Quote:
Originally Posted by Bilbo1967
Right, this thread (I think) is about cultural differences. Perhaps a summary of what I (as an Englishman) know to be true about Americans would help here.
All Americans are:
Arrogant
Obsessed by money and celebrity
Extremely right wing politically
Stupid
Fat
Gun owners
Rude
Self-obsessed
Now, clearly this is nonsense - but I think a lot of UK people really do believe the above (or a large part of it). Perhaps it would be good to explore why some of the above points are commonly held as stereotypes? Are there/were there elements of truth in there or is it just pure xenophobia (perhaps a mixture of the two?).
Perhaps also an American member could let us have a similar list from the US perception of people from the UK (yeah, go on, we can take it!).
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That attitude is repeated almost constantly in our media output also. On no less than two seperate occasions this week (Radio 4 and BBC2) I have heard the "Americans are stupid" stereotype repeated, which gained a raucous crowd reaction both times.
Maybe we should all stop thinking of ourselves as from here or there, and instead embrace everything from everywhere? My cultural upbringing has as much to do with the media I consumed as the place where I was raised, so maybe that's an approach. Instead of division along cultural lines, maybe inclusion along what is similar and admirable?
Just a thought.