Does Anyone Like France?

[RadiO]

On the other coin I have been to England,, and the tendeny of the locals to be whinging bastards is pronounced, esp in London.

That's standard operating procedure, surely. I know my life wouldn't be half as interesting if I wasn't a miserable, cynical dickhead. It's a sign of character, you know.

[Admiral Valdemar]

On the other coin I have been to England,, and the tendeny of the locals to be whinging bastards is pronounced, esp in London.

That's standard operating procedure, surely. I know my life wouldn't be half as interesting if I wasn't a miserable, cynical dickhead. It's a sign of character, you know.

Dammit, that's too true of my life.

[Pablo Sanchez]

Aww, boo-hoo. It's sad when the world's greatest empire had to create such funny little countries.

Yeah. And then the World's Greatest Empire had to collapse and become a laughable shadow of it's former self, the lap-dog ally of their former colony.

[David]

Livin' in germany near the french border, all germans (for the sake of political correctness) have to love france, and so do I.
No, really, I know some french and they're just guys like you and me, some are assholes, some are not.
But they are extremely proud of their 'culture' (eating snails and frogs = culture and civilisation. I'd never thought it would be that disgusting to be civilized.)

There BO is their only way of defending themselves against Germany. Cpt.Frank would be the first to die of suffocation in the event of war.

?? what do you mean?

Their only good weapon is their terrible body odor, which they would use against Germany if there was ever another war between you two. In the event of war, you would be the first to die of suffocation since you live in Geremny.


BTW, are yiou a German citizen or not. I know a lot of Americans that are stationed at Ramstein.

[Lusankya]

Damn!

Why would I want to be the fourth placed America again? I forgot. Was it the almost uniform dislike directed to wards you or the high crime rate or the lack or any halfway decent sports or the crappy accents? Or perhaps it was the bible bashing tendencies of some parts that impedes progress?

Ah! I know now! it was..... no, actually.... I hate that too....

[Pablo Sanchez]

Damn!

Why would I want to be the fourth placed America again? I forgot. Was it the almost uniform dislike directed to wards you

That's pure jealousy.

It may sound concieted, but it's true.

or the high crime rate

I've never had a problem with this. The fact is that the crime rate is ludicrously exaggerated by the press.

or the lack or any halfway decent sports

Baseball, Basketball.

or the crappy accents?

It's asinine to criticize someone else's accent. Why? Because it's completely subjective. To my ears, I have no accent, and you would be almost unintelligable.

Or perhaps it was the bible bashing tendencies of some parts that impedes progress?

Bible Bashing impedes progress? How?

Ah! I know now! it was..... no, actually.... I hate that too....

You hate America? Join the fucking club.

[Antediluvian]

I heard French Canadians are just as bad if not worse when it comes to language and cultural superiority. Any of you canadians wanna verify that? I've never been there.

It's true. Quebeckers are the most annoying whiners on the planet.

• They have language laws which are so discriminatory toward non-French speakers that they're on Amnesty International's list of human rights violators.
• They demanded (and got) special provisions in the constitution so that they could continue these practices with impunity.
• Ever since Trudeau, they have maintained an elite core of politicians in the capital who grease the wheels for each others' campaigns, so most of our federal leaders are Quebeckers
• Quebec gets a bigger proportion of federal spending than any other province, by far
• Quebec demands special treatment under the constitution so that they can veto all 9 of the other provinces if they feel their "distinct culture" is threatened in some way which they do not have to explain (in other words, at will).
• Quebec keeps threatening to secede, like some spoiled teenager who threatens to move out of his parents' house even though he doesn't have a job. If they leave, they want to keep our dollar but not take a dime of our federal debt, even though they racked up a big chunk of it.
• Federal projects never get approved unless some of the money will go to Quebec. Anybody who tries to get a major project approved at the federal level knows that he has to make sure this happens. It's become routine.
• In WW1, Quebeckers fought the draft, voting almost uniformly against it and saying that the war was a "British problem" and therefore none of their concern. Riots broke out in Quebec over the sheer vehemence of their opposition to the draft.

