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10 things Americans don't know about America

 
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arof
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PostPosted: Nov 07, 2013 2:36 pm    Post subject: 10 things Americans don't know about America Reply with quote

Okie-type post here.

http://markmanson.net/america

Here they are, briefly:
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
2. Few People Hate Us
3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
7. We’re Paranoid
8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
9. We Are Very Unhealthy
10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness

For the food one - I can't believe portion sizes in the U.S. Incredible that you guys aren't fatter!

Discuss.

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PostPosted: Nov 07, 2013 3:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote




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PostPosted: Nov 07, 2013 3:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It depends on where you travel to. Stating universal facts about how other countries compare and view the US is frankly, idiotic. I'm sure those are more accurate in some parts of the world. I've been to South America twice in the last year and almost none of those things hold true.

His comments in "We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection" show he has little sense of humor or social awareness. Yeah, when I call a friend a chode-waffle, it means that we are close enough friends to joke with each other. There's no need to give each other verbal reach-a-rounds. This guy would probably get offended because he doesn't even like waffles. He sounds like a guy who'd ask how he was doing in the middle of intercourse.

I have as much white-american-male-guilt as the next guy, but he misses the mark.

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PostPosted: Nov 07, 2013 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
disagree. lived in germany for 10 years and while there were plenty of people who weren't fond of the our imperialist nature (to say the least), we still swing the biggest dong, whether it is political, military, fashion, technology, music, sports (traditional for sure, but especially new age like skateboarding, bmx, mtb, snowboarding, etc), cinema, we dominate and the rest of the world knows the score. don't think they are bowing down about it, but they know.

2. Few People Hate Us
agree. it seems like it, but most are ambivalent at best.

3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
as a country? strongly agree.

4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
not even sure how one measures that, even anecdotally, across hundereds of countries, w/ millions of subcultures. push.

5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
compared to the upper middle class in america? agreed.
compared to being poor in the majority of the rest of the world? disagree.

6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
there's a lot of great cities and beautiful places around the world, but a whole lot of the rest of the world is a slum-ridden shithole compared to us.

7. We’re Paranoid
agree

8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
strongly agree

9. We Are Very Unhealthy
push, but i could see the numbers bearing this out - but i'd love to see how they quantify this. we do have a lot of unhealthy people, but i feel like there's a fairly sharp dividing line, and have a lot of healthy people as well.

10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
maybe we value comfort.
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arof
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PostPosted: Nov 07, 2013 4:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
Depends what "impressed" means. I might agree.

2. Few People Hate Us
Agreed.

3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
Agreed.

4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
Don't really know what this means.

5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
I think it depends what "quality of life" means.

6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
Compared to Canada, kind of fine the U.S. to be must more run-down, in general. There's two living situations in the U.S. in the places I've been between upper middle class living in master planned communities or trailer parks. I realize this is a HUGE generalization, and perhaps only true in the places I've seen, so take this with a grain of salt.

7. We’re Paranoid
Agreed.

8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
Agreed

9. We Are Very Unhealthy
Strongly agree. While i get JT's point (and he's in better shape than me by far), the amount and type of food available is, in general, much worse for you than most other places. Portion sizes are MUCH larger in the U.S. (I would say at least 1.5 times the portion size in Canada, on average).

10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
Depends on what you think happiness is.

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arof
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PostPosted: Nov 07, 2013 4:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

note that this from a Canadian's perspective on the U.S. Smile
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PostPosted: Nov 07, 2013 4:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jt09 wrote:
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
disagree. lived in germany for 10 years and while there were plenty of people who weren't fond of the our imperialist nature (to say the least), we still swing the biggest dong, whether it is political, military, fashion, technology, music, sports (traditional for sure, but especially new age like skateboarding, bmx, mtb, snowboarding, etc), cinema, we dominate and the rest of the world knows the score. don't think they are bowing down about it, but they know.


JT - perhaps what the author was saying is that even though we ("they") know this stuff, they really don't care and therefore aren't "impressed".

Sports for instance - I'm not sure the rest of the world cares that Americans are good at basketball and football and a host of other sports. They care about cricket and soccer and rugby - sports that Americans don't care about/aren't good at (in general) . . .

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PostPosted: Nov 07, 2013 4:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sports

basketball is worldwide, second only to soccer. where did it start, and where is the best professional league?

hockey is canada's game, but worldwide in cold weather countries, and where is the best professional league?

track and field, swimming, gymnastics - every olympic sport, who wins the most medals?

surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, bmx, mountain biking - all born in the usa, and still dominated by americans (except maybe mtb).

when it comes to athletics, it's the usa vs the world.
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PostPosted: Nov 08, 2013 6:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

JT, I understand what you're saying. However, what I'm saying is that the article is saying that no one cares!
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PostPosted: Nov 08, 2013 6:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

and i'm disputing that. people that care about sports care. just like i care about international soccer and am impressed by germany, spain, the netherlands, brazil, etc. it may not be something i am constantly preoccupied with, but i'm aware of the landscape.
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PostPosted: Nov 08, 2013 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

his list, his responses to comments, and the post about working abroad have given me thoughts on an otherwise blah friday morning.
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PostPosted: Nov 08, 2013 9:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

16 People On Things They Couldn’t Believe About America Until They Moved Here
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PostPosted: Nov 08, 2013 9:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lists like OP are I Hate America Bullhsit.
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PostPosted: Nov 08, 2013 12:19 pm    Post subject: Re: 10 things Americans don't know about America Reply with quote

[quote]

Here they are, briefly:
Quote:
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us


More true today than in the past. When I used to travel back to DK in the 90's early 2000's being an American seemed to garner attention. While living there in the mid 2000's attention seemed to be negative. When I travel there today most people are indifferent.

