"What We Think of America."

[Starchild]

America....hmmm....lived there, didn't hate it. Didn't love it. Decent enough country. Nice place to visit. Sometimes I wonder what in hell is wrong with it, but then again, I also wonder that about every country at some point.

I feel neutral toward you America!

(hmm....doesn't roll off the tongue like "I love you America" does it?)

[Serb]

Another WWII pissing match? Seriously, I thought we'd had this one out. Serb, as you well know, the American posters here do not attempt to take away from the contributions of the USSR (or UK, or anyone else for that matter) in the war. In fact, the posters in this thread have affirmed that. Your bluster, which is wildly exaggerated, as you damn well know, does not change people's minds - it makes you look nuts. An American who claims that America won WWII all by itself is likewise considered to be an idiot. It was a team effort, with each ally leaning on the others.

I'm glad to see you too Arrian
We was in the same boat. This maniac declared war on all of us. And Leand-Lease was very helpfull and it saved a lot of lives of Soviet people. And no doubt, it was a team effort and to be honest, I'm agreed with you, it is at lest silly to remove any country who contributed in war against nazism. The only thing which makes me sad, is that some posters as Mr. Floyd beleive in "general ****ness of Russian army". My country paid millions of people's lives for this victory and (no one never will convince me in otherwise) made a biggest harm to Hitler's army. Now it called a "****ness of Russian army", great, it's just great.

Saving Private Ryan was a Hollywood movie about American soldiers. It made no attempt to say that the US won the war solo: it was a fictional snippet of the Normandy campaign. The soldiers were all Americans, including the cowardly little interpreter, and the only reference to another ally was actually a denegration of Field Marshall Montgomery (the Americans *****ing about him being slow to take Caen), so if anyone should be complaining, it should be the Brits.

Ok, if YOU saing this then it's true
I must admit, I saw this movie long time ago and untill you conviced me, I thought that this guy was a Brit. My mistake, sorry.

So ENOUGH!, all of you, at least discuss the bloody topic!

As you damn well know, ( where did I heard this?) topics wich contain word "America" or "your opinion about America" has great chances to become a troll treads, because big number of people (from Europe mostly) have a "little different" (not American, not so shining, not so optimistic) opinion about USA. It's just another "Stop the America bashing". So, sooner or later such topics turn to WW2 pissing matches, bashing of US foreign policy, sooner or later someone should mention Vietnam, etc. And there is nothing you can do about this.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by notyoueither


Teach you to live where it is too late to get beer.

It was 2:30 in the morning...

I suppose I could have caught last call if I rushed out to a bar, but that would have been just plain weird...

[Sikander]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
The three greatest American authors are Southerners: Twain, Faulkner, and Poe. Almost all of our music comes from the South: Gospel, Folk, Blues, Jazz, Rock n'Roll. The folks are a darn sight friendlier down here than up in the icy North. I see far more interracial friendships and relationships here than in the North, and I live in a city with half the percentage of Black folks as Chicago (25% as opposed to 47%), though I will admit this may be due to the major military presence here, which is the most integrated institution in America.

I love the South. I'm torn between moving back home to Chicago where my friends and family are, and staying here and enjoying the mild winters and palm trees and friendly people. The best beer joints I've ever been to in the whole freakin' country are here in Jax.

I miss the multitude of cultures in Chicago. I definately miss the food. I miss the different things I can do in a big city, (which is why I'm looking into a position in Atlanta).

Interestingly enough, though, the South is the most "European" part of the US. Europe, and much of the old world in fact, is very much living through its past. The South, also, lives through its past. In some ways, it can't get over losing the war or the Civil Rights movement. In the North, the MidWest, and the West Coast, the country is in the eternal present. There is no past, only the Now. America lives in the Now and always looking forward, never back. Our history is just dusty stories. The South is still living its history, even as it is hurled into the Now. It must be very schizophrenic being a Southerner.

Another very good post Chegitz!

[Roland]

"America lives in the Now and always looking forward, never back."

Which is why Americans here never quote certain documents from 1776 and 1787, respectively.....

[MOBIUS]

Jacksonville is a boring hole full of religious hicks with no personality

Che excepted

It comes to something when you have a almost 1,000 page guidebook of the US and there isn't even a sentence devoted to Jacksonville...

We were there to pick up a hire car, so admittedly I didn't see much of the place, but 1st impressions were decidedly bad...

Still, Savannah was gorgeous and that was in the South...

BTW I think those essays are pretty accurate, and a good read

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Roland
"America lives in the Now and always looking forward, never back."

Which is why Americans here never quote certain documents from 1776 and 1787, respectively.....

I guess it's about time for another gun rights thread then.

Seriously, there is quite a lot of fairly well considered discussion here of U.S. constitutional issues (and David Floyd too!), though you are correct that there isn't much verbatim quotation. Many of us who studied the liberal arts are familiar with not only the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution, but the Federalist Papers as well. Some of us have even read Paine, Mill, Smith, etc. That's not too bad for the post-literate society that the U.S. is rapidly becoming.

[Roland]

"I guess it's about time for another gun rights thread then."

Either I don't get your point there, or you did a very american "what ? sarcasm ?"....

I was particularly amused when in the Clinton impeachment farce, they brought up 17th century english lawyers to find out what the **** the term means...

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Roland
"I guess it's about time for another gun rights thread then."

Either I don't get your point there, or you did a very american "what ? sarcasm ?"....

I was particularly amused when in the Clinton impeachment farce, they brought up 17th century english lawyers to find out what the **** the term means...

There is always an argument in the gun rights threads where the second amendment to the constitution is quoted.


That's the dual nature of the U.S. at work. Brilliant enough to build a time machine, stupid enough to use it to bring more lawyers into the present.

[Roland]

"There is always an argument in the gun rights threads where the second amendment to the constitution is quoted."

Which is what I was referring in the 1st place. And the natural rights debates, the religion debates, etc etc - so:

Americans can be very caught up in their history especially when it's about their national myths.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Roland
"There is always an argument in the gun rights threads where the second amendment to the constitution is quoted."

Which is what I was referring in the 1st place. And the natural rights debates, the religion debates, etc etc - so:

Americans can be very caught up in their history especially when it's about their national myths.

I must have missed your sarcasm because .... of your heavy accent, yea that's it!

Sorry, I only got about 3 hours of sleep yesterday and my already sluggish powers of concentration are even further depleted.


I know what you mean about being caught up in the national mythos. They think that they are learning history, but without a larger body of world history to put it into context they don't realize that American history classes tend to be government underwritten self-congratulation (in conservative areas) or self flagellation (in liberal areas). It's all so dull that American history is not one of my strongpoints, and I have read enormous amounts of history.

[Serb]

I know what you mean about being caught up in the national mythos. They think that they are learning history, but without a larger body of world history to put it into context they don't realize that American history classes tend to be government underwritten self-congratulation (in conservative areas) or self flagellation (in liberal areas). It's all so dull that American history is not one of my strongpoints, and I have read enormous amounts of history.

It was well said.
But to be honest it's not just an American problem, more or less every country affected by this.

[rah]

Teachers can be dull, History never is

RAH

[Roland]

"It's all so dull that American history is not one of my strongpoints"

It is quite interesting unless it's the sort of "in 1776 a bunch of Americans invented freedom" thing.

[DanS]

I find American history fascinating. It wasn't until I moved to D.C. that I became interested in it, however.