Why are people so pre-occupied with America

The Nal wrote: »

Agree to some degree but what the POTUS does can have a massive effect on Ireland.
The 2008 crash fúcked this country up yet it was American made. Dell pulled manufacturing out of Ireland and we lost 5% of all exports.
The GOP for some weird reason tend to treat environmental policies with total disdain. A constant game of the Dems implementing regulations and the GOP rolling them back. Of all the things leveled against him, many of them flimsy, Trumps environmental policies are indefensible and fairly abhorrent.
And look Bush's mental foreign policy (and his Dads which was excellent) and see how it can impact the world.

The US has the largest footprint but in terms of impact here - aside from the US multinationals and finance - it doesn't dwarf that of China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada, Australia combined. Together they huge impacts on prices we pay, on the environment, foreign policy (e.g. Russia in Ukraine).

Yet you would think that from its level of coverage here given to global affairs.

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.

The only reason anyone watches CNN International is whey they're in a non-english speaking country, and it is literally the only english language channel on the tv in their hotel/apartment.

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

Guess who gave the world the pandemic?

No one is going to bring them to account.

Australia tried that and got burnt.

rossie1977 wrote: »

I bet 9 out of 10 Irish people on the street wouldn't be able to name the Chinese leader or 3 Chinese cities most likely.

Thats where you're Wong

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

But right now its a car crash that you can't look away from.

This.
We are rubber-necking to see what the idiot in charge will mismanage next.

rossie1977 wrote: »

We get the Americanised version of the PlayStation not the Japanese one.

How many French musical acts do we listen to or when was the last French movie we went to cinema en masse to watch. What French TV programs do we consume. What French sport do people watch in Ireland.

Sony are a Japanese company. Their products are in huge numbers of Irish households. I used them to illustrate the point that the source of the product doesn't mean anything in terms of interest in the source country.
As I did with France - enjoying its output does not lead to interest in its domestic politics (even though through its role in EU it can have an impact on us).

And if you want to talk about TV and sport it is Britain we are closer to than America, Coronation Street, Eastenders, the Premier League, horse racing, Wimbledon.
Boards.ie had a slowdown last night because the Premier League was back. It doesn't do that for the Superbowl or the playoffs in basketball or baseball.

biko wrote: »

Most of the music and films you like are from there.
Even the language we speak and write is influenced by it.

Also, it's a pretty nice place to visit.

It has everything you'd want for a holiday.
Gambling, go to Vegas.
Sun/ sea Florida California or for more exotic Hawaii.
Mountain climbing,hikes, sling Rockies or Alaska plus desert and vast plains. The US has everything given its huge size

Yeah it's pretty cringe how everyone cares about their social issues and everything so much. I think Michael Collins had a quote about Irish people who were more concerned about things going on in England then their own country as poor British people and fake gaels or something along those lines. I understand America is huge and such a domineering presence but for God's sake we're from Ireland and live here. Different country, different laws, different culture.

rossie1977 wrote: »

Again we get the American versions of these products not the Japanese ones.
We are close to the UK but their culture is not in our face like the US culture is. You picked a few things out but far far more American products/services etc influence our lives than British ones.
Our version of Santa Claus is based off Coca Colas ad. Irish kids could identify Ronald McDonald or John Cena before they could Boris Johnson.

It's a Japanese product from a Japanese company.
It's not a demonstration of US culture in our faces.

Christmas cards and Christmas trees come to us as traditions via the UK.
The British cultural influence is so deep and pervasive people don't register it anymore as British.
In the products we consume and how we shop and live our lives, we are much more like the British. We shop in Tesco, Boots, Marks & Spencer. There's times our high streets could be mistaken for UK ones.
We import more goods from the UK than US, we import more from the EU than from the US.

I don't even know who John Cena is, not sure how it is relevant.
How many Irish kids could identify Michael Martin or Paschal Donohue?
Politics is not their strong point.

Irish kids could identify a huge number of athletes from the English Premier League namely footballers. More than that, they follow English football teams regardless of the current playing staff composition.

