Xenophobia, or just stupidity?

As the World Cup starts, conservative media declare war on soccer

Ok. Slightly old article by a couple of weeks, but it raises a question - why can't the US accept that there is a world out there?

Admittedly, the quotes in the article are made by some of the lowest of the low as far as political commentary go but this kind of thing...

He added: "generally football games in this country don't devolve into riots or wars." He later added that the sport of soccer "is being sold" as necessary due to the "browning of America."

is a cancerous disease that will eat away at the very fabric of society. Its arrogant, dangerous gibbersih being spouted by people who have access to powerful mediums to reach people.

Football (soccer) analogy aside - it strikes me that these people - while choosing to make cheap political gain over what is - in anyones terms - a truly global event, promote the very arrogance, pig headedness and social ineptitude (on a world scale) that lead to the massive decline in US popularity on the world stage during the Bush administration.

These people are shaping the minds of the next political generation. They are narrowing the view, instead of expanding it - is the US simply going to be reduced to a generation of right-wing politicians who, frankly, are going to be a complete liability to the country on a global scale, because they've never even tried to understand anything outside of the US.

As I keep saying, the US is not the world. The US is part of the world.

Speaking as a citizen of the world, I find these people are building ideological walls, and those kind of walls are much, much harder to break down than the bricks and mortar type. This is a form of xenophobic fundamentalism, and its how the rot starts and spreads.

That's because the U.S. is poohouse at soccer.

Sour grapes perhaps.

Ever notice that the "World Series" baseball is only played by, well, the U.S.?

The U.S. sucks at soccer..........says me the Aussie.....

Any attitude is the result of a decision, usually impacted by preceding events. Consequently, to understand why arrogance seems so common in the United States it would be prudent to understand the major events of the past that lead to decisions to be arrogant.

First, arrogance can be defined as pretention or exaggeration of meaning. In this case, arrogance can be understood to be an assumption the the USA's meaning and impact on the world has become exaggerated in the minds of some citizens to the extent that it deviates from the truth and results in bad effects.

The events of the last 100 years make it obvious why the flame of arrogance has become pervasive. Winning a world war was a major spark. A policy of foreign wars and never ending conflicts from Korea to Vietnam to Iraq led citizens to believe generation after generation that the most significant events in the world were war; that is the fuel. Thus, a national identity as the "big kid" on the block prevails; that is arrogance.

The identity has become salient over time and is now nearly synonymous with nationalism.

The short answer to your question is that identities are hard change. Of course, events can always change the foundations of identity.

Shane

reply to post by OZtracized


Na i think that america created all there own sports, and they just cannot understand why the only sport they do not like, is loved by all countries worldwide virtually.

Glenn beck is an example of what americans are, when they should of got behind there team, they are moaning about how baseball and basketball score more points.

American sports are all about short attention spans, they need the teams to keep scoring to keep them focused. While soccer may not even have goals in a game, americans need scores to keep focused.

They are taught to not have attention on things for more than 10 mins with the ads on tv conditioning them as kids, and as adults, they cannot watch a sport where teams may not score.

This is the main reason americans cannot watch footie as adults, as footie is well liked by kids in usa.

Americans are taught this way, and its there culture. Just listen to that glenn beck to see what i mean.

Soccer is an art, playing with your feet is alot harder skill than hands.

Umm... do you guys honestly think that four quotes from individuals most Americans can't stand is a good microcosm of what we all think?

G. Gordon Liddy? Really? Do you even know who that pinhead is?

Not that everyone who participates in this thread will be as such, but so far I've gotta say that you America bashers are really grasping at straws here... and for a mod of all people to be painting an entire country with such broad strokes; classy dude.

[edit on 27-6-2010 by Legion2112]

Yeah, the US is only mad because once again this year they placed in the "Special Olympics" category of the world cup..

All joking aside, I do agree nefermore, it is Xenophobia, and it didn't exist before 9/11, at least not so blatantly.

I myself have suffered from Xenophobia, I didn't understand it, I thought I was a racist. I've come to the conclusion that a changing and expanding cultural society is reflected as a positive for us here in Canada, due to our Mosaic immigration policies.

America is a bit different, you assimilate, you become "American".

I can't even believe they used the words " Browing of America".

This sort of rhetoric scares me far more than any war drum beat.

~Keeper

Originally posted by Legion2112
Not that everyone who participates in this thread will be as such, but so far I've gotta say that you America bashers are really grasping at straws here... and for a mod of all people to be painting an entire country with such broad strokes; classy dude.

Its a discussion board.

We're having a discussion.

Its not America bashing, its a disussion about how certain sections of the US media so readily dismiss whats going on in the rest of the world.

If you don't understand the point I'm making, or can't understand the point I'm making, then I'm sorry about that. Maybe you should think about the issue some more and ask yourself what kind of audience someone like Glenn Beck reaches, and hwo his words have a shaping effect on some of those people, and how that then cascades out into society as a whole.

