It seems the entire world feels that Americans are not only ignorant of international events but also void of any sense regarding their own politics. After reading one spicey thread on the topic of our apparent unwitting density I had a couple things to say. (parental discretion advised for political incorrectness):
When it comes to international politics I really have no opinion for several reasons, none of which are that I'm thick, selfish, or greedy. The biggest reason I have no opinion is that I have a tough time keeping up on everything here at home. For all you worldly wise 'foreigners' (for the sake of this thread:) it might help you to understand that America is set up with 50 states and 50 different legal systems. 95% of our laws are state guided and a minority of them submit to the federal government. So, when I watch the evening news I am trying to keep up on the events in all 50 states, that's 300 million people and it might also help to think of the mass of land we have here-Michigan is roughly the size of England and Texas might even be bigger than France.
Americans aren't ignorant of the international community, we just work very hard at maintaining unity between our states that at one point existed as separate countries. Furthermore each of these states have their own community personality, some are traditional, some are liberal-just like European countries. Overall, Americans are very charitable and we have fought for and legalized many rights and benefits for foreign citizens who have made America their home.
I know the Iraq war is a sore point to the international community and no one likes Bush-guess what? 84% (in the last poll I saw) of Americans feel the same. Our political system of voting does not leave the Presidency merely to the popular vote of the citizens, as with the case of Bush, politicians weighed in more heavily than the citizens did. It was our politicians who put him into office. So what would you have the American public do? What would you do if it happened in your country? Storm the capitol and take out the President? I think not. SO why the critism against us?
My complaints against the international community as far as politics go, I take up with my own government by voting and writing letters. I don't aim my disrespect at all French people because I disliked the last french President (and I didn't know much about him, just thought he was rude...) You get what I'm saying? I write my government because I don't like the international trade policy with China-I don't judge every chinese person I see because of what their government has done. Sometimes when people criticize us Americans I feel like telling them to back off. If you don't like what America is doing, then why don't you write YOUR President or Prime Minister and put pressure on them to deal with America? What good does it do to gripe at American citizens?
I have been to Europe twice and Canada, and Mexico. I am not a world traveler, but I have big plans for the future. I LOVE England, and I loved the people I met there. I want to take my kids there someday. We're teaching our kids Italian, and we want to visit our 'home' countries in Europe . I know a lot of other Americans who want to learn about the international community like I do and I know others that don't. But the next time you feel like throwing rocks at us Americans and criticizing our every move, think about what we did for the international community in WWII. My great grandfather strapped on a gun and a backpack and jumped out of an airplane to assist the international community. (where's the love guys?) Now my husband does the same thing. Do you think we don't care? We care more than you know, but we are not in charge of the final decisions.