Most Americans do not know how good they have it. Why is that?

Question

People take us soldiers over like we are nobody, but let it be a famous person they think they are GOD.

Answer 1

Because if you haven't noticed, most Americans are complacent, and the only time they get off their butts and pay attention is when something happens in their little community, then they quickly pass a law against it. They look up to riches and fame, and it doesn't matter if the person is even educated, they take their word as God literally, Just look at the recent news, Roger Waters, a member of a defunct psychedelic era band, Pink Floyd has called on Israel to remove the wall. Who the heck does he think he is, like he has lived in Tel Aviv and seen children and relatives blown up by suicide bombers, daily. Oh, hes Roger Waters, so now Americans are getting behind him and signing a petition for the Israelis to do this...People are sheep here, I spent two tours in Vietnam, for this country, and was hated for it. Sometimes I get so disgusted, I could cry.

Answer 2

That's a fairly broad, sweeping statement. Most Americans? I'm not sure how many of the diverse 300 million of us are not aware of "how good they have it", but that undoubtedly accounts for a fair number of people who have a relatively high standard of living, whether those are people in the U.S., Europe, or in other affluent pockets worldwide.

Many people are not all that aware of what's going on in the world. Some don't realize the oppressive poverty in the fahvelas in Brazil, the hot stench of the dead in the streets in Haiti, the terror of living under a tyrannical ruler in Liberia, and so forth. But that's not everyone, and I'm not at all sure it's most Americans, or that Americans are more likely to be smug. That is stereotyping.

You also generalize about soldiers and the American response to them, though it's a bit hard to make out exactly what you mean by, "take us soldiers over". In any case, a great many Americans have a deep respect for our soldiers, even those who are opposed to the war (now there's a good place to use the word "most"!) There is a cult of celebrity in the U.S., but I don't believe it's blinding everyone to life's realities.

I do agree, in general, that ignorance is an epidemic. Education, as ever, is key.

Note to Pete: Roger Waters is British.

Answer 3

America is quite spoiled! Few people in America really know what war is like, they read about it, protest against it, hate it, love it, or leave it. Yet, solders are commanded to do as their leaders tell them. God bless them! People do love the men and woman who are ordered to fight. We just do not like the death that faces people because of war. A famous person is no better than any other person. If a person is rich or famous, they might get more attention, but that does not mean they have more love! Nobody is better. I love you for being who you are inside!

Answer 4

Some Americans are arrogant, celebrity obsessed brats who ***** about their insignificant problems as if they are the center of the universe.

However, there are a lot of us that understand and try to repay the life-long debt we owe the soldiers fighting for our freedom.

Answer 5

First of all, I wish to commend you for your service to this country, and say thank you for a job well done. I think in all honesty that we're a little spoiled, and sometimes we don't realize how good we have it until something bad happens. Maybe, it takes living in a foreign place (which was my case for two years) to make one appreciate all the comforts of "home."

Answer 6

Americans have it no better or worse than anyone else we are all under the control of the masters that try to feed us hollywood bullshit and candyland dreams so we never realize we are being treated as cattle.

Answer 7

Americans know how good life is because they see the good life on TV. I think that's as close as some will ever get.

Answer 8

Because they haven't seen how other people in other countries live. Americans are mostly used to getting what they want. We take things for granted.

Answer 9

Ethnocentricity
Egocentricity
and a good old dose of Personal Fable thrown in for good measure.

Answer 10

Because they can't (won't or don't) see beyond them self. They have no idea what struggles lay beyond their own doorstep, whether it is in an inner city poor neighborhood in their own community or a 3rd world country.

They have blinders on to things that are not in "their" immediate world because if they don't see it, it doesn't exist, and therefore can't affect them.