The British View on America and America's on China

I've noticed on social media, especially Tik Tok there is a this huge influx of Europeans, mostly Brits giving their take on the US.
There is a very common theme. They come for a visit, and then do a video diary.

America is nothing like it has been portrayed in the media to them. There are often shocked, and I mean absolutely shocked
how nice, welcoming, funny and real the people are here.
They are absolutely in love with our culture, our food, our beautiful scenery.
There is also this sense that they have been deceived about everything that is America. It's not that we are not without problems, but
it's that we are portrayed as nonstop violence and calamity. There was one video where a British lady said that where she was in America was much safer than her town, she was shocked. There are two more famous tik tokers Josh & Jace, they are traveling through the US. Their sentiment is exactly the same.

I want you to really think about that... How we are portrayed to the world through media....

Now reverse that, and think about how places have been portrayed to us...........
China for example... I think a lot of American have a very distorted view of China.
Unfortunately, I think this view is one of the reasons China has grown.



Similar things can be said about India. Look at their growth...

Do those negative thoughts and energies actually help a place grow?
Have you heard in showbusiness, even bad press is still press, and that's a good thing?

a reply to: JAGStorm

My view of the world has been severely skewed by media portrayal; for decades I had an image of countries like Africa and the Middle East of being 3rd world countries, where 99.9% of the population lived in abject poverty one the verge of starvation, with few (if any) modern conveniences.
Ireland was portrayed as a never-ending war zone, where it wasn't safe to even step out on your porch anywhere in the country.
Mexico is portrayed as a horrible place, run by corruption and drug cartels.

In this day and age, every descriptor applied to other countries can all be found right here at home in the good ol' USA. We've got the corruption at all levels; poverty, gangs, unchecked crime sweeping the nation. Hungry children; one of the highest infant mortality rates; children suffering from constant hunger. Homelessness increasing at an unbelievable pcae-11% just this past year.
Tainted water supplies; homes on toxic waste sites; justice for all but the 1%.

America doesn't seem much different than any 3rd world country when you take a closer look.

P.S. That city in China looks amazing! I wouldn't want to live there, though---or even visit. I'd rather starve to death than live in a big city again. We all have our phobias.

P.S. Looking at Guangzhou (aka Canton) from a young persons perspective just might make Socialism and/or Communism all the more appealing.

a reply to: nugget1

P.S. Looking at Guangzhou (aka Canton) from a young persons perspective just might make Socialism and/or Communism all the more appealing.

The one thing that shocked me and made me really sad was that for many Americans living in China and other Asian nations, many have said they feel as if they have more freedoms over there. It seems impossible, but when you think about it… We need a license to fish, a permit to light a fire, some people can’t have gardens in their yard, you can only build a house so big or small… it goes on all day.. Are we really…free?

a reply to: JAGStorm

if they left the tourist traps and went into the innards they would most likely be singing a different tune. some of the places that are where a good many U.S.citizens live.

tourist traps and many of the folks that own businesses, work there, or provide services for them are on the best behavior because it is built on hospitality. if your not hospitable in a tourist trap you'll go broke.

now i'm not saying that all people that live in the innards aren't hospitable, but there are more inhospitable,rude, grouchy thugs, a@@holes away from the traps than there are in they cities, suburbs, hoods and believe it of not the boonies if you really want to see what a area is really like get into the heart of places, not those that are wanting you to drop a tone of cash.

like here where i live in fl. the area use to be low keyed, folks would go about their everyday life enjoying the company of neighbors, and all the comforts of of a peaceful lifestyle. then the transplants came, now it's becoming just like the inner cities and crowded suburbs, it's even spreading to rural areas that aren't so rural anymore.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I've noticed on social media, especially Tik Tok there is a this huge influx of Europeans, mostly Brits giving their take on the US.
There is a very common theme. They come for a visit, and then do a video diary.

America is nothing like it has been portrayed in the media to them. There are often shocked, and I mean absolutely shocked
how nice, welcoming, funny and real the people are here.
They are absolutely in love with our culture, our food, our beautiful scenery.
There is also this sense that they have been deceived about everything that is America. It's not that we are not without problems, but
it's that we are portrayed as nonstop violence and calamity. There was one video where a British lady said that where she was in America was much safer than her town, she was shocked. There are two more famous tik tokers Josh & Jace, they are traveling through the US. Their sentiment is exactly the same.

I want you to really think about that... How we are portrayed to the world through media....

Now reverse that, and think about how places have been portrayed to us...........
China for example... I think a lot of American have a very distorted view of China.
Unfortunately, I think this view is one of the reasons China has grown.

Similar things can be said about India. Look at their growth...

