# Twisting every discussion into US debate=exposng yourself as really fuckng ignorant about the world **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 7, 2010, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612 "2010-05-07T08:56:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/21 "2010-05-07T16:48:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I hate to tell you this, but this isn’t an American message board. Did you think it was? It’s a message board run by an American company, based off a column started in an American newspaper, where a probable majority of the posters are American, and the official language is English. Get over yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/22 "2010-05-07T17:12:28Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Ah, I missed that. My bad. Carry on. True Americans don’t have time to figure out riddles _or_ apologize! It’s always go-go-go! ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/23 "2010-05-07T17:38:26Z")
I hate to break this to the OP, who possibly has never left this country and spent a significant time in another country talking to people (and no, a 1-week vacation or a Carnival Cruise doesn’t count), but folks in other countries have just as much, if not more, ignorance of what happens in the US. I’ve been told things about US government operations by educated French people that any intelligent 5th-grader or highly trained US gibbon could have refuted. I’ve been told things about the US economy by intelligent Spanish people which are entirely false. Same with Poland, same with Italy, same with South American countries, etc. And I’ve spent…good grief, I don’t know how long, trying to refute legends and made-up “facts” about the US in the United Kingdom. I remember during the Bush/Gore post-election drama being told authoritatively by French people while I was in France that “the United States has no President! They will have to re-write their Constitution or have a revolution now!” I was actually asked in seriousness if my passport would still be “good” to return home. I was also told that Florida was going to “secede” from the United States, an act made easier by the fact it was an island… 😕 In Poland, I was told that “more than 90% of the population of the United States lives in New York or California.” And when I ask them what they know about Kansas - a piece of land about the size of England and Wale combined - the average Briton is hard-pressed to know anything other than “Wizard of Oz!” (as a sidebar, it’s still disheartening when a tornado flattens a trailer park in Georgia and Fierra’s mother sees it on the BBC and calls her to know if she’s “alright.” “Yes mother,” she says sarcastically, “it was only 2,000 kilometers away from us, so things were pretty dicey!”) It’s the same situation - they don’t know jack shit about this country, but by God they want to have their say. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/24 "2010-05-07T17:59:42Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > I hate to break this to the OP, who possibly has never left this country and spent a significant time in another country talking to people (and no, a 1-week vacation or a Carnival Cruise doesn’t count) You funny. 真好笑. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/25 "2010-05-07T18:01:28Z")
The “I’m so smart/cultured/whatever and you’re all knuckle-dragging assholes” circle-jerk is played out on this message board, fwiw. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/26 "2010-05-07T18:13:15Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > I hate to break this to the OP, who possibly has never left this country and spent a significant time in another country talking to people (and no, a 1-week vacation or a Carnival Cruise doesn’t count), but folks in other countries have just as much, if not more, ignorance of what happens in the US. I’ve been told things about US government operations by educated French people that any intelligent 5th-grader or highly trained US gibbon could have refuted. I’ve been told things about the US economy by intelligent Spanish people which are entirely false. Same with Poland, same with Italy, same with South American countries, etc. And I’ve spent…good grief, I don’t know how long, trying to refute legends and made-up “facts” about the US in the United Kingdom. > > I remember during the Bush/Gore post-election drama being told authoritatively by French people while I was in France that “the United States has no President! They will have to re-write their Constitution or have a revolution now!” I was actually asked in seriousness if my passport would still be “good” to return home. I was also told that Florida was going to “secede” from the United States, an act made easier by the fact it was an island… 😕 In Poland, I was told that “more than 90% of the population of the United States lives in New York or California.” And when I ask them what they know about Kansas - a piece of land about the size of England and Wale combined - the average Briton is hard-pressed to know anything other than “Wizard of Oz!” (as a sidebar, it’s still disheartening when a tornado flattens a trailer park in Georgia and Fierra’s mother sees it on the BBC and calls her to know if she’s “alright.” “Yes mother,” she says sarcastically, “it was only 2,000 kilometers away from us, so things were pretty dicey!”) > > It’s the same situation - they don’t know jack shit about this country, but by God they want to have their say. In fairness, we know more about your politics (generally) than you know about ours. I can’t think of anyone I know who would think Florida was an island (it is, after all, America’s wang), or that the presidential election would cause a revolution, but the Kansas thing is probably true (what else does Kansas do anyway? Or Missouri? There’s some States that seem to do nothing. All I know about Delaware is that someone crossed a river that is presumably nearby:o)). We would have a fair idea of how things work over there at the higher levels, but which a huge ignorance of the lower levels of your government (you seem to elect judges in some places, which would seem a recipe for disaster to many of us), and you are seen as far more homogeneous than you really are. Side note: It is only an American, who, after a trip around Europe, would enthuse about her trip to Rome by talking about the cool McDonald’s with waiters that was there, and not mention the Colosseum. EDIT: The French have an opinion on everything - I wouldn’t pay much attention.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/27 "2010-05-07T18:18:23Z")
