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Post by missklew on Apr 21, 2011 20:27:54 GMT -5
It seems there is a rumour going around that the reason the economy is bad in the US is because Americans are so unskilled they are unable to do the jobs so they had to outsource the jobs and that there are plenty of jobs in the US but no workers capable of doing them.
The other reason is that Americans are lazy and won't work so they just get on welfare and stay there.
The first time I heard this rumour I was like whatever but when several people said the same thing to me, it really ticked me off.
Another rumour going around is that the economy is so bad Mcdonalds had 50000 job applicants for a few jobs. The truth of the story is that Mcdonalds is actually hiring 50000 people which isn't surprising anyway since they have nearly 14000 stores in the US.
Have you heard this rumour and what do you think about it?
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Post by Sweet Pea on Apr 21, 2011 23:43:06 GMT -5
what actually happened is we built the industries, then multinational corporations looking to save a buck got tired of paying people a living wage. so they moved their operations to countries where they could pay a fraction of the american wage to manufacture goods. this happened because our stupid congress deregulated the corporations. so now the american people get the hell regulated outta them, but corporations are free to do whatever they want.
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Post by Karen on Apr 23, 2011 8:20:32 GMT -5
Yeah I have to agree with Sweet Pea on this one. A lot of companies move their business over seas. Americans don't exactly get much say in this. And our fantastic (read: not fantastic at all) government keeps making it easier for corporations to do whatever they want, and harder for average Americans to survive.
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Post by missklew on Apr 23, 2011 11:47:03 GMT -5
yes we know the real reason about the jobs but what do you think about the perception others have about the US? I mean these people seem to really believe these lies.
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Post by Karen on Apr 23, 2011 12:28:25 GMT -5
yes we know the real reason about the jobs but what do you think about the perception others have about the US? I mean these people seem to really believe these lies. Thats a good question, I guess its like any other generalized view point about a group of people, its never correct, no group of people is entirely one way or another. Its sort of like how some Americans truly believe that all the people in the middle east are violent terrorists. You look at people who think like that and see them as sort of sad and dangerous human beings. They narrow their own view of the world down until an entire people are reduced to a stereotype. Unfortunately far too often its people who think like this that have the loudest voices. |
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1229
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Post by 1229 on Apr 23, 2011 12:41:18 GMT -5
Sweet Pea's right. It's terrible that the perception is out there that we are not capable of keeping these jobs that end up going overseas. When in fact the loss of these jobs comes down to corporate greed not skilled labor.
I hate that any other country out there is judging us based on a few fat cat executives and dumb politicians and their careless mistakes. It's all part a "Stupid Lazy Americans" motto that many people have adopted. Same as Karen mentioning that some Americans believe that all people in the middle east are terrorists out to kill every American/Pro-Democracy person on the planet.
In this day and age you would think that we would be able to say different cultures don't equal stupidity or violence. Yet, there is still so much hate in this world for stuff none of us had any part in.
*****Edited to say that even though this is a really serious thread, I just hit 100 posts!!!*****
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Post by Grayback on Apr 24, 2011 3:48:41 GMT -5
Ah yes, stereotypes... I have to deal with them frequently on international forums. Being a French guy, I have to face a good amount of prejudice as it seems that a number of people really dislike my country and its people.
It's a shame really, if only we could see past the stereotypes and look at people for what they really are, a collection of individuals, some good, some bad, but all with their own identity and personality.
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Post by Karen on Apr 24, 2011 16:55:45 GMT -5
It's a shame really, if only we could see past the stereotypes and look at people for what they really are, a collection of individuals, some good, some bad, but all with their own identity and personality. Could not have said it better myself |
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Post by Rose on May 1, 2011 22:15:51 GMT -5
Every country has their ignorant people, there are no exceptions...but the Americans that are ignorant tend to be louder about it.  I don't like stereotypes either. I never liked that people on other forum chat rooms would assume that just because I am American, that automatically meant I didn't know anything outside my own country, nor be interested in anything not from my country.  It was like I was outside some secret club. I love to learn slang words and random facts from other places in the world. It makes me feel included.  (Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic there, hehe.) |
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mai
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Post by mai on May 6, 2011 2:04:47 GMT -5
I see your point of view missklew, I never been to the US and I don't watch too much t.v, so my interaction with Americans is mostly online. And mostly they give that impresion, especially when they ask me where I'm from, I'm from Dubai, and even thought we interact via the Internet it seems that they never think of googling the place and end up saying stuff like " Woah! In the desert, do you like, live in tents? And ride camels all day... Cool" what is that? This was ten years ago, I'm sure that these don't make up for the whole population, but it was so annoying.
