I lived in Canada for almost three years. The news was filled with the goings-on of nearly every country. CNN was routinely international in coverage.

When I came back to the US after my work visa expired and was not renewed, I was shocked at the contrast. CNN International is available for four hours a day. The news rarely talks about what’s going on inside other countries.

Part of it might be the geography. European countries have each other as neighbors, and have for centuries. There’s always been awareness of ‘that other group, who’s not part of our country, but lives just over those hills’. We have Canadians and Mexicans, and in between we’ve got a truly ginormous landmass that’s all more Americans. I don’t think that there’s been the widespread awareness of other countries’ events as touching on American lives. That lack-of-immediacy feeds a contented myopia that can’t really be blamed on any one generation, and likewise can’t be quickly and easily changed.

I do know that posting a blanket statement like ‘why are Americans so stupid’ is not going to make people more aware of the world outside the US borders.

Well, to agree with the post. Americans are stupid. Not all- but SOME Americans are stupid.  I do not think because a person votes for a certain candidate its necessarily makes them a stupid person. Stupidity comes from being uninformed, regardless of which side that you are for, as long as our countries current situation is an interest of yours(for it should be for all) I give you all the credit you deserve.

  And to comment on the way that the media runs over 85% of the media (Television Based) is slanted towards the left wing* example: CNN, ABC, MSNBC, some worse than others Fox is the only network on TV that is targeted for the conservative.  If you look at talk radio (AM) it is dominated by the right wing, example: Rush, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly.

I guess it all depends on your methods of obtaining news coverage on the spin that you are going to recieve.

*as soon as I get home I will post the site that I got that statistic from but for now I have gotta go to class.(possibly “media watchdog”) but not too sure

Hmm. I think I’ll have to say I strongly disagree. Saying that Americans are stupid, while fun to say, is an oversimplification. I really don’t like Bush, but it isn’t the end of the world. I am thinking you may have fallen into a sloppy way of thinking that I myself have fallen victim to recently. It is possible for people to have a different viewpoint and (*shudder*) actually think that Bush is what is right for America and not be an idiot.

Ok, so why is there such a big difference in appeal of Bush in America vs abroad? I think I can take a stab at it.

TARGET AUDIENCE

The Republican Party and Bush supporters will try to appeal to a subsection of America. That means knowing what is important to their constituatants and focusing on that. Wander too much from the GOP’s target audience and people’s reactions can become quite negative. I think with the amendments for banning gay marriage on the ballot in 11 states and other issues important to the religious/conservative right, the voter turnout for Bush was higher that would have otherwise.

FOCUS ON THE DOMESTIC AGENDA

Bush and company have demonstrated that they don’t interact with other nations all that well. I’m sure B&C probably view Iraq and Afganistan as being a problem for America and therefore not really the business of other nations. With the 9/11 attacks, most people in the USA were pretty pissed. With Bush attacking Afganistan and Iraq, people saw something being done and I doubt most would have thought critically about whether it was the right decision or not. Sadly, many people still believe that WMD have been found in Iraq even though they haven’t.

IGNORE THE NEGATIVE

We all do it. When you are in love with a game, person, or ideology, you tend to ignore things that you find distastful. With the people who voted Bush into office, he appealed to them enough that they were able to overlook things that they may not have liked about him. Hmm, or, it could be that they also didn’t like Kerry enough.

SLOPPY THINKING

I think saying that the bulk of Americans are morons is a cheap way out. It is a sloppy way of thinking because if you allow yourself to believe that, it can come back to bite you when you find out people aren’t always as dumb as you think.

In the last few months I had been getting pretty depressed being around all the religious types. I allowed myself to think that since religion = superstition (IMHO), that people who believed that way were less smart and were dumb. It started affecting the way I interacted with people and became more and more cynical. Recently, my brother confronted me about it and I realized I was being a jerk (subtle mind you) and was getting pissed off. Since then I have been a bit more laid back and come to realize that just because people think differently, it doesn’t make them stupid.

Sorry if this comment wanders. I wrote it up quickly while at work.

Fascinating post. Perhaps my reaction, as an American (one of the 48% that *didn’t* vote for Bush) might lend you some insight.

Let’s just start with the title, as my defense mechanisms have just kicked in because some fruity foreigner has just called me stupid.  :0)

The irony of reading this on the American made and designed internet (Tim Berners-Lee), on what I’m sure you have typed on an American made computer has not escaped me. (btw, how are things in your country? Perfect, I suppose… I mean, why else would you feel free and arrogant enough to criticize the U.S.?)

I can go on with further innovations that came from America to make your life easier (cars, telephones, planes, all things electrical)... but we’re soooooo stupid, right?

Why stop there. Why not ask other poignant questions like:
1) Why are the French such fucking snobs?
2) Why do the British have such lousy teeth?
3) Why do the Germans still think they’re “all that”, even after every ass kicking?

Not much fun lumping individuals into a broad sterotype, is it?  That’s the American way.  I have successfully avoided all your charges by becoming defensive, returning the zingers right back, and proving that Ad Hominem attacks just don’t work.

Thus ends today’s sociology lesson.  :0)
(Not that I think a retarded Euro-PEE-an will get it.)

The irony of reading this on the American made and designed internet (Tim Berners-Lee), on what I’m sure you have typed on an American made computer has not escaped me.

Tim Berners-Lee is BRITISH! The Internet as a whole may have started with ARPANET but the World Wide Web was developed at CERN a EUROPEAN organisation. Were you actually trying to prove that Americans are completely mis-informed about a great many things!?

Thanks for the feedback, all.  I didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers- I was just overreacting a bit to the bad news, which will have consequences here too.

To respond to -=e=-: I do like fruit- does that make me fruity?  And I feel at least partially qualified to claim Americans are stupid, being one myself.  True, I’ve lived in Austria for a long time now, so maybe some of that Euro-pee-an retardedness has rubbed off on me.  And I love America and Americans (well at least Californians), and the snooty Viennese often drive me up the wall.  And things are far from perfect here- there are 23 Burger Kings in Vienna alone, and now there’s a Starbucks too, not to mention reruns of Sabrina.

Yes, many wonderful inventions came from America, but not cars or computers or all things electrical- the first cars were European (unclear which particular invention should take the prize, probably one of the Germans), the first programmable electronic computer was built in England, designed by Alan Turing (English), and capacitors (one of many things electrical) by a Dutchman, Pieter van Musschenbroek.

  Of course, this is all beside the point, and could be quibbled with (Ford cars, IBM computers, and electric swizzle sticks are truly Americn innovations).  Nor do I believe the famed Yankee ingenuity has died out, although as my brother remarked upon reading (at least twenty years ago) that there were, for the first time, more lawyers than engineers in the US: “we’re in deep shit now”.

Just keep those zingers coming.

A funny discussion! For me, it’s not about stupid or clever americans or europeans. Correct me, but I think the average american lives too isolated in America. I’m living as a german in Italy, in a town with a big port. I have friends from Africa, from France, Russia and Ucraine, I met seafarers every day, we speak german, english, spanish and italian - so it’s normal that you can “wide” your view about the world around you. I like the american way to solve problems, I hate the burocratism here in Europe, but I enjoy the live here in Europe, because moving half a day by car I’m in another country with different attitudes, which make live interesting.

being that i’m both american and voted for bush, i must be really stupid, so i’d better comment on this one.

we’ve had a sociology lesson, so now it’s time for our psychology lesson.  welcome to psy 3711: intro to individual differences.  there are two factors, as i am sure you are all aware, that influence i.q.  the first of which is genetics.  the second of which is environment.  it is generally accepted that they have about an equal effect on the trait i.q.  being that we are all from roughly the same gene pool, we’re going to have to ignore this first variable, genetics.  now we are left only with environment.

europe has significantly less land mass than american.  countries have existed sardine-style for hundreds of years.  it is true that europeans think on a broader scale.  they’ve been trying to live in close proximity with each other for centries and have only managed to spawn two world wars and a myriad of other wars that have created countless numbers of dead bodies.  i guess they’re successful, since they haven’t turned the whole continent into one very large glass parking lot.

on the other hand, here in the states, we only have two close neighbors to deal with.  canada -which many consider to be another state- and mexico.  neither one of these countries has a major impact on most americans lives, not to mention countries that are thouseands of miles away.  so why should they care?  the average joe is trying to provide for his wife and screaming kids and doesn’t want to take the time to concern himself with what is going on half a world away.  for him, it just isn’t that important.  now, maybe he’s narrow-minded, but i’m sure he really doesn’t care if you feel that way.

anyway, i’m getting off track and don’t care to go back and fix it.  i do wish to leave you with one question to ask yourself:

-if we’re so stupid, why is it that half the world wants to be like us?

Now that the election is over and I’m having the opportunity to talk with republicans about other issues than the election, I’m finding that many of them have views that are in line with Kerry’s platform.

Obviously there were a few polarizing issues, such as abortion, but they weren’t considered to deal breakers in the election process.

Now, these people aren’t stupid by any definition of the word so I began to wonder how we can have such similar views and fall on opposite sides.

The reason, I believe, is that people were entrenched in one party early on in the electoral process and all Bush really needed to do to win was to ensure that wedge remained firmly in place.  A vast majority of Americans fell to either Bush or Kerry only by a slight margin and remained there because of chasm that was established before Kerry was ever the democratic front-runner.

