Did anyone catch the special "What the World Thinks of America"? I saw it last night here in Canada and thought the poll results were really interesting.

It's a collaboration of 10 broadcast networks from around the world (including Israel, Jordan, France to name a few) giving insight to world opinion of the United States.

Go to http://www.cbc.ca/news/america for more information.

hmm, very interesting...

I didn't catch this, but I'm sure that it was interesting to see what other people thought about America. Especially if some countries voted opposite what people normally think they would vote for.

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It has to start somewhere,
It has to start sometime,
What better place then here?
What better time than now?
--Rage Against the Machine

These results were the most interesting (however not suprising) to me:

6%
Percentage of Canadian respondents who said the U.S. is a better place to live than Canada. Ninety per cent said it was not better than Canada.

44%
Percentage of American respondents who said the United States is the most cultured country in the world. Fifty-four per cent disagreed.

4 out of 5
Proportion of overall respondents who said they would not like to live in the United States if given the chance.

3 out of 4
Proportion of American respondents who said they would not like to go live outside the U.S. if they had the chance. An overwhelming majority of American respondents (96 per cent) said people outside the U.S. want to come and live there.

quote:

Originally posted by Heatscore 4 out of 5 Proportion of overall respondents who said they would not like to live in the United States if given the chance. 3 out of 4 Proportion of American respondents who said they would not like to go live outside the U.S. if they had the chance. An overwhelming majority of American respondents (96 per cent) said people outside the U.S. want to come and live there.

This is the most interesting part imo. How come such a big amount of americans seem convinced that the U.S. is the best place in the world to live in? Media propaganda??

I would not like to live in the states, but if I was to move there I would probably choose California, where there at least seem to exist some liberal ideas.

quote:

Originally posted by King of Clubs This is the most interesting part imo. How come such a big amount of americans seem convinced that the U.S. is the best place in the world to live in? Media propaganda?? I would not like to live in the states, but if I was to move there I would probably choose California, where there at least seem to exist some liberal ideas.

For middle America ... apathy and misconceptions perhaps? Most people on the East and West coast are relatively well travelled however. I myself have had the pleasure of living in and visiting virtually all of Europe, but I'd still rather live in the US (with the exception of maybe Vienna). Especially with Europe's unemployment situation ... Ha and people think America's 6.1% is bad ...

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Retro ...

quote:

Originally posted by occrider For middle America ... apathy and misconceptions perhaps? Most people on the East and West coast are relatively well travelled however. I myself have had the pleasure of living in and visiting virtually all of Europe, but I'd still rather live in the US (with the exception of maybe Vienna). Especially with Europe's unemployment situation ... Ha and people think America's 6.1% is bad ...

I don't know about the rest of Europe, but in Sweden we have an unemployment of 4,4%. The rest of Europe can't be that much worse I think.

If someone would like to live in America most of all (like you, knowing other places), then thats not strange to me, but 4 out of 5 americans beeing convinced that their native country is the best place to live in is. If someone made that question in a survey here in Sweden I bet at least half would say that they rather live in another country. And we have better living standard than the U.S. for example.

I think that the biased media image of America and all the "God bless America"-bullshit is the reason why U.S. citizens are beeing indoctrinated that there is only one country out there. That would explain misconception at least.

quote:

Originally posted by King of Clubs I don't know about the rest of Europe, but in Sweden we have an unemployment of 4,4%. The rest of Europe can't be that much worse I think.

It would behoof you to avoid the big powerhouse economies of the EU then. Both France and Germany are pushing high 8%s and those numbers have increased in q1 2003 I believe.

http://www.oecd.org/xls/M00037000/M00037564.xls

I would be interested to see if they have average unemployment figures for the entire EU.

But at any rate, I think a lot of it would have to do with distance ... if you're living in Europe it's far easier to make the move to virtually any other country in Europe, decide if you like it, and if you don't or get homesick, simply move back home. For America, your options are not all that great, either Canada or Mexico. Making the transition to live in Europe is a VERY large committment whereby most Americans are either financially incapable of making such a transition or unwilling to take such a risk.

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Retro ...

I didn't know the unemployment figures in France and Germany are that bad.

You made a very valid point about distance. I didn't really consider that. Although the comitment of moving abroad is big for a european as well, it is a lot bigger for say a US citizen moving over here. Especially considering the freedom of movement that the EU brings to its inhabitants in terms of getting work and other benefits.

But I still think that a fair deal of blind patriotism has a lot to do with the outcome of that poll. And the question wasn't if they would move abroad now in their current situation, it was if they would like to go abroad to live there if they had the chance.

quote:

Originally posted by King of Clubs I didn't know the unemployment figures in France and Germany are that bad. You made a very valid point about distance. I didn't really consider that. Although the comitment of moving abroad is big for a european as well, it is a lot bigger for say a US citizen moving over here. Especially considering the freedom of movement that the EU brings to its inhabitants in terms of getting work and other benefits. But I still think that a fair deal of blind patriotism has a lot to do with the outcome of that poll. And the question wasn't if they would move abroad now in their current situation, it was if they would like to go abroad to live there if they had the chance.

I agree with you. Personally when i moved from Europe to the US, I experinced serious culture shock. Lots of things were new for me, but I got to learn them. But, like Occrider said, once you've lived in Vienna, you want to stay there. I also find the quality of life better in Europe in general, but that's just me.

___________________

It has to start somewhere,
It has to start sometime,
What better place then here?
What better time than now?
--Rage Against the Machine

id stay in the US, but only in certain places. Of course, if i lived in the ghetto, id rather live in europe anyday.

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When you start to criticize the times you live in, your time is over. ~Karl Lagerfeld

quote:

Originally posted by occrider It would behoof you

you said behoof...hahahahahaha....

___________________

It has to start somewhere,
It has to start sometime,
What better place then here?
What better time than now?
--Rage Against the Machine