How America got so Stupid
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ก.ค. 2023
- And why American culture became everything, everywhere, all at once.
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I have no idea why TH-cam has only rendered this in 720p, hopefully it fixes itself but otherwise just pretend it's 2010 or something.
weird
what do you mean? it is 2010!
mines stuck in 360p💀
im watchin in 4k
America is horrible the geography
Honestly, as an American, I feel like a lot of people here are becoming proud of how stupid they are. You see it everywhere on social media
Idk why you're using media as a source. It's full of biases and stupid people.
Praise invisible sky 💩
Especially in Republican, conservative, evangelical, and homeschooled circles.
Yes, b/c it is a willful ignorance born of hate. For many of these people, this is the first time they have ever been "in the club," instead of on the outside, looking in. Their insecurities and prejudice now celebrated, instead of shunned. It's scary AF.
@@cpaul9269 I cannot agree with you more
You would expect Americans to be very educated about the world, given how they are involved in so many foreign affairs.
Very true.
Ironically it's the other way. So many foreigners who've never been here or really spent a lot of their own time researching it seem obsessed, while the Americans are fine in their ignorance and honestly don't usually don't talk about any nation that they don't share a border with.
Everyone is worried about us. We don’t even think about y’all
@@Stephanie-mv9iy Kind of ironic you say this despite it being a generalization. The peak of ignorance is speaking about a nation of nearly 332 million people and assuming they are all this stupid. The US population most likely eclipses your countries population many times over and the amount of highly educated and globally connected americans also most likely far surpasses the amount of your educated countrymen.
For the record I'm a dual citizen of the US and Australia [have lived more than a decade in each] and I'm in the top percentile when it comes to higher education in Australia [6.8/7 GPA in computer science and a OP 2] and likewise I'm very well-read [originally was going to be an historian if it paid more] and also have travelled to many countries.
I guarantee you are far, far more ignorant than I am and yet you have the audacity to generalize millions upon millions of people as a testament to your own ignorance.
We live in a country almost the size of europe, with 3 different time zones, why should we care about the world?
I'm Japanese, but I lived in the U.S. as as kid.
One day I was eating lunch at the school cafeteria, munching on an rice ball my mother made for me.
An American friend of mine came over, seemingly excited, exclaiming "Sushi! Sushi!"
I told him calmly that sushi is made using raw sliced fish and vinegared rice, whereas the rice ball I was eating at the moment was neither.
My friend responded with, "No, no, no! That's definitely sushi. You're eating sushi."
It remains to this day a bizzare question why my friend thought he was more informed about Japanese food culture than the Japanese kid in front of him, but as I grew up and got to know more about U.S. culture, and met more people like him, I gradually learned to just deal with it.
i am surprised that such people even say it as a statement that they are right even if they know very little about other cultures
I'm amazed at how many Americans can't pronounce Japanese words correctly. They say "Pokey man", "sakky", "mayn-ga", ect.
"Yo, that's some pretty cool sushi!"
"It's not sushi"
"SUSHI! SUSHI! SUSHI!"
How old was this kid??
Did he get that from watch 4kids dubs of anime
I was an exchange student in the USA in 1991, Spokane WA, Ferris High School. My favourite questions were like: "do you have cats in Germany?" and a bunch of other questions that basically centered around if we lived in caves and how much we admired the US? Until a fellow US student stepped in and said "yeah. they dont have electricity over there! they only have candles. And by the light of those candles they draw, design and manufacture all those Porsches, Mercedes, Audis etc." That sure helped to shut up that guy.
its called humor, look it up
Gott in Himmel!🤣
Hahahaha.😄
Oh, it's really hard for me, a Chinese people, to imagine that even German friends would be discriminated😅Germans enjoy a good reputation in China.
@@wednesday567 Unluckly it is a normal serious thing every foreign student expirenced in the US.
In fairness, knowing who the British prime minister is at a given time in recent years isn’t an easy question to answer.
Sorry Liz. You had a good run.
"Aw shit, who is it this week??"
I am British , and honestly I struggle to keep up. We had Boris, who was awesome, then some woman for a few days, then some guy, then this new guy from India... America had Brian Obama , then Daniel trump, then some old guy, I dunno, democracy is sometimes just too much effort... We should have someone who sticks at the job like they do in China and Russia instead of a ten minute wonder... That French guy looks hot but not nearly as hot as that Lesbian who runs Finland... anyway these come today gone tomorrow politicians hold little power, Elon Musk, Tim Cooke, that is wher ethe real power lies....
also who really cares?
Swachum suchwami?
I'm a Romanian studying in the US. Almost everytime I'd mention I'm from Romania, they would ask me one of the following:
Where is Romania?
What's Romania?
Wait, Romania is a country?
Oh, where's Romania in Ohio?
Wow, you're from Africa?
So you're communist?
Where is Romania in the US?
And when I'd mention I'm from the Transylvanian region, they would immediately ask me about the Hotel in Transylvania movie. Some even debated me if Transylvania is a real place.
Romania is definitely where I am relocating because the US isn't for me anymore. Also, I would recommend you go back to Romania or go elsewhere like Canada, Italy, and Hungary because the cost of living in the US has skyrocketed.
@@TheRecklessMetalhead canada is not much better
@@tusharsharma8952 Yeah, but safer than the US, to be honest.
You seem to like saying Romania over and over again.
@@Steveman27 Someone must be an American
I'm cuban, i live in new york rigth now and i have to listen to people asking in what part of Mexico Spain is ._.
I don't know if you're being serious or not considering on how multicultural NYC is
Everybody knows it's in Lisbon
@Junichsen yep
@@yazoosquelch7065 you goofy, it's in Cape Town
@@Junichsen Silly me, I thought that was the Capital of Europe
I spoke with a waitress in Georgia who told me she failed history after writing an essay on how the US bombed Pearl Harbor.
Uhhh, good job buddy.
that is why she is waitress. but problom mostly not in people but in copytalism system itself. In time Russia was country with most readed books for person. Now I see how people aroung becoming more and more stupid as hell.
@@user-pe7jz6wn9t yeep, same in France unfortunately, although we're nowhere near from americans, and still behinf brits and germans. We usually say it's the world is "americanizing", so we get always more individualistic and ignorant, and adept of the US mass culture, while forgetting our own cultural identity, our history, our traditions....but frankly, it would be more appropriate to speak of "mcdonaldization". It's not really the old US culture that is spreading, it's the modern mass culture : hollywood & disney empty movies, junk food of big franchises, spreading privatization of public services....i'm not even a believer in christianity, barely a cultural christian, but i think it's not ok that many french kids today, know more about Spiderman or Batman (or whatever their favorite DC or marvel hero is) life than about Jesus or Napoleon.
Eh, maybe she was a conspiracy theorist who thought Pearl Harbor was an inside job.
@@bretonneux3389 Le probleme en france c'est que non-seulement les gens deviennent de plus en plus débiles mais comme il y a moins de réussite aux examens, ils sont facilités pour augmenter le taux de réussite. On tire le niveau vers le bas juste pour que les idiots qui refusent de faire l'effort de bosser puissent quand même avoir des diplômes. Heureusement j'ai l'impression que c'est lentement mais surement en train de changer avec la nouvelle réforme (ou plutot uniquement la partie concernant l'obligation d'avoir le brevet pour passer au lycée) mais il faut quand même augmenter la difficulté pour que les élèves se mettent a travailler pour avoir un diplôme. Mais c'est vrai que globalement on a de plus en plus une culture du vide et c'est dommage pour un pays avec autant d'histoire et de grands ouvrages.
As an American yes large percentage of us are very stupid, i got into a legitimate argument with a coworker because he didn't think trees were plants, i asked him what he thought they were then and he didn't know but he "knew they weren't plants", took a Google search and 10 minutes of explaining plant taxonomy to finally convince a 35 year old man that trees are indeed plants😑
Is he unfer 70? I think so.
bruh that guy is so silly
You did your job
I thought there will be a plot twist that your coworker said "it doesn't produce electricity thus it's not a plant"
@@fadhilyudistira8819 Or cars...
I'm a British immigrant who's been in America for six years now. I work remotely and my team used to have general knowledge quizzes every week, sometimes for prizes and other times just for fun. I'm honestly not boasting when I say my manager stopped doing them because I was winning every week.
