Netflix CEO: Americans are too self abosorbed to notice what is going on in the world

Looks like Reed Hastings has gone to the BP School of PR.
( I just found this via the Netflix blog today)

Couple of weeks ago, Netflix had a big PR push when it opened the Canadian market.

The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix

Here is the interchange:

THR: Are you concerned that American Netflix subscribers will look north and ask for the same discount Canadians get at $7.99?

Hastings: How much has it been your experience that Americans follow what happens in the world?
It's something we'll monitor, but Americans are somewhat self-absorbed.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3if1d3902d12574ec222961f1deec0fd2b

**************************************************************************************************************

The people who take our hard earned money, this is what they think of us "little self absorbed people", I guess.

Oh, and guess what else?
Netflix also got busted for hiring actors to pose as real Canadian consumers who were "excited" over Netflix
coming to Canada.!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3icbda53fb1d6d7d45991761bf9b16a7d6

Because I would take the deal in a flash.

Here, you can get one disc at a time and some streaming for 9.00.

I would take the $7.99 for just streaming since that is mostly what I use NF for.

I pay 14.99 for the same thing.... I wonder why.

a worldly sophisticate?

I doubt it.

To paraphrase Joe Biden: Don't compare us to the Almighty..Compare us to what's actually out there.

that the average American is about Europe or any country of Europe. I can speak of personal experience on that.

Have you ever gone to Amazon.com.uk and checked their offerings?....

They are almost identical to ours....All the "self-absorbed" American programs you could ask for!

I was born in Austria, lived there and Germany for 9 years before I came to the US-and I am an American citizen by birth. I've spent several years in Europe since then, my mother goes back every couple of years and I still communicate with friends and relatives there.
I can guarantee you the average person there knows more about events in the US(and I don't mean American TV shows) than the average American even knows about events here.

If American were really all that knowledgeable, how do you explain teabaggers?

So far all I've seen of your responses on this thread is that they consist of cutting down on anyone agreeing with the premise from the OP

That's what I was wondering..... What does that have to do with the initial assertion?

One reason I think Europeans are more plugged in to the U.S. and rest of the world is that their news stations do a much better job of covering the globe. Whenever I turn on the tube in a European hotel room, whether it be in London or Paris or Berlin, there's a lot more coverage of what's going on in the world than there is here in the United States.

Hold onto your "Americans suck" "A Euro is an evolved genius" thought if you want.

I myself see more "knee jerk" responses to the idea than "critical thinking" on the subject myself.

:wtf:

.com.uk takes you back to .com or produces an error (based on browser / isp settings).

Because if you had, you would see that there "taste", though supposedly so much more "evolved" than ours is INCREDIBLY similar.

If Brits, for instance, were so "knowledgeable" why would Bennie Hinn have such a following there?

As for "teabaggers", they have an emerging Right Wing of their own, didn't you know that?..

To the extent that we ARE less knowledgeable about "the world" than the Euros, how much does that have to do with the corporate media, who, for instance, would probably rather we know LESS than more about countries with free health care and free (taxed based) education?

I like watching Spongebob cartoons, does that make me an anti-American or less knowledgeable about world goings on? What I watch or read for relaxation has nothing to do with my keeping up with current events and it shouldn't for anyone else. But evidently your attitude is that because the Brits or anyone else watches American TV shows that is proof that they don't know any more and are just as self-absorbed than Americans.

You mention Tea Baggers, but not the neo Nazis, the Dutch Anti Immigrationists, the National Front, LePenn. Why?
Your idea of the 'average' person over there means 'urban, educcated and affluent' not 'living in Council flat in Birmingham.
When I was a kid visiting Germany, we had the pleasure of hearing our guide one night in the bar spouting about our Jewish friends. "Jews...I can smell them from here. I put them in rooms as far away from the humans as I can, but still, I smell them."
Sorry to type that. But it is just a fact. And how do you explain that man and his public hate speech? Worst I have ever heard. I will never forget it.

I picked teabaggers as an example, not as an all inclusive category.
But their kind of thinking is little different than any other group of bigots.

It is hard not to.

It is hard not to.

