Why are Americans so different from the rest of us Westerners

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by DinoDoc

Lol, we don't believe you are going to come to our assistance.

Then why do you come to all of our wars?

Australians just like fighting.

[monolith94]

If China invaded Australia (god forbid) The United States would certainly come and aid...

[TCO]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse


Lol, we don't believe you are going to come to our assistance.

And who is *****ing? I like America and Americans. I'm just pointing out some pretty obvious differences we see here all the time.

Maybe the problem is Americans are kind of shocked that when the rest of the Western world finds out about the American way, which we hear about here all the time, they say "no thanks" pretty emphatically.

That must seem odd since you are "number 1". I mean, when the Romans and the Brits were on top people wanted to copy them. Why don't people want to copy American laws, values, government policies?

Take a simple thing like accents, noone wants to speak English like an American. When the Brits were on top, everyone who spoke English in the British world wanted to speak it like a Brit. The American way is explicitly rejected by most Western countries. Why?

1. Cold war, kosovo. Defense spending levels.

2. yeah the language thing is interesting. We are really the most new world of all the offshoots. We had a hard break and it was a while ago. Not like Australia which still drinks tea!

[KrazyHorse]

GP, when was the last time we had to call on you? And as to the rest of the West?

"Never" for us, "WWII" for everybody else. Grow up, man. That was sixty years ago...

[TCO]

Canadians are sorta like Americans.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Frogger
GP, when was the last time we had to call on you? And as to the rest of the West?

"Never" for us, "WWII" for everybody else. Grow up, man. That was sixty years ago...

Cold War.

[KrazyHorse]

Only to Americans. And the last two years haven't done much to endear you to us...

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Frogger
(4) Canadian Football is much better

ACK!

[Main_Brain]

Still they are not the

only country

// edit you should start to count Turkey to the Western countries.. Nato, EU soon soon..

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by GP


Cold War.

Possibly. But not since the sixties. France and UK had enough a nuclear arsenal to stop the Russians by then, and you know it.

[Fiera]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
Take a simple thing like accents, noone wants to speak English like an American. When the Brits were on top, everyone who spoke English in the British world wanted to speak it like a Brit. The American way is explicitly rejected by most Western countries. Why?

You sure about that? In fact, I think the internet is helping a lot in making the rest of the world speak English like the Americans do.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Frogger
Only to Americans. And the last two years haven't done much to endear you to us...

Don't get excited. It's not about "endearing". Canada and America are closer to each other in mood than either is to UK.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
War on Terrorism - does anyone else believe in it outside the US? ... The European reaction to the frequent terrorist incidents there.

I think that you forget the Brits.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
Let's look at a few issues:

Gun control - The US is the only Western country that doesn't have it.

The death penalty - only the United States executes criminals.

Crime and punishment - The US has a prison population about 10 times larger than the Western average.

Support for Israel - only the United States is 100% behind Israel.

War on Iraq - only Americans claim this is somehow anything but a cynical exercise in power and oil politics.

War on Terrorism - does anyone else believe in it outside the US? Note the difference in the muted Australian reaction to Bali and the hysterical US reaction to 9/11. The European reaction to the frequent terrorist incidents there.

Guantanamo Bay - The US is the only Western country that thinks its okay to hold prisoners without legal process.

Social Welfare - The US, although the richest country in the world, is the only Western country without a social safety net. In some ways the US is more like a Third world country for many of its poorer citizens and nobody seems to have a problem with that.

Healthcare - The US is the only Western country that doesn't offer a universal health care scheme to its citizens.

Abortion - the only country where the right to an abortion is under serious threat.

War on drugs - the only Western country which thinks prohibition is the answer.

I mean, don't you find these differences striking? And I've listed just a few.

Alexander's Horse, this reads like a liberal/leftist wish list. The question really should be is why the rest of the West shifted so strongly to the left after WWII while the US did not.

[KrazyHorse]

Depends what you're talking about. Brits are bigger hawks than we are, less socialist, etc.

Only culture is closer. And I'm serious when I say that US attitude is causing a backlash here...