British thoughts on Americans

[Skittles!]

Heheh. Let's have some fun here. I'm gonna be all patrionic and go "If it wasn't for the Rats of Tobruk (The Australians in Tobruk, 'Rats' was the nickname of them from the Nazi's) getting rid of that general dude, Hitler would of gotta control of North Africa"

Now the Brit's could say "Brits did it too!"

The American's could say "Err, what happened at Tobruk"

[OnlyAmbrose]

Also, they always tell me how they "Saved our ass in WW2"

I'd say you'd probably have had a much harder time at winning if we weren't around. I think Sir Winston Churchill would agree most heartily.

The US would have had a 'fun' time of it if the UK, for some odd reason, never got involved.

Hell, both of you would have had the living crap kicked out of you if Russia didn't get involved.

Shows who you should be saying "Saved our ass in WW2" too.

I don't recall ever deemphasizing the importance of either the English or the Russians in the war.

[Guiscard]

Also, they always tell me how they "Saved our ass in WW2"

I'd say you'd probably have had a much harder time at winning if we weren't around. I think Sir Winston Churchill would agree most heartily.

The US would have had a 'fun' time of it if the UK, for some odd reason, never got involved.

Hell, both of you would have had the living crap kicked out of you if Russia didn't get involved.

Shows who you should be saying "Saved our ass in WW2" too.

I don't recall ever deemphasizing the importance of either the English or the Russians in the war.

I think the point is that America a) neither provided the main thrust behind victory, nor sacrificed anything near that of other nations, b) came into the war later than they should, when an earlier entry could have lessened the massacre and c)entered the war for purely selfish reasons, primarily to do with economics and power politics, whilst taking a high moral tone about the whole issue over the resulting half a century.

We're thankful for the contribution, but to bring it up in every single UK vs US argument is a little rich. About as pointless as us shouting about how we gave you the language you abuse so widely.

[tzor]

I won't get into a discussion about tactics in WWII, as it was a group effort and we won the war by our combined efforts (and when our failures could also be considered a collective failure as well).

I will mention something I learned from discussions with my father, who was a in the US army, captured in France and was a POW for about a year. Generally speaking he had more empathy for the German guards than his fellow British prisioners. (Mind you most of the guards were recovering from wounds before being sent off to the eastern front for almost certain death.) He also has a great distain for the air force since every one in a plane was an "officer" and thus was by the Geneva convention excused from going out and clearing the streets from the debris caused by allied bombing.

In the army the average people avoided being an officer ... those were the people the enemy tended to target first.

[muy_thaiguy]

Also, they always tell me how they "Saved our ass in WW2"

I'd say you'd probably have had a much harder time at winning if we weren't around. I think Sir Winston Churchill would agree most heartily.

The US would have had a 'fun' time of it if the UK, for some odd reason, never got involved.

Hell, both of you would have had the living crap kicked out of you if Russia didn't get involved.

Shows who you should be saying "Saved our ass in WW2" too.

I don't recall ever deemphasizing the importance of either the English or the Russians in the war.

I think the point is that America a) neither provided the main thrust behind victory, nor sacrificed anything near that of other nations, b) came into the war later than they should, when an earlier entry could have lessened the massacre and c)entered the war for purely selfish reasons, primarily to do with economics and power politics, whilst taking a high moral tone about the whole issue over the resulting half a century.

In all truth, many Americans WANTED to help out, FDR was the one that was holding back. Many Americans went over seas before Pearl Harbor and helped out in the Battle of Britain. This is one reason why I do not think he was one of the "greats" shall we say, of our presidents. So don't take it out on all of the Americans, like I said, many wanted to help, and many went over to Britian anyways.

[Guiscard]

I will mention something I learned from discussions with my father, who was a in the US army, captured in France and was a POW for about a year. Generally speaking he had more empathy for the German guards than his fellow British prisioners. (Mind you most of the guards were recovering from wounds before being sent off to the eastern front for almost certain death.) He also has a great distain for the air force since every one in a plane was an "officer" and thus was by the Geneva convention excused from going out and clearing the streets from the debris caused by allied bombing.

You've not really explained why he disliked the British...

Furthermore, surely clearing the streets of the debris created by allied bombing was a bad thing! The less people who were forced to work while POW's should mean less contribution to the German war machine and therefore that puts them at a disadvantage.

[Nephilim]

Really, where in hell do you meet these people? I'm from what's generally regarded as the second-stupidest state, and I still don't see ignorance of that magnitude except on specialized TV shows (here's looking at you, Street Smarts).