Being a superpower tends to make you a focal point...For a lot of things.:eyes:

I have. Last time was last year in Spain. There were several in-depth stories about events in various countries, including a financial scandal in Uganda. I thought "Goody! Up next will be an in-depth story about the US!"

And sure enough, they aired a report about the most pressing issue in the US on that date, featuring some nut job sobbing her eyes out in the Wal-Mart parking lot over the horrific thought that the President was going to speak to school kids & encourage them to do well in school, study hard, go to college, get good jobs.

To quote Janaene Garafalo, my gast was flabbered.

dg

and I would question you on two things:

Do you wonder why they may have picked THAT story to show?..Are they really so lacking in ingnorant right wing people there or for "nut jobs" generally in Euope and other places?

2. Were their other "in-depth" stories of a more postive nature about America or its citizens?

and as for why they picked that particular story, I have no clue. I'm not a producer or editor. However, as it appeared that they were focusing on the stories getting the most coverage in a particular country at that time, isn't it rather embarrassing that with all the problems we have in this country, most of the MSM focused on such a ridiculous story? I know I was embarrassed.

dg

Right..but they DID have time to make us look stupid, right?

As far as our MSM, quite right, I generally hate it and I do NOT think they provide us with enough information about other countries...I'm just saying that while the International Media might provide more news on many countries, it doesn't sound like they are doing a great job on us.

The whole subject of "deciding" what IS news is interesting...Back in college in the eighties, I read a book called "Deciding What's News". It dealt with our own news media at the time, so I'm sure it's quite dated, but one of the author's points was that the values and politics of the journalists and editors definitely had an impact. I wouldn't imagine it to be so different across the world.

That's the kind of lame retort that's said when someone lacks anything more substantial.

Exhibit A, ladies and gentlemen.

Have you ever been to another country and talked to people?

in sarcastic jest.

My dear, I've lived in another country and have otherwis visited Europe six times, twice in pursuit of language skills.

How 'bout you?

When compared to "what's actually out there" European nations ARE putting out more educated students.

the highest rate of college graduates and the largest middle class (fifties to seventies) in the world...But that was before the right wing became powerful and started cutting funding for public schools.

In addition, you might consider that the US pays FAR more for the common defense than Europe.
..When you pay so much less for defense, for instance, you can afford to put your money into schools, health care, etc.

Like most here, I would certainly prefer that we CUT the defense budget and NOT be under the sway of RWingers, but there you have it....and please don't try and use that as yet ANOTHER example of our supposed "dimness". Apart from the fact that we have a totally different history than they, they are the continent that GAVE us fascism and Communism and as I'm sure you know, they currently experiencing a resurgent Right Wing.

e :(

..and when I say "anti-american" I'm not talking about our foreign policies, etc..I'm talking at the supposed "experts" on the American PEOPLE who have never been here, and who have a "vested interest" you might say, in putting us down.

Making an observation that contains a very large element of truth is anti-American?

Who do you think you are, Joe McCarthy?

"a large amount of truth"?

When you talk of a "truth" which you obviously think is, or should be, undisputed you and Mr. Netflix will have to show me something more substantial than mere assertions.

:shrug:

That not enough of them will pay attention to what he says in the Canadian media for it to affect him. How many of his customers will even notice? The only way to prove him wrong is if lots of customers quit.

who has not been here? What anti-american crap..? The CEO was right and I doubt he's never been here. The truth hurts but it's the ONLY way to improve by sucking in our pride and dealing with reality. The majority of Americans prefer to remain ignorant.

Your post was knee-jerk

and I'm sorry if THAT truth hurts.

What "anti-American crap"?

Oh, I forgot the drill!...Because we are a "superpower" any and ALL criticism expressed toward Americans is TRUTH and...well, even if it's NOT, it must go unquestioned and "eaten" in silence as a penance for our many "sins".

Enjoy your shit sandwich.

mild amusement?

Julie--raising hand

You have to go to Free Republic for that.

Hint: Refusing to accept every insult about yourself and your countrymen hardly makes one a "freeper"...Except for a few of the unenlightened here.

Americans for the most part, do ignore the bigger picture of the world around them. They are narcissistic in nature and could care less about anyone outside their sphere of influence.

