Topic: Things Americans do not know about the world.
Anonymous A started this discussion 9 years ago #65,636
1. The US is not the only democratic country in the world. Not the most democratic country either.
This is what democracy looks like in parts of Switzerland:
Landsgemeinde - Wikipedia - and guess what? The people tend to vote for what’s best for the country, even if it isn’t what’s best for them personally.
2. “Socialism” isn’t an “on” or “off” switch.
It’s more like a volume regulator where neither the “0%” nor the “100%” position is usually the best setting. Just because a proposed solution could be called “socialist” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing (nor does it necessarily mean it’s a good thing).
3. Even problems that seem the same on the surface are not necessarily even similar.
For example, a Swiss person who thinks immigration needs to be restricted usually thinks of the fact that there’s just not that much space in the country (population density: 523.2 per square mile) and taking in more people would mean having to replace a national park with skyscrapers or something.
Obviously, someone in a country with plenty of unused space (US population density: 90.6 per square mile) is talking about something else when calling for restrictions on immigration.
4. Even a good thing won’t necessarily work the same in other parts of the world.
Very obviously, the American system works for America, and is far from the worst in the world. It doesn’t mean that it would work equally well in other parts of the world. A country like Iraq doesn’t want the American system imposed on them any more than most Americans would want Iraq’s system imposed on them. Even if a system seems “obviously better” (and certainly is better for you), that doesn’t mean it’ll be better for everyone else, or that it should be imposed on “primitives” for their own sake.
And someone who doesn’t want some aspect of your system imposed on his country doesn’t necessarily hate you or want to take that aspect of the system away from you.
Even someone who hates some aspect of your country doesn’t necessarily hate your country as a whole (and almost certainly doesn’t hate you as a person just because you happen to come from that country).
5. The rest of the world is much less monolithic than you’re thinking.
Africa is not a country (neither is there an “African” language). Switzerland isn’t Sweden, Austria isn’t Australia, Slovenia isn’t Slovakia. There is no “Indian” language (India has many languages that aren’t even similar to each other). Even a small country like Switzerland (less than 8 million inhabitants) has 4 official languages (and just because Geneva speaks French doesn’t mean everyone in Zurich can even understand French). Iran is nothing like Iraq (not even their languages are similar).
6. Most of the world thinks in meters, grams and Celsius.
And miles, feet and inches are officially called the Imperial system (for historic reasons). Someone calling them that is not accusing you of imperialism, nor does he hate you.
7. In most parts of the world, it is much harder to strike up a conversation.
In many parts of the world, it’s simply unusual to strike up a conversation with a random stranger, for no obvious reason.
If you get on a train or bus in Switzerland and the person sitting next to you ignores you completely, that person doesn’t hate you, isn’t being unfriendly and it doesn’t even mean he can’t understand you or is an extreme introvert. He’s just doing what people do around here.
8. You think your country is dog friendly? Think again…
In many countries (Switzerland, Austria, most of Germany, Italy, …), it’s highly unusual if a restaurant or hotel does NOT allow its customers to bring their dogs. Many will even give the dog a bowl of water without anyone asking for it.
9. Getting lots of funding for just an idea is much harder in many other countries
Especially in Silicon Valley, it’s not all that unusual for a startup to start out with nothing but an idea and several millions in VC funding.
In the rest of the world, it’s much harder to get funding without having something working. If you want to launch a startup and you do manage to find an investor, the “investment” frequently comes in the form of a high-interest loan to be repaid within a few years.
The reason why most “next big things” come out of Silicon Valley and a few other places is not that the rest of the world lacks “crazy ideas” or the skills to implement them - we’re having a harder time getting them funded and marketed.
There was a Swiss company building an e-Reader a few years before they made it to the mass market, and there was a German company building a PVR some time before Tivo - they went out of business having to repay the loans.
10. You’re being exposed to propaganda
Propaganda is not unique to any country, and no country is exempt from it. The media do not always tell the full story. Not the Russian media, but also not the US media.
If you want to get a real impression on what is going on in e.g. Crimea, take a look at both US media and Russian media. Subtract the propaganda from both sides, take what remains. It’s usually somewhere in the middle.
This is what democracy looks like in parts of Switzerland:
Landsgemeinde - Wikipedia - and guess what? The people tend to vote for what’s best for the country, even if it isn’t what’s best for them personally.
2. “Socialism” isn’t an “on” or “off” switch.
It’s more like a volume regulator where neither the “0%” nor the “100%” position is usually the best setting. Just because a proposed solution could be called “socialist” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing (nor does it necessarily mean it’s a good thing).
3. Even problems that seem the same on the surface are not necessarily even similar.
For example, a Swiss person who thinks immigration needs to be restricted usually thinks of the fact that there’s just not that much space in the country (population density: 523.2 per square mile) and taking in more people would mean having to replace a national park with skyscrapers or something.
Obviously, someone in a country with plenty of unused space (US population density: 90.6 per square mile) is talking about something else when calling for restrictions on immigration.
4. Even a good thing won’t necessarily work the same in other parts of the world.
Very obviously, the American system works for America, and is far from the worst in the world. It doesn’t mean that it would work equally well in other parts of the world. A country like Iraq doesn’t want the American system imposed on them any more than most Americans would want Iraq’s system imposed on them. Even if a system seems “obviously better” (and certainly is better for you), that doesn’t mean it’ll be better for everyone else, or that it should be imposed on “primitives” for their own sake.
And someone who doesn’t want some aspect of your system imposed on his country doesn’t necessarily hate you or want to take that aspect of the system away from you.
