How far do Americans persepctives stretch?
A couple of days ago I met a couple of foreign students here in sunny South Africa. Amongst them were some Americans. We started chatting and asked each other a few questions. We asked each other about music, movies etc. such as who knows Roxette? Who knows anything about cricket, rugby and soccer? We started talking about nutrition and the protein content of eggs. The one American guy studying chemical engineering had such a big mouth and told us that the yellow of eggs contain the most protein! None of the Americans knew who Roxette is and they knew almost nothing about any of the above mentioned sports! Myself and the other foreigners then resalised that Americans know very little of anything non-American and enough about America to survive in it. By the way, the rest of us had a fairly decent knowledge of each others countries including America. So, why does bush and many Americans criticise others and jump to conclusions about everyone when their perspectives are almost 0?
Immigration - 8 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
So you are judging Americans by these particular two, and because they didn't know enough about eggs and cricket? What's it like to be so damned smart?
2 :
You are guilty of the very thing you are complaining about. You drew erroneous conclusions about 300 million people after talking to a "couple." I am willing to bet that you don't know where Wilson is. Does that make you ignorant?
3 :
Hmmm... I think you are making a broad assumption based on a few people. There are many Americans that are well read, well travelled, and very knowledgeable about the world. My American college had soccer, as well as rugby (both men's and women's), and Lacrosse. Roxette has to do more with the age of a person, and their musical tastes. Can you say that in South Africa, every single person knows the protein contents of the whites and yolks of eggs? Please don't base your opinions of a nation on one or two experiences. There are intelligent and not so intelligent in every country.
4 :
I'm sure you feel you have a "broad perspective" about America, but it's been my experience (and I've traveled extensively and lived on 3 continents) that most people get the perspective about America from Hollywood. Trust me, it isn't accurate. Any generalization of this type is bound to be inaccurate. The USA has a population over 301 million...judging the American people on your short meeting with "a couple of American students" is certainly bound to be wrong. Even I find American college students very narrow in their scope of vision...even more so than those of other countries. They just tend to be less mature. But they hardly represent America. I'm an American. I have no idea who Roxette is, but I'm personal friends with principal dancers from companies in Spain and England and opera performers in other countries. I know nothing much about cricket...but less about basketball and football. I do, however, enjoy tennis and water polo. I, too, have found college students (who are just starting to gain a little knowledge) arrogant and obnoxious and quite often completely off-base. I usually shake it off as the "sophomore syndrome". My question to you is, what does this have to do with immigration? Best wishes.
5 :
Hell, I even know where Wilson is, he's floating in the south pacific. Regerugged; am I right?
6 :
Someone recently pointed out that less than 5% of the US population has passports. Other countries teach children to learn several different languages (I have a friend from France that speaks 5). Americans often expect others to speak English when we do leave the country. Our schools place a huge focus on learning about our history, but, virtually nothing about any other. Our nightly news will feature a story about the birth of a koala, but, wont touch on the terror going on in Darfur. There are people starving to death and little girls being drown. There are women being oppressed and raped, and, families in entirety being tortured and killed. Yet, on our "world" news, the top story may be Iraq- but only as it pertains to OUR soldiers. Then, we won't mention Darfur, we won't talk about the terror of our bretheren. If there is a hijacking and 100s killed it gets little to no press, unless there is an American- then, the story is, "300 people- including 1 American"... Like an American life is more valuable than that of anyone else on this planet? By luck of birth we were born here. Unfortunately, we are largely a self-absorbed culture. Our citizens care about one another, but, I agree, are somewhat "out of touch" with the rest of the world. I blame it on the media- telling us we are the best, we don't need to think about anyone else, etc.
7 :
How many people know anything about any other countries? Part of the problem is the stereotyping done by organizations such as the BBC which continuously portray Latin Americans as going around in ponchos and sandals whereas there are many Latin American girls who can put to shame the cream of the European girls.Travel broadens the mind and the more you see of the world the more you realize that people are people everywhere. Incidentally, who is Roxette?
8 :
Just off hand I'd say that you probably had an anti-American bias long before posting your so-called "question." Then you turn right around and show everyone how enlightened and wordly you are by trying to reinforce your bias by holding up two Americans as proof that you're right. Sorry, bunky, but that just doesn't compute...!
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