While news coverage may be more global in nature in Europe as opposed to the media here in the US -- that is hardly the fault of its citizens. There is plenty of narcissism and nativism outside the US.

Isn't most of the country incredibly self absorbed and (for lack of a better word) ignorant about the world around them and especially outside of the country? Yes, it was not exactly artful or smart for the CEO of a company to say it, but it's not a lie that's for sure. If it weren't true do you think we'd be in half the messes we are and have been for the past 10 or 15 years?

our fruit's been pretty rotten for awhile.


and, I'm thinking, we are not the only purveyors of such rot. Plenty of other societies are full of it too. Ours just gets exported a lot, it seems.

If it were me I would have said bat shit crazy.....

I notice your profile doesn't list your country.

which may be mildly ironic considering what happened at the promo thing, but seriously, it's hardly a breach of ethics or anything

I think the CEO of Netflix can claim a hand in that.

about world events Netflix offers, come to think of it.

People on the Netflix blog had some juicy comments also.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2765056849626104020&postID=8269397326086160542

sites that offer them for free?

See:
http://freedocumentaries.org
http://www.snagfilms.com/
http://www.docarts.com
http://www.thedossier.ukonline.co.uk/video.htm

What lovely resources.
I had been finding a lot of free books online, but did not think to look for docs.

Here: turnabout is fair play.

http://www.bookdepository.com/free

URL=http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/archives.html

http://classics.mit.edu/index.html

As if I didn't spend so much time in front of this computer as it is... ;-)

One more cool site: http://www.archive.org/

It's from the American Library Association. Loads of texts, photos and videos, including a number of Grateful Dead concerts, of all things. That shouldn't be a surprise, given the archive is out of San Francisco.

in ANY country where English is widely spoken watch them??....Note the one with the UK address.

That Americans aren't interested in documentaries? Most aren't, and that is a sad fact. If there was such a demand for them, don't you think this guy would have them available so that he could make a buck off of them?

If you can't compare the consumption of documentaries in America to the rest of the world, maybe you're fact isn't so "sad" or even noteworthy after all.

BTW, If you honestly think that viewing tastes in other countries are substantially different...you DO need to check out Amazon.com.uk where you'll find the majority of their offering to be made in..gasp!..America and that their "documentary" offerings are quite slim.

BTW: Maybe you're judging by yourself...I watch at least some of the REGULAR STREAM of documentaries broadcast by PBS every week.

Sorry I couldn't help you with your "sad" American inferiority complex.

Because, after reading your crazy rantings, all I can wonder is "What the hell are you talking about?" "Compare the consumption of documentaries"??? Where the hell did that come from? All I did was list some free documentary sites, and point out that Netflix doesn't provide many of them because there is no demand for them, for whatever reason. I am still waiting for an answer as to why I should care that one of the sites I listed comes from the UK.

BTW, I really don't give a shit what the viewing tastes are...gasp!!...elsewhere, nor do I give a rat's ass what's at Amazon.com.uk. It's all irrelevant to the point I was making.

BTW: Maybe you are the only judgmental one here. So you watch "REGULAR STREAM" documentaries, whatever the hell that is. I watch PBS documentaries every week, too. SO FUCKING WHAT???? And, while we are on the subject, you do understand that it costs substantial amounts of money to put out a web site with hundreds of free films, don't you? Why would at least four people/organizations go through the expense and effort to provide four such sites if "so few people want to watch" them, as you claim? Nobody wants to watch "Sicko" or "Bowling for Columbine"? Really? They're on at least one of those sites that "so few people want to watch."

Sorry I couldn't help you with your "sad" ability put words in other people's mouths and then bash them for things they didn't even say.

:evilgrin:

And thanks for letting me know that your idea of the average documentary is "Bowling for Columbine" or some other Michael Moore flick...Duhh.

Go play ball, or something..and btw, you might have noticed that Hastings has already apologized.

:evilgrin:

And, thanks for letting me know that my that my suspicions that you are absolutely correct.

Go pull that stick out of your ass...and btw, I unlike you, I have better things to do than spend my day spamming a discussion board with lunatic rantings about some dumbass CEO. Now, where's that "ignore" button...

and it is hard to know about that which doesn't exist..:evilgrin:

If you have "better things to do"..What are you doing HERE?

Yes, Ignore is your friend..Make good use of it.

In order to make a case that "Americans are...whatever"..implying that it is a quality UNIQUE to them as a group you have to do COMPARISONS..duh.

"So you watch "Regular stream" Documentaries, whatever the hell that is"....OMG..You think I was describing the TYPE of documentary?

Hey bro, I take it back..In YOUR case, maybe the Dumb American lable applies!:rofl:

because they have both dramas and documentaries that have NEVER been released in the U.S. and probably never will be. Thanks to my region-free DVD player, I can watch DVDs from anywhere in the world--and I do.

the tastes of the average UKer is...You will be AMAZED at the number of American shows they not only WATCH, but like enought to buy in DVD packages.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

that you know far MORE americans?...

Most Americans ARE self-absorbed. I worked with one this summer who admitted she didn't know the whole Katrina mess was going on until a month after the fact. And, she was the least self-absorbed of the three with whom I was working.

would give you an answer INSTANTLY, right?:shrug:

The problem is o many of us have little to no perspective on Europeans, Australians, etc. that we buy the BS as to being the only "dumb" western democracy..Please

But as the CEO of a company that sells movies, that's not the smartest attitude for him to take.

:eyes:
rocktivity

It's the truth

..Oh, but we are "different" from those other dumb 'murkins, right?

Actually, it's all relative..One has to know enough about Europe to make the comparison...Too many here do not.

You might want to check the #47 post by Bluenorthwest and a few others.

he's completely knowledgeable on the subject, not to mention "objective":eyes:

According to Wiki, he is American born and raised, his Dad served in Nixon's WH, and he serves on the Board of Microsoft
( which might explain why only Silverlight can be used to streaming to PC, and why Linux streaming is not available).

he probably makes the mental reservation of "except me and my circle" when spouting the stereotype.

But the left, naturally is indignant at the charge of "elitistism"....Go figure.:eyes:

I should add that I don't know if "Reed Hastings" is on the "left" but his bio does strongly suggest him as an upper class WASP who never attended a public school.

and don't expect people to talk to you with much respect after painting those with a brain as being unamerican. Your uber-nationalistic narrow view is NOT patriotic even though you think it is. People like you would rather cling to some fanatasy rather than deal with reality. When people like YOU do that, it harms this country, because it's more of the same ignorance that promotes more ignorance.

and don't expect ME to respect you or anyone else here if they think "having a brain" means automatic acceptance of any and all insults.

Yeah..I'm "uber-nationalistic" because I actually ask people to at least COMPARE us, via experience or related reading with people in other countries before ACCEPTING put downs...Check out Bluenorthwest's post #47 as well as that of LKS...Maybe you'll learn something.

Honey, I don't to cling to a THING...I don't have to, because unlike a few others here, I've had actual experience in other countries, even living there..Duh.

Perpetual conversations on cell phones, relating every bit of personal info to the world on networking sites, forums, chatrooms, and twitter, watching tv programs where everyone talks over everyone else as though that's how a normal conversation is conducted have made every waking moment nothing but me, me, me to the average American anymore to the point where people drive over people on the sidewalk, walk into phone poles and inform the world of the consistency of their last bowell movement on the internet.

are different,how?...Do you, or any here actually have enough knowledge of them to know?..Have you ever LIVED there, or even visited Europe enough to know?

Beyond that, how much new do we actually get from our media about Europe?...Think about it. ..Very little, in my opinion.

Let's not be so fast to shit on ourselves, shall we?

We're talking about self-absorbsion of Americans here. If you want to talk about Europeans, you're free to make a thread about it. There was no comparison being made between the self-absorbsion of Americans vs. anyone else... just that fact that as a nation, we are.

Let's not be so fast to assume shit I haven't made any mention of, shall we? It's rather self-absorbed of you.

when all kids see is this perversion it programs kids to think they should be as self-absorbed just as a lot of celebrities are. Acting like an asshole is in.... Just look at the megalomaniac professional athletes... or actors who love being in front of a camera ...or the well off narcissists who decided to have a "reality" show. These folks are not the norm yet kids try to emulate their attitudes, styles and personalities.

I've been to a lot of countries and I gotta tell you....American's are self-absorbed and have no idea what is going on in the rest of the world.

or just those "other" proles with whom you'd rather not be associated?

Very little of our money now goes to bailout failed corporations, corrupt politicians, or the WAR Industry.
We cashed out, moved to The Woods, and planted a BIG Veggie Garden.
We added Chickens and HoneyBees in 2007.
We BUY almost nothing NEW.
Wall Street can live or die without our money or concern.
Every year, we PRODUCE more, and CONSUME less.
We live well on a low taxable income.

LESS is more.


Our one concern is Health Care.
In 2006, we believed the Democrats were going to do something besides MANDATE us into the talons of the For Profit Insurance Industry.
If we had known THAT, we would have left the country.

I actually do think Americans are self-absorbed. Maybe not unaware so much, but very, very provincial and lacking a fundamental sense of community.

This seems to me to be independent of either education or politics. As long as the flat screen, the game console and the new dvd are set up, working correctly and keeping us entertained, we tend to engage in an upgraded version of tuning in, turning on, and dropping out-- right on the couch with a beer and bag of chips.

and I demand a price cut too!!

I'm thinking about emailing Netflix and demand a price cut. I think it will be funny.

the self-hating bullshit, imo.

by choosing to be led along by the M$M and play their little Facebook games and tweet their twits and generally shut off all critical thinking.

And the Neo-cons are working very very hard to make sure even less critical thinking and education will be available via the school system.

Sad.

Show me the links, not the stereotypes.

The truth is, like too many here, you just drink the kool-aid, hoping that "maybe" you are the exception.

Adios!:hi:

i love netflix..one of the best companies around..GREAT service, great product, great price...

1 in 5 British children.
The worrying stats emerged from a study of 2,000 schoolchildren.

It shows most of them are clueless about key events in history although they are much more knowledgeable about celebrities instead.



And one in twenty youngsters thought Counter Terrorist Jack Bauer was the brains behind the Gunpowder plot.

But two thirds of the 6-12 year olds correctly identified malaria as Cheryl Cole's illness and David Beckham as being the most recent player to be dropped by Fabio Capello.

Christopher Lloyd, the author of The What on Earth Wallbook, said: ''There seems to be a lot of confusion when it comes to children and historical events.

''Neil Armstrong would not be happy to learn a plastic action figure is getting the credit for first man to step on the moon.

''Young people have little or no context when it comes to knowledge about the past.

"Often they know a great deal about a few topics, but seldom do they have any idea of the big picture - especially when it comes to events of the past that connect the story of human history with evolution and the natural world.

The research was carried out to mark the launch of the What on Earth? Wallbook which details and illustrates historical events from the big bang to the present day.

The survey also found a third did not know Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, with nine cent reckoning it was Deal or No Deal's Noel Edmonds while one in five thought it was Charles Darwin.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8048235/Buzz-Lightyear-was-first-man-to-walk-on-moon-children-believe.html
Reed Hastings should worry about his own house.

Mind numbingly amazing.

we are self absorbed and he banks on that fact.

The truth hurts...as I write my little self righteous snarky opinion to an article no one else on the internet will see except myself and a few dozen other self absorbed people on this same site, to which, I will happily feel a complete sense of self absorption and ego inflation.

:rofl:

Quit Netflix and start looking at the world. We have the power to do that. Really, blaming him is saying we've no responsibility for what we pay attention to and no power to do anything about it.

I'd say it was his responsiblity to prove himself RIGHT.

I am going to show him he IS wrong though, by demanding the same price he gives Canada..Way to help myself and "school" him

international price points? The irony is thick as can be.

Their reports on international knowledge on societal progress routinely show that Americans are not only the least informed about things such as the Unemployment rate or whether the nation is in expansion or recession, it also shows that Americans, out of 35 countries, are the least interested in trying to inform themselves.

America, land of the proudly ignorant.

and has no clue what it is.

We are doomed.

Show me the LINK to these "internaional reports"..

Provis99..I think YOU may be "proudly ignorant"...You are, it seems, proudly self-hating..duh.

Those who are nationalistic dumb dumbs will remain in denial and those who have not traveled may repeat falsehood they grew up hearing from folks around them that know very little of the World around them.

Americans ARE self-absorbed. I haunt a cruise board & it just never fails to blow my mind that adults would get bent out of shape over having to exchange dollars for local currency (referring to USD as "real" money har har har), get offended when spoken to in the local language (especially if it's Spanish) or start foaming at the mouth when it's suggested they get a passport instead of using a birth certificate & driver's license (It's not like I'm leaving the US--um, yea, Einstein, you ARE).

Last I looked, no one's forcing anyone to subscribe to Netflix, & those who do have various options to choose from, so if they get upset over the Canadians getting Netflix for $7.99/month instead of $9.99, they can adjust their subscriptions accordingly or just cancel.

dg

but he's right. I actually had one person say to me, when discussing this very topic, that"Americans have enough on their plates keeping up with their own country". They said it by way of excusing the utter lack of knowledge of what's happening elsewhere. I wanted to puke.

he's right. Again, only speaking from my experience. I could give examples but I'd be here all day. I find DU'ers and the other Americans I hang out with online to be far above the norm with regards to knowledge, compared with Americans I've come across online and IRL over the years. DU'ers are the the American elite when it comes to knowledge, so defensiveness about what this CEO says isn't warranted, because I would say he really isn't talking about people like DU'ers.

mostly drugs, prescription or otherwise. :smoke:

"Power does what it wants, and now they’re just more naked about it. Now they just put it right out front and say, ‘This is what we’re doing to you folks’. It’s, you know, this country is finished. It’s been sliding downhill a long time."

“And everybody’s got a cell phone that makes pancakes, so they don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t want to make any trouble. The people have been bought off by gizmos and toys in this country, and no one questions things anymore.”

http://www.davedubya.com/2007/10/what-george-carlin-really-said.html

They usually know jack-shit about the States.

Except from what they've seen in movies.

Or about New York, LA, Chicago or Vegas.

about the States except what they've seen in movies..".

Thanks, Proteus.

A lot of Americans are very knowledgeable about what's going on in the world and a lot aren't.

A lot of Europeans (What a general way to say it. If memory serves, 'Europe' isn't one massive country.) Are knowledgeable about what goes on beyond their homeland. Many are not.

We should be focusing on what a d-bag this guy is for potentially alienating a huge customer base.

Since he thinks we're too "self-absorbed" to realize that he's charging us MORE than the Canadians, maybe DU subscribers could help themselves AND "school" him by contacting him and asking for the Canadian price....I'm doing it!.

As for the Euros, you are correct. In my experience, they often have a hard time getting their heads around how incredibly BIG this country is...I was in Ireland at the time of an Earthquake in California, for instance, and my landlady, even knowing I was from Philadelphia, asked me if it was "close" to me.

As for the "insularity" we're so often criticized for, I think it has as much to do with geography (and maybe history,)as anything else...Unlike the countries of Europe, we are both a country and virtual continent, separated by two oceans. I understand that many of the continental countries for instance, tend not to think of the U.K as "European" because they are not part of "the continent" being separated by a body of water.

Beyond that, it was historically advantageous for the Europeans countries to know "what was going on" in another country, as they were so frequently at war with one another. They had to "watch their backs" so to speak.

We, on the other hand, have but one civil war...Beyond that, Maine doesn't attack Maryland and New Jersey leaves Rhode Island alone.

Just some thoughts.:)

While he looks down on the rest of us, he's taking our money and laughing his way to the bank. He profits on "blissful unawareness".

For that attitude alone, people in other places in the world would be rioting in the streets while trying to shut down his business.

that USAmericans are "self-absorbed"...

And makes a pretty nice profit out of that fact...

on Survivor and Dancing with the Stars and American Idol. That's real news according to CNN, CBS & ABC.

American Idol type shows which play in Europe...I have..unfortunatley.

Of course, the corporate media does their best to reinforce that attitude.

on the news. Reports from all over the world, without the condescending attitude. Reports on China, Afghanistan, Iraq, Greece, and not a word about Lindsay Lohan. We live in a bubble, and most people don't even realize it. They get insulted if you even mention it.

Maybe..Not about me and most people I know or most on DU, for that matter.

Like too many others here (including Hastings, perhaps) he knows little of anyplace BUT America, so they have nothing to compare it to...Sad that they drink the kool-aid...Sad for Hastings that his stupid statement will bite him on the ass and prove him wrong.

I don't know about you, but I'm demanding the "Canadian deal"...If I don't get it, he can stuff it.

As others have pointed out, it's obvious from our news coverage how little Americans pay attention to the rest of the world. Massive cluelessness about the Iraq invasion proved it. If that's not proof enough, try looking up surveys that ask Americans to name the heads of government in other countries. The results are pathetic.

http://blog.netflix.com/2010/09/apologies.html

The real test, is how do we compare on such things with others? ...Any surverys regarding the general knowledge in the other western democracies?



No..I didn't think so.

Hint: Try reading a couple of the posts here that do NOT reinforce your American low self-esteem

Good job reinforcing that. Yes, there are plenty of studies about news coverage and world knowledge that compare Americans to other countries. We do not fare well. It's common knowledge.

Not accepting every self-serving insult that comes your way is certainly "arrogant".:eyes:

I believe the thinking is that it's our "duty" as a superpower to accept all of that as a kind of "penance" for our sins.


You can eat that shit sandwhich...A lot of us won't.

Yeah, I'd say many Americans are too oblivious to know/try to find out what goes on in other countries...there are those that differ but unfortunately those are in the minority..

goes unwatched by most subscribers and all those idiotic blockbusters with numbers after them are rented by the thousands, after which the subscribers complain, "I've run out of movies to watch."

based on the kind of American bashing you and so many others here do, I suspect.

As to your comment..How do you think it compares to the viewers in other countries?

You probably don't know, and that's the problem -- No point of comparison.

Perhaps that's the "other side" of self-absorption.

With one action we can help ourselves and show mr. dickhead what's what.

Thanks for the suggestion and for sticking up for Americans.

Regarding others' previous comments, it seems clear to me that Europeans are more knowledgeable about other countries because of their proximity to other countries where they vacation, and the U.S. effect on the world, but it is not an indication that they are smarter or more sophisticated. I'm sure we know as much about out neighboring states as they know about their neighboring countries. Plus there's no incentive for us to learn to speak German or French. All this is just common sense.

Europeans being FAR CLOSER to those "other" countries" than we are.

are "no different" than Americans when it comes to learning another language..As he said "they don't have to".

Not me.

BTW, what's netflix? Is it like TV? Or BitTorrent? Or Hulu? Or the library?

I'm not self-absorbed, I'm simply not going to waste any attention on stupid things, e.g. buying something that is otherwise free.

Think about it. If they realized how people in other nations live, wouldn't they be more angry about the raw deal that they're getting on so many issues?

I'm thinking more about working conditions/hours, vacation time (or the lack thereof) health care, higher education costs, child & elder care, etc.

or are Aussies not quite so..um.."secure"?

Tell me about it.

How?...

You've never set foot in this place.

Who would want to come for an extended visit?

:eyes:

ignorant Aussies I've met regarding "Stralia :eyes:

Of which your posts seem (if they're not an attempt at parody) to be a caricature of.

enough people found Australia significant enough to bash..Sorry.

For some reason I can't paste the link here, but if you go to blognetflix.com, you will see it.

He explains the difference in Canadian/American pricing.

He said "somewhat self-absorbed", why the spin by putting in "little"?

Julie

Maybe YOU are speaking of YOURSELF.

"somehwat" is not "little"..duh.

How embarrassing.:eyes:

Need I say more?

like the TN fire debacle...let me know.

sP

the way *it* wants. I want to communicate via email. They told me "phone or forget it." I'm convinced it's a way to weed out people who won't wait on hold.

Oh, and - I offered to pay a year in advance rather than put a recurring charge on my credit card. No dice.

I'm seriously considering whether Netflix is worth it.

A very successful business plan.