Here's to those who wish us well 
Those who don't can go to hell.
Posted on 07/13/2012 10:34:52 AM PDT by SLB
Imagine you have a brother and he’s an alcoholic. He has his moments, but you keep your distance from him. You don’t mind him for the occasional family gathering or holiday. You still love him. But you don’t want to be around him.
This is how I lovingly describe my current relationship with the United States. The United States is my alcoholic brother. And although I will always love him, I don’t want to be near him at the moment.
I know that’s harsh, but I really feel my home country is not in a good place these days. That’s not a socio-economic statement (although that’s on the decline as well), but rather a cultural one.
I realize it’s going to be impossible to write sentences like the ones above without coming across as a raging prick, so let me try to soften the blow to my American readers with an analogy:
You know when you move out of your parents’ house and live on your own, how you start hanging out with your friends’ families and you realize that actually, your family was a little screwed up? Stuff you always assumed was normal your entire childhood, it turns out was pretty weird and may have actually fucked you up a little bit. You know, dad thinking it was funny to wear a Santa Claus hat in his underwear every Christmas or the fact that you and your sister slept in the same bed until you were 22, or that your mother routinely cried over a bottle of wine while listening to Elton John.
The point is we don’t really get perspective on what’s close to us until we spend time away from it. Just like you didn’t realize the weird quirks and nuances of your family until you left and spent time with others, the same is true for country and culture. You often don’t see what’s messed up about your country and culture until you step outside of it.
And so even though this article is going to come across as fairly scathing, I want my American readers to know: some of the stuff we do, some of the stuff that we always assumed was normal, it’s kind of screwed up. And that’s OK. Because that’s true with every culture. It’s just easier to spot it in others (i.e., the French) so we don’t always notice it in ourselves.
So as you read this article, know that I’m saying everything with tough love, the same tough love with which I’d sit down and lecture an alcoholic family member. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It doesn’t mean there aren’t some awesome things about you (BRO, THAT’S AWESOME!!!). And it doesn’t mean I’m some saint either, because god knows I’m pretty screwed up (I’m American, after all). There are just a few things you need to hear. And as a friend, I’m going to tell them to you.
And to my foreign readers, get your necks ready, because this is going to be a nod-a-thon.
A Little “What The Hell Does This Guy Know?” Background: I’ve lived in different parts of the US, both the deep south and the northeast. I have visited most of the US’s 50 states. I’ve spent the past three years living almost entirely outside of the United States. I’ve lived in multiple countries in Europe, Asia and South America. I’ve visited over 40 countries in all and have spent far more time with non-Americans than with Americans during this period. I speak multiple languages. I’m not a tourist. I don’t stay in resorts and rarely stay in hostels. I rent apartments and try to integrate myself into each country I visit as much as possible. So there.
(Note: I realize these are generalizations and I realize there are always exceptions. I get it. You don’t have to post 55 comments telling me that you and your best friend are exceptions. If you really get that offended from some guy’s blog post, you may want to double-check your life priorities.)
OK, we’re ready now. 10 things Americans don’t know about America.
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
*********************
Throughout history, every dominant civilization eventually collapsed because it became TOO successful. What made it powerful and unique grows out of proportion and consumes its society. I think this is true for American society. We’re complacent, entitled and unhealthy. My generation is the first generation of Americans who will be worse off than their parents, economically, physically and emotionally. And this is not due to a lack of resources, to a lack of education or to a lack of ingenuity. It’s corruption and complacency. The corruption from the massive industries that control our government’s policies, and the fat complacency of the people to sit around and let it happen.
There are things I love about my country. I don’t hate the US and I still return to it a few times a year. But I think the greatest flaw of American culture is our blind self-absorption. In the past it only hurt other countries. But now it’s starting to hurt ourselves.
So this is my lecture to my alcoholic brother — my own flavor of arrogance and self-absorption, even if slightly more informed — in hopes he’ll give up his wayward ways. I imagine it’ll fall on deaf ears, but it’s the most I can do for now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some funny cat pictures to look at.
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
Unless you’re speaking with a real estate agent or a prostitute, chances are they’re not going to be excited that you’re American. It’s not some badge of honor we get to parade around. Yes, we had Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison, but unless you actually are Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison (which is unlikely) then most people around the world are simply not going to care. There are exceptions of course. And those exceptions are called English and Australian people. Whoopdie-fucking-doo.
