American Reacts to How America Got so Stupid

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  • Опубліковано 26 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 1,9 тис.

  • @hestiaa9354
    @hestiaa9354 2 місяці тому +360

    When a person from New Mexico was denied a marriage license in Washington DC because the clerk and supervisor thought that New Mexico was a foreign country, that told me all I needed to know.

    • @MikiLund
      @MikiLund Місяць тому +13

      They need the government approval to get married!!! WTF!!

    • @chrissyp930
      @chrissyp930 Місяць тому +1

      ​@@MikiLund only cause it's most likely a BS story 😂

    • @eddale5557
      @eddale5557 Місяць тому

      LOL

    • @micky482
      @micky482 Місяць тому +1

      I actually snorted as I laughed so hard at your comment 😂😂😂😂

    • @danielzunigagutierrez6300
      @danielzunigagutierrez6300 Місяць тому +8

      When living in California, I told the lady on the phone that I had attended Edison Jr. High school.
      She asked: How do you spell Edison?
      Though that name appears on the monthly electrical bill, did she not know how to spell it, or was she lazy not to make an effort to think. 😮

  • @FR-PL-UA-WARSZAWA
    @FR-PL-UA-WARSZAWA 2 місяці тому +78

    Stupidity can be very nice. My wife and I were talking Polish at a small Californian Steak house in 2002. The manager inquired about our country of origin. After we paid the bill and left, he ran after us in the street and asked "Do you know that the Pope is Polish?". We really loved that.

  • @warrenturner397
    @warrenturner397 2 місяці тому +673

    From an Australian. Ignorance can be excused but ARROGANCE cannot!

    • @andypandy9013
      @andypandy9013 2 місяці тому +35

      They've got that by the bucket load!!!

    • @andrewbarrett42
      @andrewbarrett42 2 місяці тому

      I find Australians very arrogant,worse than Americans.

    • @susieq9801
      @susieq9801 2 місяці тому +36

      @@andypandy9013 - Sadly they have both unenviable characteristics. Throw in loudness and the picture is complete.

    • @fookorf
      @fookorf 2 місяці тому

      neither is in the nternet age. Tired of people excusing ignorance when every fcukers got a palm sized computer in their pocket connected to the WWW.

    • @brianh9358
      @brianh9358 2 місяці тому +20

      Although I don't think that characteristic can be generalized across the whole population, there are far too many like that. I mean, just look at one of our major presidential candidates. He is someone who has both characteristics and wears them like a badge of honor. In all honesty though, every country that has come into the position of "world leader" falls into a similar cultural trap. Although I would say that the U.S. has fallen in and kept digging out the bottom of the trap as if that was the way out.

  • @wakeupuk3860
    @wakeupuk3860 Місяць тому +33

    Back in the mid 1990s I took my teenage son to America for a two-week road trip starting off in New York, a flight to Denver and then a car trip to LA. We both enjoyed the trip and found generally that the Americans we came across as residents, at work or on holiday like us, on finding we were British were so kind, helpful and be interested in us, especially me being able to do many UK accents.
    BUT every day me and my son aged 14 and me 45, would look at each other open-mouthed at what an American had said or done, and try so much not burst out laughing. I lost count the number of times my 14-year-old son would say to me "Dad, even their older ones are like little kids", "How does this country survive every day", "This lot have the most nuclear weapons?" and my favourite "No way did they put a man on the moon".

    • @reesofraft4166
      @reesofraft4166 Місяць тому +5

      The germans helped with the engineering of that… von Braun and his bunch.

    • @violetquinnlaw
      @violetquinnlaw 12 днів тому

      @@reesofraft4166 yeah america hasnt had a working space rocket since the last N! scientists died heh well apart from their south african they have making rockets for them now but for almost 2 decades till they found him no rockets had to get 'reds' to do it

  • @danjones3712
    @danjones3712 2 місяці тому +192

    The USA is driven by money money money and everything else is secondary, USA is ranked 25th in the world for wealth inequality meaning a smaller number of people hold a large amount of the wealth and by contrast the UK is ranked 140th. The USA is controlled by wealth and the few controlling it have no desire for that to change it and threaten their wealth.
    I’ve worked for American owned organisations, all they are concerned with is profit, profit, profit, where as non American organisations I’ve worked for have a far better balance with employee welfare, doing the right thing and profit and generally have a moral,compass.
    Unfortunately the greed of the USA always wins out, partly due to the fact that the general population don’t stand up because they are far more controlled than they care to realise, I don’t see Americans as stupid, I just pity them because they are only allowed to know what those with the wealth allow them to know - too much knowledge could be dangerous!

    • @annalieff-saxby568
      @annalieff-saxby568 2 місяці тому +11

      "The love of money is the root of all evil" 1 Tim. 6.10

    • @CabinFever52
      @CabinFever52 2 місяці тому +12

      That---in a nutshell.

    • @ezookami4540
      @ezookami4540 2 місяці тому

      Yes, the United States is a plutocracy ruled by the top 120 wealthiest family clans, that have produced senators, governors, judges, and mayors for generations and collaborated closely with multibillion dollar corporations.

    • @StevenBrown-w5b
      @StevenBrown-w5b Місяць тому +10

      ​@@annalieff-saxby568 along with religion.

    • @annalieff-saxby568
      @annalieff-saxby568 Місяць тому +4

      @StevenBrown-w5b I won't disagree with that. Still, wise words are wise words no matter whether or not you believe the source of them is "divine".

  • @Hotspur37
    @Hotspur37 2 місяці тому +69

    Canadian here and I live in Ontario just across the border from New York state and I have meet americans that think we live in igloos, have snow year round and all speak french

    • @mamagne800
      @mamagne800 Місяць тому +10

      Or we are all lumber jacks

    • @huapehucristovao2214
      @huapehucristovao2214 Місяць тому +1

      😱🤭😂😂😂

    • @holoholopainen1627
      @holoholopainen1627 Місяць тому +1

      ISNT Niagara Falls - just across The BORDER ?

    • @ae4116
      @ae4116 Місяць тому +1

      @@holoholopainen1627dude, you’re not helping us.

    • @holoholopainen1627
      @holoholopainen1627 Місяць тому

      @@ae4116 Are You saying that NY Buffaloes - coming over to Hamilton - think that You live in igloos ? You can see across The Lake Toronto - Skyline & CNN Tower !

  • @npe1
    @npe1 2 місяці тому +365

    25 years ago on a beach in California, I was asked by a local person how I could possibly live in England with its awful weather. I replied that it made more sense to live with the rain than it did to live on a fault line!

    • @hiddenname9809
      @hiddenname9809 2 місяці тому

      I am from Middle America. Every single Californian I ever met in my life are smug, believing California is the best just because of the weather. They look down on anyone who is not from California, yet they think they are the most tolerant and accepting people. They are not self-aware that they are the poster children of bigotry.

    • @B-A-L
      @B-A-L 2 місяці тому +38

      Just remind them we get less rain in an entire year than they get in one hurricane and nobody ever dies because of our weather!

    • @pepoppins
      @pepoppins 2 місяці тому +1

      I grew up in California . . . I've now lived in France for 40 years and I believe that, after nearly 20 years of education in the States, the majority of my knowledge has been aquired since I've lived in Europe. Sad as it may be, I just thnk Americans, in general, just don't care to know more about the world, because they believe they're the center and everything revolves around them. Why do you think they elected D.T.?

    • @franhunne8929
      @franhunne8929 Місяць тому +6

      @@B-A-L Extreme weather: More than 4,500 deaths in England from 2022 heat // UK weather: Further heavy rain could cause danger to life after ...
      23.05.2024 ... Further heavy rain could cause a danger to life and travel disruption after a mudslide resulted in one death on Wednesday, the Met Office has warned. // Colder winter weather sees a 30% increase in deaths with over-60s most vulnerable.
      You might want to think about the last part of your statement again

    • @9y2bgy
      @9y2bgy Місяць тому +4

      @@franhunne8929 And what's the property damage and casualty numbers in the US due to tornadoes and hurricanes?

  • @evaadams8298
    @evaadams8298 Місяць тому +9

    I travelled around the USA, couldn’t believe how ignorant some people were….. Then I realised how bad their education system is.

  • @matthewjamison
    @matthewjamison 2 місяці тому +454

    The dumbing down of 🇺🇸 wasn't an accident. When John D Rockefeller bought his influence in government & head of education, his literal quote was "I don't want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers" ~ John D Rockefeller

    • @Roz-y2d
      @Roz-y2d 2 місяці тому +31

      Wow, well that says it all, doesn’t it?

