Americans...no fun :PFollow

>>>I sincerely hope the mistakes of my government do not injure or destroy good relationships with Great Britain. Sadly, we share an evershrinking cultural, historical, and religious bond with this country, and the neo-conservative warhawks are now straining the political ties which have for over half a century promised mutual security.<<<

If you are implying 'by my government' to indicate that you believe the US has made any substantial mistakes, you, sir, are almost totally wrong.

The only mistake we made was back in 1991 by honoring the letter of the UN Resolution that permitted us to drive Hussein out of Kuwait only. We should have finished the job then and there and spared the lives of something on the order of 350,000 Iraqis that Saddam exterminated since then. We allowed the feckless and corrupt debating society run by socialists and idiots that is the UN to dictate to us what we could and could not do. Never again.

You wonder why the 'world' is so against us? Or at least seems to be so? Read up on what is rapidly emerging as the greatest international scandal since the Holocaust- the UN Oil For Food program. We now know that senior governmental and business leaders throughout Europe- especially our dear, dear friends the French- were being paid off with huge sums of money to, at best, look the other way when Saddam either skimmed billions (looks like $20 billion plus) off the top for himself and his depraved family or, at worst, actually facilitated the deals that allowed Saddam to acquire weapons denied him by the cease-fire of the first Gulf War. Is it any wonder that Schroder, Chirac and Putin were so against us ending their little get-rich-quick scheme? Since the media is largely, if not completely, State-controlled in those countries, it reports with the approved Governmental slant if it expects to continue reporting at all. Frankly, I'll take friends like the English, the Poles, the Italians. the Australians and the like over these corrupt men leading France and Germany.

If you're speaking to the Weapons of Mass Destruction that we haven't found- yet- then, again, check the news. We've found labs that were built to add Anthrax spores to improvised explosive devices. We've found artillery shells that had traces of the nerve agent Sarin. And we haven't yet been able to investigate just what was in the steady flow of trucks that, in the days and weeks before the war, sped toward Syria. I might point out to you that Bush was far from the only world leader to believe that Saddam had WMDs. Even the feckless UN believed it was so even before Powell made his presentation. Blair believed it. So did Chirac. And Schroeder. Putin too. Somehow, all of those people (save Blair) have gotten a pass for being wrong (if they were indeed wrong, which I don't believe for a minute). Bush alone is held responsible. More evidence of, in this case, an international double standard when it comes to Leftists versus Conservatives.

Bush is a rarity among politicians: he says exactly what he means and means exactly what he says. There's no 'nuance' to it. It's really refreshing after what we went thru in the previous Administration. Clinton was much more Internationalist in his views and shared many traits with Chirac and Shroeder: he was thoroughly corrupt, totally dishonest and manifestly greedy. And you wonder why they got along so well?

I'm of the opitnion that much of the world owes US an apology because, once again, they sought to cuddle up to Dictators and to appease Tyrants rather than standing up to them. You'd have thought that the example of Chamberlain and Daldier prior to World War Two would have taught Old Europe the futility of taking that road. Sadly, some people (and nations) seem not to learn from their mistakes. Fortunately for them, the United States isn't one of those.

Holy crap, this thread got out of hand. One observation and it devolves into a history discussion. I think some of you proved his original point.

The nail that stands up will be immediately hammered down, eh? This is exactly the mentality that will suck the fun out of this, or any game where it's tolerated.

I group up with my friends, and maybe their friends, and whoever they happen to drag along, or perhaps these people I just met who seem pretty fun. Do they have the best gear and the best stats? I neither know, nor care. If we're all competent players, it makes very little difference in the long run. Good players know how to adapt.

As for the lack of humor the OP talks about, you might have just landed with a stick-in-the-mud guild. I also have a feeling once we all become more comfortable with the mechanics of the game, the chat will pick up. I'm normally very chatty and crack a lot of jokes, but now I'm so busy button pushing it cuts into my chat time.

