Gennifer Flowers.

[hollodero]

(10-10-2016, 08:32 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I meant ally as friend.  

Thanks for the answer, and Id like to get more specific.  Obviously international government actions are important.  How about internal?  People think we are viewed as barbaric for the death penalty, or crazy cowboys for our gun ownership, or looney religious fanatics etc, and my thought is who cares?  So are there things about Austria where you or other Austrians would worry about what foreigners thought?

Ah well... another hot iron, how nice of you.

But for the last part of your question, internal things also facture into it to a large extent. If we, let's say, get known as a xenophobic country because of our policies towards immigrants, this might and will have bad effects on our relations with other western countries. Or if we indeed introduced the death penalty, it would be an outcry from all other European countries and it would not bode well. Or if we get largely regarded as naziesque, which does happen. We experienced that once in the '90s, including sanctions and all that because our government wasn't liked. And we cannot afford having a Belgium minister state that skiing in Austria has become immoral (which DID happen). Again, we do worry a lot. But again, we're dependent, so there's a valid reason for that. See the differences.

As for your fine country, you don't face harsh immediate consequences. You just might lose our trust, but maybe you really don't need it (although I'm not so sure about that). We have our opinions on your gun laws and it's indeed puzzling what role religion plays in your politics. But I know best that there's no reason why you should listen to us or change things because Luxemburg says so.

There are often two sides to that medal, I'd say. Sure, Europe inherently does things differently than you do, which doesn't mean they do them "better", that's often not even a category. And you probably don't "need" us or anyone to approve of you, and I do get why one might think it appears weak to even care. On the other hand, external feedback can also be a valuable input for a society. You might as well benefit from comparing, you might benefit from learning about other perspectives and broadening your spectrum, you might benefit from listening to an outside opinion. The distance sometimes helps to see some patterns you might be too close to recognize. So there might be helpful hints stemming from caring about outside opinions.

[[[--- And we also do not axiomaticly think the USA inevitably and in any given respect is the greatest country ever known to mankind, as almost every US citizen seems to do. That kind of arrogance seldomly provides a helpful perspective. Couldn't leave that one out.]]]

But in respect to the point "it's important what others think because if they think badly of us, we would face a lot of disadvantages"... I still can not answer you that. In your case, it might not be a lot. That depends on what you want from the world, I'd say; and what you want to have to do with them. Maybe nothing. Depends on your political standpoint, probably.

If it's of any condolence, you don't really appear to us as a nation that cares much about how they appear to us.