    • @raistormrs
      @raistormrs 2 місяці тому +29

      well, he understood the education system in use, thats all, the US uses the Prussian system after all, like many other countries do, and that has, in its core, just two purposes, to create obedient workers and loyal soldiers. it is also, why the higher education is so harshly split up and terribly expensive, so that the future leaders could be amongs themselves and network. The Prussians came up with the system after getting a beating in the Napoleonic Wars and it spread out during the Industrial Revolution for obvious reasons. that people like Rockefeller thought it to be quite alright, is, i'm sure, even today still something shared among the so called elites. by the way, the entire higher education networking thing is the main reason, journalism had become a subject you had to study. when you look at the journalists who broke the big scandals like watergate, you will find people, that don't really fit todays ideals of a journalist, a ex-soldier that went to Yale on a scholarship to study history and a university dropout who wrote local news stories for a living. today, there is no way those guys would get the jobs they had back then, working on something like this...

    • @matthewjamison
      @matthewjamison 2 місяці тому +4

      @@raistormrs 💯

    • @dmytryk7887
      @dmytryk7887 2 місяці тому +3

      John D Rockefeller was never in government, his influence was the result of him being super-rich. In particular, he formed the GEB, a non-governmental group that had a huge influence on public education in the US. Also, it is not clear that he ever said the quote that you attribute to him...but the quote is representative of the attitude of the GEB.

    • @melchiorvonsternberg844
      @melchiorvonsternberg844 2 місяці тому +15

      @@raistormrs German here. You've done something wrong. This education system, which you look down on, produced 88 Nobel Prize winners in the 20th century, in the field of natural sciences and medicine alone. In fact, this system was developed to supplement a country whose only truly abundant natural resource, coal, with something much more valuable: Knowledge! And that continues to this day, throughout Germany's success story. I would say that the USA perverted this system and did not implement it correctly. Because even before the founding of the German Empire, Germany had its nickname... "The country of poets and thinkers..."

  • @Tanguy2030
    @Tanguy2030 Місяць тому +12

    I was in Florida as a young woman and in a conversation with hotel kitchen or service employees I was asked where I was coming from. I answered from Germany and they actually asked if I had traveled by train or bus. I was somehow completely speechless. Where do you start explaining at this level???? 😢

    • @ps-ic8pm
      @ps-ic8pm 7 днів тому

      Ahh, Floriduh, occupied by Floridiots. At least it's going to be swallowed by the sea soon.

  • @RushfanUK
    @RushfanUK 2 місяці тому +300

    I was in London the last couple of days, we were heading to an Italian Restaurant which was in an area with a range of individual restaurants and a pub, we overheard an American tourist saying "Why isn't there anywhere to eat, don't they have McDonalds here," they really couldn't see the wood for the trees.

    • @Englishsea24
      @Englishsea24 2 місяці тому +28

      McDonald's is junk I could never eat there

    • @Bramfly
      @Bramfly 2 місяці тому +48

      Who considers McD as a restaurant ?

    • @robertmurray8763
      @robertmurray8763 2 місяці тому

      @RushfanUK is a reason why Americans are not respected in the rest of the world . The stupidity and arrogance they are right.
      When clearly they have no idea and then storm off in a rage because they have been corrected and then make up stories to cover themselves!!

    • @Muck006
      @Muck006 2 місяці тому +18

      McDonalds is also OVERPRICED and doesnt even fill you up. One Döner is healthier and more filling than a stupid Burger + fries ... and it is CHEAPER!

    • @eucitizen78
      @eucitizen78 2 місяці тому

      @@Muck006 und schmeckt besser

  • @meervi77
    @meervi77 Місяць тому +6

    Years ago I was in hospital. My male nuse was African as betrayed by his accent. I asked what country he was from. He said GAMBIA. I returned THE GAMBIA the proper name. HE smiled the biggest smile. Knowledge is fun.

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. 2 місяці тому +322

    We’re all just happy that Joel and his friends are defying the stereotype.

    • @Codsworth_
      @Codsworth_ 2 місяці тому +4

      Him, possibly. His freinds not so much tbh.

    • @josiecoote8975
      @josiecoote8975 2 місяці тому +5

      What's happened to Arturo and the other friend, not certain of his name? Is it Stefan?

    • @braddo7270
      @braddo7270 2 місяці тому +3

      Seconded 😂

    • @michael-gk3ib
      @michael-gk3ib Місяць тому

      do you want to have real freedom today you have to go to Eu especially Scandinavia fir you are not free if you are not free to seek your dreams and that is most people in Scandinavia but many ignorant fools mostly republicans are shouting about freedom in America but you are not free in especially red states, public education is made as bad as possible so that the ignorant individuals who come out are more likely to believe the lies maga and religious fanatics shut out, because it is only in the US, China and Russia that people pledge allegiance to the flag /country in the EU, you just go to school and learn. Americans also talk about religious freedom, but the least religious state in America is still far more religious in the most religious country in the EU, and in the EU you also have the right to be sick without you and your family going bankrupt and becoming homeless. In the EU, the healthcare system is a human rights for rich and poor they for the same treatment, however the richest can go to America and pay 4 to 5 times more for the same treatment what is an Asprin that costs 80 dollars in a hospital 😱🤮 or what about education in the EU there is free education all the way to PhD the only thing you pay is for some books and if you want to be an exchange student and that for you support in Denmark for all students from high school and up 800 to 900 dollars a month from the state to help with the rent and other expenses so they can focus on their studies so no America is not as free as you think.

    • @holoholopainen1627
      @holoholopainen1627 Місяць тому

      Howabout Joe Montana ?

  • @linesydclb8845
    @linesydclb8845 2 місяці тому +43

    Another factor is the USA's priority on individualism which allows states to set their own educational agendas without oversight from the federal government. When you have no international studies in your schools, no history studies outside your own what do you expect. Add in low wages and a lack of holiday pay which means limited access to go on holidays and expand their horizons.

    • @user-gr5tx6rd4h
      @user-gr5tx6rd4h Місяць тому +4

      Yes, it is time to make the USA a civilized society - a country consisting of one state, not 50 loose sheep. And the educational system needs to be improved by introducing critical, scientific reasoning very early. And the wage for a full time job must suffice for living. Workers should have dignity and be organized in unions demanding a certain minimum wage. This is not communism or socialism but simple rules for a functioning society. The right name is "social democracy", as practized in Northern Europe.

    • @DoyleAshley
      @DoyleAshley 6 днів тому +1

      I have preached that for 21 years here and no one knows what I was saying!education? 43 in the world in education last time I looked!its a joke !😂

    • @Ytinasniiable
      @Ytinasniiable 2 дні тому +1

      Not to mention the little bit of US history we do get is mostly just reinforcing the "America is the greatest nation literally ever" notion and glosses over the more negative aspects of our history, the civil rights movement is only really taught as a way to show peaceful protests at work and places very little emphasis on why there needed to be a civil rights movement in the first place

  • @KiltedGreen
    @KiltedGreen 2 місяці тому +80

    I’m glad you’re there Joel - you are an ambassador that any country would be proud to have. Your openness to other cultures and what can be learnt is a constant joy.

  • @jasonwarwick5062
    @jasonwarwick5062 Місяць тому +23

    Mate - I wish every American was capable of the same level of self awareness as you. You guys will be fine so long as you maintain your compassion and desire to be educated 👍

    • @nekoti.8-2
      @nekoti.8-2 21 день тому

      As will your lot too.

    • @tiberio1352
      @tiberio1352 8 днів тому

      jason, you are incurring in the same level of ignorance. People in the u.s. are NOT AMERICANS. They don't have AMERINDIAN DNA OR SPEAK AMERICAN LANGUAGES, more than 500 of them. English not included. They are u.s. citizens, period.

  • @Lily-Bravo
    @Lily-Bravo 2 місяці тому +304

    One thing you are not, Joel, is dumb or stupid. Wait a minute, that's two things. I'm completely out of your age range, a grandmother indeed, but I recognise a bright spark when I see one, and come back to watch your videos because I appreciate your intelligence and perceptive observations on your adventures overseas.

    • @Herzschreiber
      @Herzschreiber 2 місяці тому +17

      Same here!

    • @Jill-mh2wn
      @Jill-mh2wn 2 місяці тому +30

      I have always related Intelligence and curiosity.
      American education does not seem to nurture curiosity, yet this is where the desire for all knowledge begins.

    • @krishender
      @krishender 2 місяці тому +11

      @@Jill-mh2wn So VERY true!!

    • @brigidsingleton1596
      @brigidsingleton1596 2 місяці тому +3

      Same here, except, despite my age (71) I am not a grandparent...despite my three offspring being aged nearly 37 and 31 !! I don't think I will ever be a Grandmother!
      ("As for the ladies" : "Mama Mia" ?! I have never seen it - nor ever wanted to!!)

    • @Lily-Bravo
      @Lily-Bravo 2 місяці тому +2

      @@brigidsingleton1596 The grandparent thing? My son's partner is 39 and they have 2, under 4s and trying for a third. My next door neighbour had an after 40 surprise first child. So who knows? My first was at 33

  • @kimbirch1202
    @kimbirch1202 2 місяці тому +234

    I'm personally shocked at how some Americans could vote for a proven liar, criminal., and morally corrupt candidate for President.