LETS MAKE LOVE! NOT WAR!

Izzozz, I'd agree with you on that Americans, as a whole, lack a fun and zany sense of humor.

Just the fact that your post got so many flames is a testament to that - so many are simply incapable of taking a joke.

It didn't used to be like that, but a few bad things happened a few years ago, and far too many Americans responded by becoming miserable, fearful, angry, dull, over-sensitive, and humorless people.

I've noticed this on EQ2 as well. I mostly play during the evening, when mostly Americans are on, and /ooc is filled with nothing but newbie questions and people getting mad because no one's answering their newbie questions. It goes along with that whole sense of self-entitlement that's such a part of the American identity.

But a few times I played during the very early morning, when a lot of Australians were on, and I noticed that zone chat became a lot funnier and more interesting - people cracking jokes, laughing, telling funny stories, and generally acting liked they ENJOYED what they're doing. I certainly noticed the difference.

(Oh yeah, and I'm an American.)

Totally agree with you Minky. I am Persian American (yeah that country that is part of the Axis of EVIL)that has spent 10 years in one way or another in the American military. I am getting sick of these tubby lazy americans that talk ignorantly about other countries and Nationalities. Look if you havn't walked a mile in their shoes keep your mouth shut. I would like to congrat Minky on standing up for himself and I would like the majority of Americans to Wise up, Smile on your brother, Everybody get together and try to love one another, Right now(good song)

As far as Bush winning the election, I sure hope that that 50% of the populace plans on signing up for the draft to spport thier president, otherwise America will start losing wars and soilders. I persoannly am tired of seeing white Americans send the poor minorities to fight thier wars for them while they sit at home sipping on thier mommys tit..lol. If you didn't vote or voted for Bush and don't plan on signing up, I hope you get drafted. Oh by the way when you die you can't be revived. As for me I'll be here in my house in Iowa cause I have already been though the regular army, been deployed, and killed for the right of all americans to be not funny in EQ2(lol)

I stand aside my Bloody Brit Brother and hope to see him someday on the Permafrost server.

Moadeb 20 Wizzy
Healinghammer 10 Cleric
Rustam 12 War

Im tired of a******* saying all white people are rich and send the minoritys to fight our wars. Im white....and Im no where near rich nor is my family you jacka$$. I nor any other "white" person forces anyone white or otherwise to sign up for the military, you do it by your own free will.

I didnt vote, because of f*** up on my part. Should I die because I messed up you twit? HUH?!?!? Should I?!? I didnt like Bush and would have voted against him. So am I worthy in your almighty eyes to not be drafted and live God? Heh....***** you.

I hope to god Im taking this entirely the wrong way.......if not I hope I never meet you in person....Im sooo p*****.

(OMG the last part was offensive to many so its gone.....for good...wrote it in the heat of the moment.)

Edited, Thu Dec 2 07:26:23 2004 by WasteOfSpace

Aside from the fact that you are probably referring to U.S. citizens, and not "Americans" in general (There are American continents, as in more than one), I would like to just say that you, sir, have a seriously skewed idea of Americans (read: U.S. citizens).

https://www.patrick.af.mil/deomi/Observances%20&%20Demographics/Deomographics/Demographics_2004_03.pdf

(just copy and paste that, this site doesnt like linking to secure (https) documents.)

As you can see, 64.6% of current Active Duty Forces are "white". Please do research before you slam another country/race/religion/etc... because if you dont, it just makes you look like a fool.

