How does the World view America these days?

[luke viia]

^ brutal, true, and well stated

[Suffocate Peon]

Do people not get a bit fatigued with indulging in the nonsense. Like, in the UK, there's just rolling news of nonsense that those invested in politics will pick apart and at some point you have to think; i'm going to be despairing in a similar way 20 years from now. I've just watched, earlier today, another video about the Housing Crisis, and the reasons why, and i know why already. I knew last year, the year before, everyone did. It's not a new issue, yet it persists. It's this persistence with the nonsense that's made everyone kind of mad, and turning on each other. Like I get opposition, it's necessary, but at the same time, I just think; i don't want to fret about how much of a narcissistic cunt this person is, i don't care. Obviously I care that he's in a position of power, but we're allowing that, enabling that. I want an acknowledgement that basically when Trump is president, the system has failed and it's kind of time rip it up and start again, collectively. Anything else is just indulging it. I read a uk forum a lot about politics and even the best posters are upfront about having a hard on for the recent tell all book about Trump, and it summed it up. People enjoy the nonsense. Can't help but think historians in 100 years will take a dim view to allowing the same things to happen again and again and again and again, where there are clear signs the system and how it functions has reached its end point. That's the most depressing thing of all, the futility. I find it maddening and not something i can even consume for much longer. I guess there's glimpses of progress but it's buried beneath layers of wrongheaded gloom and there's not enough balance.

 

us forum with mostly us posters, uk poster enters thread about usa and says stuff, feel free to tell me to shut up.

[auxien]

Actually about half (or more? mods may know) of the regular posters ITT (and the Trump thread, and WATMM in general really) are not Americans.

 

America has pushed herself into so many areas around the world over the decades that what the view of her as a whole is very much relevant discussion, imo. Besides, the title of the thread is how does the WORLD view America. The fatigue of it all, no matter what nation you're in, but just the cycle of the news media/the feel of needing to always be informed/etc. is very real and pervasive across much of the world from what little I've read of international reporting on the subject. Basically what you said: "People enjoy the nonsense."

 

 

 

Schoolteacher in Louisiana dares question why superintendent is giving himself a raise, gets arrested:

 

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article193715439.html

 

I'd recommend watching the whole thing for context, but for the impatient shit goes down from 6:00 on... what a fucking disgrace.

 

complete joke.

 

there is one constant and unchanging rule that should never be forgotten though people will try and persuade you otherwise, and that is that there is always one standard for those who have power and another standard for those who don't. people who have power over you - whether it's in your professional, social or private life - will work hard to bury this fact by pretending to uphold publicly-stated values (which they will privately happily discard for expediency and self-interest) or by getting you on their side or otherwise incentivising you. but you should never lose touch with your instincts and what you know about how human relationships work, which is that people are fundamentally untrustworthy fuckers when it comes to their own hides.

 

the corollary to this rule is that if you're going to challenge a power structure, be prepared and don't think for a second that the things you may have been told about being heard out and treated fairly will safeguard you from the same people who you put your trust in. I learnt this lesson the hard way at work last year.

 

 

All truth, usagi.

 

I taught here in Louisiana for one year and was so turned off by the politics and lack of accountability throughout the parish school system I was in that I didn't pursue it further, despite actually rather enjoying teaching. It's all who you know and how you fit in and how much you're willing to go with the flow. They don't take well to people going against the system here in this state (we have a long, ugly history of corruption throughout our local government bodies) and they didn't like me being a teacher where I was simply because I didn't fit in properly and tried a little too hard to question/change the norms of what I was seeing. There'll likely be some repercussions for the superintendent now that it's made some news, but it's not surprising that it happened like that in the least.

Edited January 10, 2018 by auxien

[ignatius]

there's some real cronyism in the school system. my mom was a teacher for 20+ years then became a guidance counselor. i kept telling her to write down the daily things that happened because it was sometimes just unreal how fucked up it was.  

 

also, in florida the whole system is top heavy w/administrators..  even back when i was in school there were 4 or 5 vice principals... why the fuck a jr high or highschool needs that many admins.. no idea.. none of them did anything except walk the halls w/walkie talkies.. 

 

the school my mom taught at was old... after she'd been there for 10 years the state did it's every 10 year building inspection and said it should be condemned.. she taught there for 10 more years... they built a new gymnasium/auditorium but all they did to the main building was paint it and fix doors.. 

[Suffocate Peon]

Actually about half (or more? mods may know) of the regular posters ITT (and the Trump thread, and WATMM in general really) are not Americans.

 

America has pushed herself into so many areas around the world over the decades that what the view of her as a whole is very much relevant discussion, imo. Besides, the title of the thread is how does the WORLD view America. The fatigue of it all, no matter what nation you're in, but just the cycle of the news media/the feel of needing to always be informed/etc. is very real and pervasive across much of the world from what little I've read of international reporting on the subject. Basically what you said: "People enjoy the nonsense."

