Why Do Germans Think Americans Are Insane?

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Agreed with Ruveyn here.

And don't worry, even here in Quebec, the privatization of profits in the mining sector has socialized costs for the citizens and the governments. -.- (Because those bastards don't clean up their mess of chemical products... Our provincial government needs to enforce that safety deposit for cleaning purposes in a more rigorous way)

Yet living in Canada isn't so bad... Still wish we'd get rid of that stupid pro-Israel federal government. -.-

I can't disagree with the German's assessment of us. Whenever I read about situations that poor woman found herself in, eating from garbage cans, the idiot teabaggers and their messiah Glenn Beck, and how people on food stamps may find themselves humiliated in the checkout line, while the Wall street bastards who caused this economic mess live high on the hog, I find myself alternating between rage and grief that only another Aspie can appreciate.
Sorry for the run on sentence.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Why do we care what the Germans think again?

Because their assessment of us, in my opinion, is essentially right. Particularly when it's the insane idiots like the teabaggers and Glenn Beck who are getting the most attention by their mindless, hate filled noise, and thus appear to represent the views of the rest of us.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Personally I'm always a bit skeptical of foreign press portrayals of America; they often seem a bit too quick to play up whatever difficulties we're currently having and can come off as almost gloating. Mostly though I'm reacting to the thread title; whether or not they happen to be correct I don't see much value in worrying about what the Germans or Europeans in general think of our internal policies, it's not as if they get a vote.

Non-Americans can watch and be thankful that they weren't born in America.

One reason for taking an interest in what the Germans think is that we can see just how pitiful we've become.

Actually President Obama did do something very important for World Peace--he led the country in an historic victory against the Republican Party. Again, it was just a temporary victory, but at least he gave the world a short-lived glimmer of hope.

Your hypothetical exists on the fringe of society and represents such a small minority that it isn't even worth considering. Your hypothetical also ends up penalizing the people who do want to work but cannot find such work. On top of that, it also dismisses the fact that the classical homeless people that people like you think of who are mostly people with serious mental problems who couldn't afford hospitalization and were booted out on the streets and are self-medicating.

The Israelis would be great if they could find another piece of real estate. But that's the problem with religion: it spawns fatal stubbornness and religion is the only reason why they are SO set on that piece of property.

Also doesn't hurt that they know better than anyone else what the conditions were that allowed such a monster like Hitler to take power.

You have a point. The Holy Land (so-called) is a fetish. And it has deadly consequences. History has shown that the Jews do not need a special piece of land to exist and even prosper.l

ruveyn

The 'only' reason. So all those atheistic or agnostic or cultural Jews who fight for Israel do so for religious reasons that they do not affirm? The cultural ties of the Jews to their homeland are as great as any other. The Poles fought for centuries to establish and defend their homeland. They were repressed many times and reemerged every time, they were equally stubborn and possess no major religious ties to that particular land.

Yep. They've prospered here and in Canada and have done very well for themselves in societies since the collapse of fascism in Germany and the horrors of anti-semitism revealed. Even before then, there have been very prosperous Jews despite the claims of incivilities within society; afterall, the Nazis weren't looting gold and rare paintings from poor, oppressed Jews but Jews who had been successful in such societies. So, you're exactly right: they do prosper very well without such a piece of land.

And last you claimed, you're not living there and you're not especially in any camps or being actively oppressed other than completely unrelated political claims; nothing directly related to your Judaism.

So drop the victim BS. I'm more oppressed as a man from New Orleans than you are as a Jew.

I bet healthcare costs would drop significantly as there'd be a marked reduction in heart disease, strokes, hypertension, and other stress-related illnesses. This scenario would literally be a dream come true for so many American families today.

Anyways, as as been said before, and to answer Dox47, it's mostly for the outsider view (objectivity). Because there can be bias if one is left to interpret his own situation (subjectivity). I am aware that there can be observer bias as well though.

And well, since they also are a part of the "Western" world, they are just as eligible as any other western country to "comment" on what goes on in the States, compared to what they know / think / live.

You need to check your definition of what insanity is. Seriously, when someone's predictions are coming true and the information one gathers is accurate, and you can rationally reach the same conclusion as the individual in question, then odds are that person is perfectly rational.

You may consider Chicago style corruption to be perfectly acceptable, but based on the 2010 election, most American Voters do not.

And what does Chicago style politics have to do with the Germans considering us to be insane? Not everything has to do with bashing Obama.
This is about ordinary Americans being perceived as less than people because they have less, while surrounded by such affluence. If you showed me some other country this f****d up, as shown to the Germans, I'd puke my guts out.
Unfortunately, that country is us.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer