Judge the world yet only 20% Americans have been out of USA?

Originally posted by wcitizen
you have had the experience of being in a different culture, one still lives on one's own cultural bubble.

Taking a week vacation - living in hotels and eating restarant food - doesn't make someone a culture expert.

So are most of these blanket comments and stereotypes about Americans coming from people who haven't been to the US?

I've been to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Iceland, Norway, the UK, France, Italy, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE, Singapore, Austrailia and the Phillipines, all without a passport. The statement this thread is based upon is misleading. Untill recently, a passport wasn't required for Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. All of my travels were during my time in the Navy, when a passport wasn't required. I do have a passport, I obtained it when there was a possibility of my going to work in Kuwait in 1990, but I never went. When you take into consideration, the number of US citizens who have visited other countries, while members of the Armed Services, I believe the number would be higher than 20%. I would like to see comparative numbers for other countries.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
So are most of these blanket comments and stereotypes about Americans coming from people who haven't been to the US?

I think so..

As a Brit I'm glad to defend Americans, I've never found them to be any more or less ignorant then anyone else in the world, of course it helps that my girlfriend is from Massachusetts and I have spent a bit of time in New England

Reply to post by wcitizen

There's a pretty substantial "cultural" difference between some suit in NYC and a trapper in Louisiana and a farmer in Nebraska and a rancher in Wyoming and a yuppie in California.

So much so often times one cannot understand the other. I always get a kick out of subtitles being but on things because the audience cannot understand the version English being spoken by those on screen.

Just traveling 30 miles South in the same state is a different world.

Either you grossly overestimate the amount of homogenization or you grossly underestimate the massive size of the country. Maybe both.

Like the old USSR and China now. Different regions of the same country are completely alien to residents of said country.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

I wonder how that number compares per capita versus other countries?
I am sure it's pretty high.

I Agree

reply to post by PWDrifter


Actually, you do need a passport now to travel to Mexico or Canada as a U.S. citizen.

www.dhs.gov...

reply to post by pajoly


Yea, I know, The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative went into effect on June 1st, 2009. But...after looking up the the % of Americans with passports, 20% of Americans had Passports in 2006...3 years before the deadline. The US State Dept says the number as of 2009 was around 30%.

A purposeless post...with anti american feelings...don't tread on us...remember the past and you will be sorry...americans are the toughest/strongest people on the planet on average

Originally posted by PWDrifter
Well consider this, American Citizens don't need a passport to travel to Canada and Mexico, so unless american citizens are going abroad you really dont need a passport.

You didn't half make me laugh with the above statement. Well duh? As a passport is a travel document designed for use when 'going abroad' it is hardly surprising that you'd only need it going abroad. Oh and just to let you know, travelling from the US to Canada or Mexico IS abroad. It's not intercontinental travel but it is abroad.

That was a pretty slick way of demonstrating the OPs point precisely, and you being one of the 20% and all. Doh!

Also...

"Well consider this..." Many countries have similar agreements, it happens all over the world. One thing you can be sure of though is that in the modern western world the US is at the bottom of the passport owning chart. I'd expect 80%-ish to be the average across them all.

As for your other comments, you came across to me like some child in the playground.

OP I agree that this does highlight some hypocrisy, but its not a new phenomenon. Things are actually improving because when i was first aware of this statistic for the US the rate was 10%. But that was before they sold 400,000+ passports to Blackwater and sent millions of troops (that could be 5% just there) to over 800 military bases around the world in what i would guess is over 80 countries. I wonder how many foreign military bases exist inside the US?

There's hypocrisy on ATS too. In the last few days I've read a number of anti-British, anti-European and Europe-hating posts in current threads. These hate filled posts go unchecked by the staff and usually never challenged
by other members because it's not worth the grief you'll get if you do. BUT GOD FORBID you say anything bad about the US. They just don't get it. They can't see the hypocrisy that the rest of the world sees. They don't realise that their feelings, thoughts, emotions and reactions are not their own. The US government has been pre-eminent in the world at programming and mind controlling their population through entertainment and showbiz, so why on Earth would they need a passport?

