

Ten things the average American doesn't know about America - chunky1994
http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/10-things-most-americans-dont-know-about-america/

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usaar333
I found most of the points either to be well known or somewhat false:

1\. Obvious toward an individual. Though most of the world familiar is
interested in America.

2\. Obvious

3\. Obvious and applies to all countries. How many people in X country would
know where Sudan is?

4\. "Poor" is highly opinionated; that we are on the "cold" side of affection
is also comparing America to a limited set of cultures. I could find plenty of
cultures (Middle East, East Asia come to mind) where telling a random women "
a) I wanted to meet her, and b) she’s beautiful" would creep the hell out of
her.

5\. By world standards, the qualify of life for the average American is
awesome. I'll admit it looks less great compared to other developed nations.

6\. No one in the US thinks other developed nations are crap. But it's being
intellectually dishonest to claim that the quality of life for the average
person in a developing nation (e.g. Cambodia) is on par with America.

7\. Maybe. Another case of selecting certain examples. Counties like say China
are on par with or less friendly than America. A stranger in China inviting
you to a BBQ? 50% chance trying to scam you.

8\. As someone who's spent time in East Asia, the idea that America has some
insane consumer culture is laughable.

9\. Sure, by developed country standards, the US looks bad. By world
standards? pretty good.

10\. Hardly unique to America

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nickff
I agree with all these points, and it seems like the article should have been
"Ten Unsupported Opinions the Average American Doesn't Share with Me".

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nemothekid
I thought I was having extreme deja vu because I've read this before, but the
the article was dated May 8th.

Turns out I'm not a time traveler, the story was republished from the post
masculine, which was posted July 10th, 2012.

<http://postmasculine.com/america>

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digitalsushi
"The American public is becoming docile and complacent. We’re obese and
entitled. When we travel, we look for giant hotels that will insulate us and
pamper us rather than for legitimate cultural experiences that may challenge
our perspectives or help us grow as individuals."

I am lame like this. I go on a vacation and then look for chain restaurants
and hotels I have across the street back home. I have no idea how to bust out
of this. It pegged me. It got me right. Sigh.

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Millennium
This article blurs the line between fact and opinion rather heavily: its list
of "ten things" is, arguably, evenly split between the two.

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Baustin
Yeah, it's a blog post. It's not based in science or excruciatingly fact-
checked. It's just one guy's slightly cynical take on American culture.

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voidlogic
Some are good points, but others seem entirely depending on the view of the
culture passing judgement. For example, the remark about Anglo culture being
seen as "cold and passionless" by Latin cultures is meaningless. The Latin
cultures are seen by Anlgo cultures as "uncomfortably and inappropriately
intimate". Just ask any American or British woman who has visited Italy and
has had random men talk to them.

I find the empirically verifiable statements, like those on health, or
economics much more interesting.

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waylandsmithers
Should be retitled, "Ten things I think about America"

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ianstallings
Thank you oh wise one for enlightening me.

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kunai
Most of these are painfully obvious, but number 7 really rings true. I don't
think any media in any other country is as hysterical and quick to judge as
the media is in the United States, which results in a mass wave of delusion
and fear.

It's the reason we have the TSA. It's the reason people think that .22 caliber
AR-15s are designed for use in war theaters (if they were, Iraq would have
obliterated the United States). It's the reason people think that 3D printers
are going to be legislated to death (they're not, chill out people.)

The same goes for 8, 9, and 10, but I would argue that 10 applies to many
other countries besides the United States, even if the U.S. is the biggest
offender.

Look at Japan. The home of zen, origami, bonsai, meditation, and a host of
martial arts, now being abstracted from that culture due to complacency.

The same is happening in Europe, although on a smaller scale.

