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What Americans know about Ireland - CNBC interview

13567

Comments

  • #62
    AndyBoBandy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,600 ✭✭✭✭AndyBoBandy


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    You can reasonably hold a news anchor on a flagship business programme with an international audience to a much higher standard than a random American tourist or a guy in the pub.

    You would certainly expect to anyway.


  • #63
    beks101
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,802 ✭✭✭beks101


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Bear in mind this is CNBC - an international business news channel not local NBC news in the US.

    Technically CNBC is owned by NBCUniversal News Group, so CNBC would be a sister channel of NBC News, just like MSNBC.

    Having worked alongside some 'TV finance experts' I can tell you they can be among the most dumb people in the world.


  • #64
    SimonTemplar
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,815 ✭✭✭SimonTemplar


    The bit that annoyed me the most is when that moron on the right said "you guys got to get it together over there". 30 seconds previously he thought Ireland used the pound and now he feels qualified to give us "advice" on our economy in a fairly condescending way.

    Also, US has a population of over 300 million. We can't really generalise that all or most Americans think that Ireland uses the pound, as the thread title implies.


  • #65
    Molester Stallone II
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,459 ✭✭✭Molester Stallone II


    Balmed Out wrote: »
    To be fair Ireland is close in size to Sierra Leone and probably as close in distance as Ireland is to America. How much does the average Irish person know about Sierra Leone?

    But nobody in Ireland claims to be descended from the high kings of sierra leone, with 80% of Americans claiming to have come from.the auld sod, perhaps they should get off their fat asses and look at a map, or at least look at a wiki page ffs


  • #66
    GLaDOS
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 23,257 Mod ✭✭✭✭GLaDOS


    You get ignorant people everywhere, it's nothing to be surprised at. What's shocking is that this guy is a supposed expert and appeared on Tv having blatantly not even done the smallest bit of research.

    Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test



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  • #67
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    enda1 wrote: »
    I'd be surprised if that number wasn't 0!
    I've never heard anyone believe that Canada and the US are the same country or one being part of the other.

    I know a few who have emigrated to Canada and I guarantee they wouldn't be able to point it out on a map. They don't even get indignant or irrationally difficult when you ask them how things are in the US of A!


  • #68
    Molester Stallone II
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,459 ✭✭✭Molester Stallone II


    enda1 wrote: »
    I'd be surprised if that number wasn't 0!
    I've never heard anyone believe that Canada and the US are the same country or one being part of the other.

    Children under 3 is the demographic he's alluding to


  • #69
    Egginacup
    Site Banned Posts: 2,922 ✭✭✭Egginacup


    Balmed Out wrote: »
    To be fair Ireland is close in size to Sierra Leone and probably as close in distance as Ireland is to America. How much does the average Irish person know about Sierra Leone?

    This guy on CNBC is not supposed to be an "average" person. He's supposed to know all about finance and international trade and he didn't even know the currency of Ireland.
    I don't know the currencies of every country in the world but if I worked for a financial news channel I'd be embarrassed if I didn't know.

    It's not difficult to know or learn. It's pretty easy to memorise every football team in the top 4 English divisions, there's about 90+ of them. It's pretty easy to rattle off 100 Rolling Stones and Beatles songs if you browsed their discography for an hour or two.
    There are about 190+ countries in the world. It wouldn't take a huge effort to learn all their flags, capitals, currencies and first languages. This guy spends a few hours a day getting makeup slathered on his face then he reads gibberish from an autocue, passes a few retarded comments and probably gets paid $1million+ for his efforts.
    If it's so confusing for him that Ireland's currency is the Euro and that Ireland and the UK are different countries then he should be a fucking longshoreman or flipping burgers or something more commensurate with his mental prowess.


  • #70
    Ghost Buster
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,172 ✭✭✭Ghost Buster


    anncoates wrote: »
    Didn't bother watching the video but we're a very small country with no genuine global significance yet we have a relatively large 'footprint' based on a pimped-out, slightly cartoon image of our culture and history and a disproportionate self-regard for ourselves as a nation so this kind of stuff is always slightly inevitable.

    Get over it.
    Every thing you have said has zero relevance.
    The interview was about Irelands economy so the panel should know what and where Ireland is. Its called professionalism.


  • #71
    Thargor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,542 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    A surprising number of Irish and British people don't know the difference between the US and Canada and I've heard a lot of people referring to Africa as a country.
    Complete and utter garbage.


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  • #72
    Egginacup
    Site Banned Posts: 2,922 ✭✭✭Egginacup


    Balmed Out wrote: »
    I think the point stands as for the size of the American economy were not a major trading partner in the same way they are to us. How much does the average Irish person know about Indiana despite the fact that were inundated with US tv and media?




