Hate North Americans?

[orwellian]

I'm fairly certain the purpose of the US government (or any country's government) isn't "the good of all mankind". It exists to govern , protect and hopefully improve the lives of its citizens. Or did I miss that somewhere along the way?

No you didn't, but you were the one stating that the U.S government had done so much good.

And really Orwellian - if you're too lazy to do your research, I'm not going to do it for you. But here's a hint: look up US contributions in the field of science, the arts, medicine, economics, philanthropy, etc. I'm sure you can come up with a few. And yes, many of those contributions have benefited people all over the globe, whatever the impetus was behind them.

And that has what to do with the government?

Or wait - are we only supposed to post things that were created solely for the purpose of the good of all mankind and for no other reason. Well, that list would be very small I'm afraid, even if you opened it up to the entire world

No but you're supposed to give me examples of good things the U.S government has done.

And with that note, wishing you all the best. I'm about to take my undeducated, ignorant impersialist and apparently hated self to the parilla. I'll be sure to check if anyone is busy hating me in the corner because I'm American

It's spelled imperialist. And you can't label yourself as one, if you do, you have misunderstood the meaning of the word.
Have fun, I hope you don't get too judged tonight

 

[orwellian]

Foreign countries put themselves in debt. And no country needs to forgive any debt unless they want to. Recently the American government forgave billions in African debt, Canada followed suit as did some European countries but Australia, Russia and ARGENTINA didn't. Does that make them evil?

Again, try telling an Argentine this and see how they react. The U.S forces countries to take loans, either by just bribing the domestic politicians or threatening them with assassination or/and coup attempts. Most African and Latin American countries have an abundance of natural resources that should make them some of the richest countries in the world, yet they are the poorest. Can you figure out why?
I'll give you a hint; It starts with an I.

You can't belittle the accomplishments of The US Space agency because it's in competition with other global space agencies. An accomplishment is what it is.

Ok so we shot some rockets up into space, that did what to improve humanity?

EDIT:
Sorry for my sarcasm, yes that is actually a good thing for humanity. But I guess I was thinking something about something specific that no other governments do as well. E.g not Build schools, fund science, space projects etc.
Anyways, getting way to offtopic I guess, maybe it was that beer

 

[ssr]

Is "orwellian" an Argentine? If he is, I'm curious why he'd spend so much time at an expat site writing all sorts of nutty crap. There are other Argentines who comment here who contribute to the conversation, which is useful for expats, but hanging around an expat site to rant at visitors to your country seems a bit sociopathic.

 

[orwellian]

I am not Argentine. But you're are American and offended I take it?

 

[DA]

Is "orwellian" an Argentine? If he is, I'm curious why he'd spend so much time at an expat site writing all sorts of nutty crap. There are other Argentines who comment here who contribute to the conversation, which is useful for expats, but hanging around an expat site to rant at visitors to your country seems a bit sociopathic.

I am not saying I agree or disagree with "orvillains" posts but the above was was uncalled for.

 

[nikad]

Most Argentines have no idea about what Americans are like, they just buy what TV, newspapers and commies say about them. The US is a huge country, with a big mix of cultures in some states and a huge population.

There are many contrasts there, and to put Americans all in the same bag would be a shame. It is not an easy task to get to know the essence of the national being of a country, especially when it is so diverse. And we are diverse too, do not think that because you know porteños, you can guess how people are in say, Chubut.

I believe very few Americans get to understand the Argentine way of being and of thinking and acting. Both countries have similarities but big differences. It does take time.

I for one, do not judge people based on age, sex, religion,race or origin, a lot of people do so still both in the US and Argentina ( see, what an unhappy coincidence ) I spent most of my teens in love with everything British and would turn away anything that had to do with Americans, and I ended up marrying one, heheh.

It is only when you take the time to talk and get to know each other that you actually start to get a clue. TV, media, etc is all about generalizing, I know for a fact that some Argentine hate Americans, some do it out of jealousy, some due to political views, others based on ignorance, some idol them, others ignore them. I could not say they are hated. There are several cultural differences, that people believe are unimportant, just because we are like " cousins " but than can be really big.

Some Americans think that because Argentine are while are similar, Argentine do the same thing...we are not alike and it takes time to get used one to the other =)

 

[Matt84]

“I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.”

— William S. Burroughs

History is made by minorities

- Ayn Rand

DR. STOCKMANN: Should I let myself be beaten off the field by public opinion, and the compact majority, and such deviltry? No, thanks. Besides, what I want is so simple, so clear and straightforward. I only want to drive into the heads of these curs that the Liberals are the worst foes of free men; that party-programmes wring the necks of all young living truths; that considerations of expediency turn morality and righteousness upside down, until life is simply hideous.... I don't see any man free and brave enough to dare the Truth.... The strongest man is he who stands most alone.

- Henrik Ibsen "An Enemy of the People"

 

[citygirl]

Orwellian - incorrect. I said America has done a great many things for the world. Read the post. In fact - let me make it easy for you. I said "...As a country, we may have done a lot of things wrong but we've also done an amazing amount of good things." You are the one who changed the topic to "what has the American government done" And my response was and is - government exists to govern, regulate and hopefully improve the lives of its citizens, nothing more. The government doesn't exist (in any country) to "improve the world". But - and it is a fact - the US as a country has improved the world greatly due to its contributions to arts, sciences, health care, literature, etc (as have many other countries).

And please, do forgive me for misspelling imperialist.

Sadly for you, not one person hated me tonight because I'm from the US despite telling multiple people where I was from. But better luck tomorrow!

 

[Matt84]

Citygirl you always provide me a good lol. It was really obvious you didn't know how to spell imperialist and needed correction.

I'd only add that Government's main reason to exist is to protect the rights of its citizens. One could argue endlessly about whether it should use its force to build safety nets or not, but that's not the point. What orwlian and all of us have to learn is that government is not there to build projects, in fact it is very dangerous. Just think that the ultimate government project, the one that can only do a gov, is war.

Trade on the other hand, is the opposite of war, it's based on mutual trust, something that can only be established by people acting as freely as possible on their own judgement.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Is "orwellian" an Argentine? If he is, I'm curious why he'd spend so much time at an expat site writing all sorts of nutty crap. There are other Argentines who comment here who contribute to the conversation, which is useful for expats, but hanging around an expat site to rant at visitors to your country seems a bit sociopathic.

What's "nutty" and "crappy" about it? Can you counter his arguments, yes or no? Nor is what he's doing a "rant." Many Americans can't seem to distinguish between an argument and a rant -- presumably because they've never put forward a coherent argument of their own. The only criticism I have is that this thread -- as it's now becoming -- might belong more in the "World Politics" subforum.