    • @marioprivacy9411
      @marioprivacy9411 2 місяці тому

      It would be a completely different story if they were to vote for a narcissist, a con man, a rapist, a coup plotter, so let's not make a big deal about it.

    • @StewedFishProductions
      @StewedFishProductions 2 місяці тому +19

      At the 18.00 mark they do talk about "convicted Republicans..." - I immediately thought of "Diaper-Don-the-Orange-Con", "Vance-in-a-Trance" and "Empty-Headed-Greene" (see what I did there? MT 'headed' Greene... LOL). 😉😊

    • @LisaFerguson-lw8il
      @LisaFerguson-lw8il 2 місяці тому

      @@StewedFishProductions I'm still in complete shock at the thought of Trump being allowed to run. He's a convicted felon. His handling of the pandemic was just awful. We will never know how many people died because of Trump's stupidity. I've been to the US twice, but will NEVER visit again. It is a broken wreck.

    • @Muck006
      @Muck006 2 місяці тому

      Hmmm ... if you mean Trump ... then YOU have clearly been propagandised by THE MEDIA. The european media basically COPY CNN ... which is LYING about Trump 24/7 ... even making stuff up.
      And his "criminal conviction" was a FARCE of a show trial where the DA had the campaign promise to "work every day on prosecuting Trump" ... completely missing ASSUMPTION OF INNOCENCE.

    • @deerfootnz
      @deerfootnz 2 місяці тому

      You forgot that he is also a rapist, thief, fascist, misogynist fascist.

  • @coot1925
    @coot1925 2 місяці тому +58

    Don't worry mate, there are so many Americans who are expanding their knowledge of the big wide world through channels similar to yours.
    I've been watching your channel for about 2 years & yours is the best IMO.

  • @boulbon08
    @boulbon08 2 місяці тому +7

    I just love your videos, Joel, and I especially love your curiosity and openness to other countries and cultures. Always a pleasure listening to your remarks. Greetings from Germany.

  • @antonchristian873
    @antonchristian873 2 місяці тому +82

    Great work Joel ! Your posts are much appreciated ,from a grateful Brit !

  • @kimbirch1202
    @kimbirch1202 2 місяці тому +12

    The thing about travelling and meeting different cultures, is that you realise the pros and cons of your own country.
    Brits are generally happy to criticise what they think is wrong in this country yet Americans seem to think this is almost being an un - American commie.

  • @paulmanley7863
    @paulmanley7863 2 місяці тому +84

    Whilst in New York years ago I was asked if England was in London? Shocking!!

    • @trudilm3864
      @trudilm3864 2 місяці тому

      Of there was American undergrades that thought that China was an American State.

    • @uklie01
      @uklie01 2 місяці тому +7

      Wow, I will never again complain when they confuse my country Switzerland with Sweden 😅

    • @Longislandteaboy
      @Longislandteaboy 2 місяці тому +3

      Yes thats common.

    • @Englishsea24
      @Englishsea24 2 місяці тому +9

      How is it that Americans are so bad at geography, yet us brits can name practically every state in America? I can and I've never even been there. I also notice in other videos they can barely name any former US presidents

    • @trudilm3864
      @trudilm3864 2 місяці тому +1

      @@uklie01 Brits might do that as well. Equally beautiful and devoid of concrete jungles.

  • @MFYouTube683
    @MFYouTube683 2 місяці тому +17

    Get your kids a library card and raise them to be curious. Reading is a declining habit to the point, where universities state they are increasingly confronted with students who aren’t able to read a whole book. It’s so sad it’s almost funny.

    • @maryotoole7389
      @maryotoole7389 Місяць тому +2

      Do they allow all books though

    • @mbarkanbir7586
      @mbarkanbir7586 Місяць тому +1

      You so right: books, interesse in others and caring for them, curiosity in the nature, how thing works, creativity, interact with others with other cultures, going to musea, being nice to people and being helpful, respect people…that make you whole and fulfill, what makes you happy 😊

    • @MFYouTube683
      @MFYouTube683 Місяць тому +2

      @@maryotoole7389 that’s hardly the point. We had age restrictions at the library. In contrast to the internet, this system worked reliably. For example: at the local library I could get a simplified, sanitised and condensed version of books that are considered literature or significant achievements in storytelling and style or in their historical context (such as Dracula, the Divine Comedy or the Diary of Anne Frank). Obviously the original works are not age-appropriate, their language and style possibly too complex and their deeper meanings too brutal or depicting awful human behaviour. With simplified, shortened editions that had many uncommon words explained, these were ideal. There’s also a ton of light children’s books full of adventure and fun, think Enid Blyton or Thomas Brezina, we read them by the dozens. At 14-16 the rest of the library became accessible for reading and then open to check out. I read a lot of trash as a kid, but in my native language you see a _stark_ contrast between kids who read and those who don’t. So even creating a culture at home that is appreciative of arts, culture, literature and books in the most minimal way possible, makes a difference.

    • @Fred-vy1hm
      @Fred-vy1hm 13 днів тому

      That's all well and good but now you have states enacting laws banning certain types of books ie To kill a Mockingbird is or has been banned in several States or Counties for example and it's only getting worse..

  • @qualitytraders5333
    @qualitytraders5333 2 місяці тому +55

    The expresion "blissful ignorance" does exist and Americans are the walking definitions.

  • @mochachaiguy
    @mochachaiguy Місяць тому +4

    I was driving from Toronto Canada to Tulsa Oklahoma listening to talk radio during the Iran hostage crisis. My main take away from what I saw/heard and witnessed is that they should implement mandatory study abroad programs because there was such a lack of awareness about the wider world. I got the sense that many people spent their entire lives in their tiny towns without any curiosity or understanding of anything outside of their bubble. Fear and ignorance about anything they didn't personally experience was prevalent.
    I fear that social media has not changed things for the better better.

    • @twofarfromhome
      @twofarfromhome Місяць тому +2

      Yep, Europeans say, “If you speak three languages you’re trilingual… two languages makes you bilingual, and if you only speak English you must be American!”

  • @dcallan812
    @dcallan812 2 місяці тому +30

    I was asked by an American whilst on holiday "oh you come from England do you know my cousin? he lives there" like I know everyone in the UK pop almost 67 million. 🤦‍♂🤣

    • @MaryB-tx2xq
      @MaryB-tx2xq 2 місяці тому +5

      I was asked that when I was in Australia. A bit more reasonable because they asked if I knew someone who lived in the same county as me, but still incredibly lacking in sense

  • @CaOs-kd5mz
    @CaOs-kd5mz 2 місяці тому +21

    This video truly deserves a like and a comment. Kudos 👏

  • @ChrisJames1973
    @ChrisJames1973 2 місяці тому +42

    There’s the old story of an American visiting Windsor castle and asked why they built it so close to the airport 🤦🏻‍♂️

    • @msaar1303
      @msaar1303 2 місяці тому +3

      😂😂😂

    • @evanr1784
      @evanr1784 Місяць тому

      Maybe he was a trumper .
      It was trump after all who claimed in a speech that the US took over the British airports during the Revolutionary War

    • @Deno-x9b
      @Deno-x9b Місяць тому

      😆🤣😆

    • @ChrisJames1973
      @ChrisJames1973 Місяць тому +1

      @@AlexanderWinterborn-r6p Grow up child ✊🏻

    • @msaar1303
      @msaar1303 Місяць тому

      @@AlexanderWinterborn-r6p name one "american social media"?

