Talisker said:
Please someone from the US restore my faith in you guys. Tell me your education system is not that bad.
Actually, our education system IS that bad. A combination of liberalism and laziness have left most younger Americans with little or no knowlege of geography or history. Our education system has devolved into something more concerned with a student's self-esteem than with his level of knowledge. It's not unusual for a teacher with years in the classroom to reveal that he is in fact functionally illiterate - can you think of another developed nation where that would even be possible?
There are television shows that showcase this ignorance in all its glory, but basically we as a people are, while not stupid, certainly ignorant. Graduating seniors often do not know how many moons the earth has, or who fought in either world war (and on which side), or even such basic things as the freezing point of water. I cringed during the hoopla over the last Harry Potter movie. Sky News interviewed a six year old British child and got something like: "I'm very excited about the movie. I'm taking my little brother - he's only four, and up to now the movies have been too advanced for him. He has read all the books and is really looking forward to this movie." Then Fox News interviews an American child. "I like Harry", whilst hiding behind his mother's leg.
That being said, I would like to point out a few things. First, we are referred to as Americans because we are the only nation in the Americas to use America in its name. As originally conceived, we were to be a conglomeration of semi-autonomous states similar to the EU, but nationalism took over and here we are. We are a very large nation geographically, and sometimes I (heavy Southern accent from the hills of the Tennessee River basin) have trouble communicating with my fellow Americans from the northeast or northwest. If I can't place my countrymen's accents, I'm unlikely to correctly differentiate between British and Welsh or even New Zealander and Australian.
Second, Britain is America's ***** because of WW2. While the French spurned us immediately after it became safe to do so, Churchill among others recognized how close Britain came to being overrun by Germany. Had that happened, America, Canada, and Australia would have had no staging ground to invade Europe other than through Africa, a most impractical solution. Thus Churchill's advice to never be separated from the Amerricans in foreign policy. Although Churchill was never forgiven for being right about the Germans and for riding roughshod over his fellows, his advice was taken to heart. (And yes, Britain has taken on missions that were extremely difficult, such as in the first Gulf War. Flying obsolete Jaguars straight down the teeth of dense AAA to take out runways amounted to almost suicide missions, something the pilots surely knew when they accepted them. Frankly I don't how you even get testicles that size into the cockpit, but thank you. Presumably, though, the UK shares America's love of freedom, so it's not just serving as our *****, but more working toward a common goal.)
That same world war is also when we developed a dislike for the French. Patton said he'd rather have another German division in front of him than a French division behind him (incidently, Pie, Patton was a large, muscular, stereotypical man's man and had an extremely high voice) and Americans saw the French as ungrateful and unreliable. Conversely, those of us who remember the details have very warm feelings towards the British, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Australians, Kiwis, Canadians, and Poles who fought with us, as well as towards the Danish and Dutch who clearly appreciated the Americans' sacrifice in liberating their countries from the Nazi rule. Denmark still celebrates July 4th as a holiday, and individual Dutch still voluntarily tend the graves of slain American soldiers. Frankly, they remember more clearly than do we.
Third, with those things said America is a nation of both wealth and unsupervised youth. I'd venture to say that we have a much higher proportion of teen and college-age youth online, which slants us towards "asshole" more than would a nation where such access is less available and more supervised. Frankly, I'd prefer our youth to be making assholes of themselves online as opposed to throwing rocks and burning automobiles in the streets. (Not saying your nation has that problem, just that it's one possibility for bad behavior.)
Fourth, we are afflicted with both accademia and media that tell us repeatedly how horrid the USA is. We also get it from foreign countries, many of whom's citizens are every bit as ignorant of us as we are of them. Oftimes this criticism is from countries whose collective ass Americans died to liberate, complaining about us liberating another country. Consequently those of us who love America can be pretty touchy about her. And yes, combined with ignorance this can be pretty comical as well. We had a debate in Congress over establishing English as a national language where a Congressman actually stood up and said "If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, then by G-d it ought to be good enough for us."
And last, America has always been a boisterous, irreverate nation. We have no classes or castes, and no royalty. Every man thinks himself a king, it's been said. We are rough with our mates, and because of that we often do things which seem rude or obnoxious to others, but which pass without comment here. Calling your friend a fag isn't some mortal insult, it's just goodnatured horseplay. Ragging on (insulting) others is just what we do; it isn't necessarily meant seriously. The Iranian thing probably is serious though, as that's the only nation actively and openly supporting those who are trying to kill us. I'll have to say I've only really known one Iranian, though, and he was a really nice guy.
So in summary, please be patient with us. We're a young country, and the young are always subject to their vanity and ignorance as they grow. And you never know when you might need a well-armed, strong back. LOL
