Globalization: Your views on America in a post-American world

[demonfridge]

America seems like a nation that is fantastic in some respects and alarming in others. From an outside perspective, the flag worshipping and "gun porn" culture that america has is really strange and worrying. The education system MUST be good in the USA because people come from all over the world to go to thier better universities. But on the other hand the vast majority of americans seem to have no knowledge of anything outside of thier own borders, and often within them.

I think the USA recieves alot of dislike and scorn from the international community that it doesn't deserve. But it is so difficult to defend them when opinion boards all over the internet are so filled with pig ignorant opinions about other countries from american citizens.

At my university i have met many students from the USA. They seem to only socialise with other americans whereas students from other european nations all kind of just jump into the social melting pot with the rest of us. I'm not sure why this is as when i talk to them they are just the same as the rest of us, except the genetic defect that means they can't spell Colour.

I'm from Scotland, and it's of course difficult to judge the opinion of a country. But i think the stereotype of americans here is happy, loud and dim. Which is unfortunate but at least they aren't English. Fucking English.

 

[penguindude42]

Capitalism doesn't solve problems, it just moves them around...

This guy knows his stuff.

ANARCHY.
ANARCHY EVERYWHERE.

Ontario, Canada

~Tom (A)

 

[TheLaofKazi]

This guy knows his stuff.

ANARCHY.
ANARCHY EVERYWHERE.

Ontario, Canada

~Tom (A)

Why thank you, sire.

But fuck anarchy. MONARCHY!!!

 

[zwoodco10]

Edit: Double post

 

[zwoodco10]

Snippity Snip Snip!

The main issue with the free healthcare thing, at least as far as I can understand it, is that the US government has already tried things relatively close to that (Medicare, Medicaid, Etc.) and managed to royally screw it up. Plus, they are trying to use the template for Free Healthcare that Canada and the UK use, instead of designing one from scratch. If they could create a model for Free Healthcare that was fool-proof, then there would be little to no argument from anybody.

Also, as to your comment on the Space Shuttles:
We aren't scrapping our Space Program, we're just taking a temporary break, if you will. After a bit, we'll be focusing on using the Rocket models from the pre-Shuttle eras and increasing the distance of manned space flight. In addition, Russia still has China's help with the ISS, and we are still giving them resources and manpower to send up.

OT: I love America, but we need to get our shit in check. I believe someone else said that we need to return to our pre-WWII-era methods of Internalization. How many other countries give as much aid to as many countries as the US? Not very many. If we could put a slight strangle on immigration, pull all or most of our military back within out borders, STOP BUYING/BORROWING SHIT FROM CHINA, stop or seriously lessen the amount of aid we give to other countries, and get a decent congress/house that knows how to compromise on budgets and laws, then we'd be back in business.

 

[StBishop]

[...]but because we're the most powerful country on Earth,[...] That's not unreasonable though because we play a major role in most world affairs. If we wish to continue being the "first among equals" as it were, we need to be criticized when we screw up. [...]

I think that ~90% of Americans think that they are the free world.

It shits me.

I realise that this is probably not true, and I also realise that there are plenty of people who "are sick of corporate America" or whatever, I still believe that they deep down genuinely believe it's the greatest/only great place on Earth.

I realise that I took the quoted post out of context. I also have no problem with patriotism or loving your country. I fucking love Australia. I think it's one of the best places out.

But as I've been asked for my opinion that's what it is. America as an entity tends to over estimate it's importance, similarly to how Christian groups tend to. The title of this thread "Post-American world" suggests that there has been and American world.

I can't really succinctly summarise how I feel. I just feel that America is no where near as important as it thinks it is. I accept and acknowledge that many of the richest entities and individuals reside there, I also recognise that much of all entertainment industries owe much to American companies and culture. I just don't think that, especially considering the value of the USD right now, America is nearly as gargantuan as it perceives it's self.

As far as I'm aware the pound has always been worth much more than the USD.
When I was a child (less than 2 decades ago) the exchange rate was about $0.50 AUD = $1.00 USD, where as now it's closer to $1.10 AUD = $1.00 USD. This reflects what I think you're getting at though with the "Post-America" thing.

Rambling still, I guess what it comes down to for me is this, the US has historically had gigantic companies and individuals giving the nation as a whole a sence that they are all rich by association which is not the case and now the nation's currency is reflecting more accurately the value it's always held.

Again, these are all completely personal views based on no evidence at all, I don't really have any reasons I can explain for feeling this way. I can't give any logical reasons. They're just how I feel about the topic.

EDIT: I'm an Aussie btw.
And I don't have a problem with individuals from the States, I just feel that as a whole, they tend to over estimate the importance/power of their country.

 

[Eric Ekman]

Well as an American I'm pretty disgusted with what's going on right now. In short, we're policing the world like we're still afraid of communist dominoes and swinging our dicks around like we just won WWII. We're run by petty squabbling politicians who are more interested in their next political soundbite than readying the Nation for the REAL challenges of the 21st century and we're so set in American superiority that we won't even entertain the idea that we need to refocus our priorities to make it in this new global economy - let alone whatever grievances I have against us pretending like we're the world's guardians of freedom and democracy.

