Would you consider me anti-American?

[Julie4]

[nightdrot]

Not at all!! I am not even sure why you would ask the question of yourself.

In my experience - and grant, I don't get to read every question and read every answer you have written - you are a remarkable person. You deeply love your country - which honestly, historically speaking is not something you always see in Europe in the post-WWII age where nationalism, and even patriotism, has gotten something of a bad name - and yet you are mindful of its' problems and are always willing to discuss them.

When you speak of other nations - especially the USA - your patriotism for France does NOT conduce to a disdain for other countries. Rather, you express your disagreements politely and respectfully and - at least on this site - in a spirit of inquiry and honest debate.

Indeed, you are not only respectful of other countries, but you seem open to learning from them where you can and where you think those lessons would be helpful to the France that you so clearly love. It is refreshing and mature and - I say this in all sincerity - I have a huge respect for you.

You bring a combination of love of country, honest but respectful disagreement with others and a true sense of intellectual inquiry to this site. There is no way anyone could call you anti-American and you certainly an asset to the discussions about the USA - and France, quite honestly - on this site.

[Julie4]

I'm asking this question because someone told me privately that I was anti-American.

and I sent him the answers I wrote here about the USA, but he never answered me.

So I thought that maybe since my English isn't great, some people thought I was. Of course I'm not, and I think I've already proved my respect for the USA and its history.

Well, according to those close to me, despite my many faults (I've stopped counting them, they're too numerous) in everyday life I'm just like on the site when it comes to debates, and believe me my parents wouldn't let me be rude 🤣

In any case , I hope you are well and kiss your family for me. Take care of you and yours.😊

[nightdrot]

The same to and yours.

As to whoever called you anti-American, all I can say is that their reading of you were superficial at best. As I wrote above, I have rarely run across someone who combines love of her own country with a sincere and honest respect for others.

All I can say is, you can tell your mom and dad for me that they did one amazing job raising you!! Tip of the hat to them - and to you.

[Joshydavid25]

Not at all.. You seem to have an appreciation for America especially since you're such a history nerd.. You probably know more about the history of America than many Americans.

[Julie4]

Oh I don't think so, in France we have the stereotype that Americans are extremely patriotic and don't know the history of other countries lol. So I don't think I could know US history better than most Americans. 🤣

[Joshydavid25]

Lmao.. You have a point, but you would be surprised.. It seems like a lot of Americans seem not to like America.. And love Europeans countries. France being one of them.

[ComteDeSaintGermain]

@Joshydavid25 You're correct. And there's also a lot of immigrants I've met that speak better English than a lot of Americans who are White Americans who only know English, and that's it. And if you look at Nikki Haley, when they asked her what the Civil Wars was about, she struggled to give an answer and said it was a state's rights violation and that's because some states have worse education from grades 1-12. When Donald Trump said "wtf was she talking about it it was about slavery" but Trump used to be a New Yorker and used to be a democrat even though he's a republican President now.

Many foreigners think we get the same education because when you look at Finland or some of the Nordic countries, it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. All the schools have the same high-quality education. So there are people like you, Josh, who have a good education. And then there's some people who live in the middle of bum fuck nowhere where there's nothing but dairy farms, no jobs, and they learn bullshit in school.

That's why we have immigrants coming here, not because they want to, but because we don't have enough qualified people to do the jobs.

[loveslongnails]

You're wrong about that. The vast majority of Americans know very little of it's true history. By the time you get out of high school, most everything you were taught about US history is edited spin designed to indoctrinate you and make the USA "sound like" the greatest country in the world. It's a shocking experience when you start delving into the truth about our past. It ain't pretty.

[Joshydavid25]

@ComteDeSaintGermain Yes sir.. You are definitely right.. I didn't have the best education, but I started to really like learning as I got older..

[Joshydavid25]

@loveslongnails Yeah America like any country has a dirty history, but it's paved the way to some of the best civil and human rights in history..

[Julie4]

See my answer to this question

Does anyone here really like Americans 🇺🇸? ↗

[Joshydavid25]

@julie4 Exactly, great answer!

[loveslongnails]

Really? You mean like everything from slavery to the Jim Crow laws to the current situation where a woman can't get an abortion in some states, even when the fetus isn't viable and she's likely to die? Those best human rights?

[Joshydavid25]

@loveslongnails I mean like I mentioned every country had it's dark moments.. Slavery was a World wide practice, and in fact Great Britain and early America were two of the first countries to abolish it.. Jim Crow laws were government intervention, and when pressed was abolished because it was particularly bad for businesses..

As for abortion, most abortions really have nothing to do with the fetus being a danger to the woman, and many states are compliant with extreme cases like that..

