Funiculus U (great moniker btw), there's a lot here to respond to! Wow!
"We have a QL'er here that, day in day out, displays the misplaced feelings of superiority, misplaced arrogance and shortsightedness/ignorance of the stereo-type American." - I don't know of whom you speak but would gladly stand with you and try and get him/her off their high horse if appropriate. Being American does not entitle one to be arrogant and ill-informed. Reasoned disagreement, fine - but just ignorant disputation based on nationality? I'm with you.
"Next to that I am a not a big fan of the American culture, as far as you can call it a culture, it is stolen land with an insignificant history, the founding fathers are a joke." - There is no single American culture. America is more diverse than you can imagine and becoming more so every year. Yes the land was stolen from the Native Americans, just as in many other countries indigenous populations were kicked out by other powers. America is not unique in this. Nor are it's founding fathers unique in they fled oppression elsewhere. What ARE unique is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
"Politically nobody likes the Americans a lot, especially because everybody believes that the USA is democratic, while in reality it is no more than a kleptocracy, and no less communist/socialist than Russia." I would say politically the last 8 years ruined a lot of prior good will and agree with you although you overgeneralise. I've lived overseas for the better part of 30 years and had never been ashamed to show the flag until Bush II and his astonishing level of deceit and xenophobia. That being said, all political structures are by their nature kleptocracies, be they democratic, communist or royal in nature. People in power look to preserve their power, regardless of how they got it. Come on.
"Economically, it has been doing fine until recently. Yet the American dream has been a 'life in the slum' for many, also overrated." No, is worse than you imagine. Things in America have been spiralling in a bad way since the 1980's as the gap between rich and poor grew. As such the destruction of the middle class has had profound economic and political impact. That being said there is NO other country that offers the kind of opportunity to get out of poverty that America offers. A lot of what BHO is trying to do is to restore some normalcy to that distribution of wealth.
"A nice example of American ignorance is the previous election. The Republicans came up with a highly disputable hockey mom, that until today keeps on proving she is NOT the right material, and a guy that is 80 years old, likely to die while on the job. Who, oh who... elects/votes for a practically dead guy? Only Americans." - I can't understand anyone who could vote for the McCain/Palin ticket outside of the most narrow view... the most stupid VP choice in history. She is an embarrassment.
"While, at the other side, a dream-team was being created, coincidence? No. These elections were one big charade and the outcome was known beforehand, the only true question was Obama or Hillary, either way unique. Obama is a PR stunt, and the corporations keep on ruling the country." - If the outcome was predestined it was because enough Americans were fed up with the leadership of a person and party that had stopped to think before it acted and was out of touch with 65% of the country and 99% of the world! However almost all preelection polls showed Hillary losing to McCain even with Palin on the ticket, the distrust of Hillary (Clintons) ran deep. BHO is far more than a PR stunt. People voted for him KNOWING that it would eventually mean higher taxes, something that had never happened before. So if people voted for him because they felt like he offered a shot a restored dignity and transparency and accountability and normal American decency - you show me another country who gives as much to the global poor - and you call that PR, then it's good PR to me.
I guess the question is since we don't have whipping boy Bush to blame for everything, one might have to think a bit about what is worthwhile and accurate US bashing vs what is not.
I hope very much you read these comments NOT as a bash at you (or anyone for that matter), just honest and respectful dialogue. Salaam.
Funiculus U (great moniker btw), there's a lot here to respond to! Wow!
"We have a QL'er here that, day in day out, displays the misplaced feelings of superiority, misplaced arrogance and shortsightedness/ignorance of the stereo-type American." - I don't know of whom you speak but would gladly stand with you and try and get him/her off their high horse if appropriate. Being American does not entitle one to be arrogant and ill-informed. Reasoned disagreement, fine - but just ignorant disputation based on nationality? I'm with you.
"Next to that I am a not a big fan of the American culture, as far as you can call it a culture, it is stolen land with an insignificant history, the founding fathers are a joke." - There is no single American culture. America is more diverse than you can imagine and becoming more so every year. Yes the land was stolen from the Native Americans, just as in many other countries indigenous populations were kicked out by other powers. America is not unique in this. Nor are it's founding fathers unique in they fled oppression elsewhere. What ARE unique is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
"Politically nobody likes the Americans a lot, especially because everybody believes that the USA is democratic, while in reality it is no more than a kleptocracy, and no less communist/socialist than Russia." I would say politically the last 8 years ruined a lot of prior good will and agree with you although you overgeneralise. I've lived overseas for the better part of 30 years and had never been ashamed to show the flag until Bush II and his astonishing level of deceit and xenophobia. That being said, all political structures are by their nature kleptocracies, be they democratic, communist or royal in nature. People in power look to preserve their power, regardless of how they got it. Come on.
"Economically, it has been doing fine until recently. Yet the American dream has been a 'life in the slum' for many, also overrated." No, is worse than you imagine. Things in America have been spiralling in a bad way since the 1980's as the gap between rich and poor grew. As such the destruction of the middle class has had profound economic and political impact. That being said there is NO other country that offers the kind of opportunity to get out of poverty that America offers. A lot of what BHO is trying to do is to restore some normalcy to that distribution of wealth.
"A nice example of American ignorance is the previous election. The Republicans came up with a highly disputable hockey mom, that until today keeps on proving she is NOT the right material, and a guy that is 80 years old, likely to die while on the job. Who, oh who... elects/votes for a practically dead guy? Only Americans." - I can't understand anyone who could vote for the McCain/Palin ticket outside of the most narrow view... the most stupid VP choice in history. She is an embarrassment.
"While, at the other side, a dream-team was being created, coincidence? No. These elections were one big charade and the outcome was known beforehand, the only true question was Obama or Hillary, either way unique. Obama is a PR stunt, and the corporations keep on ruling the country." - If the outcome was predestined it was because enough Americans were fed up with the leadership of a person and party that had stopped to think before it acted and was out of touch with 65% of the country and 99% of the world! However almost all preelection polls showed Hillary losing to McCain even with Palin on the ticket, the distrust of Hillary (Clintons) ran deep. BHO is far more than a PR stunt. People voted for him KNOWING that it would eventually mean higher taxes, something that had never happened before. So if people voted for him because they felt like he offered a shot a restored dignity and transparency and accountability and normal American decency - you show me another country who gives as much to the global poor - and you call that PR, then it's good PR to me.
I guess the question is since we don't have whipping boy Bush to blame for everything, one might have to think a bit about what is worthwhile and accurate US bashing vs what is not.
I hope very much you read these comments NOT as a bash at you (or anyone for that matter), just honest and respectful dialogue. Salaam.