So I just came back from a vacation in Italy. I had a lovely time while I was there. I spent most of it on the Amalfi Coast, about 3 hours south of Rome.
When I was taking the plane back to the states, Alitalia had a strike & I was stranded in the airport for a day & a half. For the most part, that section of the trip was a drag. I did, however, strike up a lot of conversations with my fellow stranded passengers. Most of them were Europeans. One of the guys was older, from Denmark, and had just retired. Eventually, we got to the subject of Americans vs. Europeans, and he made the statement "we know more about you than you know about us". The US media and aesthetic tastes are so well known and pervasive throughout the world; but for the most part it is a one-way communication. It seems Americans, for the most part, are not interested in how other people in other countries live their lives.
While I wholeheartedly agree with this statement, I am curious as to what you guys think of this and what would make this attitude change in this country (barring a catastrophe, that is). Or even if most Americans are aware of this attitude...
i would say that statement was obviously correct.... as for a change, well, personally i am interested, but since the media isn't catering to me on that i don't find out as much as i'd like. And people with my tastes are not a huge demographic so i doubt it will change...
Seems the US media is only interested in other contries if there's war or stife... Sad really.
Have to say that most of your media, but not all, only checks the world if there are northamericans involved or there are big disasters......
Most Germans know more about the island than the Northamericans, and we are closer to you. I guess some don't even know there is a big land between Cuba and Puerto Rico.
Correction....hardcore baseball fans know where and who we are
Of course they know more about us. We crank out television pablum by the gross that is aired all over the world. We have tabloid media of all type only interested in the latest car wreck of a celebrity and we broadcast it everywhere! We are a self absorbed culture that's not shy about blabbing it to the rest of the planet!
Europe just needs better PR is all. [img]wink.gif[/img]
From my experience, most Americans know jack shit about Canada, and we're the giant country hovering right on top of you.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Of course, most Canadians don't know much about Canada either... [img]wink.gif[/img]Originally posted by Peter Hoffman:
From my experience, most Americans know jack shit about Canada, and we're the giant country hovering right on top of you.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Of course, most Canadians don't know much about Canada either... [img]wink.gif[/img] </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Touch?.Originally posted by Spore:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Peter Hoffman:
From my experience, most Americans know jack shit about Canada, and we're the giant country hovering right on top of you.
Guilty as charged-
but then,
"I get the news I need on the weather report......."
The majority of people in the US are working class schlubs who are more concerned with paying their own bills then international affairs. When the US becomes the #2 (or less) world superpower this might change somewhat. I suppose it is just a neuvo cultural Monroe Doctrine.
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