The dirty truth about America Bashing

Well, I usually try not to let "America Bashing" bother me but.......... I thought I'd do a little checking on exactly how people really feel. What's the best way to do that you might ask? By seeing what they with their wallets!!!! Simple!

Point 1: With all the hostility against Americans many of us have cancelled our plans to visit Europe. Not that we don't want to see Paris and Berlin or good ole Big Ben, just don't want to get spit on when we step off a tour bus in front of some WWII memorial.

"The boycott (of France and its products) is a minor phenomenon," says Marie Plaisait, spokeswoman for the French tourism ministry. "The things about France that attract Americans still attract them."

But the French tourism office's own research has found that 40 percent of Americans who had planned a trip to Paris this year have canceled or postponed their vacation. And two thirds of them did so because of "fear of how they would be welcomed" in the wake of the war in Iraq, which the French public overwhelmingly opposed.

full article here www.csmonitor.com...


Point 2: With all the negetive media in Europe surely travel to the U.S. must be way down as well, right? I mean we see the anti-U.S. demonstrators on T.V. packing the streets everytime an American official visits. And even in a forum like this one the negetive comments flow like water. But what are those america haters doing with their tourism dollars?
Coming here thats what!!!!!

Tourists from the U.K. up 9.9% for 2004
ti-dev.eainet.com...

Travelers from France up 13.5% for 2004 and Germany up 13%
ti-dev.eainet.com...

Vacationers from Canada (another popular venue for U.S. bashing) up 9.3%
ti-dev.eainet.com...


Well, I guess people really "put their money where their mouth is" huh. Not that I'm complaining.


I probably sound like a whiner or something but for the life of me I can't figure out why you would burn our flag and torture effigies of our leaders but decide to spontaneously "get over it" and vacation in sunny Florida. Unless.......... all that negativity is false, not real, hype. Could that be it? Is it just a fad like jelly-bracelets or the macerena? Who knows. But one thing is for sure, somebody out there must find something redeeming about the U.S. .................. at least according to the travel statistics.

Why dont you understand that anger towards USA goes towards the governments foreign policy (and probably to some extent towards people that support it) and has nothing to do with common people?

Originally posted by looking4truth
I probably sound like a whiner or something but for the life of me I can't figure out why you would burn our flag and torture effigies of our leaders but decide to spontaneously "get over it" and vacation in sunny Florida.

Perhaps it's because they don't hate Americans, just the American Government.
I really doubt people would get spit on in France.
When ED from Fox News went to France she said the people were very nice to her, Joe Scarborough had a similar experience.

One of the reasons that vacationers from Europe and Canada are up, may be the currency drop that has made travelling and shopping in the US a lot cheaper.

So... America bashing is a moot point because tourism up. Not quite seeing that point.

I'd be more inclined to go with the explanation that tourism is up due to the low dollar.

Hmmm. I suspect it has less to do with "bashing" than the value of the dollar.

Also, most people are intelligent enough to distinguish between America and Americans, and Bush's foreign policies. Critics don't equate them all - that privilege is generally reserved for the few supporters here at home who are making political hay on the (totally synthetic) equation.

Perhaps your weak dollar has something to do with it. You'll notice a longitudinal trend in vacation destinations often correlate with the relative strength of their currency. weak currency makes it cheaper for other to vacation there. Many foreign currencies are outperforming the American dollar right now making the US an attractive destination.

Lukefj

I can understand what you are trying to put across, but you also have to understand that its only the mindles few who do what you quote.

I probably sound like a whiner or something but for the life of me I can't figure out why you would burn our flag and torture effigies of our leaders

We in the UK have had this kind of treatment from the French in the past. I dont blame all French, just the stupid minority.

The majority of UK citizens will allways back our troops and i would like to think any allies too.

If you have experianced any ill feeling towards you whilst visiting the UK, then i appologise for that.

For those that do this kind of thing shows to me, that they are nothing but uneducated fools who know no better that to look around and find a scapegoat to blame for whatever is happening in the world. Total idiots!

Originally posted by nukunuku
Why dont you understand that anger towards USA goes towards the governments foreign policy (and probably to some extent towards people that support it) and has nothing to do with common people?

Well that's real nice. The only problem is many of us fully support the U.S. foreign policy, even think it is not aggressive enough.

Originally posted by Nerdling
So... America bashing is a moot point because tourism up. Not quite seeing that point.

I'd be more inclined to go with the explanation that tourism is up due to the low dollar.

Yeah, I thought that at first too, but still seems a little suspect to me. I mean would you visit Hell because it's cheap? After all it's the guy that runs the place that we have a problem with right? See, it still doesn't sound right. And I have heard the U.S. called evil alot over the last few years.

Originally posted by soficrow
Hmmm. I suspect it has less to do with "bashing" than the value of the dollar.

Umm, so let me guess, that "low valued dollar" is helping the US economy as it continues to grow. If it is bringing money (tourism, etc.) into this country, it must not be all that bad, huh?

Also, most people are intelligent enough to distinguish between America and Americans, and Bush's foreign policies. Critics don't equate them all - that privilege is generally reserved for the few supporters here at home who are making political hay on the (totally synthetic) equation.

More in keeping with "systematic polarization"?
Dark Days. (The black band on ATS)




seekerof

looks like we are still in those dark days
*ignores thread*