attn americans

[cherry]

an often quoted statistic is that only 10% of the American populataion have passports, indicating their lack of interstest in the world outside their own country.
so how many of you have a passport? how many of you have visited another country? how often do you encounter news stories?
It seems the american population are being insular and uncaring where global issues are concerned. your thoughts please.

[glowbelly]

i have a passport.

i've visited you and i've been to france WHICH IS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY FILLED WITH NICE PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT RUDE TO ME AT ALL.

i hate the news. i just can't bear it most of the time as i can only take so many sad or horrifying stories a day.

[hawaiian mage]

I don't have a passport. And I have never met any one who admitted to having on either.

The concept seems foreign and strange to me. I wouldn't even know how to go about getting a passport.

I went a few hundred miles north into Canada a few weeks back, though. Their ways are questionable and exotic. It was quite an enlighting and mind expanding experience. Although frankly, I don't think I could handle anything more diverse without wanting to start a hate group against them.

[cherry]

I know what you mean glow gal, Boo tells me not to watch the news everyday because it upsets me so much. I recently came across a wonderful word to describe the feeling I get- 'weldtschmerz' or world sickness. Its the difference between the world as you want it to be, and the world as it actually is. As I bury my head in the pillow sobbing 'why cant everyone just get along' my comfort comes from the fact that I am surrounded by good people who are trying to make a difference. Oh, and you know where I encountered that term, from Nightcrawler in the X-men comic. Naomi Klein, Umberto Eco- pah! comics are best for making sense of this world.

[glowbelly]

as far as world news goes, it's really hard to see here if you don't have some kind of enhanced tv (cable, satellite, etc...). the local news stations usually do a 45 second "world news" bit that always include some wacky tale about a norwegian making a to scale statue of the eiffel tower out of butter.

oh and then you get the quick iraq coverage overview.

most of the news i get about the war comes from reading articles on various online newspapers...and again, it's really hard sometimes because of the slant each paper takes.

america is just separatist...especially when it comes to worldly events. i think that most people here don't care about other countries and don't realize the impact other countries have on our own. it's a sad, sad situation.

PS: CHECK YOUR INSTANT MESSAGES, MISS PRETTY PANTS

[Seven Force]

I also don't have a passport. :/

[huond]

great addition to the thread!!


i got a passport about 10 years ago when i visted the UK

[kellychaos]

The U.S. has pretty much been seperatist ever since we kicked everyone out and formed our own country. Canada, other than the War of 1812, has remained our ally and is no real threat. Mexico, since the Spanish-American War, has remained our ally and is no real threat. In short, we have been able to pretty much avoid world affairs unless it affected out own self-interest. We more or less had to be dragged into World Wars I and II. Why did remain seperatist? Because we could. With modern communication and transportation making it a smaller world combined with the threat of terrorism, I don't that we can afford to have this mindset anymore.

[Sethomas]

I've had a passport since I was 15 (five years ago) and have gone to Europe about once every two years since then, for various reasons. All five of my family members have passports, though my older sister (who goes to med school in Grenada) and I are the only people that use them regularly. Every time I turn on domestic news I feel like expatriating for good. International news doesn't really interest me, though I know it should.

All this makes my family sound more cultured than we really are. I mean, I haven't had real caviar in years.

[executioneer]

my sister's been living in japan for the past 3 years or so, and my parents and other sister all got passports so they could go visit her not me tho i couldnt get time off

[camacazio]

So few people have passports because they can't afford to travel off the continent.

[glowbelly]

it costs less to travel to europe in some cases than it does to travel cross country. i don't think us citizens realize that, though.

[camacazio]

If that's true or not, my position stays the same: why bother getting a passport if you don't think you'll use it? I'm sure everyone would go to europe if they were loaded.

[glowbelly]

i'm telling you it's true, you little twit, because i have gone to england and france and i have spent less money on airfare than if i wanted to fly to california.

you don't have to be loaded to go to europe. in fact, most places in europe (england doesn't really count) are less expensive as far as food and lodging goes.

[The_Rorschach]

so how many of you have a passport?

