How do other nations percieve the U.S.?

[Optimist Prime]

Everyone had our back but alas, we have some one as President who is not the best diplomat (to put that diplomaticaly). Do other countries look down on us? Our education system is pitiful. How we elect people is confusing even to our own people, and most of our own people who are qualified don't vote. People gave lives, and some people TOOK lives, for that right. A lot of people had to go through the pain and live with the guilt that they took some one elses life, so that we have this right. And we pretty much ignore that. Our country is dirty. We liter way too much and don't recylce enough. We are ressponsible for the cola wars. I love my country, but we need to step up before we're an international pariah. Being the only superpower won't mean jack if the entire rest of the world decides to gang up on us. I think we could take anyone, but I would not suggest trying to take everyone at once. We'd get our ass kicked. I don't think that will happen though. I would like to believe that other North American countries would help us. You still like us, right Canada?

[ZTAngel]

I think other countries view our educational system as being laughable.

I use to work at Siemens and a lot of Germans were working in the Orlando office for a 2-5 year assignment. They brought their whole family over. They cannot believe some of the politics that goes on within the education system. Because it is so weak, they have their kids doing homework that is sent over from teachers in Germany on top of the assignments they get from their American teachers. I remember seeing a ranking system of the world's educational systems in some magazine. It is unbelievable how bad the US is doing in comparison to other countries. I don't even think the US is in the top 15.

[Imthachamp]

sure, we have all those problems, but if you look at every other country out there, they have many more.

america is #1

[sugar and spice]

You guys, our education system is not that bad. Really.

When comparing our education system to others, you have to realize that a lot of other countries have educational systems that are set up in completely different ways. Some European countries have systems where their equivalent of "high school" lasts until you're in your early 20s. In that case, if you were to compare students in their last year of "high school," you'd be comparing statistics between an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old -- well obviously their numbers are going to be quite a bit higher than ours. Other countries, like Germany, divide their kids into a apprenticeship/trade school track (usually for those whose test scores, etc. are lower) and a university track around age 14 or 15, I think, so when we're comparing numbers with them, we're only comparing with the ones who are in the university (usually the higher test scores) track.

Of course we're never going to be able to compete with the Japanese, education-wise, but considering that they're in school for, like, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, who would want to?

For the situation that the U.S. education system is put in -- it must provide education to EVERYONE up to age 16, relatively low funding, and in addition to teaching, school officials must also serve as surrogate parents, a counseling service, health care providers, and ocassionally police officers -- it's doing a pretty decent job.

[angelic1]

Don't even get me started on our education system..

I think other countries percieve us in a bad light. Many consider us as a big bully.. or that we dont care about the rest of the world. I think that why the average American doesnt know as much about the rest of the world is because we are very seperate despite this "globalized" world we live in. Such as if you live in England it only takes a few hours to get to many other countries as if you were traveling between states in the US.

who knows.. this is just my opinion though..

[xok85xo]

Originally posted by ZTAngel
I think other countries view our educational system as being laughable.

I use to work at Siemens and a lot of Germans were working in the Orlando office for a 2-5 year assignment. They brought their whole family over. They cannot believe some of the politics that goes on within the education system. Because it is so weak, they have their kids doing homework that is sent over from teachers in Germany on top of the assignments they get from their American teachers. I remember seeing a ranking system of the world's educational systems in some magazine. It is unbelievable how bad the US is doing in comparison to other countries. I don't even think the US is in the top 15.

ZTAngel- you worked for siemens? which division? i work for siemens BAU

[ZTAngel]

I worked for Siemens Westinghouse in their power division.

[bethany1982]

How do they view us? Where do "they" immigrate? Who do "they" turn to for aid. The U.S. is in no way perfect, but I am proud to be an American. I have lived outside the U.S., and have traveled to more that 20 other countries. There are indeed, some nice qualities in many other countries, yet personally, I wouldn’t trade the U.S. for any place in the world. Many complain about our economy, but it’s not bad compared to most of the world (that does not mean that it should not be better than it is). Public education in the U.S. is indeed a joke when considering K-12, but our public universities are among the best in the world. I have seen the political process at work in other places. Believe me, ours in not that bad. Many of those who seem to hate us, need a little history lesson. Especially France and Germany. I think another question should be asked along with yours. My question is, how do we see ourselves? It seems to me, that so many people of our (my) generation expect the world to be handed to them on a silver platter. They complain about EVERYTHING. Every problem they have is everyone else’s fault. That professor, the bad economy, those stupid people in the financial aide office... etc... We are often spoiled. Rant over.

Edited because of a typo... my public school roots are showing.

[moe.ron]

I can only speak about where I'm right now, but the region perception of America was very very good during the Clinton administration. They love him here. Now, they distrust the administration. One must not confused being distrustful of the current administration as anti-American. Which seem to be dominant in many minds. Put it this way, the South African likes American, but they do not like GWB or his administration.

