[_Shmiley]

Whenever I've met any Americans they always seem like *****. Sorry it's true. They think they walk on air and are so much better than everyone else and will actually try and prove it.


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[ConnorTheYank]

(Original post by Mockery)
You're really changing the argument to how literal my post should be read huh? You have basically come here with the sole intention to seperate yourself from the south and shift all the stereotypes of the US, as a whole, onto them.

I'm singling out America because they always seem to have something to say about others, but don't accept any remarks back, which is essentially what you're doing, but to your own countrymen in this case.

I have traveled the world and in most places that I have been to, I have been criticised or stereotyped. I have even been criticised by my fellow Americans. By no means is America the only one who does the stereotyping, although I can admit that we do a lot. I can accept remarks that are true, but I will obviously direct them towards the group where they would accurately fit. What if a non-English person criticised your nation and it inhabitants for all being a bunch of binge-drinking, football-obsessed, socialist, arrogant, posh *****? Now, I have been to England many times; enough to say that most English are not all like that, but there certainly are those who would fit the description. Wouldn't you like point that out to the person who is stereotyping your country?

[_Shmiley]

(Original post by ConnorTheYank)
I have traveled the world and in most places that I have been to, I have been criticised or stereotyped. I have even been criticised by my fellow Americans. By no means is America the only one who does the stereotyping, although I can admit that we do a lot. I can accept remarks that are true, but I will obviously direct them towards the group where they would accurately fit. What if a non-English person criticised your nation and it inhabitants for all being a bunch of binge-drinking, football-obsessed, socialist, arrogant, posh *****? Now, I have been to England many times; enough to say that most English are not all like that, but there certainly are those who would fit the description. Wouldn't you like point that out to the person who is stereotyping your country?

You start by saying you want to change your views, but now your getting mad with us for sharing our views? Hmmmm...


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[ConnorTheYank]

(Original post by _Shmiley)
Whenever I've met any Americans they always seem like *****. Sorry it's true. They think they walk on air and are so much better than everyone else and will actually try and prove it.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Hey, I can admit that there are many Americans like that. And I am sorry that the Americans you encountered acted like *****. We have our fair share of *****, but most countries do as well. But even though, many Americans are arrogant because our nation is powerful militarily. I certainly do not act like that; my best friends live in England and i plan on attending university there. It all just depends on who you meet. I am not trying to defend America by saying this but during my time in England, I have met posh ****ers who thought that their received pronunciation accent and luxury car made them better. But I obviously do not hold a grudge against all English for that. *******s are there, regardless of what country you are in. Nationality really doesnt have much to do with personality.

[ConnorTheYank]

(Original post by _Shmiley)
You start by saying you want to change your views, but now your getting mad with us for sharing our views? Hmmmm...


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I am not mad at all.

[Lunch_Box]

The US are poor losers, you have to admit that.

It also annoys how they must get involved with EVERYTHING across the globe. They cause more problems than they solve.

[Mockery]

(Original post by ConnorTheYank)
I have traveled the world and in most places that I have been to, I have been criticised or stereotyped. I have even been criticised by my fellow Americans. By no means is America the only one who does the stereotyping, although I can admit that we do a lot. I can accept remarks that are true, but I will obviously direct them towards the group where they would accurately fit. What if a non-English person criticised your nation and it inhabitants for all being a bunch of binge-drinking, football-obsessed, socialist, arrogant, posh *****? Now, I have been to England many times; enough to say that most English are not all like that, but there certainly are those who would fit the description. Wouldn't you like point that out to the person who is stereotyping your country?

That's the thing, there are often certain individuals who fit stereotypes to a tee, however you're not placing blame on people individually, you're blaming the WHOLE of the southern states of America.

[TurboCretin]

(Original post by ConnorTheYank)
I live in the United States and i want to give people insight as to how the US is. Americans are very often stereotyped and i want to help people understand us better. No, i am not a blindly patriotic American; i will adress all input from a neutral, truthful perspective.

I'm going to give you my bugbear about Americans. Not so much the ones you see here or elsewhere in Europe as the ones you see in the States.