And stop hijacking the thread into a discussion about the varying strengths of poison

tell me more about this hierarchy of state intelligence. i'm interested, honestly.....(and guessing you live in mississippi or alabama)

i'm a southern boy myself (i love alabama), and i'm more proud of the region and the several states i love than i am of the US. i can't wait to get out of here, moving to aussie soon.....

and in case no one noticed, the devolving of this thread into little bitchy arguments about what nation decided WW2 doesn't make anyone look good. for all the statesiders, it just reinforces the stereotype that we are self-obsessed, myopic braggarts......so lay off. and if they don't, the rest of you please remember that a lot of us over here don't agree w/ all that bullshit

cheers, fuckfaces

[nagerous]

Oh, good things about the US:
- The reason for it's existence
- The constitution
- Separation of church and state
- I quite like the way that the US Federal government works over state government, I think that's a brilliant set up and should be replicated everywhere. But with a better voting system.

Britain have a better set up with their unwritten constitution as it allows more flexibility and changes to be made. The US constitution is so rigid that it is hard to make any amendments to it and whilst one could argue that this is a good thing as it prevents any individual from receiving too much power and creating a regime of teror, it also allows inconsistencies to remain and hence allow exploitation of ethnic minorities and inequality to remain.

[Titanic]

Oh, good things about the US:
- The reason for it's existence
- The constitution
- Separation of church and state
- I quite like the way that the US Federal government works over state government, I think that's a brilliant set up and should be replicated everywhere. But with a better voting system.

Britain have a better set up with their unwritten constitution as it allows more flexibility and changes to be made. The US constitution is so rigid that it is hard to make any amendments to it and whilst one could argue that this is a good thing as it prevents any individual from receiving too much power and creating a regime of teror, it also allows inconsistencies to remain and hence allow exploitation of ethnic minorities and inequality to remain.

Yer, I gotta agree that a written constitution is just wrong. Its sets out the guidelines on how the country should run and people should live, but its written by people who died 200 years ago. Its out of date imo.

[btownmeggy]

Yer, I gotta agree that a written constitution is just wrong. Its sets out the guidelines on how the country should run and people should live, but its written by people who died 200 years ago. Its out of date imo.

I'm okay with written constitutions, but I totally agree that the Constitution is totally out of date. Why, when the US (oh, and Britain and France, excuse me) wrote the West German constitution, didn't they implement it here!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Law_ ... of_Germany

It's a truly beautiful document.

[magneticgoop]

Yer, I gotta agree that a written constitution is just wrong. Its sets out the guidelines on how the country should run and people should live, but its written by people who died 200 years ago. Its out of date imo.

I'm okay with written constitutions, but I totally agree that the Constitution is totally out of date. Why, when the US (oh, and Britain and France, excuse me) wrote the West German constitution, didn't they implement it here!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Law_ ... of_Germany

It's a truly beautiful document.

if you take the time to read it it is a work of sheer brilliance. many of the top enlightenment era philosophies were the backbone of the constitution. the best part about it is the slowness of the amendment process. it takes time because they want it worded without loopholes, and to be accepted by the public and the government. i would encourage you to read a commentary on it

[AtomicSlug]

One thing i have noticed, especially on websites, is the huge difference of mindframe from the more urban arias like new england to the morerural areas. Its like two entirely seperate nations!

of course, this isn't anywhare near entire and its a huge generalisation, but it is very noticable in some people

What do u expect? Most American states are larger than most European countries!

[AtomicSlug]

Yer, I gotta agree that a written constitution is just wrong. Its sets out the guidelines on how the country should run and people should live, but its written by people who died 200 years ago. Its out of date imo.

I'm okay with written constitutions, but I totally agree that the Constitution is totally out of date. Why, when the US (oh, and Britain and France, excuse me) wrote the West German constitution, didn't they implement it here!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Law_ ... of_Germany

It's a truly beautiful document.

if you take the time to read it it is a work of sheer brilliance. many of the top enlightenment era philosophies were the backbone of the constitution. the best part about it is the slowness of the amendment process. it takes time because they want it worded without loopholes, and to be accepted by the public and the government. i would encourage you to read a commentary on it

Don't quote wikipedia, because you may get insulted by Jew-haters like I did lol

[Arbustos]

Yer, I gotta agree that a written constitution is just wrong. Its sets out the guidelines on how the country should run and people should live, but its written by people who died 200 years ago. Its out of date imo.