I could give 2 ishts about how the world views us.

cuz, last time i checked, to quote Denis Leary, "We've got the bombs, ok?"

"Russia, Germany, Romaina, they can have all the democracy they want. They can have a big democracy cakewalk through the middle of Tieniman Square and it won't make a lick of difference, because we've got the bombs, ok?"

As far as i'm concerned, to hell with the UN. Pull out, kick the bastards out of NYC and do what's in OUR best interest.

Kitso
KS 361

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by Arya
Put it this way, the South African likes American, but they do not like GWB or his administration.

This seems to be the prevailing sentiment among most of the people in other countries that I talked to as well. Non-American perception of America is surprisingly positive. But I've yet to find a non-American who thinks that Bush was a good choice.

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
You guys, our education system is not that bad. Really.

When comparing our education system to others, you have to realize that a lot of other countries have educational systems that are set up in completely different ways. Some European countries have systems where their equivalent of "high school" lasts until you're in your early 20s. In that case, if you were to compare students in their last year of "high school," you'd be comparing statistics between an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old -- well obviously their numbers are going to be quite a bit higher than ours. Other countries, like Germany, divide their kids into a apprenticeship/trade school track (usually for those whose test scores, etc. are lower) and a university track around age 14 or 15, I think, so when we're comparing numbers with them, we're only comparing with the ones who are in the university (usually the higher test scores) track.

Of course we're never going to be able to compete with the Japanese, education-wise, but considering that they're in school for, like, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, who would want to?

For the situation that the U.S. education system is put in -- it must provide education to EVERYONE up to age 16, relatively low funding, and in addition to teaching, school officials must also serve as surrogate parents, a counseling service, health care providers, and ocassionally police officers -- it's doing a pretty decent job.

Amen! Everyone is quick to criticize the American K-12 public education system, based on some horror stories and individualized experiences that are hardly across the board. Some of the countries celebrated (with the exception of Japan) for having a superior educational system are also Socialist in nature, and the political system in some ways begets the educational. Also, think about how many international students come to America to get their education.

As for the people who say it doesn't matter how other countries view us, here's some food for thought: millions of American servicemen are stationed all over the world. What if they're in a nation filled with people who hate Americans? They may not be so safe, right? Besides, Denis Leary is hardly the person I would want to base my theories of international relations on.

To keep with the topic at hand: In Western Europe, America is perceived well. But the current administration is regrettable, the previous one was laughable.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by Munchkin03
Amen! Everyone is quick to criticize the American K-12 public education system, based on some horror stories and individualized experiences that are hardly across the board. Some of the countries celebrated (with the exception of Japan) for having a superior educational system are also Socialist in nature, and the political system in some ways begets the educational. Also, think about how many international students come to America to get their education.

As for the people who say it doesn't matter how other countries view us, here's some food for thought: millions of American servicemen are stationed all over the world. What if they're in a nation filled with people who hate Americans? They may not be so safe, right? Besides, Denis Leary is hardly the person I would want to base my theories of international relations on.

To keep with the topic at hand: In Western Europe, America is perceived well. But the current administration is regrettable, the previous one was laughable.

It doesn't matter because we can simply take our service men and our bases that generate large amounts of income for them out and move them to a host country that would appreciate them more.

-Rudey

[Optimist Prime]

Okay

[ZTAngel]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
You guys, our education system is not that bad. Really.

When comparing our education system to others, you have to realize that a lot of other countries have educational systems that are set up in completely different ways. Some European countries have systems where their equivalent of "high school" lasts until you're in your early 20s. In that case, if you were to compare students in their last year of "high school," you'd be comparing statistics between an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old -- well obviously their numbers are going to be quite a bit higher than ours. Other countries, like Germany, divide their kids into a apprenticeship/trade school track (usually for those whose test scores, etc. are lower) and a university track around age 14 or 15, I think, so when we're comparing numbers with them, we're only comparing with the ones who are in the university (usually the higher test scores) track.

Of course we're never going to be able to compete with the Japanese, education-wise, but considering that they're in school for, like, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, who would want to?

For the situation that the U.S. education system is put in -- it must provide education to EVERYONE up to age 16, relatively low funding, and in addition to teaching, school officials must also serve as surrogate parents, a counseling service, health care providers, and ocassionally police officers -- it's doing a pretty decent job.

Well, my personal opinion is that our K-12 system is not great. And that's my personal opinion as well as many other's.

Our university systems are great. Many foreign students go to school at American colleges.

I grew up in the state of Florida where there has been some HUGE problems in the educational system. I have personally seen some horrible things happen over the years. FCATs, vouchers, budget cuts, and government abuse of the teachers. Florida is rated as one of the worst states for education and I base my knowledge off that. As well as the countless studies done of US educational systems vs. the rest of the world.