"Leaving America"

[darmanad]

How would you know what Glen Beck is saying or make this connection unless your were watching him?

Has he said anything about Soros that isn't true?

Anybody?

I wonder how Beck will deal with Soros in light of the latter's 15th place finish in FP's list of top 100 gllobal thinkers.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/29/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers?page=0,14
"The name George Soros is practically synonymous with philanthropy; the Hungarian-born investor has already donated more than $7 billion of his fortune to charitable causes. But his announcement in September that he was bequeathing $100 million to Human Rights Watch turned heads. It was the largest gift Soros has ever made to a human rights group -- and the largest a human rights group has ever received. The gift is meant to transform Human Rights Watch into an organization that is "genuinely international in scope," as Soros put it. The big idea? That "America has lost the moral high ground for promoting human rights," and it's time to bring the rest of the world into the discussion.
That idea certainly fits with Soros's previous charitable work, much of it through his Open Society Foundations, which promote transparency and citizen empowerment in newly democratic and nondemocratic countries. Soros also plays a hugely important role as a public intellectual on his own turf: the global economy. Most recently, he has warned of a bubble in the gold market, predicted a long road to recovery for the U.S. economy, and been absolutely stinging in his critique of the euro. The currency, he wrote in the New York Review of Books, is "a patently flawed construct" with one central bank and a dozen treasuries. If Europe isn't already taking notes, it should be."

 

[AnnaOlivia]

Just about everyone in the world calls the USA AMERICA (including those who refer to America as the Great Satan). Argentines only make this argument for the sake of being argumentative. I've never heard an Argetine say, "I'm an American, too" unless they have been granted citizenship in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

This drives me nuts too. If the name of the country was the Argentina States of America, or Argentine America, they would have a point. The US is referred to as America because it's a nickname. It's a pain to say the whole thing...especially in Spanish...estadouniWHAT?

In a way I agree with the Argentines but it can also be a huge pain to say that word...estadouniWHAT. (I like how that sounds!). When I first came to Argentina about 10 years ago I was corrected on my first day when I said I was American. They quickly get to the point on this subject. It really bothers them. I guess I can understand in a way...

 

[journeyjane]

hey mini! i will be studying at the escuela argentina de moda. - 9 months of textile design and 9 of couture sewing. i'm also looking for an unpaid internship if you know anyone looking for a fashion design apprentice. www.annarovedo.com

 

[ghost]

In a way I agree with the Argentines but it can also be a huge pain to say that word...estadouniWHAT. (I like how that sounds!). When I first came to Argentina about 10 years ago I was corrected on my first day when I said I was American. They quickly get to the point on this subject. It really bothers them. I guess I can understand in a way...

Everything bothers them, there's an inferiority complex issue.

 

[NoPat]

Everything bothers them, there's an inferiority complex issue.

Wouldn't you be bothered if you were in your own country being patronised by a bunch of recently arrived foreigners?

 

[Lucas]

In a way I agree with the Argentines but it can also be a huge pain to say that word...estadouniWHAT. (I like how that sounds!). When I first came to Argentina about 10 years ago I was corrected on my first day when I said I was American. They quickly get to the point on this subject. It really bothers them. I guess I can understand in a way...

(Option-1) United Statian.

Most NON-English speaking countries, specially in Latin America and Europe, refer to people from the USA as "Estadounidenses", "Etats-Uniens", etc. (United Statian) which is the right way to call them, because anyone who's born in the American Contienent, it's an American.

It's like if there was a country in Europe, named United States of Europe, and they auto call themselves "Europeans", anyone how lived in Europe would be an European, not just people from that country; in the same way, anyone who lives in America(s) is an American not just people from the USA.

Todos somos Americanos, desde Canada hasta Argentina, y los Estadounidences no tienen derecho de tomar nuestro nombre.

Where are all Americans, from Canada to Argentina, and the United Statians have no right to take our name.

(Another explanation)

A United Statian (or simply Statian) is a person from the United States of America, since the term American refers to any person in the western hemisphere.

As the example above points out, if there was a country in Africa called "United States of Africa" then anyone from Africa would be an African not just people from that country.

Here is also another example; people from the United Arab Emirates are called "Emiratis" why aren't they called "Arabs" if they have the term Arab in their name? simply, because it overlaps with the other Arabs, in the same way the term American only to refer to US citizens overlaps with all the other Americans.

