Explaining America's Ignorance

[Saggy]

So I'm always seeing people from Europe or whereabouts talking about Americans being ignorant and not knowing anything else that's going on in the world, and seem to think that they and the rest of the world know what's going on in American current events because they're "informed individuals" that actually care...

 

What I wonder is how many people really pay attention to the current events of other countries that doesn't wind up all over the world wide news... I have friends all over the world, and they're always telling me about stuff that's going on in American current events, media, news, etc. It's like the entire world is pretty much tuned in to what goes on in America, meanwhile in the U.S. what do we have? Depending on your cable provider, you might have BBC, maybe Al Jazeera, and then I don't even think we have Galavision or Telemundo.

 

So I mean, I'm really not that impressed that the rest of the world knows everything about what's going on in America, and wonder just how much people know about other countries that are not their own. Anyone here (besides sivi) that can tell me what's going on in Russian's politics right now without Google? How about Colombia? Just throwing some random ones out there...

 

I mean, it just annoys me, people act as if Americans are ignorant and apathetic because they don't know what's going on in other countries, when personally I think people have a really bad perception on just how much less Americans are actually exposed to the rest of the world's issues versus how much the world is exposed to ours...

[Mr_Leone]

tldr but nice work.

[RedDagger]

Seems to be either a generalisation or finding too many vocal people with lots to say on nothing.

 

Anyway, most people view it as a stereotype, i.e. not what Americans actually are like.

[018361]

I don't know exactly what is going on in Russia's political system, but I have read that Obama is P.O.'d that Putin gave Snowden asylum and that Obama brought up the cold war " thinking " when talking about Russia. I'm probably not helping here at all either. I just don't know too many legitimate news sources outside of America. Every news organization seems to have their own agenda and only use what is in the news to broadcast their propaganda and dogma for whichever political organisation that they are bowing down to. We need a politically neutral news service to watch and all we get is propaganda.

[DJ Arrt]

Other countries says they don't care about America, while we don't care unless it pertains to us. Media wise, yes it's like that, but I know people who care about World News.

[EscoLehGo]

The Monroe Doctrine is what put us in the spotlight, we never should have been the World Police but now that we've gotten involved with everyone's bullsh*t it's not kosher to just pull out and go home.

[The Pizza Delivery Guy]

Meh, most people around the world just hate America. Hell, i do and here I am smack dab in the middle of it.

[EscoLehGo]

Meh, most people around the world just hate America. Hell, i do and here I am smack dab in the middle of it.

Change your flag then boy, what are you some kind of healthcare loving commie?

[Woody112]

Meh, most people around the world just hate America. Hell, i do and here I am smack dab in the middle of it.

You're a cool guy. Go live in a third-world sh*thole for a week and then tell us how much you hate America.

[The Pizza Delivery Guy]

Meh, most people around the world just hate America. Hell, i do and here I am smack dab in the middle of it.

You're a cool guy. Go live in a third-world sh*thole for a week and then tell us how much you hate America.

This place is becoming a third world sh*t hole.

[GTA_stu]

It's not just the current events thing, Americans in general just seem to have pretty terrible knowledge in other areas like geography and history too. I think it probably is a bit unfair for people from smaller countries to expect Americans to know as much about their country and it's politics as they do about America. America is always in the spotlight so it's not exactly hard to know what's going on there. But still, as I mentioned it just seems that in other areas Americans know a bit less about the world in general.

 

I think it's partly down to the fact that America is so isolated, and quite unique. You're all the way over there on your own little continent pretty much, and there's massive huge oceans separating you from the vast majority of the rest of the world. Whereas people from other countries, and especially in Europe, are obviously closely connected to dozens of other countries. Plus a lot of European countries have stronger connections to other parts of the world because of colonialism.

 

America also has it's own sports which nobody else really plays, when the rest of the world is highly connected in sports. We're always playing each other in football, rugby, cricket etc. It means we're interacting more and it does also help to increase your knowledge of these countries indirectly.

 

We're also more connected in history, and it seems that for Europe at least, a larger part of our history involves other countries. Whereas we learn about endless wars with other European nations in the middle ages and up to the modern era, it seems like you focus more on your civil war. Or when you were at war with other countries, it was pretty much always on your own turf so it's still focused on the U.S. rather the non existent European theatre (up until WWI at least).

 

So I think it probably makes sense that you might not know as much about the rest of the world.

 

[EscoLehGo]

Meh, most people around the world just hate America. Hell, i do and here I am smack dab in the middle of it.

You're a cool guy. Go live in a third-world sh*thole for a week and then tell us how much you hate America.

This place is becoming a third world sh*t hole.