 

If people enjoy it they should be honest about it. I'm not exaggerating when I say I can't consume it anymore, and I've been without internet and tv for 4 months. I don't think i've answered the thread title really, but last time I posted in here I think it was it was about the film Daniel Blake and the unnecessary nature of just putting people through that system. But a reply kind of scolded me as if to say; 'how dare you care about something like that in comparison to third world poverty', and it's just that I live in the UK and the way we structure everything is kind of everyones responsibility and moreover under our control. Like, i care about the UK producing weapons because it's a choice, it's not that they then sell them to Saudia Arabia and who use them on Yemen. That's extra awful. It massively bothers me about the American prison system, and state sanctioned murder, but it would bother me more if I lived there. This should seem obvious.

 

About schools, i don't know if anyone watched Michael Moore's Where To Invade Next, but there's a great bit about education, he goes to Finland and for me it was the most uplifting part of the film because its point was to give an idealistic, optimistic philosophical view of how education could be. The film did relatively poorly during its theatrical run and Moore swears it'll grow in appeal over time, but i listened to and read a lot of reviews after watching it, and the impression I got was one of denial and dismissal, from the UK but mainly USA. Not everyone, but most. I'd go as far as to say that those who don't like the film are not real people to me. I think the film is important because basically it's often said that as evil as they were at least Thatcher and Reagan had a vision, and the left's worst failure of the last 30 years has been the inability to create a positive vision of the future. It's only coming from silicon valley, but they're capitalists who create consumer products to sell, it's like not collectively as a society people are grappling issues like renewable energy like Elon Musk's PowerWall2 proposes to at least attempt to tackle.

 

When it comes to issues, places like the Guardian, who i like, mostly focus on gender politics and like to force the idea, as do liberals with good paying jobs, that Trump was a reaction to Obama in a racial sense, as an empowerment thing. For those in good careers, they can't comprehend that someone might despise everything Trump stands for and vote for him through desperation and nothing else, appear on tv and say through gritted teeth that he'll do something for them. The narcissistic manchild failed billionaire who has never shown a social conscience will do something for them, and politics reduced to crude contrasts. It amazes me, and this is true for the UK that there can only be two parties truly able to form a government. The lack of choice, depth, variety, nuance, resulting in people willing to vote for anyone other than a false individual like Hillary who has been at the heart of the establishment that for 30 years has abandoned them.

 

I don't think anything will change until people strike, but whatever. Not protest, make aware of your displeasure. But halt the economy, and demand, no violence. People have mortgages. In football in the UK where ticket prices are £70 fans wield actual power to create change by refusing to turn up and force owners to lower prices. Owners who don't have a social conscience and don't care what day trippers fill the seats. Clubs are so rich through the insane rise of the tv deals that most can let people in for free. Thing is that fans are a part of the premier league's success, the full stadiums packed with the energy of fans adds to the tv experience. Fans see none of that success whatsoever. The transfer market is basically a con, money leaving the game through agents essentially. Fans won't give up their season ticket because the long waiting list. Give it up now, never get in again, cut your ties with a club you've followed for 25 years. Maybe lose a part of your social life, lose touch with friends, and if you're committed lose a part of yourself.

 

Back to Where To Invade Next, a UK critic for the Guardian said, wrongly because Sweden is not featured, 'oh look this is how Sweden do things, i mean who gives a shit?' I was kind of startled by the venom honestly from a critic is usually so sweet and nice. I couldn't comprehend it. Like the vitriol for Jeremy Corbyn, it does not compute. Like, at all. I couldn't understand the venom of someone who saw the education section. Why wouldn't you be heart warmed by it, it'd have to be that it unsettles your complacency and renders you complicit in how things are, and you can't face that. I've got nothing else. This is more than just liking Alien Covenant.

 

People should be honest, don't engage in politics if you don't want change. Adam Curtis reckons that people largely don't. Why would they. If you're doing well you've most to risk. Easier to brandish people as racists. He says 'do you want change, really? Or do you just want the banks to be a little bit nicer?'

 

I think everything is economic. Is that obvious ?There's so much moralizing. I can't get over that in 2017 people argue for the nuclear weapon Trident. You just want to pick them up like the shriveled fear induced little people they are and cradle them with comfort and reality. I don't see Costa Rica being invaded. How many years has it been now ?

 

er yeah anyway.

 

actually one last thing. I think football in the UK is like a microcosm of society, so basically its in perpetual crisis, the media feeds on it obviously, but when fans are calling for the sacking of literally the 4th best manager in the world it loses all perspective. Because the cost of investment to follow a team, never mind the time, and the way people live vicariously though the success of their team. Not just the 4th best manager in the world, but some of the best players. Really, truly the best players. But the way fans approach their team is as though the system as designed by the coach is irrelevant and everything falls on the manager. People see the performances, see the mistakes over and over, they don't see training, the pre match tactics, they don't know what they're instructed to do, and instead of challenging the methods blame instead falls on the players, and the language used is 'get rid of the deadwood', get rid of the poison. I'm not saying they're nazis, but it's the same thinking. They're talking about players bought literally two years ago who then were portrayed as solutions to problems the team had. Every single time this happens. Every time ! And people can't be so stupid as to not recognize the collective amnesia that occurs every time. My God it's mind numbing to go through the same cycle almost endlessly.

