Why are people so pre-occupied with America

Edgware

I know that the U.S. is a fantastic country and I understand the Irish fascination with it probably from a historical viewpoint and television influence. But Europe is such a fascinating territory from Northern Sweden to the Turkish Syrian border and from the Atlantic to Russia. So many cultures, languages, climates, foods, drinks, landscapes.

Overheal

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Social media outrage culture.

Your man Zuckerberg should be blasted into space.

This has gone on wayyyy longer than Facebook or MySpace

On Liveline Callback Joe always says as part of the intro that Liveline is based ENTIRELY from calls from the public.

Does RTE not think this is a little embarrassing considering how far it strays from being a caller driver show.

cj maxx

theguzman wrote: »

Eating out in New York is not cheap anymore.

Like anywhere it depends where you go and what you're having. But I haven't been there in nearly 10 years but relative to income I found eating out in Manhattan was cheaper than Dublin
And Queens and the Bronx cheaper still

whisky_galore

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

The disdain that most under 30s in Ireland have for all things Irish, Irish culture and traditions is probably a factor, an obsession with the US fills the void

It's a shame people don't want to live in mud walled thatched hovels, go to Mass and eat spuds every day anymore.

Gentleman Off The Pitch

whisky_galore wrote: »

It's a shame people don't want to live in mud walled thatched hovels, go to Mass and eat spuds every day anymore.

The ignorance of your response is just reinforcing my point

Pkiernan

The same people that hate the US also hate all the poor people in Africa and Asia.

They never protest African or Chinese Embassies for example.
They dont care about pollution in Iraq or Saudi Arabia.

They're happy to buy clothes made by child slaves today, but need to tear down 200 year old statues.

They protest Global Warming, but consume more power than any previous generation.

They whine on about Extinction but change their phones every year and discard more plastic then ever before.

Hard to fathom really. I imagine its attention seeking.

Pkiernan

Pkiernan wrote: »

They dont care about pollution in Iraq or Saudi Arabia.

There are much bigger issues in Saudi Arabia than pollution.

odyssey06

Deleted User wrote: »

There are much bigger issues in Saudi Arabia than pollution.

And they don't care about them either cos it's not trending on social media

whisky_galore

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

The ignorance of your response is just reinforcing my point

Enlighten us so.

Gentleman Off The Pitch

whisky_galore wrote: »

Enlighten us so.

You need to be enlightened with some statement that being proud of Irish traditions etc. doesn't mean that you want to live in mud walled thatched hovels, go to Mass and eat spuds every day?
Your statement is just another example of the trendy attitude to regard everything seen to be inherently Irish as being inferior

odyssey06

whisky_galore wrote: »

It's a shame people don't want to live in mud walled thatched hovels, go to Mass and eat spuds every day anymore.

The new tolerance is quite intolerant really.

Earthhorse

America is the anchor state of Western civilisation. So what happens there is politically important to us.

the purple tin

Earthhorse wrote: »

America is the anchor state of Western civilisation. So what happens there is politically important to us.

Anchor is right, and it's dragging us all down.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Overheal wrote: »

This has gone on wayyyy longer than Facebook or MySpace

Obviously, but the bitter old men need to get their daily rant in somehow.

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

The disdain that most under 30s in Ireland have for all things Irish, Irish culture and traditions is probably a factor, an obsession with the US fills the void

Do they?

whisky_galore

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

You need to be enlightened with some statement that being proud of Irish traditions etc. doesn't mean that you want to live in mud walled thatched hovels, go to Mass and eat spuds every day?
Your statement is just another example of the trendy attitude to regard everything seen to be inherently Irish as being inferior

What is it that you do in your free time that's so worthy?

Gentleman Off The Pitch

whisky_galore wrote: »

What is it that you do in your free time that's so worthy?

Philanthropy

Edgware

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

The disdain that most under 30s in Ireland have for all things Irish, Irish culture and traditions is probably a factor, an obsession with the US fills the void

I see thousands of young Irish people actively involved in Gaelic Games, Irish music, Gaelscoil and community involement all over the country, and North and South of the Border.
That does not stop them also having an interest in what happens in biggest English speaking country in the world that has a predominant control of media and music.
Of course some peoples definition of Irish culture and tradition is listening to the Wolfe Tones and shouting "Up the Ra" when Rangers are on T.V.