I realise that may be too difficult for you to comprehend, because its obvious you just want to pull out a label and stigmatise the conversation topic, but maybe you ought to try and understand the point and then you'll realise how pointlessly futile and juvenile your "america bashing" label really is.

[edit on 27/6/10 by neformore]

I don't understand the question.

Aren't they both the same thing?

reply to post by neformore


It's the "cascading out into society" aspect of this that I have a serious problem with - you're argument is basically "Watch out, Glenn Beck gets airtime so we need to prepare for 300,000,000 brainwashed idiots."

Is it really so hard for you to believe that a good chunk of Americans see beyond this? Or are you so brainwashed from George Bush that you think all Americans, young or old, stand to be psychologically hijacked by a small-minded GOP mouthpiece that regurgitates only what his masters tell him?

Show me a Republican that espouses this trash about the superiority of American sportsmanship as a cultural qualifier and I'll show you an apologist Democrat who would have us all on our knees begging forgiveness from the rest of the world for things the citizenry wasn't even involved in (here's a hint - there's one that lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington).

The Glenn Beck bit I'll give you a pass on - even though I, nor anyone I know thinks he's anything but a walking punchline he gets press and yes, I'm sure some of his viewers will be moved to think like him. Just like Keith Olbermann, just like Rachel Maddow, just like any number of other talking heads that that walk both left and right of center.

To say however that all young Americans stand to be indoctrinated because of this one passing fad of a political hack shows two things; one, you paint a very broad stroke with a very narrow brush and two, you must not know many young Americans.

The parts of your source that deal with G. Gordon Liddy IMO are a failed attempt to add even more credence to a rather weak argument. That would be akin to me suggesting that we have to worry about a nation full of reptilian-fearing nuts from the U.K. because David Icke keeps releasing documentaries. G. Gordon Liddy was a joke in the 70s after he helped Nixon try to cover up Watergate. He was even more of a joke in the 80s and now he's a desperate man holding on to his last shred of relevance. Weak, very weak. Most Americans know this... except for those young people you mentioned who, in all liklihood, don't even know who the man is or what he's done.

This just comes off to me as another attempt, albeit at least a well-worded one this time, to look down upon the political leanings (or future political meanings) of all Americans based on the idiotic views of four individuals, only one of which IMO stands a chance of affecting the outlook of less than 10 percent of our population.

Oh, and I think in looking at some of the posts that came after your OP, it's working...

I really have no idea what this thread is even about. The OP didn't really make any sense to me.

These people are shaping the minds of the next political generation. They are narrowing the view, instead of expanding it - is the US simply going to be reduced to a generation of right-wing politicians who, frankly, are going to be a complete liability to the country on a global scale, because they've never even tried to understand anything outside of the US.

Because of soccer?

The claimed broad misunderstanding of the rest of the world by america, is the same broad misunderstanding of america that seems to be held by the rest of the world.

I constantly hear this argument by people who most likely haven't even visited america, or even been closer to an american than a politician or actor on tv, and those are the same exact things they say about americans "most probably haven't left texas their whole life".

Obvious hypocrites are obvious.

Originally posted by ThaLoccster
Because of soccer?

No. Because of the attitude.

The attitude of all purveying assumed superiority that this kind of "disimissive of the rest of the world" crap wreaks of.

The football thing is an analogy, and thats all.

Originally posted by neformore

Originally posted by ThaLoccster
Because of soccer?

No. Because of the attitude.

The attitude of all purveying assumed superiority that this kind of "disimissive of the rest of the world" crap wreaks of.

The football thing is an analogy, and thats all.

I don't know about that. Soccer, to me, is boring. If anything, you are wrong in the sense that the US should cave to international trends and accept soccer against it's will, just because the rest of the world likes it.

And as far as the "browning of the US" comment goes, that is just that guy's opinion. I'm sure you'll find equally perplexing comments from the La Raza group as well. Why not mention them? Biased much?

Originally posted by neformore
No. Because of the attitude.

The attitude of all purveying assumed superiority that this kind of "disimissive of the rest of the world" crap wreaks of.

Originally posted by ThaLoccster
The claimed broad misunderstanding of the rest of the world by america, is the same broad misunderstanding of america that seems to be held by the rest of the world.

I constantly hear this argument by people who most likely haven't even visited america, or even been closer to an american than a politician or actor on tv, and those are the same exact things they say about americans "most probably haven't left texas their whole life".

Obvious hypocrites are obvious.

I hope you don't think any of those people reflect the majority of america.