As Americans, we’re brought up our entire lives being taught that we’re the best, we did everything first and that the rest of the world follows our lead. Not only is this not true, but people get irritated when you bring it to their country with you. So don’t.
2. Few People Hate Us
Despite the occasional eye-rolling, and complete inability to understand why anyone would vote for George W. Bush, people from other countries don’t hate us either. In fact — and I know this is a really sobering realization for us — most people in the world don’t really think about us or care about us. I know, that sounds absurd, especially with CNN and Fox News showing the same 20 angry Arab men on repeat for ten years straight. But unless we’re invading someone’s country or threatening to invade someone’s country (which is likely), then there’s a 99.99% chance they don’t care about us. Just like we rarely think about the people in Bolivia or Mongolia, most people don’t think about us much. They have jobs, kids, house payments — you know, those things called lives — to worry about. Kind of like us.
Americans tend to assume that the rest of the world either loves us or hates us (this is actually a good litmus test to tell if someone is conservative or liberal). The fact is, most people feel neither. Most people don’t think much about us.
Remember that immature girl in high school, who every little thing that happened to her meant that someone either hated her or was obsessed with her; who thought every teacher who ever gave her a bad grade was being totally unfair and everything good that happened to her was because of how amazing she was? Yeah, we’re that immature high school girl.
3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
For all of our talk about being global leaders and how everyone follows us, we don’t seem to know much about our supposed “followers.” Here were some brain-stumpers for me: the Vietnamese believe the Vietnam War was about China (not us), Hitler was primarily defeated by Russia (not us), Native Americans were wiped out by a plague (not us), and the American Revolution was “won” because the British cared more about beating France (not us). Notice a running theme here?
(Hint: It’s not all about us.)
We did not invent democracy. We didn’t even invent modern democracy. There were parliamentary systems in England and other parts of Europe over a hundred years before we created government. In a recent survey of young Americans, 63% could not find Iraq on a map (despite being at war with them), and 54% did not know Sudan was a country in Africa. Yet, somehow we’re positive that everyone else looks up to us.
4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
There’s a saying about English-speakers. We say “Go fuck yourself,” when we really mean “I like you,” and we say “I like you,” when we really mean “Go fuck yourself.”
Outside of getting shit-housed drunk and screaming “I LOVE YOU, MAN!”, open displays of affection in American culture are tepid and rare. Latin and some European cultures describe us as “cold” and “passionless” and for good reason. In our social lives we don’t say what we mean and we don’t mean what we say.
In our culture, appreciation and affection are implied rather than spoken outright. Two guy friends call each other names to reinforce their friendship; men and women tease and make fun of each other to imply interest. Feelings are almost never shared openly and freely. Consumer culture has cheapened our language of gratitude. Something like, “It’s so good to see you” is empty now because it’s expected and heard from everybody.
In dating, when I find a woman attractive, I almost always walk right up to her and tell her that a) I wanted to meet her, and b) she’s beautiful. In America, women usually get incredibly nervous and confused when I do this. They’ll make jokes to defuse the situation or sometimes ask me if I’m part of a TV show or something playing a prank. Even when they’re interested and go on dates with me, they get a bit disoriented when I’m so blunt with my interest. Whereas, in almost every other culture approaching women this way is met with a confident smile and a “Thank you.”
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
If you’re extremely talented or intelligent, the US is probably the best place in the world to live. The system is stacked heavily to allow people of talent and advantage to rise to the top quickly.
The problem with the US is that everyone thinks they are of talent and advantage. As John Steinbeck famously said, the problem with poor Americans is that “they don’t believe they’re poor, but rather temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” It’s this culture of self-delusion that allows America to continue to innovate and churn out new industry more than anyone else in the world. But this shared delusion also unfortunately keeps perpetuating large social inequalities and the quality of life for the average citizen lower than most other developed countries. It’s the price we pay to maintain our growth and economic dominance.
