'Americans think UK is in Mid-East'

[cHodAX]

Clearly, you know the difference.

No, we don't have all England, Great Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales... etc. We have England, Scotland and Wales (these 3 are collectively known as Great Britain - Great Britain is not some seperate country, it's a collective term for those 3.) We have Northern Ireland as well, and those 4 (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Island) are what makes up the United Kingdom.

The rest of Ireland is a republic, ok? Totally seperate.

The whole U.K./G.B. setup is a farce anyway, we have individual teams for most sports and yet we have G.B. teams for the Olympics that include people from Northern Ireland when Northern Ireland isn't part of Great Britian but is part of the United Kingdom. Internationally the government is represented as both the U.K. and G.B. so I don't blame the Americans for being confused by that whole clusterfuck. Sadly though there is no excuse for not knowing the location of the British Isles. That is purely down to poor education and being governed by people who pursue isolationist policies unless it invloves making money. If the U.S. can't make money from your country then generally their government don't give a rat's ass about you and that attitude is the reflected in thier mass media, so you can then understand why the American people don't really know/understand or even care about what happens in the rest of the world. They mostly live in thier own little bubble, you can't blame the ordinary people for that, it is bad government and an isolationist education in bother the media and schools.

As for geography, I can pinpoint 80%+ of the states that compromise the U.S.A. and I wouldn't consider myself highly educated by any stretch of the imagination. I am sure there are many Americans who could find Manchester U.K. on a map or get pretty damn close but the majority couldn't because they either don't want to know or think it isn't relevant to them. Then again, how many British people could point to Arizona or Utah on a map? They might find the U.S. but that isn't hard when you consider the size, give them somewhere small or remote and they would struggle as well. Why? Well because the British education system isn't half as good as it once was, we aren't isolationist but we are definately nationalist and many British people don't see beyond our borders either.

 

[cHodAX]

Don't give Kyra a hard time about the 'harbouring' remark, it was a poor choice of words but the meaning was correct. The U.K. is a hotbed for terrorist organisations, Irish republican/Muslim extemsist/Basque/Italian/Algerian terror groups have all been uncovered running operations from the U.K. so she was generally right. That said, the British goverment is cracking down heavily and there have been well over 100 arrests in the last year related to terrorism, much more than the U.S. has been able to find and apprehend.

 

[Ormorof]

again, news agencies at their best, going for the shock instead of hard truth

you got the truth and the legend..... you go with the legend!

some story about europe and they showed a map with germany/swiss/

 

[Morchaoron]

Then look at this, dutch news article:

Met de historische kennis van de Britten is het niet zo goed gesteld. Zo denkt ruim één op de tien Britten dat Adolf Hitler een verzonnen figuur is. De held van de armen, Robin Hood, heeft volgens 25 procent juist wel bestaan. Uit het onderzoek blijkt dan ook dat veel Britten moeite hebben om historische feiten en fictie uit elkaar te houden.

De 13e-eeuwse Schotse held William Wallace, door Mel Gibson gespeeld in de film Braveheart, heeft dan ook nooit bestaan volgens bijna de helft van de Britten. Meer dan de helft van de Britten verkeert ondertussen in de veronderstelling dat de mythische King Arthur werkelijk koning van Engeland is geweest.

Negen procent gelooft niet in Sir Winston Churchill. Zes procent denkt dat de War of the Worlds - een invasie van Marsmannetjes - werkelijk heeft plaatsgevonden. Vijf procent denkt dat Conan the Barbarian - uit een film met Arnold Schwarzenegger - echt heeft bestaan.

Roughly translated:
10% of the british people believe adolf hitler never existed
25% of the british believe robin hood existed
Almost half of the british believe william walace existed
More then half of the british believe the mythical king arthur was the real king of england.
9% of the british people believe sir winston churchill never existed
6% of the british people believe that the War of Worlds - an invasion of Martians, actually happend (how stupid is this???)
5% of the british people think conan the barbarian existed


just look at that martian fact, either 6% of the british have a screw lose or they just asked it the wrong kind of people...

 

[Addlcove]

william wallace did exits
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wallace.htm

the braveheart movie is almost pure fiction though

 

[Shamyn]

6% of the british people believe that the War of Worlds - an invasion of Martians, actually happend (how stupid is this???)
5% of the british people think conan the barbarian existed


just look at that martian fact, either 6% of the british have a screw lose or they just asked it the wrong kind of people...

But then again you might get the same, or even worse statistics anywhere else. That doesn't really prove anything.

And you can add one person to the list of whichever country you're from "thinks william wallace didn't exist"

 

[Ormorof]

6% of the british people believe that the War of Worlds - an invasion of Martians, actually happend (how stupid is this???)

they got a nice statue of a "martian" in Woking fyi

 

[Binky the Bomb]

They think the uk is in the middle east.........?
Well, this is going to sound a little cruel (apologies) but that mite explain the freindlt fire incidents which seemed to become rather common last year. Comments like "The uk regiments are over there" could have been responsible.

