Here are 9 things many Americans just don’t understand — compared to the rest of the world

[DreamSmoker]

To hear the far-right ideologues of Fox News and AM talk radio tell it, life in Europe is hell on Earth. Taxes are high, sexual promiscuity prevails, universal healthcare doesn’t work, and millions of people don’t even speak English as their primary language! Those who run around screaming about “American exceptionalism” often condemn countries like France, Norway and Switzerland to justify their jingoism. Sadly, the U.S.’ economic deterioration means that many Americans simply cannot afford a trip abroad to see how those countries function for themselves. And often, lack of foreign travel means accepting clichés about the rest of the world over the reality. And that lack of worldliness clouds many Americans’ views on everything from economics to sex to religion.

Its Fact an right here:

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/03/here-are-9-things-many-americans-just-dont-understand-compared-to-the-rest-of-the-world/comments/#disqus

[villager]

1. Americans are increasingly provincial and backwards...

Become ever-more the "rubes" that H.L. Mencken talked about...

[Bluenorthwest]

10. I urge all who cite Mencken to read up on the man and consider the endorsment.

Mencken was a literal elitist, he opposed representative democracy and felt most people were inferior inherently, I will not quote his words about African Americans here, nor his words about Jews but to me, he's the very picture of a supremacist, a bigot and a right winger in virtually every way.

[DBoon]

11. He is the ancestor of right wing shock jocks

Makes reactionary politics appear rebellious by clouding it with offensive rhetoric

[villager]

19. On the other hand, he was right about the Scopes trial

...unless you want to tell me he wasn't.

Nonetheless, Mencken's acknowledged and considerable character flaws aside, the larger point of this thread, and my post in it, is that Americans are increasingly provincial, and unworldly.

This makes for a dangerous mix when a nuclear-armed empire is going down the tubes...

[hifiguy]

2. Looking at all the developed countries the only possible conclusion

is that Americans are unquestionably the dumbest. And by a massive order of magnitude.

[Enthusiast]

7. Sad but true.

[True Blue Door]

27. And yet always dominate the Nobel Prizes.

We have an intellectual class problem, with half the people outright ignorant, and another quarter only shallowly aware of anything, but the remaining quarter profoundly elite (in the good way).

[guillaumeb]

3. I am Canadian/American. I understand.

People do not have to travel to Europe. They can drive to Canada and see how a province regulated and tax funded health care system works far better than the US version.

Or how provincial utilities provide better service for less.

[awoke_in_2003]

18. I spent 3 weeks in Montreal...

in 2002. I was doing an in plant acceptance of a Boeing 737-800 flight simulator we had bought. Spending 3 weeks with the folks up there opened my eyes quite a bit to the fact that a lot of what we (Americans) are told is complete and utter rubbish. This was also a time frame in which I really began questioning a lot of what I thought I believed politically. The run up to the Iraq war was the final push I needed. Hopefully, one day, I can afford to visit Europe. I did have some exposure to the Dutch, though- I worked for about 5 years for a company based out of Holland, and I really enjoyed working with those guys. What blew my mind is all of them spoke Dutch, German, and English. A few could also do French, too. We do languages wrong in this country- kids should start to be exposed to another one in grade school.

[StevieM]

24. Excellent point about languages. The mind is much more open to picking up a new language when you

are under 13.

[guillaumeb]

29. My family is Quebecois. I know Montreal.

Agreed about languages. We spoke two growing up.

[CTyankee]

22. Oh, lots of americans know that but...ya know, "freedom"...or something...

[quadrature]

23. Canada spends next to nothing on its military

last time I looked,
Canada's spending on their military,
per capita, was one-fifth that of the US.
or maybe closer to one-tenth.

over the years, that adds up.
same story for Europe.

[The2ndWheel]

25. Because the US spends so much

The US military is basically the developed world's military. It won the 20th century. The US Government is fine with that, because nobody can tell it no. The other countries are ok with it, because they can spend that money on social services. It works for everyone, except for the US taxpayer, as we're the only ones paying for a global military.