Thanks-

Edited, Thu Dec 2 10:18:08 2004 by gxm

Edited, Thu Dec 2 10:20:28 2004 by gxm

wow good job round of applause for the douches in this thread

Let me offer an apology to anyone that I might've offended in my replies to this thread. Such was not my intent. I just hate to see manifestly incorrect assertions and outright lies put forth as being the truth simply because the poster (NOT his fault) hasn't been exposed to a dissenting opinion. If you seek knowledge only from people who lean to the Left, you're almost certainly going to adopt their opinion >IF< you don't actively try to seek out the other side, Academia in the US (and elsewhere, apparently) being what it is. I went to college 20 years ago and it was a tiny bit better then for anyone who leans Right but I did have my scores penalized on subjective testing or assignments because I didn't toe the line with my professors' opinions. Also, being an ex-debator, sometimes I just can't help taking up the argumentative mantle. You won't catch me personally insulting anyone, even if I have ample opportunity and cause, because that isn't the way to get your point across. Logic beats emotion (or at least it should).

We (the US) did support Hussein in the 1980s in his war against Iran. At that point, Hussein was the lesser of two evils (Khomeini of Iran being the other). Iran had captured our Embassy in Tehran and held Americans hostage for 444 days. So it's pretty apparent which side we thought was the greatest threat. Also, Hussein ran a, for lack of a better term, 'casual' Islamic nation- certainly much less strict than the near-Theocracy of Iran. We thought we could control Hussein or, at least, buy him off with weapons and other aid. In retrospect, that was idiocy of the highest order made all the worse by giving him WMDs in the form of lethal gases. I think the world of Ronald Reagan but this will and should tarnish his legacy. The only luck to come out of it is that he didn't use the gas on Israel (which probably would have resulted in Israel dropping a nuke on Baghdad and igniting a much more widespread war in the Middle East) or on us in either conflict.

On the subject of education: frankly, I'm jealous of any family that can arrange themselves so as to be able to home-school their kids. You're absolutely right that yeilds the best education for the child because all parties have a real investment in a successful outcome- a situation that, with respect to Government schools, may or may not exist. If you're willing to make the lifestyle sacrifices that allow you to home school, all the better for you. I'm just saying that, when given the option between a typical Government school and a typical religious school, studies invariably show that the child is better served in the religious school. I know that I was.



As for Americans being 'no fun' within the EQ2 game, I'm going to put that charge down as an overgeneralization because there are exceptions (myself being one, though you might not readily believe it. If you see a ratonga running around quoting Monty Python on the Najena server, it's me).

I'd agree that you just signed up with the wrong Guild to suit your personality. These guys might well be 'minimaxers' (minimum effort/maximum reward) or just obsessed with advancing as fast as they possibly can whereas you take a more leisurely approach (for what it's worth, I feel the same way. take time and smell the roses, as it were). I think I'd look elsewhere for Guilding.

A bad generalization made from bad company.

People are blowing this wayy overboard. He's simply had a negative experience with the Americans he's met. If you disagree you should be trying to prove otherwise, not become serious and flame him into oblivion. Most of the efforts on this forum seem to only reinforce his mistaken generalizations.

On the other side, the original poster should not make sweeping generalizations about a group of people simply from the experience of a few. I happen to know many people in EQ2 who are a joy to hang around with (my guild members), and most of them live in the US. We've had many 'interesting' conversations on Guild chat. But I've also met many fun people from the UK, Australia, Sweden, Norway, and many other places. Does this mean there are less 'fun' people everywhere else? No, I just haven't met as many yet.

I like to advance as much as the next person, but as soon as I start getting obsessed about it I take a step back because it's just not fun any more.

You WANT flames? Ok, I for one American (with zero to be ashamed of and everything to be proud of being so) would be happy to pay an extra $1 a month not to have to play with or hear whining europeans.

And that goes for Alla too. :)

Well at least Im not the only one who was offended by that d*** and not afraid to speak up about it. Heh.....he really p***** me off with those comments. Once again...***** you.

Heh....Maginot Line...such an ill conceived plan. Poor France has been very inept militarily for around 200 years. The Maginot Line is a grand botch that pretty well sums up their military track record since around Napolean.

*cheers* Heres to the French finally growing some balls. Hopefully the military shapes up too. 8)