  • @catherineharrison9441
    @catherineharrison9441 2 місяці тому +7

    I’m just glad that a lot of your fellow Americans have started to research other countries and customs. Some like yourself have actually ventured outside of the American narrative.
    Most people outside of America believe that the American story is indoctrinated into their people from an early age.
    Love Love Love that some of you are venturing out into the world.
    One place you may want to put on your bucket list is The Isle of Skye, the most beautiful vista in the world 😊

  • @majkus
    @majkus 2 місяці тому +23

    American life has had a long history of insular ignorance-this is, after all, a big place. Reagan often spoke of his belief that God placed this continent "between two oceans" (a great place for a continent…) so that Americans could avoid involvement in other countries. To Reagan, and so to his followers, America's isolation was a feature, not a bug. But there has always been a strong current of anti-intellectualism in general. As Isaac Asimov said,
    “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” An example was Adlai Stevenson, Democratic candidate for President in the 1950s, who was memorably dismissed as an 'egghead'.
    But I think a couple of things happened more recently. Somehow, we moved to actual widespread contempt for education. Consider radio and television shows that portrayed high school students. Right up through the 1970s, high school was always treated with respect, even when the students found it to be a problem (popular radio character Henry Aldrich had trouble with Latin for more than a decade). But then something changed. High school began to be portrayed as a nuisance, in which classes were a contemptible distraction from the real business of the characters' social lives. In 1986's "Peggy Sue Got Married", a woman goes back in time to 1960 and experiences high school again. At one point, she tells her algebra teacher that the class doesn't matter: "Well, Mr Snelgrove, I happen to know that in the future I will not have the slightest use for algebra, and I speak from experience." This was an audience-applause line. One hardly need dig deeply into shows like Saved By The Bell (notably re-tooled from a show where the teacher was the main character) or Dawson's Creek, or any number of Disney shows to see the same dismissal of education. Why learn that stuff in school when you can become-sorry, Joel-a UA-cam 'influencer' and become rich and famous?
    [ side note: it is daunting to watch reaction videos for a movie like Casablanca from people who are apparently only vaguely aware of World War II ]
    And of course most recently, politicians learned that they could get the most ignorant people, the ones most contemptuous of intellectualism-'elites' often being a coded word for 'Jews', by the way-to vote. Now people could be not only ignorant but _proud_ of their ignorance. Republican gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor questioned the most basic knowledge of geography, considering that it is a conspiracy to hide the true flat earth ("Every store, you buy a globe. There’s globes everywhere. Every movie, every TV show, news media - why? It doesn’t make sense.”) That is scary.

    • @kerryf9399
      @kerryf9399 Місяць тому +2

      China and Russia are huge too, but they have actual education. it seems that the USA only had good education for the masses for a very few short years a long time ago and has replaced it with TV and celebrity culture.

  • @PaulinP-wx5dz
    @PaulinP-wx5dz 2 місяці тому +16

    Meanwhile, even though parts of England are borderline semi-arid, very sunny & drought prone (especially south & east), there are still a few Americans (Californian's) that think Britain is sometimes akin to a Charles Dickens novel. It's how a few American's cope & everybody laugh's at them!

  • @thomassharmer7127
    @thomassharmer7127 2 місяці тому +65

    The worst of all is the Hollywood dramatisation of the WWII incident when a German enigma encoding machine was taken from a U-boat submarine. In real history it was carried out by a British commando unit. The movie, inevitably, made it into an American operation!

    • @JimAtHome
      @JimAtHome 2 місяці тому +13

      U-571 I believe and yes you're quite right the US didn't retrieve it which is how it ended up in Bletchley Park which allowed us to decipher the German naval codes with the help of Alan Turing

    • @Maireadmoss
      @Maireadmoss 2 місяці тому +4

      Australia bought one just before the Berlin Wall came down and they dropped in price. It looks like a weird typewriter. I went to a talk about it and the room was full of maths nerds in cardigans.

    • @MjII7
      @MjII7 2 місяці тому +4

      I would’ve loved to see their adaptation of them winning the Battle of Britain! Lol 😂
      But there was a US Eagles squadron to twist the story!!

    • @rowzielynwho202
      @rowzielynwho202 2 місяці тому +10

      Same with the movie “Argo”. No mention anywhere in the entire movie of the Canadians who were the ones who actually pulled the rescue off. During a interview President Carter had to keep reminding the interviewer that the rescue was a success because of the Canadian Embassy and its ambassador.

    • @chadUCSD
      @chadUCSD Місяць тому +6

      ​@MjII7 Funny you say that. I had a US guy on another video about WWII proclaiming they'd won it and we'd lost it and would've lost without em. I said Battle of Britain, we pushed Hitler back and stopped the invasion over a uwar b4 US entered. His reply....'Yeah but the RAF had Ameeican pilots though so even then we helped you fight it'.
      Erm dud, there were 6 US airmen who fought in the Battle of Britain. 6! Out of many thousands. Seems he didn't appreciate that fact. Nor the fact that Russia liberated Berlin not the US, as that was his next claim. I just felt pity by the end.

  • @nulse55
    @nulse55 Місяць тому +6

    I'm a Aussie, wife is a kiwi and we have both met strange Americans in our lives. Then I see name a country??? Alaska??? It goes on and on. But I've met some awesome Americans too. We are quite happy .....and safer if Americans don't know we exist thanks.

  • @jimmmmy41
    @jimmmmy41 2 місяці тому +143

    I'm 58, born in and live in Indianapolis, Indiana. Grew up blue collar, working class, 1st generation to earn a college degree. Gen X. I work in public education and can say that students get the same information my generation received. But, the type of student has changed. Overstimulated. Can't focus. Traumatized. Needs to be entertained and be having fun and mustn't have to cope with boredom. They are the offspring of a generation of kids who received the self esteem curricula of the 90s. It became about feelings, and we've lost the plot since then. Never have I seen such anti-intellectualism in America culture. Apparently, there is no such thing as an expert. Higher education is scoffed at. People under 40 know nothing about their government, the geography of their country/world. We still have a reactionary, puritanical streak which tends to celebrate knownothingness.

    • @raystewart3648
      @raystewart3648 2 місяці тому +9

      Well educated does not mean smart, my granddad once told me.

    • @kdog4587
      @kdog4587 2 місяці тому

      I think you'll find that it's predominantly older people who get on the conspiracy train and don't believe that any expert is actually an expert in their field. Have you seen the flat earthers? They're not exactly in their teens/early 20s.
      While I agree that young people are overstimulated and certainly they're disenfranchised, its not as simple as saying it's because people care more about feelings now. There is a whole section of society that don't believe in climate change, that the earth is round, and they seemingly believe everything is a conspiracy and that nothing is to be believed even known scientific facts. This doesn't seem to be down to young people.. I think that's just your view as a 58 year old?

    • @brianh9358
      @brianh9358 2 місяці тому +7

      @@raystewart3648 Knowledge comes in many different forms - the question is whether or not you can use the knowledge you have learned to accomplish something. That pretty much applies to people in every line of work. I would say that anyone who has gained expertise at doing something well is "smart".

    • @barnowl.
      @barnowl. 2 місяці тому +4

      @@raystewart3648 Well educated does not mean WISE. There is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Also, people can be uneducated but 'street-smart'.

    • @aidanmargarson8910
      @aidanmargarson8910 Місяць тому +2

      @@raystewart3648here is the thing, if you have read and fully understood the complete works of Shakespeare.. then you are educated .. if you have a high school diploma or a degree from trump university .. not so much

  • @barnowl.
    @barnowl. 2 місяці тому +11

    'Travel broadens the mind'. Not many Americans have a passport let alone travel to other countries around the world. This is due to the poor wages, the lack of long holiday time and lack of curiosity about the world. Also, Americans have been indoctrinated in some things. The stand-out is their misunderstanding of social democracy, as in Australia. They freak out when they see the word 'social' regarding politics, thinking that it is socialism , which it is NOT.

    • @George-k6o9t
      @George-k6o9t 2 місяці тому

      Absolutely agree with your comments. (US)Americans have been so brainwashed that the moment the word, "communal" or "community" comes up, they think "aarrgh .. communism!" and "social" (from which was derived, "society") - "socialism!". Talk about people being dumbed down. So, the USA has no community and no society at all. It's all a conglomeration of individuals all doing their own separate thing totally divorced from one another.
      I wonder what do they tag the U.S. military, the police and fire department and paramedics as being? /s

    • @nekoti.8-2
      @nekoti.8-2 Місяць тому

      Really I think this isn't the actual picture of Americans . Just a subset of Americans. And, if you educate yourself on the world. What is wrong with not traveling. Many people simply can not afford it.

    • @johnkowalski5756
      @johnkowalski5756 5 днів тому

      WTF do Americans think social security, medicare, medicaid, food stamps, government subsidies for all manner of free crap are??? SOCIALISM. Americans have been fooled by euphemisms for the last 100 years.

  • @DougBrown-h1n
    @DougBrown-h1n 2 місяці тому +38

    Being "on line" is the most extraordinary window to the outside World - if you choose to use it as such.

  • @BrianLee-my5sn
    @BrianLee-my5sn Місяць тому +1

    Glad to find you on youtube. Hope to have more people like you seeing thing the way it should

  • @dave_goldcrest
    @dave_goldcrest 2 місяці тому +69

    Once when I was travelling in Europe a young American woman in her 20's asked me if the British speak American.

    • @Englishsea24
      @Englishsea24 2 місяці тому +4

      😂😂😂

    • @kevinworrall231
      @kevinworrall231 2 місяці тому +2

      No way seriously 😅

    • @Bryt25
      @Bryt25 2 місяці тому +1

      " sure... just a bit..."

    • @imagik2446
      @imagik2446 2 місяці тому +11

      In Italy I was once stopped outside a Post Office by an American who asked if I spoke American. I said between my English and his American, we'd probably (not prolly) get by. He wanted directions to the Post Office.

    • @barnowl.
      @barnowl. 2 місяці тому +4

      A worse example -- An American asked an English person if she spoke English as she did !

