- Jan 15, 2011
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So this is going to be my 2nd Presidential Election where I am living overseas. I have found that my perception of the whole process is very different when I'm not at home. I have a feeling it's mostly due to the lack of mass media spewing American presidential politics into my ear. I can basically look at the whole process, the candidates, their policies, etc. and make a decision based upon my own beliefs and not the beliefs that are being yelled into my ear. It also seems to be much easier to sift the lies from the truth. A lot of politics seems to me to be based upon confusing and misleading people with different statistics and just who can make the most noise (the whole if you tell a lie that's big enough people will eventually believe it). There is definitely a lot of "catering to the lowest common denominator" going on. What we perceive as a flip-flop is just candidates having to switch to a new lowest common denominator (primary vs general election). Everything just seems much more obvious over here. A good example would be a candidate yelling in your ear (not mine, I'm over here) that the whole economy is in shambles and worse than it was in 2008 while I simply look at reality and see something completely different.
Anyone else find they have a different experience overseas?
Although you'll probably piss off a few Americans I would be interested in the non-American perspective as well. Just recognize that we don't vote for what you want. We vote for our domestic needs first with international affairs a far second. The reason I find the international opinion interesting is because it's generally so drastically different than the American one. The concept of not having free education and healthcare for example just boggles the European mind.
Anyone else find they have a different experience overseas?
Although you'll probably piss off a few Americans I would be interested in the non-American perspective as well. Just recognize that we don't vote for what you want. We vote for our domestic needs first with international affairs a far second. The reason I find the international opinion interesting is because it's generally so drastically different than the American one. The concept of not having free education and healthcare for example just boggles the European mind.