Why Does The World Think Americans Are Stupid?

[mariab]

I've read that one out of every 3 or 4 American tourists in France are murdered on the streets.

This is an urban myth.

I have a few short answers to that question (Why does the world think Americans are stupid?):
- W (AKA George Bush jr)
- Palin
- Dan Quale (of Murphy Brown fame)
- Oprah
- Tom Cruise
- Julia Roberts
- Steven Spielberg
- BH 90210
- Felicity
(I could go on for long, but, bored already.)

[DVV]

I'm not sure we're collectively thought of as 'stupid'. Generally, the world sees us Yanks as wasteful, bloated, and arrogant, which surely isn't far from the mark. The French really hate us. I've read that one out of every 3 or 4 American tourists in France are murdered on the streets.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Lmao....as kids say on FB !

[DVV]

A pervasive lack of literacy.

I admire American literature.
More than French literature, really more.

[Steven Russell]

That's exactly it, Errata. You have answered the question beautifully.

No offence, yanks.
Steve.

[Errata]

The world thinks Americans are stupid because Americans are stupid in the world. "Ugly American" tourists are considered the norm. A great many American celebrities are perhaps not as bright as one would wish. We don't learn other languages on the whole. President Bush. Freedom fries. Girls Gone Wild. Jersey Shore. A pervasive lack of cultural literacy. A pervasive lack of literacy. And despite the fact that we are a young country, we are not as young a country as we act. Our sense of history is still measured in centuries while most European countries are measured in millennia. We cannot think in terms of a conflict lasting 1000 years, and so our solutions to such conflicts tend to be overly simplistic. Even infantile. To an American, 100 years is a long time. To a European, 100 miles is a long drive. We are a grandiose people. Our country is huge. Our lifestyles are ideally lavish. We are the epitome of "New Money". But we have no sense of time, we do not have the weight of generations an Englishman has. We have no scope. And that makes us annoying. And the lack of understanding that we have no scope makes us stupid.

[Tom_Wescott]

I'm not sure we're collectively thought of as 'stupid'. Generally, the world sees us Yanks as wasteful, bloated, and arrogant, which surely isn't far from the mark. The French really hate us. I've read that one out of every 3 or 4 American tourists in France are murdered on the streets.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[DVV]

I agree Steven, but on the other hand, while I respect everybody's freedom, I consider "pride" marches, etc, as stupid modern things, and the nuts you're talking about can be seen as a (distateful) reaction against them.

[Steven Russell]

cd: People like those religious nutcases on your thread about the Supreme Court ruling don't help your reputation. What arseholes.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[The Good Michael]

We produced Elvis, The Three Stooges and Professional Wrestling. So right now we are just sitting back relaxing and waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

The British began the whole men-in-drag-are-funny thing which might top the three stooges and the Germans had professional wrestling for a long time as did the English. And I don't want to claim Elvis. Paris Hilton how about?

[Limehouse]

I would never consider a whole nation of people as 'stupid'. I don't even like the term 'stupid' applied to people of any type. Everyone has talents but few have the means and the opportunity to shine.

Some very fine people have emerged from America. Some of the best writers and filmakers and actors and theorists.

Sadly the great can be overshadowed by the not-so-great and by that I mean that a nation's leaders can make decisions based on pressure from those that have the money and influence to make things happen and some of those things are less than agreeable.

Americans are not stupid but they sometimes suffer the fall out of their flawed individuals and groups.

[Rubyretro]

I put this question to my portuguese husband over lunch. He replied that if you look at The World as one big family, or even a 'Business', then The States has been in the role of 'Father' or 'Mother' (or Boss) for while.

With that role comes power over the rest of the family (or Firm) and a sense of superiority and patronisation.

However, it also means that the 'growing teenagers' (or competitive employees) are continually sniping and rebelling and critising.

Inevitably one day one of the 'teenagers' ( or 'young lions') will become the Head of the Family -and they soon show the same faults and be subjected to the same critisisms as their predecessor.

[DVV]

Trop fort, CD !

[c.d.]

We produced Elvis, The Three Stooges and Professional Wrestling. So right now we are just sitting back relaxing and waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

c.d.

[DVV]

Stultorum infinitus est numerus, as King Salomon said.

And he said so before his trip to America, according to my sources

[sdreid]

We usually win about 75% of the Nobel Prizes every year and some years we win 100% so I guess it's what you want to go by.

TV is so stupid now that I canceled my cable mostly due to all those lame scripted so-called "reality" shows.

We did invent the Veg-o-Matic but I think that might have been back engineered from the flying saucer that crashed at Roswell in 1947.

On second thought, we probably win all those Nobel prizes because of those 10,000 I.Q. space aliens that we are holding captive at Groom Lake.