For those who arent US citizens...

[Patrick]

Obviously, not everyone who frequents this forum is anywhere near the US. I was just looking for some perspective from those who are not within the US on the general status of the United States. How does the US influence your life? How do American politics appear in other countries? The scope of my world is within 5 blocks of a small apartment in a small town in Colorado. I work a customer service job for a major multinational corporation. My world view at this time is very limited and I'd like to know more about the world from real people with real experiences. Please don't flame this thread. Im not trying to be arrogant. I'm just rather curious.

[alien8]

Well, I work in the oil industry in Alberta, Canada, and am keeping an eye on the current financial crisis in the States. It could have a huge negative impact on my work, as 95% of our customers are large American oil companies. Some of the smaller ancillary companies that rely on a booming oil industry for their work have recently started to experience a slowdown, but here's hoping that it won't hurt us too badly.

I'm a very proud Canadian and it is very bothersome that my job security and financial freedoms can be so adversely affected by the irresponsibilities of the American banking system. I don't think any less of the American people, as you guys are getting screwed over a helluva lot worse than I am, but it's easy to get angry and frustrated at how easily it was for the short-sighted people in influential and important positions in your government to let your economy get to this position.

How are you not rioting in the streets?

[John Smith]

alien8 said:

How are you not rioting in the streets?

We as Americans are stupid. We are easily placated by fancy words and flimsy promises. Also rioting automagically means you're a terrorist, and then its off to Gitmo with you, enjoy never being seen by anyone but your interrogators and fellow inmates again. Put those two together and you have Americans today.

[AndrewB]

I'm taking advantage of the firesale of high-risk stocks to stock up on my retirement.

[CODOR]

Patrick Pineda said:
How does the US influence your life?

Quite a bit... there's enough economic and social ties between the US and Canada that whatever happens down there usually finds its way up here eventually. A former Prime Minister once said "living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant: No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt."

How do American politics appear in other countries?

I've always admired the American form of government, but Canadians seem to see your politicians with amused annoyance. We're amused because the politicians aren't in control of our country, but annoyed when we realize that their actions still affect us (see above). The two-party system is also silly at times -- in Canada we also have only two parties that have a reasonable chance of forming a government, but the smaller parties occasionally get a chance to influence things.

There's a common view here that Americans have absolutely no concept of the world outside of their borders. I don't know if this is true or not; certainly every American I've met has been very worldly (so have people from other countries, for that matter). But this could be because the sort of people who would travel outside of their home country would also be the sort who would know a bit about the rest of the world...

[Grazza]

I'm a publisher based in the UK.

The USA affects my life in a great many ways, and I feel as closely linked to events and people in the USA as I do to those in the UK.

Business-wise, a big chunk of my company's sales are in the USA. (The dollar vs pound exchange rate is therefore of special interest to me.) I also work closely with a number of people (including authors) in the USA.

I typically spend about 3-5 weeks a year in the USA, mostly vacation but also maintaining contacts, etc. I have a number of friends in the USA, including some occasional traveling companions.

US politics obviously affect events around the world. Generally speaking, I see the centre ground in US politics are being somewhat to the right of that in UK politics, and very much to the right compared to mainland Europe (overall). The thing that concerns me most is that religious groups have a strong influence on the policy-making of the main parties. This strikes me as inappropriate and dangerous. Also, policies generally seem to take a back seat compared to presentation - it's too much a case of who can create the best soundbite as opposed to who is right. Of course that is a problem around the world, but I get the impression it is worse in the US.

I do see the USA as having an important leadership role in the international community, and that this isn't something the USA should abdicate from, even if it does make them some enemies. The world would be worse off with an insular USA than with one that occasionally overreaches. Though if the USA is to retain a strong leadership role, it shouldn't allow itself to be weakened by overcommitting to campaigns that it isn't in a position to bring to a successful conclusion.

OK, so I've waffled, but you seemed to be inviting that.

[Richo Rosai]

Patrick Pineda said:

arent US citizens...

not within the US

What about expatriates to whom the latter but not the former applies?

I haven't lived in the US for many years, but as a seriously hard-core shut-in who almost exclusively follows US news and culture regardless of my place of residence, I might as well still live there. I left the US mainly because I like to be able to safely ride a bike everywhere (to the 24-hour supermarket or visiting a friend hundreds of kilometers away) and to escape the temptation of the particularly deadly US food I love so dearly.

Er, more specifically in line with the original question, the US influences my life by making the best movies and TV shows. Which the Indians called maize. The end.

[Patrick]

CODOR said:

There's a common view here that Americans have absolutely no concept of the world outside of their borders. I don't know if this is true or not; certainly every American I've met has been very worldly (so have people from other countries, for that matter). But this could be because the sort of people who would travel outside of their home country would also be the sort who would know a bit about the rest of the world...

In my case, this is absolultey true. As I indicated, the scope of my world is a 5 mile radius surrounding my apartment, if even that since I dont own a car anymore. I have been to Thailand, and even there, it wasnt "too far from home," because the culture there seems to have absorbed ours.