Worse yet, the system has become so entrenched that change is simply a political buzzword. We're handed pre-vetted representatives of two squabbling orthodoxies and praised for our freedom to chose. We revel in our faux democracy while special interests and giant corporations shell out enormous sums of money to make sure its THEIR voice that gets heard by the politicians. Right now we've got congressional cocksuckers holding America's credit hostage to make sure we don't close tax loopholes against people who own their own private jet and I'm supposed to believe our leaders give a damn about the American people? With no fear that any group other than democrats or republicans will hold the majority of power in the American government (and the parties' tight rein on their politicians lest a non-united front gives ground in their eternal squabblings) we're left with career politicians whose only concern is what they need to say or do to stay in power. These are the people leading us...so now our nation is a bloated has-been slowly sinking into a shithole of our own making. Hopefully our dying spasms don't F up the rest of the world too bad.

- Born and Raised in the Nation's Capital, Washington DC.

 

[commiedic]

Woo Politics. I luv politics.

America and its current issues:

Gov. Too Big - Whats keeping millions of people from freeloading and making the hard working American from paying too much in taxes? Government intervention. Too much "free" money floating around in food stamps, unemployment, and subsidized companies. Now you say that food stamps and unemployment are there to help people get back on their feet? Well yes and no. Where they help few they harm 10 times more.

When I was getting out of the Navy last year I had to go to a class for a week that helped you get ready for being a civilian again. When the instructor asked us to write down what we would be doing first when we got out. 20+ out of 50 people said they would be drawing unemployment. Almost half. When a few were questioned they said they would be doing it for as long as possible. Not because they couldn't find a job, but just because it was easy.

As far as food stamps go. Did you know that over 70% of black women when they get pregnant are single mothers? Did you know that most of the time now women actually kick the fathers out and it isn't all because the man is scared of being a father? Why, you ask? Because there is more welfare money to be made from being a single mom then with a complete family. Most people who get on welfare don't want to get off because they don't have to work as hard or at all to get subsidized by the government. Making people dependent and setting bad examples for kids.

Government subsidizing is horrible too. Literally each year millions if not billions of dollars get thrown away by the government to corporations to fund outlandish projects. Like one was for a study of shrimp and one of the tests was to see how well it could swim underwater. Trust me constantly lobbyists are having their plates full of small companies wanting government subsidizing to help them fund their projects and it is easy for them to say yes. Because big government doesn't look at all the details of the budget.

Trust me there are a few things that are crazy about our gov, but there are also good things.

How many countries go out and liberate other countries and then spend billions of dollars helping them rebuild and get back on their own two feet? We as America get a lot of hate for always getting our hands dirty in other people business, but we are always looking at the greater good for the other country. Trust me we are. Don't be fooled by what all these conspiracy theorists say. We are here to make the world a better place, even if it means fucking ourselves over in the process. Which we are doing with Iraq =P

 

[TimeLord]

Snippity Snip Snip!

The main issue with the free healthcare thing, at least as far as I can understand it, is that the US government has already tried things relatively close to that (Medicare, Medicaid, Etc.) and managed to royally screw it up. Plus, they are trying to use the template for Free Healthcare that Canada and the UK use, instead of designing one from scratch. If they could create a model for Free Healthcare that was fool-proof, then there would be little to no argument from anybody.

Also, as to your comment on the Space Shuttles:
We aren't scrapping our Space Program, we're just taking a temporary break, if you will. After a bit, we'll be focusing on using the Rocket models from the pre-Shuttle eras and increasing the distance of manned space flight. In addition, Russia still has China's help with the ISS, and we are still giving them resources and manpower to send up.

OT: I love America, but we need to get our shit in check. I believe someone else said that we need to return to our pre-WWII-era methods of Internalization. How many other countries give as much aid to as many countries as the US? Not very many. If we could put a slight strangle on immigration, pull all or most of our military back within out borders, STOP BUYING/BORROWING SHIT FROM CHINA, stop or seriously lessen the amount of aid we give to other countries, and get a decent congress/house that knows how to compromise on budgets and laws, then we'd be back in business.

But doesn't America give more aid because it's a 100+ times larger and wealthier than other single countries in the EU for example? The UK has the same problems you state as well unfortunately, out of control immigration, a "war" we don't want to be fighting anymore and we're faceing big cuts to reduce out international debt. I'm not trying to argue you're point, just saying that a lot of the things across the pond are similar.

Also, if America (or indeed anyone else) gave less aid to other countries then things would be even worse than they are. I still don't understand how we can be sending billions of £/$ to Africa and it's still a 3rd world continent with starvation and disease. Maybe that's a short sighted view on things on my part but if I can't see it then I very much doubt my countries general population can.