The only questions they would beat me on was popular modern US culture like music TV and films. Some of the answers they gave to other questions were ridiculous.
Thank you for not calling yourself an "expat". In the UK it has a completely different and snobbish meaning.
@@batcollins3714what does it mean in the UK?
Sad, but true.
@@Mogamishu same as immigrant but for the "better" people (aka western europeans).
For example, a Pole moving to UK for work is an immigrant, but a Brit moving to Poland for work is an "expat", even though at this point economies of both countries are comparable (Poland is still a bit behind reaching around 80 to 85% of British economy despite being an independent country for like 34 years, but economists predict that the average household income of a Polish family will be higher than its British equivalent by the end of this decade).
As someone who spent years living in Britain I have to say that although at first I thought nothing of it, it has a racist connotation, or a classist one at least. "We're not like these dirty eastern europeans or indians coming here to do minimum wage jobs noone else wants to do, we go to other countries to do real intellectual jobs!" type attitudes.
I've lived in Bavaria for the past 32 years (if you're American, that's where Walt Disney built a castle 🏰).
I wouldn't call myself Expat because I keep that term for the thousands of Brits who have emigrated to Spain and imported their entire British lifestyle with them. I know some expats that can hardly speak a word of Spanish after 30 years of living there!
I was really suprised about the passport thing. Turns out, in Germany only 41% of the population own a passport, so quite similiar. The difference is, that they can travel to 27 other european countries using only their regular ID.
Only 1/3 of Americans have one so that’s another thing they’re dumb on, I guess they know most of the world doesn’t want them.
Travelling around Europe is like travelling around the US. It would be more accurate to ask how many Europeans leave the continent, and how often. Or at least, how many travel to Russia, China or the Middle East? Something tells me the disparity between US and EU wouldn't be that big anymore.
@@WaxPaper You know, travelling abroad is not about making distance but to experience different cultures and people. Yes, I am aware that the US are quite a big country. No, Europe is not just one country. We could also compare average income and GDP of US citizens with southern europeans for example, eg their means to travel abroad.
@@kalebrosenberg8294 I agree, I'm just saying, travelling to another country from the US isn't as simple as hopping on a cheap flight. US to Europe starts around $1000, one-way. Also, passports cost a decent amount of money over here. It was around $200 in 2002, last time I got one. I think it's double that now.
@@WaxPaper but russia is the same continent. it`s literally Europe
I'm Chilean, I traveled to Las Vegas for a festival last year. I met some ppl on the line, and we were talking about where we came from, or rather, they were talking. They talked all the time about the US.
I mean I flew 12 hours from Chile to get here and no one asked a single thing about my country. They were like 'ok, I don't know where that is, let's talk about Kentucky' I guess they're not interested.
Jesus I’m from Kentucky and the fact they’d rather talk about that is just sad. I’d be grilling you about Chile.
Yep, that's us americans. Always talking about Kentucky. Can't talk about it enough.
@@MatthewRX They didn't. He was making a bad joke.
No les interesa nada fuera de sus fronteras, salvo que seas enemigo.
"You mean you're from chili beans" - average American probably
Last year I was in Italy on holiday, I'm Australian. An older American couple approached me to ask for directions, which I gave them. They then asked me where I were from and I said Australia. They looked very surprised and the woman said "Wow! you speak English very well" I was so suprised I couldn't even respond
Bet they were thinking of Austria
Us Auzzie's are Multilingual.
We Speak Australian, American and English🙃✌️🐨🦘🇦🇺
@@browndogprospecting3141 ha Auzzie with a septic twang instead of Aussie
She lied. How did you get into Europe anyway? Been building a secret underwater bridge? Water ski across, on the backs of a couple of drop bears? I went to Australia once, to get a flight to NZ 🤣😂🤣 Thanks for Ozzy Man, he's cool. Much love from the North of England where we speak proper. 🤭
Bruh moment
This video is unfair.
As a non American, I can be stoopid too, it's my God given right.
it's in blood of americans jk
Stupid is ok.. Never go full Murican tho
bro were talking about an entire nation not. individual
@@Itchybol I'm as stupid as a million if I try. Who are you to stifle my dreams?
We all know God only gave rights to the Americans, they have the monopoly on God given rights.
I traveled the US for a while, and my Dutch accent was mistaken for Canadian. My capital city was the name of the country Denmark, and some people asked what version of English we spoke in the Netherlands. The blank disinterested stares I got when talking about how things are done in the Netherlands or Europe in general still baffle me to this day. They truly don't understand that most of the world is not like the US. At the same time, for me it was very easy to adjust to life in the US, because it's very familiar through media exposure. Had a great time!
You definitely did not talk to the right people
Do you mean to say that the Americans you talked to thought Denmark was the capital of The Netherlands? That is sad and scary!
@@debra1363And BS.
@@Timberella3003 If it's BS then please explain what you did mean.
@@debra1363 Probably the same people who think a quarter hour is twenty five minutes.
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INSTAGRAM
As an American, I can confirm that my IQ is in the negatives.
The fact that I’m even literate is a miracle from god
nice username bro :)
As a non American I'm offended at the implication that I can read
Well this video is about ignorance, not IQ...
@@tiamabderezai5374i think you dont count the immigrants
I can't believe Americans have a monopoly on ignorance and won't save any for us non-Americans.
To be fair, asking someone who the British prime Minister was in 2022 was a bit of a moving target!
The cabbage or the other guy?
You forgot the lady... You know, the one that after she met with the Queen, Her Majesty died a few days later? Made me think she was an evil witch or something...
@@thenachofan7677Diz Trust or something.
Yeah. Americans hardly pay attention to all those lesser countries in the world. Thats not a fair question. Ask us about it something important
Ha. GB is like the Walmart version of the USA
This reminds me of when I was working at Target a long time ago. A lot of people I worked with didn’t know that the US fought in World War II, where China is on a world map, that Joe Biden was the Vice-President at the time (2010), that Washington DC is the capital of the US, and that Europe is a continent instead of a country.
I guess I can sort of understand the China one -- although I know where it is on the map, don't get me wrong -- but the rest? No way, man.
Their ignorance is based partly on a dumbed down school system and on an individual basis their intelligence level.
@superiorsoldier57 bro, China is a really huge country and the most popular asian country
@@diegoneyra8227aKsHuAlLy ☝🤓 india overtook china recently and china is kinda having a population collapse. They're still the 2nd biggest country by far which is impressive but they're not number 1 anymore
I remember having a Business trip to Iceland a few years back ,we went to various areas with the local business man who was hosting the event, We went to an area where the two tectonic plates were splitting apart and I spoke to the one American female on the trip (at least 35-40 years old ) and she just looked at me in total amazement after I talked about the mid Atlantic ridge and how the Atlantic is getting bigger over many millions of years. She just had zero idea and the thought that the Earth was more than a few thousand years old blew her mind
I once heard an American ask about all the volcanoes in IRELAND! He'd never heard of ICELAND!
@@michaelhalsall5684To be fair, they're both islands and people there drink a lot. Just kidding.
Yeah the kids here in school are obsessed with social media or movies or broadway shows and their aim in life is to be famous - the teachers in my kids’s school in the US said that they could tell our kids were European because they were actually interested in their education.
That’s a religious thing. Fundamentalist Christian groups teach their children that the earth was created a few thousand years ago
@@billtomson5791as an Irish citizen... You are 100% correct
As a foreigner watching american news like Fox and MSNBC i was amazed by just how partisan the media is. They will say and do whatever that makes their party look good and diseregard any nuance or intepretation. Its very hard to find information that isn't biased and allow for any critical thought. No wonder america is so divided.
That seems the case with most media also outside the us. It sells
@@davidzwitser Outside of the US, there's often state-affiliated media (not state-governed, mind you), that is available to all members of the public and tries to be as informational and educative as possible.
@@goldschuss2496 The US equivalent of that would be PBS.
@@davidzwitser No. There are countries like mine where the news is strictly about reporting with no opinion columns. In fact news channels here pride themselves in not having editorial content and opinion columns and market themselves as such.
Never watch either one. Don't have cable, don't have satellite. The NBC-based family of 'shows' have been lunatics since inception. Fox used to say 'We report, you decide' something the other networks never even pretended to get close to.
