If Americans knew more about the rest of the world.....

EagleSmack

EagleSmack

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Feb 16, 2005
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L Gilbert said:
lol "Crick" as opposed to "creek", "ruff" as opposed to "roof", "rowt" as opposed to "route", etc. lol Yep, really subtle stuff. And don't forget, we are "socialists". lol
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LG... do you have any idea how much shiatsu us Yanks (Northerners) use to give our Southern (US) pals when they said "crick" and "ruff" while I was in the Marines?

Then to hear my pal from Western PA join in and say "Damn... y'uns are about stupid."
 
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Gilgamesh

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Nov 15, 2014
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The Old Medic said:
I took World Geography in the 6th grade. That was in the 1954-1955 school year for me. I was already well aware of Canada, of the various Provinces in Canada, of their governmental system, and of much of it's history and customs long before that class.

You see, my father was born in Winnipeg, and I spent at least a portion of every summer visiting with my paternal grandfather and his 2nd wife in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and later in British Columbia. I did NOT realize that my father was a Canadian, because he hid that fact from everyone (he was an illegal immigrant to the USA).

But, my class, in the very small town of Ukiah, California, studied the majority of the countries of the world back in 1954-1955; studied their governmental systems, knew where they were in the world, and had a pretty good idea of their commerce, imports/exports, etc.

We ALL knew where Canada was located. And frankly, I do not believe those "polls" that claim to show that Americans are so ignorant of their neighbor to the North. You can easily slant a poll, by the way the questions are asked.

But frankly, Canada is of little importance to most Americans. It contains just about the same number of people as ONE of the 50 States does. It's economy is smaller than the economy of California. It has no significant military importance. There is nothing manufactured in Canada that can not be obtained elsewhere.

It does have vast natural resources, and those are needed (but once again, rarely is Canada the only source available). Canada's effect on the US economy if slight, at best.

So, to the average person living in the US, why should they really need to be aware of Canada? It is likely that many times more people know that Michael J. Fox is a Canadian, than would know the name of the Prime Minister.

And frankly, why would the vast majority of Canadians care whether Americans know much about Canada or not? To even be concerned about something like that is to display a severe inferiority complex.
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Well said. In the times of the Roman Empire, and later on, the British Empire I would bet that the same complaints were heard.

The U.S knows little about most other countries because it can afford to.

Canada, for instance, just does not matter; period.
 
JLM

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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The Old Medic said:
I took World Geography in the 6th grade. That was in the 1954-1955 school year for me. I was already well aware of Canada, of the various Provinces in Canada, of their governmental system, and of much of it's history and customs long before that class.
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I too attended grade six in '54 - '55, so I guess there's at least two of us left on the planet and a lot of stuff has gone to hell in a hand basket since then. They didn't take ANY shit from young brats in those days and we didn't dare defy them. We were seen and not heard and spoke when we were spoken to. Nowadays the "tail is wagging the dog".
 
C

Curious Cdn

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Feb 22, 2015
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JLM said:
I too attended grade six in '54 - '55, so I guess there's at least two of us left on the planet and a lot of stuff has gone to hell in a hand basket since then. They didn't take ANY shit from young brats in those days and we didn't dare defy them. We were seen and not heard and spoke when we were spoken to. Nowadays the "tail is wagging the dog".
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Holy crap but you must have seen a lot of global warming as the continental glaciers retreated.
 
Jinentonix

Jinentonix

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Sep 6, 2015
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Olympus Mons
petros said:
I hate Botswana and the Poles couldn't make good head cheese if their lives depended on it.
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Nobody can. There's no such thing as "good" head cheese, it's an oxymoron. There's just headcheese that's slightly less disgusting than the others. :lol:
 
JLM

JLM

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Jinentonix said:
Nobody can. There's no such thing as "good" head cheese, it's an oxymoron. There's just headcheese that's slightly less disgusting than the others. :lol:
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You obviously haven't tasted good head cheese. Your education has been sadly neglected!
 
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