  • @martinaalderink7773
    @martinaalderink7773 Місяць тому +8

    I am Dutch. An American once told me Americans are amazed that Europeons have houses and buildings older than their country.

    • @nekoti.8-2
      @nekoti.8-2 20 днів тому

      American here. Not really. A student of history here knows we have native structures called mounds that are likely older than your buildings and other structures in North, Central and south America. It's not like we were the first here. Just like you all were not the first there. Picts left much to let others know that were there too.

  • @vincefenton
    @vincefenton 2 місяці тому +24

    Greetings from County Durham, in the UK. I have to agree with Lily Joel. I’m a great grandfather - hey, what’s all this about your viewing community 🤣.
    You’re an intelligent chap who wants to learn more about what’s going on beyond your shores. There are many reaction channels but few are attempting to do anything intelligently - so bravo

    • @davey8914
      @davey8914 2 місяці тому +1

      I'm from Chester-le-Street, CO durham, and thoroughly agree with you, sir 👍 Great to hear US kids like this soaking up other cultures. They say travel broadens the mind - it certainly does!

  • @Noiretranquility
    @Noiretranquility 9 днів тому +2

    I'm telling you as a foreigner that has traveled a lot to the US, people in the US can't see beyond their nose, they're free to roam inside their cage as long as the don't question the establishment,media, policies and companies, not to mention the rampant racism and fever for money, most will be willing to sell their mom to get rich, me as a foreigner could not care but , 70% of all the weapons in the world come from the US, second worst polluter,US drug market creates an immense wave of violence in other countries, US has created awful conditions and desestabilice many nations around the globe just for their own benefit and in top of it all , they chose an orange lunatic conman mafia boss, toxic AF that prefers to side with authoritarian regimes than with US clients and allies

  • @slytheringingerwitch
    @slytheringingerwitch 2 місяці тому +30

    As long as you thirst for knowledge and learn about other countries, then you can never be stupid. Keep learning Joel and you will be okay.

  • @YorkshireTeaNiceNStrong
    @YorkshireTeaNiceNStrong 2 місяці тому +10

    I do find it utterly astonishing how little Americans know about their own political system and, indeed, any other political system. Particularly annoying is their complete inability to differentiate between Communism, Socialism and Marxism.

    • @walterkronkitesleftshoe6684
      @walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 2 місяці тому +1

      When of course most of us understand the three schools of political thought to be simply varying degrees of despotic ideologies.

    • @YorkshireTeaNiceNStrong
      @YorkshireTeaNiceNStrong 2 місяці тому +3

      @@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Ummm, there's a lot more than three kinds of political system and Socialism is not even slightly despotic. Are Sweden, Denmark, Norway 'despotic'?

    • @YorkshireTeaNiceNStrong
      @YorkshireTeaNiceNStrong 2 місяці тому +2

      @@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 You really are just proving my point. I take it you don't do political science in US schools???

    • @walterkronkitesleftshoe6684
      @walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 2 місяці тому

      @@YorkshireTeaNiceNStrong I thought it was pretty obvious that I was referring to the three schools of ill-founded dogma you mentioned. I'll tell you one thing though... the Scandinavian countries are definitely headed that way.
      P.S I've no idea about the US "ejukayshun sistim", I'm from Lancashire in the UK.

    • @YorkshireTeaNiceNStrong
      @YorkshireTeaNiceNStrong 2 місяці тому +2

      @@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Yup, no idea what you're talking about. You think Scandinavia, consistent leaders in the world happiness index (the countries best functioning and serving their people) are heading towards your imaginary hellscape? The evidence would seem to contradict that.

  • @TomGraham-mk2wl
    @TomGraham-mk2wl 2 місяці тому +76

    "Cellist" is pronounced "chellist" not "sellist". Sorry, it just really bugged me!

    • @honyakupjp
      @honyakupjp 2 місяці тому

      And "convicted" democrats? I think britmonkey has some work to do on his education too.

    • @skabuoy
      @skabuoy 2 місяці тому +4

      In Dutch it's pronounced 'sellist'. ;-)

    • @JimAtHome
      @JimAtHome 2 місяці тому +7

      @@skabuoy but the UA-cam vlog was made by an English guy en niet een Nederlander

    • @TomGraham-mk2wl
      @TomGraham-mk2wl 2 місяці тому +3

      @@skabuoy Thank you, I didn't know that!
      But since the voice in the video was speaking English in an English accent...

    • @jacquelinewhite6556
      @jacquelinewhite6556 2 місяці тому +1

      Might have been AI voice...

  • @Tonyblack261
    @Tonyblack261 2 місяці тому +31

    I'm a Brit born in the 1950s and grew up with American film and TV shows (many of which I can still sing the themes.). I think we here, got a good feeling about American culture from it. I think ignorant is a more apt description than "stupid".

    • @CabinFever52
      @CabinFever52 2 місяці тому

      I grew up in the states around the same time, with the same shows, but they did not portray reality---though they were fun to watch.

    • @istvanglock7445
      @istvanglock7445 Місяць тому +1

      True, though there is a strong correlation between the two.

    • @garyinmarz8938
      @garyinmarz8938 Місяць тому

      Deliverance and NBK are the two movies that represents the US 🇺🇸 of today.

  • @MechFrankaTLieu
    @MechFrankaTLieu Місяць тому +2

    its not about chronically online , its about refusal to learn , to enlighten with knowledge even when this chronically online meta offers the oppoturnities

  • @Kami69247
    @Kami69247 2 місяці тому +25

    First step in fixing a problem is identifying it usually. I think that explains a lot for many americans.

  • @theentity05
    @theentity05 Місяць тому +4

    Many Americans are overworked and seeking ways to escape their demanding lives. You may have a job that requires crazy hours, and perhaps you also have a family with several kids to care for. When you come home, you’re left with only a limited amount of free time for yourself. People are too exhausted to pay attention to important matters, which might be part of a plan to keep us overwhelmed and ignorant.

    • @delirous8
      @delirous8 Місяць тому +2

      Yes indeed and worship of money which makes you depressed.

    • @wallace44able
      @wallace44able 6 днів тому

      And then these same people vote for more austerity on the premise that their freedoms are being compromised. A population of fools being puppeted by their wealthy masters.

  • @hobi1kenobi112
    @hobi1kenobi112 2 місяці тому +27

    I was in Florida a few years ago on holiday from Yorkshire. The adverts were almost entirely about compensation for medical malpractice and car showrooms, as well as advertising local lawyers. The news was also interesting. Inbetween hurricane season warnings and the Ebola outbreak in Africa, which seemed only interesting to the US because a US nurse was involved and needed bringing home to the States, there was a wonderfully random item involving two Brits surfboarding off of the coast of England who filmed a small seal jumping up onto one of their boards and hitching a ride. An eclectic mix to be sure. :)

    • @hobi1kenobi112
      @hobi1kenobi112 2 місяці тому +1

      Also I'd just be slightly cautious about the motivation of channels that seem anti-American. There is good and bad in every country, and good and bad people. For example the segment about American music, in many Asian countries there's little exposure to Western, African or South American cultures, film, music or television for example. The K/J-pop charts in Asia are still dominated by Asian artists peddling K-pop in (mostly) Korean or Japanese. When you look at the Grammys it's entirely mixed but look at Asian music award shows and there are no black artists or white western folk, Australian pipe bands, etc... So I wouldn't go too hard on yourself. Other places have their issues as well. And the US has also done a lot of good in the world. I mean, it's not Yorkshire ;), but you should still rightly be proud to be an American.

  • @salome5055
    @salome5055 2 місяці тому +1

    You are wonderful Jps,and this was very interesting and you tackled a painful subject manfully.

  • @i-klaus
    @i-klaus 2 місяці тому +38

    From my time in the advertising industry, I know that there is hardly any difference between advertising and propaganda.
    In both scenarios, it works through constant repetition.

    • @danmayberry1185
      @danmayberry1185 2 місяці тому +2

      I'm from advertising + gov't communications, and I endorse this message. Problem-solution alone covers half of it. (Be afraid, but don't despair - I have a plan.)

    • @FR-PL-UA-WARSZAWA
      @FR-PL-UA-WARSZAWA 2 місяці тому +1

      But advertizing implies that the victim will have to spend money. Even the dumbest wallet holder hesitates and knows the limit. Propaganda affects the brain. A commodity most people don't take care about. But it can ingest unlimited lies.

    • @i-klaus
      @i-klaus 2 місяці тому +1

      @@FR-PL-UA-WARSZAWA Sure, but in both cases it's about money. In advertising it's about your money that should go to a company. In propaganda it's about the money of the so-called politicians, although the direction of flow is not always so clear. It's always about money in some way.

  • @TomKirkemo-l5c
    @TomKirkemo-l5c 2 місяці тому +25

    As a 52 year old Norwegian high school teacher, this is not just an US phenomena. It is a generational one. We did something wrong somewhere, and I'm sorry.