[loveslongnails]

You need to keep on what's going on to REAL women and doctors in those red states where you "think" the exceptions apply. In the REAL world, not a single doctor has been willing to risk his license or being prosecuted in order to make an abortion call they routinely would have previously. Women have been told "you're not close enough to death yet - come back when you are". It's ridiculous.

The excuse that "slavery was a world practice" doesn't justify it one bit at ANY point in history. After thousands and thousands of years doing it, I'm not impressed that it took a civil war which killed 750,000 people in the USA alone to "sort of" abolish it. Jim Crow laws may be technically off the books, but the practices still exist. You should know this.

[Joshydavid25]

@loveslongnails The truth is most women don't need abortions.. They got them because the supposed child was an inconvenience to their lives and they were wreckless.. I thought as a Christian man, you would have more of a different view about it.. And the people who are most against abortion are actually women.. Men are actually more for abortion..

Well I am a descendant of slaves, or mostly likely am in this country.. It's definitely not a justification, just an explanation as to why it's doesn't make the states any worse than any other country in the world.. And well by the time it was abolished, everybody thought it was evil anyways.. They had trouble abolishing it because the country was new, and they were afraid of a racial uprising and also trying to figure out whether to let the slaves continue to live in the country or give them a free ride back to the "motherland".. And well, I shouldn't because I've never seen it enacted in my life..

[loveslongnails]

"As a Christian man" ... what makes you think you know when life begins? Is it fertilization? Or is it ensoulment? I'm a bit tired of other folks throwing that "Christian man" stuff in my face.

And I have to say, again, that the argument of "you were no worse than others of your time" holds little weight with me. I don't care if having slaves was "the thing to do". It's an abomination, and I don't CARE what the justification for it is.

[Joshydavid25]

@loveslongnails As a Christian man, when does the Bible say that life begins? 😏.. I'm not throwing it on your face.. Just saying.. You seem to have a strong stance which doesn't align with your beliefs..

It's not a justification.. I'm glad they decided to end it.. Like I mentioned.. No matter what it still wasn't right.. It's an explanation.. At the very least, I'm glad my ancestors were brought here.. Some things are just a blessing in disguise.. Joseph was taken as a slave and look what happened to him.. Didn't even hold it against his slave masters or his brothers who sold him..

[loveslongnails]

The last thing I care to do is Bible hunt for justification about "when life begins". The point of what's happening is that "Christian men" are forcing their beliefs on others as sponsored by the State. Why should that be allowed? You prove it when you say things like "most women don't NEED abortions", because you as a man assume you have the authority to make that decision and force it on others.

You point to outcomes where certain slaves survived and/or when on to do a great thing as if you're justifying the hardship and pain they endured from this heinous act. You sound like Ron DeSantis trying to convince the world that "slavery wasn't so bad because slaves learned skills they ended up using after they were freed", neglecting to mention that if it were up to the South, those slaves would NEVER have been freed. Your explanations are indeed laced with justifications ranging from "it was universally accepted" to "look how it turned out". That's not cool with me.

[Joshydavid25]

@loveslongnails Why? As a Christian that's the foundation of your beliefs.. And like I mentioned most of the people against abortion are women.. You seem to ignore that part.. Most men are not against abortion.. I said most women don't need abortions to your response about the exceptions you listed like the baby being a danger to the woman's life.. Nothing to do with authority because let's be honest I don't have any.. It's just the truth.. Most don't need them.

Not at all.. You seem to be so ready to respond that you're not actually reading what I'm saying.. Even Muhammad Ali who is pretty pro "Black" and went to Africa said that he was glad his ancestors were taken.. Just saying some things are a blessing in disguise even if they start off horrible.. And the South was economically falling behind the North.. They would have eventually freed the slaves because it was becoming more of a hindrance than benefit.. I'm saying that history is grey, and that it is what it is.. Not cool to you when I am a damn descendants of slaves.. My guy chill..

[loveslongnails]

Oh, I'm reading what you're saying.
You like to speak for the "many" without bringing receipts. Statements like "most of the people AGAINST abortion are women". According to research by the PEW Research Foundation, the most respected in the world in my opinion, they found this:
" Women (66%) are more likely than men (57%) to say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to the survey conducted after the court’s ruling.
More than half of U. S. adults – including 60% of women and 51% of men – said in March that women should have a greater say than men in setting abortion policy. Just 3% of U. S. adults said men should have more influence over abortion policy than women, with the remainder (39%) saying women and men should have equal say."