Zebra3

theguzman wrote: »

America is Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny.

America's lebensraum.

Both cover names for genocide and ethnic cleansing.

ronivek

Maybe you enjoy the constant sniping between political parties who are effectively exactly the same (FF/FG) or the serial oppositionists who seem to have no genuine desire to govern but simply snipe from the sidelines where they have no actual responsibility. That's pretty much what the vast majority of news and commentary on said news ends up being in Ireland.

At least in the USA you have a reality TV "star" for a president and the multitude of cracks appearing in "the greatest country on earth" which they somehow managed to effectively hide for so long.

Take note of their amazing two-party system of "right" versus "left" and rejoice that in your lifetime you may have precisely the same thing happening here!

hotmail.com

Earthhorse wrote: »

America is the anchor state of Western civilisation. So what happens there is politically important to us.

Myth.

What goes on in Brussels, Berlin and Paris is the most important to us.

Just because you have an interest in the American political drama, doesn't make it important or relevant to us.

Earthhorse

No, it’s not a myth.

Nor did I say anything about its importance to us relative to Europe.

whisky_galore

Gentleman Off The Pitch wrote: »

Philanthropy

Which intrinsically Irish how?

ShatterAlan

thomil wrote: »

In addition to the points made above, you’d better keep up to speed on a country that can basically park an air base of your coast and bomb your country into the stone age, or simply air drop an entire division onto your heads at minimum notice. While China is certainly gearing up to replace the US in that regard, they’re nowhere near that capability yet, and also have nowhere near the cultural or social impact on the western world that the US have.

We hear this gibberish all the time how America has so much firepower and can do this, that, blah blah. They can't. Didn't they drop several division onto Iraqi and Afghan heads and got their asses handed to them. 20 years bogged down in Afghanistan, trillions wasted down the crapper.


But hey, the shareholders of Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon, AM General (makers of the Humvee) etc. are laughing all the way to the bank while the US taxpayer foots the bill.

ShatterAlan

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Primaries have grown in importance over recent decades. Candidates used to be picked in a much quieter fashion closer to the convention.

I've heard Americans make the same complaint about now being bombarded with election news over the course of years. It's not a change unique to Ireland.

American politics is just a charade. It's packaged entertainment, essentially a soap opera, a Punch and Judy Show. There's no substance to it. It's like WWF wrestling.


Can you point to a piece of legislation that has been passed in the last 30 years in the US that has substantially benefitted the public? I can't think of anything. There are two parties to give the masses the illusion of having a choice. So while Dem and Rep politicians hang out together at the same country club wining and dining and networking and doing political and financial favours for each other, the unwashed masses are at each other's throats over whose party is better, the "wingnuts" or the "libtards".

ShatterAlan

quokula wrote: »

It's the world's largest economy, the home to the largest number of Irish diaspora by far, they speak the same language as us so therefore we are much more likely to consume movies / tv shows / media from there than from other similarly large countries like China or Japan who produce content in a language very few of us understand. Our economy is hugely influenced by their's thanks to the amount of American multinationals based here.

And they are generally the most influential country in the world in so many ways that affect our lives, politically, economically and culturally. Just in terms of posting on this thread, with the exception of a very small number of people, everyone accessing this website will be doing so through operating systems and web browsers developed by Google, Microsoft, Mozilla or Apple, all of whom are American.

China is the world's largest economy.

ShatterAlan

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

Guess who gave the world the pandemic?

That question still hasn't been fully answered.

ShatterAlan

mr_fegelien wrote: »

It's funny that many Irish people consume American media (Netflix, American TV Shows) yet so few watch CNN International. Technically it's actually the UK version but still American based.

Am I the few people who watch CNN International? I'm technically not Irish as I was born in East Africa and lived in the States for some time.

CNN is propaganda crap.

faceman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRqbel7E30A

py2006

What about the poor mothers and fathers who watched their young sons and daughters getting onto ships to American knowing they will never see them again just hoping they would find a better life than what they could provide.

Those very children (if they didn't die on the ship on the way over) went to a strange land with a MASSIVE culture shock and a lot of animosity. Their descendants today have huge love of this country which maintains the strong relationship between both countries.