[True Blue Door]

28. We are pressuring the Europeans to pony up more for NATO.

Putin's direct threats to the US are limpdicked fantasies, but he could definitely seize territory from or blackmail the EU, so it's only fair that Europe bear a larger share of the burden of protecting them.

And while it's a dangerous experiment given his rhetoric, Shinzo Abe's attempts to rebuild a Japanese military could also free up some money for us.

[Art_from_Ark]

34. The US could save money in Japan

just by closing one or two of the Okinawa bases. There are more than 20 US bases in Japan, and about half of those are in Okinawa. Together, those Okinawa bases occupy about 20% of Okinawa's land area.

[True Blue Door]

35. Consolidating some of the bases might save a little money.

Just straight up closing them, however, might reduce capability.

It's worth looking into though. I know the military does a lot of shit that's not necessary just to feed money to the contractors.

On the other hand, from a military viewpoint, fewer bases = fewer targets that China would need to destroy to deliver a crippling blow in the region.

[polly7]

31. LOL!

The only time Canada has needed to protect itself from a foreign military was against you.

We beat you by years into both world wars that cost us horrible loss of life. We used to be the world's best known peacekeepers with our military until our Con gov't decided to abandon that in favour of joining in the bombing and ruin of nations we have no business in. We're a full member of NORAD and fully participate in the security of NA.

Arrogant much?

Not every nation feels the need to starve its children and deny them healthcare to make the oligarchs, corporations and MIC filthy rich.

Don't worry, if any nation decides to invade us, we'll take care of ourselves. You worry about your military being used to ruin nations and lives by the millions.

[pampango]

38. "We (Canada) used to be the world's best known peacekeepers with our military until our Con gov't

decided to abandon that in favour of joining in the bombing and ruin of nations we have no business in. We're a full member of NORAD and fully participate in the security of NA. "

Nicely said, polly7. The value of peacekeepers is minimized in the world today, while the 'value' of bombers is exaggerated.

[The2ndWheel]

40. Arrogant? I'm not taking any pride in it

The US may be pressuring Europe a bit more to up their military expenditure, but the developed world works together in this. All the people in charge are basically fine with the situation as is. That's all I'm saying. European countries used to not be social paradises when they had their various empires. It takes money to maintain that.

I wasn't knocking Canada. There's just a percentage balance to everything. Other countries in the western world can spend less on their military today, because the US spends a shit ton on its own, because that's how everyone in charge wants it.

The US has been attacked by a foreign, state sanctioned military once since the British. It's not easy to attack the US or Canada, just by luck of geography.

[raccoon]

37. You sure got that right. nt

[guillaumeb]

30. True. But not having to fund an empire

means more money for people.

[malthaussen]

4. "If she wants to speak Latin, she should move to Latin America."

Yeah, that's about it in a nutshell.

-- Mal

[3catwoman3]

6. Perhaps the "exceptionalism"...

...refers to being exceptional ignorant and narrow-minded.

[truedelphi]

12. Heh heh. n/t

[stonecutter357]

5. Americans just don’t understand

[hedda_foil]

8. Reading this, I realized that we (and Bernie should use Germany as the example.

Not Scandinavia. Not France, which too Damn many USAmericans think is wishy washy limp wristed lefties. Germany, though, has most of the same social policies and has a strong somewhat right wing, masculinized image ... despite having conservative female leader.

Germany! Obviously!

[DetlefK]

9. Just a few comments:

Universal Healthcare: Germany has network of non-profit health-insurance-agencies that cover basic medical procedures.

Second or Third Language: In Germany, a second language becomes mandatory from 3rd grade on. A third language becomes mandatory from 7th grade on. And just for example: To take care of tourists, Belgians have to speak French, Dutch, German and English.

Unions: Up until a few years ago, Germany had no minimum-wage. It was simply unnecessary: The unions kept the wages high enough.

Distrust of oligarchy: I think, singling out Germans distorts the numbers a bit. Germans have a blunt, undiplomatic, straightforward culture that despises scheming. (Christoph Waltz said it best.) But in Italy for example, scheming people get admired for their power and success, that's why Berlusconi was so popular.

[imnew]

13. Yet though , ask most young people in college in other

industrialized 1st world nations where they would like to live.
Or even 2nd or 3rd world nations

Guess what the answer is?

