Petros
Thief IV
- Joined
- 19 May 2003
- Messages
- 3,038
There are many places in this forum--since a majority of the users are from the U.K.-- where the U.S. gets bashed, despite what is stated in the forum guidelines. I'm not talking about friendly jibes (as neighboring nations often do), I'm talking about hardcore, worse-than-New-Kids-on-the-Block-and-Backstreet-Boys-put-together U.S. hating. Why is there so much negative sentiment toward the country I was born in and love? Are we exterminating people by the millions? Do we keep slaves? Are we just jerks in general? Does the country smell funny?
Maybe the people here aren't as familiar with other countries as those in Europe are, but we have a big enough country and enough things to learn about as it is. We have fifty states that are equal or greater in landmass and population than many European nations, each with its own history and distinctions.
Not having desire (or time) to learn about other countries may be perceived as arrogance, but it's just that we have fifty states of history and knowledge to soak up. How many European nations have those from Europe visited (I'm sure there are a lot of hardcore European travelers that will jump on that and go "All of them!")? I've been to thirty two of the United States, and they don't all have the same culture. Ask anyone from the west coast who's been to Georgia (like me! ), and they'll tell you it's different.
A Swiss exchange student told me this: "What really surprises me about the U.S. is that you can drive two thousand miles (4,023 km) and everyone still speaks the same language. Think of our "states" as the sovereign nations in the E.U. The only difference is that we have a federal government that unites us all.
This is what goes on in my head when I see U.S. bashing, and I really want to know--why perfectly ok to make backhanded comments about the U.S.? Or should the forum guidelines just change and say "Nationality - Members at this forum represent countries from around the globe. Political propaganda will not be tolerated. Deliberate and/or malicious "country bashing" UNLESS IT'S THE US will result in action up to and including user ban depending on severity." ?
Maybe the people here aren't as familiar with other countries as those in Europe are, but we have a big enough country and enough things to learn about as it is. We have fifty states that are equal or greater in landmass and population than many European nations, each with its own history and distinctions.
Not having desire (or time) to learn about other countries may be perceived as arrogance, but it's just that we have fifty states of history and knowledge to soak up. How many European nations have those from Europe visited (I'm sure there are a lot of hardcore European travelers that will jump on that and go "All of them!")? I've been to thirty two of the United States, and they don't all have the same culture. Ask anyone from the west coast who's been to Georgia (like me! ), and they'll tell you it's different.
A Swiss exchange student told me this: "What really surprises me about the U.S. is that you can drive two thousand miles (4,023 km) and everyone still speaks the same language. Think of our "states" as the sovereign nations in the E.U. The only difference is that we have a federal government that unites us all.
This is what goes on in my head when I see U.S. bashing, and I really want to know--why perfectly ok to make backhanded comments about the U.S.? Or should the forum guidelines just change and say "Nationality - Members at this forum represent countries from around the globe. Political propaganda will not be tolerated. Deliberate and/or malicious "country bashing" UNLESS IT'S THE US will result in action up to and including user ban depending on severity." ?