Apparently not fast enough, you still have internet access.

[Grand Theft Savage]

I agree. A bunch of clowns always downing America, but they know damn well that they would trade their nationality to be American in a heartbeat. Everyone is interested in what happens in America because it's 100 times more exciting and much more important than what happens in their own country. If you hate the nation, stop acknowledging American news.

 

I ain't even American, but I live here, for anyone that's wondering.

[LibertyKing]

Yeah, people need to stop making stereotypes and generalization. It's not because 10% of Americans are below ignorant that the 90% remaining are too. I mean, most people here in Canada talk about Americans like they are all stupid, fat, ignorant and nationalist, when in fact, we're pretty close to be like them. We live like them, we eat the same food (For some reasons, portions are smaller in fast-foods here), we drive their cars, we listen to their music and we watch their movies. In fact, a big part of the occident's culture is from the United-States.

[Clem Fandango]

tbh it's understandable not to know what's going on in a country that has little economic/military interactions, population exchange and cultural similarity to your own. People don't call Americans ignorant because they don't know what goes on in Ecuador or Nigeria, they call them ignorant because they seemingly have very little knowledge of Europe, Australia, Japan etc. If you're an American, you have no excuse for not having your finger on the pulse of those places.

 

I get that it's very condescending when people call Americans "ignorant" but it's certainly a fair criticism. America is quite culturally insulated (to the point that most Americans seem to think it's strange to watch foreign cinema), dogmatic and consumer driven. If that's not a combination that invariably produces an uninformed public, then I don't know what is. And America is the world's superpower, they have most of the world's economic and military power but they know very little about what's going on in the world- that's what pisses people off about America's attitude.

 

If you haven't before, watch Chomsky's film Manufacturing Consent. It shows pretty well how, empirically, less information reaches the American public than the European and Australian publics. It does seem like the American public are intentionally cut off from the decision making process, which is pretty obvious when you observe the US's comparatively low scores on democracy indexes.

 

Well that's why the relatively educated public are perceived as ignorant anyway, but when it comes to the minority that has this "America first, we have freedom, f*ck you commies!" attitude (which, funny enough, is most politicians and a lot of pundits) it's pretty plain to see how they're embarrassing the US. I remember watching the presidential debates and the entire room was red, white and blue and above the candidates there was this gigantic and incredibly detailed emblem of a f*cking bald eagle. I have to be honest, every time I see a bald eagle it's like a giant middle finger. The rest of the world feels like they're constantly being flipped off by America because you put these nutjobs in power and give them a platform to spew their sh*t, so it's no wonder people call Americans ignorant.

 

And for the record, I'm not some Euro-centric maniac that hates America and all it stands for. It's just that American political discourse is full of so much bullsh*t that it literally looks like insanity to an objective, outside observer (the reasons why are quite interesting, but that's another discussion). America really has to sort out out the glaring issues with its public debate if it wants to get out of the mess it is in, and it is in a mess: lobbyists running the country, fringe right wing nutjobs being given disproportional power and attention, sprawling ghettos in every city, several schools shootings a year. I really wish some of the American intellectuals on here wouldn't dismiss my criticisms as me being pompous yankophobe.

[Saggy]

tbh it's understandable not to know what's going on in a country that has little economic/military interactions, population exchange and cultural similarity to your own. People don't call Americans ignorant because they don't know what goes on in Ecuador or Nigeria, they call them ignorant because they seemingly have very little knowledge of Europe, Australia, Japan etc. If you're an American, you have no excuse for not having your finger on the pulse of those places.

 

I get that it's very condescending when people call Americans "ignorant" but it's certainly a fair criticism. America is quite culturally insulated (to the point that most Americans seem to think it's strange to watch foreign cinema), dogmatic and consumer driven. If that's not a combination that invariably produces an uninformed public, then I don't know what is. And America is the world's superpower, they have most of the world's economic and military power but they know very little about what's going on in the world- that's what pisses people off about America's attitude.

 

If you haven't before, watch Chomsky's film Manufacturing Consent. It shows pretty well how, empirically, less information reaches the American public than the European and Australian publics. It does seem like the American public are intentionally cut off from the decision making prog pro cess, which is pretty obvious when you observe the US's comparatively low scores on democracy indexes.

 

Well that's why the relatively educated public are perceived as ignorant anyway, but when it comes to the minority that has this "America first, we have freedom, f*ck you commies!" attitude (which, funny enough, is most politicians and a lot of pundits) it's pretty plain to see how they're embarrassing the US. I remember watching the presidential debates and the entire room was red, white and blue and above the candidates there was this gigantic and incredibly detailed emblem of a f*cking bald eagle. I have to be honest, every time I see a bald eagle it's like a giant middle finger. The rest of the world feels like they're constantly being flipped off by America because you put these nutjobs in power and give them a platform to spew their sh*t, so it's no wonder people call Americans ignorant.