For all our faults this country does have it pretty good.

[hunter]

33. I know quite a few who got work visas, saw the USA wasn't like the Hollywood movies, and left.

The U.S.A. is not a true first world nation.

Anyone who has been run over and left for dead by our economic system knows that.

Anyone who knows people living in true first world nations knows that.

We have more in common with Mexico than we do Canada.

Being "better" than Mexico, or modern capitalist China, or any of the "Latin American" nations the U.S.A. trashed in it's absurd fear of socialism, that's not really something to be proud of.

[KitSileya]

39. I deliberately chose not to live in the US.

I could have gotten a job there, but seeing how horribly the US treats its workers, I decided no way. I can be far more outspoken in Norway, and a lot less exploited, with a better standard of living overall. I am a teacher, and while Norwegian schools have their problems, for us it's more like complaining about a broken tail light while American teachers have to push their car themselves to get anywhere. And we can complain. We can talk back to our bosses without losing our jobs, because we actually have job security. We don't have to pay for continual classes to keep our licenses, essentially paying to keep our jobs. We get paid for the whole year, not just for every day we work - if we have classes 4 out of 5 days a week, we don't get paid for 4 days a week.

I spend every summer in the US, and it amazes me how long the American work week is- 80hrs is usual. Two weeks vacation, two weeks they don't dare to take all at once because they might lose their job. No job security at all - no proper sick leave. They have to use their vacation days to have colonoscopies! It's absolutely horrific to see, and while I dearly, dearly wish to live closer to my friends, no thank you

[awoke_in_2003]

41. Vacation time here is a joke

I am finally accruing 3 weeks a year, but that is because I have been at the current job 5 years. Oh, after 15 year we get 4 weeks a year. Of course, who can afford a vacation these days? On top of that, vacation pay is my base salary- I don't get my 10% shift differential.

[Leith]

14. This Is So True

and desperately sad.

[kairos12]

15. Mureica Exceptionalism defined as:

A government run by one percent corporatists dedicated to enriching themselves at the expense of the poorest in the country. Also, defined as having chicken hawk politicians dedicated to sending everyone's children but their own to fight wars to further enrich themselves. Also, defined as having politicians run the country who routinely defy scientific facts in favor of religious babble.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. the first one 'sex education' is just off base. Obviously a few European countries are very

progressive but others are similar to or far behind the US and this article is about 'the rest of the world' and much, much of the world has sexuality education that is nonexistent or utterly fictional or based on religious laws.

I mean, I hate to mention this but the state of sexuality education globally has been a matter of interest to many of us for many years. It is in fact a life and death issue.

[Pooka Fey]

17. YES!!! Great post!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. Oh yeah,...Greece is on fire....

Oh wait...



Well,....Germany is a hell hole....



France?

[lark]

21. I was so depressed when I returned from spending a month in France.

The noise, oh God the noise, the cars, the bad air, the bad water, I almost cried. It's so calm, peaceful, quiet, good water, good air, good food. Even the food in the grocery stores is good. We bought sandwiches at the store for 1 euro which were excellent. The tomatoes were RIPE, fresh, and beautifully red, the lettuce was fresh, the ham delicious. France has more family owned businesses than any other country in the world. Strasbourg had fantastic public transportation, great free public entertainment during the summer and I loved how you could tell time by the church bells. They take care of the old buildings there, they don't let them deteriorate. I loved my time there and wish I could afford to live there permanently.

[valerief]

26. You can't make people this stupid without religion. If they can believe that, they can

believe anything. That's why the agents of our enemies (Republican pols representing billionaires) constantly stoke that Hell and Brimstone fire.

[hifiguy]

32. That is an enormous part

of why such a large chunk of the American populace is so shockingly pig-ignorant.

[raccoon]

36. Good article. I respectfully disagree with this from the article:

Still, far-right politicians in the U.S. can’t get it through their heads that inadequate sex education and insufficient sexual knowledge actually promote teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases instead of decreasing them.

IMO many if not most don't care about the results of inadequate sex education, they're just pandering to their base, that believes "abstinence-only" is the way to go.