Due to a discussion on FB, I'm looking for opinions of non-americans about americans.

Be honest, you won't offend me.

If you do not want to post public, you may PM me with your views.

I'm American, and its not my intent to hijack your thread. Just an observation to consider after you get all the opinions in to your question.

People tend to view groups of people very different than they do individuals FROM those groups. IOW, I don't know that any non-American's opinion of Americans in general is terribly accurate.

Everyone does it. We'll say we don't like (pick an ethnic or religious group or nationality) yet we always have "exceptions" in those groups because we know them personally as friends, etc..

I'm an American so I don't count. But in general we are too casual and informal but do not swear as much as the Aussies.

A good point Dragon, but that "general perspective" is what I'm looking for. How are Americans viewed by the world?

Hmmm, I'm American and in my martial arts class I met a girl from Taiwan. She was totally floored that I knew about history about Taiwan and where it was on a map.

I think that mostly, "the rest of the world" envies/dislikes Americans in general.

I mean, there's good reason that people might feel that way, but they seem to forget that the world turned to America in the First and Second World Wars as well as the Korean, Vietnam and Cold Wars to determine the eventual outcome.

That America maybe didn't or still doesn't act in the best interests of every nation that compels us to action is merely a side effect of their asking to begin with.

many think that yankees are fat and stupid and guncrazy due what news tell.

I personally don't own a gun. But I have no problem with the rest of the world thinking we are gun crazy.

You can't judge an entire population by what you see on TV. What non-Americans see is easily filtered by whatever media outlet supplies "information" to the Public of any area.

America has 300 Million people, and thousands of people who represent them from the Congressional and Presidential level down to the elected Dog Catcher in the smallest village in America.

Are we fat as a people? Prolly. Cause we're well fed. We also spend tens of billions of dollars a year feeding the starving people of the planet whose governments will ALLOW us to feed their hungry.

Are we stupid? That depends on one's definition of the word.

Are we "gun crazy"? I think it's fair to say yes we are, but how many video clips have you seen where Arab foreigners are unloading entire clips of their AK's in celebration of something big or small? North America is not the only continent where masses of people have and use firearms.

I'm American, and sometimes... I wish California would tell the other 49 to fluff off and leave the Union.

Also... Los Angeles, Mother-fluffers! :P

That would be good. We won't miss you. At all. Today wouldn't be soon enough. Kthxbye.

Texas tries to secede every few years ... like that's a legitimate political platform for state seats.

I'm american though so I can't comment here. Try posting this on AT Lintz you'll get some anger and strife

No way. I'm moderately liberal and while California liberals are a whole lot of crazy, I count on their easy electoral votes for my Democratic candidates :P

Dragon, this is what I'm trying to figure out. There have been many times that I had an opinion of a nation, but when I actually talk to someone from there, I realize what I saw on TV does not truly reflect what those people are like. I'd like to see what image the rest of the world has on the US.

I am a Democrat too... but considering that the Republic of California accounts for ~40 million people, 163,696 sq. mi. of land, a Gross State Product of about $1.9 trillion, which is 13% of the United States gross domestic product (GDP) I don't think we'd have an issue not having the other 49 states.

the Soviets used to think we were all a bunch of gun-toting cowboys. :P

i think america is the greatest country in the world, and i am canadian. you should take a larger stance protecting the world from evil, because ultimately you mean good.

the people themselves it is impossible to speak to because every single person is different from another regardless of what country you reside.

overall i would say you guys are awesome. and not only because i don't write this in german.

i am a bit gun-crazed but by no mean stupid with them. the stupid ones usually end up accidentally killing themselves, so problem solved there, lol.

honestly though, i carried a sidearm. i do it because i want to give the impression that "if you mess with me i will shoot you," but it not because i want to, it actually quite the opposite. i hope that i never have to shoot anyone. it's kinda like the US and Soviets during the cold war. combined we had enough nukes to kill the world 40 times over, but no one fired a single missle because of the fear that the other would retaliate, killing them as well. we had the firepower to scare each other enough to not push the button. i am perfectly happy blowing all my ammo at the shooting range. however, a show of power is, many times, intimidating. and most will not want to act against someone who has the option and capability to quickly end their life. that's why when i go out, i make sure my .50AE D. Eagle is in plain view on my hip. it's that fear factor i go for. it may give the wrong impression about me, but it's kept me out of a lot of fights and a lot of questionable characters away from me and my friends.

The movie Team America sums it up quite accurate :D

oh really? the same california that was on the verge of bankruptcy?

california is a fluffhole. the rest of the 49 would be happy to see it go.

please tell me your not serious.

I'm American and I don't care what your opinion of Americans is, plain and simple.

If you don't like Americans, Great, don't come here.

If you like Americans, Great, you can visit and enjoy something uniquely American, like a Philly Cheesesteak, or a Chicago Pizza, or some Cincinatti Chili, or North Carolina BBQ, or some Humboldt County Weed.

Or perhaps you will just visit to enjoy some warm weather and the beaches in Florida or Hawaii.

But, keep your opinions to yourself.

PS, Thank You, Braden. I like Canadians too. They're an awesome people who know how to be laid back and enjoy life. They stress less than any other people as far as I know.

Just gotta wonder about all that cold weather though.

I thought the joke was pretty obvious ;)

America, fluff yeah
coming again to save the motherfluffing day

The thing that hurts peoples opinions of the US is lots of you who travel.. for some reason the traveling Americans become rude,obnoxious and really annoying... So lots of people base their opinion on that..

Funny thing is i have made 13 trips to the US in my life and only ran into a couple of people like that...

AMERRRICAAA! fluff YEAA!

that's part of our initiative of getting all the assholes to leave! :P

we don't technically care what non-americans think about us. they will be assimillated. resistence is futile.

