Americans on this board show the backfire effect in full force

Minus you overwhelmingly antagonistic and belligerently pretentious tones, I agree with you. And I'm an American. The people with whom you are aiming your condescension would probably be more open to reason if you perhaps showed a modicum of restraint and class while attempting to get your point across. Otherwise, your words are wasted.

Agreed 100%. This actually relates closely to my opinion of the series overall. While he didn't take it to the extent the OP did I think it was Oliver Stone's demeanor through out the whole series caused his message to be lost to a lot of people.

I think there is a large portion of people who showed signs of the "backfire effect" not because they weren't willing to challenge their beliefs, but because Oliver Stone presented it in such a smug and pretentious tone. It's cool that he was pointing out the revisionist history that has been taught presented to us growing up but it felt as if he wanted to rub our noses in it afterwords in a condescending manner.

I can see non-Americans not being able to relate with this point of view and that's understandable. I think a lot of Americans understand what I'm getting at though. When I go overseas I'm insecure about being American. People jump to a lot of conclusions about what kind of person you are. I understand their apprehension to a degree, there is bases behind people not liking Americans. The reasoning behind all, and why I think it distorted and most importantly amplified is a whole other conversation all together.

Point being is that there are well over 300 million of us, and a very wide variety of us. Not all of us are ignorant. It just felt like Stone was belittling the American into feeling stupid, not a great way to get people to listen to your message



-- Den som vinkar till den blinde, han gör fåfängt arbete.

Stop dictating terms you American fascist.

Ideally, respectful reasoned argument would affect people, but I've found that just about everyone holds onto irrational, emotionally based prejudices, finding "reasons" to back up presumptions. It frankly makes me absolutely sick, though I see the same tendency in myself. Most of us refuse to think and to listen.

No the people that he is aiming his condescension at would never see the truth if it was right in front of them because the refuse to open their eyes. I know many americans ( probably like you) who haven't been indoctrinated to the point that many if not most americans have. But Too many people, ( and yes canadians too) are all rah rah rah america can do no wrong, When we both know that it has and will continue to do wrong because it backs its bankers and wealthy one percenters
I predict a violent revolution is coming.

I don't think the OP took the right tone at all, but I don't think it really matters to what extent other countries are in denial as well.

But, look, there isn't an equivalency here. Germany outlawed antisemitism. Japanese, I get the impression, have more than come to grips with their nations transgressions.

That's not to say that human nature isn't fairly consistent, but it doesn't excuse anything. And right now it's the US that's the main force exerting it's military force in the world.

And I think the public in the US (and a number of other western powers) are largely out to lunch RIGHT NOW as their nation's foreign policy has gone out of control.


"That's what a gym teacher once told me."

Spinmonkey44, I wanted to comment on your post. I agree that people in general will reject information that does not confirm what they want to believe. One example I would give is the people who live near Transylvania, in Romania. One of the craziest television shows I ever saw was about the real Dracula. Vlad the Impaler committed quite a few gross atrocities, to say the least, but to hear the villagers nearby discuss him, one would think he had been canonized. When asked about Vlad's penchant for putting people on spikes, including children and women, the villagers stated the stories about his ordering the impaling innocent children were all lies. While I totally understand that Vlad Dracula defended Christianity and protected his realm, he was a monster, and a fickle one at that.

Well, anyway, I believe most people must work to see the entire story of anything. Since I went back to college, I have become much better at it. In fact, being able to seek truth over confirmation of being right is a rather liberating way to live. I'm not so concerned about winning an argument as much as I am about learning more.

The gene pool could use a little chlorine......

>>I don't think only Americans are the only group that do it. I would bet most countries and their people have a revisionist history or just try to forget about what their forefathers have done. It's human nature and if you were more intelligent, you'd know that. Japan doesn't like talking about and denies events in their past. China, Russia, France, Britain, etc. We all have things in our past that we deny or just don't want to talk about so stop with your American bashing because you look like a young idiot.

Exactly

"No country has ever done it before" is not an argument that something is impossible, sorry. OP was right -- this logic and this retort against communism in general is retarded.



~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~

@Splarne.

Absolute nonsense. Stone is doing the loyal thing by criticizing his own country, the proper thing a real citizen does. Anyone can point out the foibles of somewhere else, but it takes real courage to examine the beam in your own eye.

This show isn't anti-Americanism. At most it's anti-American government. Because like clockwork, each President of USA has failed to stand up against the strong tide of the CIA's paranoid, ego-driven directives. This series is trying to supply some damn truth about the complexities of the last one hundred years, and I'm sorry to say it, but America has absolutely contributed to the death of our collective spirit.

This is not to say Russia, Britain, Japan or any other superpower is therefore more morally sound than America. Britain has proven itself to be a truly disturbing evil over the last few centuries. Colonisation in Australia led to the Indigenous native Australian population, who lived and survived longer than most dynasties, were effectively destroyed and very nearly wiped out completely. India suffered under their rule, Sri Lanka was divided and turned into a mess form their meddling, Africa... the list goes on and on.

So when someone comes onto this board and says they were taught a more truthful version of World War II and the years following, they are not saying they were taught to hate America. They are saying they were taught something a little more representative of the truth than what we know most Americans were taught throughout the 50s, 60s and beyond.

America has a very disturbing history and a very typical behavioural climate. There is always an enemy, an outside danger, a threat. But to many countries around the world, America is the threat, the danger, the enemy. The powers that be realised there was great money to be made from the military complex, and to be able to support their numerous wars and ideas for domination, they would need their entire population to believe in their desired patriotic sensibilities. Americans have been duped by America.

ISIS is only here because the US set fire to their governments. Their governments weren't good to begin with, but America came through and destroyed the system they knew, and from the rubble, countless factions of rebels and haters rose, and they have bloodlust now for what has been done to their countries and their people.