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Don't get me wrong; vast numbers of Americans do have plenty of experience with the world outside America. The simple (and unfortunate) answer is that because

Don't get me wrong; vast numbers of Americans do have plenty of experience with the world outside America. The simple (and unfortunate) answer is that because America is geographically isolated, many Americans literally don't see how folks in other countries live. Also, thanks to the Cold War, we spent half a century being indoctrinated to believe that socialism is evil and capitalism equals freedom and that's why the American way of life is the best one.

vibrato 8y ago
Thank god we have all of those shining beacons of socialism today to set us straight, like Venezuela.
- JohnBooty 8y ago
  They did a number of things badly, and were did in perhaps most of all by plummeting oil prices. All nations balance some degree of socialism with free market competition. Name a country you'd consider successful. Chances are, it has public schooling, public roads, that kind of thing. Some elements of socialism.
sacheendra 8y ago
I wouldn't necessarily say vast number of americans have plenty of experience outside the US. For example, only 42% have a passport. https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/11/the-share-of-americans-holding-a-passport-has-increased-dramatically-in-recent-years-infographic/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/11/the-sh...
- joejerryronnie 8y ago
  That's 137 million people, far more than any European country ;-)
- asark 8y ago
  Betting a solid half of those are for Canada (mostly those living near the border—don't you still need at least a passport card to drive over?) Mexico (all-inclusive resorts for the most part) and/or Caribbean cruises, entirely. That accounts for almost all the travel I hear about in my extended knowing-stuff-that's-going-on-with-people range.
- JohnBooty 8y ago
  I'm not sure that number tells the entire story. There's certainly a positive correlation between "percentage of citizens with passports" and "cluefulness about the rest of the world" but I don't think it's a simple, linear one. In terms of understanding another country, I'm sure we can agree that there's simply no substitute for living there, working there, and speaking the language for an extended period of time. In a very distant second place, there's having friends, family, and colleagues in other countries. I'm middle aged and my grandparents live in the Netherlands. Unfortunately I've not been able to travel there, but I do have several decades of secondhand experience with their healthcare system so I, at the very least, know there are viable alternatives to what we have in the U.S. in terms of healthcare and lifestyle in general thanks to them and my close friends and colleagues from other countries. In an even more distant third place, there's tourism. I wouldn't call it a waste of time, but I don't think a week or two of sightseeing and Instagramming it up teaches the traveler much about life in that country.
mbostleman 8y ago
There are those that innately understand that socialism and individual liberty cannot coexist. Those people were not indoctrinated.
- JohnBooty 8y ago
  It's not a binary question. Anything public-use paid for by non-voluntary taxes is "socialism." Public roads, public schools, public defenders, public libraries, public parks, government-funded mail delivery, fire departments, laws that prevent your employer from mistreating and exploiting you, the police, near-universal public access to safe drinking water, etc... these are all socialism, and most of these ideas are also considered American as apple pie. If you're in favor of any of those institutions or ones like them, you support socialism to a degree. Successful countries balance some amount of socialism with a larger degree of free market capitalism. Too much of either is often disaster.

vibrato 8y ago

Thank god we have all of those shining beacons of socialism today to set us straight, like Venezuela.

JohnBooty 8y ago
They did a number of things badly, and were did in perhaps most of all by plummeting oil prices. All nations balance some degree of socialism with free market competition. Name a country you'd consider successful. Chances are, it has public schooling, public roads, that kind of thing. Some elements of socialism.

sacheendra 8y ago

I wouldn't necessarily say vast number of americans have plenty of experience outside the US. For example, only 42% have a passport. https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/11/the-share-of-americans-holding-a-passport-has-increased-dramatically-in-recent-years-infographic/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/11/the-sh...

joejerryronnie 8y ago
That's 137 million people, far more than any European country ;-)
asark 8y ago
Betting a solid half of those are for Canada (mostly those living near the border—don't you still need at least a passport card to drive over?) Mexico (all-inclusive resorts for the most part) and/or Caribbean cruises, entirely. That accounts for almost all the travel I hear about in my extended knowing-stuff-that's-going-on-with-people range.
JohnBooty 8y ago
I'm not sure that number tells the entire story. There's certainly a positive correlation between "percentage of citizens with passports" and "cluefulness about the rest of the world" but I don't think it's a simple, linear one. In terms of understanding another country, I'm sure we can agree that there's simply no substitute for living there, working there, and speaking the language for an extended period of time. In a very distant second place, there's having friends, family, and colleagues in other countries. I'm middle aged and my grandparents live in the Netherlands. Unfortunately I've not been able to travel there, but I do have several decades of secondhand experience with their healthcare system so I, at the very least, know there are viable alternatives to what we have in the U.S. in terms of healthcare and lifestyle in general thanks to them and my close friends and colleagues from other countries. In an even more distant third place, there's tourism. I wouldn't call it a waste of time, but I don't think a week or two of sightseeing and Instagramming it up teaches the traveler much about life in that country.

mbostleman 8y ago

There are those that innately understand that socialism and individual liberty cannot coexist. Those people were not indoctrinated.

JohnBooty 8y ago
It's not a binary question. Anything public-use paid for by non-voluntary taxes is "socialism." Public roads, public schools, public defenders, public libraries, public parks, government-funded mail delivery, fire departments, laws that prevent your employer from mistreating and exploiting you, the police, near-universal public access to safe drinking water, etc... these are all socialism, and most of these ideas are also considered American as apple pie. If you're in favor of any of those institutions or ones like them, you support socialism to a degree. Successful countries balance some amount of socialism with a larger degree of free market capitalism. Too much of either is often disaster.