I don't know whether to feel embarassed ot justified in not having a world view. Its my opinion that the US should not act as the "world policeman" that it does, and that we have no business interfering with the state of other nations. On the other hand, the US is actively involved around the world, whether I like it or not, and as a citizen, it is my duty to know what the US is doing and how it influences others.

[Stupid Bunny]

I am an American and I have been to 45 countries, but I will admit I'm more the exception than the rule. I know a lot of people that have barely even heard of some of the places I've been to, and generally can't say anything useful about them. The problem I have with US politics is that people like to vote with their gut; they often have little or no idea about what they're deciding on, and as a result of this candidates can win elections on vague but passionately stated points.

[Enjay]

I believe that we are effectively living in the American empire. The US has so much world influence with finances, politics, commerce, media, culture, technology, military action and general presence that we are all, to a greater or lesser extent, effectively colonies of America. The influence of the US, IMO, rivals or surpasses any of the global empires that have existed to date, right back to the Romans and before. It's a new type of empire, and the people driving it and it's conquests are different from before, but it's an Empire none the less.

As a UK citizen, the influence of the US over the last few years has been particularly obvious for us because our country has been "run" by Dubya's lapdog, Mr Blair.

Of course, all of those other empires fell sooner or later.

[Sharessa]

CODOR said:

There's a common view here that Americans have absolutely no concept of the world outside of their borders. I don't know if this is true or not; certainly every American I've met has been very worldly (so have people from other countries, for that matter). But this could be because the sort of people who would travel outside of their home country would also be the sort who would know a bit about the rest of the world...

Well, I've never been outside the U.S. and Canada, but I do keep tabs on the world in general. I'm pretty sure that most other people in this country don't know (or care) much about anything that happens outside of the U.S.A. Most of them can't even locate other major countries on the world map.

I think one thing that helps is that I've traveled all over the U.S. and I've seen all the various cultures living INSIDE our borders. If anyone ever starts telling you about the "typical American", they're talking out of their ass, because there is no such thing. We should realise that we're our own little world of micronations before we start insulting the cultures of those outside our borders.

[leileilol]

greedy commercialism world

[Fletcher`]

leileilol said:

greedy commercialism world

I'm sure Xenu could do better.

[Fletcher`]

Richo Rosai said:

and to escape the temptation of the particularly deadly US food I love so dearly.

Donuts?

[Richo Rosai]

rf` said:

Donuts?

Nah, my poisons were decidedly less sweet. Taco Bell, chicken-fried steak, American Chinese, etc. God I wish I could get a ticket back to visit/gorge just once though. Maybe next year.

Plus, if it were donuts, my country's at least on par with the US in that department:

http://www.gamecola.net/5-2/lowrent.htm

[CODOR]

Danarchy said:
Well, I've never been outside the U.S. and Canada, but I do keep tabs on the world in general. I'm pretty sure that most other people in this country don't know (or care) much about anything that happens outside of the U.S.A.

I'm betting that most of those don't care -- if they did, they wouldn't be in the "don't know" category for very long...

My neighbour visits Florida every winter and there's always a handful of people who have no clue where or what Canada is -- and being Florida it's almost a certainty that he's not the only Canadian they've ever met.

Patrick Pineda said:
In my case, this is absolultey true.

Not really, by starting this thread you've shown that you aware of other places and want to know what people there think of people from your country.

As I indicated, the scope of my world is a 5 mile radius surrounding my apartment,

I don't think it has anything to do with how far you get from home -- except for a trip to Alberta and BC last month, I don't think I've been more than 200km away from home since 2005. I've never been off the continent and I haven't been to the US since the 1990s. But like Danarchy, I try to keep up on what's going on in other places. Honestly, though, until about a month ago I had no idea who the Governor of Alaska was...

[John Smith]

CODOR said:

My neighbour visits Florida every winter and there's always a handful of people who have no clue where or what Canada is -- and being Florida it's almost a certainty that he's not the only Canadian they've ever met.

Florida is not an accurate representation of the intelligence of the US as a whole. Not saying we're terribly intelligent about world issues, but Florida? Come on.

[The Lag]

I live in Florida via New York. There are more native New Yorkers here than native Floridians, and there are more native Cubans here than that. In fact, i have learned Spanish from simply living here rather than studying it.
Most peoples' misconceptions of Florida being full of rednecks and retirees are just that, misconceptions. Being such a large tourist center we see a large number of different cultures and hear a large number of spoken languages on almost a daily basis. A lot of these different people even end up living here.
Sorry for veering off topic.

[CODOR]

John Smith said:
Florida is not an accurate representation of the intelligence of the US as a whole. Not saying we're terribly intelligent about world issues, but Florida? Come on.

Yeah, I singled out Florida because it was an obvious choice. But don't worry, I'm sure there's stupid people in your state, too.

[John Smith]

I live in Utah, so no shit?

[Richo Rosai]

CODOR said:

I'm betting that most of those don't care -- if they did, they wouldn't be in the "don't know" category for very long...

But a lot of US Americans don't even have maps.

[Jodwin]

Richo Rosai said:

But a lot of US Americans don't even have maps.

You don't need to own a map to have a general idea of what the world looks like; that's something you're supposed to learn in school.