    Very true, I'm not defending him as he's clearly been an idiot in this case. I was talking about Americans in general for whom I think its understandable they wouldn't know a whole lot about Ireland, the thread title is "What Americans know about Ireland".

    If a NEWSREADER/PRESENTER is this ignorant, then how utterly clueless must the general populace be?


  • #73
    Ghost Buster
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,172 ✭✭✭Ghost Buster


    Balmed Out wrote: »
    To be fair Ireland is close in size to Sierra Leone and probably as close in distance as Ireland is to America. How much does the average Irish person know about Sierra Leone?
    I know zero about Sierra Leone but you can bet your ass that if I was to go on Tv with a potential world wide audience via the web and interview a person from there I would take a moment to learn.


  • #74
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,085 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Thargor wrote: »
    Complete and utter garbage.

    Well, I've had at least 4 Irish people ask me was Ontario in the Untied States and I've had a whole load of people in both Ireland and Britain (mostly older people admittedly) who seem to genuinely have absolutely no clue about geography in Africa.

    I've quite a few connections to Norway and Iceland and the number of people who seem to think that Norway is Sweden or that Finland's part of Scandinavia is amazing.

    Considering that we are VERY close to the Nordic region, you'd think that more people would be at least vaguely aware that Oslo isn't in Sweden.

    A Norwegian person I know also had a situation where someone in a work environment in Ireland INSISTED that Norway was definitely in the EU.

    Also, lots of French people that I bump into (spend quite a bit of time in France too) have very fluffy notions of where Ireland is.

    The best one I had though was in Belgium where someone put on my employment contract Citizen of the UK.
    When I brought this up, she said "that's a matter of political opinion". At which point I said, yeah like the way that Flanders is actually in France? She was highly offended at that notion but didn't seem to see anything wrong with just placing the wrong country on a legal document because she was too arrogant to check or admit that she could possibly be completely wrong.

    It's absolutely not complete and utter rubbish, a % of every population are as think as two short planks and I think at times Americans get unfairly singled out for their airheadedness.

    Also, a lot of Europeans have very little idea of American geography or the fact that the US is made up of states that can be sometimes almost as dramatically different as countries in terms of law, social attitudes, etc etc.
    I find a lot of people seem to know where NYC, LA and maybe Florida is, but ask them something about say the economy of Nevada and see how you get on. Or what's the capital of Missouri and what are the main industries there?


  • #75
    enda1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,165 ✭✭✭enda1


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Well, I've had at least 4 Irish people ask me was Ontario in the Untied States and I've had a whole load of people in both Ireland and Britain (mostly older people admittedly) who seem to genuinely have absolutely no clue about geography in Africa.

    snip

    You think asking what country Ontario is in (and thereby realising that it could be in one of two distinct countries) is akin to someone thinking that Ireland is not a country but a part of the UK? :confused:


  • #76
    Ghost Buster
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,172 ✭✭✭Ghost Buster


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Well, I've had at least 4 Irish people ask me was Ontario in the Untied States and I've had a whole load of people in both Ireland and Britain (mostly older people admittedly) who seem to genuinely have absolutely no clue about geography in Africa.

    I've quite a few connections to Norway and Iceland and the number of people who seem to think that Norway is Sweden or that Finland's part of Scandinavia is amazing.

    Also, lots of French people that I bump into (spend quite a bit of time in France too) have very fluffy notions of where Ireland is.

    The best one I had though was in Belgium where someone put on my employment contract Citizen of the UK.
    When I brought this up, she said "that's a matter of political opinion". At which point I said, yeah like the way that Flanders is actually in France? She was highly offended at that notion but didn't seem to see anything wrong with just placing the wrong country on a legal document because she was too arrogant to check or admit that she could possibly be completely wrong.

    It's absolutely not complete and utter rubbish, a % of every population are as think as two short planks and I think at times Americans get unfairly singled out for their airheadedness.

    Yeeeeeees. BUT he was part of a panel interviewing an Irish man about Ireland and matters pertaining to its currency. He didn't know the country or the currency in question.


  • #77
    Egginacup
    Site Banned Posts: 2,922 ✭✭✭Egginacup


    mikemac1 wrote: »
    Maybe the Sicilians are like our Corkonians and just try too hard to be different ;)

    I'll admit that Sicilians are a breed apart and are similar to Bavarians who call themselves Bayerisch first and German second, but none will tell you they are different countries.


  • #78
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,085 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    enda1 wrote: »
    You think asking what country Ontario is in (and thereby realising that it could be in one of two distinct countries) is akin to someone thinking that Ireland is not a country but a part of the UK? :confused:

    I think when someone says : "Oh you're American?"
    "No, I'm from Ontario"
    "Isn't that in the US?"
    "No, it's in Canada"
    "Really?"
    "Yeah"
    "I always thought Ontario was in the US"
    "No, it's in Canada"
    "But you have an American accent!"
    "But, I'm from Canada"
    "Yeah, but sure it's all the same thing isn't it?"
    "No, it's not!"