Sorry I didn't mean to rant, it just came out like that
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1229
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Post by 1229 on May 6, 2011 19:58:34 GMT -5
That does sound annoying. Rant away. Having said that though (and knowing I'm to lazy to google search before posting) what is it like in Dubai? Oh, wow, I think I just reinforced the "lazy Americans" stereotype. But I'm still curious as to your homeland. (I'm not picturing camels by the way.) |
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Post by Farouche on May 21, 2011 19:57:20 GMT -5
The sad thing is that there's a good chance foreigners get these ideas about Americans from Americans purposefully propagating them. I know someone who's currently teaching English overseas, and the locals think Americans are teh awesome. Many of the American teachers, on the other hand, will jump at the chance to tell everyone about how stupid their countrymen are. Even here in the States, I've known a lot of smart, worldly people who are quick to say that Americans fit negative stereotypes in which they guiltily include themselves--even though they aren't ignorant or lazy or stupid or whatever. And I guess it makes sense: for one thing, a good chunk of our politicians tells us constantly that the poor deserve whatever they get and the rich deserve whatever they can take. And if you think there should be any limits to what the wealthy do with their money (regulations on the financial market; paying higher tax rates; employing people from their own country instead of outsourcing work to poor countries, etc.), then you're a "socialist" and a lazy freeloader who wants to take money from those who earned it with no help from the underlings, thankyouverymuch. A lot of Americans internalize that, so it's not too surprising that the attitude leaks beyond our borders and suddenly everyone thinks welfare queens are the reason our ship is sinking. [ETA: I didn't explain that very well... I meant that we're basically being told that if we as individuals fall on hard times, it's because we deserve it. If we swallow that, then national economic problems must also be our fault as individuals. To say that it's because we're "dumb" is just another easy leap of logic.] The other reason might just be existential guilt, since the US has been the richest country in the world for a long time (probably not much longer), and we do as a nation consume way more than our fair share of the world's resources. That's a legitimate criticism, but of course it that doesn't translate to "Americans are stupid;" It just contributes to a bad-reputation aura that I think makes it easier for outsiders to broadly believe bad things of Americans, and also makes us more willing to believe any given bad thing about ourselves. That does sound annoying. Rant away. Having said that though (and knowing I'm to lazy to google search before posting) what is it like in Dubai? Oh, wow, I think I just reinforced the "lazy Americans" stereotype. But I'm still curious as to your homeland. (I'm not picturing camels by the way.) If someone from Dubai asked you what it's like in the US, would you think he was ignorant and lazy, or would you be flattered he asked? Every country has their ignorant people, there are no exceptions...but the Americans that are ignorant tend to be louder about it. Good point: the loudness means that our faults (including some whole individuals ;D) tend to stick out more. Part of the "louder" is more visibility in general: we have a huge, bloated media and there are a ton of Americans in the English-speaking regions of the internet, which have a lot of overlap with "international" internet locales where English is the common language. It's a shame really, if only we could see past the stereotypes and look at people for what they really are, a collection of individuals, some good, some bad, but all with their own identity and personality. Yeah... Stupid monkey brains of ours, always getting in the way!  |
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1229
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Post by 1229 on May 22, 2011 15:08:57 GMT -5
I wouldn't think he or she was being ignorant or lazy. I could google images and "facts" all day. But there's a big difference when it comes to "oh, my day to day life involves this or that" versus an encyclopedia like account of life from a website. That's what I was talking about. In the US there's a difference between living in a larger city and rural areas. Not a huge difference but slightly different culture, experiences, and outlooks. So that's why (for me anyway) I'd rather hear it straight from the horse's mouth. |
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It was like I was outside some secret club.
Befriend the trees...they are good listeners. ;D