As an American, I have never been so offended by something I 100% agree with.
edit: 3.5K? Wow this blew up. (23.08.31)
Chapeau for such articulated and ironic comment Sir 😄
And what is that?
LOL
As someone who is also an American, yes, I can agree!
For real. Kinda ironic, though, that he used “reading the news paper” as being informed. The news paper tells the truth about 47% of the time
America isolationism is one of the problems that caused ignorance. From not knowing holocaust was about race, or South Africa different definition of blackness. Lot of America lack of knowing different cultures causes this. Many Americans think blackness is genetic even though Africa is diverse and blackness just being a label from skin color like brown, or not knowing Hitler calling the Jews a race.
Americans think race and culture is the same thing. They don't really understand the concept of culture.
Jews have considered themselves a race with their own sub ethnicities since the 12 tribes shit.
It isn't that we don't know. We just don't care. We score fairly well on trivia about other countries, but barring a competition, it isn't relevant.
You wake up, eat, go to work, and sleep. Repeat that every day for 50-60 years. The next town over from you doesn't even matter.
Jews call themselves the Chosen people, …
As a German, who got taught that Jews are a religious group and all that race division was utter bullcrap, I to this day stumble over the idea of a ‚secular Jew‘.
I totally agree with you.
There are some American still thinking Africa and Asia are still living in the hut and does not have access to modern facilities and technologies.
And so do people in Europe and Asia so what’s the point ?
@@Usabby1776no they don’t ✌🏻
@@Usabby1776The point is is that majority of people have only heard this assumption come from America 😂
You forgot the dumbing-down of the American education system--taking civics classes out of schools, as well as music classes; instituting "teaching to the (standardized) test" policies that ignore specialized knowledge, and book banning to remove any literature that is in any way controversial (Bradbury, Vonnegut, Salinger, Steinbeck etc.) If you want to get a well-rounded education in some parts of America, you have to do it largely on your own.
Yep, and it's getting worse. I graduated high school in 2004 and in my 12 years of schooling, I had one world history class. My nieces and nephews that have graduated in the last 5 years didn't have even one- and half of them went to private schools!
As non American: SALINGER IS NOT IN SCHOOL PROGRAM???????
I still can't get over my American cousin telling me when she went to college she majored in biochemistry and did a minor in soccer!!
@@teimy42 Too much cursing. Not kidding, that's the reason 🤦♀
@@Libbathegreat what the fuck
As an italian I can say that, when I was living in Florence as a student, there was an event caused by 4 american girl tourists I couldn't even think as possible. The local newspaper reported those girls managed to set a whole house on fire because they were trying to cook some spaghetti for the first time.
They thought no water was necessary and threw the pasta directly in a pan. I still don't get how it escalated to that point.
They've clearly never been to Olive Garden 👀
This never happened
@@Shep_isLessThan3👁👄👁
A hahahaha 😂
I have the answer for you. STUPIDITY. You just made my case.
We have a guest house in South Africa. Every year, we have a team of young paleo- anthropologists who do field reaearch at the cradle of human kind. What a wonderful, intelligent and informed bunch of Americans. It's such a pleasure to interact with them and observe their enthusiasm. Yes, there are uneducated people in every country but I think the single biggest factor the world is moving away from American influence, is their appaling political pantomimes. These have real consequences for the rest of the world and frankly, everyone is sick and tired of the insanity.
This, and the die-hard free market model they exported. Including exploitation of cheap labor anywhere it's possible, unemployment and bad public services at home, and trade agreements to reinforce their imperial position. With the occasional coup or invasion if the rest didn't work.
And the extremely individualistic culture sold to the masses. Hence the rise of post-apocalyptic cinema : the climate is such that people feel they'll jump at each other's throats if social boundaries are gone.
Yes, because the rest of the world isn't a zoo.
@@lc1138 dont forget one of their most popular exports, dictatorships! straight from the factory line at the cia!
@@Helperbot-2000 Yep. Brute force in the backyard, while pleading for a strong moral stance.
I don't know how the contradiction manifests in the general US mindset.
The actual Middle-East crisis is a sad example.
@@lc1138 yeh,blame whitey for everything. not the middle easts retrograde religion and tribalist mindset.
What’s the capital of France?
London!
What’s the capital of Russia?
Tokyo!
-an American
Never seen an American say that before
Gen z Americans DONT give a shit about superficial trivia. Do you see a lotta AMERICANS IMMIGRATING TO STUFFY UK ?
As an American, I’m completely offended.
As an American, you’re completely right.
HEY! I was going to say that.
@@malcolmboynton7652Except you weren’t smart enough.😆
Not really. This has been a trope ever since I was a kid in the 70s, when my teacher would talk about how the pope spoke three languages, including English, and we don't know one word of Polish. This is because America was THE dominant culture and English was one of the international business languages, along w/French. None of this is our fault and we can't be criticized for not speaking other languages or knowing other cultures because we were the leading culture and language. To be sufficiently cultural, we'd have spend all our days studying hundreds of other cultures. Are we supposed to have time for that???? Which ones do you all deem so important that we need to know about? Meanwhile it's quite obvious why everyone knew who Michael Jackson was. Stop blaming Americans and start looking into why this all played out the way it did.
@@matsumoku1it's your countrys fault for being so emperialistic becuz of money
Felt like a sucker punch to the nads, when I realized as much well read as I am; I would have failed those questions. 😢😢😢
Fuck
I worked on a military base for a while and would somewhat regularly get foreigners training on US soil for a few months. When I'd ask them where they were from, most of the time they wouldn't want to tell me because other Americans had never heard of Latvia, Moldova, Albania, Thailand, Indonesia, Jordan, Ethiopia, etc. It was kind of disheartening.
Yes, and I applaud you for using your freedom of life and speech that millions of people died for in WW2 to allow you to be able to choose the Democrats because you believe in looking after yourself as a citizen in the USA. I understand why Obama and the invisible monsters in the Swamp and all Democrat voters must stop President TRUMP from getting control again. He may be able to thwart or even eliminate their plan to destroy the USA as a global problem against their GREAT RESET by 2030, But I don’t understand why the Demon-crats open Border makes no sense to me? Unless they want to destroy the Country’s sovereignty as part of the Globalist Great Reset Global Government by 2030, the USA will be known as District 10! And Australia will henceforth be known as District 8! The WEF chairman Klaus Schwab said in the Great Reset there will be 12 districts governed by 12 Global Government Princes and one supreme Emperor (this sounds like a movie series we watch, right. But this plan to rule the world has been in development for over 60 years, so the Videos are just a warning of our future. I didn’t think that the USA was so deeply involved in the transition from democracy to serfdom, but the actions of the American Demon-crats indicate this is also their dream of their future. Just like China, so, what’s really going on? Global Mass migration is designed to eliminate the Sovereignty of individual Countries; this has always been part of the planning of the WEF=UN=WHO globalist MONSTERS towards their GREAT RESET by 2030. Globally, the other UN government TRAITORS identify themselves with their slogan "Build Back Better". The same thing happens here in Australia under the UN-Australian Labor Govern mess. You have your traitor, Joe Biden, and we have Labor (our Demon-crats) Anthony Albon-sleazy, a true UN Puppets and TRAITOR against the Aussie people.
Do you know what is actually stupid? Wasting time learning about things that are neither enjoyable nor serve some sort practical purposes in your life. I don’t benefit any by knowing world geography and I’m not an anthropologist, so therefore I’m not particularly interested in learning about foreign cultures unless I’m planning to visit them. You’re line of thinking is implying that someone who writes code is stupid for not knowing how to rebuild an engine and vice versa.
@@davemccage7918Are you responding to a different comment? I didn't call anyone stupid.
Interesting. You need to consider Geography before coming to assumptions about it though. Our brothers and sisters across the pond don’t know our 50 states. Sure, why should they? They’re not countries. However, they’re as MASSIVE as many countries. This much radius makes room for a lot of space and culture within our own country. Nobody here is learning about small countries that have little influence on anyone else because they offer nothing. There’s many nuances to why “Americans seem dumb.”
@@6thgraderfriends probably replying to you, since it's about some complaining about "world geography" or whatever.
I’m glad you qualified the survey. Most of the Americans I’ve known over a thirty year expat career are intelligent, well read, decent and very capable people. All with passports of course, working internationally.
