News Do other countries look at us and laugh?

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The discussion revolves around feelings of embarrassment regarding American political discourse, particularly surrounding healthcare reform and the influence of figures like Sarah Palin. Participants express concern over the irrationality displayed at town hall meetings and the prevalence of misinformation, suggesting that this may lead to a perception of America as foolish by other countries. There is also a critique of political satire shows like the Daily Show and Colbert Report, which some argue have become part of the problem rather than a solution. The conversation touches on the complexity of American identity and the mixed feelings about how the U.S. is viewed internationally. Ultimately, the sentiment is that while Americans may laugh at their own political figures, they are also aware of how they are perceived abroad.
  • #31
russ_watters said:
There is no way that our Congress is funnier than Parliament.
Well the comedians in parliament do write they're own material. The latest volume of expenses justifications is pretty funny.
 
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  • #32
Danger said:
Yes, it was. All of the characters had some great lines. Judd Hirsch was the only sane one of the bunch. I think that my favourite was Christopher Lloyd as 'Reverend Jim'. He put on some really ingenious performances.
Well things have come full circle if foreign man is now laughing at us.
 
  • #33
Danger said:
No, Yankees as in citizens of the USA. Everyone in North, Central, or South America is American, so I refuse to use that title to single out US residents. You have no proprietary right to it.
We'd call ourselves "Universians", but it just doesn't have the same flow. :biggrin:
 
  • #34
People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where they laugh at Americans and would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially humorous.
 
  • #35
jimmysnyder said:
Well things have come full circle if foreign man is now laughing at us.

:smile:
 
  • #36
jimmysnyder said:
The British can't laugh at us because it would call attention to their silly accent and all. And if Lichtenstein laughs at us I'm going over there to beat it up. I think North Korea laughs at us, but it's more like that Bwa-ha-ha-ha kind of laugh. Then there's Russia. Totally lacking in a sense of humor they don't laugh at anything. Perhaps France laughs at us. They won't eat our hot dogs and we won't eat their French fries. So let them laugh. I think the US laughs at Belgium. Poirot is from Belgium, but everyone calls him a Frog which puzzles and irritates him. I say we nuke the lot of 'em and see who laughs last.
I nominate jimmysnyder for US Ambassador to the UN. :biggrin:
 
  • #37
russ_watters said:
We'd call ourselves "Universians", but it just doesn't have the same flow. :biggrin:

:smile:
 
  • #38
Danger said:
No, Yankees as in citizens of the USA. Everyone in North, Central, or South America is American, so I refuse to use that title to single out US residents. You have no proprietary right to it.

Now that I think about it, it's probably a bad idea when speaking to a US citizen to generally refer to them as yankees. It would be considered a derogatory remark in the southern states where the term is commonly pronounced damnyankees.

It could also be a bad idea to refer to people from some of the northern states as yankees. Massachusetts sports fans are truly fanatical. Whenever the Red Sox are doing well there are semi-regular riots in Boston. Their most hated enemy is the New York Yankees ever since the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees after winning the world series in 1918.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eW_3wCPzxo" (footage after the ALCS game in 2004 against the NY Yankees. I like the music that goes along with the footage. Looks like fun, dunnit?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1GjqZi7C8U&feature=related" (So yeah, this might be a bad place to call someone a yankee, especially if you are in a car. You can hear the crowd chanting "Yankees suck!")
 
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  • #39
WhoWee's other nickname is Randy - and let me tell you, my British friends have a field day with that one...
 
  • #40
Huckleberry said:
Now that I think about it, it's probably a bad idea when speaking to a US citizen to generally refer to them as yankees.

Okay, I'll stick with the standard British term 'Yanks'. I'm not a fan of either sports or the southern US, so I was unaware of those particular negative connotations. (Oh, hang on... I seem to remember that MIH or Evo (Texans) mentioned the political aspect of it a few years ago, but it slipped my mind.) My apologies for the 'ee' in the word. I won't use it again.

WhoWee said:
WhoWee's other nickname is Randy - and let me tell you, my British friends have a field day with that one...

:smile: I bet.
Even cultural differences within the Commonwealth (which we Canucks still call 'the Empire') can cause some unexpected complications. My best friend was on an agricultural exchange programme in Oz about 20 years ago. At the farm where he had been assigned, he was looking for something in a tool chest when the farmer's wife approached and asked what he was doing. He said, "I'm just rooting around in here for a wrench." Well, apparently 'rooting' means something different in Australia than it does here. She was quite shocked. :smile:
 
  • #41
Ivan Seeking said:
LATELY?! What about when Cheney's boy were torturing people? And I don't know about you, but every time Bush would babble on TV I wanted to pull off my ears and gouge out my eyes. Honestly, just watching the guy could make me ill.



Agreed. Shortly after 9/11 this guy and his cronies made me sick every time I saw or heard him/them.


Ivan Seeking said:
At least we now have a President who is smart, respectable, and dedicated.



The verdict is still out on that one. Honestly, I think Obama is in over his head.
 
  • #42
Astronuc said:
I nominate jimmysnyder for US Ambassador to the UN. :biggrin:
2nd, nomination confirmed.
 
  • #43
Equate said:
Agreed. Shortly after 9/11 this guy and his cronies made me sick every time I saw or heard him/them.






The verdict is still out on that one. Honestly, I think Obama is in over his head.

You are not alone.
 
  • #44
cristo said:
Maybe Parliament is literally funnier (though I think "quaint" is the best word for most of it), but at least MPs don't spend their time writing resolutions to honour pop stars!

What do they waste their time on then?
 
  • #45
Danger said:
Okay, I'll stick with the standard British term 'Yanks'. I'm not a fan of either sports or the southern US, so I was unaware of those particular negative connotations. (Oh, hang on... I seem to remember that MIH or Evo (Texans) mentioned the political aspect of it a few years ago, but it slipped my mind.) My apologies for the 'ee' in the word. I won't use it again.
Doesn't bother me any, but there is a small chance, depending on who you are talking to, that you might get an unfriendly reaction. I'm not a fan of sports or the southern US either. Don't change anything on my behalf. I'm sure it works well when talking with someone outside the US, but most people in the US won't get the general application of the word, or its abbreviated version 'yank'. Since you can't win no matter what you call us Yankees you might as well use it. I would. Just avoid southerners and Boston during baseball season.:biggrin:

edit- I wasn't familiar with the general usage until I was in Mexico for a few months. The people I was working with called me a yankee and it took me by surprise. I told them it has a similar meaning as redneck or wetback, and I think that took them by surprise. They explained that wasn't what they meant and that was that. No harm, no foul. If you talk with yanks who don't get out of the country much or don't keep up on international news then be prepared to explain. It would be nice to have some kind of nomenclature in English for US citizens.
 
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  • #46
Definitely. Us Australians love to take the piss out of Americans, honestly I think the majority of your population are completely stupid.
 
  • #47
Blenton said:
Definitely. Us Australians love to take the piss out of Americans, honestly I think the majority of your population are completely stupid.

As an Australian myself I would disagree. I have met many Americans who are genuinely intelligent more so than anyone who was in the room.

But I have also met many americans who are simply didn't know much more than the boarders of the United States.

We also don't really have the right to take the piss out of them considering some of our own antics which would be consider beyond imaginable stupidity.

Also we have just been relieved of a prime minister who was very much pro-american. He made them our counter-parts. This is apparent to the rest of the world. When I talk to Germans we sometimes discuss this and often the response is that we are kind of like Little-America. So taking the piss out of americans would inherently also being taking the piss out of yourself in a long winded sort of way.
 
  • #48
Blenton said:
Definitely. Us Australians love to take the piss out of Americans, honestly I think the majority of your population are completely stupid.
I live in the US and can confirm that, sadly, the majority of our population is stupid. I don't know that we're stupider than other first world countries, we just win by sheer numbers.
 
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  • #49
Blenton said:
Definitely. Us Australians love to take the piss out of Americans, honestly I think the majority of your population are completely stupid.

I think it's a matter of being fat and lazy for some people. About 1/3 of the population expects to be taken care of - cradle to grave. Our unions have convinced a significant portion of our population that they're entitled to special treatment - regardless of (world wide) market forces - and our Government must agree, they just broke bondholder agreements to give equity in GM to the unions. Our Government workers are the same as their world wide counterparts - enough said.

Next, we have the small business owners that nobody cares about - they risk everything and keep taking hits and get no respect.

Our politicians are completely out of touch with the common man. They actually believe it's a good idea to turn all of the illegal immigrants from Mexico and elsewhere into voters and give them free healthcare - and that somehow that will save money? Here's another one, they believe we can spend our way out of debt (and print more money on top of the borrowing). Then we have the stimulus plan - the "shovel ready" projects were so desperately needed and time sensitive that our Congress didn't have time to read the largest spending Bill in our history - even though months after the passing, less than 20% of the funds have been released. Then we have a President who appoints "Czars" to positions that answer only to him, have nearly unlimited power, and don't need to be approved by Congress.

I'd go on - but "stupid" sums it up.
 
  • #50
Blenton said:
Definitely. Us Australians

Wouldn't that be 'We Australians...?

whitay said:
But I have also met many americans who are simply didn't know much more than the boarders of the United States.

Do you mean 'borders', or are you harbouring illegal immigrants in Aunt Tilly's basement?
 
  • #51
Danger said:
Wouldn't that be 'We Australians...?
I thought he meant US Australians, or Australo-americans, the opposite of Damn-yankees.
 
  • #52
Topher925 said:
I have to say, I haven't been feeling very proud to be an American lately.

In all seriousness, there's substantially less laughing these days, I suspect. People who watch US politics (like myself) still facepalm from time to time with some remarks from some Americans; but the fact that you elected Barack Obama has suddenly given you as a nation a lot more credibility, internationally.

I'm sure there are people reading this who will reject that because they don't think Mr Obama is any improvement, or because they actually think he's worse than what went before. But the question in the OP was about reaction from other countries. And overall, I think there's little doubt that people in other countries DO tend to think this change in the political landscape is definitely a change for the better, for the most part.

I certainly do; and given that this election had such strong popular support in the USA, this indicates that the USA as a whole looks more sensible to many overseas observers as well.

Cheers -- sylas
 
  • #53
Danger said:
No, Yankees as in citizens of the USA. Everyone in North, Central, or South America is American, so I refuse to use that title to single out US residents. You have no proprietary right to it.
Do you suggest the same standard should apply with Great Britain since it only covers part of the British Isles?
jimmysnyder said:
People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K...
Hawking is Bri... er, a Limey.
 
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  • #54
sylas said:
People who watch US politics (like myself) still facepalm from time to time with some remarks from some Americans; but the fact that you elected Barack Obama has suddenly given you as a nation a lot more credibility, internationally.

This is good to know. While it seems that a large portion of people in the US have loss their sanity, its good to know the rest of the world hasn't.
 
  • #55
sylas said:
In all seriousness, there's substantially less laughing these days, I suspect. People who watch US politics (like myself) still facepalm from time to time with some remarks from some Americans; but the fact that you elected Barack Obama has suddenly given you as a nation a lot more credibility, internationally...
Internationally? Why can't you just say 'more credibility with me', rather than attribute the whole world.
 
  • #56
kyleb said:
Do you suggest the same standard should apply with Great Britain since it only covers part of the British Isles?

Actually, I don't. I refer to citizens of England as 'Brits'. Someone from Scotland is a 'Scot', one from Ireland is 'Irish', someone from Wales is a sheep****er, and so on.
 
  • #57
Wouldn't that be 'We Australians...?

Silence!
 
  • #58
Blenton said:
Silence!

Yes, ma'am.
 
  • #59
Danger said:
Actually, I don't. I refer to citizens of England as 'Brits'. Someone from Scotland is a 'Scot', one from Ireland is 'Irish', someone from Wales is a sheep****er, and so on.

I usually call them brits too. I have been trying to correct myself and call them english instead though. And sometimes limey.

I thought people from scotland were sheep****ers. hmmm...
 
  • #60
I thought those from NZ were. You know. Compassionate sheep "caring" people.
 

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