    • @Cv-yl7pi
      @Cv-yl7pi Місяць тому +2

      Yes, we thought working skills are enough to make a good society.
      Free speech needs education. It needs knowing who to respond to individuality. It needs to train our way to interact, especially when there is conflict of interests and crisis, and so much more than math and physics. Language is paramount, but also what it means, how tho evaluate the content it conveys. Knowledge about its power on oneself and others. In France there is a song with the title: To Kill With Words! All that has so much to do with what happens in these last days of US elections.

    • @christopherpederson1021
      @christopherpederson1021 Місяць тому +2

      humanity took a wrong turn when they decided that everyone is separate and the ego became the predominant trait of our consciousness. we were nothing before we were alive and we will return to that nothingness. nothingness is our natural state of being. the ego goes completely against this nothingness.

    • @antcommander1367
      @antcommander1367 Місяць тому +3

      didn't norway called US underdeveloped country?

    • @user-gr5tx6rd4h
      @user-gr5tx6rd4h Місяць тому

      @@antcommander1367 Would be right! (If a "country" at all)

  • @rozm8235
    @rozm8235 2 місяці тому +11

    At least you're informed and are informing others.

  • @wysetech2000
    @wysetech2000 Місяць тому +3

    I am Canadian and I could write a book on America. Some Americans don't even know where Canada is. I believe that a good part of America's problems are from the fact that they have not moved on from the same old attitude from years ago. The world is changing and America is stuck in the 1970s.

    • @user-gr5tx6rd4h
      @user-gr5tx6rd4h Місяць тому +1

      The 1770s you mean?

    • @wysetech2000
      @wysetech2000 Місяць тому

      @@user-gr5tx6rd4h I was being polite.

    • @holoholopainen1627
      @holoholopainen1627 Місяць тому

      Everybody WHO follows NHL - knows about Canada !

    • @wysetech2000
      @wysetech2000 Місяць тому

      @@holoholopainen1627 I didsay SOME.

    • @holoholopainen1627
      @holoholopainen1627 Місяць тому

      @@wysetech2000 Most Americans WHO follow NHL - knows about Atlanta Flames moving to Albertas Calgary - as Winnipeg Jets moved to Arizona - and after 15 years to UTAH ! Team at Seattle IS right next to Vancouver - just like Buffalo to Toronto !

  • @lindawilson6419
    @lindawilson6419 2 місяці тому +10

    Joel, your parents took you travelling living in different countries, i feel majority of Americans have never done that, whereas the majority of British people have taken their children abroad and shown other cultures and hopefully respect them, you are very bright and a pleasure to watch. Loved your brit vlogs 😊

  • @OM-df9lj
    @OM-df9lj Місяць тому +1

    This is no joke at all...here, in Europe, we look at America since some time, like since 2016 and we can't believe our eyes. Literally...

  • @dre7767
    @dre7767 2 місяці тому +42

    It's not that we hate Americans it's the foreign policy being supported by ignorance and the arguments when travelling with Americans based on ignorance. It seriously becomes exhausting and frustrating, I'm South African, and the comments by tourists from the States!!!!!

    • @Maireadmoss
      @Maireadmoss 2 місяці тому +9

      I liked Trevor Noah telling them "it's not zee-bra, it's zebra. You can't name them because you don't have them."

    • @robertmurray8763
      @robertmurray8763 2 місяці тому

      @dre7767 YES, Americans are so far out of touch with their comments and rudeness. When I was in the USA, the willingness was made by Americans to kill people for some conspiracy theory or lack of education and lack of general knowledge!
      Everything was a conspiracy.
      Generally, it was due to very poor education and the American journalist playing on the idea of conspiracy and lack of education to influence what Americans think!!

  • @damienkakoschke3099
    @damienkakoschke3099 Місяць тому

    That was a great video you were watching & you are one of the more intelligent youtubers out there.

  • @judiharris8796
    @judiharris8796 2 місяці тому +97

    Freedom of speech needs boundaries. A lot of what is spouted in the US would be termed a 'hate crime' in Britain.

    • @robertmurray8763
      @robertmurray8763 2 місяці тому +5

      I've been with Americans being extremely rude and then wondering why an argument ends in a fight !!

    • @andyblogger1
      @andyblogger1 2 місяці тому +6

      In that case, I must engage in hate speech every day.

    • @ange1098
      @ange1098 2 місяці тому

      If there’s boundaries then there is no free speech.

    • @Englishsea24
      @Englishsea24 2 місяці тому +7

      @@andyblogger1 Nothing wrong with saying what you think. Speak now or forever hold your peace. Peace is often regrettable

    • @fookorf
      @fookorf 2 місяці тому

      @@Englishsea24 there is when it's hate speech and the people consuming it are dumb fcukheads like yourself.

  • @myanbeach
    @myanbeach 11 днів тому +1

    As an American, you have “pigeoned-holed” 340 million people.
    Not much to respect in this narrow-minded garbage.
    I’ve worked in over eighteen different countries and travelled all over the world (including Europe for twelve years) for over forty- five years and have dealt with more ignorance than I ever experienced in the US.

  • @tomarmstrong1281
    @tomarmstrong1281 2 місяці тому +23

    I am a Brit and was involved in a project at a Midwestern University. While in America, my British accent attracted some curiosity. I was asked some weird questions, like, 'How did you get here? Did you drive across?' 'You sure have picked up the language well.'

    • @imagik2446
      @imagik2446 2 місяці тому +7

      Oh yes, an American woman expressed surprise that I could speak English so well.

    • @LudwigRohf
      @LudwigRohf 2 місяці тому +2

      Guess, what Americans can ask if you have a German accent.

    • @George-k6o9t
      @George-k6o9t 2 місяці тому +2

      I am an Australian and have been complimented by Americans on how well I am able to speak English while if I can say a few words in Australian language to them.

    • @tomarmstrong1281
      @tomarmstrong1281 2 місяці тому

      @@George-k6o9t Fair dinkum cobber.

    • @chadUCSD
      @chadUCSD Місяць тому +2

      I'm a Scot.
      I've been asked if we have things like washing machines and 'proper' roads...eem a Scot invented rhe road surfacing, tarmac. 🤔
      Also, apparently my English is great, what's my 1st language? Erm. How the hell do you answer them? Lol

  • @SuzetteSam79
    @SuzetteSam79 Місяць тому +2

    I’m an American with a passport and have never been outside of the U.S. because I can’t afford to.l travel. I want to go to Fiji, Costa Rica, Sweden, Ireland, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, France. I want go to all the places ❤.

  • @johnvissenga328
    @johnvissenga328 2 місяці тому +20

    Good review of a good video ..... excellent insights Joel ...... cheers mate

  • @iangerrard321
    @iangerrard321 2 місяці тому +32

    The Beatles and Rolling Stones, etc. May have got their influences from the States. But much of that influence was black America.

    • @evertjan9479
      @evertjan9479 2 місяці тому

      True, and that "black music" was primairily performed using WHITE instruments...what's your point?

    • @firstsurname7099
      @firstsurname7099 2 місяці тому +4

      @@evertjan9479 what's your point? I know, it is to show the world you're triggered by the truth and are defensive about your lack of culture and socio-historical understanding. Congrats.

    • @evertjan9479
      @evertjan9479 2 місяці тому

      @@firstsurname7099 Dude, I am Dutch in the Netherlands EVERYONE WHO IS NOT FROM THE NETHERLANDS AND LIVES NOT THERE IS IN A 3TH WORLD COUNTRY, OR TO PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE (YOUR FORMER AND SOON TO BE NEXT PRESIDENT) A SHITHOLE...
      YOU AREN'T DUTCH, YOU ARE BENEATH ME. (SKIN COLOR DOESN'T MATTER)

    • @kathchandler8189
      @kathchandler8189 Місяць тому

      ​@@evertjan9479European instruments, what's YOUR point ?

    • @evertjan9479
      @evertjan9479 Місяць тому

      @@firstsurname7099 Dude, my favorite music is the Blues, I just don't look at it as "being black" It's music.

  • @dannst77709
    @dannst77709 Місяць тому

    Thanks this was awesome.👏From Australia

  • @krisjonesuk
    @krisjonesuk 2 місяці тому +13

    I think there’s always been a streak of isolationism in American culture and politics. Before WW2 is was official US foreign policy. However, I suspect there’s two reasons why people in the UK have a bit more awareness of what is going on beyond our boundaries. The first is our proximity to the rest of Europe. The second is that we used to be a colonial power whose historic actions still have an impact in former colonies.

  • @b-mharriethaake5449
    @b-mharriethaake5449 2 місяці тому +1

    One thing about the MamaMia movie. Not so american actually och you can feel it. It was first a musical played in London and it still plays there. The music is written by two of ABBA:s members,the swedish famous group ABBA. One of the mainactors in the film is swedish, another one is brittish. Only the beachsceens are from Greece. The rest are from a studio.