Then again I’m Australian and my American mates reckon we’re just British Texans. 😂
I particularly love the American logic that because Australia used to be British-colonised, you're somehow still controlled by the British. It's completely unfathomable to them that two nations are just friendly to each other with no (or little) ill-will in an unforced alliance.
As a Brit, I can't recall the amount of times I've been asked by an American if I harbour hatred against Australia or any other Commonwealth nation for 'breaking free' and 'gaining independence'. As if I actually care, as if I don't want our nations to work together in peace and harmony.
As said, absolutely baffling.
American Expats are usually far more intelligent than the average American. The same cannot be said for the British. I am very sorry, in particular to Spain, that British people abroad can get so obscenely drunk
As an ancient Brit who has lived in Japan for 40 years, I have to admit that when facing the choice between watching a US or a British film, I usually go for the British one. With French or German it's a tough call.
BBC and CNN news channels are right next to each and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.
Jack, the Japan Alps Brit
Yes, I'm an American living in France with access to both and I noticed that change a few years ago. Definitely during Covid, but maybe a bit before. They used to be very different. Still wondering why and how that happened.
I remember learning more about Bernie Sanders on BBC in 2016, for ex, when the US news in general largely ignored him (or lied about him).
I was on an Air France trip to Sweden, I spoke French to the Hostess asking for Orange juice, The Swedish woman next to me asked where I was from, I said America. She was baffled. Then she wanted me to know she has never met any Americans speaking any other language but English in her experience. It is easy to impress with the bar set so low.
Americans don't speak other languages because of the opportunity cost concept. Time spent learning other languages is less time spent learning something else. Take an engineering student. What's a better way to spend time? Learning more about engineering or learning foreign languages?
@@Anon54387 Yes, but a second or third language is preferably learnt way before you reach that level of academia. And picking up additional languages early on helps you out with learning in general.
@@bananrepublik8 I don't speak French fluently and I wish I was taught at an early age as you've said but our education system does not value languages over other skills in the curriculum.
@@Anon54387 How about learning before or after being an engineering student or even as an engineering student converting free, spare and leisure time into "foreign language time"? I watch videos and read comments in both English and French without being my mother tongues.
@@Anon54387What about learning engineering in a foreign language?
I say this as an American. Something you forgot to mention more in detail is how scary it is spontaneously being under camera. I’ve gotten approached by a tik toker in one of those random pedestrian videos where someone approaches you randomly with a camera. I felt like I was getting robbed and I had fight or flight responses.
I’m exceptionally stellar at geography but even in that moment I probably couldn’t answer a geography thing well. I have immense sympathy for the LA people at the beginning.
Yeah theres alot of studies that support this too.
Those videos are retarded.
Yeah fair, if someone did that to me I’d probably panic and go with the first thing that came to my head.
Meh, mumbling „my mom“ would still be possible
He did mention it though.
He kinda did point it out with the "name a woman" clip.
I’m Australian. Back in the early 80s I got a penpal from US. In her letter she asked if we had electricity in Australia and only drive on dirt roads. As a young teen I was like WTF? So I went to a travel agent, picked up a brochure that featured images of Sydney at night (the front cover was the HarboUr Bridge all lit up) and sent it to her with a note saying only “No electricity, we use big candles” Never heard back from her. No doubt today she probably thinks it’s still true,
🤣🤣🤣🤣
As an American, I've long been embarrassed at our level of ignorance. I believe that the geographical isolation and the sheer size of the country are the main factors.
were not really isolated, were just fricken massive so all we have from state to state, the equivalent to a country in Europe, is more America and more Americans. We have cultures and sub cultures but they're all Americanized versions of what they used to be.
I am indian. I have met some europeans who knew more about my country than I did. Europeans in general are very cultured people. They learn about other countries politics and history. Then I met some americans who thought that India was in africa and asked me if rode a camel to work.
Ngl, I laughed out loud. Riding a camel to work is crazy 💀😂😭
@@Isaacqhz Tell that to a guy who gives tourists to the pyramids in Egypt camel rides.
Too funny. I can hear it them now, mistakenly mocking you in what they thought was an Arab accent, calling you a “raghead”, etc. Yup, we have some real winners here in the US. And it’s not getting better, it’s getting ridiculously worse.
@@davejacobs9042 Tbf, I've had racism from both conservatives and liberals. The only different is that liberal racism is more subtle and covert. Whereas conservatives will openly say it to ur face.
Bro I’m from the hawaii, yenno, the 50th state of the USA. I’ve been asked if we speak English,use US dollar, if you need a passport to visit, needed a green card to work(Im living on the mainland) if we had Walmarts or Wi-Fi… I could go on and on. AND THIS IS A STATE APART OF THEIR COUNTRY!! Most Americans don’t care and hardly know much about their own state. Good luck with another country.
I think it's worth noting that a major reason only 40% of Americans have passports is because no US state has paid vacation time and some even lack unpaid vacation time. Even then, the time usually allowed is no more than two weeks. "But what about the gap year?" You may ask. Well, no such thing exists in the US as all university degrees require four years of study, including 50% general and elective studies outside one's major, instead of the three years required in the UK.
And that's not even factoring in the lack of increase in real wages that's been plaguing the median American worker for the last twenty years. Finally, there's the proximity issue. The US is big and far away; the distance between New York and Los Angeles is equal to that between London and Baghdad; I'd be curious to see figures for the percentage of Europeans who have traveled that distance from their own homes in their lifetimes. And given the financial and time burdens I've already mentioned, most Americans don't even see that much of _the US itself._ I've visited 30 US states plus DC, and I'd venture a guess that that's more than most of my countrymen.
tl;dr most Americans have neither the time nor the proximity nor the disposable income to be able to travel for leisure.
wish i could bookmark a comment
40$?
edit: he fixed his comment but it first used to say 40 dollar sign
What the hell is a gap year?
You made some great points there Sam, a few I'd never considered. Thank you.
As for Europeans that have travelled as far as London to Baghdad, well in 2003 I drove London to Baghdad. It took us three weeks, though we did a weird route and stopped off in some nice places.
A passport is also good to have for proving citizenship. For example when getting a new job you typically need to forms of ID to prove you're a citizen, but if you have a passport you only need that single form.
Some of my university students here in Victoria, BC (Canada) had summer jobs in the tourism office or tourist shops, and they always had hilarious stories about Americans. Some can't understand why the money looks different and don't want to receive Canadian money in change. One American woman was looking at a display of Canadian-flag souvenirs and she asked "Do they come in any other colours?" Others thought that the late Queen lived in the legislature building because "there's a statue of her in front." (It's Queen Victoria.) And then there was the guy who asked how to get to "the road to Vancouver." He was directed to take the highway to the ferry, and he asked why he had to take a ferry. The tourism worker was nonplussed and told him that Victoria is on an island and, because he had brought his car, he must have taken a ferry to get here. He absolutely denied that he was on an island. Your guess is as good as mine.
I am from NZ and when hitch-hiking in Europe in the 80's was asked so often by Americans, while staying in hostels, how long it took me to drive to get there. Was even worse when I was travelling through Australia on my way there. I was dumbfounded but not surprised.
By far my biggest shock was in a hostel in Salzburg. A small American guy came up and asked me if I was the Kiwi. I answered "Yes" and he said he played rugby at University in the States and that while the All Blacks were OK they were not as good as the American team. He followed with mentioning that he would go to NZ in a few years and play for the All Blacks as they needed help. The Brits and Australians were wetting themselves with laughter.
As an American rugby fan myself, I am well aware that the All Blacks will annihilate the US team. I hope he was trolling, but I have a feeling he wasn't.
Thing is that Europeans don’t realise just how prominent American isolationism was to American culture. Even though we abandoned it nearly a century ago, it still impacts the way Americans today think. Similar to the way the impact of social-darwinism gives Europeans massive god complexes.
It never really left tbh. You see it with many of our more populist politicians, most notably Donald Trump recently. However Bernie Sanders has proposed some isolationist policies in the past so its not just one side of the spectrum.