Quebec is a worthless whiner province that simultaneously demands that we take care of them and insists that they are superior. That is all.

Jesus Christ. I heard they were bad, but not that bad.

Shit.

[Lusankya]

Pfffffft. Australia's the best place in the world.

And you still haven't named any halfway decent sports that are played in America (ie Cricket, AFL, Rugby Union).

ANd the main reason we hate America is the way Americans make assumptions that everyone else actually WANTS to be like them.

[VF5SS]

I don't think you'd wanna be like anyone in America. I don't know anyone else who really thinks about that either. Guess we let the bigwigs do too much of the talking.

[Lusankya]

Though we should probably stop being nasty to America.

This is an anti-France forum, after all, and we don't want to hurt the poor little American's egos too much. They might start to cry, and that wouldn't be very nice.

[VF5SS]

Hey I don't know nothin' 'bout this country, I just live here

[Lusankya]

Well, that's all right then.

[Nova Andromeda]

--Lusankya, are you sure most people from down under hate the U.S.? The last Australian I met in a hostel here in America loved it. She never indicated that Australians disliked the U.S. in general and had plenty of opperatunity to say so.

--"Or perhaps it was the bible bashing tendencies of some parts that impedes progress?"
--On the contrary it furthers progress and only a minority bashes the bible. All you have to do is visit this site to see for yourself the idiocy and hate of the bible:
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/

[Lusankya]

Perhaps it's just the people I know.

And how the hell can a belief in outdated theories such as cretionism aid progress when all evidence indicates that theories such as evolution are closer to the truth.

And please, Religion's only a decent topic when noone really cares about it. I'd rather not get into an argument based on other people's belief systems, because they simply won't accept other points of view as being legitimate. (and yes, don't worry... I include myself in this count, in some discussions. It's not a general attack on people with religious beliefs.)

[Stuart Mackey]

On the other coin I have been to England,, and the tendeny of the locals to be whinging bastards is pronounced, esp in London.

That's standard operating procedure, surely. I know my life wouldn't be half as interesting if I wasn't a miserable, cynical dickhead. It's a sign of character, you know.

Yup, stiff upper lip, built an empire, dont you know?

[David]

Everyone hates Australia because everyone hates the UN.



And Australia says "how high" everytime the UN says "jump".

[Stuart Mackey]

Everyone hates Australia because everyone hates the UN.



And Australia says "how high" everytime the UN says "jump".

No no, people hate Aussie cause its full of arrogant wankers with criminal backgrounds.
And aussie asks how high to jump only when Dubya says so

[Darth Wong]

Anti-US worldwide sentiment is a complicated subject. As a Canadian, I see the US from the outside, but I also watch American TV, listen to American radio, and I've travelled in America many times (I used to live on the east shore of the St. Clair river at the border of Michigan and Ontario, just a few hundred yards away from my American counterparts). I like to think I understand our American neighbours better than people in, say, France. But I also understand the point of view of people outside America a little better than Americans do.

What people outside America don't realize is that American foreign policy is not necessarily representative of American as individual human beings. Americans can be the nicest, most generous people around, and I'm not just saying that to be obsequious; I don't suck up to anybody (and I don't have to; this is my board). However, they can also be assholes; it is a country of extremes.

Conversely, what too many Americans don't realize is that there is a world outside their borders. This means the majority ignore world affairs until they become domestic affairs (see September 11, 2001). This also means that the majority don't realize that their governments routinely which make decisions that will affect the lives of people outside their country (often for the worse), and they don't seem to understand that the American voter is blamed for the actions of the American government, with some justification (it is a democracy, after all).

An astounding number of Americans don't realize how the American Cold War policy of putting military bases in various countries around the world fomented anger against Americans, because on-base personnel were immune to local law. Yes, this is one of those little-known provisions that the American government negotiated at gunpoint with local governments, and it's also why American soldiers who commit murder or rape overseas are not tried in the country where the crime took place.

It's basic psychology; if an American base is present in your neighbourhood and its personnel are not subject to your law, you will resent them. Moreover, you will suspect that they are subverting your government (why else would your government make the Americans immune to your laws?). In fact, many people around the world believe that an American military base is really a prelude to American attempts to subvert a local government to their way of life.

