[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I remember a stat about how Americans travel less than Canadians globally... and it was a huge number too (something like 1 in 2 Canadians will leave Canada in their lifetime, but only 1 in 10 Americans will leave the U.S. in theirs). This in a nutshell is why the U.S. is viewed negatively by most worldwide I think, they just have no idea what the real world is like. So many Americans think their country is the best in the world, and it is delusional because they don't even leave to see if it's true! They just don't care, and yet they feel they should infringe their beliefs upon others. How does that make sense?

A lot of people in the western world think everybody should live life the way they do. Well what if developing countries don't want to? Doesn't matter, it's assumed they do. It's just all too much arrogance, ignorance and assumption, and not enough understanding or caution.

It gets them into trouble too. Just ask people in New York about September 11, 2001. They don't even step back to ask, 'why are we getting attacked?' Instead the first comment is- 'who did this?' so that they can enact revenge.

I've travelled a lot, been to a lot of countries and I'm still pretty young and will travel some more. Every country has idiots and smart people, fat people and skinny people, rude people and friendly people but a lot of stereotypes about Americans don't just materialize from thin air.

You're generalizing big time here. What beliefs do I hold that I feel I need to force on anyone?

As for the travel thing, it's always amazed me how many of you guys have traveled extensively around the world. It's something I would love to do myself, but I don't have the money or the time. Where do you guys find both? I make pretty damn good money too, I'm lucky if I can afford to go back home once every two years. The amount of money and time many of you seem to have is just mind boggling to me.