America was founded as an isolationist nation. The 1920s period of isolationism was a return to what Americans needed. America thrives in isolationism and dyes in globalism. When trump isolated the US we had an economic boom after the 8 year Great Recession, isolationism in the 20s caused the roaring 20s, the founders always said not to get involved in the rest of the world and it’s petty bullshit
@@travisfountain5160 Is Trump isolationist? I wouldn't say so, but I'm not American so it might seem different to me.
@@edwardburroughs1489Donald trump in 2016 ran on the thin vale Regonomics domestically while having an protectionist view globally. Most people forget that because by his 2020 campaign he completely abandoned this for haha sleepy joe is funny
If they think at all.. seems like almost 50% of Americans have given up on thinking and just blindly follow their dear leader.
I remember having an argument with an American about if Spain (my own country) was a colony of Mexico and he didn't want to admit that it was the other way around. BASIC HISTORY.
I would die laughing if this happened to me 🇲🇽
Americans got tired of sending US boys to die in European wars so excuse me. American companies operate everywhere on the planet and thousands of servicemen serve all over the globe. I regularly see European tourists try to climb on bisons or approach grizzly bears. European tourists act like our NPs are Disneyland.
Spain was a fascist state until 1975 and not a functioning democracy until the 1980s. Also Juan Carlos was a great statesman but Spain has rejected him. BASIC HISTORY.
@@darbyheavey406no
@@darbyheavey406 What does it have to be with this?
Thanks for adding that last part, drives me crazy
I’m an American. At our superbowl party I overheard two guest talking about how horrible it was that schools are catering to furries, and allowing cat boxes in the bathrooms for them to use. One used to be a teacher and her daughter is currently a teacher and the other doesn’t have kids. Both argued with me about how it’s not happening.
They got mad when I asked if it was a cat box size or kiddy pool size, who pays for the litter and who cleans it.
That's the most clever comeback to that misinfo!
As an Australian travelling on a bus in Germany mid July, I sat next to an American lady and we chatted about the weather. I told her that where I come from, right now it’s winter. She couldn’t seem to get her head around that and actually asked “but when do you celebrate Christmas “?
Did she tell you about her LOVE for Trump?
Sadly the lady travelling with you in Germany forgot that Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere. She may not even know about the climate variation of Australia. When travelling we should think beyond the neighbourhood we come from.
Haha funny that you mention it as my best friend just found out australia has inverted seasons, at 21 years of age
@@niklasnaper6596 This could prove lack of interest in geography and the world beyond his neighbourhood.
@@niklasnaper6596 So, do they call Summer "Inverted?"
Before becoming a US citizen you need to pass the citizenship test. One day i got a package in the mail, and it was a book to study about the US history. I decided to take it to work and read it at lunch. One of my coworkers was asking questions, and behold i got 75% right. Next worker from Mexico got 60% and all American worker got between 10 and 25% right..Some didn't know the Capital of there own State 😂
It's "their" own state.
@@mcdainty4202 It's "their own State".
I taught English as a Second Language for several years. I helped a lot of students with that book. Thank you for validating what I always believed, that most native born couldn't pass the test.
@@angelachouinard4581 Most illegals here in the U.S. couldn't pass the test.
@@goldeagle8051 state isn't capitalized. the more you know!
The irony of U.S always intervening in other countries, yet the majority of the population doesn't know anything outside of U.S 🤣
I'm an Army brat who agrees generally with you, the I'M THE BEST attitude this country pushes on the PEOPLE is NOT A HEALTHY ONE! Pride goith before a FALL
When in graduate school my adviser once said to me: "Stupidity is the combination of ignorance and arrogance. You can be gifted and stupid at the same time." He was trying his best to avoid calling me stupid, but getting me to pay attention to a wrong assumption I was making about an experiment. I do my best to avoid forgetting that embarrassment, but it really helped me understand my weaknesses.
Ever heard of the Dunning Kruger effect?
@@wingdingfontbro maybe unintentional, but the brevity of your comment make it sound crass.
what he was recounting is the opposite of the Dk effect, in that he recognized his mistake.
@@wingdingfontbroirony of the dunning-kruger effect is that it isn't what people say it is
It's my policy that all people are stupid at least some of the time. We let our guard down and make mistakes even when we know not to. So if something isn't going how you expect, take a moment to reevaluate what you're doing and what mistakes you might be making.
@@brmbkl oh, my apologies. Looking back now it does seem a bit brash and blunt. Thanks for realizing I didn’t mean it that way. I was commenting on the quote “Stupidity is the combination of ignorance and arrogance. You can be gifted and stupid at the same time” as it reminded me of the DK effect.
When I first read American media articles I couldn't believe those were real. The news there is so different than the news in Europe.
"Weather experts threatens to shoot 6 ear old for ringing his bell"
"Police brutally murder black guy, 4th time this morning"
"New school shooting, Texas still refuses to implement gun control"
"Trump's lawyers hate him, surprising no one"
As an American, I primarily get news from BBC and DW.
lmao
Wait, why? What's so different about Their news?
@@inserisciunnome the MSM lie and spread propaganda openly now
Since moving to the US I've had the impression that there's a certain type of anti-intellectualism deeply embedded in the culture, the Puritans are often blamed for everything wrong with the country (especially in matters of religion) but I remember reading that they actually encouraged education and colonial Massachusetts had a pretty high literacy rate for the time (that's how we got Harvard and Yale) and the anti intellectualism started picking up during the several Great Awakenings in the 18 and 19th century since educated ministers were no longer needed and through Biblical literalism that's how we got a replica of Noah's ark in the middle of Kentucky.
I spent my late teens and early 20's in a church community which may have been a cult and what made me realize something was horribly wrong was the hostility towards mainstream science from my peers, one of my closest friends back then really thought the world was 6000 years old and that evolution and the Big Bang were nonsense and after I left I heard that they all became anti-vax during the pandemic.
There’s a fair share of religious people that believe there’s a firmament that protects the earth and that the earth is flat. Also they believe some outer-space nuclear testing (Operation Fishbowl), was a way to break this so-called “firmament.” They also believe Operation Dominic and
Operation Fishbowl is religious due to Dominic being “of the lord”, thus making “Fishbowl of the lord.”
You are conspiracy theorists.
@@godschild5587 You are. Your channel is filled with Facebook theories that acn be debunked, especially the NWO, the earth is flat, etc.
No child left behind
Common core
Making school funding based on a test
As an American this title might’ve upset me. If only I could read.
We’ll figure out what it says one day
Hold up wait a minute
Have the best colleges in the world and the most bright minds lived here and yet we are dumb ???
Please don't respond with a firearm.
@@Usabby1776yup
I was once told by an American, "But you're not an American so I don't expect you to understand freedom". The terrible irony is that between the censorship, the book burning, and the refusal to look beyond their own borders (and like a dozen other things) means they're the one of the most oppressed of all the first world countries. And they do it to themselves.
After that exceptional news day I was told by multiple USA citizens whilst in the country that as a British person, I had no idea of what terrorism was. The irony of having spent a part of my life checking under my car, and having had several people killed nearby over one memorable weekend - both due to terrorists that had a sizeable private US financing, was lost on them. Nor did they appreciate my opinion that said eventful news day could be viewed as one of their major export chickens coming back to roost....
There’s an excellent comedy bit by Jim Jefferies called “Freedumb” that’s just about that.
@@evgeny7poor example being he lives and works in the US. Not 100% sure a autistic person should be calling anybody anything.
i aM fReE tO oPpReSs MySeLf
@@spaceman9599Really? As an american I didnt know about that. I have tons of questions. What was the ethnicity of those terrorists and what was the name of the island they were trying to remove the British from?
Ayyyuppp! You got that right. Unfortunately, that stupidity gives credibility to this 50 year old warning, "Germany was the dress rehearsal for the United States," because "those who fail to learn from history are bound to repeat it." That would be us in ten months.
The horrifying thing is germany was struggling economicly before ww2 without a giant military. If a dictator toke over the us, I can say with confidence the us will be the empire from star wars except they will win for some time😢
If anything Germany was inspired by the US and how they eliminated Natives from the land
Answer: Our education system based on property taxes taken from constituents is an awful one and we will only create a greater divide between the “smart” and the “stupid”.
On top of the fact that the state is trying to keep parents in the dark about what they are teaching kids and they're telling kids to keep their school life and home life separate. It's disgusting what's going on here.
