Quote Originally Posted by outlawal2 View Post
No problem, but I had to join in! I will say this though.. In all seriousness I think one of the main reasons for this is that the US is geographically a very large country with only 2 neighbors, so by definition we are kind of isolated from the rest of the world. This leads to the feeling that what we see and feel everyday (The US and little else) is all there is.. Also, with our media being so US-Centric... (And usually not in a good way) it can quickly lead to some cultural tunnel vision. This explanation in no way defends this behavior, but it may partially explain how we got here...

European countries on the other hand are generally geographically smaller and more tightly woven together. You folks can travel in multiple countries in a single day and it wouldn't be remarkable... Makes for a different point of view.. Definitely a more diverse and "Worldly" point of view I am sure..

I wonder if Australia may have a similar kind of cultural tunnel vision for the same reasons... ??

Any Aussies out there care to chime in?
Most Australians aren't narrow in their view of the world, many people travel out of the country on a regular basis. We receive news from all over the world, but sadly, a lot of our news (well the stuff I see anyway) is rubbish. I wish the media would realise that there are more important things to talk about most of the time - they don't because of the amount of idiots (or "bogans" as we call them) that seem to infest our country...

I would really like to see what the curriculum is like, I have a feeling that's where it starts. I've heard some stories, (my Uncle was a teacher in the US for a few years) and it's not good. I think teachers need to stop being so patriotic ( which borders on egocentric) and actually expose students to the rest of the world. I wouldn't be able to see exactly what it is like unless I went there.

But I don't think the majority of Australians are as narrow minded.