Americans

[ResidentWeevil2077]

The reason behind the whininess stems from an "I-ALWAYS-win-you-ALWAYS-lose" mentality of many, not all, young Americans. It's a simple perversion of the so-called "American Dream" - they somehow are raised, not only by their parents but other influences (namely the media), with the concept that you have to have the biggest car in your garage, the prettiest wife to "do it" with, and the largest amount of money to waste on petty nothing.

 

Remember what Michael Douglas' character in "Wall Street" said? "Greed is GOOD." My point? That because every factor that affects moral values in the US is geared toward being "big spenders", this raises another issue - do Americans appear "stupid" simply because they're moral compass is jacked all over the place?

 

Americans aren't stupid, they just happen to want everything when they know they can't. I realize I've painted my fellow American peers as "spoiled little brats", but that's not what the intent is. The appearance of stupidity is simply an amalgamation of the very moral code that points young Americans down a rather bigoted path. It's not a question of "Are Americans Stupid?" It's an issue about how they are being raised.

 

I believe America wants change however - Obama is a prime example of that. Now this raises another issue about the current presidency in the US, but keep this thread on track please. All I will say is people either love him to death or hate him with a burning passion. Like Elmo :D

 

Anyway, I don't think Americans are stupid, just misguided.

[Herculine]

We are indeed both greedy and spoiled. Why do other countries hate us, envy us, or want to take what we have? Because they can see that we obviously don't appreciate what we have, want more than what we have and will waste it once we get it. Just the other day, I saw a businessman on the sidewalk in front of his skyscraper tossing a half-eaten hamburger into a garbage can before he rushed inside the building. I couldn't help but think about how many other people in the world would have been grateful to get the other half of that sandwich. We're comfortable to the point of laziness, don't care about the generations that have to follow us and don't care if the person next to us drops dead as we pass by. Also recently, I saw a boy who had been walking to school when he apparently fell unconscious right in the middle of the sidewalk. Some of his young friends were kneeling around him, but apparently they were the only ones concerned. I was appalled by the number of cars containing adults simply passing by the scene with no sign of stopping to help. I would hope that it's only people in this city who are acting like these examples, but unfortunately I know that isn't reality. The majority of Americans are like this, and that is recognized by other countries. But if they call us stupid or lazy, then we get mad as if we can't understand what their problem is. I could probably go on about this for as long as I could type, but you get the idea. We want to be seen as noble and righteous, but unfortunately for us actions speak louder than words.

[ResidentWeevil2077]

As much as I don;t like saying offensive things about others, I agree with you. It's not only Americans who are self-centred - Canada is also to an extent. Being as how both our countries are as close as we are, one assuredly will influence the other. With the influx of American media in Canada, we too follow the same path. It's a sad reality about our nations, one that I think we both wish wasn't true.

[jaosals42]

Americans aren't stupid, they just happen to want everything when they know they can't. I realize I've painted my fellow American peers as "spoiled little brats", but that's not what the intent is. The appearance of stupidity is simply an amalgamation of the very moral code that points young Americans down a rather bigoted path. It's not a question of "Are Americans Stupid?" It's an issue about how they are being raised..

 

Agreed. But with the media around telling people here "what you need", or "what is good" etc, influences these behaviors greatly. Many people here watch television for countless hours a week, and over a quarter or more of that time they are bombarded with ads and media and often biased news. If you listen to that even ten hours a week for ten years, that will take a toll on what you see things as, what is good, what is not, etc. That is one of the greatest causes of our misguidance.

[ResidentWeevil2077]

Americans aren't stupid, they just happen to want everything when they know they can't. I realize I've painted my fellow American peers as "spoiled little brats", but that's not what the intent is. The appearance of stupidity is simply an amalgamation of the very moral code that points young Americans down a rather bigoted path. It's not a question of "Are Americans Stupid?" It's an issue about how they are being raised..

 

Agreed. But with the media around telling people here "what you need", or "what is good" etc, influences these behaviors greatly. Many people here watch television for countless hours a week, and over a quarter or more of that time they are bombarded with ads and media and often biased news. If you listen to that even ten hours a week for ten years, that will take a toll on what you see things as, what is good, what is not, etc. That is one of the greatest causes of our misguidance.

And if this is the largest root of the problem, how can it be resolved? Or at least minimized so it isn't the biggest influence on people.

[Rixirite]

I don't watch the news because like Faith in Mirror's edge states it:"It's not news anymore. It's advertising."

[Herculine]

I don't watch the news because like Faith in Mirror's edge states it:"It's not news anymore. It's advertising."

 

I'm the same way. I'll look at the headlines on front pages and covers, but why pay for that?

[dezdimona]

I work for what I have and don't desire everything either,nor am I stupid.I love anerican and while it has problems it differs not one bit from any other country.all countries have idiots,thieves,criminals and people that abuse the system. I vote,I believe in our constitution and that yes we as a people can change this country back to the great nation it was but as long as those who are envious and jealous of us and want what we have continue to call us names it only shows the cut of their character not ours

[Herculine]

Here in America we know that we aren't all fat, lazy idiots, but I don't think the negative views of our society by outsiders are all unjustified, unfounded perceptions. (Here I go media-bashing again.) What outsiders see of us the most is in our media, in our news reports, advertisements and entertainment. If I were an alien (extraterrestrial, not illegal) preparing to visit America by observing its media, I would eventually come to the conclusion that the people here are materialistic, vain hedonists. So one step in the solution to our international opinion problems would be to modify what the media says about us. But that course of action obviously would involve government controlled censorship, sparking issues concerning our rights to freedom of speech.

[ResidentWeevil2077]

... So one step in the solution to our international opinion problems would be to modify what the media says about us. But that course of action obviously would involve government controlled censorship, sparking issues concerning our rights to freedom of speech.

I suppose now this becomes an issue of what the balance is between freedom and censorship is. Then it becomes that much more difficult to resolve the first issue (that being the apparent "stupidity" of Americans and people in general). There's no easy way to resolve these matters - I myself wouldn't be able to tell you what's right and wrong, as everyone has their own opinions and values that matter to them.