Why are Americans so "out of the loop" compared to other nations?

[StellaBlue]

I am thinking mainly about support for "socialized" healthcare (and the expectation that is a free human RIGHT in any country with the resources to provide it) and unadulterated religion.

I lived in the UK for four years, and I am still shocked when I read things like a recent post about the South Carolina legislature passing a law that would allow students to receive academic credit for "religious" courses held off-campus, ie at their church. What is WITH people? Seriously. Why are Americans so totally behind-the-times on this hung-ho literalist religion bullshit? Every other industrialized, post-Enlightment nation is laughing at us, and rightly so.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. the media the media the media the media the media the media

wilful ignnorance wilful ignorance wilful ignorance wilful igorance

[bluefish]

6. You posted what I was going to say

Most people look at the tv to get their "news".

[helderheid]

25. Exactly exactly exactly exactly exactly exactly exactly exactly exactly

[Greyhound]

35. (I just can't resist) Spell Check, Spell Check, Spell Check . n/t

:rofl:

[no_hypocrisy]

40. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Not to beat a dead horse, but . . .
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=wilful

[tom_paine]

48. AND....the Bushevik Party-Loyal Right-Wing Sub-Media

which leads the wretched laughable remnanats of what was omce the finest media in the world by the nose.

HINT: They are NOT the finest media in the world anymore...not even close.

Imperial Amerikan media is ofttimes a bad joke.

[MountainLaurel]

2. Indoctrination since birth

In a culture that prohibits critical thinking and that promotes following your leaders and "betters," whether you're talking about your pastor, your teacher, your CEO, your president.

[malaise]

42. All of the above plus

the deliberate dumbing down of education.

[unpossibles]

3. Because for the last 40+ years or so...

we've been told over and over to not trust the media, to not trust education/science, and to not respect intelligence in general, and I feel it's taken root with many Americans.

Not only can we generally not speak the languages (and our own more than not) of neighboring countries, but most of us can't find Ohio, think Saddam was behind 9/11, and probably can't see past the TV to find our own asses.

I know there are a lot of exceptions to the rule, but face it: we're still out numbered. We've been softened by our relatively easy life, although recent hardships here have started to wake us up. And I will say this: when we are fully awake, we are an unstoppable force.

[blm]

4. GOP bought near total control of media to make SURE the public stayed

clueless on important issues. They fired up emotional issues to keep them distracted - issues that played like soap operas.

They knew exactly what they were doing in the 80s and 90s gaining control of news media outlets while Dems were still concerned about fighting fair and having issue-oriented campaigns.

[Initech]

9. And then legalized it. See Telecommunications Act of 1996.

This is where it all went down hill. Fox "News" is a byproduct of this act.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996

[Selatius]

14. Clinton signed that bogus deal

"Centrist" in the halls of Congress isn't "centrist" on the street corner.

[Initech]

41. Clinton obviously didnt read the fine print.

Personally, I think this bill is what led to the ability of the corporate repukes to declare an unofficial war on democrats (which was then made official and public by use of impeaching Clinton for nothing more than lying about a blow job). By creating Fox News and watering down its competitors, they were able to successfully use television to brainwash the public in a way that Joseph McCarthy only dreamed of.

[Hoping4Change]

54. I didn't know Clinton signed that deal. I wonder what he thinks of it now

the chickens have come home to roost?

[Asgaya Dihi]

5. Your first answer nailed it.

The news is no longer news, it's as much as anything the gossip column. If it's bad for business we might not hear it, if it'll piss people off we might not hear it, and if it won't keep a 30 second attention span audience we won't hear it. That doesn't leave a hell of a lot that we really need to hear rather than want to hear, what we end up with is an echo chamber of our own fears and perceptions.

The old Edward R. Murrow type who figured there were some things we needed to hear just don't seem to be in charge anymore, it's more what they think we want to hear.

[Initech]

7. America: One nation under television

It's pretty easy - look at television in foreign countries. Most either dont have it, or when they do, they only have four - five channels (see the BBC for an example). In America, we have over 500 channels to choose from, and people take televsion very seriously in this country. It scares the shit out of me.

[StellaBlue]

12. Almost all Britons have satellite cable like we do - Sky

which is part of the Murdoch Empire, but shows most of the same shows we get - including Golden Girls reruns and Dog the Bounty Hunter.