    That's pretty similar to mixing up the UK and Ireland and a lot of Canadians are quite sensitive to the fact that they don't want to be associated with US foreign policy too, death penalty, right wing social policies, etc etc etc.. and tend to see themselves as quite different and much more socially focused than the US so it can cause a bit of a ' you're a bit thick really aren't you' type of a response.


  • #79
    enda1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,165 ✭✭✭enda1


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    I think when someone says : "Oh you're American?"
    "No, I'm from Ontario"
    "Isn't that in the US?"
    "No, it's in Canada"
    "Really?"
    "Yeah"
    "I always thought Ontario was in the US"
    "No, it's in Canada"
    "But you have an American accent!"
    "But, I'm from Canada"
    "Yeah, but sure it's all the same thing isn't it?"
    "No, it's not!"

    That's the only point where it reaches the same level of ignorance.

    I can't imagine many Irish people holding that belief. You sure they weren't trying to wind you up?


  • #80
    catallus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,106 ✭✭✭catallus


    We're all part of the human race :)


  • #81
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,085 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    enda1 wrote: »
    That's the only point where it reaches the same level of ignorance.

    I can't imagine many Irish people holding that belief. You sure they weren't trying to wind you up?

    Nope, I've witnessed that a few times in Ireland and England.

    Also, had this one in Ireland in a job once with a colleague from Belfast and a colleague from Dublin:

    "I grew up on the falls road, it was very tough back in the 70s"
    "God, I'd have loved to have grown up down the country"
    "Eh, I grew up on the FALLS ROAD.. in Belfast..."
    "Down the country?"
    "Did yiz have a farm and cows and that?"

    Same woman came out with this:

    Cork person from a Cork office:

    "We're heading to London next week"
    "oh so yiz will be back up in Dublin again for the flight?"
    "No, we're flying out of Cork."
    "Wha!? yiz have an airport in Cork?"
    "Yeah.."

    The sad thing is that she wasn't just joking either, she genuinely believed there is just "Dah Airport"

    You're really making an assumption that about 10-20% of the population aren't complete ignoramuses in any country.

    The issue here is that one of them seems to have managed to land a job as an international news anchor.


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  • #82
    sink
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,314 ✭✭✭sink


    At a previous job I had in a call center which served the UK market, I was asked my one of my co-workers one day was Scotland part of England and where in relation to Ireland where they. She was on the phone to British customers 8 hours a day but could not point out England or Scotland on a unmarked map. This same girl had never visited Dublin city despite being from Drogheda. Since then I've learned to never underestimate the ignorance of some people.


  • #83
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,085 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Ghost Buster wrote: »
    Yeeeeeees. BUT he was part of a panel interviewing an Irish man about Ireland and matters pertaining to its currency. He didn't know the country or the currency in question.

    Which I mentioned about 3 times up the thread.
    Do try to keep up!


  • #84
    Thargor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,542 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Well, I've had at least 4 Irish people ask me was Ontario in the Untied States and I've had a whole load of people in both Ireland and Britain (mostly older people admittedly) who seem to genuinely have absolutely no clue about geography in Africa.

    I've quite a few connections to Norway and Iceland and the number of people who seem to think that Norway is Sweden or that Finland's part of Scandinavia is amazing.

    Considering that we are VERY close to the Nordic region, you'd think that more people would be at least vaguely aware that Oslo isn't in Sweden.

    A Norwegian person I know also had a situation where someone in a work environment in Ireland INSISTED that Norway was definitely in the EU.

    Also, lots of French people that I bump into (spend quite a bit of time in France too) have very fluffy notions of where Ireland is.

    The best one I had though was in Belgium where someone put on my employment contract Citizen of the UK.
    When I brought this up, she said "that's a matter of political opinion". At which point I said, yeah like the way that Flanders is actually in France? She was highly offended at that notion but didn't seem to see anything wrong with just placing the wrong country on a legal document because she was too arrogant to check or admit that she could possibly be completely wrong.

    It's absolutely not complete and utter rubbish, a % of every population are as think as two short planks and I think at times Americans get unfairly singled out for their airheadedness.

    Also, a lot of Europeans have very little idea of American geography or the fact that the US is made up of states that can be sometimes almost as dramatically different as countries in terms of law, social attitudes, etc etc.
    I find a lot of people seem to know where NYC, LA and maybe Florida is, but ask them something about say the economy of Nevada and see how you get on. Or what's the capital of Missouri and what are the main industries there?
    Not knowing the locations of individual Scandinavian cities or the specialized industries of individual American cities is not the same as your claim that a surprising number of Irish people dont know that Canada and the US are different countries, you must hang around with very thick people or else you just made it up.