The Major is always amused when righteous indignation is painted with the broad brush of insignificance. The Major asks the recruits who is Dan Gainor and when was he crowned as the spokesman for the 300 million plus Americans? No need to exert yourselves recruits, the Major did all the heavy lifting for you:

Dan Gainor, the T. Boone Pickens Fellow and Vice President of Business & Culture for the MRC, is a veteran editor with more than two decades of experience in print and online media. Gainor regularly appears on the FoxNews.com’s “Strategy Room,” an online news program. He has also appeared a number of times on the Fox Business Network and writes for The Fox Forum. He has served as an editor at several newspapers including The Washington Times and The Baltimore News-American. Mr. Gainor also has extensive experience in online publishing – holding the position of managing editor for CQ.com, the Web site of Congressional Quarterly, and executive editor for ChangeWave, published by Phillips International. He has worked in financial publishing in his last two positions, launching new services for ChangeWave and Agora Inc. Mr. Gainor holds an MBA from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and a master’s in publications design from the University of Baltimore. As an undergraduate, he majored in political science and history at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Mr. Gainor lives in Maryland and volunteers as a media and issues speaker with the Close-Up Foundation.

www.businessandmedia.org...

Not the stuff of a voice of a nation, and that biography was written by Dan Gainor himself.

How many recruits have heard of Business & Media Institute and Dan Gainor previously? The Major thought so.

Perhaps the OP would find more value in a far more prolific, well regarded, and to the chagrin of many, far browner voice in America; Jason Whitlock.

He's not caught up in World Cup fever and neither is the Major.

As for the color game in the U.S., perhaps the OP can riddle the Major this.

Where was the previously mentioned indignation then? The Major is inclined to believe that it didn't conform to certain recruits predisposed beliefs about Americans.

The Major would also like to discuss the word "xenophobia" used as a point of derision in the title. The Major is curious how a melting pot nation could be xenophobic? Perhaps this will help the recruit, as well as detail actual occurences of xenophobia, which are far more prevalent in countries other than the Major's U.S. of A.

The Major would like to take a moment to congratulate the American soccer team for exceeding expectations, and not embarrassing their nation, as the perennial powerhouses Italy, England and France did.

Dismissed.

Ouch! Ouch, ouch ouch!

We are taught patriotism early on in schools, but perhaps not as much as some countries. I mean, we aren't made to bow down to a political figure or anything, although we do sometimes say the Pledge of Allegiance at public gatherings and sing a patriotic song or two. . Yes, we have been known to do that.

Some of it, I think, is the looking-glass self. It's constant feedback from the rest of the world. References made to "our seductive culture, our affluence, our powerful position in the world". I mean, if we really believed all that, we would drown with our noses in the air.

Do ya know you can even buy a pair of cheap 40.00 blue jeans that are American made, and take them to some countries and sell them for $2,000?

It's that kind of thing. It's every day and it's everywhere. People trying like hell, sometimes a lifetime to get here. We hear these stories all the time. Like "my grandfather and father always wanted to move to America. They were not able to.....so I have come to fulfill their dreams".

Nauseating? Yes. But we hear it constantly.

I'm neither xenophobic, nor stupid, so the choices in the OP were quite limited as far as most of us are concerned. Where was reasonably patriotic, adventurous, level-headed and fair? Hmm? Not a choice. One or the other.

Most Americans love to travel other parts of the world. It's differences in culture are often revered and envied. Certainly respected in most cases, not all of course.

But when it's time to come home, it's time to come home. And this is what makes it so attractive to most of us. For whatever else it is, it's our home.

reply to post by Major Discrepancy


Maybe the Major might want to re-read the opening post and understand that the football part is an analogy for many aspects of US foreign policy, and how those who comment and shape opinions feed their vitriol to the masses in many different ways.

Perhaps - as enlightened as the Major is - maybe, the Major ought to consider that even the most limited spokesperson, feeding vitriol to a group, is potentially dangerous - history has taught us that many a time.

Sometimes its not necessarily the amount of people you get a message across to, but rather how influential those people are subsequently. I'm sure the Major can grasp that concept as well.

Media shapes opinion. Its a dangerous tool. Media with an agenda is as dangerous as any WMD.

The OP is not necessarily about football - although it references it (Which is why, I beleive the Major resorted to a cheap shot? ). It is about social commentary. Its about what ultimately causes people to hate - the explotation of a difference for solely political means.

Its about the germination of tiny seeds, and its about how potentially stupid and devisive the politcal media in the US is becoming.

I hope the Major has a good evening

I thought that this forum was not for partisan debate.
So why, as a moderator, start a thread bashing the opinion of a right winger, for having (far) right wing opinions?

reply to post by neformore


Well you think about it, when you compare what is being displayed now in the media as was in the 90's as was for decades before, we have indeed begun to see more informative wide spread televised portrayal of the world and it is becoming more of a shock to some people. This article is just a knee jerk reaction to this fact.

reply to post by neformore


S + F

I think it's a bit of both Xenophobia and Stupidity. The majority of Americans think if it isn't important to Americans it can't be important to anyone else. It's the way children are raised here from an early age and causes this arrogance that will eventually be our downfall.

I'd rather play Hockey...