I'm okay with written constitutions, but I totally agree that the Constitution is totally out of date. Why, when the US (oh, and Britain and France, excuse me) wrote the West German constitution, didn't they implement it here!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Law_ ... of_Germany

It's a truly beautiful document.

if you take the time to read it it is a work of sheer brilliance. many of the top enlightenment era philosophies were the backbone of the constitution. the best part about it is the slowness of the amendment process. it takes time because they want it worded without loopholes, and to be accepted by the public and the government. i would encourage you to read a commentary on it

Don't quote wikipedia, because you may get insulted by Jew-haters like I did lol

Am not!

[MeDeFe]

10% of ALL the world's beer consumption is Budweiser, a "Mainstream American beer". No other brewery in the world can claim anything close to that. They must be doing something right.

AFAIK there are two Budweiser beers, one "original" one from Budweis in Czechia, and then the one by Anheuser-Busch. Make sure you keep those two apart when you get your statistics (with or without sources)

Yer, I gotta agree that a written constitution is just wrong. Its sets out the guidelines on how the country should run and people should live, but its written by people who died 200 years ago. Its out of date imo.

I'm okay with written constitutions, but I totally agree that the Constitution is totally out of date. Why, when the US (oh, and Britain and France, excuse me) wrote the West German constitution, didn't they implement it here!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Law_ ... of_Germany

It's a truly beautiful document.

and QFT, it really is beautiful.

[Iz Man]

10% of ALL the world's beer consumption is Budweiser, a "Mainstream American beer". No other brewery in the world can claim anything close to that. They must be doing something right.

AFAIK there are two Budweiser beers, one "original" one from Budweis in Czechia, and then the one by Anheuser-Busch. Make sure you keep those two apart when you get your statistics (with or without sources)

Yes, what you're speaking of is Budvar, or Czechvar in the U.S. & Canada for copyright reasons.
I'm speaking of Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser.
Oh, the statistics regarding Anheuser Busch's lead among all breweries worldwide can be found in the Forbes500 and Reuters sites. I'm sure they probably mention it on their own website, but I haven't looked.

[Balsiefen]

One thing i have noticed, especially on websites, is the huge difference of mindframe from the more urban arias like new england to the morerural areas. Its like two entirely seperate nations!

of course, this isn't anywhare near entire and its a huge generalisation, but it is very noticable in some people

What do u expect? Most American states are larger than most European countries!

That is true but in europe, very few have moved between those countries for thousands of years. America is a 300 year old country. Anyway, the difference is far more triking than any difference betweeen european countries.

I suspect the diffference is because people moved to different ariasin the us for different reasons

[Jenos Ridan]

like most places around the world you have your good and your bad.
i have never fancied visiting America, i know quite a few people who have
most of them enjoyed it and had a couple of scary incidents. it`s not a place where i would want to live(toooo many guns, but thats a different subject).

as america in whole, you are quite arrogant. like "we are the best place in the world so f*ck you" type of thing. "if it was not for us you would be speaking german" and "we won the war". if it was not for you lot, a few of our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq would still be alive.

One small point: If we weren't violating neutrality to feed and arm the British prior to our involvement in WWII, you WOULD be speaking German. Yes, even you stubborn Scots. Japan would have eventually invaded Austrialia and New Zealand and the Itallians and Germans under Rommel would have driven you from Africa. In the end, your precious empire would be pushed back to its borders as of the Middle Ages and then, nothing. So don't tell us that you didn't need our help.

[Blastshot]

Why is it that Brits drill Americans? We never did anything to you. Besides, you say Americans like this stupid stuff...yadda yadda yadda. Did it ever occure to you that we developed our own culture? A lot of stuff that you Europeans do makes little sense to us. Now id like to ask you this; did your culture in the last 300 years, do to a new land, fight off a humongous army to create your own country, fight famine and disease to populate your land? You Europeans have done NOTHING that has caused hardship that you didnt bring apon yourselves. You have lived a wonderfull life for many years, you had hundreds of years to make technological advancements, we had 300! Ya alot of it isnt ours, but we used DIPLOMACY to get it. You say your hardship is wars? How many recent wars have been fought in the USA? In North america? No wars, and a couple battles maybe. Other than that all of our wars have been fought on your soil(I am including asia). We help you out, you help us. You drill us because of your culture, we'll drill you. You being racists(Yes you are racists! "OMG Hes an American, man listen to him drool!") a race goes to what country he/she originated from, so get over it!

Now, im a guy that lives in a small town in the midwest. If you want to see what america is, come here.

[CrazyAnglican]

I suspect the diffference is because people moved to different ariasin the us for different reasons

It's true that initially people did tend to settle in different areas based on their lifestyles and culture (ie Dutch in the Northeast, Arcadians "Cajuns" in Louisiana, Scotch-Irish in the Southeast, Scandinavian in the Midwest) to some extent, but those distinctions are basically 19th Century ideas. Nowadays people live where the job takes them. For example, my family has a strong Swedish heritage, but I live in the South with a lot of people with Cherokee, African, Scotch-Irish, English, and German heritage.