I think [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaIhf41ctkM&feature=fvsr) is what the OP is taking about. The commentators here are talking through their hats, applying American norms and memes to the ads of another country (the commentator eve refers to the black West Indians as ‘African Americans’:rolleyes:). Anyone with a basic knowledge of Australian sports (which I don’t possess, but which I looked up), knows that this ad was not racist. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/28 "2010-05-07T18:24:54Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > Side note: It is only an American, who, after a trip around Europe, would enthuse about her trip to Rome by talking about the cool McDonald’s with waiters that was there, and not mention the Colosseum. I gua-ran-fuckin’-tee you’ll find people that retarded in any country. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/29 "2010-05-07T18:38:27Z")
I’m not sure why you would be annoyed that a thread asking if anyone was worried about a eurozone meltdown would draw responses from the American perspective. As an American, such a meltdown doesn’t mean jack shit to me outside of its effect on the US economy. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/30 "2010-05-07T18:48:15Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I’m not sure why you would be annoyed that a thread asking if anyone was worried about a eurozone meltdown would draw responses from the American perspective. As an American, such a meltdown doesn’t mean jack shit to me outside of its effect on the US economy. From the second thread I linked to: > [@Re Greek unions & protesters violently fighting EU austerity plan - What's their solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-greek-unions-protesters-violently-fighting-eu-austerity-plan-whats-their-solution/538353/39): > > But it’s been that way for a generation, and the protesters can’t see that they did anything different - yet things are different. Consequently it must have been (and indeed likely was) someone else’s fault that the system - deranged though it was, it was more or less sustainable - collapsed. IOW why should they have to pay for a problem they didn’t (directly) cause? > > Note I’m not saying their POV is reasonable, quite the opposite. But this thread seems to be struggling for their justification and I believe that is it. Not dissimilar in fact to the teabaggers: raw inchoate anger with no real justifiable cause or possible solution. > [@Re Greek unions & protesters violently fighting EU austerity plan - What's their solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-greek-unions-protesters-violently-fighting-eu-austerity-plan-whats-their-solution/538353/40): > > The Tea PARTY is peacefully asking for their representatives to spend money wisely. The protesting Greek Communist party is violently demanding more spending. I’d say they are the exact opposite of each other. > [@Re Greek unions & protesters violently fighting EU austerity plan - What's their solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-greek-unions-protesters-violently-fighting-eu-austerity-plan-whats-their-solution/538353/41): > > The “Tea Party” has engaged in violence and threats of violence. Nor have they demonstrated any interest in money being spent “more wisely”; they want it spent on them, and cut for everyone else. > [@Re Greek unions & protesters violently fighting EU austerity plan - What's their solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-greek-unions-protesters-violently-fighting-eu-austerity-plan-whats-their-solution/538353/42): > > Well, [40% of them are Democrats or independents](http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/polls/90541-survey-four-in-10-tea-party-members-dem-or-indie) so there are bound to be a few trouble makers. > [@Re Greek unions & protesters violently fighting EU austerity plan - What's their solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-greek-unions-protesters-violently-fighting-eu-austerity-plan-whats-their-solution/538353/43): > > Assuming that to be true (not that I buy it), so what? They are a bunch of scum; the thuggish, ignorant, bigoted, idiotic, incoherent fringe of America politics. And it’s not the Democrats who are pandering to them. > [@Re Greek unions & protesters violently fighting EU austerity plan - What's their solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-greek-unions-protesters-violently-fighting-eu-austerity-plan-whats-their-solution/538353/45): > > Maybe in your world demonstrating against runaway spending is idiotic but not for the bipartisan group of Tea Party protesters. There are still people who recognize waste when then see it. > > My city just received 10 hybrid buses from the “stimulus money”. They cost $540,000 apiece. This is a city with ELECTRIC buses. Who’s paying for them? Your city? My state got millions of dollars of “stimulus money” to build a hi-speed rail that will not have enough service to pay for itself. Who’s going to pay for it? Your state? If every city, town and state got a piece of this package who is left to pay for it? It’s borrowed money. > > The events in Greece are happening because it’s collapsing in on itself. There is nothing stopping that from happening in the United States. > [@Re Greek unions & protesters violently fighting EU austerity plan - What's their solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-greek-unions-protesters-violently-fighting-eu-austerity-plan-whats-their-solution/538353/46): > > Please. They don’t care in the slightest about “runaway spending”, which is why they were silent about Bush spending like a drunken sailor. They care that there’s a black Democrat in office. > [@Re Greek unions & protesters violently fighting EU austerity plan - What's their solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-greek-unions-protesters-violently-fighting-eu-austerity-plan-whats-their-solution/538353/47): > > You are imparting your twisted view of the world on people you’ve never met. That’s pure bigotry on your part. > [@Re Greek unions & protesters violently fighting EU austerity plan - What's their solution?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-greek-unions-protesters-violently-fighting-eu-austerity-plan-whats-their-solution/538353/50): > > If you listened to the right wingers on the radio you’d know that Bush and Republicans were soundly criticized for excessive spending. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/31 "2010-05-07T18:50:06Z")