It's often that I find myself asking the same question...

I'm far from worldly or traveled (...as an American), I've only lived in the US and been to Canada, and I don't technically have a passport, I have a passport card, that allows me to go to Canada and Mexico only.

I'm one of the few people I know who wants to travel everywhere *sigh* nobody undersands me...

angstangstangst

The cultures from state to state are surprisingly varried, take someone from Los Angeles and plop them in Eastern Kentucky (I used to live there so not knocking it). Just a "tiny" bit of difference there.

Still don't get the idea of just how much true culture people can get from traveling to tourist areas in any country for a week. Which I'm sure is a high percentage of travelers, most aren't going to do humanitary aid and bone up on internal issues of other coutries when they visit. The different types of food and beer give you an instant worldly view?

reply to post by blaenau2000


20% of all U.S. citizens is a very large demographic. Besides, I wouldn't make such a vast generalization by claiming that Americans "judge the rest of the world". In fact, it seems to be quite the opposite. The U.S. is always being looked upon in a judgemental light. Which isn't to say it is unwarranted, but again, you cannot lump us all into one catagory, or you are painting yourself with the same brush you are attempting to paint Americans with.

Also, apply the same logic to many of the other major countries and see what type of percentages you come up with. I'd be willing to bet it is at the very least, comparable.

( I haven't finished my coffee yet, so I may not have made my point clear with this post. But rest assured.....I most certainly have one. I think.)

reply to post by spookfish


HAHAHA your a loser

How can you judge the American people by the actions of their government? That would be likened to blaiming a Zek in a gulag of the Soviet Union, for the actions of his government. Look at the French people today. Marching in the streets by the millions, their government totally disregarding their wishes. The people are separate of their goverments.reply to post by blaenau2000

reply to post by blaenau2000


Simple, only 1/2 of that 20% or less actually judges the world, is a superpower and dictates others.

90% of America does not judge you nor your people.
90% of America does not feel like a super power and strugle with the ones that do "our masters".
90% of America do not dictate anything in there own lives let alone anyone elses.

You to do not run your country and nither do we. Most that live in the US hate what we are ruled by. So much we elected the first Black president. We wanted change, that is correct America wants change!

But our 2 party scam of a system prevents change so we are still screwed.

Originally posted by HUMBLEONE
How can you judge the American people by the actions of their government? That would be likened to blaiming a Zek in a gulag of the Soviet Union, for the actions of his government. Look at the French people today. Marching in the streets by the millions, their government totally disregarding their wishes. The people are separate of their goverments.reply to post by blaenau2000

 

Finally someone understands and can seporate the Masters from the slaves. I hate my gov and so does 80% of ATS, after all the gov is why ALL of us are here. Dig deep on 99% of the threads here and it is the gov or there influences.

There's hypocrisy on ATS too. In the last few days I've read a number of anti-British, anti-European and Europe-hating posts in current threads. These hate filled posts go unchecked by the staff and usually never challenged
by other members because it's not worth the grief you'll get if you do. BUT GOD FORBID you say anything bad about the US. They just don't get it. They can't see the hypocrisy that the rest of the world sees. They don't realise that their feelings, thoughts, emotions and reactions are not their own. The US government has been pre-eminent in the world at programming and mind controlling their population through entertainment and showbiz, so why on Earth would they need a passport?



I posted this question to find out what the americans thought about this statistic, but true enough some see this as a challenge? It seems this has upset a few, that was not my intention. I have been to L.A, Las Vegas, Florida, Chicago and NY and I love America and the people, I am on youre side. (Or i thought i was?)
But you Americans dont seem to realise the hypocrisy the world sees, and the dislike against the americans is growing in Europe, the Middle East and worryingly Asia.

reply to post by blaenau2000


It takes a lot of money to travel. That a lot of Americans don't have. Also, all the European countries are TINY and easy to get to if you life right next to them all.