In my Guide to Wealth, I defined being wealthy as, “Having the freedom to maximize one’s life experiences.” In those terms, despite the average American having more material wealth than citizens of most other countries (more cars, bigger houses, nicer televisions), their overall quality of life suffers in my opinion. American people on average work more hours with less vacation, spend more time commuting every day, and are saddled with over $10,000 of debt. That’s a lot of time spent working and buying crap and little time or disposable income for relationships, activities or new experiences.
6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
In 2010, I got into a taxi in Bangkok to take me to a new six-story cineplex. It was accessible by metro, but I chose a taxi instead. On the seat in front of me was a sign with a wifi password. Wait, what? I asked the driver if he had wifi in his taxi. He flashed a huge smile. The squat Thai man, with his pidgin English, explained that he had installed it himself. He then turned on his new sound system and disco lights. His taxi instantly became a cheesy nightclub on wheels… with free wifi.
If there’s one constant in my travels over the past three years, it has been that almost every place I’ve visited (especially in Asia and South America) is much nicer and safer than I expected it to be. Singapore is pristine. Hong Kong makes Manhattan look like a suburb. My neighborhood in Colombia is nicer than the one I lived in in Boston (and cheaper).
As Americans, we have this naïve assumption that people all over the world are struggling and way behind us. They’re not. Sweden and South Korea have more advanced high speed internet networks. Japan has the most advanced trains and transportation systems. Norwegians make more money. The biggest and most advanced plane in the world is flown out of Singapore. The tallest buildings in the world are now in Dubai and Shanghai. Meanwhile, the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
What’s so surprising about the world is how unsurprising most of it is. I spent a week with some local guys in Cambodia. You know what their biggest concerns were? Paying for school, getting to work on time, and what their friends were saying about them. In Brazil, people have debt problems, hate getting stuck in traffic and complain about their overbearing mothers. Every country thinks they have the worst drivers. Every country thinks their weather is unpredictable. The world becomes, err… predictable.
7. We’re Paranoid
Not only are we emotionally insecure as a culture, but I’ve come to realize how paranoid we are about our physical security. You don’t have to watch Fox News or CNN for more than 10 minutes to hear about how our drinking water is going to kill us, our neighbor is going to rape our children, some terrorist in Yemen is going to kill us because we didn’t torture him, Mexicans are going to kill us, or some virus from a bird is going to kill us. There’s a reason we have more guns than people.
In the US, security trumps everything, even liberty. We’re paranoid.
I’ve probably been to 10 countries now that friends and family back home told me explicitly not to go because someone was going to kill me, kidnap me, stab me, rob me, rape me, sell me into sex trade, give me HIV, or whatever else. None of that has happened. I’ve never been robbed and I’ve walked through some of the shittiest parts of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
In fact, the experience has been the opposite. In countries like Russia, Colombia or Guatemala, people were so friendly it actually scared me. Some stranger in a bar would invite me to his house for a bar-b-que with his family, a random person on the street would offer to show me around and give me directions to a store I was trying to find. My American instincts were always that, “Wait, this guy is going to try to rob me or kill me,” but they never did. They were just insanely friendly.
8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
I’ve noticed that the way we Americans communicate is usually designed to create a lot of attention and hype. Again, I think this is a product of our consumer culture: the belief that something isn’t worthwhile or important unless it’s perceived to be the best (BEST EVER!!!) or unless it gets a lot of attention (see: every reality-television show ever made).
This is why Americans have a peculiar habit of thinking everything is “totally awesome,” and even the most mundane activities were “the best thing ever!” It’s the unconscious drive we share for importance and significance, this unmentioned belief, socially beaten into us since birth that if we’re not the best at something, then we don’t matter.
We’re status-obsessed. Our culture is built around achievement, production and being exceptional. Therefore comparing ourselves and attempting to out-do one another has infiltrated our social relationships as well. Who can slam the most beers first? Who can get reservations at the best restaurant? Who knows the promoter to the club? Who dated a girl on the cheerleading squad? Socializing becomes objectified and turned into a competition. And if you’re not winning, the implication is that you are not important and no one will like you.
9. We Are Very Unhealthy
Unless you have cancer or something equally dire, the health care system in the US sucks. The World Health Organization ranked the US 37th in the world for health care, despite the fact that we spend the most per capita by a large margin.