Even someone who hates some aspect of your country doesn’t necessarily hate your country as a whole (and almost certainly doesn’t hate you as a person just because you happen to come from that country).
5. The rest of the world is much less monolithic than you’re thinking.
Africa is not a country (neither is there an “African” language). Switzerland isn’t Sweden, Austria isn’t Australia, Slovenia isn’t Slovakia. There is no “Indian” language (India has many languages that aren’t even similar to each other). Even a small country like Switzerland (less than 8 million inhabitants) has 4 official languages (and just because Geneva speaks French doesn’t mean everyone in Zurich can even understand French). Iran is nothing like Iraq (not even their languages are similar).
6. Most of the world thinks in meters, grams and Celsius.
And miles, feet and inches are officially called the Imperial system (for historic reasons). Someone calling them that is not accusing you of imperialism, nor does he hate you.
7. In most parts of the world, it is much harder to strike up a conversation.
In many parts of the world, it’s simply unusual to strike up a conversation with a random stranger, for no obvious reason.
If you get on a train or bus in Switzerland and the person sitting next to you ignores you completely, that person doesn’t hate you, isn’t being unfriendly and it doesn’t even mean he can’t understand you or is an extreme introvert. He’s just doing what people do around here.
8. You think your country is dog friendly? Think again…
In many countries (Switzerland, Austria, most of Germany, Italy, …), it’s highly unusual if a restaurant or hotel does NOT allow its customers to bring their dogs. Many will even give the dog a bowl of water without anyone asking for it.
9. Getting lots of funding for just an idea is much harder in many other countries
Especially in Silicon Valley, it’s not all that unusual for a startup to start out with nothing but an idea and several millions in VC funding.
In the rest of the world, it’s much harder to get funding without having something working. If you want to launch a startup and you do manage to find an investor, the “investment” frequently comes in the form of a high-interest loan to be repaid within a few years.
The reason why most “next big things” come out of Silicon Valley and a few other places is not that the rest of the world lacks “crazy ideas” or the skills to implement them - we’re having a harder time getting them funded and marketed.
There was a Swiss company building an e-Reader a few years before they made it to the mass market, and there was a German company building a PVR some time before Tivo - they went out of business having to repay the loans.
10. You’re being exposed to propaganda
Propaganda is not unique to any country, and no country is exempt from it. The media do not always tell the full story. Not the Russian media, but also not the US media.
If you want to get a real impression on what is going on in e.g. Crimea, take a look at both US media and Russian media. Subtract the propaganda from both sides, take what remains. It’s usually somewhere in the middle.
Slut on Wheels !iNRconCvDQ joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later[^] [v] #810,406
tl;dr
Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 8 minutes later, 10 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #810,409
Anonymous C double-posted this 9 years ago, 39 seconds later, 10 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #810,410
Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 7 minutes later, 18 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #810,414
too matt; didn't read
Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 19 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #810,415
Way to do some great original work, OP.
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-top-10-things-Americans-dont-know-about-the-rest-of-the-world
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-top-10-things-Americans-dont-know-about-the-rest-of-the-world
Anonymous D replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 21 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #810,417
Anonymous F joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 47 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,445
Who would win in a war..
I think we all know the answer..
I think we all know the answer..
Anonymous C replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,446
Anonymous F replied with this 9 years ago, 41 seconds later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,447
and don't say northern vietnam...that was bullshit..
Anonymous C replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,450
@previous (F)You weren't there bert. Even if you were, you would have abandoned your country then too.
Anonymous F replied with this 9 years ago, 55 seconds later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,452
@810,446 (C)
I didnt abandon anything...motherfucker..
I'm telling you.. you're gonna take a knuckle sandwich for saying this shit so many times...if I ever see you..
I didnt abandon anything...motherfucker..
I'm telling you.. you're gonna take a knuckle sandwich for saying this shit so many times...if I ever see you..
Anonymous C replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,455
@previous (F)
Doubt that. Can't give anyone a knuckle sandwich when you don't show up to your fights. Pussy.
Doubt that. Can't give anyone a knuckle sandwich when you don't show up to your fights. Pussy.
Sheila LaBoof joined in and replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,459
there was some very good points in there, the first few I did manage to read and I got tired
Anonymous E replied with this 9 years ago, 14 seconds later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,461
@810,452 (F)
I don't understand the phrase "knuckle sandwich". In order to have an actual knuckle sandwich, you would either have both fists on opposite sides of a head or have your hand between two heads. This just doesn't seem like a very effective combat tactic.
I don't understand the phrase "knuckle sandwich". In order to have an actual knuckle sandwich, you would either have both fists on opposite sides of a head or have your hand between two heads. This just doesn't seem like a very effective combat tactic.
Anonymous C replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,466
Anonymous F replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,468
Anonymous C replied with this 9 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,471
@previous (F)
Everyone also knows that 3rd graders say that.
Real men say, I'll bust your motherfuckin mouth wide open, little bitch.
But you're not a man, so keep calling it a knuckle sandwich.
Everyone also knows that 3rd graders say that.
Real men say, I'll bust your motherfuckin mouth wide open, little bitch.
But you're not a man, so keep calling it a knuckle sandwich.
Anonymous F replied with this 9 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,473
Anonymous C replied with this 9 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #810,475
@previous (F)
No wonder you like watching college football. You get to watch young nerdy boys run around wearing tight clothes.
No wonder you like watching college football. You get to watch young nerdy boys run around wearing tight clothes.