# Americans Who Think Differently Than I Do **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 10, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346 "2010-01-10T01:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/61 "2010-01-10T04:52:37Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Yeah, my work ethic and unwillingness to play the victim card is leading the rest of the world to dark, terrible places. I didn’t question your work ethic nor your unwillingness to play the victim card -whatever that means. You personaly are not responsible for the horrors America has unleashed upon the world. I’ve no doubt that you personaly are a wonderful, hard-working fully actualized ethical human being. I could be dead wrong but I assume I’m not. But America has been assfucking the rest of the planet for the last 60 or so years and I’m fucking tired of it and I wish it would just sink into fucking blissful obscurity to wallow in their own ever-growing self-made pile of shit and leave the rest of us the fuck out of it. America is a braindead bully nation and I, for one, am sick of it. I doubt I’m alone. But if I am so be it. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/62 "2010-01-10T05:00:05Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > **Smash The State** was actually intelligent and well-reasoned, even if he got gangbanged by the hoi polloi. This kid… isn’t. I agree on a couple of counts. **Smash the State** was actually intelligent. And this kid…isn’t. However, the attitude of “anyone who disagrees with me is just too stupid to deal with. Oh, and it’s all your fault,” is pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/63 "2010-01-10T05:00:21Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > I didn’t question your work ethic nor your unwillingness to play the victim card -whatever that means. > > You personaly are not responsible for the horrors America has unleashed upon the world. I’ve no doubt that you personaly are a wonderful, hard-working fully actualized ethical human being. I could be dead wrong but I assume I’m not. > > But America has been assfucking the rest of the planet for the last 60 or so years and I’m fucking tired of it and I wish it would just sink into fucking blissful obscurity to wallow in their own ever-growing self-made pile of shit and leave the rest of us the fuck out of it. > > America is a braindead bully nation and I, for one, am sick of it. > > I doubt I’m alone. But if I am so be it. You are aware that “America” as you call it is just a group of people, right? It sounds more like you’re mad at the military than anything. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/64 "2010-01-10T05:01:40Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > I’m gonna guess pretty much everyone that’s come on to tell me I’m a douchebag etc. Nope. Don’t have to care what you think to recognize the idiocy of it. But it is probably time for you to stop proving your teachers right. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/65 "2010-01-10T05:02:22Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > I’m gonna guess pretty much everyone that’s come on to tell me I’m a douchebag etc. Gee, I wonder why? Couldn’t be because your pathetic Pit attempt is a lame cry for attention, could it? If you had a reasoned argument someone might actually take you seriously. Instead, it’s just a mean-spirited, inaccurate bullshit polemic that makes you look like an idiot. OMFG! IRAQ! KOREA! VIETNAM! SOLID EVIDENCE THAT AMERICA IS A PIECE OF SHIT AND SO ARE ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO DEFEND IT IN ANY WAY!!! Fuck, get some new material, huh? I’m sick of those broken records. Although, I should probably give some credit for your attempt to at least make it look like you’re not giving the finger to all Americans with your “Americans who disagree with me” thing. That was slightly entertaining: “Fuck you to all the Americans who disagree with me unfairly shittalking their country for no good reason!!!” I wonder how many you could find that wouldn’t get offended by something like that :rolleyes: Grow up, dumbass. Well-found, articulate, constructive criticism of America is perfectly fine. OTOH, cliched “America bad!” rants are just applause lines that go over well in North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/66 "2010-01-10T05:25:24Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > Yawn. > > He’s been around since '03 and he hasn’t figured the place out yet? Oh, well, I guess it’s no surprise that the late, great **Smash the State** is (or was, to be accurate) his only friend around here. > > While I’m thinking about it, can we get someone to fix the thread title, please? It isn’t only Americans who disagree with him who he’s pitting, it’s anyone who disagrees with him. He just happens to think there are more Americans who do. I was wondering when **Smash The State** would come up, frankly I’m surprised it took that long. Yup he’s my only friend here. I asked him to be friends (god how child-like that sounds) after reading his thread about the Ottawa Panhandlers’ Union. I admired his willingness to front an organization whose