9:19 this man just quoted the family guy intro lyrics, i'm dead
I just want to say, as a poor kid that grew up in the Southern US.... this place is pretty much exactly what he said. Yall have no idea the frustration i felt as a kid being able (at the time) to actually name other countries i wanted to visit only to have people look at me like i was speaking some ancient forbidden language.
It's getting better t
As someone educated in private school in the Northeast and now a resident of Texas, I can confirm your pain. Its like being in Stupid Land. Come to Texas and just watch how Texans destroy all the trees on their land....in a place where its hot as hell and the Sun burns hot enough to give you skin cancer and these morons and tearing down ALL the trees they can get their hands on...the epitome of stupid and thats just scratching the surface you need to see how their home made tool sheds look, horrendous, like Pebbles and Bam Bam built it. Also Texas leads in accidents where idiots cannot patiently wait for the train to cross on the railroad tracks so they risk crossing the tracks as the train is coming.
@@evansnyamesah1755is it?
Hope you managed to 'escape' even for a few days, to see your desired destination.
I have a... fairly slow friend, who has never even left the city that we are living in. I was describing the town I was living in before I moved there, and she couldn't even identify the interstate that runs through it on a map. And let's say we have political differences.
From Canada:
A few years ago in Texas I was having lunch with a few college instructors. One insisted adamantly that Texas was bigger than Europe. He absolutely refused to hear a differing opinion. Aghast I fashioned a small bet and loaded up the facts for our meeting the next day.
I pointed out that France is about 70% the size of Texas. Then adding the size of Portugal I pointed out these two countries were bigger than Texas. I went on to present a few more European countries and soon the numbers showed Europe to be manymultiple sizes bigger than Texas.
Without the slightest morsel of chagrin he very reluctantly paid the tiny wager and said “yah, but you included the Scandinavian countries”.
It's because our education system is about not hurting people's feelings instead of teaching them and it sucks.
Hats off.. this was well put together. 👏🏻
My greatest concern is how to recover from all these economic and global troubles and stay afloat especially with the political power tussle going on in US.
Stocks are pretty unstable at the moment, but if you do the right math, you should be just fine. Bloomberg and other finance media have been recording cases of folks gaining over $50k just in a matter of weeks/couple months, so I think there are a lot of wealth transfer in this downtime if you know where to look.
Such market uncertainties are the reason I don’t base my market judgements and decisions on rumours and here-says, got the best of me 2020 and had me holding worthless position in the market, I had to revamp my entire portfolio through the aid of an advisor, before I started seeing any significant results happens in my portfolio, been using the same advisor and I’ve scaled up $250k within 2 years, whether a bullish or down market, both makes for good profit, it all depends on where you’re looking.
@@TomD226 Please let me know your investment adviser's name and how i can reach her?
@lowcostfresh2266 Firms can be unscrupulous as they prioritise their own commission over your profitability. On the other hand, I prefer working with individual investors like Laurel Dell Sroufe, who only take a share from your profits, not your initial capital. I must say, my experience with her has been exceptional thus far.
“What used to be an American only pay-to-win awards show is now an international pay-to-win awards show” bro completely demolished them.
Thanks, this didn't quite go where I was expecting; still surprised though at a lack of references to a] Bible Belt fundmamentalism and b] Fox News, two prime sources of wilfful ignorance.
As an American who has gotten pretty tired of Europeans calling us “chucklefucks,” it’s so refreshing to hear a non-American rationalize why we’re perceived as so ignorant to anything within or outside of our own country. Good video
As a European I aswell am getting quite fed up with the hole “america the evil empire, cause of all evil”
Its frankly dangerous and it risks actual bad places like China, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran and of course russia from going under the radar
This is just one man, the bad ones are xenophobes, don't tolerate it and call them out
"Perceived"
You're not perceived, you ARE.
Perceived
I saw a French exchange student at an American university serving some French cuisine for an international day in 2005. I asked her where in France she was from. She got a strange look on her face and said, "Lille." I thought for a minute and said, "Wasn't it the European Cultural City last year?" She looked stunned and said, "You're the first American I've met who knows my city!" "Sorry," I answered, "I'm Canadian."
Another time in college, three of us Canadians played Trivial Pursuit versus three Americans. Not regular Trivial Pursuit, the All-American version where all questions are about America. The Canadians won.
I got a Master's from a school in Buffalo, on the border with Canada. One professor happened to admit she had never been outside the US despite living 20 minutes from another country. She must not have anticipated the reaction because the amount of incredulity we showed her finally seemed to embarrass her.
Yeah. But do remember, some of us Americans actually listen to information and know the world. We may not know EVERY country or province but we do know the world.
It is pretty obvious to the rest of the world that the average American is stupid, at least half of them anyway. All you have to do is look at the politicians the Republicans elect, they tend to be the most "poorly educated" as trump, their elected president says. You listen to their elected Congressmen, Senators, they talk like grade school morons, even though they do tend to be educated themselves. They have to so that their electorate will understand them. That's also why we only tax the wealthy a token in this country, the Republicans have told the goobers that vote for them that all the money the wealthy get to keep, will trickle down to them! The dumb bastards believe that and vote for them. That's why the American Dream" that you have heard of is going extinct in this country. Our wealthy are insatiable, and they have bought all the Republicans so they do not have to pay any taxes, only the people that work for a living pay the taxes when things are run by Republicans. OK, as I said the wealthy pay a token, about one third to one eighth a percentage of their income as a working person does. That's why people can't afford higher education, healthcare, or to buy a home. Yes, Europe is superior to America in all those, probably Canada also. What do they have in common? No Republicans.
@@ChillyUltraKillit's just a pitty when you all see this information, you have your twisted little minds molding it into a narotive.. We have the Internet so finding info just happens by accident.. Its what Yanks then do with that info
The funny thing is if I were to do that I'd know that I'm twisting it but Yanks lie about something learning their own lies
Yanks are almost there but they're currupt at heart and most have so little self awareness they don't realise it... Honestly thick as pig shit
Bruh, Canada is just the fucked up part of America.
Lolll, the "Sorry, I'm Canadian" tracks 😂 ... and I'm Canadian too!
Wow. This video is really an eye-opener.👍🏻
Americanism to a degree and American Exceptionalism to a far higher degree is very real indeed. See, I am South African, mostly considered to be uneducated and primitive amongst other imprecations hurled this way. I take no pride in the many problems my country have. I am educated, did my Bachelor's Degree in South Africa, and, Master's Degree via Limburg University, Belgium. Though my native language is not English, CERF Level C1 is my grading. I will not engage in disrespectful conduct since it only adds to existing attrition.
I will never forget when I went to America on a college exchange for one semester. I’m Australian and when I introduced myself to an American classmate and told him I was from Australia he said ‘wow you speak American so well, how long have you been learning?’. I told him I don’t speak American, I speak English, the same language he’s speaking, and that we speak English in Australia. He was embarrassed and said ‘you probably think I’m a dumb American’. I couldn’t help myself and said yes, yes I do.
👁👄👁
of all the things that never happened, this never happened the most
No way you're serious!!! 😂
I'm also Australian and was asked by a family from Kansas while sharing a chairlift in Colorado "how long I had been learning English for" and "if we used money in Australia". Also met an American in Rekjavik while I was visiting some Swedish friend who had just moved there. The American told me he was "getting annoyed at not being able to speak with native enlgish speakers - no offense". And then gave me a look like I was an idiot when I told him I was a native speaker.
So i definitely believe OPs story as similar things have happened to me, and most Aussie will have a similar story.
@@dickbandanakenbop bop
Once flying back from Tasmania to Melbourne there was a bunch of very cold underdressed Americans boarding the flight. They had found it a bit cold in Sydney and thought that by flying south to Tasmania it would be like Florida - wrong, a little matter of knowing which hemisphere you are in makes a big difference.
Now that's classic.
Cold in Sidney?! Really? I thought they only have a few occasional subzero (celsius) days in the winter. Hmm... can I qualify for being American then?
@@jmi5969absolutely freezing during winter, especially in the old homes that not only have any heating options but if you do find a way, the houses don't hold heat for too long, if outside it's -1°c inside it's a nice 10°c
@@jmi5969 it's not very cold in Sydney. You are correct.
