Why are Americans??

Question

Thought of as stupid, what is the reason why people think Americans are dumb??

Answer 1

because they are not interested in other cultures and world news, in learning languages....

Answer 2

If a village idiot behaves like a village idiot then he is one.

PS note to shirley. Americans did not invent everything you say. Have a good look at the UK and our record on inventions and understand that you yanks bought our brains and the brains of other countries to work for your big companies when we were going through the pain of rebuilding our lives after the second world war which decimated europe but hardly touched the good old USA.
On the subject of aid to other countries, the UK is usually in the front line, just as we are with you when there is a conflict and we are a small island. You were not too fast coming into the second world war - a touchy subject for most yanks and we had to pay you for the priviledge - where did our bases and overseas holdings go? How much did your warships cost us? Yes you saved us from going under but only because you didn't want a war on two fronts and preferred to prop us up whilst you dealt with the japs. You didn't fancy your chances against germany and japan.
Check the real history books because we know the reality and understand that we will be dumped if you yanks think its better for you. Have you ever travelled outside the USA and seen the world?
God save us from america.

PPS.
Go to it guys but have a thought for shirley, I think she's had enough!!

Answer 3

Because of stereotyping... people assume that all Americans refuse to leave their country and go out and explore... this is not true. I am the result of an American woman moving into Britain, running after a British guy whom she met a while back on a bus heading for North Dakota. I've been to a lot of countries personally (mostly Europe and Africa, and a little bit more elsewhere...), and when I was a teen I went to a fine school in Britain and learnt a great deal about life, the universe and everything.
So yeah. Stereotypes. Typical of folks who don't bother to look into culture.

Answer 4

Shirly,

the truth is, Americans are highly brilliant when they want to be and if they work hard, but the problem is, mainstream pop culture in this country is dumbing down the youth. What I mean by the pop culture I mean, Hollywood, MTV, the music industry and bias media that spew Left-wing illogical ideas into the head of America's youth. Liberals like "my_alternate_mind" try to avoid the fact that idiots like Eminem and others in the music industry are brainwashing the youth to believing that we live in a horrible country that is runned by a raving lunatic. The fact is, liberals and the elite media of the left such as HBO and MTV that pander to Hollywood's weird, uncultured, il-informed, tabloid crazed bullshit are responsible for the dumbing of our nation. Until Americans start thinking for themselves and stop allowing these popculture media based conglomerates dictate to them "what is and what isn't", Americans will always have this bad name. There is was even a book written about this sort of nonsense; not by liberal or a conservative, but by a hard fact, political commentator who made aware of the the top worst people in America who dumb down our youth and naive. People like Michael Moore and Eminem. Even in our College and University campuses, radical left professors tell lies and impose their anti-American and radical left Ideals that don't even add up to anything intelligent. Because in the end all they are are just opinions and not facts. So, the only way to end this undermining stereotype, people here have to stop buying into this liberal media, popculure, Hollywood crazed ideology that this constantly force fed to our nation!

And yes Shirly, I'm not a liberal but I'm not a conservative either. But I will say that the number of lies that come from mainstream derive from the left such as the Democrats, Hollywood and the music industry. And who are the main consumers of these conglomerates? The youth!

Answer 5

we do some dumb things in America. You don't hear about Canada going into a war when it has nothing to do with them, DO you? and the US would rather spend all of it's money on looking good and paying it's celebs millions a year, than spending it on the education of the future. I understand why we are called dumb Americans. Money is number one here, then intelligence. Go Figure. Don't you need the intelligence to get more money later... And there u have it!

Answer 6

I think there are stupid people in all countries. However I do think Shirley isn't too bright (but she's not representative of all Americans). How on earth can Shirley say that Americans invented everything?
Did you event literature the ability to write?
Did you invent penicillin?
Did you invent surgery?
Did you invent the sewer system?
Did you invent the means to forge iron?
Did you invent democracy?

And even the negative inventions: did you invent gunpowder? Did you invent the A-bomb? I could be here all night.

Answer 7

when you ask "why are Americans thought of as tupid...?" i take it you mean people from the U.S.A or are you including Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians etc? as U.S citizens count for the majority of americans that ive met i have to agree that you do come across as very stupid. i mean you voted a man into power who didnt have a passport until months before he got the jobwhicj kind of makes you think worrying thoughts, i know im only a normal bloke who hasnt seen that much of the world but atleast ive traveled a little bit and met people from all over the world but mr bush doesnt really inspire much confidence does he? theres also the herd mentality people from the U.S have, on their own they're ok but as soon as 3 or 4 get together they come across as all loud and uncultured. also when i was in australia i hear of a yank who had got a job in Darwin, in the northern territory of australia and gone and bought all this winter clothing and ski equipment because he thought australia was in europe...how do you mix up australia with austria? to make thing worse he was worced for the C.I.A!!!

Answer 8

i was born and raised in the united states and am well travelled(europe, SA, Asia)
and unfortunately most americans are very dumb regarding current events, geography, philosophy, math, languages, and especially art.
this mostly has to do with socioeconomic background where you have the bottom 50% are complete morons with the top half being a bit smarter, just better polished
gererally, i believe in the USA only the rich and foreigners(educated foreigners) have a clue whats going on internally and externally

Answer 9

i'm not saying all americans are stupid, in fact some are very clever but i would agree with the steriotype that they are ignorant, naive and generally stupid. i base this on interviews and documentaries on tv and things i know about american culture.
for example americans buy lots of guns and defend there right to have guns, yet more people die from being shot in america than any other developed country.

Answer 10

Not by Americans! Only by nations that are jealous of our achievements.. Where did the inventions come from?
The automobile, airplane, telegraph, sewing machine, photographs. The list is endless. Everything all inventions came from Americans. From the assembly line to computers.
So why do you think Americans are stupid. Actually, it is the other countries that are stupid. We have the highest standard of living in the world. Who sends help to all other countries?
Africa would have all starved to death long ago with out the help from the Americans. All the countries want to comdem us but when you have a natural diaster who is the one you ask for help?
Where does most help come from? Generous Americans.
When Madonna was so comdemed for trying to adopt an African baby it was never told that because of her millions of dollars in donations they even have an orphanage in Africa.
Opray Winfrey has also donated millions of dollars in aid.
So they only ones who think of Americans as dumb are less educated people who don't know the facts.

Answer 11

Shirley -

Sure, Americans have all those inventions, but have they made our lives really that much better? As animals, are humans *meant* to live in little boxy houses with artificial heat/air conditioning eating food that has very little nutritional content in it, etc.? No. As a human race, we know an awful lot and have very little to show for it. A lot of the inventions you cited are destroying the planet which, in short, means that we as humans are destroying our home. It's like every time you walk into your house, you remove a nail from your stairs. It doesn't look like a lot NOW, but pretty soon someone is going to fall right through the stairs are hurt themselves.

As for providing aid to other countries: why are we, as a country, providing aid when we can't provide for everyone in *this* country? I feel like a lot of the countries we provide aid to is because we went and tooled around in there and f&cked them up. That's not jealousy and envy, it's anger. It is imposing *our* culture and *our* way of thinking into a place that was existing just freaking fine without us. Another example: Let's say you eat meat. That is like your neighbors from down the street/hall who are vegetarians coming into your house and throwing away all your meat and products which have meat in them, THEN hanging around and trying to teach to you forget about eating meat because they found it to be an atrocious lifestyle. That is what we are doing by providing aid, we're just messing with other people's cultures.

EDIT: Dan L, nowhere have I even come close to avoiding that MTV and HBO and Eminem are not in part responsible for the dumbing down of United States Americans. In fact, would you be surprised to find out that a "liberal like me" actually agrees with you? It is the consumerism which is a result of the things you listed which are contributing to the dumbing down as well - it seems that there is no pride in having a good education but in having a 60g iPod or a poorly made shirt from Abercrombie with the company name needlessly emblazed across the front. THAT is what is dumbing down this country.

As for the illogical left-wing spew from higher education campuses across the nation: correct me if I am wrong, but isn't there just as much illogical right-wing spew to counter it? You claim to be moderate, neither liberal nor conservative. That is respectable - everything in moderation, politics included. But, you then continued to critisize the left-wing liberal spew with nothing else to back it up all accompanied by a very noticable lack of criticizing the right-wing spew. If you were truly moderate, I believe you would recognize illogical spew when you saw it and it seems that you do not.

No one agenda could possibly be at fault for the dumbing down of this country no matter how bad you believe liberals or conservatives are. If the liberals are dumbing us down through the media, then aren't the conservatives (and No Child Left Behind) dumbing us down in the classroom (where education SHOULD take place, as opposed to in front of the TV)?

Moreover, just as a point of clarification, what are politics than just glorified opinions? It is your opinion that the media is making our youth dumb. That is valid. It has it's faults in it just as any opinion does. However, our youth are also legally required to be in school until the age of 16 (I believe). So, from ages about 5-16, they are kept day in and day out, in an institution which is meant solely for education. If our youth are dumb, or ignorant, or don't give a sh&t - logically, who is to be more at fault: the television (which is, believe it or not, a luxury) or education (which is a legal obligation)? While your opinion is valid in and of itself, as it is an opinion and however inflammatory or illogical some may be, it has validity in that it is an opinion, but did do you expect MTV, a cultural void which is aimed at 12 year olds, or HBO, a network which shows movies, or Eminem, who makes music which makes parents nervous (but some of his non-radio played songs do make social commentaries, such as "White America") are the things that are responsible for our youth being dumb? Please, I appreciate opinions, but I also appreciate some thought being put in to them.