Differences, sometimes heated differences, come mostly from soci-economic and demographic differences in different areas. The cities see a lot more diversity in classes and races than the rural areas do. So there tends to be a big difference in opinions and politics (which change constantly). For instance Georgia has a republican governor right now, but he was the first one since the 1870's. The democrats had a stranglehold on Georgia for a long time, but with many different people moving south there wasn't any way to maintain the old way of looking at things. Which in the end is probably a good thing.

[boogiesadda]

our healthcare system is a fuc*ing joke. When a "non profit" pays over 10 million a year to its top 10 execs (Blue Cross Blue Shield) and moves their local office to save 2 million dollars a year yet my premium goes up 400/ year? and guess what? the execs all got a raise. i envy the healthcare system of other nations

[btownmeggy]

if you take the time to read it it is a work of sheer brilliance. many of the top enlightenment era philosophies were the backbone of the constitution. the best part about it is the slowness of the amendment process. it takes time because they want it worded without loopholes, and to be accepted by the public and the government. i would encourage you to read a commentary on it

The US Constitution!?! Of course I've "taken the time" (10 minutes) to read the US Constitution dozens of times. I'm not saying it's totally worthless, but it IS out of date, and there are superior governing documents in the world.

[btownmeggy]

i envy the healthcare system of other nations

An increasingly common sentiment in the US, and one that, I think, will lead to BIG changes in our health care system within the next 10 years or so.

[Balsiefen]

like most places around the world you have your good and your bad.
i have never fancied visiting America, i know quite a few people who have
most of them enjoyed it and had a couple of scary incidents. it`s not a place where i would want to live(toooo many guns, but thats a different subject).

as america in whole, you are quite arrogant. like "we are the best place in the world so f*ck you" type of thing. "if it was not for us you would be speaking german" and "we won the war". if it was not for you lot, a few of our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq would still be alive.

One small point: If we weren't violating neutrality to feed and arm the British prior to our involvement in WWII, you WOULD be speaking German. Yes, even you stubborn Scots. Japan would have eventually invaded Austrialia and New Zealand and the Itallians and Germans under Rommel would have driven you from Africa. In the end, your precious empire would be pushed back to its borders as of the Middle Ages and then, nothing. So don't tell us that you didn't need our help.

Our air force however was ours. it was that that that made hitler change his mind and attack russia (and get owned) If you hadn't helped us during the war you'd have got a USSR that spread right across europe and a britain and france heavily allied with russia instead of you.

[The1exile]

Why is it that Brits drill Americans? We never did anything to you.

Natural British cynicism[size=0] which is actually accurate observation[/size].

Besides, you say Americans like this stupid stuff...yadda yadda yadda. Did it ever occure to you that we developed our own culture?

McDonalds?

A lot of stuff that you Europeans do makes little sense to us.

And a lot of stuff you americans say makes little sense to us, so I guess we're even

Now id like to ask you this; did your culture in the last 300 years, do to a new land, fight off a humongous army to create your own country, fight famine and disease to populate your land?

No, because we did in about 2000 years ago, give or take a few centuries.

You Europeans have done NOTHING that has caused hardship that you didnt bring apon yourselves.

Well duh. Part of the thing about doing stuff that causes hardship is that you are bringing it upon yourselves, unless you're bringing it on other people, which isn't exactly laudable

You have lived a wonderfull life for many years, you had hundreds of years to make technological advancements, we had 300!

WTF? No, we also had 300 years, because everything prior to that 300 years was our technology brought by you, our colonists.

Ya alot of it isnt ours, but we used DIPLOMACY to get it. You say your hardship is wars? How many recent wars have been fought in the USA? In North america? No wars, and a couple battles maybe.

So why do you feel the need to invade other places? I will refer you to the inestimable Backglass if you decide to argue that point.

Other than that all of our wars have been fought on your soil(I am including asia). We help you out, you help us. You drill us because of your culture, we'll drill you. You being racists(Yes you are racists! "OMG Hes an American, man listen to him drool!") a race goes to what country he/she originated from, so get over it!

"Other than that"? What, other than the recent wars? I think you're missing all the independence kerfuffle, not to mention border wars with mexico and such...

Oh, as for the "racist" remark...

Now, im a guy that lives in a small town in the midwest. If you want to see what america is, come here.

And I live just outside London. If you want to understand the british view on life, come here