Lately I've noticed quite a bit of anti United States ideology around the boards, as well as other anti's. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's getting a bit fed up with this, There's plenty of political baiting as well as bashing going on, completly going aginst the no more hate speech portion of the Tand C added. Now I realize that not all people's opinions on the governments of countries that they don't reside in will always "mesh" but not all government actions represent the people's desires in all cases. But in our community here, there should be no annomosity directed to any nationality period.

I hope I'm not alone in just plain being fed up with misleading thread titles baiting members into arguing pointlessly. We can do better.

[edit on 11-10-2009 by alyosha1981]

[edit on 11-10-2009 by alyosha1981]

I dont agree. The United States acts like a rabid dog on the world scene and this needs to continue to be discussed, however anti it may be. Its not like people are making up lies about the US.

And I think people are pretty good at separating the actions of the US government and their citizens. Personally I think Americans are no different than any other country. They are nice people. But powerless to stop what their government does, and clueless about the empire building that is going on.



[edit on 11-10-2009 by Copernicus]

My thoughts:

Discussion is one thing (and welcome) but straight spewing hatred is a different story (and not welcome). Most of us are adults, we should be able to act like it. I think with some people that just might not be possible (at least, hasn't been demonstrated, of late). By all means, present the "other side" but can it be done maturely? It's really not that much to ask and the opinion just might be given some thought instead of being written off immediately.





[edit on 11-10-2009 by LadySkadi]

We are entirely too tribal.

'The United States acts like a rabid dog on the world scene...'

There are some 300 million Americans and to make a statement like that is to stereotype a great number of people that you don't even know well enough to address as anything but Sir or Ma'am.

Be it partisan politics or stark rabid nationalistic bigotry, we need to remember that cities, states, provinces and nations are made up of individuals who don't always march in lock step. Do them the honor of knowing them before labeling them, okay?

Thanks.

its not because people aer inticing the nastiness

its because more and more people are decing that they are sick of it and these people are americans.

i am one of them.

My response to those who hate the US is - hate me.

Hate me.

I'm not here to please you, stroke you, take warm friendly showers with you, whisper in your ear those things you want to hear, pat your fanny, nor will I take any unnecessary crap off you.

You don't like how something is done - then get in there yourself and do it better.

If you can't - then sit down.

Reminds me of DeGaulle sitting in the planning room for the invasion - and demanding to be in charge.

No Army. No Navy. No Air Force.

But he wanted to be in charge. Determine how it would be done.

He was told if he shut up and if he did so, he could remain.

If you can't do it yourself like you think it needs to be done, then pipe down.

Bitch all you want, but for do'ers, we don't listen to talkers only.

what if i could do it? i would never be afforded the opportunity, though i would damn sure take it if offered

Originally posted by dooper
You don't like how something is done - then get in there yourself and do it better.

If you can't - then sit down.

So ruling by military power and intimidation is fine?

Well, you will most likely see other countries doing exactly this in the next 20 years. Both China and Russia will no doubt because very strong players on the world scene. They will use their military power to bully other countries around.

We'll see what you think of the world then. Perhaps then you will easier see how this will lead to more wars and conflicts for humans instead of peace.


[edit on 11-10-2009 by Copernicus]

I'm bemused by this. Over the years, here and elsewhere, I've seen from a lot of 'anti-everywhere else' sentiment many, many Americans. All that "USA OK! We're #!!!1" cheer-leading that is intrinsic to a lot of American culture, whether it's realised or not, often goes hand-in-hand with sentiments along the lines of "...and everywhere else is pretty # and it would be even #ter if it wasn't for us! Go TEAM AMERICA!"

From how this thread reads, it seems this 'anti' feeling is only becoming a problem now because some posters are feeling the heat that the rest of us have had to endure for a long time!

Good lord.

Angels and ministers of grace defend us! Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitable...

I agree with debate and discussion however, the generalizing and at times nasty undertone of some of the threads and posts I've read as of late goes beyond this. I know that no group of people is "perfect" by any means but hate begets hate and the cycle will never stop unless people can learn to change. Start small start big start where you will.

Originally posted by alyosha1981
I agree with debate and discussion however, the generalizing and at times nasty undertone of some of the threads and posts I've read as of late goes beyond this. I know that no group of people is "perfect" by any means but hate begets hate and the cycle will never stop unless people can learn to change. Start small start big start where you will.

Well said, bravo!

Originally posted by redoubt
Be it partisan politics or stark rabid nationalistic bigotry, we need to remember that cities, states, provinces and nations are made up of individuals who don't always march in lock step. Do them the honor of knowing them before labeling them, okay?
Thanks.

This is a gem, my thoughts more eloquently put. I try to keep this in mind when attempting to enter in converstaion about any country, although I've not always been understanding I've become better.

"The United States" usually refers to the US government, though it could also refer to a perceived general behavior by a significant group of its citizens. So "The US attacked Iraq" refers to the government. "The US is overweight" refers to the average weight of US citizens, as compared with what is healthy.

Whatever you can say about "the US", you can no doubt find exceptions among people. However, often the stereotypes are close enough to be the truth. When someone generalizes and claims that "The US is stupid", it often refers to our abysmal track record in education, or some of our widely-publicized, nonsensical behaviors (e.g., "Reality TV").

The US (along with every other country) has its good points and its bad. While you may argue that speaking negatively about the US is a bad thing, so is just sitting around patting ourselves on the back for being such a great country. We *are* a great country. We've got a lot to offer. But we're also in deep trouble. Focusing on the good stuff may feel good, but that isn't what we need to change. We neeed to preserve the good stuff, while eliminating the bad.

The reason so many people speak badly about the US is that the US has many flaws that need fixing. Yes, some people just hate the US and will badmouth it no matter what it does. Anyone can find fault with anything, even if the fault isn't there. But such folks are in the minority, in my opinion.

There is so much negative talk about the US, mainly because there are so many serious, pathological faults with the government and indeed the culture.

When your car breaks down, little good will be done if you sit around and talk about what a great car it is. You need to talk about what's wrong, and then go fix it.