This can provoke a violent defensive reaction, as we have seen most spectacularly in the case of Osama Bin Laden. He bullshits about Palestine because it's a good recruiting hook, but his real beef is those American military bases in Saudi Arabia. He sees them as the vanguard of an occupying force which will slowly subvert the Saudi government to something the Americans would approve of: secular democracy. This would, of course, destroy the religious theocracy he so loves, so like any fanatical religious lunatic, he must fight to protect his way of life.

Anti-American world sentiment is driven by American government actions and also by the all-too-common tendency to denigrate all which is not American. The former causes real hatred, which can become violence. The latter causes mild resentment and America-bashing on newsgroups.

[Nova Andromeda]

--I understand why people outside the U.S. resent U.S. foreign policy, but Lusankya's dislike of the U.S. seemed rooted in something else. However, her position is not at all clear to me now so I'll leave it at that I guess.
--That leads me to my next point:

HELP!!!

The U.S. gov. is being subverted by theocrats like Bush who are powered by the religious right and politicians who are selected by their ability to manipulate people as opposed to doing things right. The rest of the world needs to grow a backbone and stand up against U.S. Gov. idiocy. I'm afraid the rationalist vote in the U.S. just doesn't carry enough weight to do the job.

--Oh and don't let me forget. The French are nothing but a bunch of bitchs and from what Darth Wong says Quebec is the daughter of the land of bitches.

[Ladysekhmet]

They have language laws which are so discriminatory toward non-French speakers that they're on Amnesty International's list of human rights violators.

Oh, yeah. I recall a friend of mine who lived there as well as in europe mention that. Where in France a hot dog will simply be called "un hot dog," in Quebec, it's called a "chaud chien," which can also mean a dog in heat.

[Smiling Bandit]

Conversely, what too many Americans don't realize is that there is a world outside their borders. This means the majority ignore world affairs until they become domestic affairs (see September 11, 2001). This also means that the majority don't realize that their governments routinely which make decisions that will affect the lives of people outside their country (often for the worse), and they don't seem to understand that the American voter is blamed for the actions of the American government, with some justification (it is a democracy, after all).

I suspect that this has been exxagerated, but nevertheless there is more than a grain of truth. Of course, one much realize that, like CHina or India, we tend to ignore the world outside the US because there is a whole 'nother world *inside*. I mean, its just so... BIG! And almost all of it is good living land. Go to China and you see that huge swaths of it are empty or close to wastelends. The US is like a compacted China.

As an aside, I seriously doubt the religious right will somehow take over the government. Bush is a far cry from what I'd call the religious right, though he does lean that way. Liekwise the semi-socialist left and their darling Gore.

[Smiling Bandit]

Actually, getting back on track here, I have certain problems with France as a cultural group. They seem to have a collective inferiority complex or something and are always trying to prove they are superior. SO they smash up MacDonalds and have language laws. This annoys me. I'm not above using French words - English is a very accomodating language, assimilation-wise. I don't mind that they have political differences with us, but when I start to think some days that the Chinese would make a better Ally than France, I start to wonder.

[Cpt_Frank]

France breaking away from the NATO?
They have some weird cultural habits (from my point of view), but I wouldn't go that far.

[David]

Like eating snails.

[Pablo Sanchez]

Pfffffft. Australia's the best place in the world.

Well, that's your opinion. I happen to think that you're wrong.

Sweden is better.

And you still haven't named any halfway decent sports that are played in America (ie Cricket, AFL, Rugby Union).

Cricket is halfway decent? Cricket sucks! The only good European sport is Rugby, and then only because of the hits. Personally, I like to play soccer, but there are very few things more boring than watching the sport. And as I said, Baseball and Basketball.

ANd the main reason we hate America is the way Americans make assumptions that everyone else actually WANTS to be like them.

So you don't want to be wealthy, possess the four freedoms, and live in a democracy? Since your government essentially lifted the two latter things from us, you're probably just resentful that you don't have the former.