Originally posted by Blueracer
I think of lot of what is going on is that people in other parts of the world do not understand Americans because we do not rise in the morning and wait for the goverment to tell us what to do.

Hold on a minute..

You do realize that this is a perfect example of propaganda conditioning. Please tell me you realize that because if not.. im afraid there may be no saving you.


The majority of the rest of your post was somewhat correct but the rest should be viewed as an opinion.

You do realize that this is a perfect example of propaganda conditioning. Please tell me you realize that because if not.. im afraid there may be no saving you.

I understand your angst concerning "propaganda".....as you are a result of the propagnada you read, watch and listen to as well.

When is propaganda not propaganda? Is it when you are given a variety of choices and allowed to chose that which you desire?

It seems you are a result of "all the anti- American propaganda" and believe me thier is a lot of of it.

I have lived in a few countries...and the United States and Canada are by far my favorite. They are both very free although at this time I would have to say Canada is "more free". lol

I feel like I am being watched in the UK all the tme.

Never been to Ireland.

And in Mexico and Jamaica I am always on gaurd which tends to raise my blood pressure. At the moment my BP is about 100/70...lol and I am wayyy up North in a place called Lac La Ronge, Saskatchewan. lol

Peace Brother
WR

[edit on 22-12-2008 by whiteraven]

Originally posted by whiteraven

I understand your angst concerning "propaganda".....as you are a result of the propagnada you read, watch and listen to as well.

TBH, I haven't taken mainstream news seriously in years (unless i want to laugh at those idiots on BBC or FOX) and I never believe a word I am told about issues that are important to me until i research it for myself. I know this is a pretty brainwashed comment to make but..
I am confident that I have not succumbed to much mind conditioning in my short lifetime

Also.. Angst doesn't really fit into how I feel about it..
Its more of a humorous irritation.

It seems you are a result of "all the anti- American propaganda" and believe me thier is a lot of of it.

How could you possibly think I am anti American?

I am in my own little way defending the US by pointing out that 50 odd years of wartime propaganda (and it is propaganda by the way) is the reason for all this 'Liberty, freedom & Best country' stuff. The same way any country would do if they were at war.
I know a lot about many regions of the world.. it just happen that the US regularly comes up on this forum.. probably because the vast majority of people on it are from the US.

I have lived in a few countries...and the United States and Canada are by far my favorite. They are botvery free although at this time I would have to say Canada is "more free". lol

I feel like I am being watched in the UK all the tme.

Never been to Ireland.

Thats because you are being watched in the UK.. every time you walk outside

We don't really get that sort of conditioning anymore in Ireland because we are not in any wars ,our politicians are too stupid to figure out how it works and its not really needed. Our media is extremely free.. but always full of doom and gloom. None of that happy happy stuff you see on American news. I would like it to be like that for one day though

There was much anti British conditioning in the generations previous to mine and I can still spot this in people. Also religious conditioning... Fortunately, most people i know never succumbed to it.

AnyHoo..

To answer your.. question!?..?

If you cannot understand that US citizens have been conditioned to act as they do because of propaganda (exactly the same as Russians during the cold war, Chinese today etc), then maybe you should look at it from a different perspective. Every warring country uses propaganda on its citizens.. so if a country has been at war for over 50 years, there will be generations of completely brainwashed people..
in respect of the majority of the other 6.3billion people on this planet that is.





[edit on 22/12/08 by Dermo]

yes there was/is a great anti-american propaganda;
especially in germany, though they could have made more anti-nazi propaganda instead; but it is always better to critzise another land then take your "own nose"
so not to put all in 1 bucket, some are great americans, some are not, same as in every other land; and news/articles show often half-truth
It is always a reason to heat the fire just to have an excuse for doing sth!
It is then smart when u can regulate your own heat, and it does not bother you if someone plays with "the or your" fire

peace lol

Originally posted by Mandible
yes there was/is a great anti-american propaganda;
especially in germany, though they could have made more anti-nazi propaganda instead; but it is always better to critzise another land then take your "own nose"
so not to put all in 1 bucket, some are great americans, some are not, same as in every other land; and news/articles show often half-truth
It is always a reason to heat the fire just to have an excuse for doing sth!
It is then smart when u can regulate your own heat, and it does not bother you if someone plays with "the or your" fire

peace lol

This is pretty hard to understand.
I think you are trying to translate it too literally into english.

German yes? Austrian?

It is then smart when u can regulate your own heat, and it does not bother you if someone plays with "the or your" fire

Originally posted by Dermo



We don't really get that sort of conditioning anymore in Ireland because we are not in any wars ,our politicians are too stupid to figure out how it works and its not really needed. Our media is extremely free.. but always full of doom and gloom. None of that happy happy stuff you see on American news. I would like it to be like that for one day though

AnyHoo..

To answer your.. question!?..?



[edit on 22/12/08 by Dermo]

lol at least now u are watched ...

no doom and gloom ? well that happy country i want to live in... but will never exist as the humans are easily bored and look for sth bad ?

hard is always good, u take ur brain and try to understand , cheers lol

well at least I can answer you inn english, can u write german to me ?
i bet no...

only the U.S.A. part of America is hated. the rest of America (canada, mexico, brazil, chile,argentina, etc), are all likable.

To be honest, I do not like the way the US government tries to run the whole planet. I do not like American culture and therefore this country is way down on my list to visit. I would not waste my money because I can experience all the American culture I want in my own country. Seeing as we are being suffocated and bombarded with American crap at every angle. I like some American things but I do not like my country's identity being slowy erased.