 

And for the record, I'm not some Euro-centric maniac that hates America and all it stands for. It's just that American political discourse is full of so much bullsh*t that it literally looks like insanity to an objective, outside observer (the reasons why are quite interesting, but that's another discussion). America really has to sort out out the glaring issues with its public debate if it wants to get out of the mess it is in, and it is in a mess: lobbyists running the country, fringe right wing nutjobs being given disproportional power and attention, sprawling ghettos in every city, several schools shootings a year. I really wish some of the American intellectuals on here wouldn't dismiss my criticisms as me being pompous yankophobe.

Now this is far more elaborate and concise as far as a summation about the rest of the world's view on America as I've ever got. I think the idea of us being isolated leading to us having such unwavering viewpoints and less communication with other countries is a really good point. In a way it kind of reminds me about films I've seen on North Korea... They highlight that North Koreans are propagandized into believing N. Korea is the greatest country on the planet, most prosperous, etc. and so on and so forth and all sorts of things about how America and the rest of the world are basically either destitute or jealous of N. Korea's greatness... To me that sounds an awful lot like the type of "patriotism" that you've mentioned. I'd say that group of Americans are in the minority by an extreme, they're a fringe group, but those tend to be the most vocal. Either way even if they're a minority, when you have a country that's 300 million people, even 10% of our population thinking that way means a lot of people...

 

So when you comment about the isolationism being that cause, that makes a lot of sense to me. I mean, I wouldn't really compare us to N. Korea as far as circumstances go, but just the effects that isolation has on a populace's global conscience is kind of similar because it breeds a lot of people who know nothing of the rest of the world, and simply believe that their nation is the greatest, and is perfect and so on and so forth. It's far different of course seeing as N. Koreans are forced into this way of life, and can be killed for trying to obtain information that would otherwise enlighten them... It's much much different scenario.

 

Apathy is one thing that I think I think America has been accused of and is guilty of in a lot of ways, and I think when you talk about how little we exercise our democratic process that really shows a lot of that. Long story short though, I think whereas N. Korea's government forces its citizens into isolation, patriotism, etc. Americans seem to seek it out for themselves...

 

Then with the rest of what you've mentioned regarding American politics, our politician playing this dynamic and the rest of the world watching it and going, "What are you doing?" That's actually the feeling most Americans actually have about it. It's just the only people who actually get a wide audience to talk about this issue are comedians like John Stewart or Lewis Black, George Carlin, etc. Entertainers, and slightly fringe entertainers at that.

 

It just seems that the insane notion of Americans is the one the rest of the world most agrees with?

[The-King]

 

Meh, most people around the world just hate America. Hell, i do and here I am smack dab in the middle of it.

You're a cool guy. Go live in a third-world sh*thole for a week and then tell us how much you hate America.

This place is becoming a third world sh*t hole.

HEY GUYS, LOOK OVER HERE! LOOK AT HOW EDGY AND REBELLIOUS HE IS!

[brian.]

Everyone hates the popular kid. Same goes for countries I guess.

[The Pizza Delivery Guy]

Meh, most people around the world just hate America. Hell, i do and here I am smack dab in the middle of it.

You're a cool guy. Go live in a third-world sh*thole for a week and then tell us how much you hate America.

This place is becoming a third world sh*t hole.

HEY GUYS, LOOK OVER HERE! LOOK AT HOW EDGY AND REBELLIOUS HE IS!

Yay. Attention. Because that's exactly what I wanted.

 

Relevant:

 

 

[Zugzwang]

I think the people below the Mason-Dixon line ruin it for us with their assbackward politics truthfully. I have a lot of friends in Canada and they only really have a good impression of states they know to be liberal (e.g. California).

[Clem Fandango]

One thing I don't like is that people are always calling Americans "fat, opinionated and loud." They're loud and opinionated because they aren't repressed and their culture doesn't belittle them to the point that they can't even form an opinion. And they like to eat, but I'd rather a culture where people eat a lot of fries than one where you're encouraged to drink yourself sick and get into pub fights like in the UK.

[The Pizza Delivery Guy]

 

I think the people below the Mason-Dixon line ruin it for us with their assbackward politics truthfully. I have a lot of friends in Canada and they only really have a good impression of states they know to be liberal (e.g. California).

It's good to know someone out there knows their sh*t, good for Canada. I remember in 8th grade I went around spreading the love of Canada like a missionary spreading religion. Why did I stop right when i had Oh Canada memorized.

