Hello fellow ATSers from abroad (not the United States)

Growing up in the UK, the mention of 'America' conjured up images of glamorous movie stars, impressive sky-scrapers, big fancy gas-guzzling cars, a confident and protective military might, space rockets and astronauts, ELVIS, and an affluent society where everyone benefitted from their own efforts at work no matter what that job was, and opportunities for all. America was on the world's pedestal and the rest of us looked up to it with envy.

After JFK it all went tits-up.

It's the corruption and the warmongering and the deceit and lies and cover-ups by wealthy bent politicians that are destroying all that is wonderful about America.

Today, thanks to the criminal politicians, America is viewed as the heart of corruption.

JMO.

a reply to: veracity

Has anyone mentioned the way Americans know what's happening in the UK better than the Brits do?

Its a proven fact that visiting shonky websites gives you a better insight into British life than actually living it.

So, while we Londoners think Sadiq Khan is a liberal London boy made good who addresses the Pride parade, yanks know he's a Muslim extremist just waiting to introduce Sharia.

We think that we have a very low homicide rate compared to the US but the yanks know we are very vulnerable.

We think we are more likely to be hit by a bus than attacked by a terrorist - particularly us oldies who remember the daily IRA attacks in the seventies - but yanks know there are hundreds of thousands of heavily armed jihadis around every British corner.

And so on...

Luckily, there are many many Americans who are passionate about showing us the reality of our own lives!

originally posted by: knowledgehunter0986
a reply to: RomeByFire

At the end of the day, if Trump is genuine, the risk is definitely worth the reward, because like I said, if we are wrong about Trump, and (s)election is just an illusion, we all lose regardless.

So what is there really to lose? A bit of pride and ego? Pfft.

We said the same about GW Bush. Not only did he completely screw up the Middle East but he threw away a lot of American leverage. Look at the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, when nobody - not even the Israelis - would take him seriously; the State Department ended up watching the whole thing on TV. Look at the way China became the number one player in the developing world as well as buying up a huge chunk of American Treasury Bonds and flooding the west with cheap consumer goods that undermined western manufacturing.

We said the same about David Cameron here in the UK. We're only just starting to count the cost of his five year spree, starting with a massively inflated national debt, an economy bumping along the bottom with the lowest growth projections in the west, huge loss of international prestige and public services at breaking point.

The recent G20 showed us that Trump isn't likely to do any better than Bush or Cameron. What reward is worth this risk?

a reply to: veracity

Intelligent people know that our reputation abroad is very important.

What reputation? Are you fake news?

en.wikipedia.org...

Just curious, but now that we've established that America sucks, blahblhblah, what is the most perfect country?

What is the ideal country with the ideal laws, ideal weather, ideal citizens, ideal way to approach war, ideal history?

Because I want to move there, if they'll have me.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Been wondering that myself I looked at the freedom index and south Korea is number 1.
You think we all hate the usa? Nope like I said before I pity you all you have all been played to be so divided many of you refuse to listen or acknowledge other people's views.
I honestly think it is a lack of empathy due to the USA mindset of "screw you jack I'm doing fine".
I wish I still had the feelings I had as a kid to do with the USA but I grew up and saw that the USA has the same if not more problems than the rest of us.

a reply to: testingtesting

Caring about our country's reputation is like caring about the weather.

There is # all we can do about it.

Those that hate it here, leave.
Those that tolerate it here, stay.

Why bother pitying us? What can you do to change our miserable existence?

a reply to: DBCowboy

Only you guys can change that.
Starting over is what needs to happen and ï think it will when the penny drops that you have been all conned by both of your main political parties.
Maybe pushing for another party next time around a libertarian party maybe.

a reply to: testingtesting

Just to note I think we all need a reset tbh not just the states but if it happens there it will happen everywhere.

It's funny seeing how many Europeans from countries that actually depend on trade and protection from the USA, think ill of it.

