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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Riskmgmt who wrote (10597)	10/26/2006 3:47:46 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 218391

<The excuse that America is such a vast country doesn't wash either when over 50% of Australians have passports and 19% of them travel overseas each year.> Australia has a large land area, but it's nearly all desert. Fly over it and it just goes on and on and on, a big, red wasteland. Drive across the Nullarbor Plain and there's nothing to stop for. en.wikipedia.org America is somewhat insular, but it's fair comment that the size and scope of the USA means Americans are not so likely to travel to alien lands as others. Living in New Zealand, we bump into ocean after a short drive from almost anywhere. Everywhere is somewhere else. Mqurice

To: Riskmgmt who wrote (10597)	10/26/2006 8:51:18 AM
From: Moominoid	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218391

I find all Chinese grad students I meet have very little idea of geography.... probably far less than typical Americans even.

To: Riskmgmt who wrote (10597)	10/26/2006 3:08:38 PM
From: critical_mass	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218391

Whats left, Canada and Mexico? and for Alaskans, there is Russia. The bar is set pretty low. Other than University grads, Americans know little about the world outside of America. Many American university grads know very little. My point is not that Americans know as much as others so much as it is that others know as little as Americans. If you look at the originally referenced article, it fails to mention that the same forces (low cost labor competition from China)acting on the US have been acting on EU less prominently, but Euroland can look the US to see what is ahead. A weekend jaunt from Bavaria over to Austria or a trip down to Mallorca for a week in the sun won't really provide the perspective needed to understand that. In my experience, a passport is necessary to get a room in most hotels or pensions in western Europe. Even though the borders are open, a passport is still required for travel within the continent.

To: Riskmgmt who wrote (10597)	10/26/2006 6:35:39 PM
From: 8bits	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 218391

<<<Couldn't disagree more. Other than University grads, Americans know little about the world outside of America. Of all the developed countries, Americans probably travel outside of their own country, the least, . Only around 7% of Americans even have a passport, compare to over 50% of Brits, and 70% in Belguim and Holland. The excuse that America is such a vast country doesn't wash either when over 50% of Australians have passports and 19% of them travel overseas each year.>>> I think the notion of the unexposed Americans is overdone and a bit dated. More than 11% of Americans are foreign born so presumably they know something of other cultures: quickfacts.census.gov Also I believe the 7% figure for US passport holders is low, I have read it's in the teens. Regardless, US citizens can visit Canada and Mexico (Combined with the US an area much larger than Western Europe) without a passport (This is changing..) and be exposed to at least 3 different languages and a wide variety of cultures.