DaForce
04-19-2006, 08:26 AM
Gawd how I love the irony of our government at present...
For "ugly Americans" overseas, it's time to slow down, speak softly and stop bragging
They're loud, their clothes are all wrong and, as the late American novelist Patricia Highsmith once noted of her countrywomen in particular, they always seem to take up too much space. They're among the United States' most visible - and audible - exports and, as obesity keeps increasing among Americans, some of its biggest ones, too. They're the legendary "ugly American" travelers whom Europeans and other foreigners put up with but often find to be clueless when it comes to good taste in dress and decorum.
Now such "loud-mouthed Americans abroad are being warned to quiet down - by their own government. They are being urged to listen to locals and avoid arguments in a bid to repair America's battered international reputation." Behind the new campaign to get American travelers heading to other countries to be more sensitive and to leave the Homer Simpson behavior at home is Business for Diplomatic Action (http://www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org/who/index.html), a U.S.-based, non-profit group whose Web site declares: "Anti-Americanism is bad for business." The organization is supported by major U.S. corporations. BDA's assumption: If Americans overseas would just change their behavior, "anti-Americanism" in other countries would diminish, as foreigners would have less to resent, to snicker at, or even to hate about U.S. visitors.
BDA has created a passport-size World Citizens Guide to teach Americans bound for other countries how to behave like, well, citizens of the world - instead of like self-absorbed strays from the suburbs. BDA is teaming up with the U.S. State Department to distribute its guide to American young people heading abroad. "There are also plans to give it away with every new U.S. passport." (Daily Record (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16955268&method=full&siteid=66633&headline=yankees--oodles-of-handy-tips--name_page.html), U.K.)
"The reputation of the 'Ugly American' abroad is not...just some cruel stereotype, but - according to the American government itself - worryingly accurate," Britain's Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/16/wtour16.xml) notes. "Loud and brash, in gawdy garb and baseball caps, more than three million of them flock to our shores every year. Shuffling between tourist sites or preparing to negotiate a business deal, they bemoan the failings of the world outside the United States." Many citizens of other countries find such self-centeredness and boasting offensive.
Among the pointers for Americans traveling abroad offered in Business for Diplomatic Action's World Citizens Guide:
» "Listen at least as much as you talk. (By all means, talk about America and your life in our country. But also ask people you're visiting about themselves and their way of life.)"
» "Save the lectures for your kids." The guide adds, without irony (and without any hint of self-examination): "Justified or not, the U.S. is seen as imposing its will on the world."
» Also, in a bit of wise counsel that might serve as well at home as it might abroad, the guidebook reminds American travelers: "Your religion is your religion and not necessarily theirs. (Religion is usually considered deeply personal, not a subject (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/16/wtour16.xml) for public discussions.)"
Keith Reinhard, an advertising executive who heads BDA, said: "Surveys consistently show that Americans are viewed as arrogant, insensitive, over-materialistic and ignorant about local values. That...is the image of the Ugly American abroad, and we want to change it (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/16/wtour16.xml)."
India's Daily News & Analysis (http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1023887) was among the foreign media outlets that have reported the release of the World Citizens Guide, as did the Wall Street Journal in the U.S. DNA cited the conservative, U.S. paper's report and noted that, whatever the new guidebook's good intentions might be, "the financial daily had [had] the last word" when it observed: "Of course, major U.S. foreign-policy decisions and events like the Iraq war far outweigh manners when it comes to shaping the perception of Americans overseas."
Fuck, I'm thinking of grabbing a couple of cases of these books and just handing them out to all the dumbasses that yell into their cellphones, and just generally act like asses in public to begin with. On second thought, instead of handing them out, maybe I'll bean the idiots in the head with the book.
Oh, here's the link:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=15&entry_id=4459
For "ugly Americans" overseas, it's time to slow down, speak softly and stop bragging
They're loud, their clothes are all wrong and, as the late American novelist Patricia Highsmith once noted of her countrywomen in particular, they always seem to take up too much space. They're among the United States' most visible - and audible - exports and, as obesity keeps increasing among Americans, some of its biggest ones, too. They're the legendary "ugly American" travelers whom Europeans and other foreigners put up with but often find to be clueless when it comes to good taste in dress and decorum.
Now such "loud-mouthed Americans abroad are being warned to quiet down - by their own government. They are being urged to listen to locals and avoid arguments in a bid to repair America's battered international reputation." Behind the new campaign to get American travelers heading to other countries to be more sensitive and to leave the Homer Simpson behavior at home is Business for Diplomatic Action (http://www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org/who/index.html), a U.S.-based, non-profit group whose Web site declares: "Anti-Americanism is bad for business." The organization is supported by major U.S. corporations. BDA's assumption: If Americans overseas would just change their behavior, "anti-Americanism" in other countries would diminish, as foreigners would have less to resent, to snicker at, or even to hate about U.S. visitors.
BDA has created a passport-size World Citizens Guide to teach Americans bound for other countries how to behave like, well, citizens of the world - instead of like self-absorbed strays from the suburbs. BDA is teaming up with the U.S. State Department to distribute its guide to American young people heading abroad. "There are also plans to give it away with every new U.S. passport." (Daily Record (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16955268&method=full&siteid=66633&headline=yankees--oodles-of-handy-tips--name_page.html), U.K.)
"The reputation of the 'Ugly American' abroad is not...just some cruel stereotype, but - according to the American government itself - worryingly accurate," Britain's Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/16/wtour16.xml) notes. "Loud and brash, in gawdy garb and baseball caps, more than three million of them flock to our shores every year. Shuffling between tourist sites or preparing to negotiate a business deal, they bemoan the failings of the world outside the United States." Many citizens of other countries find such self-centeredness and boasting offensive.
Among the pointers for Americans traveling abroad offered in Business for Diplomatic Action's World Citizens Guide:
» "Listen at least as much as you talk. (By all means, talk about America and your life in our country. But also ask people you're visiting about themselves and their way of life.)"
» "Save the lectures for your kids." The guide adds, without irony (and without any hint of self-examination): "Justified or not, the U.S. is seen as imposing its will on the world."
» Also, in a bit of wise counsel that might serve as well at home as it might abroad, the guidebook reminds American travelers: "Your religion is your religion and not necessarily theirs. (Religion is usually considered deeply personal, not a subject (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/16/wtour16.xml) for public discussions.)"
Keith Reinhard, an advertising executive who heads BDA, said: "Surveys consistently show that Americans are viewed as arrogant, insensitive, over-materialistic and ignorant about local values. That...is the image of the Ugly American abroad, and we want to change it (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/16/wtour16.xml)."
India's Daily News & Analysis (http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1023887) was among the foreign media outlets that have reported the release of the World Citizens Guide, as did the Wall Street Journal in the U.S. DNA cited the conservative, U.S. paper's report and noted that, whatever the new guidebook's good intentions might be, "the financial daily had [had] the last word" when it observed: "Of course, major U.S. foreign-policy decisions and events like the Iraq war far outweigh manners when it comes to shaping the perception of Americans overseas."
Fuck, I'm thinking of grabbing a couple of cases of these books and just handing them out to all the dumbasses that yell into their cellphones, and just generally act like asses in public to begin with. On second thought, instead of handing them out, maybe I'll bean the idiots in the head with the book.
Oh, here's the link:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=15&entry_id=4459