Tuesday, October 23, 2012
A look at the U.S.
This article discusses the reporting going on around the world about the U.S. presidential election. I found it very interesting that Brazilians are very interested in seeing what will happen to Big Bird and PBS, I had no idea that Brazil had it's own version of Sesame Street let alone who it's government leader is. For those of you who studied abroad, what did your host families or other students who you met have to say about American politics? From this article I get the idea that the outside world knows a lot more about the U.S. than the U.S. does about the outside world. Are Americans too narrow-minded or egotistical to take note of foreign politics?
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Beth is definitely right about the rest of world being much more informed about issues going on in the United States than Americans are aware of issues going on abroad! Whenever traveling to foreign countries, especially in Europe, American are notoriously stereotyped as being ignorant. For example, when on vacation a few years ago I got into a discussion with a Canadian guy. Not only did he know exactly where my hometown was located, but was able to tell me historical facts about wars the United States had fought in. When I asked him how he know all of this he explained that unlike schools in the United States, Canadian schools focus much more heavily on making sure student are well-rounded and well cultured.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think Americans should put a higher priority on being worldlier. It really upsets me that most Americans know one, maybe two languages, but most educated people in developed countries similar to the U.S. know three even four languages.
At least in my studies abroad, the host family with whom I stayed really seemed to like Obama, but have a hatred for Bush. Given the protests going on at the time, my Madre really favored public sector job growth. I guess I have a limited example, but I would tend to agree that probably other countries tend to focus more on our history than we do theirs. But to me this makes complete sense, as we are seen as one of the more powerful and highly profitable countries with regard to trade.
ReplyDeleteAt least in my studies abroad, the host family with whom I stayed really seemed to like Obama, but have a hatred for Bush. Given the protests going on at the time, my Madre really favored public sector job growth. I guess I have a limited example, but I would tend to agree that probably other countries tend to focus more on our history than we do theirs. But to me this makes complete sense, as we are seen as one of the more powerful and highly profitable countries with regard to trade.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was studying abroad in Germany, the people that lived on my floor ripped American Politics apart. They would always argue that Americans are too emotional and not realistic and organized with their policies. They would also say that it was weird that we only had two options to elect president, that there should be more than 2 choices. When they saw my passport, they were also very surprised at how decorative and patriotic it was. They thought we were too proud of our country making us ignorant of others. I would try my best to not bring up the subject of politics around any German, because they are very opinionated, and automatically consider my opinions wrong because I am an American. Very interesting experience.
ReplyDeleteKenyans LOVE president Obama, mostly because his last name begins with an O (typical for Luos) and his father is from Kenya. This love has virtually nothing to do with politics, and for the most part is not very serious. On the other hand, many Kenyans believe American society to be the root of all evil. Kenya has become inundated with pirated copies of basically all American shows and movies, but most, especially older Kenyans view our media as too racy and violent. They also associate America with all of the ills of capitalism, especially the way that the market punishes economic losers and invites corruption.
ReplyDeletePeople are highly interested in American government. People may not know how the system works or have a deep insight about how American society works. But they are curious about who the president is going to be, whether the president is democratic or republican. What is their foreign policy going to be? I remember during the election of 2008, people were highly interested in the debates which were shown on TV. Even the people who did not have any idea about the speech were interested in seeing the candidates because most of the people in other country believe whatever America does will be big.
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