The bankruptcy? You can thank Kenneth Lay and all of Enron for that. As for it being a fluffhole, it all depends on where you go. ~70ºF year round temperatures are better than ~110ºF in summer, 60's and 70's in Spring and Fall and -20ºF and colder in the winter.

oh no
couldn't possibly have anything to do with the long time overspending liberal policies....or the coddling and spending of taxpayer dollars on the NON-taxpayers wandering across the border
couldn't possibly have anything to do with the decades of choking regulation which have slowly but surely chased business's away
no chance it could have anything to do with some of the highest overall tax burdens in the whole country

nope....no chance at all.....it HAS to be some evil corporations fault
yup
that's it alright...........

you forgot the environmental regulations, well, maybe you covered it with the choking regulations.

this is pointless

im talking about just last year. i dont give a fluff about weather. the state itself is fluff.

depends on what american series we watch

Americans are great. Please don't kill me CIA.

surprisingly, there are people in this world who's view of america isn't far off from that. and it's sad that these people will never experience any of the good things america has to offer because of that belief.

I would tend to agree that most Americans that do a lot of intertnational travel are more than likely assholes.

They're usually the ones with the money to do that, and the preppie bastards usually look down their noses at everyone here too, so it's not surprising that they do it overseas either.

Have you ever noticed that when you don't speak English, an American will speak English LOUDER and SLOWER in the belief that this will make you understand?

I'm pretty sure that all different nationalities would do the same if they met someone they assumed didn't speak/understand the language spoken fluently.

You can't put all Americans into the snobby, obnoxious and ill-mannered category. There are different types of people for all nationalities. And though there is the environmental/upbringing factor, but people do act differently in certain situations.


There are plenty of other states that are almost bankrupt as well. California's not doing so well but it's not the only one so there's no point in singling just one "****hole" out when there are plenty of others to choose from.

California's laws are messy. And yes, it may have people funding stupid things or putting the money in the wrong place, but they can still hold their own. It would help if we had less interest groups but then again, that's the American system.

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Honestly, to get an accurate view of Americans, one would have to travel around the U.S. and talk to DIFFERENT people. Certain people occupy certain areas, do such and such things, talk this way or act that way. You can't lump them all together. There are idiots and then there are gems. It just depends. Non-Americans cannot fully grasp the American culture without immersing themselves in it first. "Before criticizing a man, walk a mile in his shoes." By the way, Americans are supposedly a meld of all the different cultures.

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Bonus >.<

Highly confident - sometimes in a good way and sometimes bad

Quite self obsessed with their country - iraq for example is all about them. Americans are great blah blah blah except in the same line they will shout about their european routes. ( Don't get me wrong its not a bad thing but there is no consistency - kinda like tunnel vision)

Not very cultural owing to the fact they don't travel a lot.

Weirdly possessive of their things and their people.

Good to have fun with. Particularly good if they get english humour.

Some are very sexy especially the accents.

Presidents always think they rule the world and its annoying. The sarah palin saga is irritating other countries too just so you know.

Oh and they drive on the wrong side of the road and can't use cutlery properly.

with my little travelling and my inability/not paying attention to broken english

if you want to ask somebody where you need to go for water, and they have been introduced to any american or english in their life (media/advertisment, etc) you likely will be able to dumb it down.. where to go? water??

Have you ever noticed, cerberus, that when people are in public and speaking on a phone/to somebody there and they aren't speaking the language that everybody understands, they yell and scream into the phone/to their friend? I presume it's because they needn't keep quiet for everybody else to not hear their oh so important problems in life- but with the different language nobody can tell, and you can yell.

i see it *every day*

I can believe that that happens, Braden. LOL People who love to draw attention to themselves while on the phone is just an amazing phenomenon. I can't understand the root of the problem at all.

hehe, some people just yell into the phone anyway. maybe they are having difficulty hearing the other person, so they just start talking louder to be sure that they'll be heard.

this is true- i find i speak louder into the phone when i don't specifically focus on not speaking louder. i do not know why. but i have no interest in anybody hearing anything but hey man i'll be there in ten, or yea maybe i'll see what i can, etc

as opposed to oh my god amanda did this and eric said that and sheila went off on gary and then gary called me and told me yada yada fluffing yada. let alone when it's in farsi or mandarin..

(i wouldn't know either if you spoke them to me, no..)

I think it might be the customer service. My brother has lived in Japan for quite awhile now and everytime he comes back to Canada he can't stand our customer service. I am pretty sure our service industry is relatively similar so that could be a huge part of it.

One thing I do know is this. Americans don't think they are the best country in the world. They think Canada is. Why else were we placed above them?

we just needed a lower latitude so that we wouldn't get too dizzy from the world spin.

I believe that in the US a state cannot legally leave the union. The last time it was tried there was the US civil war. I dunno what would happen now though.

Regarding my opinion of Americans (not the American government). I find most Americans to be very friendly and helpful if you visit them in the US, especially if you tell them you aren't American. I find that most american tourists I run into tend to act like jerks. I don't know what happens when they leave their own country to make them act that way. The exception to this is meeting them in Toronto or Windsor where they've tended to be very nice (most of them were black).
Mind you I've heard from people who are of middle eastern descent or black that they run into more issues visiting the US so I dunno.

For the record I've visited the US at least 20 times in my life and worked there (legally) for 3 months once. I've also been to Europe and South America :P

As an aside, canadian customer service usually sucks big time (there are exceptions). I've found that US customer service tends to be a lot better if you fluff at them without getting really angry.

when you say they can't legally leave, does that mean we can't kick them out?

i find it extremely doubtful that you have a 5 pound when unloaded gun as your everyday carry. come on dude.

i have a glock 27 as my CC gun, and i also have a commander size 1911 that i sometimes carry, but even that is almost too big.