 

[jamesworkshop]

I just got back from London Study Abroad and part of my assignment is to write about how people feel about the United States in global affairs.I got most of the opinions I needed, but I forgot the most important opinions of all! I need the voices of people like you. Yes you. Even you Tony..

You can talk about anything from 9/11 to President Barack Obama. I just need a few quick opinions. Hate us, Love us, I don't really care, just say something fairly productive. I know there are couple of other posts like this out there but most of them either a. went in to pointless flaming or b. have a really low post count. Oh and if you could leave your country of origin in your post that would be great.

Oh and a few months ago I made a post about advice for going to London. Thanks for all the Londoners and English who gave me excellent advice! It goes without saying I think your entire country rocks.

I've come to the conclusion lately that a lot of anti-american prejudice is actually a cliche, if they do intervene in a world affair they get critised but then when they don't. the things said about them like "isolationist" for example get thrown at them, like they are being asked to do the impossible, doing nothing gets the same responce as doing anything at all. I have to say as an Englishmen aside from my own country I have to say that I really can't think of any nation other than the UK that I would want to take North Americas place.


I never said at the time but I do feel now that I should have, but TY USA for taking out bin laden

 

[LordFisheh]

I just got back from London Study Abroad and part of my assignment is to write about how people feel about the United States in global affairs.I got most of the opinions I needed, but I forgot the most important opinions of all! I need the voices of people like you. Yes you. Even you Tony..

You can talk about anything from 9/11 to President Barack Obama. I just need a few quick opinions. Hate us, Love us, I don't really care, just say something fairly productive. I know there are couple of other posts like this out there but most of them either a. went in to pointless flaming or b. have a really low post count. Oh and if you could leave your country of origin in your post that would be great.

Oh and a few months ago I made a post about advice for going to London. Thanks for all the Londoners and English who gave me excellent advice! It goes without saying I think your entire country rocks.

Question: What do you mean by post-American world?

OT: Country: good. Government: pretty abusive. America has flaws, like everywhere else does, but in my opinion it's still the best place to live. The government is kinda being the international bully right now, and will probably continue to do so until 40 years of bad economic policies cause it's economy to collapse, so I hate the government, but the country itself is a good place to live.

I live in NY state USA.

I mean a world where America is no longer the last superpower but just merely another player in the global market, ect.

I'd say that the USA is still a superpower. It has one of the top militaries and one of the top economies. I would say it's the most powerful of the 3 superpowers, USA>China>European Union with the EU being a mostly economic power. Keep in mind, I think China is very close to the US in power, but I believe that the US is slightly more powerful(for now).

LOL powerful granted, but useful? They can eventually defeat a man they put into power and throw his country into chaos, and get mired in a guerilla war of unwinnable in order to kill a guy who's hiding for ten years in their allies shed? WTF??? Powerful mayhaps. Awesome hardware is awesome, but with crappy software, it all goes wrong. Try running a supercomputer on unpatched WIN95 and call that powerful please, it'd be less funny.

Well, I think you are marginalizing the U.S. economy. We can put tremendous pressure on other nations without using our military (Iran) Also, I think you are looking at the military wrong. While it is true that on the large scale, the American military is making and has made mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan, on a tactical scale, no standing army can match the American military, and one of the reasons America is still heavily tangled with raq and Afghanistan, is the failure of local partners, not U.S. military failures. Even at the worst times in Iraq, (the figure is from 2006) U.S. troops killed 55 enemies and captured 65 for every lost U.S. serviceman. I think the super computer analogy is off the mark. I think that it isn't a software or hardware error, I think it is a failure to mesh changing software with awesome hardware.
I can't tell if that made any sense. My point: The U.S. Has a pawerful economy, despite debt, and has a powerful military. Failure of policy and strategy does not mean failures of tactics, equipment, or personel.

Well, forgive me for thinking strategy important

If the US could or would realise that world "policeman" is only as popular as the sides he's picked over the span of his career... Small town cops always endeavour to stay consistantly on some peoples good sides, and the world is getting smaller. If this great power had been used wisely and sparingly, think of all the worthwhile allies they could have had...

Not to say that the US doesn't have its plusses, hell, the country that bombs its own abortion clinics has more gay rights and less threatening censorship than mine. It's just that, well, every time any local from anywhere has a friend who got accidentally bombed by the US, there's another 50 people that hate the US. Sometimes the best use of power is restraint is all I'm getting at. People respect the guy who almost never flattens random dudes when he does have to smack a guy around a bit, people just fear and resent the ones who look for guys to fight...

Honestly, fear and resent are ok. The rest of the world doesn't need to like us. Until they do something about it, we will enjoy a unsustainable standard of living. If you are at a party, and there is a absolutely jacked man standing there being a dick and sticjing his nose into everybodies business, nobody messes with him. Everybody talks about it when he isn't around, but at the end of the day, he is much, much bigger. That is America. America is powerful, not nice.

Right, so it's morally acceptable to be an asshole, provided that you're enough of a thug to intimidate anyone who might call you on it?

 

[Raideh]

Cleaned.