this may be slightly off topic, but i would like to see other countries viewing each other as they are, not as the news reels depict them..

i am so tired of the idea that americans are inherently evil.. most of us just survive the daily drudgery of life with little time left over for being evil to another nation

if nothing else, i would truly like to read a statement, that blames the real culprits.. i do not blame the entire island of england, for the damned beatles, why can't other share this concept

what are you on period.. you think this question just pertains to snarkpit? or are you suffering withdrawls from some overdose?

get over it lep.. there is a world outside this site.. i assumed the question was for all wishes, i see the news on TV and my comment is valid, and a real wish i hold dear..

i honestly do not know how to answer this post adequately lep.. i realize others perceive the USA as well off, but i can take you anyplace within 25 miles of my house and show you hungry children.. the concept of us bing well off is fictitious.. it may be true that there are far worse places in the world, but the average american is most definitely NOT well off..

old people eating dog food out of cans, because our medical is so outragous..

you truly have no idea, and truly have no damned opinion at all i believe, because you have seen so little of the US and judge it all according to its limited scope.

for us to be a 1st world country, we have homelessness, hunger, diseases, and crime that is bordering on 3rd world..

as i said, i cannot answer you in a way to make it clear to you, but its far from the garden of eden around here.. and i find it extremely offensive when people whom do not live here are so sure its otherwise..

when was the last time, you heard me say anything even remotely positive about the living conditions of the UK?? never is the answer, but so many here talk as as if they have 1st hand knowledge of our life styles..

i admit, the US has its perks, but its tough.. for most of us, and i would truly appreciate it if you accept my word on it, and stop acting as if i make this s**t up..

i cannot compare my life to the average easterner, stop comparing yourself to mine..

So does every country in the world. You should see bad bits of the ones which are third world. You may also realise that I have been to America a number of times and am not simply being an armpit 'critic' of the average American in any way. But thanks for derailing the thread

Indeed, I think we need to define that nobody here in the UK (from these forums, at least, I can certainly note there is a plethora of racists in this fine nation) "hates Americans" or "blames Americans" for the evils of the world - we simply acknowledge and recognise that the USA, the former USSR, the UK, the EU are no better than each other.

You cannot deny the fact that past US/UK/USSR politicians/statesmen have a lot to answer for in terms of historical and present day failings - there is no two ways about it if you have any sense of humanity or morals.

Like Lep says, we have problems with multinational corporations near enough extorting large amounts of money in exchanged for subsidised goods produced at home in the Western countries. So while we live a life of luxury and excess (in many senses of the word, overproduction is a huge problem which wastes millions of dollars/pounds a year - and leaves grain to rot while thousands starve in the third world style states).

Likewise we have issues with governments lying to their people and ordering wars with dubious motives and bad planning, whilst the domestic agenda goes down the pan and yet again, ?/$'s are wasted for evil and not good. I wouldn't flatter yourself and say the attacks are on the USA, we attack the dubious morals of most Western governments and their attitude to the rest of the world (as well as non-"Western" states, but people generally discuss issues relevant to them).

It just so happens that America and its respective administration at the time is the "accepted leader" of the free world as it were, and so leads by example - and has the power to do a lot of good for the world. We are not carrying a torch for Communism or liberalism, we're speaking out against what we feel is unacceptable behaviour by ALL civilised countries of the world, not just the USA.

And yes certainly, no offence intended but American news/media is heavily isolationist, so CNN/NBC/ABC never really report *all* the news - that's an issue for your country, not me ^_^ Here in the UK, France, germany etc etc news is national and internationally based, so I think it is almost a dead certainty that the learned new generation will take issue with what they feel is wrong, and right. If you can't accept the fact that America is the leading country in the world, and sometimes we are well within our rights to question them as the purveyors of freedom and liberty - when they seem to be pursuing an agenda far from that idealistic view.

I think you have to bite the bullet and accept that we have a right to speak out against the US/UK/Swaziland (ok so maybe not them ) government as we see fit and appropriate. If there was no dialogue or criticism, how would we advance past our common problems faced with international trade and politics?

The simple fact is, we wouldn't. If you crush or silence the people who think objectively and morally about making the world a better place, you do no favours to yourself or humanity.

</ramble-rant>

Edit: personally I carry my personal "torch" of attacking the westernised countries and other economic powers of the world for their downright inexcusable lack of action on the millions of people suffering in the world, whilst we lead a life of decadence, excess and greed.

Why do you always have to drag these things down into a bitch fest? You always seem to complain about how people view America- in this thread, at least you admitted it was off topic, and there is nothing wrong or new with doing so. Did my use of the smiley drive you over the edge and get nasty, and ask me if I was suffering from drug withdrawl or don't have a life? And I can take you 100m or 25 miles or whatever from where I am and show you homeless people who will mostly live in poverty too, as you can do anywhere in the world, but that wasn't the point. I am sick of your "older than you and know more than you" attitude which you constantly employ; I never once said or meant "oh well I've travelled around a lot and seen a lot of poverty so I can occupy the moral highground", I am merely defending against you claiming that I know nothing of the world by saying that I have seen a lot of the world and poverty, which I guess you haven't outside your own skewed media. And what have I accused you of, bar turning this thread into some kind of arguethon- did that offend you more than anything else in this thread?!

There's something I like to call, "the fallacy of experience" in that argument.

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch........

Because they do.