The hospitals are nicer in Asia (with European-educated doctors and nurses) and cost a tenth as much. Something as routine as a vaccination costs multiple hundreds of dollars in the US and less than $10 in Colombia. And before you make fun of Colombian hospitals, Colombia is 28th in the world on that WHO list, nine spots higher than us.
A routine STD test that can run you over $200 in the US is free in many countries to anyone, citizen or not. My health insurance the past year? $65 a month. Why? Because I live outside of the US. An American guy I met living in Buenos Aires got knee surgery on his ACL that would have cost $10,000 in the US… for free.
But this isn’t really getting into the real problems of our health. Our food is killing us. I’m not going to go crazy with the details, but we eat chemically-laced crap because it’s cheaper and tastes better (profit, profit). Our portion sizes are absurd (more profit). And we’re by far the most prescribed nation in the world AND our drugs cost five to ten times more than they do even in Canada (ohhhhhhh, profit, you sexy bitch).
In terms of life expectancy, despite being the richest country in the world, we come in a paltry 38th. Right behind Cuba, Malta and the United Arab Emirates, and slightly ahead of Slovenia, Kuwait and Uruguay. Enjoy your Big Mac.
10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
The United States is a country built on the exaltation of economic growth and personal ingenuity. Small businesses and constant growth are celebrated and supported above all else — above affordable health care, above respectable education, above everything. Americans believe it’s your responsibility to take care of yourself and make something of yourself, not the state’s, not your community’s, not even your friend’s or family’s in some instances.
Comfort sells easier than happiness. Comfort is easy. It requires no effort and no work. Happiness takes effort. It requires being proactive, confronting fears, facing difficult situations, and having unpleasant conversations.
Comfort equals sales. We’ve been sold comfort for generations and for generations we bought: bigger houses, separated further and further out into the suburbs; bigger TV’s, more movies, and take-out. The American public is becoming docile and complacent. We’re obese and entitled. When we travel, we look for giant hotels that will insulate us and pamper us rather than for legitimate cultural experiences that may challenge our perspectives or help us grow as individuals.
Depression and anxiety disorders are soaring within the US. Our inability to confront anything unpleasant around us has not only created a national sense of entitlement, but it’s disconnected us from what actually drives happiness: relationships, unique experiences, feeling self-validated, achieving personal goals. It’s easier to watch a NASCAR race on television and tweet about it than to actually get out and try something new with a friend.
Unfortunately, a by-product of our massive commercial success is that we’re able to avoid the necessary emotional struggles of life in lieu of easy superficial pleasures.
ha ha, this doesn’t describe America, it mostly describes LIBERALS!
:: coming across as a raging prick, so let me try to soften the blow ::
Soft-core porn alert! (/snarky)
Americans have short attention spans. Who has time to read this?
agreed!
:: I’ve spent the past three years living almost entirely outside of the United States. I’ve lived in multiple countries in Europe, Asia and South America. I’ve visited over 40 countries in all and have spent far more time with non-Americans than with Americans during this period. I speak multiple languages. I’m not a tourist. I don’t stay in resorts and rarely stay in hostels. I rent apartments and try to integrate myself into each country I visit as much as possible. So there. ::
he could have summarized that by simply saying, “I’m a liberal elitist and euro-weenie.”
PostMasculine?
Why do so many immigrants come here? Because our country is better than theirs.
I hear immigrants say stuff like, “well, in my country, they do it this (somehow better) way”... And when they’re asked why they’re here, they say basically they’re just here for the money. What they fail to realize is that all of these freedoms we have from the Bill of Rights are what set up such a powerful economy in the first place. Without those freedoms, there would be none of that money that they came here for. That’s why their country’s economy didn’t give them enough reason to stay. Our country is better.
There appear to be some truths hidden inside the snarky, self-pitying, self-hating swarm of words in this article, but the overall theme is something that the left has been hammering away at for the past 60 years - the idea that the United States sucks. I’ve heard permutations of all of these ideas since I was born, and that was 56 years ago. No wonder the article is circulated among liberals; it confirms their worldview. On the other hand, I’ve been around the world twice, and seen a lot of things outside taxis in large cities and gleaming buildings in Seoul, and still appreciated my culture and country. In any case, thanks for posting, if nothing else but to confirm my belief that the left hates America.
