We Americans have a reputation for not speaking any other languages than our own. Aside from the sheer oddness of that idea - in addition to English very many other languages are spoken here - what that often means is that foreigners often think that whatever they say in their own languages will never be understood by Americans.
It's assumed to be a private conversation with no Yankee dogs listening in.
[All the languages in the world are spoken in the United States. Among my friends and acquaintances here in San Francisco are speakers of Afrikaans, Arabic (Cairene, Hijazi, Levantine, Maghrebi, and Yemeni), Armenian, Bengali, Berber, Bikolano, Burmese, Cantonese, Caviteno, Cebuano, Chabacano, Danish, Deng, Dutch, Flemish, French, German, Gujarati, Hakka, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Igorot, Ilocano, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kapampangan, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Marathi, Meo ('Miao'), Min, Mixtec, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Quechua, Russian, Sicilian, Shanghainese, Spanish, Sundanese, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Tausug, Teochew, Thai, Vietnamese, Waray, Yiddish, Yoruban, Yucatec. Plus some Montagnards and Tatars, and others with unusual tongues.]
In consequence of that misapprehension that we are all utterly monolingual and illiterate, foreigners freely say all manner of unpleasant things about us.
Yes, they really do talk about us - we are probably the most enthusiastically discussed group on the planet.
Now consider this doozy:
"Hypocriete Amerikaan zoals zoveel Amerikanen, en maar zeggen wij zijn het meest democratische volk op de aarde, bah wat een viezerds, en dit is dan een topje van de hypocritische ijsberg naar mijn idee."
------ Gert in Hilversum, on the website of De Telegraaf.
[Translation: 'Hypocritical American like so many Americans, and always saying 'we are the most democratic people on earth; faugh, what a repellent lot, and this then is a mere top of the iceberg to my thinking.']
GERT IS THE WORLD
It doesn't really matter what he was commenting on, the point is that based on one news item he opportunistically slandered three hundred million people, indicating that he loathes all of us. Which is not at all unusual. Under any Dutch article and on any Dutch website that mentions America there will be a surfeit of anti-American comments. Many Dutch do hate and despise us, and will take any chance to make that clear to their fellow Dutchmen.
The Dutch aren't strange in that regard.
The same sentiment thrives underneath articles and on web fora in German, French, Italian, and the Scandinavian tongues........
I sincerely hope that Gert in Hilversum dies painfully of the pox. Considering the sexual smorgasbord which is metropolitan Holland, that is very likely. But it cannot happen soon enough.
I wish similar fates on many other Dutch people, a very large number of Frenchman, Arabs, Germans, Italians, Poles, Pakistanis, Russians, Englishmen, Swedes........
Actually, much of Europe and most of the Islamic world.
If there ever is another World War (in other words, a war that starts in Europe and is fought mainly in Europe) we should stay the hell out.
Let those bastards kill each other. It's what they're good at.
Same goes for the Muslims. The Persians and Iraqis killed millions between themselves - a good beginning. The Egyptian military gassed Yemeni highlanders - splendid. The Pakistanis keep blowing each other up - jolly good. The Lebanese and Syrians can't stand each other - way to go, guys, make it happen. The Turks slaughtered tens of thousands of Kurds - meh. The governments of all Muslim countries repress and kill their own people - no biggy. Muslim terrorists slaughter thousands of fellow Muslims - cool, dudes, totally.
Screw all of you.
Maybe I should start reading South American and African websites next.
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5 comments:
You know, this country ain't so bad, after all.
You know, you're as bad as this Eurotrash you knock they way you bad mouth all the other countries,
And the guy has a point -- We Americans like to think that we're God's gift to democracy, but let's be honest with ourselves, our Democracy is a creaky 18th century Anglo-Saxon version that's in serious need of upgrades. There are monarchies out there with better systems of democracy than what we've got. All I need to say is "U.S. Senate," and you should know what I mean. And why, after a clear majority of the voters opted for change in the last election, is our government still following most of the same controversial policies it was following before the election?
As to why people in other countries hate us, it obvious -- we use, on a per-capita basis, far more resources than anybody else in the world. Folks in the poor and middling countries want to have some of those resources for themselves, and folks in the other rich countries are worried that our greed might upset the applecart of the pretty sweet system that all of us rich countries have.
As for atrocities, well, we Americans have committed more than out fair share, as the various Indian nations and the Filipinos will be happy to recount, so what's the point of throwing everybody else's atrocities in their faces?
My dear CA,
I don't mind an even-handed and nuanced discussion. That is impossible with many Europeans - I've tried for years.
Rather than understanding that there are good things and bad things, which are detailed and complex, the approach from the other side is nearly always to seize each and any opportunity to slam the United States.
No, most of them do not take responsibility for their atrocities - they sincerely feel that it was past-history, and SINCE the war they have been blameless; their suffering during the war wiped out all their sins. We, on the other hand, are the new imperium, and vulgarians besides.
Like a bunch of parasites their economies feed of ours, their companies are right there in the third world alongside ours, and their retirement funds and banks are vested in the US enterprise - but that, remarkably enough, does not stain them; it stains us. Only us.
My experience with the Dutch is that they are always right, the issues are simple, Americans are stupid boors, and the heart of culture and civilization is Europe.
Heck, they even invented bluejeans!
I am cognizant of our atrocities and the failings of our system.
So are they. At least they think they are.
I've been hearing what a blessed place Europe is, and how virtuous and sainted its people, since I was five years old (we move there when I was two and a half, but it wasn't until school that being the repulsive green slimy alien hit home). I've also been hearing the same venomous tropes about evil Yankee bastards for just as long. Screw them.
That aside, the less said about the "U.S. Senate", the better. No, they don't make Europe's constitutional monarchies look any better, they are quite as cumbersome and goobus. Our politicians are like politicians everywhere - some good, some bad, some despicable. But neither they nor we are, as the commenter whom I cited averred, all hypocritical and repellent.
Oh, and I should also mention that defending the United States in any way while in discussion with many (probably most) Europeans marks one as an idiot and barbarian, as well as a degenerate.
Lets just say that I am taking ownership of my idiocy, lack of civilized sensibilties, and perversion.
It's VERY liberating.
Clearly examining Dutch texts on the internet affects your valves and your exudates. And everyone else's.
Just stop. There is no point in continuing.
We've reached the limit of what rectal probing can teach us!
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