The United Statian (State-ian) government has declared war on Iraq.

Statians are among the friendliest people in the world.(?)

(Option-2) USAnian (the best)

Similar to United Statians, USAnian is a term used mostly by expats to denote North Amerians who are not Canadians.
You are at a bar in Shanghai and hear familiar language in a smattering of accents coming from a nearby table. You walk up to the table and greet the folks there, and they ask you to sit down. The next question they ask you, after "What are you drinking?" is "So...Canuck or USAnian?"

 

[Amargo]

Everything bothers them, there's an inferiority complex issue.

Hmmm...judging by the number of complains on this board, I would say it is the other way around: expats complaining about everything argentine, from food, coffee, schools, traffic, polution, mail service, lack of peanut butter, lack of scandinavian white socks, north korean smoked sausages, etc....yes, even asado was questioned by some. Either most expats 'integrate' very well into the argentine mania of complaining about everything or the inferiority complex doesn't have to do much with nationality.

Regarding the discussion about America: the word has clearly a different meaning in English and Spanish. In English it clearly refers to someone from the USA. Not so in Spanish.
I don't see the problem here.

 

[syngirl]

Everything bothers them, there's an inferiority complex issue.

Or maybe it's that in the eyes of the rest of the world, the USA has a superiority -- read a$$hole -- complex. You do them no favours trying to change that view.

 

[A&A]

Here is also another example; people from the United Arab Emirates are called "Emiratis" why aren't they called "Arabs" if they have the term Arab in their name? simply, because it overlaps with the other Arabs, in the same way the term American only to refer to US citizens overlaps with all the other Americans.

While these are specific examples, there are just as many the opposite way. You would not hear a Yemeni person say they are "Asian" or someone from Israel say they are "Asian" even though they are on the Asian continent.

The fact is language is more a living thing of "common usage" and not as much about "technical rules". Its not math. For most of the world: America=USA. While this may not be geographically the most accurate, it is a fact. And yes, it is based on the fact that the USA plays a dominant role, in world events, geo-politics and also in the imagination of those "huddled masses yearning to be free". I am not asking you to like this, but it is an undeniable fact. So, the use of "America" for most of the world is what it is. I have never ever heard a Canadian or Mexican or even those from Central America, say they were "American". It is just not common parlance in English speakers, or in Central American Spanish speakers. So, one can argue its a language thing, but frankly it smells more like a "complex". Fortunately, there are plenty of shrinks to help "hug it out".

 

[syngirl]

Hmmm...judging by the number of complains on this board, I would say it is the other way around: expats complaining about everything argentine, from food, coffee, schools, traffic, polution, mail service, lack of peanut butter, lack of scandinavian white socks, north korean smoked sausages, etc....yes, even asado was questioned by some. Either most expats 'integrate' very well into the argentine mania of complaining about everything or the inferiority complex doesn't have to do much with nationality.

In my experiences generally speaking, many foreigners travel to countries because they are interested in that culture, they want to learn more about it, eat the local food etc.

It's true that Yanks that often can be heard preaching to others about how great their country is, completely unaware that they are turning off the potential friends around them.

BUT the Americans that do actually tend to stick around somewhere and become "Expats" are usually miles above the herd in terms of their interests in getting to know a culture and speak another language. They are certainly not what would constitute the stereotype of a "typical" American -- however as I noted above there are comments such as Ghost's that do the expat American absolutely no favours in terms of becoming seen as a bit more progressive.

Regarding the complaints of food and wants of things from home -- well, when you install yourself abroad -- whether as a Yank in Argentina, an Argentine in England, a Frenchman in Taiwan -- although you may enjoy your new home, you will miss items from abroad and of course at times cannot help but compare what you're getting in front of you to your memories of some succulent meal back in the home country (forgetting for a moment that memories can often exaggerate the greatness of a meal)

Last night at my sister-in-law's birthday her friends were all complaining to me, the foreigner, about how much Buenos Aires and Argentina suck and how if they were me they'd get the hell out of here. It became almost impossible to defend myself as to why I stay -- because every single one of their complaints was 100% true.

It's not just expats that complain about Argentina -- read some Argentine forums or the comments section of the online editions of the newspapers and you'll see it's the locals too.