Yeah; the drunken uncle is in reality the Democrat Party that is given total power every few years. At which time, they behave in the way a drunken uncle behaves (think Teddy and Joe Biden). They go off the deep end - quickly - before you wake up and vote them out. Some you never get rid of until they turn to stone - think Nancy Pelosi and a few others - some RINO’s.
YUP!! All Conservatives KNOW the rest of the world is NOT fixated on us.
What we resent is that Liberals make it out that the world gives a damn about us... and in fact, hates our Conservatism.... NOT!
To hate our Conservatism is to think about us ... and the world doesn’t!!...no matter how much the Liberals claim to be the only Americans who have passed some BS global test!
The guy who wrote this is VERY alienated and certainly a Liberal.
I agree with 9 and 10.
“Raging prick” is right. Leftist to the core.
Here's to those who wish us well Those who don't can go to hell.
I think Pink Floyd covered that.
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
Then they are fools. We rose from an outpost to the most powerful military force on the earth in 200 years. Even the Romans could not claim as much, and I am VERY impressed with the Romans. Our GDP is the world’s largest. We have exported liberty to a world in shackles for a hundred years. They should be impressed.
2. Few People Hate Us
I guess all those jihadists who fired their guns in the air on 911 were mourning our loss. I don’t mind that the Communists, Islamists, and secular one-worlders all see America as their chief opponent. In fact, I glory in it. But hate us they do, and I will never turn my back on them.
3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
He means we won’t emulate their failure? Don’t worry, we have plenty of lefties pushing hard for just that.
4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
Enjoy your self-guilt, if you must. Don’t try to saddle me with it.
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
Not at all. Until you talk with someone who came from Africa or Asia or South America. Soon Europe will join the ranks of the fallen as well.
6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
Not Europe or Australia or Canada. But 90% of the world’s population would be better off here.
7. We’re Paranoid
Whatever. See answer for number 2.
8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
Huh?
9. We Are Very Unhealthy
Humans all die. I’d like to meet his fitness super race.
10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
Some mistake happiness for fulfillment. Life is hard. Libtards are programed for extinction. Most of us understand life is not a free ride.
The author of this didn't succeed.
So his point is that America is a cultural sewer, and he throws the "F" word around in his piece?
Great. Just great.
I wait with baited breath for his next snippet of wisdom.
Well, I can shoot down the first three by just mentioning the existence of the Statue of Liberty and what it relates to.
This genre of libtard writing is pretty annoying.
Oh well, who cares? I’m sure others think of us about as much as we think of them.
—In those terms, despite the average American having more material wealth than citizens of most other countries (more cars, bigger houses, nicer televisions), their overall quality of life suffers in my opinion.—
Reminds me of what Chris Christiansen said, He “gave up a high standard of living for a high quality of life.”
It is what I did when I moved to KY from Seattle. And it is still like heaven on earth for us, a full year later.
The problem is that more and more liberal Americans criticize the country and the people who have provided them an easy and comfortable life. They are unwilling to contribute and sacrifice to make our country successful.
All they can do is ridicule people who are better than them at the same time they take from them.
Great response!
All one need do is google this twit’s name and find his way to his website.
Based on a quick view, PostMasculine means one big ass pussy that is really, really full of himself, and one who is likely GAY but does not know it yet.
I’d suspect that whatever female conquests (if there really ever were any) he’s had wondered about his lovemaking. You know, asking her to put on a football jersy and helment and then taking things from behind and missing (oops)......
I doubt he’s really been anywhere enough to really see the third world squalor and hatred for this country.
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
Pretty true in prosperous parts of the world,untrue in less prosperous areas
2. Few People Hate Us
Absolutely not true
3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
True when describing many Americans
4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
I’ll pass on that one...no opinion.
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
I’ve seen many parts of the world and know this to be completely untrue when compared to 80% of the earth’s population.
6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
Not *all* of the rest of the world is a cesspool.Only 80% of it is.
7. We’re Paranoid
It’s a very dangerous world and it’s getting more so.Paranoia is *irrational* fear
8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
No opinion
9. We Are Very Unhealthy
To the degree that we eat garbage and sit on our hindquarters most of the time that’s true.Our unhealthiness is a product of our prosperity.
