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Old 07-27-2013, 01:34 PM   #21
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? Struck me as one person's POV, with their own personal bias, and painting with an extremely broad brush. I really could not relate.

-ERD50
Yep opinions are like, well you know what.

I'm curious about the author's age.

I barely made it to point 2, it was just too tedious and boring, and then skimmed the rest of the points without wasting time reading the text under them. Stuff like this just annoys me to death.

Maybe we could remind Mr. Knowitall if it wasn't for the US the rest of the world would be speaking German, Japanese or Russian but hey we're just a bunch of dumb lazy aholes.
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Old 07-27-2013, 01:55 PM   #22
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He uses words like "awesome", and is still rationalizing his childhood upbringing. A fair indication we're dealing with a Gen Y here. I generally don't listen to anything they have to say. Especially when they go into lecture mode.
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Old 07-27-2013, 01:56 PM   #23
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I scan-read a few of the other posts on his site. He comes across to me as rather arrogant but then, he's young, so it's not the worst offense in the world.

IIRC, he mentioned something about being in his early 20's somewhere on the site.
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Old 07-27-2013, 02:22 PM   #24
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I read the article. While there's some truth in what he wrote, this is not an individual I care to know in real life, and would not want to be near.

Read the following excerpt:
In dating, when I find a woman attractive, I almost always walk right up to her and tell her that a) I wanted to meet her, and b) she’s beautiful. In America, women usually get incredibly nervous and confused when I do this. They’ll make jokes to defuse the situation or sometimes ask me if I’m part of a TV show or something playing a prank. Even when they’re interested and go on dates with me, they get a bit disoriented when I’m so blunt with my interest. Whereas, in almost every other culture approaching women this way is met with a confident smile and a “Thank you.”

followed by
A routine STD test that can run you over $200 in the US is free in many countries to anyone, citizen or not.


This guy gets what he wants abroad what he cannot get at home. No wonder he likes it outside the country.
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Old 07-27-2013, 07:46 PM   #25
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I am friends with a travel blog writer who runs a profitable site and these are the kind of controversial, suggestive posts that get lots of hits and feedback. My friend can fine tune almost any post and predict the amount of feedback he will get and he will do that sometimes even if he does not agree with the post.

You see, even awesome, ultra-well-traveled Gen Y's who are more enlightened than the rest of us have to demean themselves to make some money to keep the game up.

In my personal experience, after having lived abroad twice as long as the blog writer in the OP, it would be much easier to write 10 things I appreciate about America.

And, this is the absolute truth, I was thinking today what was the most important thing I learned while living abroad. And here it is: I finally realized just how dysfunctional my family is!
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Old 07-27-2013, 07:49 PM   #26
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And, this is the absolute truth, I was thinking today what was the most important thing I learned while living abroad. And here it is: I finally realized just how dysfunctional my family is!
+1000
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Old 07-28-2013, 08:09 AM   #27
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Like all good lies, there is an element of truth in what he writes. We can all find certain Americans who think the rest of the world is a dump compared to the USA, who think everybody else wants to be an American, who think little of value comes from anywhere but the USA, etc. But, we can also find people who understand and enjoy other cultures, other points of view and other lifestyles. And can do so without having to measure which is best and which is worst.

I think the author takes the same superficial view of Americans, that he thinks Americans take of others in the world. Not much difference in thinking between him and the people he is critisizing. My 2˘.
My thoughts exactly. The impression that I have is that the Americans that the author "knows" are more red-necky than the people I know (apologies to any red-necks out there).
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Old 07-28-2013, 09:08 AM   #28
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What I'm most interested in now is, the OP's response to these responses. I'm curious why he considered this a 'a nicely-written piece.'?

I have a hard time describing something so critical as 'nicely-written'. Subjectively, one might think it was 'well written', but IMO, it doesn't deserve that either.

-ERD50
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Old 07-28-2013, 09:47 AM   #29
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Like all good lies, there is an element of truth in what he writes. ......
It is not a lie, it is just a broad brush exaggeration. You know, like opinion pieces in the newspaper or on the web.
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Old 07-28-2013, 09:56 AM   #30
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#7 - (We’re Paranoid)I don't think this reflects general paranoia. It is simply the news media trying to sensationalize things. If you want to generalize, how about "Mainstream 'journalism' in the US sucks"? I can buy that one. Is it better in other parts of the world? I would hope so, but here's a sample from the #1 circulation paper in the UK:

...

Pot calling the kettle black?
Well, it would be, if the article's author (or I) had invoked the quality of American print journalism, and attempted to assert that they do it better in Britain. Otherwise, it's just a straw man. Plus, even if the paranoia is created by the media, that doesn't mean that there aren't people building panic rooms, emptying Home Depot of duct tape to keep out terrorist nerve gas attacks, etc. If nobody consumed what the media produced, they'd produce something different. (Of course, I already knew that the alert readers of this forum are not taken in by media discourse. )

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What I'm most interested in now is, the OP's response to these responses. I'm curious why he considered this a 'a nicely-written piece.'?

