How the World Sees Us...and it's Sad

[Borderland]

You know how a lot of Americans have a pretty distorted view of the rest of the world? A mix of outdated info, stereotypes, misconceptions based on popular media portrayals, and just plain ignorance?

The rest of the world isn't all that different when it comes to us. Heck, a number think that you can drive from LA to Texas in about an hour, and to Disney World in another two.

Yep, I've run across some people who have never traveled more than a few hundred miles from home. It's amazing to me their views about people in this country and other countries. They only know what they see from MSM and that is a very distorted image. I like to travel, especially in the western US because I like the people and the landscape. I once drove from the west coast to the east coast and back (different route) just for the experience of seeing the landscape and how everyone else lived.

Mexico and MSM is a good example. If your only experience of MX was watching MSM you would come away with a very distorted view. I used to fish in MX a lot and I can tell you that MSM just focuses on the bad shit that happens there. I suspect that MSM in other countries does the same thing when they cover the US.

[Wheeler]

Honest question: Were they really? I'm over there 2-3 weeks each year for work. Mostly London, but also other cities as well. I may be used to them by now, but I can't say I've ever felt talked down to or the recipient of snootiness. I've found folks even in high end shops to be friendly, engaging, and helpful. That said, a Brit with a particularly posh accent can come across as snooty because our media has so tied the accent to various traits that could be interpreted as snooty.

Chris

I suppose if you thought I was embellishing my tale you would come to the conclusion that I said that to take a cheap shot perhaps? Yes, really. They were helpful, friendly, and slightly condescending. Not enough to take umbrage to, but it was there nonetheless.

[Yung]

I've met a few UK expats via buying and selling used guns in private transactions, as well as through training classes. They're nice folks, and leaving the country you've grown up in to come to America as an adult is not an easy thing. I can only understand a glimpse of it being born elsewhere but moving here with my parents as a child.

[mtnbkr]

I suppose if you thought I was embellishing my tale you would come to the conclusion that I said that to take a cheap shot perhaps? Yes, really. They were helpful, friendly, and slightly condescending. Not enough to take umbrage to, but it was there nonetheless.

It wasn't my intention at all to suggest you were embellishing your story or to take a cheap shot. I've worked with a few folks over there who on first meeting I thought were a bit snooty or condescending, but after getting to know them and seeing their genuine reactions, came to realize what I interpreted as condescending was not that at all.

Chris

[blues]

[Wheeler]

It wasn't my intention at all to suggest you were embellishing your story or to take a cheap shot. I've worked with a few folks over there who on first meeting I thought were a bit snooty or condescending, but after getting to know them and seeing their genuine reactions, came to realize what I interpreted as condescending was not that at all.

Chris

There is that as well. Unfortunately I didn't have the time or opportunity to get to know the folks that we interacted with so I had to roll with that first impression. No offense taken and certainly none intended.

Steve

[Wheeler]

HAHA I guess?

[Newportl]

How the BBC or the Guardian and so on view us us one thing, but having lived overseas for a long period of my life, I don't think it's a broadly shared view. It's ironic that they note Reagan's optimism in the opening of this article, as British and European media savaged him throughout the Eighties, and have hardly reminisced fondly on his legacy. Republican presidents undergo an image rehabilitation after they leave office (they are cartoonish, evil villains while in) : https://www.chicagotribune.com/opini...517-story.html

I think a more accurate view of how the world actually views the US is to note that the majority of would-be migrants name the US as their destination of choice : https://news.gallup.com/poll/211883/...campaign=tiles

[RevolverRob]

People who have never run anything more complicated than their phone; people who have never done political things more complicated than retweeting; and people who have a monarch - should probably shut the fuck up, while the adults, adult. That’s a truism for all facets of life.

Still one of my favorite moments in life was when an Australian colleague, living here in the U.S and sucking up valuable resources began to complain about bureaucracy and how the government should be run. I turned to that person and said rather impolitely, “Well, why don’t you become a citizen? No? Then shut the fuck up. When we want your opinion, we’ll invade your country.”

[JRB]

I've had the opportunity to train and BS with British Soldiers on a couple of occasions. Pretty squared away and good folks.
But if you started talking about politics, you'd think they were all fiery, pissed off American Republicans.

England has a lot of problems, though, and hopefully it can recover. In the meantime, I don't give a pink-painted, purple feathered fuck what their collective media are indignantly squawking on about.
But I'll happily have a pint with British Soldiers.