hEar hEar!

yEah! how's nEz doing thEsE days?

Will somEonE plEasE glad hand mE for posting somE unfoundEd gEnEralizations?

SurE. WEll said! ;-)

hEar hEar!

yEah! how's nEz doing thEsE days?

Will somEonE plEasE glad hand mE for posting somE unfoundEd gEnEralizations?

SurE. WEll said! ;-)

hEar hEar!

yEah! how's nEz doing thEsE days?

nEz is numbEr onE as always!

"I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world." - Me

nEz is numbEr onE as always!

People as a whole simply do NOT hate the USA.

Your "argument" would be better if you clearly defined which people you are referring to and your basis for this statement.

What they detest is the arrogance of American politicians who serve only to promote their US business interests and their own pockets. The US has got about as far from the tenets of its founding fathers as it is possible to go.

The same applies here.

Stop feeling hated and start listening for a change.

It also applies here. Just which citizens of the USA do you believe:

Feel hated (by the unstated other people)?
are not listening (to what is not quite clear, but some clues are provided)?

Learn something about other societies and religions.

Who is it that you are asking to do this? Politicians and businessmen / businesswomen in the USA? Do you believe every single one of them knows nothing about these things?
If so, then why are you posting it here? Do you believe that politicians and CEOs are browsing these forums? What evidence do you have of this?
It seems much more likely that, simply by where you have posted it and in particular what you are responding to, you are addressing those of us that you believe are in the USA and that you believe think in a certain way.
What precisely do you know about any of us? Do you know the extent of, for example, my travels, or what do you know about the Buddhist Vietnamese refugee family I befriended as a teenager; my Chinese colleagues; my Hindu friends and colleagues from India; my Arabic Muslim friends and colleagues from Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and others; my Christian Iranian mentor? Which others which you like me to list? Ukraine? Turkmenistan? I've known and associated with people from those countries as well. How about the friendships I've formed through this forum, not just with people from the USA, but also people from various parts of the UK, as well as Germany, Serbia and so on? (Let's see. Apparently, it is appropriate to list Australia and Canada as part of the Commonwealth.)

Stop manufacturing terrorists where none existed by using sledgehammers to crack nuts.

Again, who is this directed at? Apparently, based on where you have posted it (the S@H forums) and what you were responding to, you are addressing it towards us. What evidence do you have that any of us, wherever we may be from, is guilty of manufacturing a terrorist, etc. ... ?

Recognise that Forest Gump was a satire on the last 60 years of American life and attitudes and adopt a little humility to go along with your awesome power.

This is the weakest link in your "chain" of "reasoning." Referencing the movie "Forrest Gump" in a political/historical discussion is akin to suggesting one can learn a lot of mathematics by watching "Good Will Hunting" or "A Beautiful Mind." (At least a "Beautiful Mind" was based on the true story about John Nash.)
Each of these three movies was about the long search to reach inner peace or happiness. It is that simple.
As a matter of fact, Forrest Gump was portrayed as a humble man, albeit challenged by a low IQ and, earlier in life, by problems with his legs.
Furthermore, that movie portrayed opposing points of view and ways of living that have existed within the USA over the past 60 years or so. So, just what monolithic "American life" are you referring to, and how can you talk about this when earlier in your post you said, paraphrased, "the world outside the USA" hates the politicians and businesspeople? No, by referencing "Forrest Gump" and "American life," you are addressing something much wider and your view is as limited as you claim our views to be.

People like me have a huge fund of good will towards the US but that fund is not bottomless and your apparent collective belief that "the American Way" is the only way simply has to change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DGfXAvgknM
http://music.yahoo.com/Queensryche/Revolution-Calling/lyrics/32895751#lyricstop
Our apparent collective belief?
Again, you demonstrate a limited view of the diversity which exists within the USA itself, the very thing you accuse of us.

Please realise that most of the world simply cannot and will not live that way. That does not make them your enemies and they might even make good friends.

Have you ever eaten at a fast food restaurant? Do you drive a car, polluting your environment and the world's environment in general? (I could list others.) If so, then perhaps you aren't so unlike Americans.

In other words, grow up. The world is not not your playpen.

Perhaps you need to expand your own view as well. We probably all do.
You will not assist in this by making unfounded, overgeneralized, statements.

Glad to have got under your right wing skin. I was merely responding to previous posts which claimed that the whole world hates America. No it doesn't - just large numbers of people. That may be a "generalisation" but it appears that you people both accept and expect it. The world is still not your childish playpen.