10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
Maybe.
I keep thinking of Robin Williams, playing the Russian immigrant in an american grocery store: “Where is the coffee line?”
Sorry, but most of this IS TRUE! I've lived overseas myself, and the attitudes of the Europeans toward us are pretty much as he described.
Have you ever watched the “Jaywalking” segments on Leno's show? I used to believe they were scripted; (nobody, let alone that MANY average Americans, could be so incredibly ignorant!) but they're not. I've seen similar levels of ignorance exhibited during impromptu interviews of voters conducted by news stations, as well as a few mocking videos of Americans’ knowledge(lack thereof) made by foreigners.
The average American these days is an ignorant, self-centered, arrogant, godless slob (but who feels VERY good about himself)—we can thank 30+ years of liberal brainwashing and dumbed-down standards for it.
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
I don’t care.
2. Few People Hate Us
I don’t care.
3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
I don’t care.
4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
I don’t care.
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
I don’t care.
6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
I don’t care.
7. We’re Paranoid
I don’t care.
8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
I don’t care.
9. We Are Very Unhealthy
I don’t care.
10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
I don’t care.
I’m not a world traveler and find some interest in your post. But I believe you to be off base on at least a couple of issues listed, specifically as you describe American culture.
Your thoughts are through the prism of your own experience and perception of the world. I admit some of your thoughts are also enlightening.
I believe your perception of America comes from your life lead here in the states in the big blue cities. Across the midwest and the south here in America the cultures are very different. I did see you said you visited most of them and lived in many states too. But if you live in Dallas and Los Angeles and Chicago and New York, you really aren’t getting the full flavor of the American culture. Try Demoines Iowa, Topeka, Kansas, Tulsa, OK, etc. Then live in small towns (which make up the majority of the US). You’ll find that you, too are a victim of American TV with regards to understanding American Culture. You, like the rest of the world understand American Culture through as Hollywood portrays it.
I have lived in 5 states (each for more than 2 years. West Coast, Texas, MD, VA and IN. There are VERY different cultures across this country and even city to city.
This author is full of crap. First, only idiots behave overseas as he describes, and most of those idiots are probably left-wingers. I’ve spent time overseas and have never seen Americans behave as he describes. So, either he’s focused on drunk tourists at the party hotspots, or he’s just full of crap.
Additionally, almost every foreigner, in his own country, when asked, will claim that he doesn’t care a thing about the US. He’ll proudly claim that he never thinks about the US at all. But amazingly, he’ll have an opinion about every single little facet of American life imaginable. I noticed this when I was in Germany.How is it that they have such well-developed opinions about our lifestyle, our politicians, our movies, food, etc if they just don’t care about the US? Because they are lying, usually out of pride. American left-wing nutbags, however, LOVE to go overseas and commiserate with the locals on how screwed up the US is (we are, but we’re no worse than anyone else and a lot better in some ways...or at least we were).
Finally, this “we know nothing about the rest of the world” stuff...well, who’s “we” kemosabe? The halfwit inbreds you hang around with? Sure, we’ve got plenty of ignorant people in the US now, thanks to decades of a failed left-wing public school system, but I would wager that when statistically normalized for certain ethnic groups, we fare no worse than Europe, South America or anywhere else. But the Europeans will understand how that all works soon enough, now that their multi-cultural mass importations of third world savages is well underway. They’ll enjoy watching their collective IQs drop as well.
To sum up, this author is yet another left-wing elite snob who feeds his sense of superiority by bashing the US. F him.
bookmark
The only thing that is really true in this article is that Americans are ignorant.
Dems are this author’s idiot cousins:
“The Idiot Cousin Theory of Government”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2850188/posts
Much of what this guy thinks is great about the rest of the world is funded in an unsustainable manner. Wait a few years after the European economic collapse and ask him again how great the health care systems are, or the free wifi. This guy thinks it is great because he gets stuff bought with other people’s money. As Margaret Thatcher once said: “The problem with socialists is they eventually run out of other people’s money”.
Other than that, from my travels he is fairly correct on items 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, and 10. I knew a Swiss woman when I visited Guatemala who was very insulted when a local mistook her for American, so national pride may come off as hating the USA for some people. The other items are typically Liberal failings, especially the paranoia.
