British anti-Americanism 'based on misconceptions'

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**British anti-Americanism ‘based on misconceptions’ **
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A poll of nearly 2,000 Britons by YouGov/PHI found that 70 per cent of respondents incorrectly said it was true that the US had done a worse job than the European Union in reducing carbon emissions since 2000. More than 50 per cent presumed that polygamy was legal in the US, when it is illegal in all 50 states.
The poll was commissioned by America In The World , an independent pressure group that launches on Monday and aims to improve understanding and appreciation of the US in Britain and around the world.
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The survey showed that a majority agreed with the false statement that since the Second World War the US had more often sided with non-Muslims when they had come into conflict with Muslims. In fact in 11 out of 12 major conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims, Muslims and secular forces, or Arabs and non-Arabs, the US has sided with the former group. Those conflicts included Turkey and Greece, Bosnia and Yugoslavia, and and Kosovo and Yugoslavia.
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Asked if it was true that “from 1973 to 1990 the United States sold Saddam Hussein more than a quarter of his weapons,” 80 per cent of British respondents said yes. However the US sold just 0.46 per cent of Saddam’s arsenal to him, compared to Russia’s 57 per cent, France’s 13 per cent and China’s 12 per cent.
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Almost a third of Britons believe that "Americans who have not paid their    hospitals fees or insurance premiums are not entitled to emergency medical    care"; by law such treatment must be provided.
More than half the respondents believed that polygamy is legal in some US states, while it is illegal in all US states.
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Reminds me of the old Robert Burns line:

O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us

Although where anyone gets the idea that polygamy is legal here I have no idea :confused:
 
MoBeck said:
[Although where anyone gets the idea that polygamy is legal here I have no idea :confused:
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Maybe all the news about the Fundamentalist LDS Church - taking their kids for alleged abuse, but very little said about the apparent polygamy (other than it was practiced).
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Turnabout is fair play, after all!

A couple hundred years ago a bunch of ungrateful colonists refused to pay rather modest taxes intended to recoup the costs of an extremely expensive French & Indian War that Britain fought on their behalf… They made up a bunch of slanderous accusations about King George too! 😃
 
Maybe the Brits read the New York Times and listen to ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and PBS a lot.:hmmm:
 
manualman said:
Turnabout is fair play, after all!

A couple hundred years ago a bunch of ungrateful colonists refused to pay rather modest taxes intended to recoup the costs of an extremely expensive French & Indian War that Britain fought on their behalf… They made up a bunch of slanderous accusations about King George too! 😃
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Absolutely correct. Our forbears wanted the protection of the mother country but didn’t want to pay for it. But the Crown made a big mistake with the Stamp Act which fell especially hard on two groups especially suited to cause trouble – lawyers and journalists.
 
manualman said:
Turnabout is fair play, after all!

A couple hundred years ago a bunch of ungrateful colonists refused to pay rather modest taxes intended to recoup the costs of an extremely expensive French & Indian War that Britain fought on their behalf… They made up a bunch of slanderous accusations about King George too! 😃
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MoBeck said:
Absolutely correct. Our forbears wanted the protection of the mother country but didn’t want to pay for it. But the Crown made a big mistake with the Stamp Act which fell especially hard on two groups especially suited to cause trouble – lawyers and journalists.
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It’s not the taxes, it was that the taxes were imposed without representation.

And the Coercive Acts didn’t help: closing the entire port of Boston just because of the acts of a few, and forcing colonists to house British troops. Nobody can say those were reasonable measures or modest.
 
MoBeck said:
Absolutely correct. Our forbears wanted the protection of the mother country but didn’t want to pay for it. But the Crown made a big mistake with the Stamp Act which fell especially hard on two groups especially suited to cause trouble – lawyers and journalists.
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I would commit but I have Irish heritage and would be very biased against the Brits however I have served with their army and they’re pretty professional and I like them.😃
 
LRThunder said:
  1. It’s not the taxes, it was that the taxes were imposed without representation.
  2. And the Coercive Acts didn’t help: closing the entire port of Boston just because of the acts of a few, and forcing colonists to house British troops. Nobody can say those were reasonable measures or modest.
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  1. Tell that to the residents of D.C., and Puerto Rico, Guam, so on ad nauseum. Taxation without representation still exists.
  2. The initial taxation attempts were reasonable and justified. The harshness was in response to the defiance. Sure, overreactions were made as they often are. And still are (Guantanamo, water-boarding …😦 )
Don’t get me wrong. I love my country and think we’ve contributed greatly to the rise and maintenance of Western Civilization. I’m just realistic enough to realize that our poop stinks too.
 
manualman said:
  1. Tell that to the residents of D.C., and Puerto Rico, Guam, so on ad nauseum. Taxation without representation still exists.
  2. The initial taxation attempts were reasonable and justified. The harshness was in response to the defiance. Sure, overreactions were made as they often are. And still are (Guantanamo, water-boarding …😦 )
Don’t get me wrong. I love my country and think we’ve contributed greatly to the rise and maintenance of Western Civilization. I’m just realistic enough to realize that our poop stinks too.
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There were atrocities on both sides. However to this day Britain still bans freedom of speech, books, and guns.

So I’m glad we got with the French and kicked their royal-rears out of here a couple of hundred years ago.

I bet deep down they’re glad too because we bailed them out a couple of times last century.

When you get right down to it they’re going to back us and we’re going to back them. They’re great allies.
 
Just as all people should have a well formed conscious. People should have a well informed opinion of others beliefs and laws. Misconceptions result in misunderstandings that have led to conflict between countries.
 
stanmaxkolbe said:
Maybe the Brits read the New York Times and listen to ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and PBS a lot.:hmmm:
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Nope. We don’t get that out here. ABC only ran sitcoms and lasted a year, CBS NBC AND PBS don’t exist and as for CNN, well I’ve got it, can’t say I’ve watched it though.

We’ve heard some less than favourable results in reverse, that only serve to reinforce the ‘‘isonlationist yankee’’ stereotype, who is unaware of a world past their borders. All depends who they asked I suppose.
 
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