Quote:
2. Few People Hate Us


Disagree. In the mid 2000's, while living in DK I would get a lot of negative attention from immigrants, usually of middle eastern descent. The natives were somewhat indifferent.

Quote:
3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World


Agreed.

Quote:
4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection


Disagree.

Quote:
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great


Strongly agree when comparing to Europe. Rest of the world we are much better. I would say we fall as the ass end of what is considered a Western World standard of living.

Quote:
6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us


Completely agree. Sure there a plenty of places that are worse, but also just as many as are better.

Quote:
7. We’re Paranoid


Strongly agree.

Quote:
8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention


No worse than any other place.

Quote:
9. We Are Very Unhealthy


Completely agree

Quote:
10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness


I think this is on an individual basis.

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PostPosted: Nov 08, 2013 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

America's very impressive, but I'm not sure if any of your politicians can top the Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford the crackhead..
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PostPosted: Nov 08, 2013 3:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

that guy is amazing
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PostPosted: Nov 08, 2013 5:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Please, Marion Berry (Mayor of DC) was smoking crack over 20 years ago.
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PostPosted: Nov 09, 2013 7:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kwame Kilpatrick owns Mayor Ford
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PostPosted: Nov 09, 2013 8:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jryoung wrote:
Please, Marion Berry (Mayor of DC) was smoking crack over 20 years ago.








Quote:
This March, Ford was accused by political rival Sarah Thomson of grabbing her ass during a photo and telling her she "should have been in Florida with him last week because his wife wasn’t there."

what? was that wrong? should i have not done that?


















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PostPosted: Nov 09, 2013 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jerry Springer was one hell of a mayor. Who uses a check to pay for hooker. Seriously...
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PostPosted: Nov 09, 2013 11:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jt09, Laughing if only Chris Farley was around right now.
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PostPosted: Nov 10, 2013 11:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rob Ford History (edit)

http://mayorford.info/


Last edited by microman on Nov 13, 2013 2:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Nov 11, 2013 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting link. I would have to say I agree with the responses from jt09.
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PostPosted: Nov 11, 2013 7:16 pm    Post subject: Re: 10 things Americans don't know about America Reply with quote

nmballa wrote:



Quote:
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great


Strongly agree when comparing to Europe. Rest of the world we are much better. I would say we fall as the ass end of what is considered a Western World standard of living.


Perhaps if you are an average person Europe is better, but if you are above average, the US has a lot more opportunity from what I have seen. I am comparing Europe to Texas, however. I guess if I lived in the Midwest or the rust belt my opinions might be different. People I have met in Ireland, UK and Norway hold a different view of Texans vs. other Americans it seems.

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PostPosted: Nov 12, 2013 6:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I spend about 25-30% of my time traveling globally on business and I disagree with a few.

1. Few People Are Impressed By Us - False. In most places I go the local people are afraid and or impressed. They believe the US is a violent place and many peoples impression is that we are all Marines or cowboys. Women think we have money. Everyone fears and is impressed with our military.

2. Few People Hate Us - False. I respect others countries customs and people. In addition Im from the south and do my best to be nice to everyone. With that said MANY people hate us. I've been verbally assaulted in France, Germany and the UK for doing nothing more than minding my own business. I've been cursed out for not saying a word and simply walking down the street. The worst treatment by far is in Germany and every time I go I have some experience in which a drunk wants to pick a fight, a kid curses me out on the street or a co-worker has felt the need to make off the cuff remarks.

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PostPosted: Nov 12, 2013 7:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just got back from Germany and I was treated sorta the same unless I mentioned I was from Texas. It was really strange how the attitude changed.
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PostPosted: Nov 14, 2013 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i can't quit him



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PostPosted: Nov 14, 2013 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shocked no really Shocked

Amazing delivery, simply awesome.

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PostPosted: Nov 14, 2013 4:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jt09 wrote:
i can't quit him





Just realized the other day that I have done business in the past with his family's company. No idea if I ever spoke with him or if he is involved.

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I used to get all happy when the girlie would make a colonic appointment. That meant she was going to be breaking out the "fine china" soon.

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PostPosted: Nov 14, 2013 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nmballa wrote:


Just realized the other day that I have done business in the past with his family's company. No idea if I ever spoke with him or if he is involved.


Poor Robbie just didn't have the "passion" for it.

Quote:
After that, he joined the family business, but unlike Doug, who ambitiously worked to grow the company, helping it expand to Chicago, his heart was not in it, several former employees said.

“Robbie just did not have the passion for labels,” one long-time employee said. “He did what he had to do because it was the family business, but he did not show true passion until he got into politics.”


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/globe-investigation-the-ford-familys-history-with-drug-dealing/article12153014/?page=all
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PostPosted: Nov 15, 2013 5:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jt09 wrote:
i can't quit him



Lol..funniest thing I've seen in a while.

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