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Here are my assessments as somebody who has traveled to South America, Europe, and spent 4 years living in the Middle East. > Everyone outside the US knows the
by austincheney 8y ago
Here are my assessments as somebody who has traveled to South America, Europe, and spent 4 years living in the Middle East.
> Everyone outside the US knows the top US politicians. You even know what issues they are discussing, like gun control and healthcare.
That is only vaguely true. People outside the US tend to know of these issues in the media about as well as the average American, which isn't very well.
> You'll know the names of the states. How many other foreign countries do you know the subdivisions of?
I don't find that is true. Most Americans don't even know of most US states and I find people outside the US are about as aware of US geography as the average American. Americans that frequently travel abroad tend to be well versed in geography particularly where they are traveling to. Likewise, foreigners who travel to the US to be far better aware of US geography than the average American.
> You know what movies are big in the US. You know what songs are popular.
That is absolutely true. Everybody is in love with American media.
- thrav 8y agoIn terms of states, I don’t think they meant, “everyone can’t point to Delaware on map.” I’d wager it’s more like, “People know Texas, and California, New York, and Florida, Hawaii, etc.” I’d wager most people can name several. This is mostly because of point 3, movies and media.
- jorvi 8y agoAmerican states are also the size of countries. A more apt comparison would be counties, which barely any foreigners know.
- petronio 8y agoAnd if we're going there, it's more likely they'll know more European nations than U.S. states. I think there's probably few European nations that people wouldn't recognize by name (e.g. Andorra, Azerbaijan, Slovenia).
- austincheney 8y agoAzerbaijan is in Asia. Its east of me and I am in Asia.