  • #85
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,085 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Thargor wrote: »
    Not knowing the locations of individual Scandinavian cities or the specialized industries of individual American cities is not the same as your claim that a surprising number of Irish people dont know that Canada and the US are different countries, you must hang around with very thick people or else you just made it up.

    You're obviously hanging around with very unrepresentatively worldly wise people.

    I've encountered people in Cork who thought that Donegal was in Northern Ireland and were actually surprised to learn that it was in the Republic.

    At times it's surprising that a significant % of the human population can manage to tie their own shoelaces.


  • #86
    noodler
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,074 ✭✭✭✭noodler


    Was the guy the Sports anchor or something?


  • #87
    TheBeardedLady
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,086 ✭✭✭TheBeardedLady


    murpho999 wrote: »
    To be honest though it's not just Americans that are like this.
    I'm fairly well travelled and I would say the majority of people around the world think that Ireland is in the UK. Have even met many English people who still think that Ireland is in the UK.
    Also met Asians who had never even heard of Ireland.
    Lived in Holland for 7 years and was called "Engels" (English) all the time. Had some even not believe me that we have the Euro, let alone our own government etc.

    It's very annoying. I know we speak English but so does USA, Canada, Australia etc.
    People don't seem to have confusion with Austria and Germany or France and Belgium.
    Don't understand how it happens as basic geography teaches you here about other countries so surely it's the same abroad?

    Pet hate. Nobody in Spain knows or at least nobody I've met (except those who've been subjected to my diagrams and explanation). I've met a few people who've been to Ireland who STILL didn't know. I have students who say, "You English" EVEN after I've corrected them and subjected them to the diagrams on the whiteboard. I don't think anybody knows or wants to know or even cares. Drives me ABSOLUTELY MEEEENTAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!


  • #88
    Molester Stallone II
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,459 ✭✭✭Molester Stallone II


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    You're obviously hanging around with very unrepresentatively worldly wise people.

    I've encountered people in Cork who thought that Donegal was in Northern Ireland and were actually surprised to learn that it was in the Republic.

    At times it's surprising that a significant % of the human population can manage to tie their own shoelaces.

    Slip on shoes my friend, slip on shoes.


  • #89
    Egginacup
    Site Banned Posts: 2,922 ✭✭✭Egginacup


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    Well, I've had at least 4 Irish people ask me was Ontario in the Untied States and I've had a whole load of people in both Ireland and Britain (mostly older people admittedly) who seem to genuinely have absolutely no clue about geography in Africa.

    I've quite a few connections to Norway and Iceland and the number of people who seem to think that Norway is Sweden or that Finland's part of Scandinavia is amazing.

    Considering that we are VERY close to the Nordic region, you'd think that more people would be at least vaguely aware that Oslo isn't in Sweden.

    A Norwegian person I know also had a situation where someone in a work environment in Ireland INSISTED that Norway was definitely in the EU.

    Also, lots of French people that I bump into (spend quite a bit of time in France too) have very fluffy notions of where Ireland is.

    The best one I had though was in Belgium where someone put on my employment contract Citizen of the UK.
    When I brought this up, she said "that's a matter of political opinion". At which point I said, yeah like the way that Flanders is actually in France? She was highly offended at that notion but didn't seem to see anything wrong with just placing the wrong country on a legal document because she was too arrogant to check or admit that she could possibly be completely wrong.

    It's absolutely not complete and utter rubbish, a % of every population are as think as two short planks and I think at times Americans get unfairly singled out for their airheadedness.

    Also, a lot of Europeans have very little idea of American geography or the fact that the US is made up of states that can be sometimes almost as dramatically different as countries in terms of law, social attitudes, etc etc.
    I find a lot of people seem to know where NYC, LA and maybe Florida is, but ask them something about say the economy of Nevada and see how you get on. Or what's the capital of Missouri and what are the main industries there?


    Asking if Ontario is in the US is not akin to thinking that Canada and the US are one and the same as you alluded to earlier.


  • #90
    Thargor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,542 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    You're obviously hanging around with very unrepresentatively worldly wise people.

    I've encountered people in Cork who thought that Donegal was in Northern Ireland!
    So? I remember meeting someone who thought Athlone was a county once, that person still wouldn't be stupid enough to think the #1 superpower on the planet was the same country as Canada, you made a ridiculous claim about Irish people and have been backtracking and throwing out strawman arguments for 2 pages now and I really couldn't be bothered talking about it anymore.


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  • #91
    Slicemeister
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,526 ✭✭✭Slicemeister


    Used to study in Germany where when i explained that Ireland is an independent island country in western Europe some actually thought I was from Ruegen. can't link but it's a German island in the Baltic sea!!

    Not just confined to the Americans, but then they weren't on TV either.


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