OT (or is it?): American Imperialism

[Yith_Saulkar]

StrategiaInUltima said:

Excerpt from chat transcript. Cultural imperialism exists. QED.

If this is the case than the US is the one being assaulted by "Cultural Imperialism". We IMPORT way more product than we EXPORT. Look at the "made in" stamps on the products you buy. Guarantee you US made products are few and far between. Your unknowingly culturaly assailed by the Chiniese.

[Alneyan]

"If you've done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe?"

Excerpt from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe exists. QED.

Feel free to replace "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" with "Earth creatures with seventeen eyes, sapience, and sixty pink wings", or anything that strikes your fancy. That, and IG2 happens to be in a different setting than real life.

And if you want to nitpick, Puke wrote "cultural imperialism"; the " sign seems to mean Puke considered the phrase as being incorrect. The other uses of this sign do not seem to apply here: it is not a quotation, or spoken speech, or a word of foreign origin, or the name of a book/movie, or a way to delimit propositions.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

The other uses of this sign do not seem to apply here: it is not a quotation, or spoken speech, or a word of foreign origin, or the name of a book/movie, or a way to delimit propositions.

Erm... could you translate that please?

[Alneyan]

I cannot; I am supposed to be obscure and all. Pitiful attempts at levity aside, I made the list of all usual uses of the " sign to support my claim about why Puke used them. I cannot be sure of why he did it of course, since I am not him. I think.

Since "cultural imperialism" was not a quotation of some kind or another, I made my claim that Puke considered the phrase as not being wholly accurate or adequate. Another such example would be "Why aren't your 'friends" helping you out?", if the speaker considers that you are wrong to call them friends.

*Grumbles* Why do I have the feeling the explanation is even more obtuse than my previous post? Next time, remind me to leave grammar aside.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

'Tis OK. Excellent explanation

[Renegade 13]

Ragnarok-X said:
No offense, but you should open your eyes. Under NO circumstances would countries with history like france and especially germany be willing to openly accept the stationing of nuclear weapons within their countries. BUT, and thats the point here, would they have denied the US request they would have to face certain consequences. When germany didnt participated in the iraq war, most german companies were sanktioned and didnt received ANY official orders/tasks both in iraq and afganistan. Up to NOW, it is inofficialy known that german companies are overseen when choosing which companies get which order. And THIS indeed is cultural imperalism. I dont get your point...
Over the last month i have read so many articles its hardly to believe. I think europens definitly get to know more than americans or canadians or texans or whatever. Would you know what i do, i would be sure you would agree on the entire line with me. America is wrong, american people, the gouverment, the president, their are all wrong and need to be taken care off. I dont know how, but something must happen in the near future. While im at it, i dont entirely blame the population for it, because they are somehow kept "stupid". I mainly blame the newspapers and tv and stuff for not spreading information correctly. Then again, i fully blame the gouverment and whoever helped bringing bush into the presidents position.

It is most certain the Germany and France etc would not dare to refuse the stationing of American missiles in their countries. Though I'm not exactly certain why, since the US in turn could only impose economic sanctions in return. Granted, those do hurt, a lot. I should know. The product my parents produce is currently "prohibited" from entering the US, so I know how important sanctions are first hand! I also am aware that the US only gave contracts for "rebuilding" Iraq and Afghanistan to those who supported their war. Yes, I would agree that that is a form of "cultural imperialism", if there is such a thing. America as a whole may be "wrong" as you say, but the people are not all wrong. They are simply ignorant. Now, the people who helped elect Bush, they are definitely "wrong" in my opinion. Then again, would Kerry have been any better?? In some ways yes, in others no. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, is that it? It seems like it to me. The government, the leaders, yes they are wrong. In some important ways at least.

To go back to the German companies being "overlooked" in favor of companies who were based in a country that supported Bush's war. Canada was one of the countries who did NOT support the Iraq war the US waged. We too have been the victim of the same discrimination against our fully qualified companies. I don't believe that I am ignorant, which you seemed to be implying. I may not be as fully informed as you are, I agree that that is completely possible. But I do my best with the information that I have at my disposal.

I have intended no offense. All I was doing is trying to explain things as I see them. This conversation we're having is the exact reason why I posted, so that I could be informed of other viewpoints, and learn new things. I thank you for enlightening me, and I hope that I may have managed in some small way to help you to learn something as well.

[Thermodyne]

I have just one thing to say on this. The fact that much of the world has the right to chose their way of life at all, is do in large part to the actions of the United States. How soon the ungrateful will forget.

[TerranC]

No offense, but you should open your eyes. Under NO circumstances would countries with history like france and especially germany be willing to openly accept the stationing of nuclear weapons within their countries.

France has nukes of its own; Germany doesn't need to host any nukes if it does currently since US bases in Italy can more than accomodate them. Both countries don't need to station US nukes, or at least not anymore. If it wasn't for the vehement opposement of German politicians, bases in Germany would quickly be closed and US service personnel would be sent home or somewhere else where they are needed like Turkey or the Persian Gulf.

BUT, and thats the point here, would they have denied the US request they would have to face certain consequences. When germany didnt participated in the iraq war, most german companies were sanktioned and didnt received ANY official orders/tasks both in iraq and afganistan. Up to NOW, it is inofficialy known that german companies are overseen when choosing which companies get which order. And THIS indeed is cultural imperalism. I dont get your point...

Of course that's cultural imperialism. It doesn't matter that companies of 48 nations from all five continents were eligible to recieve contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, ranging from the UK to South Korea to Japan to the Netherlands to Poland to the Ukraine and many more, because their respective nations gave direct or indirect support (and some not even troops) to the Coalition war effort, as long as Russian, German, French, and Canadian companies were never even considered even after their respective governments chose not to get themselves involved with Iraq in any way possible, that just shows the blatant pervasiveness of US cultural dominance that the Americans seek to diffuse around the world!

Edit: Btw, you must have missed this.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/am...mit/index.html

Over the last month i have read so many articles its hardly to believe. I think europens definitly get to know more than americans or canadians or texans or whatever.

Of course, I mean, those european media outlets get their news not just from Reuters but from Associated Press too! Just like every other media outlet in the world.

Would you know what i do, i would be sure you would agree on the entire line with me. America is wrong, american people, the gouverment, the president, their are all wrong and need to be taken care off.

And this is a sure sign that europeans such as yourself know a lot more about the world than the rest of us.

I dont know how, but something must happen in the near future. While im at it, i dont entirely blame the population for it, because they are somehow kept "stupid". I mainly blame the newspapers and tv and stuff for not spreading information correctly. Then again, i fully blame the gouverment and whoever helped bringing bush into the presidents position.

[Nodachi]

I've always found it interesting that with all the money the US spends overseas (look at our trade deficits) it seems to be one of the most hated countries of the world.

Earlier in the thread someone (I forget who) pointed out that the US invaded Iraq without the UN's consent. I would like to point out two things concerning that; #1 - The US was just enforcing an already existing UN resolution, and #2 - The US (or any other sovereign nation) does not need the UN's consent to do anything. The UN is just another example of a corupt bureaucracy that is more concerned with maintaining and increasing it's own power than doing the job it was created for.

[Renegade 13]

TerranC said:
Edit: Btw, you must have missed this.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/am...mit/index.html

I stand corrected. However, the right to bid on a contract doesn't necessarily mean that the aforementioned bid will be considered, does it? Pure political posturing. (The Triple P )