They get the same 500 channels we do, only most of them have English-produced progams.

But the BBC is still the gold standard, IMHO.

[Greyhound]

37. "Television, the drug of the Nation...

Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation" - Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy

Pride of ignorance/lack of education

Corporate controlled society

[Selatius]

8. Our two-party system is restricting our options

Republicans can win by playing on social issues like abortion and gay marriage. Most people, when polled, agree far more with Democrats...especially on economic issues. They know that, so they distract the people away from economic issues onto social issues in order to win.

There is strong majority support for a national health care system by the population, but no one in the last election except Dennis Kucinich openly advocated universal health care. Most people disagree with free trade deals like NAFTA because they often have little or no protections for workers or for the environment, yet NAFTA was signed into law by a Democratic president. GATTs was the work of Bush Sr.

Yet "centrists" have not supported universal health care, and they have portrayed deals like NAFTA as moderate when most disagree. Most people on the street disagree, but their voices are never heard, and this is the fault of the corporate-owned news networks. They intentionally whitewash the issue or downplay it or simply not report it in order to benefit their corporate owners.

You can really only vote Democrat or Republican at the polls in the US. We don't have proportional representation as a system of determining who wins the seats, and we don't have a publicly financed election system, so corporate special interest money automatically skews everything in their favor at the very onset of a political campaign.

[StellaBlue]

10. Okay, so, it's the media, stupid. But why will we put up with it?

When I lived in the UK, the only American channel I got was Faux "News". Occasionally, with t he luxury of distance, I would watch it, just for laughs. My British friends were AMAZED that such a thing would even be ON television, much less be the most popular channel. If a similarly crap broadcasting style was on in the UK, people would be appalled.

200 years ago we shared the same media culture. What happened? Why do they have critical reasoning skills and we don't? Is it just education? The fact that science and logic are respected elsewhere and not so much here, leading to a culture of frivolity and disdain for anything factual as intellectually elitist? What?

Why will so many people watch Maury Povich and Greta Van Susteren and that horrible, vile, Nancy Grace (when I first came across her upon my return to the States last year, I at first thought she was an SNL skit - seriously.).

We are the laughingstock of the world.

[saltpoint]

27. I take issue with your characterization of Nancy Grace.

Nancy Grace is MUCH worse than that.

[saltpoint]

11. After the Second World War, the United States grew materially but not

spiritually.

I don't mean "Christian" alone, but spiritually in terms of truth-seeking in any aspect of life. When people lived in cities or on farms, commuity was strong.

With the victory over the Axis Powers, the U.S. became materially wealthy. Our standard of living shot through the roof. While people in the Third World were washing clothes by hand in nearby streams, many of us had washers and dryers in our utility rooms of our suburb ranch houses. Wall-to-wall carpets, color tvs, a station wagon in the driveway. We liked Ike. He was not terribly bright and he had a nice smile, plus he whipped the Nazis. Yay!

Community as a trait of American life has declined since WWII. Community is less vital in the suburbs where people who ought to comprise it are more dispersed from the center of their city than ever before. People in suburbs tend to confine themselves inside their homes in front of the tube. They bank and dine via drive-throughs. Interaction with others is minimalized. The core values of community collapse. But hey, they've got nice cars and a lot of other cool stuff.

We tend to measure success by what we can buy instead of what we can learn. We ask very little of our school students and often graduate 18-year olds who can't tell you the capital city of their own state, or name either of their two U.S. Senators, or where the Mississippi River is on a map.

We don't act like a mature nation, because we aren't one yet. Other, much more mature nations have a lower standard of living and a much higher quality of life. Health care and education are two prime examples.

And as Gore Vidal has pointed out, many of the commonfolk who founded our country were religious zealots from England and other places in Europe, and needless to say, their fire-belching, judgmental, anti-intellectual take on social and educational systems is haunting us to this day. Dobson and Falwell didn't have to start from scratch: fanaticism was already in abundant supply when they decided to build their empires.

[StellaBlue]

13. I agree with your assessment

Except, I never felt that in Europe people had a "lower standard of living". Smaller houses with smaller fridges, yes, but, overall, they have the same comforts we do. Only 6 weeks paid holiday and free healthcare and almost-free college.