  • @colcollins4341
    @colcollins4341 2 місяці тому +50

    Your doing great Joel. Keep sponging up the information.😊

  • @adrianhempfing2042
    @adrianhempfing2042 2 місяці тому +2

    11:10 when the French film was talking , all I could hear was Catherine Tate Translator

  • @kab7044
    @kab7044 2 місяці тому +8

    I live in the US and the UK, and you’re 100% correct about the internet and so called smart phones. There is SO MUCH incorrect information out there and people believe it. Also, another factor, money!

  • @Strat0058
    @Strat0058 Місяць тому

    Thanks for sharing this

  • @robertmcbride1859
    @robertmcbride1859 2 місяці тому +16

    I remember having a conversation with an American in a bar in Florida and he actually asked me: "Why are you always having revolutions"?! I nearly hit the floor with the stupidity of the question. We had one Revolution in England and that was during the mid 1600s. I am not including the Glorious Revolution where King William and Queen Mary were put on the throne because it was not violent and that was in the final years of the 1600s. Other than than, nothing. As for the US, you've had two violent Revolutions, the first the War of Independence and then the American Civil War. I am staggered by just how little many Americans know about other cultures.

    • @George-k6o9t
      @George-k6o9t 2 місяці тому +2

      The Americans know very little of other cultures while they invent their own such as having George Washington and his militia capturing British airports in the American War of independence and WW2 being won by the U.S. all on its own lonesome self while the allies were just spectators in the background.

    • @mardus_ee
      @mardus_ee Місяць тому

      ​@@George-k6o9t btw, Russia (its leadership and propaganda) also thinks, that 'the USSR won WWII all on its own, while the allies were mere spectators in the background.'
      So this sentiment is not unique to America.
      14 Nov. 2024. (Added a date for if and when Russia changes its mind one day.)

    • @George-k6o9t
      @George-k6o9t Місяць тому

      @@mardus_ee Hmmm ... interesting. Everyone is basically, very stupid when they think and behave in this manner.

  • @JohnCl
    @JohnCl Місяць тому +1

    Visiting NY at St Patrick’s day, a woman asked me what part of Ireland I was from, I replied ‘ No, I from Glasgow’….. she replied, Oh Glasgow, Ireland 🥴 another when hearing I’m from Scotland replied ‘ Oh, Scotland in England’ …… 🤷

  • @andypandy9013
    @andypandy9013 2 місяці тому +25

    American ignorance is not just a result of those factors. The American education system has a LOT to answer for.
    I spent a year living and working in Texas for my British company about 20 years ago. I recall one conversation with some locals along the lines of "We Americans have never lost a war" to which I replied "What about the War of 1812?". The responses fell into two categories:
    1. What was the War of 1812? (85%)
    2. Hell yea! We won that one as well!! (15%)
    Given that in 1815 the US President Madison, who started the war in the first place, sent Envoys to ask for peace and the Royal Navy had invaded Washington DC and burned down all the public and government buildings there including the Presidential Mansion*, I reckon that we Brits can count that as a win for us. The USA asked for peace, not Great Britain. And yet my American friends had either never heard of it or had been taught that they had won it. Amazing!!!
    * : If you ever wondered why The White House is white it is because after the burned out shell was rebuilt it was painted white to cover over the smoke damage. 😜

    • @andypandy9013
      @andypandy9013 2 місяці тому +4

      @@beccawoodhouse
      Given when it was, some 20 years ago, there were probably some Vietnam Vets around and I didn't want to stir up any bad memories for them by bringing up that awful conflict.
      Also, it was a long time before the Afghanistan retreat.

    • @George-k6o9t
      @George-k6o9t 2 місяці тому

      @@andypandy9013 The guy with the biggest club that has a 10-inch nail struck at the clubbing end, is the one who tells and write the story. 😆

  • @smallstudiodesign
    @smallstudiodesign Місяць тому

    Canadians absolutely love travel and for many it’s a must, especially for so many seeking a respite from winter.

  • @birdie1585
    @birdie1585 2 місяці тому +27

    World ranking in terms of insularity -
    1. N Korea
    2. USA

    • @Phiyedough
      @Phiyedough 2 місяці тому +2

      I wonder how you get on in North Korea if you once stole a pair of tweezers?

    • @birdie1585
      @birdie1585 2 місяці тому

      @@Phiyedough I suspect that the system is so regimented that they'd never discover.
      Weird place - te population are shorter than S Koreans due to poor diet, they have no money for farm fertiliser so use "night soil" everywhere, only a couple of styles of hair-cut allowed (slight exageration).
      Very difficult to imagine living under their rules, laws, norms.

    • @George-k6o9t
      @George-k6o9t 2 місяці тому

      @@birdie1585 I bet that they will immediately discover that you have stolen a pair of tweezers if it has a tiny portrait of Kim Jung-un engraved in it and then, inject truth serum into you to make you confess that you were there in N.Kor to secretly use the tweezers on their ""dear leader's" nose hairs when he is asleep

    • @LanaLender
      @LanaLender Місяць тому +1

      I want to disappoint you, even though North Korea is a closed country, it learns a lot and is interested in others. It's the same in terms of culture. Russian Russian popular artists, for example, performed quite well even contemporary Russian songs in Russian (there was such a concert). You can't do this in a couple of days without an interest in language and culture. I cannot speak for education, but I think it is taken from the example of socialist countries, so it should not be bad. I think your opinion about North Korea is just another stereotype.

    • @birdie1585
      @birdie1585 Місяць тому

      @@LanaLender A lot of what you say about Korea accepting Russian culture applies to many, many countries in the "West".
      That apart, you seem to be in a parallel universe somewhere.

  • @datisalaee4693
    @datisalaee4693 Місяць тому

    Thank you for this video. I learned SO MUCH MORE from this "reaction" video than I have Ever learned from any other reaction video! I'd definitely be interested in more of this kind of content 🙂👍

  • @mikewilding3199
    @mikewilding3199 2 місяці тому +13

    ReJerry Lewis the film the Intern shows up the American health care system
    Lewis smuggles young mentally ill woman into the hospital where he works. When the hospital director finds out he wants to throw her out. "This is not a charity we need to make a profit.. in 60 years nothing has changed sadly.

  • @seeshel63
    @seeshel63 Місяць тому

    I've not caught your bideos gor a while; as a granny I love how wise you are growing! You are a one of the lovely Americans. Sadly I dont want to visit USA anymore.

  • @damianleah6744
    @damianleah6744 2 місяці тому +5

    The policy comment you made near the end….” I’ll stay out of it!” Cracked me up. 😂😂😂

  • @s.england.the_sunshine_coast
    @s.england.the_sunshine_coast 2 місяці тому +17

    25 years ago on a beach in sunny southern England, I asked an American tourist how they could possibly live in the USA with its awful weather = hurricanes, tornadoes, violent heavy rainstorms / blizzards, frigid harsh winters, etc, etc. I further emphasized and elaborated that it made more sense to live with the oppressive & relentless, sweaty, humidity summer climate of central / southern England than it did to live on Tornado Alley, 90 storms per year Florida, Arctic / Antarctic - esque Minnesota, Midwest - North US / 10 months Pacific NW heavy rain, of the USA.

    • @CabinFever52
      @CabinFever52 2 місяці тому +3

      You forgot to mention the USA's poor infrastructure. With any thunderstorm or snowstorm, I could almost guarantee a power outage for anywhere from a few hours to several days.

    • @B-A-L
      @B-A-L 2 місяці тому +2

      I have a friend who has lived all over America who has had power outtages everywhere he lived. The only times I have ever experienced power cuts is during the strikes in the 70s and the occassional ones in a rural town I used to live in that were fixed within a couple of hours.

  • @aprilapril2
    @aprilapril2 2 місяці тому +20

    Thank you for your insights- you’re an exceptionally intelligent young man, it’s been a pleasure to watch you grow

  • @abinsurly2910
    @abinsurly2910 Місяць тому +1

    Eddie Murphy's The Nutty Professor is brilliant. But yes... the U.S. is filled with the unfilled.

  • @alanmon2690
    @alanmon2690 2 місяці тому +26

    There's a difference between stupidity and ignorance. Ignorance can be fixed quite easily Stupidity is harder to fix. Americans may be "ignorant" but not necessarily "stupid"

    • @notmyname4261
      @notmyname4261 2 місяці тому

      The MAGA crowd are incredibly stupid

    • @2011littlejohn1
      @2011littlejohn1 2 місяці тому +6

      This has to be true. But what is annoying is when they consider it unimportant to know about the rest of the world. That comes across as crass arrogance.

    • @dutchman7623
      @dutchman7623 2 місяці тому +4

      It is stupid to be ignorant...