I think that Americans don't travel abroad enough, in general. The media doesn't help. When I watched Team America I thought it was hilarious how every new part of the world they introduced was specified as being "x thousand miles East/West of America". But when I actually went to the U.S. and read some newspapers, both national and state, everything did seem utterly inward-focused, like things external to America only mattered insofar as they impacted in some tangible way on the life of the average, hard-working American. And it would be that aspect of the matter which would become the focus of the article. I think that all this (but mostly the travel point) leaves them with insufficient exposure to/regard for countries and cultures besides their own, and that they have excessive pride in their own nation and intolerance of foreign culture which stems at least partly from that insularity.

Thoughts?

[ConnorTheYank]

(Original post by Lunch_Box)
The US are poor losers, you have to admit that.

It also annoys how they must get involved with EVERYTHING across the globe. Thewy cause more problems than they solve.

We are poor losers. See I can admit flaws. As for the agressive foreign policy of America, do you think I personally had anything to do with it? Of course not; neither did most people. America has arguably the most vocal anti-war sentiment in the entire world. We do get involved a lot, but only because of the idiots in Washington. Do I blame all the British for things like maybe hmm say....conquering most of the known world and killing millions of people? Of course not; it was the King or Queen at the time. The poor decisions of one man cannot reflect 300 million people. Also, if America did not spend trillions of dollars on aid for poor nations, millions would be dead. The US and UK were not wanted in Afghanistan, but we got rid of the Taliban and saved the entire country. Sometimes our foreign policy is unwelcome, but it needs to be sometimes, as we are the world's only superpower. Britain has arguably the worst foreign policy historically; look at Northern Ireland. If the British never took the land from the natives, no terrorism would ever have emerged.

[ConnorTheYank]

(Original post by TurboCretin)
I'm going to give you my bugbear about Americans. Not so much the ones you see here or elsewhere in Europe as the ones you see in the States.

I think that Americans don't travel abroad enough, in general. I think that that leaves them with insufficient exposure to cultures besides their own, and that they have excessive pride in their own nation and intolerance of other cultures which stems at least partly from that insularity.

Thoughts?

I totally and completely agree with you. Keep in mind that a ticket from Heathrow to Rome is like 40 quid on Ryanair. From Philadelphia to Rome it is like at least $1000. It is much easier for Europeans to see different cultures than it is for Americans. We have an ocean to cross, where as Europeans can drive to different countries. We are all alone in the New World.

[Lunch_Box]

(Original post by ConnorTheYank)
We are poor losers. See I can admit flaws. As for the agressive foreign policy of America, do you think I personally had anything to do with it? Of course not; neither did most people. America has arguably the most vocal anti-war sentiment in the entire world. We do get involved a lot, but only because of the idiots in Washington. Do I blame all the British for things like maybe hmm say....conquering most of the known world and killing millions of people? Of course not; it was the King or Queen at the time. The poor decisions of one man cannot reflect 300 million people. Also, if America did not spend trillions of dollars on aid for poor nations, millions would be dead. The US and UK were not wanted in Afghanistan, but we got rid of the Taliban and saved the entire country. Sometimes our foreign policy is unwelcome, but it needs to be sometimes, as we are the world's only superpower. Britain has arguably the worst foreign policy historically; look at Northern Ireland. If the British never took the land from the natives, no terrorism would ever have emerged.

I don't think the American people are to blame here. I think it's the government's fault and arrogance.

Aid should be left for NGOs and charities. They know what they are doing, and do not involve themselves in unnecessary conflict.

[TitanicTeutonicPhil]

(Original post by ConnorTheYank)
The hunting, shooting, incestuous, unintelligent, racist, obese, ignorant, and poor image of Americans that most Europeans see is only relative to the South.

Right. Good thing they never met the elitist, stuck-up, manipulative, lobbying, Republican-supporting big-corporation lot of the north-east.
Or the boring, impoverished, frequently berzerk-running crowds of the north-middle. Or the corn farmers of the north-west (nothing to say
about them, their states are mainly empty anyway).

Nah, just pulling your leg. The North is definitely more worthwhile but I'd pick Western Europe over it any day. Except for maybe California...

[ConnorTheYank]

(Original post by Mockery)
That's the thing, there are often certain individuals who fit stereotypes to a tee, however you're not placing blame on people individually, you're blaming the WHOLE of the southern states of America.

In a nation with well over 300,000,000 citizens, you will need to generalise about groups; there are too many individuals. I suggest you go to the south and see that. Not all but the vast majority will be as I said. In England, chavs are stereotyped ALL the time. Why you ask. Because the vast majority are dumb, poor, thuglike, and dodgy. I have never seen a chav who didnt fit the stereotype.

