Close Topic Options

What Do Americans Know?

GOOD OLD AMERICAN KNOW-HOW IS HOBBLED BY KNOW-NOTHINGS

Cynthia Tucker - Whatever happened to good old American know-how? What became of those twin emblems of our national character -- ingenuity and resourcefulness?
Ref. https://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...dbyknownothings

Know Americans What

I think American's know a hell of a lot. They are streets ahead of most countries on the technological front.

America has championed many great advances over history and are still the leading light in many industries. They have also championed many ideologies and social experiments, some good, some not so.

However, from personal experience I find many Americans that I have met don't know much about other countries or much about the real issues in the world. I also find it alarming how little Americans I have spoken with know about their own Government and their motives overseas.

But let's face it, the US is very much a beacon of knowledge and ingenuity.

What Do Americans Know? History & Civil Business Politics

We tend to know less about other countries than those from other countries do. I think part of this can be attributed to our size. If you live in Europe, you live in close proximity to many other countries. If you live in the US, for most this is not true. So, it is easier to be an isolationist or to be a bit more self-aware and less others-aware.

I do think, we can be short sited at times though, which is why some of the concerns addressed in the article have't been addressed before now.

Know Americans What

I agree with you funbikerchick. In Australia we have similar isolation and size problems.

But we tend to travel a lot per capita because, being a new country, most of us have relatives and interests overseas.

One thing I like about the US from what I gather is the sense that anyone can achieve anything. Americans appear to have a real positive outlook on life, they come across as very confident and ambitious people which is excellent.

Know Americans What

I see a large problem with Americans running party line voting campaigns. That is to say that I find more and more Americans simply voting along party lines without really know what they are voting for and/or who and what the people stand for. When a candidate comes up, the majority of people now get courted by terminology and party than by actual issues. Americans are more concerned with one line promises that sound pretty than exactly how a candidate plans to do it. One candidate makes a nice sounding promise that, if you look at the numbers, he obviously cannot fulfill, but the people of that party have already heard what they needed to convince them to vote the same as always, so the truth isn't even relevant anymore to them. Things like candidates trying to act like they are perhaps godly men to get church votes. Clinton did it, Bush did it, and neither of them act anything like a godly person. Both had personal agenda's that rarely benefit the American public. But people didn't see that before hand because they heard the nice one liners that people wanted to hear. Most recently they heard the word safety, but were unable to see that the plan was to sacrifice liberty for temporary safety. Americans today don't know what they should about what happens in our government, content to listen to talk shows with their favorite onesided party propagandist than to listen to real independent news and gain real knowledge to empower themselves.

What Do Americans Know?

That is a very interesting perspective. The US election is the most covered foreign election in Australia. One thing I have never been able to understand is that it appears to be so team oriented. You're either a Republican or a Democrat. You see pictures of voters wearing the team colours and chanting. When the candidates speak to their crowd, they get rock-star like receptions. This is very different to politics in Australia, where politicians are treated with scepticism.

I think the US system has a few flaws. It is structured so that only extremely rich people can run. Because people don't have to vote, the election becomes a marketing exercise. I don't agree with this because it becomes a battle of who can afford to run the "better" campaign. It's almost like Hollywood.

Another thing that I was surprised about is how ridiculous issues such as gay marriage and abortion are so important. With all due respect, these are not issues a government should be judged on. One thing I like about the US system is that Governments can only serve for 8 years, which to me is about the right period before change is warranted.

What Americans Know

This is right along the lines of party voting. Its a mosh pit mentality in which you win votes by getting people all emotional. America is a very emotional country. We like pentecostal church services, loud rock music, and strong speaking enthusiastically yelling politicians. Its one reason Al Gore got made fun of. Don't think we like theatrics? We elected an actor as president, and another nick named slick willy for his smooth talking.

This is not entirely true. Money is set apart for the candidates of each party. If one can get the votes to get past the first election, then he gets money from the government to finance his campaign. This isn't necessarily equal to someone with money, but they don't have to use their own money to run if they don't want to.

Good points. Most people don't realize that abortion, generally, is still enforced primarily at a federal level. So when state officials run under anti-abortion premises, its a none issue. Additionally, gay marriage and abortion do not effect the primary purpose and role of the federal government which is running the country and foreign affairs. In what way does ones view on either help or hinder their ability to keep our country out of debt, our people safe, and interact with other countries? If people understood our inner workings better, then we would stop seeing morals as an issue at a federal level. Bush has been a president that run on him having more integrity and morals than the other guy. But not one abortion law or gay marriage law has passed. Laws like these that impose morals are only brought up to win a certain group and almost never get passed. They look pretty but have no real purpose regarding the way the government is run. That is the reason that we have so many uninformed voters, they play to pretty sounding speeches instead of real scholarship on the issues.

Edited: konquererz on 7th May, 2006 - 4:36am

What Americans Know Politics Business Civil & History

My point about the money issue is that it requires someone and/or their backers to have a lot of money to market their campaign in a way that will get them elected. How many presidents in our lifetimes have been poor?

The reason why campaigns must be marketed is because people don't have to vote. They vote if they are interested. So if you can run a slick marketing campaign you have an advantage over someone who relies on the money they receive from the government. I understand it is not totally about money, but it certainly helps to have substantial backing to run in the first place.

The whole issue about abortion, gay marriages, etc, is something I have never understood because they are not primary functions of government. In Australia the economy is always the most important issue. No candidate here would dare raise gay marriage and abortion as an issue, it's not what government is about.

Security, health, infrastructure and education are other important issues where parties must impress to be elected. I"m sure they are equally important in the US and most free countries.