On the other side, as someone who has spent most of my life on the opposite side from the USA, I think it's a wonderful country. Sure, American foreign politics is something that I had always despised because as I already mentioned, most of the times it's in conflict with the interest of my country, but hey, that's just politics.

As many of you already mentioned, it's not really important what the world thinks of you. The world is run by the same people who push agenda against the current president of the United States, and the moment the globalists get a president they like, United States will come back to be loved.

a reply to: Nikola014

You forget it works both ways the USA needs much from other countries and have done well using other countries resources and manpower.
Like it or not the world is a global community and if you distance yourself from it you will lose out.

a reply to: Nikola014

I've spent nearly half my life abroad.

I could probably write a book about what is wrong with America and what is wonderful elsewhere.

But I keep coming back because the potential is still here. There is so much possibility, so much opportunity still here.

Yeah, we have Trump. But you know what? He hasn't royally screwed up anything. (yet)

We've survived bad presidents the same way Europeans have survived bad PM's.

We still have the Constitution. (Magna Carta Ver 2.0 to you Brits)

It says a lot for such short attention spans to determine the worth of a country simply based on the temporary leaders we choose.

originally posted by: testingtesting
a reply to: DBCowboy

Only you guys can change that.
Starting over is what needs to happen and ï think it will when the penny drops that you have been all conned by both of your main political parties.
Maybe pushing for another party next time around a libertarian party maybe.

Too old to storm the gates.

And who's to say that what emerges from the ashes of a revolution won't be something worse?

a reply to: DBCowboy

I think and hope it will get better in the states and everywhere but it will need something big to happen to knock all our heads together.
Alien invasion would sort it out all humanity join together to hate on the green real illegal aliens.

a reply to: DBCowboy

I can't see the young storming the gates either tbh....We are screwed maybe we should leave it all to the next masters of earth...The racoons.

a reply to: DBCowboy

As I said, and as most of us here already know, you shouldn't concern yourself with what the media is telling you about the reputation of the United States, because it's mostly over exaggeration, and quite frankly because their feelings are hurt.

And you know what, as someone who has spent a lot of my time in both Russia and the United States, and considering that I'm traditionally, culturally and religiously closer to Russia, I would choose the United States always. As you said, the potential to succeed is there, and believe me when I say this, it's nowhere as close as it is to your country.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
Just curious, but now that we've established that America sucks, blahblhblah, what is the most perfect country?

What is the ideal country with the ideal laws, ideal weather, ideal citizens, ideal way to approach war, ideal history?

Because I want to move there, if they'll have me.

Iceland or New Zealand.


To if we go for ideal for each category:

Laws: New Zealand (No way would the USA even be in the top 10!)
Weather: Australia
ideal citizens: Canada, Australia and New Zeland
Ideal way to approach war: War sucks full stop but I guess the UK has had one of the better records.

a reply to: testingtesting

Are you aware of a simple fact, that the United States has the potential to conquer the whole Europe? Aside from Russia that is. You could never sanction them, and expect things to end well.
Sure, we're connected as we have never been before, but without the United States, Europe would be a mess. We've seen it before. Our whole history is just endless wars over territory. Don't believe me? Just look at the Ukrainian war. It's all because of territory.

So, many of the countries in Europe need to wake up and stop thinking like their voice matters, because it does not. We can all pretend in the name of democracy, that they have a voice, but the truth is, it doesn't really mean much. Europe is extremely dependent on the United States, and that's a simple fact.

In a case of a potential USA isolation politics, Europe would lose much, much more than the United States would. Plus, I am very confident in my assumption that without the USA, Europe would shortly fall back to its natural state of war.

a reply to: Nikola014

We get so wrapped up, so "insular" for our reputations.

I blame Facebook. As a nation, we're now concerned with how many likes we get.

originally posted by: testingtesting
a reply to: DBCowboy

I can't see the young storming the gates either tbh....We are screwed maybe we should leave it all to the next masters of earth...The racoons.

The Raccoon Overlords.

I can't wait.