I’ll be damned… Mr. Berners-Lee IS British. I just figured he was so smart he was American. 

Nah, No feathers were ruffled here.  I was trying (badly) to demonstrate the American mentality. How we get defensive when an outside party criticizes us. The problem here in America (and really the whole world) is that people do a lot of talking and very little listening.  Here in America people were painted with broad strokes based on their choices (if you were for Kerry you were a “leftist immoral traitor” for Bush you were a “religious kook nazi”).  In my opnion, Bush put out a simpler message, and the public responds better with 30 second soundbites. And in the end, he (barely) won.

Fact is Americans don’t think like Europeans. Europeans don’t think like Arabs… ad infinitum. And I definitely think the group is right about how our isolationism plays a very large part in that.

When 9/11 hit, I heard for the first time the very harsh world view of Americans on MetaFilter. It was hard to listen to all that.  We have Network news that has thrown objective reporting out the window in favor of corporate interest and ratings.

Since then, the internet has made me wiser to world views… I hope other Americans will turn off Fox one day and get their news from intenational sources.

Hopefully one day, we will listen more than we speak.

Well it would have help if Bush supporters would have correctly identify Bush’s positions on issues.

In particular, majorities or Bush supporters incorrectly assumed that he supports multilateral approaches to various international issues, including the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) (69 percent), the land mine treaty (72 percent), and the Kyoto Protocol to curb greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming (51 percent).

In August, two thirds of Bush supporters also said they believed that Bush supported the International Criminal Court (ICC), although in the latest poll, that figure dropped to a 53 percent majority, even though Bush explicitly denounced the ICC in the most widely watched nationally televised debate of the campaign in late September.

Source: Three of Four Bush Supporters Still Believe in Iraqi WMD, al Qaeda Ties

Of course more Fox News watchers were likely to be wrong about facts concernig the war in Iraq. Those of us who watch the supposed “liberal” stations or that supposed “mouthpiece for Marxist/Leninist ideology,“ NPR, had opinions that were actually based in reality. Fox watchers were conviced that things that could easily be proven false were, in fact, true.

Source: PIPA Media Report (PDF)

P.S. It isn’t Mr. Berners-Lee. It is SIR Berners-Lee. He was knighted by the Queen of England.

I’ve hear’d tell of ther bein’ other countries but I reckon they don’t relly eggzist nary way. Not in any way that matters t’nohow.

Come to tell again, I’ve hear’d mention of Vienna (is that there spelt good?) cause they make them canned sausage thingies. Yep, that Vi’een’a Sausage is might good on a cracker. Thank ya muchly, Mr. furiner for them. I’ve had me more than a few in my day. Yes sir and howdy!

They law, it’s done cloudin’ up agin! We’s a fixin to have a real drenchin’ of a downpoor.

Well, I gotta git! Ya’ all stop in when ya kin and stay a spell, ya hear?

being that i’m both american and voted for bush

That’s redundant. How could you have voted at all if you weren’t an American citizen?

-if we’re so stupid, why is it that half the world wants to be like us?

That’s a joke, right? Or do you honestly believe that?

Yanks aren’t stupid per se. They just lack subtlety and a sense of irony, particularly in large groups.

Brock,

ROFL.  That’s a damn good accent.  Those are sometimes pretty hard to render in written language, but you do a pretty good job.

‘Furiner.‘  LOL. 

Geekmom tried to prod me into tossing my 0.02 Euro into the fray, with partial success.

Upon reflection and some soul-searching, I am forced to conclude that people are stupid and easily seduced. The only differences are the individual and collective blind spots.

The one remaining question I have is whether it takes a larger mob of Americans or Europeans to achieve that peculiar critical mass where the resulting group is denser than its dumbest member.

Grey, looks like you and I are the lone conservatives on this site.

Actually there are many people that are trying to get into our country everyday. The blanket statement of “everyone” was a bit broad, but there are actually some people that would like to be a part of “the American way” To escape from the worse situations in other countries. And you have to refrain from using the statement “Americans are stupid” because it is simply not true, you are going to run into ignorance in every country.

Let me tell you all, why I voted for Bush. I do not claim to be Einstein and I know that since I did not vote for Kerry all of you think I am dumb, but I consider myself to be sufficiently informed.

I think that the terrorist attacks were a big part of my decision.  I looked at the fact that since 9/11 there have been no more attacks here in the United States. I believe in tax breaks for everyone, not just the rich. I think that Bush is a religious man, and think he is of good morals, better morals than Kerry anyway. I also think that we can trust Bush, he always does exactly what he says he is going to do. 

I also believe in stronger states rights. Lets take some of the power out of Washington DC, because we all know how hard it is to make the federal government smaller. How often do you hear of a federal program being cut?