I have a hard time describing something so critical as 'nicely-written'. Subjectively, one might think it was 'well written', but IMO, it doesn't deserve that either.
Well, apparently my subjective opinion of the piece is different from your subjective opinion. That's kind of the nature of subjectivity.

Anyway, I used the term "nicely-written" because I thought it was written nicely. I liked the writing style, and I thought that the writer addressed some issues that many people might not have thought about, in a highly readable way.
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Old 07-28-2013, 09:57 AM   #31
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The author's response to criticism is hilarious.

Quote:
OK, I totally over-generalized and stereotyped. You got me. I even admitted it in the beginning of the article. But over-generalizing and stereotyping back at me doesn’t make it any better.

And look, you have to remember, I have to remember, we all have to remember, that even the fact we’re discussing this on the internet, on a blog that you found from Facebook, makes us all part of an elite minority. Only one-third of American citizens own a passport, and that’s an all-time high. 46% of Americans believe the universe was created in seven days. Most Americans believe global warming is a hoax. 22% of Americans think the world will end during their lifetime. So no, I’m sorry. I am going to generalize here: your internet buddies, your college buddies, your upper-middle class family and neighbors, they all may know better. But the majority of the United States does not.
IOW, I stereotyped and overgeneralized, but that's ok, because if you know I'm off base my article wasn't intended for you in the first place. This article was specifically intended for people who don't know any better.

At lease he's honest about it.
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Old 07-28-2013, 10:06 AM   #32
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"OK like I know I over generalized you know but like I admitted it you know so like it's OK you know. So like we all get trophies now right?"
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Old 07-28-2013, 10:12 AM   #33
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Geez, K,

Sad about your epiphany. Glad that you are in Pursuit of Happiness.

I always hope that Things Aren't As Bad as They Seem.

Be well,

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Quote:
Originally Posted by kramer View Post
I am friends with a travel blog writer who runs a profitable site and these are the kind of controversial, suggestive posts that get lots of hits and feedback. My friend can fine tune almost any post and predict the amount of feedback he will get and he will do that sometimes even if he does not agree with the post.

You see, even awesome, ultra-well-traveled Gen Y's who are more enlightened than the rest of us have to demean themselves to make some money to keep the game up.

In my personal experience, after having lived abroad twice as long as the blog writer in the OP, it would be much easier to write 10 things I appreciate about America.

And, this is the absolute truth, I was thinking today what was the most important thing I learned while living abroad. And here it is: I finally realized just how dysfunctional my family is!
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Old 07-28-2013, 10:14 AM   #34
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IOW, I stereotyped and overgeneralized, but that's ok, because if you know I'm off base my article wasn't intended for you in the first place. This article was specifically intended for people who don't know any better.
When I do this, I get warned about being banned. Maybe I should start a blog?
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Old 07-28-2013, 11:06 AM   #35
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I think for most people who have spent much time abroad would realize that much of what the blogger said is correct. You don't have to go far to realize that If you spent time in Canada, for example, you'd recognize the criticisms are valid. While the author does make generalizations, they are valid cultural observations even though it's not always true. The commentary about emotional insecurities and obsession with safety are not hard to spot; not even in war torn countries are people so paranoid. I just returned from an overseas trip where I stayed with a local family. It was a pleasure to see children running errands alone and not always supervised, people taking 4 and 5 am walks alone, doors unlocked, etc. While there are great things about our culture, we tend to get very sensitive about any sort of criticisms. Even in our own personal lives we get quite perturbed by what we consider criticisms and insults. In many places, people don't care or they just give it right back and don't need therapy later; ask the Italians how they do it.
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Old 07-28-2013, 11:29 AM   #36
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Originally Posted by Arifriekinel View Post
A lot of the criticisms here were the kind he received and addressed in the follow up post here if anyone is interested.
Hint: type over the **** with a word for excrement to make the link work!

Also have a look at his relationships with women programs to better understand the guy and his background.

(As a general rule, Americans don't fit into any general rule. But do the exceptions prove the rule?)
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Old 07-28-2013, 12:00 PM   #37
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Hint: type over the **** with a word for excrement to make the link work!
Oh, I didn't even notice that!
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Old 07-28-2013, 12:54 PM   #38
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I think for most people who have spent much time abroad would realize that much of what the blogger said is correct.
Agreed. Seems we are in the minority, though, Letj!

I have to say that some of the comments in this thread tend to confirm much of what was said in the article.
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Old 07-28-2013, 01:15 PM   #39
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Agreed. Seems we are in the minority, though, Letj!

I have to say that some of the comments in this thread tend to confirm much of what was said in the article.
Don't mind being in the minority. I've spent much of my life living abroad so I am coming from a different perspective.
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Old 07-28-2013, 01:48 PM   #40
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The author's response to criticism is hilarious.

IOW, I stereotyped and overgeneralized, but that's ok, because if you know I'm off base my article wasn't intended for you in the first place. This article was specifically intended for people who don't know any better.

At lease he's honest about it.
Many people back off when challenged with a "Surely you didn't take me seriously" response. More of the same imho.

And don't call me Shirley.
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