w]

Is anti-Americanism the last acceptable form of racism?




dd

The United States of America is made up of many different races, therefore, no.

That's like saying that if you criticise the policies of the Israeli government, then you must be anti-Semitic.

 

[montmorencyt2w]

What is happening in N.Africa and Yemen will happen in China, sooner or later. The Chinese leadership is sitting on a time-bomb. I should say that it is doing a good job for the people, at present, but people will want more and are quick to blame the administration. These governments are fearful of internet communication with good reason.

Good points, and it has the potential to be a lot bloodier.

We can all be thankful that we have a 4-5 year voting system that allows change, and to let off steam. If we discard democracy, even though it is not perfect, God help us. There are elements of governmental, big brother control, creeping into our governmental system- cameras, childcare etc.
There are, also, evil people out there so what are we to do? Evil to combat evil and we have to accept it. But we must know that all this must be carefully watched.

Those who watch us must be watched.

We have a version of democracy. It was never perfect, but that's not surprising.
What's worrying is that it becomes less democratic all the time.

We were much freeer when I was growing up.
We were freeer even during the period of Irish extremist attacks on the mainland, where at least some of us were under direct threat, which could have happened at any time. 7/7 apart, I doubt whether the UK has been under much direct threat in the post 9/11 period (and if we had kept out of America's wars we might have missed 7/7, supposing you don't think that was a put-up job (which I think it might have been)).


As Private Eye pointed out, the foolish young man who threw a fire extinguisher (which didn't hurt anyone) got banged up for 2 years. The copper who did actually kill a demonstrator (on a different occasion) got away scot-free. The coppers/special forces/security forces/legalised assassins who killed Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell tube station on 22nd July 2005 and their COs got away with it.

It won't get any better unless people wake up from their apathy and complacency.


I would imagine the USA at the moment is fairly terrified that Egypt might go Islam fundamentalist, although I am sure that the CIA is doing everything in its power to make sure that America's man will get in in the end.

 

[Ambrose Ackroyd]

We were much freeer when I was growing up.

So true.

You can't even slag off women linesmen these days.

What has the world come to ? !

 

[Splitlink]

So true.

You can't even slag off women linesmen these days.

What has the world come to ? !

There are too many of us and we all have rights.

 

[Ambrose Ackroyd]

I know Split but how on earth can a woman understand the offside rule mate ?

They should have kitchen rights but not football pitch rights.

Rights should be limited.

By the way, you do not have the right to take me seriously.

 

[Pat494]

So true.

You can't even slag off women linesmen these days.

What has the world come to ? !

Be fair AA the poor darlings have their nails to consider before the petty details of a footy match, besides their hair in the wind, the mud on their shoes and of course striking a sensational pose of epic proportions to their many lusting admirers. The actual match - no chance mate !!

 

[DionysusToast]

I've worked with a few Americans. They have some very strange views of the world i can tell ya.
Average guy when you ask him where he's been in the world would probably say...wtf do i want to go anywhere for , we have everything we need right here at home !
There are some stats available i'm sure...basically along the lines of 98% of Americans have never been outside their own country. Quite scary when you think about that !

The above statement says a lot more about your own biases than it does about Americans. Exactly how many did you meet ? 4 or 5? You do realise there are hundreds of millions of them, right?

Sure, I met some guys from Alabama & they did have a rather colorful outlook on life. I met them in a bar in Tennessee which they considered to be the other side of the planet. It mystified them that I could be from England and actually be sitting there in that bar.

On the other hand, I once went out on a night in York. I can't remember where the village was that our hotel was in but when me & the lads piled into the local pub - the guy with the flat cap & ferret said "Are you boys from Thirsk?" (5 miles down the road) - apparently the other side of the planet for them. Would it be fair to draw from this experience, the conclusion that all people in England are closed minded? Of course not.

I've spent a lot of time in the States - as in years. Knoxville, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, LA, New Orleans,Dallas, Memphis, Vegas, San Diego and more than likely others I have forgotten. You will find that the percentage of Americans that don't care about the rest of the world is on par with the UK.

As for 98% - 98% of what is written about Americans is total nonsense. Your average American guy is no different from your average European.

They aren't all like Howard....

 

[Splitlink]

The above statement says a lot more about your own biases than it does about Americans. Exactly how many did you meet ? 4 or 5? You do realise there are hundreds of millions of them, right?

Sure, I met some guys from Alabama & they did have a rather colorful outlook on life. I met them in a bar in Tennessee which they considered to be the other side of the planet. It mystified them that I could be from England and actually be sitting there in that bar.

On the other hand, I once went out on a night in York. I can't remember where the village was that our hotel was in but when me & the lads piled into the local pub - the guy with the flat cap & ferret said "Are you boys from Thirsk?" (5 miles down the road) - apparently the other side of the planet for them. Would it be fair to draw from this experience, the conclusion that all people in England are closed minded? Of course not.

I've spent a lot of time in the States - as in years. Knoxville, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, LA, New Orleans,Dallas, Memphis, Vegas, San Diego and more than likely others I have forgotten. You will find that the percentage of Americans that don't care about the rest of the world is on par with the UK.

As for 98% - 98% of what is written about Americans is total nonsense. Your average American guy is no different from your average European.

They aren't all like Howard....

When we were young, if we had money to spend, we spent it and the world was our oyster. We are no different from Americans, in that sense. You don't see the ones who are short of money, they tend to stay at home, the same as ours do.

I've met and worked with lots and I know whose side I prefer to be on. The rest can do as they wish.

 

[Pat494]

If only.
The rest don't like being ignored so they throw rocks etc.
The Bush/Blair type clots send soldiers who shoot people and so on it escalates until we are more or less where we are at now.
The weapon's industry is going great guns tho !!
I can just see our political clowns , on the pretext of copying the USA allowing anyone to buy guns. But in reality bribed by the weapons industry. So any drug fuelled lunatic/religious fanatic can have his very own massacre.

Progress ? I think not.

 

[robster970]

Its loads of fun listening to what foreigners think Americans think.

I bet it is - LOL/

Do you think you can more accurately reflect the national mood in a short paragraph?

 

[DashRiprock]

this is just for fun i bet they picked only the bad ones but LOL