Okay, there are tons of questions I’ve always wanted to ask Americans. I’m going to start a thread that will serve as a bank in which I can deposit these questions.
Let me start off, however, by stating for the record (and some of y’all know this already), I’m Canadian (born and raised in Saskatoon, moved to Calgary in 94 when I was 17, still there).
My first question for Americans: What do you think of the British?
They don’t bother me more than anyone else.
They are our forebears. Without them wouldn’t have our Nation.
Along with many of the old and now largely forgotten anglo Virtues which made our people strong.
I think they are in a sad state today though, Britain has Declined greatly (as if that needed to be said), and they are in a bad state.
Do you mean the govt or the people? If its the govt, its in the same poor shape as ours. The people are the same as in the US. or anywhere else.
Two Words my Bro, - William Shakespeare and Keith Richards. Shakespeare for when you are terminally depressed - Keef for when you wanna know what it’s like to be on 10 pounds of heroin, - transported into the psyche of Chuck Berry in his prime - and churn out the most sweetsounding heavenly riffs humanity ever invented.
Both
Hmm?
Meaning: there are good, bad, intelligent, idiots and every other description. No better or worse than any other group.
Why do you feel the need to enforce some unfounded precendent for egalitarianism?
There are times where certain societies are just worse of then other.
And even if differing populations have a collection of the best and brightest to the lowest scum that doesn’t mean the levels are equitable.
When you are speaking of populations you must speak in generalities, specifics don’t do any good because were not refferring to an individual but to the collective as a whole.
Just because a generalization may not be the case in an absolute sense doesn’t mean it isn’t true in a general sense which is the nature of a generality.
The Brits? They were assholes, but then we had a fight and now we’re best buds. Probably always will be. Can’t say I really care for their TV, though.
Are you asking what I think of the people of Britain? Or is it a political question?
Of those I know, I think the British are fine. I have no strong feelings in response to the question. I’ve met some very decent British people and I’ve seen some unsavory types who are British. I don’t imagine the ratio differs much from a lot of other places in the world including the U.S.
I tend to find British humor (you know, humour) amusing, so that’s a plus.
Oh for the, really?? Ok
Fine, the damn Brits are average, unremarkable, fairly bland and normal except for their tea obsession.
Thanks for the feedback everyone…
And sorry for the poorly worded question–on a second read, it kind of sounds like I’m trying to stir up shit, which I’m not.
Some of you asked whether I was talking about the British people or the British government–well, either, or both, take your pick.
The answers I got about the British people were pretty predictable (and I don’t mean that in a pejorative way)–you know, nothing out of the ordinary–I wouldn’t think many Americans hate the British, but I’ve always wondered if they think of them as friends or just people they’ve learnt to get along with. And I suspected friends, but I wondered.
But I’ve also wondering what Americans think of the British political system. I think answers to that would be a bit more unpredictable. After reading some of the criticisms Maia voiced a little while back against the American system and its culture, I’ve wondered if there are symmetrical sentiments on the American side towards the British. I’ve read remarks from Americans here at ILP criticizing the British for being a dictatorship (i.e. they’re still a monarchy). I’ve even heard similar remarks about Canada–that we are not really free like the Americans are because we never technically severed our ties to the crown or formally declared ourselves independent.
I heard through the grape vine that when they talking about having tea, that isn’t always to be taken literally… they could be having beer too.
Believe it or not I like the monarchy. I like that there is something that traditional going on alluding to the middle ages, that has little to do with the less reputable parts. If I was a British taxpayer I would think twice about where my money is going, but I may in fact consider it a reasonable expense compared to the general waist that most tax revenues go to.
As for the government, I can give a perspective as an American who stopped paying attention to most such issues; nothing from my limited knowledge leads me to a decisive issue in that debate. I’d rather live in America just slightly more than most Western European countries, after considering all relevant factors, except to allude to tradition again, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to live in Europe for that reason alone.
Tea time, bland food, lots of umbrellas, funny accent, too much grass, too many sheep, lots of old buildings, and none of them really fight or anything I believe they settle pretty much every dispute with a proper debate.
Gib, So many of us have English ancestors, its hard to disrespect your grandparents. I kind of figure ale more than beer. They do drink it assbackwards though, warm. I went to a friend’s house and I was given a room temperature ale…eew but, I drank it because it would have been insulting to not drink it. I then found that I was a victim of British dry humor…I had a good laugh at my manners. 
Kris I love warm black beer.
Then you can have any that comes my way hon.
It makes me ill.
I like that they aren’t afraid to yell at each other a little more, and get more animated with things. I know that’s probably a trivial difference, but I think that airing out makes a big difference in political climate, and ultimately policy. As far as the Britain being a Dictatorship, that strikes me as a little to label-fixated. Ok, you have a monarch. But she doesn’t have any of the powers that makes the U.S. wary of monarchs, so what is it other than a vocabulary word?
Tea not tea time, is what you mean, we drink tea a lot, tea time is AKA dinner, we don’t drink tea and eat cakes on the lawn whilst whipping peasants, at least not any more.
Funny accent, well that’s everyone who does not come from your country who is attempting to speak what we loosely call English (It’s not a language Anglo Saxon was a language, English is a mess). It is is a fair point, we all think you sound funny too, but in a good way not a bad way.
The myth of bland food that originated during the war, you try and make Beef Wellington with whale meat and salt. Actually our cuisine is one of the most well rated in both history and now in the world, for example French cuisine was mostly imported from us, we also have a large share of award winning restaurants per capita. 
It does rain a lot, a large percentage of English people are way too used to it to use many umbrellas though, umbrellas are for the weak.
Football hooliganism originated in England which just goes to show when there’s no wars as such we need to fight each other for no logical reason other than reflected glory and the fact you are born slightly further than 60 yards from our house which makes you an Arsenal fan. We are very tribal, for example the North is considered another country compared to the South, point in case. I’m not a racist though, Northerners are every bit as equal as us unless they support Manchester United then they are evil. Fortunately most people who support Manchester United have never even been within spitting distance of the North let alone Manchester.
Too many sheep I think you mean New Zealand and Australia where head per head sheep outnumber people. To be precise I would say outside of the hilly parts it’s mostly cows and pigs. I think there should be more sheep though, a man gets lonely.
Our Monarchy is like the President of the universe in Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, it’s designed to take the attention away from real politics that can actually affect anyone. It’s a kind of handy diversion for ours and the worlds press when our actual government is doing much dumber things. 