existence is as reviled as it is needed. I admired his willingness to take what came. He crossed a line and after repeated warnings he was bounced. Not my fault that, aside from doing an admirable thing, he acted like an asshole. C’est la vie. As far as fixing the thread title goes, please don’t put words into my mouth. I’m capable of choosing the words that come out of my mouth and the feet that I replace them with. I’ve no problem with anyone of any nationality that disagrees with me (aside from their being wrong 😉 \<—just for you Ivan) other than Americans. Americans specificaly because America acts as if the world is it’s fucking birthright and the rest of us just haven’t figured it out yet. Start acting like a slightly more civilized nation and I will happily recant not just the thread title but the whole of everything I’ve said. But as long as America acts like a bunch of over-active-thyroid thugs thumping on those without the muscle, nuts or guts to say FUCK YOU I stand by what I’ve said. I didn’t much care for Jean Chrétien but one of my proudest moments as a Canadian was when he said, more diplomaticaly of course, “Are you out of your minds? No fucking way are we going to Iraq.” Not just because it was, and is, a vindictive and unjust war (aren’t y’all glad YOU’RE there?) but because it was the first time in my memory that we outright said “NO!!!” to American assholishness. Brings a happy tear to my eye just thinking of it. And just to be clear I do not mean, in any way, to denigrate American service people - at least the lower echelons. I know that they are just doing their jobs and sometimes doing your job means swallowing tons of ridiculous, idiotic, unethical and inhumane shit. And hasn’t America treated them well for it? But I’ve concentrated too much on GWB’s foray into the desert when there’s a great deal more that is equally worthy of derision and scorn. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/67 "2010-01-10T05:27:37Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > **Smash The State** was actually intelligent and well-reasoned, even if he got gangbanged by the hoi polloi. This kid… isn’t. Thanks for defending **Smash The State** ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/68 "2010-01-10T05:28:27Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > Not just because it was, and is, a vindictive and unjust war (aren’t y’all glad YOU’RE there?) but because it was the first time in my memory that we outright said “NO!!!” to American assholishness. Brings a happy tear to my eye just thinking of it. I’m starting to doubt the effectiveness of the Canadian education system. There was, of course, that time when Canada went to war with us (and kind of won). Of course, that was before Canada invaded the peaceful nation of Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/69 "2010-01-10T05:28:40Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Meh. I’m just happy to see an actual rant, instead of people just talking about what bugs them. It’s supposed to be over-the-top and not quite rational. That’s what makes them entertaining. I always thought so. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/70 "2010-01-10T05:36:26Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Geez, you are stupid. Learn to parse a sentence properly. I said, “…if it wasn’t for them.” I’m a Canadian, not an American. I can spell and put together a somewhat rational sentence. At least I try. You, on the other hand, make Canadians look dimwitted. > You’re the type of person who your team mates would want on the other team even if you left them short handed and the other team with an extra player. In other words: If you really want to put down the Americans go and become one. Please. We don’t need you on our team and if you truly hate them, by becoming one of them you’ll be doing them far more damage than posting on this board. Dear **UZI** Sorry I missed that one salient detail. My apologies That’s the spirit man! I totally think you’re wrong but everyone has that right. At least in Canada, where disagreement doesn’t equal unpatriotic. Admit it, you’re one of the three that thinks Harper was right to prorogue aren’t ya 😉 But hey, if I thought I could do more harm than FOX News, Sarah Palin and Christ can only count how many others I’d move there in a heartbeat. Since I can’t I’d rather stay here and remain a proud, hard-working taxpaying Canadian. Show me a more effective way of fucking up the USA and getting them off the world stage and I’ll be happy to emigrate. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/71 "2010-01-10T05:37:05Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > it was the first time in my memory that we outright said “NO!!!” to American assholishness. Brings a happy tear to my eye just thinking of it. When you brush away that tear hopefully you’ll also brush away that huge chip on your shoulder, as well. GWB’s foray into the desert? He’s gone, why are you living in the past? Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/72 "2010-01-10T06:14:00Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > I’m sorry, I thought my location tag was still up but I see that it isn’t. If I’d realized that I would have said it in my OP. > > I’m Canadian. Oh…Canadia! That’s _north_ North Dakota, right? ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/73 "2010-01-10T06:24:23Z")
**kidneyfailure** Fair enough. But if my complaints are cliched and tired etc. how do you think they got that way? By being true enough that they have been trumpetted by many far smarter than me to the point of being cliche. You want me to pick on something else? Prisons? Corporate welfare? Imperialist policy (both military and non-military)? UHC and America’s damned determination to avoid it at all costs because it brought every other country that had it to the brink of…death panels… bankruptcy… international mockery? I mean really, I chose the pit so I could open up and so could others (assumedly on me). I know this isn’t GD but so far all I’ve gotten is “you suck, you’re wrong.” Oh and, worst of all a tie between “lame” and “you want to hurt them join them”\* \*All things in quotes above are paraphrased. But really fuck if the USA is worth defending defend it. I’ve tried not to attack anyone personally and I [del]don’t mind that I have been[/del] expected I would be and that’s cool. But I honestly thought that someone might actualy DEFEND Yankland’s actions - past and present. But nope. So is the best defense for a morally bankrupt nation (based on the actions of the country), “You said we suck, but you suck MORE!” the best that can be done? BTW - I titled the thread as I did in order to be concise. I guess I could have titled it, “I Pit Those Americans Who Believe That America Has Followed a Reasonable and Rational Set of Foreign and Domestic Policies For the Last Six Decades But Those Who Don’t Think So Should Consider Themselves Excluded From What I’m About To Say” but it wouldn’t fit. I tried, really I did 😉 And for all of you spelling and grammar folks out there who have decided that because I didn’t run my little screed(s) through [spell check](http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2536600758.html) I must be retarded. If dear old Noah [and others](http://www.americanliteracy.com/Archives/ss-history(a).htm) much smarter than me[thought English spelling was fucked](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_spelling_reform) who am I to [argue](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?DescriptivismVsPrescriptivism) ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/74 "2010-01-10T06:54:39Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > Of course, that was before Canada invaded the peaceful nation of Korea. Of course Canada invaded Korea. And we did it without the sanction or participation of the UN and we did it against the wishes of the US. Yeah that’s exactly how it happened. America didn’t push the security council for it. Canada acted unilaterally - we like to do that. And that has never ever happened since. Nope. Not one other country has ever totally ignored the UN and invaded another sovereign nation unilaterally. Oh wait a minute it has happened. America and Iraq. And did the UN sanction the US invasions/incursions/covert operations of/into/in various South American countries? Look, I didn’t say that Canada or any other country was entirely blameless and if I gave that impression I am truly sorry. Canada has fucked up and has fucked up significantly. But Canada has never had the prominence or power of the USA so when we fuck up it tends not to involve pretty much every other country on the planet. When we fuck up it does not mean that hundreds of thousands of day-to-day people have to die. It doesn’t mean that the rest of the world must drop down into recession and it doesn’t mean that anyone with tight relations has to suffer. Pick whatever you consider to be the worst Canadian fuck-up in the last 100 years and show me that it had even half the negative effect on the rest of the world that any of the last four or five significant fuck-ups America has made and not only will I never post again, I’ll buy a membership and then get myself/ask to be banned. If you can’t then I stand by what I said and I add, “suck on my left nut 'til my right one’s jealous.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/75 "2010-01-10T06:58:06Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > When you brush away that tear hopefully you’ll also brush away that huge chip on your shoulder, as well. > > GWB’s foray into the desert? He’s gone, why are you living in the past? Get over it. Ummm, cuz it’s still happening, it’s still killing folks for no good reason and it’s a large part of the reason the if debts get called in America’s ass belongs to the Chinese. Of course, and I’m happy to be corrected on this, it was America that first did away with the idea of banks having a decent reserve and thus ushered in this joyous era of a debt-based economy. So in the end you can chalk China making the USA it’s chattel to American ingenuity. Or not. Correct me. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/76 "2010-01-10T06:59:08Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Oh…Canadia! That’s _north_ North Dakota, right? Now that’s fucking funny! ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/77 "2010-01-10T07:00:09Z")
\*But if my complaints are cliched and tired etc. how do you think they got that way? \* Because America is the dominant power in the world and many other places that aren’t dominant powers in the world take out their frustrations on that dominant power in a pathetic blame game. People said the same things about England during the 19th and early 20th centuries, people in Asia say the same things about China, global citizens of the future will say the same things about the next world power. You’re not breaking new ground here. _By being true enough that they have been trumpetted by many far smarter than me to the point of being cliche._ Are you shitting me, bud? Just because enough people say something that makes it true? Give me a fucking break :rolleyes: _You want me to pick on something else? Prisons? Corporate welfare? Imperialist policy (both military and non-military)? UHC and America’s damned determination to avoid it at all costs because it brought every other country that had it to the brink of…death panels… bankruptcy… international mockery?_ Why do you feel the need to pick on anything? What’s more, why are you so concerned with a country that you’re not a part of? Why do you, a Candian, give a damn if America has UHC or not? Why do you give a shit if America has horrible prisons? That affects you how? If you’re soOoOooOOooO goddamned concerned with human rights and the violations thereof, why didn’t you start a Pit thread about some other place whose violations are horribly worse? I know why: because, in that case, you wouldn’t have been able to take a fashionable, “cool” swipe at America. _I mean really, I chose the pit so I could open up and so could others (assumedly on me). I know this isn’t GD but so far all I’ve gotten is “you suck, you’re wrong.” Oh and, worst of all a tie between “lame” and “you want to hurt them join them”_ Well, those aren’t exactly the most reasoned of well-thought-out responses, either. But are you really so thick that you thought an OP like yours wouldn’t have pissed people off? Hell, I’m as much British as I am American, and I’ve lived outside of the US for 10 damn years, but I’ve heard far too many of these “They killed people in Iraq! They suck!” arguments and I don’t have patience for them anymore. _But I honestly thought that someone might actualy DEFEND Yankland’s actions - past and present. But nope._ Wow, did that teach you that not every American, not even most Americans, fits into your stupid stereotype of red-neck warmongers? Your off-hand remark about Texas is evidence of how powerfully your argument is driven by stereotypes. _So is the best defense for a morally bankrupt nation (based on the actions of the country), “You said we suck, but you suck MORE!” the best that can be done?_ And who gave you, or anyone, the right to decide that a country you’re not even a citizen of is morally bankrupt? Hell, America isn’t perfect, but there are much worse places and your facade of being against moral bankruptcy and social injustice is flimsy. Admit it: you started this thread because you wanted to talk shit about America and your tired “human rights” argument is just a lacquer. Or, rather, don’t admit it! It’s pretty obvious anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/78 "2010-01-10T07:53:23Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > I didn’t much care for Jean Chrétien but one of my proudest moments as a Canadian was when he said, more diplomaticaly of course, “Are you out of your minds? No fucking way are we going to Iraq.” And when he [strangled that hippie](http://media.photobucket.com/image/jean%20chretien%20strangle/blackcanary2000/chretien-strangle.jpg). That was awesome. Was the hairy little dude that Chretien strangled a member of the Ottawa Panhandler’s Union? I can’t recall. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/79 "2010-01-10T13:39:00Z")
Just wondering how the OP feels about the fact that Canadians pour money into the regime in [Cuba](http://www.gocuba.ca/client/home/index.php)? Over half a million went there last year and don’t seem to mind the [tourist apartheid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Cuba) and prevalence of sex workers. Without making reference to the US, if possible, how do you see Canada’s adherence to morality and purity as being consistent with helping prop up such a regime? Or is your argument that Cuban politics are consistent with Canadian values; if so, how? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346/80 "2010-01-10T13:50:51Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > When you brush away that tear hopefully you’ll also brush away that huge chip on your shoulder, as well. > > GWB’s foray into the desert? He’s gone, why are you living in the past? Get over it.\*\*\*\*\* Um, er, because the past is responsible for the present, perhaps? \*\*\*\*\* Next time someone comes up with “some fucking Amendment, or other”, can I say “you are living in the past - get over it!”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-who-think-differently-than-i-do/524346.md?page=5)