[saltpoint]

15. Yes. A very high quality of life. Less space, but better managed cities.

And mass transit! I am very jealous of the train system in Europe.

[StellaBlue]

17. It's not perfect AT ALL, but

it's a damn sight better than what we have here (i.e. outside the East Coast, NOTHING).

[saltpoint]

18. Exactly right and kinda sad. When the U.S. had a healthier rail

system, our literature and music were vital and interesting.

A lot of us older folk were taken as young, young kids down to the river and rail valleys of our towns by our grandparents to watch the evening train come through.

Not much of that going on now.

[tenshi816]

36. I hate it when people think we in the UK

have a lower standard of living than in the US. Yes, houses and yards are smaller (my house is larger than average, but it's up north where house prices are lower) but as I'm fond of saying, you can only be in one room at a time anyway. The UK is a tiny but densely populated place (no. 33 in the world, I believe) so it's inevitable that dwellings would be smaller than in the United States.

All that holiday time and free healthcare and low university tuition more than makes up for it.

[StellaBlue]

39. Totally agree.

Wouldn't have left the UK if it had been up to me (long story - asshole ex partner).

[screembloodymurder]

16. Have you ever been to SC ?

Baptist are waiting at the borders to brainwash tourists. My family was abducted at a state park and only escaped because I cut my vacation short. It's Hell on earth.

[StellaBlue]

22. No, but I'm dying to go to Charleston

I love the South; having finally visited NYC this spring, I now have no desire to move away, actually. Though I am in Texas, which is simultaneously the South and the Southwest (I am from the staunchly Southern part, though).

I just don't get the thinking of most of Middle America. :shrug:

[saltpoint]

23. screembloodymurder, I think you've hit on the new tourist slogan

for South Carolina: Hell on Earth.

They need to get it on next year's license plates as soon as possible.

I feel for you there in a sea of fundamentalists. They're strong down in SC, I realize. But don't give up! We need you!

[CottonBear]

28. SC is a beautiful state with many good people along w/ the wingnuts.

SC is one of the most beautiful and geographically diverse states in the nation.

[Imagine My Surprise]

19. Because most Americans, even "nice people" have their heads up their asses

[LaPera]

20. Gee, I wonder if it's because there are only FIVE national television news

organization in the whole country!!!

All five are owned by huge corporate interest and war profiteers...and ALL five donate heavily to the republican party...Time-Warner & Disney are in the top ten of ALL republican donors...Viacom CEO is a publicly professed republican donor & republican supporter.

Time-Warner - CNN CNN Headline News

Disney - ABC

General Electric - NBC MSNBC CNBC

Viacom - CBS

Rupert Murdoch - Fox

That's it! Nothing more, unless you want to count what some say, have 20 million right-wing Christian viewers...

Pat Robertson - CBN

[barb162]

51. So what's the problem with Americans looking at other

news sources? Why do you suppose whatever % of Americans aren't cross-checking the news

[LaPera]

53. They don't care-It's too much work-What good would it do-It's more

fun & enjoyable to to hear about the bullshit glitter of their favorite stars-Politics are boring-How do I know what's really the truth-How do I find the truth?

A few answers to your question...

And our media purposely is NOT doing their job...They are quite happy keeping people uninformed...Let them watch the bullshit garbage stories the media feeds them...because the media keeps they dumb and are making money!

[barb162]

55. Most Americans just seem okay with not knowing

other news sources. I don't get it.

[rucky]

21. It was just something I acceped until Howard Dean started talking about it

I honestly didn't know other countries had free healthcare - or bought into the myths that the quality of care in Canada, etc, was subpar.

[StellaBlue]

24. Are we paying for free healthcare in Iraq?

That's something I would like clarified... since it is my understanding that they DID have universal healthcare under Saddam.

???

Would love to talk to some Iraqi dissidents here in the US or in the UK.

[Freedom_Aflaim]

26. The size of the country has alot to do with this

Its a big fricken place.

Theres not many countries on Earth where you can drive 3,000 miles and not encounter another culture, let alone another border. Even Canada has the French subculture in the middle of it.

In Europe, you'll cross a dozen nationalitys and cultures, and many languages during your 3,000 mil drive.

While the US has a few "mini cultures", such as the Gay Culture in SF, the Matry Gras culture in New Orleans, and maybe the "hustle bustle" culture in NYC, even those are at the edge of our borders.