America has a deep and huge influence for sure, but to suggest it represents the vast majority, or even the only significant player, in terms the impact or influence on us from the outside world is not valid which is the point I was rebutting.

tonycascarino wrote: »

I like America, but unlike many here I am able to distinguish that Ireland and the USA are not the same country. I cannot understand why anyone here would have any reason to dislike Trump for instance as he as done nothing to us or why anyone here would get carried away by this BLM rubbish all because an African American criminal got killed by a cop. Nothing to do with us.

I didn't grow up in North Korea but I still know Kim Jong is a dick and I dislike him.

Our preoccupation with the US, particularly in recent years, is fed by our media.

Rte have ran Donald Trump stories as the main headline on numerous occasions here with little obvious justification other than distracting from what's actually going on in our own country and within the EU where our vote and voice might make a slight difference.

We rally in hysteria around Black Lives Matter over isolated US incidents while we pack hundreds and thousands of women and child refugees into dangerous squalid camps around Europe without a single hashtag or bended knee.
We are lathered up over Donald Trump mispronouncing something or his silly hairdo while our own people are homeless, dying in A&E waiting rooms, while we are planning for programs of mass immigration when we can't provide a life for those who are already here.

Our fascination with the US is an engineered phenomenon to ensure we never open our eyes to the issues on our own front door that we could control that cause just as much suffering as any of Trumps antics.

Deleted User wrote: »

USA is definitely not my most favourite country to visit. Tax added to everything at the till, horrendous tipping quagmire, I just tend to feel slightly irritated there. Also a lack of the automatic doors we take for granted here. If you don’t go through pre-clearance it’s like entering a Russia in the time of the Soviet Union. Doesn’t stop me making the odd visit, eg to Hawai’i last year, which definitely has its own individual culture.

America is Manifest Destiny, proper freedom, lower taxes and less government regulations, freedom to buy as many guns as you like, freedom to defend yourself and your property by lethal force if required. Cars are part of the freedom loving culture, no high fuel taxes like here. A police system that actually has a hand on crime and will fight back and kill criminals, a legal and judicial system that will execute criminals. Trump emboldens the American capitalist spirirt of manifest destiny. The best health service in the world, you can choose what you want without socialist policies here, if you want a hip operation or some surgery you can have it done in a week, in Ireland you might get called 4 years later off a waiting list by such time you'd be well dead.

theguzman wrote: »

America is Manifest Destiny, proper freedom, lower taxes and less government regulations, freedom to buy as many guns as you like, freedom to defend yourself and your property by lethal force if required.

If gun ownership shows proper freedom then I guess Yemen is the freest country on earth..

Cars are part of the freedom loving culture, no high fuel taxes like here.

Few years ago petrol in Venezuela was cheaper than water, again not a sign of freedom.

A police system that actually has a hand on crime and will fight back and kill criminals, a legal and judicial system that will execute criminals.

Hand on crime. Crime in the US far exceeds every other western nation or Japan/South Korea/Australia/New Zealand.

More Americans are in prison per capita than anywhere else on earth yet mass shootings continue to rise.

Trump emboldens the American capitalist spirirt of manifest destiny.

GIving billions in government money to prop up farmers due to his failed trade wars isn't capitalism. Neither massive increase in military spending or wanting billions for a white elephant wall.

The best health service in the world, you can choose what you want without socialist policies here, if you want a hip operation or some surgery you can have it done in a week, in Ireland you might get called 4 years later off a waiting list by such time you'd be well dead.

Sure if you are rich or have top class health coverage. Many Americans don't fall into this category unfortunately.

cj maxx wrote: »

So you prefer to just lump the tax into the price like here ?
Lots of things here are price + Vat ( a tax) And like vat you can claim the tax back on leaving the country.
The tipping culture is also why dining out is so cheap compared to here where wages and overheads are again written into the exorbitant price. If you're happy left a decent tip if you have a problem with the service don't..
As for automatic doors they're pretty standard in most modern buildings and I never had much problem with immigration and the 3/4 times I went through them , no pre clearance, and I was an actual illegal immigrant.
Pretty petty reasons to dislike a country imo

Eating out in New York is not cheap anymore.