 

OT: It's not like America doesn't care when other countries have issues. why I see ads for the Haiti relief all the time! It's better for the news to report on incidents that occur in the states rather than out of the states since it will strike the American viewer closer to home. For the average American viewer, seeing that a group of Germans or Italians that were involved in a devastating bus crash would invoke less tears from the American than if a bus in New York crashed, because it would be a fellow American, just like them, that had taken the fall, rather than a foreign person whom they would have more difficulty associating themselves with.

[Zugzwang]

I think the people below the Mason-Dixon line ruin it for us with their assbackward politics truthfully. I have a lot of friends in Canada and they only really have a good impression of states they know to be liberal (e.g. California).

It's good to know someone out there knows their sh*t, good for Canada. I remember in 8th grade I went around spreading the love of Canada like a missionary spreading religion. Why did I stop right when i had Oh Canada memorized.

 

OT: It's not like America doesn't care when other countries have issues. why I see ads for the Haiti relief all the time! It's better for the news to report on incidents that occur in the states rather than out of the states since it will strike the American viewer closer to home. For the average American viewer, seeing that a group of Germans or Italians that were involved in a devastating bus crash would invoke less tears from the American than if a bus in New York crashed, because it would be a fellow American, just like them, that had taken the fall, rather than a foreign person whom they would have more difficulty associating themselves with.

I'm like that now. I love Canada.

 

Part of anti-american sentiment is surely also the fact that in a post-Cold War world the US is the only superpower, and there's probably something a little unsettling about one nation having more ability to influence other parts of the world more than any other nation.

[TheGodDamnMaster]

I agree that it does get annoying to be berated for living in this country. I'm not saying I necessarily disagree with some of the issues being brought up by citizens from other nations, but for the most part they take a "holier-than-thou" attitude. I see this sh*t all the time of 4chan and other forums I visit.

 

With that said, I think it's disturbing that we too have an abundance of ignorant people with similar sentiments about other nations. I hate how people say "America is the best country in the world". First off, it's the United States of America. Secondly, we lead the world in only three categories, none of which are things to be proud of; armaments, highest number of people in prison, and highest number of people who practice religion. That's it, but people still insist that we're the best and only add fuel to the fire for other nations to slander us with.

 

In short, I agree with this guy. I don't hate this country (I love it), but it's embarrassing to be surrounded by such mass ignorance.

 

 

[Nah Tso Gud]

Our media is scum, they prey on unfortunate things to exploit; shootings, bombings etc., which they do heavily.

 

Our entertainment industry is for the most part - garbage.. all of these ridiculous hill billy reality shows and the like.

 

^ Those things get projected throughout the earth and it creates a terrible impression.

 

As far as stupid Americans on the internet - people need to realize that they are more than likely reading the ramblings of some 13 year old trying to concoct an opinion/sound "cool".

 

I won't claim that some opinions of Americans aren't always wrong though Ha. That's definitely not the case.

[ClaudeSpeed1911]

I don't hate America but I hate their goverment, Everytime there is some conflict they put their nose in between and after the conflict is done they steal the oil, I in no way hate the people.

[John The Grudge]

I'm British and in my experience lots of people here are quite ignorant. I doubt Americans are more or less ignorant than us.

[I<3GTAV]

I don't hate America but I hate their goverment, Everytime there is some conflict they put their nose in between and after the conflict is done they steal the oil, I in no way hate the people.

I agree, we need to take a much more isolationist approach. Only intervene when it is in the best interests of the American people, that was the original function of our government, anyway. I don't understand how intervening in Iraq or Syria is even in the people's interests.

 

People who call America "ignorant" or "racist" are huge hypocrites. They probably only judge America based on what they've seen in the media, and haven't actually been to America in the flesh. And they do the exact same thing racists do, judge a group of people based on stereotypes.

[Finn 7 five 11]

tldr but nice work.

Your post was a waste of space, especially for the first reply.

 

 

Anyway, I've always thought some Americans as ignorant, but I think that's just a stereotype enforced on us by the media who deliberately spread footage of stupid Americans they interviewed on the street as a subtle joke. Or they just do a full blown gag taking the piss out of America. So blame the media for the stereotype.

 

Anyway, I will gladly put my hand up and say I am uninformed and ignorant on events occurring around the world, the only thing that concerns me is what is going to directly affect me in the short term, Korea can blow themselves up with a nuke when they accidentally launch it with the coordinates of launch location instead of America for all I care.

 

Okay lol, extreme example, that is going to affect me, Samsung is Korean Based. But you get what I mean, I pay little heed to things that do not interest me, global events being one of them.

[Acehilm]