Liberal’s idea of helping people is by making them dependent on Federal government programs. The more people they have dependent on federal programs the larger their constituency grows. Then they frighten the voters into thinking that the big-bad-scary-cowboy-crazy-republicans are going to cut these people’s hand-outs. Wean is the word that I choose to use.

I did agree with some of Kerry standings, I am not pro-life, I am pro-choice. I hated the fact that Kerry was such a flip-flopper, and no one could deny that! I think that if there was a better candidate and the Iraqi war was not such a pressing issue I could possibly be swayed.

I stand libertarian on some issues also, like legalizing marijuana.

Yep, Bush is stopping post 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Homer Simpson: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm.
Lisa Simpson: That’s specious reasoning, Dad.
Homer: Thank you, dear.
Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.
Homer: Oh, how does it work?
Lisa: It doesn’t work.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: It’s just a stupid rock.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: But I don’t see any tigers around, do you?
[Homer thinks of this, then pulls out some money]
Homer: Lisa, I want to buy your rock.
[Lisa refuses at first, then takes the exchange]

Well Nicki, I think you are the first Person that has described in simple decent manner why you have voted for Bush.

I am not american and therefore I am not a democrat or a republican. I believe most of the shit discussed here that has happened in the world…Has happenned While Bush was president. And that cannot be good.

He’s all talk.

The second you engage combat, You are no longer religious. Regardless of what anybody says.

And attacking a country to “liberate it” is not an act of self defense.

He lost the 3 debates prior to the election. Surely the president should have done better.

He was SURE about WMD…now he blames it on bad information.

Has ties with the family of public ennemy #1.

What more do you need?

It looks like the united states is creating its future ennemies.

Oh! and I remember when I was a kid, The U.S. were selling weapons to the ennemy. WOW…

How about bombing yourself to get support from the population. That’s when hollywood becomes reality !!!! Ha !

No but seriously, The world is going back to medieval crusade conflict mode and he is not helping.

The U.S. is not liberating Iraq….

It is setting up command for the next fight. Every 10 years there is a fight.

The world is starting to know that little routine and doesn’t fall for it anymore.

That is why a lot of people think some americans are stupid.

Then they frighten the voters into thinking that the big-bad-scary-cowboy-crazy-republicans are going to cut these people’s hand-outs.

While those same cowboy republicans frighten people by saying the terrorists will do something worse if a liberal is in office. 

That is why a lot of people think some americans are stupid.

  Think?  Hell, I KNOW some Americans are stupid.  And still alive only b/c it’s illegal to kill them.  Then there are some Americans who are intelligent and wise.  It takes longer to educate a person than it does for Cheney to say the terrorists are going to kill us if Kerry gets elected.

You just have to realize that the news is going to show whoever was more entertaining while they described the sound the tornado made when it hit the trailer park.

Just wanted to see if the Gravatar thing worked

Guess not

Its not that most of the world wants to BE America, they just like American movies. Bush is a better actor than Kerry (according to Norman Mailer).
Americans, indeed everybody, falls for a good line.
Kerry wasn’t convincing. OBL was fairly convincing as an opponent.  (Turns tall buildings to bad smelling smoke in a trice) Obviously the USA has to go and bomb the shit out of someone. Not enough targets in Afghan. Bad Luck Fallujah. 
As an educated,non USA, person, I deplored GW’s dyslexia. I sided with the 40 Nobel Scientists who said GW was perverting science. I sided with Kennedy Jnr who said that GW had the worst environmental record.
These are not deciding issues for un-educated voters.

ben -it’s not redundant.  i could have voted for kerrry.  they may not want to be like us, but they sure do love our movies, tv shows, zippos, levi jeans, cowboy boots, etc.

nicki -glad i’m not alone on this weblog.

Very funny GB.  Seriously, it’s not that everyone wants to be American, they want the American comfy lifestyle and money and walmart and such.  Keep in mind, the people who want this have a far lower standard of living than Americans—you’ll rarely find people in so-called developed countries waxing wistful on Americans’ standard of living.

Bush said he would do a lot of things he hasn’t done.  What about putting democracy in Iraq?  Catching OBL?  What about the WMD lie?

As for terrorist attacks, what do you mean?  There have been many attempts since 9/11 by Al Qaeda groupies.  I don’t think Bush can really prevent terrorism.  I don’t think anyone can.

Y’all gotta check out the Kurt Vonnegut book Bluebeard.  In it an older man tries to explain the realities of the world to the young narrator as he is about to depart for New York and possibly later Paris.  He explains that the europeans just got through with killing each other not to long ago and what they are really waiting for is the opportunity to get back to killing each other. 

Just because America has been the largest factor in many of the most public recent wars we are far from gaining the award for national all time high score in butchery, chaos and mayhem.

I also voted for Kerry buy smug europeans making outrageous statements make me a little crazy.