Peter Crisp wrote:I get the feeling most Americans couldn't give a gooseberry fool about the rest of the world and think we all live in awe of the mighty USA.
They're raised on a diet of "greatest country in the world" rhetoric, and general ignorance of the outside world, compounded by a media that rarely ventures outside the US in any meaningful sense - unless it's to cover some war or disaster.
Whenever CBS News does international reporting, for example, 99% of it is delivered from a London newsroom, citing foreign sources, and when its morning show does its world news segment, 99% of it is just American news.
Living in the US, you do develop a healthy respect for the BBC.
Depending on where you are and what news you consume, ignorance and disdain for the world at large can be almost as bad as North Korea.
Peter Crisp wrote:A lot of them have this odd idea that they somehow pay for everything any other country has as how could we possibly afford things like new London Buses without help from the bank of America.
They take this view on healthcare in particular, I find, justifying their sky high healthcare costs by claiming that they pay more so the UK et al don't have to. They act like the US is a lab for experimental treatments other countries benefit from, and that they is also why healthcare, drugs etc cost way more there.