I do not like ignorant, big mouthed, ballsy Americans who have an ethnocentric view either. That is, they have been brainwashed to think that the US is the best at everything; has the greatest this or that; in essence that the whole world revolves around the USA and all other countries are inferior.

I do know some Americans in my social circle and through work and they are not like like the Americans I describe

I wish I did like everyone but I don't...sorry


take care all and Merry Christmas (if you are into it)
res


Watch me get flamed now for being Anti-American so predictable

[edit on 22-12-2008 by resistancia]

when you say american i feel that it is important to consider that the british crown owns shares of the u.s. federal reserve. did america really win independence in 1776 or are we just an extension of the british empire?? i am from alabama and pro-obama but does he really hold any cards?? bush has sold out our young lions no matter how you slice it, but why?? i mean, other than enough money to fly to mars. there has to be something more. our wages and earnings are sinking to levels that we are not comfortable with but that the rest of the free world has always known. i build houses and right now our prices are around half what they were 2 years ago. soon, our young people's only options may be military or revenue collection---errr---law enforcement. i will continue to hope for the best and look to amsterdam for true freedoms.

Its natural that we should love good things and hate bad things. Good and bad are subjectively based on our attitude and inclination, which are learned. America has a long tradition of moral superiority. Compare the histories in the grownup libraries to the propaganda fed to the grade schoolers so that we can feel exceptional and chosen like the Jews. We're well on our way to the s-pile of cosmopolitan history because so many of us are complacently accepting of the spoon fed illusions of curricular polemic. Since their minds already made up they prefer to ignore facts...oh well...

Everyone hates oppressors. Nobody cares about the excuses, either.

Yes, the terms "anti-american" and "anti-semite" are used often. Why? Because a lot of people are against them. Why?

Because both of these groups of people use their armies to inflict pain and suffering on people who are outside their borders. And then they think people will accept it as long as they can come up with a decent excuse.

Problem is, if people don't buy the excuse, you end up being exposed as the A-hole that you are, and as a result, people don't like you.

[edit on 22/12/08 by NuclearPaul]

Dermo

The sooner Americans realize that they have been fed propaganda since WW2...

This is the kinda statement i was talking about in the OP.Many Americans do realize this and many are starting to.Not all are ignorant of it.




czacza

how it works you can see in Russia now. when you know that 99% of citizens are supporting the way the Putin is making his politics

Are they
I think its fare to say that their voting is fixed,just as it is in America and England.




SFwife

Everyone hates America UNTIL They need help/money .Funny how that works

Actually,some people will hate your government even after they've got your money.





Blueracer

I think of lot of what is going on is that people in other parts of the world do not understand Americans because we do not rise in the morning and wait for the goverment to tell us what to do. A lot of people that question everything America does were raised into believing that government is the be all end all of everything in life.

What a preposterous statement.You just have to look on this site to see the ridiculousness of what you have said.





Jenna

It's not so much that you can't say anything about the US or our government as it is that a lot of us get irritated when someone makes a claim and fails to provide any proof for their statement. What makes it worse is when everyone else latch onto that claim and don't even think to ask for anything to back it up.

I understand,as I myself do not like that.
But what about those who do back up their comments? Those are the kind I'm talking about.




resistancia

I do not like ignorant, big mouthed, ballsy Americans who have an ethnocentric view either. That is, they have been brainwashed to think that the US is the best at everything; has the greatest this or that; in essence that the whole world revolves around the USA and all other countries are inferior.

I don't like that attitude either.And when you try and point it out to them,thats when the accusations of being anti-American start.



[edit on 22-12-2008 by DantesLost]

Originally posted by DantesLost
I understand,as I myself do not like that.
But what about those who do back up their comments? Those are the kind I'm talking about.

The ones who actually back up their comments don't really bother me as much. They at least go through the trouble to find evidence to back up their claims which to me makes their claims worthy of serious discussion. The US is far from perfect. There are many things that we as a country need to fix. There are many things our government has done or is doing that need to be fixed. There are plenty of things for people to pick at without making things up off the top of their heads just to get points. And while I can't speak for any other Americans here at ATS, I personally am more than willing to discuss any claims that anyone can come up with about the US or Americans so long as those claims are at least based on fact. That's all I ask for and I'm actually thrilled when someone does have a claim about the US/Americans that can be backed up with some sort of proof aside from personal opinion. Those are the posts that lead to a discussion rather than a bash fest.

But the multitude of claims on these boards about the US and/or Americans are blatantly false and only take a few seconds to disprove. Not that it matters much to a lot of posters on here. Recent threads about the US are perfect examples. Mob mentality takes over and the flood of anti-US posts drown out the posts that list actual information that disproves the majority of claims being made.

The problem most had were not in the criticizing of america or our government.Everyone has a right to like or dislike, agree or disagree with whatever they want,as an american I will always respect that right,whatever country you are from.The problem was the inability to recognize that every EVERY country acts in the very same fashion that our's has.Governments have always looked out for what is in THEIR OWN country's best interest first and foremost,and thats the way it should be.We are unfairly held to a much higher standard than every other country in the world.People were posting comments about how america only cares about itself and how we could do so much more for the rest of the world than we currently do.Do other countries rival the U.S when it comes to helping better the world? No.Does that make us better or worse? No. I came to the defense of my country when I felt unfair criticisms were being made.Peple were criticising without recognizing how hipocritical they were being.Their countries are every bit as guilty as ours in almost every criticism made about the U.S.A little reflection never hurts.Espesially when they are the ones with the issue.The posts are there for anyone to see.