I do! I do! And I also have an International Drivers Liscence (frightening, I know), although I keep both within a box at the bank and use my California's Drivers Liscence for indentification and travel. Neat factl Using an IDL keeps tickets and accidents from getting ammended to your national driving record, which is why my record is currently spotless and my monthly with 20th Century is only sixty bucks a month.

how many of you have visited another country?

I visited quite a few in the Navy, but my passport is still without a single stamp

how often do you encounter news stories?

Daily. I've added myself to a dozen news update sites, most European or Russian, to balance out what I get through CNN and the Wallstreet Journal. I'm also rather keen on Politics in general, so I realize I'll be standing out a bit in this queue

Post Script: I've always favoured Umberto Eco. I picked up "Kant's Platypus" to read on my flight from Singapore to Japan and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[cherry]

I did suspect the Americans on this board might rather buck the trend. After all I have had 4 of you visit me. The British broadsheet papers are full of stories of how its a crappy time to be American at this point in time, but i also think it has got to be a hopeful time. Places like this site, forms of media that are below critical radar are helping people wake up a little. anyone with a computer has a voice now. trouble is its thinking not just about what to say, but who to say it to. ok, stop reading now. no you better because I am really tired and i am supposed to be finnishing my dissertation but i have come over all fuzzy and i am probably going to talk shit yep...yup here it comes.
this is going to sound like one of your parents but don't you wonder about how much time you spend on here? some of you guys are insanely talented. i am not going to mention any names because it will start a chain of 'am I talented questions?' and this is not an arse licking post. far from it. now theres a difference between dashing off a quick post at your lunch break or while you roll a cigarette but arent some of you going a little nuts. especially when one takes into account that mockery isn't likely to be your only email activity. a telling sign is the dearth of posts on the 'reading' board. ok, i told you to stop reading this post a while back but if you must carry on- heres a challenge- for 3 days see how long you spend on this site. For the next three days only spend half the time and use the other half to create something. oh no, i guess i am being a little unfair really, this site is creative in its way- perhaps i will go back to my studies now damn I better get a fag and some coffee darn me neck or you lot will just wish i had stayed away and if you have stuck with me this far-gawd bless yer 'eart mmmpppppp!! (no tongue)

[Zomboid]

Furthest I've been from Alberta is Minnesota, and that was for a Polaris (recreational vehicle company) thing.

[Burger Lord]

I'm an american without a passport, add me to the statistic. Of course I barely afford to travel anywhere, much less another country, not that I don't want to or anything...just never seem to have the time or money for it.....

..oh yea, hellows everyone, my first post, so everyone be sure to call me the noob, or newb, or nooby nooby noob noob, or whatever you kids do these days...

[Evil Robot]

All foriegn countries hate americans. Nobody has any reason to travel abroad, unless they like being ripped off by taxi drivers and kidnaped by terrorists. I say, if your not american, fuck off and die.

[ziggytrix]

if i had a passport i'd go to the uk and spend all my time in record shops and meeting people that i've only ever talked to online, unless i could track down that one british kid who for some unknowable reason hung out at the little rock raver message board for a couple years.

but i couldn't go someplace where at least 25% of the people didn't speak english, cuz while i've studied french, spanish, and russian, i probably don't know enough to not say something that would get me beaten by a spontaneously formed angry mob. :/

[Supafly345]

There is just as much to explore in US as there is in Europe, only Europe is more mysterious and different than what we are used to in the states. But, since there is more family, friends, and a base knowledge of our own country, it is just easier on our minds to vacation within our own country; even if disneyland costs more than a swedish bed-&-breakfast.

[ziggytrix]

plus, you can drive anywhere in the US and see all kinds of things, but you can't drive to europe. and frankly canada and mexico just aren't appealing vaction destinations for me.

[ernasty10050]

is europe so great that i need to go get a passport and fly there? i mean, im sort of interested but it's not something that im dying to do

[Krythor]

Italy is worth every penny alone. I've been three times now just to see every one of the major cities and it was a blast every time.

I don't really have much else to add since I'm in the UK, but driving through Europe was half the fun. I've yet to visit the US.

[Skulhedface]

I do indeed have a passport but have neither the time or the money to effectively use it to travel further than 10 miles across either the Mexican or Canadian borders.