4 ms·

Hungary might as well be Zimbabwe in the mind of most Americans (especially the type to be working as border guards at the US-Canada border). They don't really

Hungary might as well be Zimbabwe in the mind of most Americans (especially the type to be working as border guards at the US-Canada border). They don't really grok that modern civilization exists outside the US, England, Germany and France. I wish I was joking.

thieving_magpie 9y ago
That might be the most ridiculous statement I've read on HN. To the point that I can't even figure out what you're suggesting. Are you saying Americans aren't aware Hungary is a modern civilization? I'd say that was pretty off base.
- jprince 9y ago
  ...well, I mean, it IS just next to Zimbabwe. Can't be that great, can it? /sarcasm
- ionised 9y ago
  He's suggesting that most Americans don't own a passport, or have ever travelled outside the US, and have a tenuous grasp of world geography/geopolitics. I'd find it hard to argue.
  - thieving_magpie 9y ago
    Yes it can be very hard for non-affluent Americans to travel if they're not near a border. Like anywhere else. Americans knowledge of geography could certainly be improved. I don't think it means anything negative about the people though.
    - JBlue42 9y ago
      How is it not negative to be aware of the world around you, especially when you're (for now) the most powerful country in it and can vote for people that enact policies that have severe repercussions on many people? Celebrating ignorance is one reason we have the current administration and Congress.
      - thieving_magpie 9y ago
        You're putting a lot of responsibility on some regular people. Do you go around to Inuits quizzing them on Southeast Asia too? Ordinary citizens do not vote on issues affecting an individual country. I'm sorry, you're just going to have to accept the fact that not all Americans are well educated.
        JBlue42 9y ago
        >You're putting a lot of responsibility on some regular people. Putting nuclear weapons at the finger tips of someone is a big responsibility. >Ordinary citizens do not vote on issues affecting an individual country. They vote on representatives that tend to have a policies that might. See for example those running on platforms on building border walls, kicking out immigrants, banning people from other nations from entering them, pulling out of climate change agreements, etc. >I'm sorry, you're just going to have to accept the fact that not all Americans are well educated. I accept that's the fact now. I don't accept that that should be a fact for the country's future.
        thieving_magpie 9y ago
        You'll have to explain to me how a guy in Oklahoma having a passport and knowing the capitol of Hungary is relevant to nuclear policy and the threat of nuclear war. Your argument is all over the place. We're not all rich here in America, many of us weren't given great educations and have the money to travel. It isn't like Europe where another country may be within a couple of hours drive or train ride. I also accept that we should do better in Geography. That'd be swell.
- vilmosi 9y ago
  I don't think it's that ridiculous. When you have tweets like this [0] from politicians it gives the impression that people do actually think like that. [0] https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/705171336381923328 https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/705171336381923328
cafard 9y ago
There are enough Americans of Hungarian descent in the US Rust Belt that the expression "Hunky" used to be heard there. I haven't been to Buffalo except passing through, but I bet the phone listings include a fair number of Novaks, Spisaks, etc.
- true_religion 9y ago
  He was a single guy with no family, no employer, no paid return ticket home that he'd lose by staying, who was crossing on foot from a country he wasn't resident in. Border guards will always get suspicious of that.
strictnein 9y ago
Whenever I see these sweeping statements about a characteristic of Americans, I'm always struck by how ignorant they are.

thieving_magpie 9y ago

That might be the most ridiculous statement I've read on HN. To the point that I can't even figure out what you're suggesting. Are you saying Americans aren't aware Hungary is a modern civilization? I'd say that was pretty off base.

jprince 9y ago
...well, I mean, it IS just next to Zimbabwe. Can't be that great, can it? /sarcasm
ionised 9y ago
He's suggesting that most Americans don't own a passport, or have ever travelled outside the US, and have a tenuous grasp of world geography/geopolitics. I'd find it hard to argue.
- thieving_magpie 9y ago
  Yes it can be very hard for non-affluent Americans to travel if they're not near a border. Like anywhere else. Americans knowledge of geography could certainly be improved. I don't think it means anything negative about the people though.
  - JBlue42 9y ago
    How is it not negative to be aware of the world around you, especially when you're (for now) the most powerful country in it and can vote for people that enact policies that have severe repercussions on many people? Celebrating ignorance is one reason we have the current administration and Congress.
    - thieving_magpie 9y ago
      You're putting a lot of responsibility on some regular people. Do you go around to Inuits quizzing them on Southeast Asia too? Ordinary citizens do not vote on issues affecting an individual country. I'm sorry, you're just going to have to accept the fact that not all Americans are well educated.
      - JBlue42 9y ago
        >You're putting a lot of responsibility on some regular people. Putting nuclear weapons at the finger tips of someone is a big responsibility. >Ordinary citizens do not vote on issues affecting an individual country. They vote on representatives that tend to have a policies that might. See for example those running on platforms on building border walls, kicking out immigrants, banning people from other nations from entering them, pulling out of climate change agreements, etc. >I'm sorry, you're just going to have to accept the fact that not all Americans are well educated. I accept that's the fact now. I don't accept that that should be a fact for the country's future.
        thieving_magpie 9y ago
        You'll have to explain to me how a guy in Oklahoma having a passport and knowing the capitol of Hungary is relevant to nuclear policy and the threat of nuclear war. Your argument is all over the place. We're not all rich here in America, many of us weren't given great educations and have the money to travel. It isn't like Europe where another country may be within a couple of hours drive or train ride. I also accept that we should do better in Geography. That'd be swell.
vilmosi 9y ago
I don't think it's that ridiculous. When you have tweets like this [0] from politicians it gives the impression that people do actually think like that. [0] https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/705171336381923328 https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/705171336381923328

cafard 9y ago

There are enough Americans of Hungarian descent in the US Rust Belt that the expression "Hunky" used to be heard there. I haven't been to Buffalo except passing through, but I bet the phone listings include a fair number of Novaks, Spisaks, etc.

true_religion 9y ago
He was a single guy with no family, no employer, no paid return ticket home that he'd lose by staying, who was crossing on foot from a country he wasn't resident in. Border guards will always get suspicious of that.

strictnein 9y ago

Whenever I see these sweeping statements about a characteristic of Americans, I'm always struck by how ignorant they are.