# Perceptions about USA from non-Americans that Americans might be surprised to learn **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2015, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918 "2015-05-13T06:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/361 "2015-05-20T16:09:10Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > We were also kind of preoccupied by stuff elsewhere. Stuff that was ever so slightly closer to home. > [@](#): > > I can’t stand it when a player whines to me or his teammates or his wife or the writers or anyone else. A whiner is almost always wrong. A winner never whines. > Paul Brown If y’all couldn’t bring your A-game, you shouldn’t have played… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/362 "2015-05-20T16:49:09Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > If y’all couldn’t bring your A-game, you shouldn’t have played… Eight Frigates is an interesting book on the US Navy during the war. Apparently if the British had moved enough ships to blockade the USA, they couldn’t properly blockade France, which really wanted to invade Ireland or England. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/363 "2015-05-20T19:07:44Z")
> [@Coyi](#): > > In America you can be a club and be world champions at a sport. The rest of the world however think you have to be a country to earn that right. Yeah, that’s always bothered me, too. And I’m “Merkan”! Just seems to speak to “Merkans”’ belief that when it comes to sports (except for soccer, of course) they think that they have the best in everything (although, to be fair, they’re probably right when it comes to [American] football and basketball). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/364 "2015-05-20T19:26:24Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Only for very loose definitions of tie. The US got its ass kicked. Not really, no. Will Ferguson put it best; Canada won, the USA won, Britain tied and the Indians lost. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/365 "2015-05-20T21:00:33Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I think **Penfeather** meant that the passion and rancor between American liberals and conservatives has an almost religious fervor. I take his point. Exactly this; you see it a lot on this boards, and it sometimes seems that the agrguments for or against something are almost beside the point: your side have to be the good guys, and so the other side must be the bad guys, with hissed epithets all round. We tend to be a bit more pragmatic and assume that they’re all bastards, so we’ll voote our best interests but not look for saviours or villains on any side. And I stick to my assertion that what the United States has is an elected monarchy, whereas Britain has a hereditary presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/366 "2015-05-20T21:01:11Z")
Cecil [disagrees](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3203/did-canada-win-the-war-of-1812). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/367 "2015-05-21T00:05:19Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > what the United States has is an elected monarchy, whereas Britain has a hereditary presidency. Run that by again. I thought the British Prime Minister was the fellow who mattered. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/368 "2015-05-21T00:13:24Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > SWMBO did her junior year of college abroad in Germany. She’s refused to drink American beer since then. American beer is loaded with preservatives to extend shelf life and they adversely affect the flavor. German beer, by law, can contain only “Barley, Hops and Water”, and apparently this law goes back hundreds of years. She says the difference is like drinking vintage wine vs. vinegar. define “American beer.” 'cos I can find any number of bottle conditioned beers from American breweries which can’t contain preservatives, else they couldn’t be bottled condition. It’s not a commutative property. Budweiser is an American beer, but an American beer is not necessarily Budweiser. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/369 "2015-05-21T00:31:01Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > SWMBO did her junior year of college abroad in Germany. She’s refused to drink American beer since then. American beer is loaded with preservatives to extend shelf life and they adversely affect the flavor. German beer, by law, can contain only “Barley, Hops and Water”, and apparently this law goes back hundreds of years. She says the difference is like drinking vintage wine vs. vinegar. **This law is not current in Germany**. It has not been legally binding for the last few decades. Many beers (in multiple countries) use it as a marketing term. The original law also excludes yeast, which is necessary. They didn’t know it was needed, but introduced it through various means nonetheless. Many German beers don’t follow that strict line (wheat beer is not just a name). Sounds like she’s missing out on a lot of good beer. > [@amanset](#): > > Speaking as Brit, I find German beer to be somewhat lacking in variety. I mostly agree, although it is better than some European countries. North Rhine-Westphalia has the most variety IMHO, with actual non-lager beers (Altbier and Kölsch, which are ales made using lager-like techniques). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/370 "2015-05-21T01:18:38Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > And I stick to my assertion that what the United States has is an elected monarchy, whereas Britain has a hereditary presidency. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I thought the British Prime Minister was the fellow who mattered. > 😕 Perhaps the issue is that the monarch in the U.K. is the equivalent of a president in other parliamentary systems. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/371 "2015-05-21T01:36:56Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The US got its ass kicked. Which is why we fell back under British hegemony. Oh, wait … ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/372 "2015-05-21T03:02:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Cecil [disagrees](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3203/did-canada-win-the-war-of-1812). Not a Cecil article, but good all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/373 "2015-05-21T03:07:55Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Run that by again. > I thought the British Prime Minister was the fellow who mattered. > 😕 Exactly so; the Westminster system firmly separates the Head of State from the Chief Excecutive: we tend to see a President with executive powers as the realm of tinpot African dictators and South American generalissimos. Really America is running Democracy 1.0, an old operating system where your president has the duties and functions of an 18th Century monarch, while the British system has evolved to where the Queen’s role is to chair the nation, not to run the government. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/374 "2015-05-21T07:02:24Z")
1.1. The OS was updated in 1865. Major fix was the slavery bug. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/375 "2015-05-21T12:34:03Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Which is why we fell back under British hegemony. Oh, wait … Having the capital fall and the White House burned is a pretty good sign of taking a pretty good licking. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/376 "2015-05-21T13:03:13Z")
It is a pretty good sign that a battle was lost in Washington DC, nothing more. The city might have been taken and the presidential residence burnt, but the government did not fall nor did the US surrender. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/377 "2015-05-21T13:06:15Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Which is why we fell back under British hegemony. Oh, wait … “… that was never a British war aim.” Is how I have to assume you were intending to finish that sentence. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/378 "2015-05-21T13:30:54Z")
Reconquering the United States was never an official British war aim just as conquering Canada was never an official American war aim. So if Canada won a victory by not being conquered, so did the United States. And if the United States lost the war because it didn’t conquer any British territory then Britain lost the war because it didn’t conquer any American territory. Washington was burned and so was Toronto. The war really did end with a draw. Neither side got everything it had wanted but both sides kept the other side from getting everything it had wanted. So both sides failed offensively and succeeded defensively. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/379 "2015-05-21T13:38:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > conquering Canada was never an official American war aim. I have been given to understand that some historians disagree with you on that point. Ian W. Toll in his book _Six Frigates_, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918/380 "2015-05-21T13:42:49Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Not a Cecil article, but good all the same. Huh. I’ve read that one several times and somehow never noticed it was by **Gfactor**. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perceptions-about-usa-from-non-americans-that-americans-might-be-surprised-to-learn/719918.md?page=20)