Have a pat on your head to patronise your overheated ego.

Glad to have got under your right wing skin. I was merely responding to previous posts which claimed that the whole world hates America. No it doesn't - just large numbers of people. That may be a "generalisation" but it appears that you people both accept and expect it. The world is still not your childish playpen.

Have a pat on your head to patronise your overheated ego.

Again you demonstrate your limited view, as I am not a right-winger. Nor am I a left-winger.

Es, you really think this guy is capable of debate?

No, he's just another person that resorts to unfounded personal attacks.

Glad to have got under your right wing skin. I was merely responding to previous posts which claimed that the whole world hates America. No it doesn't - just large numbers of people. That may be a "generalisation" but it appears that you people both accept and expect it. The world is still not your childish playpen.

Have a pat on your head to patronise your overheated ego.

Again you demonstrate your limited view, as I am not a right-winger. Nor am I a left-winger.

Es, you really think this guy is capable of debate?

No, he's just another person that resorts to unfounded personal attacks.

Why appeal to me? :D I am not the arbiter of good and bad debating style.

I fear some people don't know where left ends and right starts or vice versa. I just hate all extremists.

you will quickly become nominalized and ignored by the community at large.

I fear some people don't know where left ends and right starts or vice versa. I just hate all extremists.

You're just digging yourself deeper and deeper and deeper. Keep trying. Keep going with those unfounded statements and not actually responding to the questions asked of you. If you continue on this route rather than doing a 180 degree turn, you will quickly become nominalized and ignored by the community at large.

I fear some people don't know where left ends and right starts or vice versa. I just hate all extremists.

You're just digging yourself deeper and deeper and deeper. Keep trying. Keep going with those unfounded statements and not actually responding to the questions asked of you. If you continue on this route rather than doing a 180 degree turn, you will quickly become nominalized and ignored by the community at large.

I fear some people don't know where left ends and right starts or vice versa. I just hate all extremists.

You're just digging yourself deeper and deeper and deeper. Keep trying. Keep going with those unfounded statements and not actually responding to the questions asked of you. If you continue on this route rather than doing a 180 degree turn, you will quickly become nominalized and ignored by the community at large.

Sarge, I don't think you can speak for the community at large. We are all pretty forgiving here.

@Ekky: Sarge honestly isn't an extremist at either end, I think you are both misunderstanding the point that each is trying to make.

Actually..about 100 years ago your post would not have been unfounded. The UK has a lot to answer for in history and certainly have not behaved in a benign way to the rest of the world. People in India, Ireland and other occupied territories at the time would certainly agree with the parallels with how the US is behaving now as how the UK behaved during it's empire days.

The post would have been nearly as unfounded then as it was now because, as Sarge also noted, the generalizations are too large.

It's nearly irrational to extrapolate from whatever x number of people you may have met to 60, or 300, million people.

While I have met Americans who supported the Iraq war, I've also met people from the UK who did as well. Not to mention how Labour got behind it, and remains firmly behind it. I would be foolish to therefore then make generalizations that "the British" need to grow up, or other such nonsense.

Of course, I could comment that the Labour gov't is firmly in favor of going to war, as I have the evidence--they did so, and are still doing so. Just as one could make the comment the American gov't is doing things that the person making the comment disagrees with.

That, while much more accurate, doesn't apply to 60, or 300, million people, and certainly does not allow for the interchangeability of the terms "American," and "American gov't" and "individual Americans."

I don't think the British invaded Iraq 100 years ago...although it was a protectorate from 1941 to 1945.

How quickly we Brits forget our colonial past.

How quickly we Brits forget our colonial past.

Bobby, that's very true. A little more than a hundred years ago, the term "concentration camp" was first coined. It described camps operated by the British in South Africa during the Second Boer War, in which it is estimated that close to 28,000 civilian women and children (mostly children) perished in appalling circumstances, and at least about 14,000 Black civilians also died.

The British politician and future Prime Minister, Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who was vehemently opposed to the war and was an outspoken critic of the "scorched earth" policy followed by the British, asked rhetorically in the British Parliament in June 1901, "When is a war not a war?" He answered the question himself: "When it is waged ... by methods of barbarism."

History has a way of repeating itself.

History has a way of repeating itself.

It's sad when we don't learn from the mistakes of the past :(

History has a way of repeating itself.

It's sad when we don't learn from the mistakes of the past :(

No, say it isn't so! Collectives don't learn from other collectives? Really?

How shocking.