 

So...You had Bush, idiot. Had Obama, accelerated the drone program and use of them by 100 compared to Bush but he was a cool guy so the media loved him. Trump is the idiot again. Oprah is the saviour who maybe slightly alters the surface perception of America to people not paying attention but doesn't change the dark rotten soul. None of it matters and it's so obvious to say. whatever

[Suffocate Peon]

*listens to smack my bitch up, posts uplifting video about education*

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OvVPg3y_ug

[Suffocate Peon]

I've thought about it, and I've decided IT'S A FUCKING LIE FINLAND DOESN'T FUCKING EXIST HAS ANYONE BEEN THERE WELL HAVE YOU FUCK YOU I HOPE NORTH KOREA NUKE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE SHIT AMERICA FUCKING SHIT FUCK YOU

 

peon malfunctioning suffocate it suffocate it

[chenGOD]

 

So ummm yeah. Theocracy making a comeback for most IDM 1286?

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-apos-spiritual-adviser-135804056.html

Does god accept litecoin?

Dogecoin only I’m afraid.

[ignatius]

I've thought about it, and I've decided IT'S A FUCKING LIE FINLAND DOESN'T FUCKING EXIST HAS ANYONE BEEN THERE WELL HAVE YOU FUCK YOU I HOPE NORTH KOREA NUKE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE SHIT AMERICA FUCKING SHIT FUCK YOU

 

peon malfunctioning suffocate it suffocate it

 

 

i agree though.. is finland even a place? does it exist? why can't i sell myself to a finish woman as mail order husband? 

 

*fires up R2 unit's projector* -  invite me to finland for life. i swear i'll even defend the motherland against russian influence/invasion. i will learn to drive rally cars on ice and snow and even how to soak fish in vodka.. please finland.. you're my only hope... 

[Nebraska]

remember the kid that was in the H&M ad with a "coolest monkey in the hood" hoodie? his mom doesn't get why everyone got so mad about. guess that check has already been cashed in 

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdxQ5ZWnmkJ/?taken-by=teatenders_liv

[Nebraska]

 

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/01/11/homework-assignment-good-reasons-slavery-backlash/

[ignatius]

i hope finland invades the USA. i will surrender immediately

[auxien]

The funny thing is that both of those last two Nebraska topics could be okay, in the right context.

 

A kid wearing a hoodie with a silly saying on it is totally okay, of course. The phrase itself, if we were in a post-racial-injustice world, would be just like any other silly kid's hoodie. NBD. But in the context of reality, and of course the child being black, well then fuck it does come off as bad/tasteless. A stupid fucking idea from a stupid fucking company (whoever produced that hoodie). The mother's reaction I'm not even touching.

 

Bringing up the 'what was good about slavery' question, in the context of trying to force a devil's advocate view in order to help construct viewing issues from differing perspectives would totally be a valid (small) point within a much larger discussion of slavery...with the right kids/adults, of the right age, in the right environment. Sending it as homework, with fourth graders, that's just a stupid fucking idea from a stupid fucking teacher.

[doublename]

i hope finland invades the USA. i will surrender immediately

[Schlitze]

The funny thing is that both of those last two Nebraska topics could be okay, in the right context.

 

A kid wearing a hoodie with a silly saying on it is totally okay, of course........

 

You should probably stop posting. Pull out the ethernet cable from the router, if you have wifi just unplug the router at the socket. You are dire.

[cwmbrancity]

you're like herpes

[auxien]

Oh no I've been Schlitzed

 

wat do?

[cwmbrancity]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukemyyfyag4

[chenGOD]

Oh no I've been Schlitzed

 

wat do?

 

[Hugh Mughnus]

Oh no I've been Schlitzed

 

wat do?

 

your watmm days are numbered =(

 

srry frend

[Schlitze]

Yeah,Bulk is right. he's done. He had a good innings, but it he just overdid it. And that ain't right. I had to step in.

[Hugh Mughnus]

[chenGOD]

Just kick back and have a Schlitz or four.

 

 

[auxien]

Yeah,Bulk is right. he's done. He had a good innings, but it he just overdid it. And that ain't right. I had to step in.

I'm just glad someone stepped in and took me out, definitely needed that. Unplugging the internet after I watch those sweet Schlitz commercials. Goodbye cruel prince.

[hma]

remember the kid that was in the H&M ad with a "coolest monkey in the hood" hoodie? his mom doesn't get why everyone got so mad about. guess that check has already been cashed in 

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdxQ5ZWnmkJ/?taken-by=teatenders_liv

Dunno, imagine kid asking his mom why can`t i wear a hoodie just like one john has? because you`re black and it says monkey on it dear.