Bullshit.
What a yawn.
I wonder if he's run into many Frenchmen who dislike their own country? Or even citizens of Singapore who feel the need to trash their own countries? Probably not. Trashing one's own country seems uniquely 'American liberal'. The self absorbed mockery - the uber critical navel gazing - is uniquely 'liberal elite American'. And it's boring.
Hippies stink.
This author has done exactly the right thing and left our free nation because freedom is too difficult for him.
True freedom of thought requires a strong sense of personal responsibility(which mostly translates to hard work and sacrifice to meet one’s goals.) It’s not for everyone, especially for Liberal pantywaists who need Big Brother and Nanny Government to provide for them from cradle to grave.
And so I commend the author for exercising his God-given right to leave a country that he has neither the fortitude or respect to defend. It would be my hope that he departs and doesn’t return. We have enough ungrateful instigators in this country who want to “fundamentally transform” the nation into just another failing Socialist model.
Placemarker for later.
” I Don’t Care “ !! You took the words right out of my mouth Sam.
All TEN Times . Ok if I stand over here with you. ?
Hong Kong makes Manhattan look like a suburb.
It's run by the Red Chinese, they shoot drug addicts in the head then charge their families for the bullet!
My neighborhood in Colombia is nicer than the one I lived in in Boston...
When the local drug lords aren't blowing up a police station or kidnapping someone for ransom.
The author does make some good points but seems to be totally blind to the darker side of the places he has visited. My question for him would be; "If the US is such a mediocre, average, commonplace, ordinary, middling (take your pick) society/country why do we have such a large number of immigrants who give up everything they have to come and live here?" It can't be as bad as he paints it since there is a constant influx of people pouring in through the gates. There is no corresponding efflux as people tend to stay here. I submit that they must find the US preferable to their former "shitholes".
Regards,
GtG
He likes the mangina, like our current President?
I actually appreciated the article. If you ignore some of the leftism, what he’s saying is what I experienced in my travels.
This is standard boilerplate liberal elite thinking: - 'I'm not a middle class tourist staying at hotels - I stay with THE PEOPLE in foreign counties - and that makes me so "UPPER CLASS' and SUPERIOR... unlike the rest of you American who don't have my great contempt for my home country.
This is common, very common liberal "group think" put forth as if it was original. Sorry, I'm not that impressed...smacks of nouveau riche...
Am I really the only one who has hit Report Abuse here?
Unedited F-bomb in the article? For nearly an hour?
I guess America is not the only place that is disfunctional like an alocholic brother.
Free Republic used to know better.
Actually, when I first saw the article, I was thinking that the author was going to mention how you can learn how "unfree" America now is, by going to other places that don't have the liberal nanny state we now have.
No such luck. Wouldn't be surprised to find that that guy really likes the nanny state and wishes we had more of it.
I've lived in other countries, and some of what this guy says is tainted. Probably from his liberal background (e.g. who the hell sleeps with their sister until the age of 22!?):
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us.
Let's see, we have saved the English, French, etc. TWICE. They don't have to speak German. We saved the Chinese, and they don't have to speak Japanese. We feed the world and more than 50% of all patents are held by Americans. I could go on...
2. Few People Hate Us
True.
3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
Actually this is true. Although, most of our population never joins the services, or has the money to travel abroad extensively.
4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
Sheese, check out the way Canadians and the French tip. In the fwiw department, I have been very grateful to all of my hosts in the countries I visited or lived.
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
Not true. I've been to some shithole countries, and their "middle class" can't compare to our poor. Sure, there are a few countries that I have been where the standard of living is comparable to ours.
6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
See #5.
7. We’re Paranoid
No, there are people who want to kill us. They want to kill us BECAUSE we are Americans, and it doesn't matter if you're black, white, Jew, Christian etc..
8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
We are somewhat "status obsessed," but you gotta seek attention to sell something. It's call self promotion, and it is one engine of capitalism.
9. We Are Very Unhealthy
See this pieces prologue.
10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
Sometimes, but it depends on the individual.
Thank G-d I was born in America. Just think, even someone not born in America can become president. What a great country.
5.56mm
I always thought a Sudan was a 2 door automobile
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