[Richo Rosai]

Jodwin said:

You don't need to own a map to have a general idea of what the world looks like; that's something you're supposed to learn in school.

So timeline applies to people who present things that are ancient. Is there a trendy response to those who don't know about extremely well-known ancient things?

[Aleaver]

CODOR said:

Yeah, I singled out Florida because it was an obvious choice. But don't worry, I'm sure there's stupid people in your state, too.

John Smith said:

I live in Utah, so no shit?

Here too in North Carolina. Plenty of stupidity to go around.

[kristus]

Americans. Well, your politics is a ludicrous tragi-comic. I know quite a few americans from the internet and I've come to the conclusion that none of them are representing that part of the American people that are the voting majority.

I always follow your presidential campains with a bit of shock and horror, seeing your politicians "getting away with murder" if you will. I can't imagine any politician in Sweden saying those things and not getting dropped like a hot potato.

Then there's the religious aspect of your politics too. You can't become President in the USA w/o claiming you're a believer in the lord. Because somehow this makes you a good leader. I guess it's the lack of critical thinking. You got a crazy woman yelling that the war in Iraq is the will of God or some such baloney. That's scaring me.

As already mentioned. American politics are affecting the entire world, which is depressing to begin with. But that your political system is so incredibly flawed and that people seem to be oblivious to what they are voting for. That's terrifying.

The biggest weakness of a democracy is that it's denizens can vote to overthrow it.

[Captain Red]

When the ass fell out of your economy my dads assets where worth $10000 less.

[Jodwin]

Richo Rosai said:

Is there a trendy response to those who don't know about extremely well-known ancient things?

"So I see you've got a life now. You must be proud."

[Tann&Jerri]

Weeboos, Furries, Emos, Goths and many more horrible things come from the US.
I don't usually consider Americans as highl intelligent. Though, what can you expect from a country with only 300 years of history? They're not experienced enough...oh, sorry; you're not experienced enough, America.

Edit: Oh, yeah. Lets not forget about the hardcore creationists.

[DooMikE]

Wow. It´ll be hard to keep this short, but i´ll try. (and eventually fail at it!)

Nowhere in the western world is it possible to evade some degree of everyday US influence, and Denmark where i live is certainly no exception.

Let´s start with the “cultural” exports: CocaCola, McD, Burger King, Pepsi, 7-11 and the likes are EVERYWHERE nowadays!

TV is stuffed with (endlessly re-running and most often mindless garbage-) Hollywood-movies, series/soaps, talkshows fx. David LetterGuy, The Daily Show w. Jon Stewart (like that show, actually) and Oprah and “shows” like Americas Biggest Loser, Rachel Rae and other targeting-the-lowest-common-denominator-crap. But even worse, they´re copying other (ASS) show-concepts, like dance with the stars, who want to be a millionaire, AmIdol – X-factor ...who needs to be creative, when you can buy these great concepts, right?!

A great deal of the music on the radio and tv here is American too, but that´s ok for the most part, since we´ve got many crappy good for nothing native bands too, so the poor stuff is pretty well drowned out, except for the occational horrendous number one PO(O)P hit (that very well might feature the likes of Christina Aguilera, probably in a duet with some HipHoppin´ black guy who couldn’t sing without moaning and grunting if his life depended on it, but they´re all pretty well seductively nekkid in the video, so it´s all gooood according to the masses)...

Luckily nobody HAS to support any of this, but you sure won´t be able to ignore the offers.

American politics is a daily topic in the news here. Our Prime Minister Anders Fogh (pronounced FUCK!) Rasmussen has made it his personal mission to be George Bushs lapdog (or fucksheep) in every manner possible, so we´re officially agreeing with pretty much every forign policy agenda the US has regarding/imposes on different countries (axisses of EVIL all of them!).
Therefore we´re your allies in the “War on Terror” thing, that basically will strip a “terrorist”(read: potentially anybody that doesn´t agree with the “agenda”) of any and every human right, and needless to say we´re with you all the way in the downright catastrophic interventions in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

And when Wall Street cracks, again, soon, we´ll surely follow you into the pit...

But God bless America for numerous things and persons, and just to name a few: Bill Hicks, BurgerKing, TooL, ID software, CocaCola, Billy Bob Thornton (”The Man who wasn´t there” on the tube now), Stephen Colbert, Converse, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Everlast, Chuck Schuldiner, Heinz, Layne Staley, Creationistic-“science”(seriously, it´s healthy to laugh), Mahalia Jackson, Virginia tobacco, Aretha Franklin, George Orwell, Bill Gates(again seriously, despite all, thnx for windows), Dave Mustaine...and a shitload of other stuff/persons.

HATE and LOVE the USofA, as simple and complex as that!

For those that could have missed it, this is as much a stab at my own countrys "cultural imports" and thus shortcomings...

[Sharessa]

DooMikE said:

Creationistic-“science”(seriously, it´s healthy to laugh)

Only if you don't live in a country where a seeming majority of the people (including the country's leaders) don't believe that shit. ._.

Also, The Man Who Wasn't There was a pretty good movie.