@@gon_a_iIn South Africa its same, it can get to -5⁰C in the winter
I did four tours overseas in the U.S. Army and am so glad I could because I learned of other cultures and an awareness of the difference between countries. I also
saw some of the embarrassing conduct of some the Americans that spent the tours with me that voiced their arrogances' toward the people of the host country.
They are not stupid. They are just deliberately IGNORANT.
Not willing to learn IS a sign of stupidity. Just a bunch of ice cream-filled heads.
A few of people are Ignorance but plenty of stupid folks out there living in America. Don't know the difference between liberalism and socialism 😅
I would say America is suffering from mass willful ignorance. For some reason we find it easier to hate each other and filibuster real impactful solutions out of pettiness.
I have never been so offended by something I 100% agree with
Edit: Everyone here validating my random negative self talk comment is crazy 💀
TH-cam is truly a different beast when it comes to sarcasm
No offence to y'all of course, but we arn't 100% stupid that's for sure
LOL
Lmfao same. I said f you and thank you at the same time😂😂😂😂❤❤❤😊
As an American, I don’t see the point in getting offended by someone saying something we know we are. If anything, I’m saddened.
@@diseasedwombat5611 because
people don't like being called stupid :3
@@LBoomsky touché
As American, I never thought myself particularly smart. Sure I went to college, but I never FELT particularly intelligent or well-informed especially compared to some of my more intelligent peers. I figured I was perfectly average, maybe a tiny bit above average if I really was feeling up to overselling myself that day.
I've since realized I was selling myself short. After graduating college, having worked jobs in 3 different fields, I actually feel incredible frustration at how astonishingly, incredibly and INSANELY stupid and uninformed so many other people are. Not in like, specific "smart-people stuff" like specific history topics or higher math or science or specific obscure laws or anything. I mean in absolutely basic "Elementary School children should know this stuff" kind of things. Like how US citizenship works. Like how vaccines work. Basic math. Basic reading comprehension. Lack of ability to recognize basic patterns or use basic reasoning to figure out a task or issue.
But the cherry on top is the complete apathy - no, the complete disdain for curiosity, learning and intelligence. It's one thing to be dumb; no one is born smart after all. It's another thing completely to have a complete and total lack of interest or initiative in changing that, and another worse thing still to actively view with suspicion or disdain others who ARE curious and try to better themselves and broaden their knowledge. The confused looks I get from coworkers when I read a book during lunch just because I want to just seem so unreal. They straight up say they don't understand how someone can "Read just because".
These are people much older AND somewhat younger than I am too.
To realize all this must be a mark of intelligence.
You are spot on the mark. It took me until I was 35 years old to realize that not only was I as smart as most people, I am miles ahead if a large percentage of Americans who don't even realize how ignorant they are.
AMEN! And very well articulated!
Alas, book-reading has always been a minority activity in America (outside the Bible, that is). It's a nation where, by and large, the Zoroastrian ideal of "Good thoughts, good words, good deeds" is listed in ascending order of importance. (Assuming, of course, that your average American has even heard the word "Zoroastrian," let alone knows what it means.)
About one hundred years ago, an American legislator -never mind exactly where from - said that only three books were enough for anyone. First, the Bible (that teaches one how to behave), then the hymn-book (which "contains the finest poetry ever written"), and lastly the almanac (which tells how to guess the weather). This fellow led a successful fight against a bill that would establish public libraries in his state. I sometimes wonder how many Americans of today would agree with that literary selection. (Even I myself might...if the hymn-book was replaced by a complete omnibus of Shakespeare.) 🤓
What do you spect of a country who tells it is the entyre America? bear in mind it is North America and not only America :D
we knew a Belgian expat who moved to the US a little before we did. He tried exploring the US a bit and then told my husband there is nothing in the US outside of NYC - nothing at all nothing worth exploring worth visiting and promptly requested his firm to relocate him back to Europe 😂😂😂😂😂.
As an American that is a huge history and geography nerd, it genuinely hurts to see how idiotic our nation has become
I’m an American who was raised mostly outside the US. I always thought that because the US is such a large, diverse country that sure there are a lot of really dumb people, but also a lot of smart people. After going to college and working in the US, I have a more nuanced view. I’d say Americans, in general, seem to only value knowledge that is specifically relevant to their work or their hobbies. Anything else (often including history, geography, and foreign cultures) is completely neglected. I’m an aerospace engineer, my colleagues are generally very intelligent, but a lot just don’t know some basic, general knowledge that anyone with a high school education should know. One was going to Alaska and thought it was an island another thought it was part, not just connected to but actually territory, of Canada! These people have advanced degrees!
It's only "neglected" because we're not taught how important those facets are, _particularly_ if you go to a Public school, especially if you grew up in the 2000's.
We spend 12+ years having information stuffed into our brains, without being taught why or even if that information is important, as if data is all that matters - because thanks to testing requirements, it _is._ What really matters isn't just learning what you learn, but learning _how_ you learn - something we never, ever teach children.
To be fair, knowledge of math and science is much more important than knowledge of geography and history most of the time.
@@SierNotsruhtIf all you care about is making money, sure.
This is a result of the education system. Pretty much every system in Europe (for better or worse) crams more subjects into the curriculum. Russia has ~13 per year, I understand US has ~7.
This makes students have a wider range of knowledge at the cost of some depth (though I think it's better since most of the depth is forgotten after final exams anyway, I assume this is true in the US too).
US lacks one cornerstone of the education system.. the Pub Quiz.
You're too kind, no really, you're too kind. I was born in the 50s and thought, like millions of other Americans, that everyone on planet Earth spoke English and only occasionally spoke in other languages because they wanted to. We would say, "If you speak to a foreigner and they doesn't seem to understand, just speak louder. It's because they are hard of hearing!" By sheer happenstance, I wound up moving to Geneva, Switzerland, as a young adult in the 1970s. OMG!!! Just two words: CULTURE SHOCK. Americans are ignorant and dumb about the rest of the world and they prefer it that way. But thanks for attempting to put a light-hearted, "awe shucks," spin to our ignorance. You're just too kind and I mean that.
Cool story bro and I mean that. 🇨🇦
I would love to hear more about the Cultural shocks you got in Switzetland if you don't mind ^^ cultural shocks are always fun to hear
@@kioumim You're right. They are some of the funniest and most insightful moments of my life. I even wrote a book about them. I'll see if I can be a bit concise here so it doesn't go over 1,000 words. Here's a preculture shock one: In 7th grade I remember taking a semester of French and thinking I was somehow fluent. At a French restaurant in Sausalito, California, I wanted to impress my Mom by ordering a glass of chocolate milk. "Une glace de chocolat," I told the waiter. He smiled and brought me back a chocolate ice cream cone.
@@toeg1 You did order chocolate ice cream in French lols. More please :)
America is a continent, not a country. Plus, an American is from the Continent of America.
It's quite common that a lot of Americans think Jesus spoke Ennglish and the US variety at that. And I even heard a US professor say that humanity never achieved full consciousness and cognisance about anything until humanity started speaking English.
Seven Years in Tibet is about an Austrian in Tibet...Not an American in China. Sorry, I'm an American.
My sister went to USA as a exchange student in the 90's in North Carolina and her high school geography teacher asked where in America is this place called Finland she comes from located. My other sister went a couple years later in Arkansas and she was asked if we have automobiles or doors in Finland. I did not enter any exchange student programs after my older sisters.
You know there are other countries beyond USA right? So it shows how stupid europeans are as well thinking they would only gain something coming to the core of the Empire, that's why you are now county vassals
ah from the mouths of babes. Well you get what's coming to you when you take teenage girls' stories at face value
That’s really sad and depressing-as an American l would like to apologize to your sisters for the ignorance and stupidity they encountered in my country.
lol you people from ghetto ass places love to pretend that the real places are somehow worse 🤦
One went to North Carolina, the other went to Arkansas...that right there says it all. So instead of depriving yourself of what you can learn from the exchange program, here is whar you do. Ensure next time the place is Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont or some place where there is likely to be more educated Americans, keep going to Southern states and you will be disappointed every time and this is from someone who lives in Texas and I can tell you, Texans are pretty stupid...so do yourself a favor, just choose a northern state and you will most probably be okay...OR...are you suggesting there are no stupid people in the podunk parts of Finland? In other words, no uneducated areas of Finland?