While it's true that less than 5% of abortions are medically necessary, 46% of the reasons given by women are financial, saying they could not afford to support the child. Another 31% cited partner reasons, such as unstable relationship, unwillingness to help raise, etc.

[loveslongnails]

Unpacking further, what relevance does Muhammad Ali's feelings have other than you found someone to agree with you. Sure some things are a blessing in disguise but let me say quite emphatically - SLAVERY is NOT one of them, in my opinion, and I will denounce that theory at its core.

Then you become a history expert in economics and arrive at what I have to think is false conclusion, such as slaves would "eventually have been freed because it becoming a hindrance". Huh? If they were falling behind economically, why would they relinquish their unending source of free labor? White slave owners were repopulating their stock both by themselves and by other slaves. It was the South's idea to be it's own agricultural based nation and trade/sell to the world, while getting their manufacturing needs from sources other than the North.

I'm a descendant of slaves too, from Europe and the Middle East. Damn near everyone is. History when it comes to slavery in the USA is anything BUT grey; it's dark and disgusting, and it's no blessing in disguise.

[Joshydavid25]

@loveslongnails news.gallup.com/.../abortion-trends-gender.aspx

www.google.com/.../why-are-women-more-opposed-to-abortion

thehill.com/.../

As you can see it overall more more support abortion than women.. Of course, more women support the extreme view of abortion that it should be legal under any circumstance.. But that doesn't mean more women aren't pro-life than men.. Most people believe that abortion should be legal, but that doesn't mean most of the people who are pro-life aren't women..

Look you're arguing about Slavery in America to a "Black" man.. 😂😂.. Like I said chill my guy.. Muhammad Ali's statement is very relevant because he is most likely saying what most people of the "Diaspora" are thinking.. So how are you telling me that it's not a blessing in disguise? LOL.. Cause it was..

It was an economic hindrance simply because the North was doing far better than the South.. When Fredrick Douglas escaped to the North he was shocked at how far ahead the North was.. And when they asked him what to do with "Black" population after freeing them he said "Do nothing with them, mind your business and let them mind theirs".. Which was starting to work because right after Slavery three "Black" women became millionaires.. The first in the "Black" community and the first of women in the U. S as well.. Something that couldn't happen in Africa.. Now African Americans have the combined buying power of a small nation in America.. Also even people in the South started to disdain slavery.. It became a "necessary evil" all throughout the country..

And you aren't a descendant in America.. So that's beside the point.. And yeah it's grey like most other things.. Yeah, it was horrible, yeah it shouldn't have happened.. But it did, and at least we got to experience some form of prosperity out of it..

[AviatorTom]

Not really. I know you post several things about France and the French, but that doesn't make you anti-American. The French bailed out the colonies during the American Revolution, and the US bailed out the French in both World Wars.

[Astarlessnightsky]

I don't know you enough.

Also the next question would be, how is "anti American" defined? As always everyone has a different opinion on that.

[Kaneki05]

I don't know do you like trump? If you say yes then nobody would consider you as such. If your answer is no, then yeah.
And I am for sure anti-american.

[KostasKouvalis]

YOU?😂 As Donald Trump would say, "You're probably the LEAST anti-American person I've ever seen"😂

[sawno]

I don't know your opinions well enough to judge it. Feel free to share them and then ill comment how it comes across to me.

[exitseven]

@julie4 I do not think we have interacted much but I do not think you are anti American. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

[Julie4]

See my answer to this question

Does anyone here really like Americans 🇺🇸? ↗

[exitseven]

A very thoughtful and well written opinion

[Andres77]

Not at all. You’re PRO French. You might not agree with everything going on in this country but you never seemed to oppose us. I don’t agree with most of what is going on either

[Staximus]

I haven't seen you write anything anti-American

[RebelinSteel]

I am new here but what I have seen of your posts so far no you are not.

[JacobJordan]

Is there some context for this? All I see is a picture of the flag over some city

[AngryCarl]

Not particularly. Certainly not as much as Donald Trump and his Republican cronies.

[DJB72]

No, just not a citizen. Like a lot of us on gag

[NathanDavis]

are you anti-America?

[Julie4]

No.,

[NathanDavis]

then I would not consider you anti-American, lol...

[katiesmuff]

No I wouldn't say that at all!

[andreasderjuengere]

Your posts don't look like that.

[Anonymous]

Most smart people have issues with America.

[TadCurious]

Are you from France?

[Julie4]

Yes.

[TadCurious]

The reason I asked is that as a generalization the French don't like America and Americans very much. However I haven't seen any posts from you that I think are anti-American.

[maj1nall]

no, the French and the Americans are friends

[Luméa]

nope

[Mettbltt]

Nope