Well, that’s certainly annoying, but look at the respondents you’re dealing with. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/32 "2010-05-07T18:54:41Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Well, that’s certainly annoying, but look at the respondents you’re dealing with. Americans? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/33 "2010-05-07T18:55:44Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > All I know about Delaware is that someone crossed a river that is presumably nearby:o)). Let’s see: the vice-president was a senator from DE. DE it’s a paradise for financial companies due to their tax free and laisser-faire attitude if these companies do not do business withing DE, which means that a disproportionate number of companies are register there (I know firsthand). And well, comedians always ask themselves if such place exist. So I know three things. What do you know about the lackluster parts of my country (you in general)? Of course we are small and fairly insignificant, but I am sure more people outside the US know more about the US than the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/34 "2010-05-07T19:00:45Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Americans? And men. All men are assholes. They’re probably white too. All white people are obnoxious morons. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/35 "2010-05-07T19:07:50Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > What do you know about the lackluster parts of my country (you in general)? Of course we are small and fairly insignificant, but I am sure more people outside the US know more about the US than the other way around. The Dominican Republic? Pshaw. Why, I happen to know that it is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries. Both by area and population, the Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba), with 48,442 square kilometres (18,704 sq mi) and an estimated 10 million people. Inhabited by Taínos since the seventh century, the territory of the Dominican Republic was reached by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, namely Santo Domingo, the country’s capital and Spain’s first capital in the New World. In Santo Domingo stand, among other firsts in the Americas, the first university, cathedral, and castle, the latter two in the Ciudad Colonial area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Well, if you accept that Wikipedia is my second brain, I _potentially_ know it.) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/36 "2010-05-07T19:30:08Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > In Side note: It is only an American, who, after a trip around Europe, would enthuse about her trip to Rome by talking about the cool McDonald’s with waiters that was there, and not mention the Colosseum. Riiight. I don’t buy this. If I went to a McDonald’s that had waiters, I would probably mention that, too; no shame in that. I don’t beleive your average American would go to Rome, visit the Collosseum and find that less noteworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/37 "2010-05-07T20:16:33Z")
I’d have to agree with **Una** that there’s at least as much ignorance about America among non-Americans, sometimes frighteningly so given the level of obsession about the U.S. that prevails in some circles. And when it comes to American Dopers drawing parallels between a foreign crisis and events in their own land, well whoop-de-doo. That’s extremely common among non-U.S. posters lending their wisdom to discussion of American events. Thanks to stories in various domestic media in the last few weeks, I know far more about the Greek government and economy than I would’ve thought possible (or desirable). Hey EU! How about getting this shit worked out before the rest of _my_ retirement investments go back into the dumper again? ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/38 "2010-05-07T20:26:50Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Riiight. I don’t buy this. If I went to a McDonald’s that had waiters, I would probably mention that, too; no shame in that. I don’t beleive your average American would go to Rome, visit the Collosseum and find that less noteworthy. I have seen the collosseum. Actually, I got arrested outside it at four in the morning with 8 others, wearing only a toga, but I digress. If I was chatting with friends, they arent really interested in me slabbering about the big ruins in the middle of Rome. They have seen Gladiator, they dont care how well I describe it. And why would they, it wasnt them who got to see it. A McDonalds though. They have all seen a McDonalds. And now you can tell them about one with asswiping waiters??? Blow me but thats a momentary diversion from the gloom of Irish life, thats the story I am telling. Maybe its an Irish thing. A guy pontificating about the beauty of the Mona Lisa or Uluru, well thats a guy heading for a verbal smackdown. Over here our stories have to be odd, funny or interesting. Saying you seen something and liked just isnt enough. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/39 "2010-05-07T20:35:55Z")
So you want to not allow people to relate with something with which they are more familiar. Guess, what Einstein? That’s how we learn! Every single bit of knowledge you have you learned by associating it with something else. Even rote memorization often requires mnemonics. We’re relational creatures. That’s what we do. So while you have a facade of despising American ignorance, you are actually encouraging them to remain ignorant. Great job. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612/40 "2010-05-07T20:38:06Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > What do you know about the lackluster parts of my country (you in general)? Of course we are small and fairly insignificant, but I am sure more people outside the US know more about the US than the other way around. But the US is only one country and the rest of the world is almost 200. It’s mildly irritating to me when I meet someone from say, the Netherlands, who gets up in arms that they know more about American politics than I know about Dutch politics. Look, I can’t be an expert on every country’s individual political situation. Give me a fucking break. I know that what you’re getting at is that Americans tend to be insular and ignorant of the world’s political situation at large, but in real life, that’s not how these conversations tend to play out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twisting-every-discussion-into-us-debate-exposng-yourself-as-really-fuckng-ignorant-about-the-world/538612.md?page=3)