Many people think its just as simple as point out "the education system". So glad to see a video who gives alternative answers.
Control the media.. They're a bunch of brainwashed morons
I have learned the vast majority of what I know IRL or online, very little in school.
There isn't even "an education system" in the US. Each state has its own.
To be fair, the education system and the quality of u.s media are some of the largest factors.
Yes, I definitely expected more of an explanation of our shitty education system. I was pleasantly surprised about the alternative take, but I do think the educational system is a far FAR bigger factor.
“The American Dream”. 🤣 🤣 The rest of the world does we don’t dream! 🏴
They sell CocaCola in Pyongyang in a foreigners-only grocery store next to the embassy of Malaysia
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
― George Carlin
thats scary 😂 we all see them support trump right now !😂
And the other half that are stupider than that support biden
@tijoelito biden appointed a woman to the Supreme court who stated that she doesn't know what a woman is. That's what you get with a president who has dementia and is confused by stairs, teleprompter, and little girls' hair.
How I miss George Carlin. I would love to see and hear his take on the great orange one.
@@MegaSmk I would love hear george carlin's take on the world at large at this point in time. He would floor us.
Anecdotally as a Brit living in Berlin, I will say that Americans who live here are very knowledgeable about the city and its culture and make a larger effort to speak German than the Brits I know. I think the problem is Americans who have never left the US or escaped their conditioning.
Germans should be speaking English anyway so don’t know why you’re moaning!
As an ex-Brit, living in Berlin for over 40 years, Brits don´t even try. Most Brits ( english ) and Americans seem just unable to overcome their sense of exceptionalism. After many years I´ve just started to ignore them.
You all should be happy that you don't see those people. They are terrible. We don't like to show them off to the world lol.
As a Brit living a couple of hours West of Berlin I agree with you. There's an American living in my small town who knows a lot about the local area, the history and speaks great German. Me on the other hand has terrible German and I know very little of my area. Granted I've been here a far shorter time but I was just surprised how knowledgeable he was. You are correct that it's the Americans that don't leave America that are the issue.
@@trevordavies5486i’m from hamburg but went to uni in london. the brits i met were always 10x more motivated to make an effort learning german or anything about germany than the americans i met
Fun Fact: At some point in the video around 2:30, you would hear a somewhat high pitched version of the track "Giant Steps", by John Coltrane.
as a teenager i am dissapointed in my country and my apeers and apologize for the growing slaaneshi corruption in the states
At least slannesh is "curious", i think the best way to describe It would be khorne but with ignorance instead rage.
I've heard an Italian say "the most stupid and intelligent people I've met are both from America". I'm American who's travelled abroad alot and I can confirm we really are at the extremes where a majority of us are very ignorant, much more so other countries, but a small handful of us are on the other extreme
america fosters extremes in general is what i'm beggining to notice. politics, social class, types of media, education level, and anecdotally, kindness. though i can't identify exactly why.
Might be genetic, remember the USA when it was British was the biggest dumping grounds, for poor people, very uneducated people, peasants, country bumpkins and criminals of all stripes, then brilliant business men, scholars and educated clergymen came over.
@@DumplingDoodle Mainly because those on the extreme ends of the spectrum just really hate change. Even the most basic of educational reform programs are fiercely opposed by the chief benefactors of the status quo.
@@Iamwolf134 right, i get that, but why? clearly shit is not working right now, so why are we just so stubborn that we refuse to acknowledge it? i get being scared of change, but when a country is on the line, you kinda gotta suck it up i feel.
@@DumplingDoodleProbably because of extreme capitalism. Differences between economic classes are much more than their european counterparts.
my teacher in germany liked to tell the story of how he went to visit america together with his students on a class trip and one of the things they did was to visit an american school, they did some sort of a q&a where the american students could ask questions and most of the questions were along the lines of "do you have trains in germany?" lol
Maglev isn't a train!
As the host explains, there is very little interest in other countries, as there is little need and plenty to do here
what has that to do with the topic?
@@Ronaldo-ue5if
I think the other part of it, is it's quite obvious that Europe is a "limited" place. I'm a wannabe Europhile. Like I wish I thought Europe was amazing, almost had myself convinced as a kid, and like it just doesn't work. The Ukraine war is a pretty good example of a situation where Americans know what they're at and the Europeans are just out of sorts. Germany relied on Russia, France is too busy competing with the Wagner group for the Sahel etc. @@silverstar4289
@@silverstar4289 like there isn't in Europe? Just confirms the point even more
Love the intro
Actually, The Last Samuraï tells a romanticized but true story except the main character wasn't american... but French. So in the end, the conclusion is the same, americans want to see america shine, stealing a french men's story to erase it and create their own.
As an American, who was an Exchange Student for a year in New Zealand, at age 16, I can say it was an enlightening experience that I wish every American could have. It gave me a whole new perspective on my own country. Kiwis are wonderful people and the country has some of the most breathtaking scenery anywhere in the world. What was the most shocking was how knowledgeable the people were about America, and it's history, geography, etc. They did have some crazy notions of American culture, but that is to expected, being on the other side of the World.
Then, when I got home, I had to explain to many people that NZ was not in Europe. SMH.
The reasson why americans don't know anything about other countries history, geography, etc is the don't care.All they know is america is greatest country in the world so why give a fk about learning about another country.A very arrogant, ignorant attitude that will never change.
Bro,is this actually true that the people don’t even know where NZ is at?
I think the American stereotype is the only stereotype of a country that is actually true.
Oh! I thought it was in Nederland lol
@@GuyWets-zy5ytthat would be old zeeland 😉
@@willhatton2792 no its just called Zeeland
As a 10 year old American that was born in the us it frustrates me that some people 5 times my age don’t know that Africa isn’t a country
So true
@@jfields3036 George W. Bush was quoted as saying "Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease". You should run for president when you get older.
Rare 10 yo W
That is not only in the USA, every country has those people, it is like a virus that spreads now faster than ever thanks to Internet. The masses don't bother to learn, someone tells you about it, is much easier (twitter, tik-tok, fb, yt etc). Good to know YOU are not among them.
Bro you’re not a 10yr old, stop the cap 🧢
I work as a tour guide in Buenos Aires. Many of my guests are from USA, they tend to be friendly, but I have to focus things quite differently. Less intellectual, sometimes from the very basics, more about "world records", and walk much less.
But the thing that frustrates me the most is when they don't show interest in authenticity and prefer USA focused activities, like going to McDonald's instead of a traditional local restaurant which is cheaper and nicer.
Those old black-and-white films of the 30's and 40's are a lot better than many movies today with their overdone computer effects, car chases, and guns (yawn). Action movies with no character.
No one is more acutely aware of this situation than US citizens to whom it doesn’t apply. The degradation and hobbling of the US public education system by either incompetence or by wilful neglect and conscious sociological sabotage is a global tragedy.
@catedavis4008 that's because private schools have flourished, thus enabling segregation, with the college system even more skewed. Americans have all the tools to educate themselves yet choose not to. Canada is right next door, yet 9 of 10 Americans know next to nothing about it. Same with Mexico. Ignorance is bad enough, and apathy compounds it.
And the broader global community has harnessed its hope to those ‘acutely aware’ US citizens!
@@Queensland-girl We're trying. Trust me, we're trying. Fun Fact (well, sad fact, really): My first US passport was issued in early 1988 and the serial number was less than 9 million. I'm pretty sure they don't reuse passport serial numbers.
God that sounds pretentious.
well you have all heard the American anthem AND THE HOME OF THE _____ what ???
I left to Japan for a study abroad and it still put me in debt. It's just to hard to leave the US unless you have a lot of money on hand. It really makes it hard to learn or care about stuff outside your country when you can't even afford to leave your single state.
That is definitely true. Most american tourists you will see over here in Europe seem to be quite wealthy ( and most of the time well educated). There are only very few younger, not rich US-citizens on some sort of exchange programme,
Wonder why its that way ;)
What? You think leaving any other country is easyer?
Canadians are poorer but travel pretty often.
@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 Yes. Many other countries.
I feel my iq dropping when they ask Americans where Texas is and point at North Korea or something
No, it's their IQ that's dropping, lol! 🤣😅😆😂
I think another thing to consider is that most americans have accepted that they will always be average so they don’t bother to educate themselves because they doubt their ability to grow or learn