I'll admit, we could do with more tourism up here in the north, but it is a little daunting to come to britain for most tourists, especially with all the bad press we get. IRA bombings (Thankfully on the decline), race riots (ditto), a crappy public transport system (going nowhere fast) and a prejudice attitude in some people of other nations.

Who'd live in a nation like this? Well, me for a start. I do like the diversity, hell, im first generation irish/polish, but i am an English (Although if you asked me on the street i'd say British). Born, raised and belittled here for 25 years, and i couldn't see myself living anywhere else in the world. True i did live in ireland for 2 years, but that was for work and family, i didn't like living there.

Suppose what i'm trying to say is, there are far worse places than england to visit, and far better, so why do poeple when they visit only stay in the central cities? Only answer i can see is the Histroy. Up in the north, most historical monuments and buildings are being knocked down or left to rot. We have an old railyard warehouse here in oldham (last in the north apparently, but i would be glad if someone told me of others) and it's got to be at LEAST 100 years old, perfect for a musium or historical point for the area. And what have the coucil done with it? Left it to rot and fall down. We've got hundreds of similare buildings i the area, and most are just being allowed to decay.

If you want to visit somewhere, you want history and culture to shine through, not new construnctions and shopping districts, christ they prob got better at home. We've neglected the history of our nation during the last 100 too 150 years, and thats a shame as most of the mordern world has been shaped by it, the industrial revolution to name a rather obvious one. Without it, the world would be a rather different place, it has to be said, and that is something to be proud of i suppose. So where are all the industrial musiums? One in manchester, and few scattered around the north as novelty points on the way to bloody chester zoo.

If it wasn't for the history of this counrty, no-one would want to know, and no-one would want to visit (Or want to live here). Suppose that was the point of my rant (knew i had one). Anyway, sorry bout that, woke up on the wrong side of the house this morning. Carry on.

 

[Escape]

I suspect the average american is slightly more ignorant than they have the right to be. This can be blamed on american media and political campaigns, which revolve around propoganda and misinformation.

Bush, besides being intellectually challenged, is still a popular candidate for the next election, but why? because there aren't any alternatives. The americans are crying out for a good leader, desperate enough to elect movie stars as governers!

I couldn't see that happening in the UK, because people here take politics seriously and are a little more open minded. I'm not saying they're better... there're still enough fools here to keep Blair and that twat Blunket in power. But I'm hoping we'll see the end of those jokers soon.

It comes to the point though, rulers reflect their civilians and when that connection is lost, they're voted out. The fact that millions of americans are still voting for Bush to rule them, does not reflect well on the rest of the country. I wouldn't trust Bush to run a convenience store, let alone a country. It's soo absurd, it could only happen in america.

 

[Dillinja]

Then look at this, dutch news article:



Roughly translated:
10% of the british people believe adolf hitler never existed
25% of the british believe robin hood existed
Almost half of the british believe william walace existed
More then half of the british believe the mythical king arthur was the real king of england.
9% of the british people believe sir winston churchill never existed
6% of the british people believe that the War of Worlds - an invasion of Martians, actually happend (how stupid is this???)
5% of the british people think conan the barbarian existed


just look at that martian fact, either 6% of the british have a screw lose or they just asked it the wrong kind of people...

You do know 69% of statistics are made up on the spot, right?

 

[cHodAX]

You will also find that there was indeed an infamous 13th century robber known as 'Robin' who frequented the forests of the north-east midlands, however the whole myth of him being a nobleman who robbed the rich and gave to the poor was indeed just a myth. At that time to commoners were little more than slaves, so anyone that stood up to the nobles became a hero regardless of the fact that they may have been a blood thirsty bandit who also robbed the poor.

As for Arthur, there are 1100 year old records of there being a warband leader called Arthur or something very close. Sadly there are no surviving texts from the time when he was thought to have lived (550 A.D. approx) to confirm this, so Arthur may well be a myth or as has happened all over Europe the legend grew each time the story passed to a generation and it became more and more elaborate over time till the story became ridiculous.
One thing is for sure, there were no knights in shining plate armour or fancy castles. There was nothing like that till perhaps 500 years after the time that Arthur was thought to have lived.

 

[Morchaoron]

But then again you might get the same, or even worse statistics anywhere else. That doesn't really prove anything.

And you can add one person to the list of whichever country you're from "thinks william wallace didn't exist"

i just translated it like i said, i know that **** existed....

learned about him in school ages ago..

but they also claim its hollywoods fault for that, people think 'its just a movie' (Braveheart) so thats why they think it never happend

 

[Dillinja]

Don't translate stupid articles then.

 

[Morchaoron]

the ones who researched it arent

but its about as stupid as that american thing about the uk...


just face the facts about 6% of you believe aliens invaded hahaha

 

[Asha]

The minister MADE UP THE STATISTIC to get a point across. There was no poll of any Americans. And it's pretty stupid to compair US states to Danish states or English counties considering the difference in size.

 

[Morchaoron]

actually it was a translation error from my side, what it literally says is:

the 13th century scottish hero william wallace, played by mel gibson in the movie Braveheard, did never really exist according to almost half of the British population,

 

[Dillinja]

the ones who researched it arent

but its about as stupid as that american thing about the uk...


just face the facts about 6% of you believe aliens invaded hahaha

Are you trying to look like an idiot? It's really hard to tell from where I'm sitting as I find it really hard to believe that you could think that was true, unless they took the statistics from a survey in a nuthouse. :|

 

[Morchaoron]

what i was trying to prove is that all these stupid shit articles like that one and this one what the topic is about are made op by mokr0ns...


or more likely, the people just mess up those kind of surveys on purpose, like that australian one that showed that 56% of the population believes in the 'jedi relegion' ><

unless they tell how many people they used for the survey, where and what the questions were its never really reliable

 

[Dillinja]

Hmm, ok. That one about British people was cleary a load of bullshit though.

 

[Morchaoron]

the article was pretty long and on most major newssites, it explained most of the stuff, that movies and bad education can give people who know jackshit about history wrong views...

it will have some truth but its most likely people messed up the survey on purpose (who wouldnt answer yes to a question like "did martians really invade us?" most likely 94% thought "what a bullshit" and 6% thought "hahaha" )

 

[cHodAX]

Yup, just like them Americans re-writing history and claiming they drove back the aliens alone on Independence Day. I mean ffs Will Smith can't even fly a plane! They know full well that it was a British actor that infected that mothership with the computer virus.

 

[Ormorof]

the thing about 6% of people believing aliens invaded might have been true when the show was originally broadcast (afaik there was big panics about it because it was broadcast with some sort of newsbroadcasting thingy)

it might have been true when it was broadcast... ie about 70 years ago

though you do get some stupid things being said everywhere (for example a guy i met thought denmark was in africa and then you get some incredibly clever people just to throw you off balance )

just because some people are stupid in a country doesnt mean they all are

 

[Tom]

If I said 'stupid French fucking idiots', would that be a racist, or nationalistic comment? How do you define race? In essence, we're all the same race, human.

Basically, you're taking the opinions/knowledge of a minority, and using that to stereotype an entire country of people. They speak their own language (a deliberately modified English), have their own customs, and their own separate cultural identity. Just like the French. Or the Italians for that matter.

Most Americans I've met (well, pretty much all of them actually) are friendly, intelligent, and law abiding. They may have some customs that I don't particularly agree with (such as gun ownership), but I'd much rather live in the USA, than many countries in Europe (many of which are openly racist).

And as Enoch Powell once said, when asked if he was a racist, "Whats wrong with racism? It is how we define our national identity." Read into that what you will, hopefully the more intelligent among you will understand what he meant.

 

[Ning]

If I said 'stupid French fucking idiots', would that be a racist, or nationalistic comment?

xenephobic comment.

many countries in Europe (many of which are openly racist).

which european countries are openly racist ?

The only european newspapers where I can read xenophibic articles are UK newspapers (The Sun, etc).

 

[Escape]

American society is so diverse, they don't have a single culture or set of customs to bind them together. That's why they're all so confused and afraid of each other.

 

[Kyra]

Clearly, you know the difference.

No, we don't have all England, Great Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales... etc. We have England, Scotland and Wales (these 3 are collectively known as Great Britain - Great Britain is not some seperate country, it's a collective term for those 3.) We have Northern Ireland as well, and those 4 (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Island) are what makes up the United Kingdom.

The rest of Ireland is a republic, ok? Totally seperate.

I knew I should have clarified my response here...

I am not saying that all of those countries are in the UK. I DO know the difference. What I was saying is that there are a lot of countries in that region... and for many people over here who do not make it their business to care, they would be confused by which country is part of what.

That is what I was trying to say ok. Sorry if you misunderstood. I have been gaming with English people for about 4 years now and made it my responsibility to learn about where they are from, the time difference, etc. So I am well aware of what is where and under what and even know where a few of the main cities are.

And no, I didn't know where "Viborg Amt" was in Denmark, but I do now. The majority of my gaming friends are from England (if you want specific, mostly around London and Manchester) so those are the areas I most concern myself with.

p.s. thx Chodax

 

[Coim]

Sorry if I seemed, errr, offensive or anything. Bad day etc. ;/

 

[Sissyfoo]

What's this? Coim apologising? Hm, better phone Satan and see if he has enough warm clothing...

 

[kr0n]

What's this? Coim apologising? Hm, better phone Satan and see if he has enough warm clothing...

How did you get my number? Tell me!

 

[Ala]

Americans aren't a race.

:worthy: