• S_204@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Propaganda is why they’re deluded to the levels they are.

    Americans are by and large poorly traveled and unaware of exactly how badly they have it in America. Something like 1/2 of Americans have a passport, whereas Canada which is right next door is 2/3-3/4.

    One of the weirdest things about that is they seem to be proud of it.

    • TheSanSabaSongbird@lemdro.id
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      8 months ago

      This is only true if you look at the country as a whole. Break it down by state or even region and you’ll see that entire parts of the country are more like Canada in terms of international travel, while others are unusually provincial for citizens of an industrialized democracy.

      If you live in a middle class neighborhood in a big west coast city, for example, chances are good that you and all of your neighbors have traveled overseas extensively. It’s also very much a class and educational division and of course that plays out in a variety of other ways as well.

    • Kepabar
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      8 months ago

      I don’t currently have a valid passport; I haven’t felt a need for one.

      America itself is so big that I can spend my life visiting different parts of it and never run out.

      Having a passport and traveling intentionally just feels like an unwanted hassle.

      • S_204@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        International travel is an amazing education that you cannot receive domestically.

        • Kepabar
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          8 months ago

          I just don’t see the value versus the effort I guess.

          • S_204@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Yes. This is what I’m pointing out. Americans are intentionally ignorant about the world and don’t see a problem with this. They’d rather stay home, sit in the lazy river at the water park stuffing their faces and drinking bud light than going and seeing the great museums of Europe, the history of the middle east, the artwork and dance from Africa or the beauty of somewhere like Bali.

            6 flags sounds awesome though. Foot long hotdogs are where it’s at I hear.

    • Soulg@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      It’s mostly because we’re poor and can’t afford to travel. Don’t act like everyone is like that, please.

      • ohlaph@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        And we can travel thousands of miles and still be in the USA. I don’t blame US Americans for not traveling outside of the USA, we have a wide range of vacation destinations that people travel from various parts of the world to visit. People could literally teavel only in the USA their entire lives because we have so many places of interest.

        However, we could use cultural diversity to fully understand what we’re not being exposed to.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          8 months ago

          You can have all the cultural diversity that you want, you just have to get the politicians to agree that immigration is actually a good thing.