Original Post
A thread about America on Toribash and The Internet
First note: I'm not making this thread to bash America. This is a discussion thread, not a rant.
Many online internet forums have large concentrations of Americans in their user base. Toribash alone consists of about 38 % Americans (statistic provided by GMan80). Still, like everyone else, since they're under 50 percents they can be defined as a minority, and you should think that they would be required to explain their country as a result. Yet, American terms are taken for granted. And, as an example, there's a large number of young people so high school and college stories are abundant. To non-americans, many of these institutions are not understood, yet Americans use the words as if everyone understands. They rarely explain them, if not to say never. Educational systems vary a lot from country to country, but the American educational system goes without explanation. Why is this?
Number 1: Americans are a bit arrogant. Some will assume that most other people are aware of how things work in their country. This applies to both education and other things such as economy and politics. Nobody should deny that America, if not the sole numero uno, is one of the most prominent nations in the world. As a consequence, Americans may assume that outsiders automatically take interest in America and has knowledge about it. If people lack the knowledge, it's their duty to go learn something. Thus, they don't have to explain anything when they are talking on forums. If people don't understand what they're talking about, it's their own fault.
Number 2: Ignorance. It's similar to arrogance but this is based on the assumption that people know everything because of their position in global society. The difference, though, is that they don't regard people that don't understand America as badly-informed, but they just have false assumptions on outsiders' knowledge.
Number 3: Forgetful and lazy people. They are well aware that someone might not understand the terms but are too lazy or forgetful to explain it, effectively leaving out a large number of people from the discussion.
Number 4: Asocial people. They don't need to explain themselves. If somebody doesn't understand a post, it's not much of a loss to these people. The majority of people are American so they understand. The need to befriend a Frenchman isn't particularly huge, especially if he doesn't understand the workings of America. Sticking with your American mates is completely legitimate and there are more than enough Americans to keep a discussion running.
And now, let me specify again that this is not an "I-hate-america" post.
Thoughts and discussion, go.
Many online internet forums have large concentrations of Americans in their user base. Toribash alone consists of about 38 % Americans (statistic provided by GMan80). Still, like everyone else, since they're under 50 percents they can be defined as a minority, and you should think that they would be required to explain their country as a result. Yet, American terms are taken for granted. And, as an example, there's a large number of young people so high school and college stories are abundant. To non-americans, many of these institutions are not understood, yet Americans use the words as if everyone understands. They rarely explain them, if not to say never. Educational systems vary a lot from country to country, but the American educational system goes without explanation. Why is this?
Number 1: Americans are a bit arrogant. Some will assume that most other people are aware of how things work in their country. This applies to both education and other things such as economy and politics. Nobody should deny that America, if not the sole numero uno, is one of the most prominent nations in the world. As a consequence, Americans may assume that outsiders automatically take interest in America and has knowledge about it. If people lack the knowledge, it's their duty to go learn something. Thus, they don't have to explain anything when they are talking on forums. If people don't understand what they're talking about, it's their own fault.
Number 2: Ignorance. It's similar to arrogance but this is based on the assumption that people know everything because of their position in global society. The difference, though, is that they don't regard people that don't understand America as badly-informed, but they just have false assumptions on outsiders' knowledge.
Number 3: Forgetful and lazy people. They are well aware that someone might not understand the terms but are too lazy or forgetful to explain it, effectively leaving out a large number of people from the discussion.
Number 4: Asocial people. They don't need to explain themselves. If somebody doesn't understand a post, it's not much of a loss to these people. The majority of people are American so they understand. The need to befriend a Frenchman isn't particularly huge, especially if he doesn't understand the workings of America. Sticking with your American mates is completely legitimate and there are more than enough Americans to keep a discussion running.
And now, let me specify again that this is not an "I-hate-america" post.
Thoughts and discussion, go.
Last edited by CMon; Jul 17, 2009 at 03:29 PM.
«
Previous Thread
|
Next Thread
»