Non American's, what's your view of the US?
 

Curious as to what you all think of us as a whole.
please include your country if it is not in your profile...

I live here and i like it a lot...but i think it's gettong worse and worse every year...

i will conquer your country someday in the near future and will make bush whip my ass with 100$ bills on national tv

I have been here since 1948, you get used to it.

but the language is a bitch

There's a BIG difference between how the US government acts and how US citizens act - most people outside the US don't seem to realise this, and tar everyone with the same brush.

Everyone has preconceived ideas about what people from other nations are like - in the UK, Americans are often percieved as bloodthirsty, gun-toting savages who think they are still living in the days of the wild west. Okay, some of them are but the rest are surprisingly friendly :winkwink:

I haven't got any problems with the US, I will probably be living there one day..........but americans need to loose there stupid feeling of superiority, thats absolutely based on nothing...

My feelings can be summed up this way... America is great. Republicans suck.

I love it. You have lots of great people and plenty of morons but what can you do? It's like that everywhere, you can't only have good people.

nothing wrong with the country, i just have a problem with the son/father that run it..

Too true. I have been asked on many occasions if the Brits have:

a) The Internet.
b) Computers.
c) Cellphones.
d) Outside toilets.
e) Electricity (!)
f) Freedom Of Speech.

On one occasion I've had someone say to me "If it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking German". I replied "If it wasn't for us, what language would you be speaking?". He had to have the question explained to him, and he still didn't understand.

i have no problem with the states we have a house in florida, my brother lives in phoenix, we have a time share in vegas, love the people. not a single issue.

I was pretty anti-american for awhile there. But it's an ignorance thing. Now that I am down here I realize not every American is how Canadian media portrays them to be.

IE: Fat warmongers

Interesting, I think that Canadians have the same stigma here..as I am sure you are aware. Whether it is true or not I leave to the haters.

I read several other country's newspapers...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydispl...ction=dialogue

... even their christians think the USA has gone nuts.

You elect the government. If the government does things you don't like how the rest of the world reacts to, then you should get that government out.

Matt

+ the imbecile president

Americans need to get out of their own country more because most of them know very little about the rest of the world.

Most of the people seem cool,although based by some of the comments on GFY some are arrogant,and judgemental.The holier than thou attitude really gets old.I wouldn't be surprised if they are racist as well.
Love to visit some of the states but wouldn't want to live there.

I'm from Canada and can say this: I love the States and what it stands for. Some Americans seem very high and almighty as well as love to wave their flag. Generally though, I love Americans.

volante:

:glugglug

Gotta say... when I first went to the US for a while - it hit ya in the face! :-) It was unbelievable that so many people were so damned ignorant of anything outside their own state. It was... more than just embarassing.

Btw... as an "education" on eg cellphones. There are far more advanced cell phone operations in the UK/Europe than in the US. I remember I tried to buy some that had some chance of working in the US - hell.. even the "towers" did not cover any reasonable range. Tho, think it "may" have improved slightly since then.

The US people? I like em. Not that they are any different to other places - all human :-) The hospitality of some of these folks is notable!

If I was to take the very silly "superior" US mouths (read fucking ignorant), on GFY to be any "sampling" of the US people - I'd think they were all just fresh out of a failed term of mental rehabilition. But fortunately, I know better and have many good US friends who actually are "balanced" and clearly with a higher intellect than some of the shit on GFY :-)

The US as a country? Nice country - it's gotta be - it covers enough land area.

Generally? I like the US and it's people - ya can't not like them.
By far, my "grouse" would be the US govt - or rather the US Admin - there are plenty good people in the US govt and doing a good job - tho they may never be thanked for it:-) The US Admin.... dunno what to say (forgetting any politics) - it just stinks like no admin of any other democratic country on the planet. I can't see this Admin is of the slighest value to the US people - tho they sure pay the bills.

Best thing to do with the Admin is ignore it and anything they say/claim - the cancer might just heal itself - it sure as hell is not a credible admin that can claim to represent the US people. (btw.. this is above politics - it's about some truth, honesty and credibility)

I got no problems with the US (dammit, or any other country) - other than the ... well.. really silly "management". :-)

Unless you can prove me to be wrong...it is my understanding that many countries of the world are dependent upon American tourists for a significant part of their economy...thus Americans do visit many...if not all countries of the world. Not that I place the importance of visiting other countries as you apparently do.

You have great insight to other countries of the world as seen from your drugged mind from the window of your hostel. :1orglaugh

hi there i am from ireland and yeah i do like the american people .
however i hate your government real bad and i dont want bush to be re-elected coz he will kill us all

Okay, list them.

theKing:

:1orglaugh Oh fuck.. we got another one of the "superior mouths" next...

King... NO... Many countries are not dependant on some US dollars to bail them out with the tourist trade.

They frankly don't give a shit cos the level of tourism is insignificant - especially if the dollar makes it more expensive for US folks.

There are more foreign visitors to Florida alone than US folks visiting elsewhere. Tho that has decreased since shitdom started.

poor country ...
:(

uproared:

Didn't know that but could believe it.

I was a little surprised when... more than one group of US people, wanted to come and visit. I asked them of they all had their passports in order?

"Do we need passports?"

"Well yea - you are leaving US jurisdiction and entering another country."

"Oh, I thought because we were Americans, we could just get in"

:glugglug

:1orglaugh

Hilarious but not surprising at all!

I suspect that there are some. Mostly centered in the carribean. I'm sure there's a number of places that have suffered somewhat due to reduction of US tourism abroad but it'd be hardly world-ending if all tourism stopped, except for those few warm sandy banana republics that seem to gather most of the vacationers.

Edit: Heh, ask google and ye shall receive wisdom... #1 destination spots for US tourists in 2002, England and France.

Get the numbers here.

nice country, nice places, nice people...free speech mixed with a fucking stupid government....and a sick asshole for president.

I personaly think the US is a conglomerat of unsatisfied people that tend to overestimate themselves.

20% compared to...? If 20% is factual (I do not know one way or another) and it is 20% of the population (which it may not be) then that would be approximately 60 million traveling Americans which number represents a greater population than...I think...most countries on this earth.

rickholio:

Hi Rick... Na... most of the Carib tourist trade actually comes mainly from Canada (kinda odd considering the US is nearer) and that is followed by European biz - but that is probably more do with "ties" to eg... St Maartin with Holland and some other islands to the UK.

It is noticeable how little US visitors actually go there. Even in dealings .. like commerical stuff, there seems to be more Canadian transactions than with the US.

Millions of Americans travel abroad without passports...and in the tens of millions have done so.

If you follow that link I just provided, you'll see that it turns out to be around 18.6 million people a year vacation off-continent. Of those 18.6, there's probably a fair bit of doubling-up (2 trips a year or more), so the number is more likely in the low-mid teens in terms of raw numbers. Still, when dealing with money, total number of trips is a more useful metric.

theKing:

Sure.. 60 mill is a "bulk" - but that spread over the world is nothing. Europe alone far exceeds this with "passport holders" and "travelling public".

Hell...even the UK alone eats into that and many of them have at least been to the US at some time.

You Americans really don't understand the value of PER CAPITA statistics, do you?

:1orglaugh

I think most American's are Sheep. And I live in the U.S. This is because the Govn't figured out that stupid people are easier to herd and control, so they stopped funding the educational systems, and blame it on economic downtimes.

Stupid people watch TV, eat at McDonald's, squeeze out a few puppies and call it a family, live check to check and go into major debt by the time they are 25, only to spend the rest of the next 40 years paying it off... Just in time to retire on what's left of Social Security, and Medicaid/Medicare, and if they are REAL good work horses, they ended up spending all that time at 1 job and can retire with some sort of a pension check.

< /rant>

Impossible, unless you are talking about Tijuana... or the armed forces.

:1orglaugh

theKing:

Interesting comment :glugglug

On what basis do "Americans" enter *any* country legally without a valid passport?

Unless they are part of some "invasion force" :-)

Pornweaver:

I ain't meaning to be "offensive" so please excuse :)

I don't really think US folks are like sheep... think that's too "general".

But the other comments are kinda frightening when you stand back and look inwards.

To be honest.. I keep "urging" US folks to not just "accept things" all the time. I really believe they need to dump the "baggage" and don't let any assholes tell them "how it is" :-)

I'm from Macedonia, if you ask the patriotic me, I don't like the stupidity of the average american.


If you ask the real me, then
- USA has balls, goes for it, unlike the EU pussies
- USA has power, and even in the democratic pussylike society defend's it's interests
- USA would've send the middle east to the stone age if it wasn't for the democratic BS. Just distroy the weak assholes that can't take care of themselves and take their shit, scum doesn't deserve to live. I don't exclude my country from this too!
- USA practices the only law of nature: survival of the fittest!
- The first europians that inhabited USA were people that I respect: adventurers, people that used to not give a shit, people that had the balls to go for it!
- USA offers great future for people that are tallented, people with a view for the future!
- USA created guinea pigs from the average shitholes that don't have a brain and exploits them in a good way - consumer cells!


IF you're a smart man, you have a great future in the USA once you learn to exploit the stupidity of the average joe!

I'm not an american, but working with americans teached me a lot! I don't like to be observed us a citizen of a certain "third world country" ... I like to be percieved as a citizen of the world.


USA what every country would like to be if it had the BALLS!


-

The average "awaken" american is far more cool that any other person in the world. Why? Because it takes a lot to be a awaken from the system with so much stupidity and so much democracy!

Overall, I respect americans! Lots of cool people out there!


Sorry if this post sounds offensive, too big, or something, I won't re-read it, I'm under the influence of home made strong alchohol + beer :) :thumbsup

The last time I went to Canada I was not required to have a Passport and the same applies to Mexico. Yes...I was referring to the Armed Forces...and the US has troops stationed in more than half of the countries in the World.

I am talking about people leaving the country willingly, not meat shields going somewhere under orders.

:1orglaugh

theking:

Much as I thought.

King... your government made "arrangements" with the host country to allow this.

It is not a "matter of course" that US people just travel where the fuck they like without a valid passport. They would be packed on the return flight back to the US - same as US immigration does.

Your comment that "Millions of Americans travel abroad without passports...and in the tens of millions have done so." is not valid.
Other nations do the same thing under agreements - this is not a "common practice" that puts US people above other countries laws.

With the exception of '3rd world' or really tiny island nations, there aren't many countries in the world where tourism accounts for more than 5-10% (often less) of GDP. America actually makes the most money from tourism. (so if everyone stopped traveling overseas, the USA would lose the most)

the rankings for income-from-tourism go:

USA
Spain
France
Italy
China
Germany
UK
...

I live in Scotland. My view of the US is that there's some crazy fucking people and even more crazy laws.

One which pisses me off is that until a couple months ago I could come to the US and buy a gun, but couldn't buy a beer. Thats just wrong!!

On the whole tho its a huge ass country with tons of places I'd love to visit. Top of my list is Miami, but not right now.

Then I wanna check out LA and New York.

It is immaterial what you are talking about. Tens of millions of Americans have traveled abroad without passports...and many of them have been in multiple countries...as have I.

Oh sheesh :glugglug

Sometimes it can be quite painful observing the way some folks try to come up the "words" and a "slant" on everything.... even embarassing...

No it's not, I'm sticking to the topic at hand and you are not.

Your point about the armed forces not needing passports is irrelevant to the discussion because they are not tourists.

I think that 5-10% falls withing my definition of "significant" and the smaller a countries GDP the more significant 1% or 2% becomes relatively speaking.