An opinion piece from Bermuda about double jeopardy

[Jack]

They might notice their own crap smells much the same.

[odeon]

That's not always the case, you know.

[Parts]

That's not always the case, you know.

Yes some places it smells much worse

[Jack]

Yes, sometimes it's just different crap, and for some reason that makes people feel better. If someone thinks they're awesome because they're ABC, think that's great and can admire their confidence; makes me want to agree they're awesome. If they think they're awesome because someone else is XYZ, think that's pathetic and insecure. People who evaluate themselves by focusing on the worst traits of others come across as very insecure. That's really all I've been trying to say.

[Semicolon]

Not so, IMHO. The US tends to be in focus because it a) likes to be there,

The media feeds the people what they want to see. Have heard people question why the news is always negative; that's because people wouldn't otherwise watch the news. It's the same reason people read trashy tabloids. It brings to mind the bible with thorns and eyes. It's a business and foreign media bombards their public with American culture because that what sells.

I notice that you're not addressing my other points.

Thought addressing the first point also addressed the second one. Just because someone likes attention doesn't have much to do with if they get it. The news and people in Hollywood don't get my attention because I don't want to see it. Didn't really think the other points have anything to do with foreigners sitting around watching springer and cops, watching every scandal in our own news, eating our burgers and reading the latest on J-lo and beiber, and spending so much time talking about those things. It's because of an obsession, not anything to do with politics. Better now?

Point b actually really annoyed me. Can't imagine why anyone would think Americans actually want to be presented to the world in the most negative light possible. There's no denying the world happily consumes anything and everything negative barfed up by the American media, consuming every aspect of our culture. Can't help but to envision people watching our garbage, eating and drinking our garbage, chatting about what stupid pieces of shit we all are, and all the while convinced it's being somehow shoved down their throats by the American people, and not fed to them by their own media because that's what they want. It probably makes it easier for people to ignore the negative aspects of their own culture, because after all, what's happening in American tabloids is so much more important.

Point b, as in the US being the self-appointed guardian of democracy? I suspect it's about justifying actions that are about something else entirely. It's a double-edged thing, partially fed by the rest of the world.

As for your culture being fed to the rest of the world, pretty much the entire western world prefers American TV to their own, which, for better or worse, colours their views. You, in practical terms, are what your TV shows make you to be. Not every aspect of your culture is included, only what your TV shows expose.

As for the celebrities, including the Canadians, it's a question of sheer volume. Until the petitions to deport Bieber made the news, quite a few people (in the rest of the world) didn't know he was a Canadian in the first place. America is synonymous with the US, for lots of people.

So you're saying that Europe has the same problem that America does, of being ignorant of the rest of the world? Some celebrities are immigrants who come to America for work, as do many non-celebrities.

[Jack]

So you're saying that Europe has the same problem that America does, of being ignorant of the rest of the world? Some celebrities are immigrants who come to America for work, as do many non-celebrities.

Now don't be evaluating an entire continent based on one person's lack of beiber knowledge. Have been trying to discuss what I see to be a common socio-psychological phenomenon, found in humans in general, which I believe has manifested itself in a most peculiar and global way, and in no way isolated to Europe. In the past, it's seemed a more normal thing to do, because it was observed as isolated to individuals or even races or classes. It could simply be my own perspective of using the internet to even be aware of it that makes it seem so strange. If someone devalues me based on my own negative traits, that's something I can address as an individual. If they assign value to themselves by devaluing me or someone else, I think that's insecure. If they devalue me based on the negative traits of someone else, I wonder just what the crap they're even thinking. Have experienced bigotry but not at a global level until recent years and it spins the head.

[odeon]

Not so, IMHO. The US tends to be in focus because it a) likes to be there,

The media feeds the people what they want to see. Have heard people question why the news is always negative; that's because people wouldn't otherwise watch the news. It's the same reason people read trashy tabloids. It brings to mind the bible with thorns and eyes. It's a business and foreign media bombards their public with American culture because that what sells.

I notice that you're not addressing my other points.

Thought addressing the first point also addressed the second one. Just because someone likes attention doesn't have much to do with if they get it. The news and people in Hollywood don't get my attention because I don't want to see it. Didn't really think the other points have anything to do with foreigners sitting around watching springer and cops, watching every scandal in our own news, eating our burgers and reading the latest on J-lo and beiber, and spending so much time talking about those things. It's because of an obsession, not anything to do with politics. Better now?

Point b actually really annoyed me. Can't imagine why anyone would think Americans actually want to be presented to the world in the most negative light possible. There's no denying the world happily consumes anything and everything negative barfed up by the American media, consuming every aspect of our culture. Can't help but to envision people watching our garbage, eating and drinking our garbage, chatting about what stupid pieces of shit we all are, and all the while convinced it's being somehow shoved down their throats by the American people, and not fed to them by their own media because that's what they want. It probably makes it easier for people to ignore the negative aspects of their own culture, because after all, what's happening in American tabloids is so much more important.

Point b, as in the US being the self-appointed guardian of democracy? I suspect it's about justifying actions that are about something else entirely. It's a double-edged thing, partially fed by the rest of the world.

As for your culture being fed to the rest of the world, pretty much the entire western world prefers American TV to their own, which, for better or worse, colours their views. You, in practical terms, are what your TV shows make you to be. Not every aspect of your culture is included, only what your TV shows expose.

As for the celebrities, including the Canadians, it's a question of sheer volume. Until the petitions to deport Bieber made the news, quite a few people (in the rest of the world) didn't know he was a Canadian in the first place. America is synonymous with the US, for lots of people.

So you're saying that Europe has the same problem that America does, of being ignorant of the rest of the world? Some celebrities are immigrants who come to America for work, as do many non-celebrities.

No, I'm not. Europe has its own problems. America's problems are uniquely America's, IMHO.

[odeon]

So you're saying that Europe has the same problem that America does, of being ignorant of the rest of the world? Some celebrities are immigrants who come to America for work, as do many non-celebrities.

Now don't be evaluating an entire continent based on one person's lack of beiber knowledge. Have been trying to discuss what I see to be a common socio-psychological phenomenon, found in humans in general, which I believe has manifested itself in a most peculiar and global way, and in no way isolated to Europe. In the past, it's seemed a more normal thing to do, because it was observed as isolated to individuals or even races or classes. It could simply be my own perspective of using the internet to even be aware of it that makes it seem so strange. If someone devalues me based on my own negative traits, that's something I can address as an individual. If they assign value to themselves by devaluing me or someone else, I think that's insecure. If they devalue me based on the negative traits of someone else, I wonder just what the crap they're even thinking. Have experienced bigotry but not at a global level until recent years and it spins the head.

It's the downside of our information-centric society. Information flows far more freely now, and there's a lot more of it, but there's nothing that ensures its validity.

[Jack]

The weirdest thing is, the cultural adoration combined with the personal hatred makes the level of positive fixation equal to that of the negative emotional response; it's akin to dealing with homophobes who watch gay porn.

[odeon]

That's a fairly odd comparison.

[Jack]

Thinking it's fitting. Love/hate obsessions can be an odd thing.