At 01:49 PM 5/23/01 +1200, Kat Feete wrote:
>Dan Minette wrote:
>
> >Plus, I've regularly seen anger from you and Jeroen concerning things
> >American. Insulting food, culture, working habits, etc. Why are y'all so
> >angry?
>
>Actually, that's common here (New Zealand) too- anger/contempt for
>Americans. I found it sort of upsetting when I first got here. Then I saw
>how my fellow American exchange students were behaving and I forgave
>them....
>
>The general attitude seems to be that we Americans think we are the
>center of the world. We think we have the best food, the best culture,
>the best sports, the best *everything*- and not only that, we are
>determined to export our culture everywhere else and make sure everyone
>gets to share in our "superiority" whether they want to or not.
>Additionally, we think we're the only important ones, and we don't see
>any reason to learn anything about anyone else's country. To my shame,
>this seems to be rather true. I've learned more about Europe in the few
>months I've been here than I ever knew before, not to mention Asia, New
>Zealand, Australia, and (in a bizarre sort of way) the US. And we *are*
>pretty damn arrogant, when it comes right down to it, and we don't seem
>to have a lot of reason for it.
>
>I know this is rather a digression, but it's something that's been
>bugging me for a while now. Besides, I don't seem to have time to post to
>any of the other threads (which all seem to be some variation on
>hunt-the-authoritative-website) even though I'm following them....
It is strange, though, that for all the anger expressed toward the arrogant
Americans for forcing their culture on other counties, the people in those
countries demand and will pay a high price to imitate American culture (the
demand for blue jeans in Russia being a tiny example).
-- Ronn! :)