[ConnorTheYank]

(Original post by Lunch_Box)
I don't think the American people are to blame here. I think it's the government's fault and arrogance.

Aid should be left for NGOs and charities. They know what they are doing, and do not involve themselves in unnecessary conflict.

I could not agree with you more.

[TitanicTeutonicPhil]

(Original post by ConnorTheYank)
From Philadelphia to Rome it is like at least $1000.

True; after all, getting a new flat screen and the latest Apple gadgets is much,
much more important than broading your horizons!

[ConnorTheYank]

(Original post by TitanicTeutonicPhil)
Right. Good thing they never met the elitist, stuck-up, manipulative, lobbying, Republican-supporting big-corporation lot of the north-east.
Or the boring, impoverished, frequently berzerk-running crowds of the north-middle. Or the corn farmers of the north-west (nothing to say
about them, their states are mainly empty anyway).

Nah, just pulling your leg. The North is definitely more worthwhile but I'd pick Western Europe over it any day. Except for maybe California...

Haha! I would pick Western Europe any day as well, which is why I very much want to live there. Mostly for the culture. I am looking to get my PhD in history at a uni in England. Plus my best mates since age 4 just moved back to their hometown of Oxford.

[ConnorTheYank]

(Original post by TitanicTeutonicPhil)
True; after all, getting a new flat screen and the latest Apple gadgets is much,
much more important than broading your horizons!

Sadly to most people it is. But that is truly regardless of where you live. My friends in England have iPhones and what not and they have only been outside of Oxford three times in six months. I myself am saving up not for a new gadget but to go on vacation to Europe again.

[lindie]

(Original post by TurboCretin)
I'm going to give you my bugbear about Americans. Not so much the ones you see here or elsewhere in Europe as the ones you see in the States.

I think that Americans don't travel abroad enough, in general. I think that that leaves them with insufficient exposure to cultures besides their own, and that they have excessive pride in their own nation and intolerance of other cultures which stems at least partly from that insularity.

Thoughts?

I would agree that most Americans don't travel abroad enough. Because of my university studies, I travel abroad frequently and telling other Americans about my trips can be...interesting. Most people only know the basics about other nations.
Even then, I have to tell them that Czechoslovakia doesn't exist anymore and that it's the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Had a half-brother ask me to bring back a catalog for Czech mail-order brides (because apparently he heard that the highest percentage of mail-order brides come from there). I'll be studying in England later this year, and it has taken a number of times to convince people that I'm not studying in London or even be close to it (I guess when people think England, they assume London). It annoys me that some people are so proud and insistent in their ignorance.

I'm always surprised at the number of people who will proclaim: "America is the greatest country on earth because of our freedom." I'm pretty sure we're not the only nation that experiences freedom.

[Mockery]

(Original post by ConnorTheYank)
In a nation with well over 300,000,000 citizens, you will need to generalise about groups; there are too many individuals. I suggest you go to the south and see that. Not all but the vast majority will be as I said. In England, chavs are stereotyped ALL the time. Why you ask. Because the vast majority are dumb, poor, thuglike, and dodgy. I have never seen a chav who didnt fit the stereotype.

I'm officially bored of you, all you're doing is trying to stop others from fitting you into a stereotype, but at the same time you're constantly stereotyping whole communities and trying to justify it.

[MancStudent098]

(Original post by ConnorTheYank)
In a nation with well over 300,000,000 citizens, you will need to generalise about groups; there are too many individuals. I suggest you go to the south and see that. Not all but the vast majority will be as I said. In England, chavs are stereotyped ALL the time. Why you ask. Because the vast majority are dumb, poor, thuglike, and dodgy. I have never seen a chav who didnt fit the stereotype.

That's because 'chav' is a stereotype. What you're essentially saying there is that people who you consider dumb, poor, thuglike and dodgy are, in your eyes, dumb, poor, thuglike and dodgy.

I agree completely; fat people abound in the good ol' US of A... However, most people that i know are from the middle class, and are actually completely obsessed with whole grains and nutrition.

This is actually my overriding impression of a US attitude to food. Either a 'pizza counts as a vegetable' mentality or an obsessive and frankly rather unhealthy need that everything be an organic, low-calorie, wholegrain superfood.

God help me for saying this, but you guys could learn a lot from the French.