How come that many non-Americans (including me) are ... ?

Question

... asking "deep" and serious questions about world politics and diplomacy while most people in this room are Americans who don't know about the world outside America except that it is something outside America?!! Are we all wasting our time posing such questions to the wrong people? And why are most of the politics answers given by non-Americans are more enlightened and more profoundly detailed than these posted by Americans? How come that America is governing and leading the whole world today while most of its youth and its population are so ignorant and almost illiterate when it comes to world affairs? Does being so rich and so powerful and so geographically isolated mean necessarily that I must virtually know nothing about the world except the lies and stereotypes created by the jewish media in Americans' minds? And if so, then why are the Europeans more thoughtful although thay are rich and powerful too?!

Serious answers please!

To: victory
Do you deny the fact that the Israeli lobby in the USA is too influential?

To: "Ready for Love"
By the way, I am NOT from the USA. I am an Egyptian who lives in Egypt. Please read my question and its heading again. Anyway, your answer is very good and logical.

To: Bee
1-Did you forget that the British are European and their mother language is English?
2-I am not American. I am Egyptian and I live in Egypt. But I have so many American epals and personally know many Americans here in Egypt.
3-I can also speak German and I sometimes enter into the German version of Y! Answers (see the link at the bottom of the page). I find more serious and thoughful discussions there.

To: Bee AND mike j
Please don't forget that one major reason why the US university and R&D system is so advanced is that America is very successful at tempting and attracting the best brains all over the world, especially in Asia and Africa. To the developing countries, this "brain drain" is among the main reasons of sluggish economic development.

Answer 1

I am an American but have lived in Asian for most of my life and now live in China. I think the answer lies in that Americans are numbed by the media and the politicians to the extent that they do not think about the world around them. In emails to and from my American friends, I find that most do not understand some of the major issues of Asia, and I am sure elsewhere too. My own sister-in-law confessed that she knew nothing about the politics in Vietnam as she and my brother were too busy raising a family while some very unfriendly people shot at me. It would amaze me if 10% of the American public know where Guangzhou is, but virtually all Chinese know the city of Houston. If you mention the name Myanmar...DUH~!!!. I don't fault the schools, but do blame the teachers a bit for not creating the interest in world events, and I sure blame adults for being blind, deaf and dumb sheep being led by the media. On this 'forum', we see a plethora of questions, with many of them asked in candid fashion for information that is already at their finger-tips.But they haven't been told or taken to the river to drink. The worst country for trivial questions must be India for information about their own government when they too have a similar forum there. However, us foreigners (I consider myself more Asian than American) read and digest and consider the news, know far more geography and politics and even history than most Americans and a Middle School student here (7th grade level) would put his peer in America to shame with his knowledge of America, American History...and remember that more people in China speak English than in the US.

Answer 2

It's a good thing you don't live here isn't it! First of all, the rich control everything in the US just as they do everywhere- and most people here did not want Bush as president. The problem is, VOTES don't count! The electoral college, which is made up of other criminal politicians, votes in the president. The American people are very aware of how wrong our governments policies are, but what can the common people do? You need to step back and take a look at what you are saying, how can you sit there and be so critical of someone? Do you have first hand knowledge? Most Americans are aware of our society's faults, they just can't do anything about them! I think, for myself, that i am intelligent enough to know that the media brainwashes people here in the US and is biased toward the governments policies. But the average American does not think about forcing anyone to be like us, or bow to our government's policies. We simply live our lives just like anyone else. We hold down jobs and raise families. And if our children are so illiterate, then how do you dispute that America is one of the most technologically advanced countries? You obviously don't know what you are saying, you know very little about the common American. We have faults and we have good points, and most of us are content to be just who we are and live where we are, and not have the world be like us! You think Europe is so great, read your history and tell me if it's always been so perfect. Obviously people in other parts of the world have nothing better to do than HATE, and if it wasn't America it would be something else. Glad you people have an easy target!

Answer 3

It's interesting that you mentioned stereotypes because what you say is nothing but a big stereotype. If Americans are so ignorant and unthoughtful, how is it that we have most of the top universities in the world, and that the top students from all over the world dream of attending university in America?

First of all, how do you know how many Americans are asking thoughtful questions here and how many are displaying ignorance? Have you done a study and compiled statistics? How do you even know who is American and who isn't unless they actually say so?

Another point is you are seeing different kinds of samples from populations. Any American, regardless of education level, is likely to come here. However, as for Europeans, that is not the case. First of all, you would have to know English (which, in a country which does not speak English as their mother tongue, would imply a higher level of education), and you would have to be inclined to seek out discussion on a foreign website. Therefore, the type of people we have here from other countries is not going to be the same type of people you get from America. Does that mean that Europeans are on the whole more enlightened and intelligent? Not at all. If you were to open a similar site as this in a European country in their native language, the people there would exibit the same level of ignorance and apathy as you see here. By comparing Europeans and Americans here, you are comparing different segments of their respective populations. It's like comparing Yao Ming to Napoleon, and then concluding that Chinese people are much taller than French people.

Another point is culture. Americans don't like show-offs and know-it-alls. When we speak socially with others whom we don't know well, we prefer to talk about light-hearted topics such as sports or entertainment. It's not because we're stupid or that we don't care about serious issues, but rather because in our culture, if you're always trying to talk about "deep" things, you will often be seen as someone who thinks they know and understand everything. In other cultures, that's not the case.

Answer 4

Why don't Americans know about the world outside? That's a simple one to answer....... Americans, for the most part, think that their country is the only land that matters - they care not about the happenings of other people - because, in their minds, they are the "supreme" power. No land like land of the great USA!

Note this point - you are referring to your country as America, which is vastly incorrect. "America" refers to all that land of the Western Hemisphere which consists of North America, South America and Central America, and all THESE people are Americans!! The people who live in the so-called mighty USA really don't have a proper word or phrase to use to refer to themselves exclusively! They can't say North Americans because that term geographically would include Canada as well as it is an in-exclusive term. So, as a unified country, what is your nationality??? A person from Canada is a Canadian, a person from Guatemala is a Guatemalan; what is a person from the United States of America?

Why aren't you getting sufficiently deep answers from your own? Because the few who do follow world affairs are busy right now reading their international journals and books about what allows the people of say for example the country of Argentina, where although the wages are not high and the people are not your concept of rich, they are to an extent happy and satisfied!

"Americans" need to recognize and accept that the WORLD does not only include them - that it goes far beyond them.

By the way, have you ever noticed how hard your people of colour/immigrants (((which is a whole other paragraph coz you are ALL immigrants))) work so hard to preserve the culture and heritage of their native lands? Do you know why? Because your history is your sense of identity, which leads to a sense of belonging, pride and sovereignty. As AMERICANS, what is it that you hold on to???

Answer 5

America is mostly a country of the unbelievably stupid, naive and ignorant.

However, it has become rich and powerful because of a land rich in natural resources (taken with much bloodshed from the natives) and because of a small minority of brilliant scientists and intellectuals who are held in contempt by the majority who take advantage of their achievements.

America has been so provably wrong on so many issues it is absurd and they are too stupid to see it.

1. They now talk about solving the problems of the Middle East after voting in a president who initially said the rest of the world didn't matter to Americans (and wanted to pull out of the Palestinian/Israeli peace process- the Palestinian situation being a prime recruiting sergeant for terrorists)

2. They ignored the rest of the world who warned that they should take stock and plan before invading Iraq (and many of these supported eventual military action.

3. They said they don't believe in Global Warming (the fact that they would ignore their own Academy of Science shows how anti-intellectual they are).

Of course many want to become American-its like the kid at school who toadies to the school bully hoping for protection

Answer 6

Some Americans read between the lines. Media is a part of the story and we know that there are more than one side. There is a way to handle all situations, and bombing people is not the way. No matter what side you are on.

Answer 7

Most Americans have been brainwashed by their government and media. Even when i was living in my own country, our media was not as biased as what it is here in the states. I am just glad i made my wife who is American..realize what her government is doing to people such as herself. Yeah she is only person, but hey, if one more helps so be it.

it is obvious to me of the jewish influence in the states, has been for many many years.

Answer 8

I was with you right up until you got to the "Jewish media in Americans' minds".

What on Earth are you talking about? I'm both American AND Jewish, and had no idea up till this minute that there was some sort of conspiracy going on.

Please do let us in on it.

Answer 9

Because they donot use brain.