Nishlord wrote:Yeah, It's called 'knowing stuff about the outside world'. You should try it sometimes.Or to put it another way, a Limey and Canuck got together to comment upon an American candidate for election.
Working for a Canadian Company, and having traveled to Europe has been an eye opener in terms of the misperception I had, and the perceived bias I thought other countries had about us.
The Canadians and the Euros don't hate America (this board not withstanding) and they seem to envy our open markets and low tax structure (in relative comparison to their own). One misperception I had when i went to Paris earlier this year was the French would all be elitist and rude as hell. I found the exact opposite to be true. Everyone I dealt with from my offices, to the hotel, to the restauarants and shops were very polite and obliging. Part of it may have been I tried to learn a little French to communicate with them, and wasn't loud or pushy. The "tourists" who are this way are what have cast the ugly american stereotype on us. I also didn't drop any we own you blasts which I'm sure helped.
The French and Canadians don't understand our penchant for violence - both in terms of domestically and foreign policy. The Canadians have almost as many guns as we so, yet their murder rate is miniscule. They also don't ever seem to get too worked up about anything (sup' Perk) and really are cool with all ethnic groups. Maybe thats why no one wants to blow them up. From a foreign policy perspective, they really don't understand pre-emptive strikes and since we fucked up Iraq, they may have a pretty good point.
The Wags school of mentality (oxymoron) is based on a small perception window. He forgets that many people are people, regardless of nationality, and that most of them are really OK. He also doesn't get that being proud to be an American isn't the same thing as thinking your better than every other country. Until he grasps that concept he's going to keep looking through that keyhole of thought instead of opening the door.