For 90% of America, there is simply no practical need to learn another language or the aspects others cultures.

As such, unless folks take a long plane trip and spend alot of money, they simply do not encouter other cultures and few people from other cultures during their lifetime so that they broaden their views etc.

[Roland99]

29. Two words: Willful Ignorance

In some ways, Sayyid Qutb (and the neocons) was right in that many Americans are selfish individualists not interested in a community society.

[bdamomma]

30. we are not politically savvy

and do not know or care to know what is happening in other parts of world. This could be another reason

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=6553

As the world becomes accustomed to the American way of life, Americans are tuning out the rest of the world. US citizens have paid less and less attention to foreign affairs since the 1970s, writes journalist Alkman Granitsas. The number of university students studying foreign languages has declined, and fewer Americans travel overseas than their counterparts in other developed countries. News coverage of foreign affairs has also decreased. Why are Americans withdrawing from the global village? A continuing immigration boom may be one factor; with millions of foreigners trying to get in, Americans may think the rest of the world has little to offer. In addition, a rising income gap between the US and most of the world’s population makes some Americans hesitant to travel overseas. Finally, economic prosperity leads many to pay less attention to politics, especially international affairs. With an increasingly uninformed electorate, can the world’s superpower be trusted to shape a responsible foreign policy? –

[BlooInBloo]

31. Stupid, mean, apathetic, bigoted, immoral, dishonest.

I know few here will agree with me, but that's my opinion on the matter.

It should be noted, at least, that I say that referring to Americans as "an aggregate", and not *each and every one of them*. More like the American "center of mass", as it were.

[mr_hat]

32. Did John Wayne need socialized heathcare?

[KingFlorez]

33. It's not that we are out of the loop

For things like universal healthcare, people really want it, but no one has brought a reasonable plan up. As for religion, I think there are some people who want to focus government too much on religion and the majority of us would rather keep those things private.

[Marr]

34. Watch European news for 10 minutes and you'll know why.

Our media is absolutely pathetic. It's blatant propaganda mixed with tabloid non-stories. Seriously- European news makes *all* US News reporting look like Fox.

[Nay]

43. Heck, watch Canadian news and marvel at the difference from the

utter garbage we are inundated with here. It's shocking.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. That's why I listen to the BBC for news. Minus the pearly white teeth

and careerist asses that present it here. (Apologies to Christina Amanpour and a few others).

[bdamomma]

44. stick to BBC for news

[Greyhound]

45. Palast put it best when he said that he

"cannot get through or over the electronic Berlin Wall that surrounds amerika".

[rman]

46. better propaganda

That's why, for one, most Americans think that most Americans don't support socialized healthcare.

[Hoping4Change]

47. Many Americans seem to have an irrational regard for hyper-postivity.

It seems that come hell or high water they're going to walk on the sunny side of the street. This is not to say that there isn't a positive side to this but it seems that they are loathed to acknowledge anything that is going to bring them down.

[Odin2005]

49. M$M and because the US is so fricking big.

[sweetheart]

58. programming the mind

The us is programming the minds of its chattering classes, by 5
major corporations who together form the corporatocracy. This
tiny oligopoly has hyjakked the country, by slitting the throat
of the 4th estate and displacing educated truth with conformed
ontological references designed to disempower political awareness.

People are using the wrong words for everying. Liberal is
wrong, Conservative is wrong, Libertarian is wrong, Democrat is wrong,
Republican is wrong, Modern is wrong, Constitution is wrong.

The media have re-programmed the words, so that political discussion
is impossible. It must be our first objective, on returning to power
to establish the public ownership of the airwaves, and let the
public prosecutor charge media with deception with huge fines and
potential closing down of their businesses.

The media need news, so they sold us a war... it doesn't get much
more evil than that. The system is entirely subverted, and barring
a mass unplugging of cable TV, will collapse on itself in a massive
bankrupt prison state, with spirallying inflation, until economic
hardship causes a people's rebellion.

[barb162]

50. lack of interest, lack of good education system, etc

[elehhhhna]

52. poor eductaion combined w/a disintrest in travel outside "Sandals" Resorts

[barb162]

57. LOL

[nadinbrzezinski]

56. A second grreat Revival