    • @2011littlejohn1
      @2011littlejohn1 2 місяці тому +2

      @@dutchman7623 No it depends on the circumstances.

    • @fookorf
      @fookorf 2 місяці тому

      American ignorance will never be fixed. It's a multi billion dollar industry and they start as soon as the kid is farted out the womb.

  • @StewedFishProductions
    @StewedFishProductions 2 місяці тому +1

    I love it when (18.00 mark) he says "Convicted Republicans..." - Would that be Trump perchance ??? Just asking !!! 😂😂😂

  • @mwatson2869
    @mwatson2869 2 місяці тому +28

    Ladies and gentlemen, the US Ambassador to the UK Mr JPS. Will happen one day.

    • @Imgettingaword
      @Imgettingaword 2 місяці тому

      If Trump is elected, anything could happen, A UA-camr as US Ambassador to England isn't that far fetched, can't be any worse than him employing his idiot sons.

    • @marioprivacy9411
      @marioprivacy9411 2 місяці тому

      ​@@Imgettingaword We (in the Netherlands) remember that very well... Trump appointed his 'buddy' Pete Hoekstra as US ambassador in The Hague, he is almost, even better at spreading dirty lies than DonOld...

    • @B-A-L
      @B-A-L 2 місяці тому

      Nah, he's far too intelligent to represent his country!

  • @neilburns8869
    @neilburns8869 Місяць тому +1

    In 2026 the United States will co-host the biggest single sports event in the world together with Canada and Mexico.
    Of course, I refer to the FIFA WORLD CUP - what those in North America call soccer and the rest of the world calls football.
    But it's not the first time that the United States has hosted this tournament, back in 1994 they held it but back then millions of US citizens were unaware of what the World Cup was and even less had ever heard of many of the nations that were participating in it.🤡😳☹
    I hope that this helps to wake people up.

  • @lesleyriseam1282
    @lesleyriseam1282 2 місяці тому +21

    In Stratford upon Avon . In the cottage were William Shakespeare was born , aNew York women kept asking the most ridiculous questions of the guide.
    Did Shakespeare have a garage ?
    and To think Shakespeare was born in that crib !!
    If that had been true Shakespeares Mother wouldhave had to be a contorsionist .
    It was a rocking crib !!

    • @paradisekohchangstyle2150
      @paradisekohchangstyle2150 2 місяці тому

      The irony is that Brits (and the world) have been brainwashed into believing that a bloke called William Shakespeare wrote groundbreaking plays when we really know nothing about the life of the Upstart Crow other than he really had no formal education. So that would certainly hit the mark then... An untravelled, uneducated son of a glove maker. The smart money is still on Edward De Vere or Francis Bacon. But naturally that messes up the fairytale (and tourism).

    • @cathycooper5606
      @cathycooper5606 2 місяці тому +3

      Omg 😦

    • @B-A-L
      @B-A-L 2 місяці тому

      'born in that crib'? Seriously? And you're making a comment about stupidity? You do know that Shakespeare wasn't a ghetto boy from da hood, don't you?

  • @TomKirkemo-l5c
    @TomKirkemo-l5c 2 місяці тому +2

    Inglourious Basterds is a great movie. Now I need to see it .....again. :)

  • @fishtigua
    @fishtigua 2 місяці тому +10

    I sailed to some the remotest islands in the South Pacific, Michael Jackson was always playing.

  • @fredvrijhof3870
    @fredvrijhof3870 Місяць тому +1

    No Nudity (no nude beaches, no sex before marriage, don't touch my cheek, don't say f..k, c..t, d.ck) but the biggest pornmovieindustry. And that still is like that

  • @joannedickie7863
    @joannedickie7863 Місяць тому +1

    Saw another reaction by an American who was horrified that so many top rock groups were not American. They knew The Beatles were British but believed Zed Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones & AC/DC to name a few were all US bands. They also believed Jaguar, Range Rover, Bentley, etc, etc were US cars. In their mind anything that was either the biggest or the best had to be American.

  • @RH1812
    @RH1812 2 місяці тому +34

    The US is not alone in this issue. ‘Information’ over knowledge and understanding is an issue which needs addressing

    • @johnlewis9158
      @johnlewis9158 2 місяці тому

      Liberalism is simultaneously both the dumbest,and despite the name,the most malicious ideology currently doing the rounds across the Anglosphere. Indeed the sage who predicted the liberal would be the new Fascist was bang on the money.

  • @ebencloete6176
    @ebencloete6176 2 місяці тому +4

    On the note of this video, why do American sport teams call them self world champs when they only play other American teams?
    Just a question as I am curious.

    • @zuriyel5368
      @zuriyel5368 Місяць тому

      Probably bcos of "American exceptionalism", a concept believing that America and its people are superior to everyone else in the world.

    • @holoholopainen1627
      @holoholopainen1627 Місяць тому

      Not NHL ! The game IS from Canada !

  • @mois6860
    @mois6860 2 місяці тому +9

    My friend’s mum was a tour guide for a coach company. About 20 years ago, she was taking questions from the passengers on a Stone Henge tour. An American woman put her hand up and said: ‘why did they build it so near to the road?’ Everyone on the coach (including the driver and my friends mum) just started laughing…

    • @KiltedGreen
      @KiltedGreen 2 місяці тому +3

      Ye gods!

    • @susansmiles2242
      @susansmiles2242 2 місяці тому +4

      But did she understand why everyone was laughing?

    • @mois6860
      @mois6860 2 місяці тому +4

      @@susansmiles2242 only when the guide told her that the stones were 5000 years older than the road…

    • @KennethHults-xo3yr
      @KennethHults-xo3yr Місяць тому

      I am from US...State of Iowa...we have limestone quarries...couple from NY came in to buy some stone...after they were given a tour of the place their guide ( a friend of mine ) asked, " Any questions?" The wife then asked, " After you remove the stone, how long does it take to grow back? " My friend was left speechless...

  • @Poppycatonyoutube
    @Poppycatonyoutube Місяць тому

    Delighted to increasingly see you come to considered and thoughtful conclusions as you increase in age and have had travel experiences that many American's won't (like Australia, a lot of that have to do with privilege).
    I'm sure all that can and will be said has already about the informative and succinct video featured.
    Personally, my favourite part is that the first two examples of American films featured Aussie actors (Heath Ledger and Errol Flynn) in the starring roles
    Am enjoying the channel more the more I go along.

  • @woodencreatures
    @woodencreatures 2 місяці тому +35

    I have American in-laws and some very good friends and they are all intelligent and well travelled. Many Brits are just as thick as the thickest Americans. One of my friends works in a university in Boston and she told me that the past few years of political madness with Trump has turned her into a socialist. I never thought I'd hear an American say that, but she has spent a lot of time in the UK and Europe so....

    • @Bryt25
      @Bryt25 2 місяці тому

      Unfortunately the socialists we have now appear to have sold out to the 'Great Reset' from Davos. Look how they lied about and ditched Corbyn. He was not on board with the plan.

    • @romystumpy1197
      @romystumpy1197 2 місяці тому +2

      Very true,

    • @B-A-L
      @B-A-L 2 місяці тому +8

      But even the thickest Brit knows Europe and Africa are continents not countries.

    • @istvanglock7445
      @istvanglock7445 Місяць тому +1

      Like most Americans, it seems your friend doesn't know what socialism is. The UK and Europe aren't socialist. In fact many European countries, and particularly the Scandinavian ones, are rated as more capitalist than the US.

    • @raes2719
      @raes2719 Місяць тому

      ​@@istvanglock7445Finally, it's been said. Thank you
      Overall, the UK has been considered quite an aggressive capitalist country. It's infuriating when people staunchly assume the opposite. I've had to argue with many Americans over this topic.
      As for US folk being dumb, I would like to say, nobody is dumb. People can be manipulated and easily led if they haven't been given the tools to help nurture a mind.
      Therefore it's easy to call people dumb, when really you have to look at their background. I've lived in the US. I've heard and seen what is churned out on the radio and news networks. It's propaganda at its best.
      Very little fact checking and a lot of fear mongering.
      As many people were sharing stories of US folk saying stupid things. I admit, one of my favourite questions from a US guy had to be while i was living and working in New Zealand.
      He asked
      "Can I drive to Stewart Island?"
      While pointing at the map, wondering how he could drive his car onto Stewart Island. I gave him a chance to figure out why he couldn't drive to the island. Unfortunately I had to explain to him.
      I will admit, all my staff in NZ agreed, that the few Americans who travelled to NZ were never rude, but they had to be #1 for the most shocking questions. The US folk kept us entertained.

  • @walterkronkitesleftshoe6684
    @walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 2 місяці тому +1

    "I wholly disapprove of what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it"

  • @fayesouthall6604
    @fayesouthall6604 2 місяці тому +15

    Joel you are among a small amount of Americans who actually have a passport !