Do those negative thoughts and energies actually help a place grow?
Have you heard in showbusiness, even bad press is still press, and that's a good thing?

Here is a great YT channel on China. The two guys spent years and years working and living and traveling in CHina. THey even both married Chinese women. It gives so many insights and takes much time to watch them all. They have many criticisms of China and many positive things to say as well. However the things they are critical off are definitely not without reason..

www.youtube.com...@ADVChina

Also in regard to travelling. I have been to I think 20 or so other countries in my life. Mostly in the military. When I was a young man I would never take any tour. I wanted to see the real culture. The real people. Every country I did this in has bad areas where you are probably better off to not visit. The rule of thumb is always, the more poor a place is, the more likely you are to have something bad happen. Of course bad things can happen anywhere, but it is just common sense that desperate people are more dangerous than people that are not desperate. For instance, if you came to where I live I could tell you pretty easily what places to avoid. Anyone can do that no matter where in the world you go.

Still though, most people view other nations through rose colored glasses. There are many stories of naive travelors meeting their end due to not understanding the threats of where they are. And on the flip side their are more people that travel through shady areas and nothing bad happens... Its sort of luck and its also sort of knowledge. Being alive is easier if you investigate and know your own skills and abilities I suppose.

Anyway, please check that link. In my life CHina was always sort of the least interesting civilization to me until I started watching their channel.

a reply to: greendust

Anyway, please check that link. In my life CHina was always sort of the least interesting civilization to me until I started watching their channel.

My grandma was Korean but had a very rare last name.
I looked it up and it belonged to an ethnic minority group in China that was know for the most beautiful and stubborn women. When I asked my mom what was her view on Chinese growing up in Korea she said they were similar to how we view Mexicans. They were into agriculture, and has some restaurants, and did the poorer manual labor in Korea.
She remembers stealing vegetables from the Chinese. That is where she had her first tomato.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I think the restructuring of the British government that took place in the nineteen-eighties into a representative democracy... Is the causative of the phenomena spoken about in the OP that in their minds Yikes we need to learn US politics if thats is where we are headed.

In that trying to be educated on it that influx brought ideas of liberal and conservative into American politics when in Britain and Europe those were and still are parties like the Union, Labor, Ukip, Nazi etc.

Science has a theory of entanglement and that's what has occurred as an effect of that representative democracy... I know however that UK follows the US in lock step however as if the US steps the right foot Britain steps it's right foot not their left otherwise dancing would result instead of marching to the same drum.

why should you care? evevate lone people to represent tens of millions is as bizzare as any one elevating lone continental Americans or europeans to represent 100s of millions its the height o low of bias as the vast majority do not give a single flyinh f~*ck about Americans as the same is true in reverse..

as underneath that are the traditional bias chains that the rest of the world fall into, the Irish obsess about the English who in turn obsesses about the french or germans..

everyone has stronger opinions of their neighbours than they do some strange distant lands filled with strange people customs and cultures..

what you are seeing is the gamers come through to adulthood who would spend their time in online games outraging Americans for sport, they are as representative of britons as the American gamers are of the usa..

a reply to: JAGStorm

Interesting.


If I am reading your post correctly, the "media" (AKA: the MSM), which most folks on these boards claim is owned/run/controlled by "Leftist"/liberal/"commie"/Socialists, is somehow portraying the US to the rest of the World as a filthy, impoverished, unfriendly, and downright dangerous country.

Which is the exact opposite of what folks from other countries have experienced when they visit(ed) the US?


Furthermore, you suspect that this "reverse psychology" portrayal of the US around the world has, perhaps, somehow allowed, and maybe contributed to, the US flourishing economically?



That is a POV that is certain to ruffle more than a few conservative feathers! Especially around here.



Need I suggest what guests might find of our country if the "accepted" assumptions about the MSM were not only untrue, but exactly opposite what they currently are?

a reply to: Crowfoot

i disagree the uk follows the us in lockstep as the wholesale adoption of us culture is creating the same issues as the reformation.

where in the us the opposition to the culture wars is the idealist pre vatican ii matt walsh types in the uk and Ireland its the left wing females, helen joyce, posie parker. jkr types, their voices resonate far louder with a broader swathe of people especially the vast bulk of the females being transed, they have an offering that the pre vatican ii types don't have.

there is a huge amount to run in this but the English are both best friend and worst enemy at the same time..

interesting 15 min interview from helen joyce following the spat with matt walsh blaming feminism for the culture wars that highlights the huge scale of cultural difference and the different in conversations we are all party to..

a reply to: Mantiss2021

we see the same comparison qith the weu its portrayed by the same people as gleaming cities filled with happy people living the multi cultural dream they love, with low inflation, great jobs, brilliant pay, cheap homes cheap food and cheap clothes and massive growth.

the thing is the vast majority are never taken in by the spin on any side, tourists always see the good be it brits going to Europe or Americans going to Europe. they are not going to see the poverty or understand the poverty all our cultures exhibit, its all idealised dreams or nightmares depending on bias so anyone falling for it probably falls for all the nonsense being spewed by the establishment and legacy media.

a reply to: greendust
A nickname for Guangzhou is Night City; it's under belly is controlled by the Chinese Triads or basically put street gangs that have a big name or connection to those in China's history that control all of it from the ground up.

It is often glossed over that Japan conquered China and began to rule it; So surrendering Japan really didn't mean anything to the Japanese that still rule China as it was seen as a spoil of war. The Triads are basically a Chinese mafia and once under one of the poles as family one loses all connection or freedom of movement in all the others.

As weird and as feudal as it is all based on? It works and functions just fine. As long as you know your place in the pecking orders and keep the head down life isn't too difficult there.

a reply to: Crowfoot

thankyou for the insight, it brings up an important part of trusting state media to get your answers. as though in this case Chinese state media will have honest algorithm's that accurately display the true understanding and attitudes of the Chinese, American's or British..

masking Chinese woes and highlights American woes and feigning a British disdain for America seems more integral to a propaganda war than not..

tiktok penetration into the uk is around 16% and its mainly used by 12-15 year olds as their source of news.. honestly not sure I'd gauge the views of any country by what their 12-15 year olds thought..

a reply to: nickyw

From cradle to grave I have to honestly say I'll never care about the news... It's even worse than advertising and that's saying A lot about how horrible it is.

To think 12-15 year olds care about it? Honestly sounds insane.

originally posted by: Crowfoot
a reply to: nickyw

From cradle to grave I have to honestly say I'll never care about the news... It's even worse than advertising and that's saying A lot about how horrible it is.

To think 12-15 year olds care about it? Honestly sounds insane.

It’s not just news, I’m talking about an image that has permeated society in every way.
What did we hear when we were growing up, “Eat your food, there are kids starving in China!!!”

What is an image a lot of the world has of the US……? School Shootings..Gangs.
Heck I’m in Wisconsin and I know friends that will not visit Chicago because they think they will be shot on the spot.

a reply to: nickyw

what you are seeing is the gamers come through to adulthood who would spend their time in online games outraging Americans for sport, they are as representative of britons as the American gamers are of the usa..

That’s not what I’m seeing. At first I didn’t think much of it. Then I was seeing more and more. Some of the people were not “influencer” types either. Different age groups too.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

China for example... I think a lot of American have a very distorted view of China.
Unfortunately, I think this view is one of the reasons China has grown.

I have lived all over the world and spent a good deal of time in 70+ countries and China is not on my list to go back to. I say this while feeling comfortable in 3rd world countries, but China concerns me on many levels. They fake everything looking for maximum profits, so I have no clue as to what I might be eating or drinking and the pollution in big cities is really bad not to mention seeing buildings slowly crumble around them that are less than 20 years old.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Dude my sister used to guilt trip me with that when she was learning to cook but it was with Africans... As she slowly slid hers off in the trash with a fork.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: Crowfoot
a reply to: nickyw

From cradle to grave I have to honestly say I'll never care about the news... It's even worse than advertising and that's saying A lot about how horrible it is.

To think 12-15 year olds care about it? Honestly sounds insane.

It’s not just news, I’m talking about an image that has permeated society in every way.
What did we hear when we were growing up, “Eat your food, there are kids starving in China!!!”

What is an image a lot of the world has of the US……? School Shootings..Gangs.
Heck I’m in Wisconsin and I know friends that will not visit Chicago because they think they will be shot on the spot.

fair enough but i think it is worth remembering you're seeing what Chinese media wants you to see, most Americans/brits live in the real world and thats why social media polls never reflect real world ballots, the bulk are either not going to have some vague idea/wish, it'll be see disneyland/grand canyon shop in new york or buckingham palace and stonehenge..

it won't be an image of gang warfare either in new york as they can get that in London the same is true the other way around.

the brit us thing has been going on since you guys broke away.. i suspect it'll carry on while both countries exist or the end of time whatever comes first

originally posted by: Crowfoot
a reply to: nickyw

From cradle to grave I have to honestly say I'll never care about the news... It's even worse than advertising and that's saying A lot about how horrible it is.

To think 12-15 year olds care about it? Honestly sounds insane.

depends what news you are thinking about i suspect it means the things important to 12-15 year olds like clothes, games, music, celebrities etc.. am not sure i was interested in many more things at that point, though in my day it was tv, magazines and radio.. basically gossip..