I think that proper nouns are generally always capitalized.

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I also think that it is a part of the world more and more expressing a globalist view-point, but at the same time still enjoying some effects of separatism and maintaining its own culture and opinions separate from the outside world. This can be a good or bad thing, especially depending on your viewpoint.

I think that, as a whole, American citizens work far to hard to polarize. It's always republican or democrat. Liberal or conservative. Good or evil. Right or wrong.

Nobody seems able to consider a middle ground.

Then again, that's probably pretty universal, though I can only speak from a US angle.

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I think we make good wine.

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I think that the US is the US.

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Most of it is between Mexico and Canada.

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I think that they're a united country of states.

I like their independence, their value of tradition, their willingness to debate "morals" and "ethics" in the face of progress, their postsecondary educational institutions. I dislike their guns, their paranoia about governments, their recent treatment of elections as more of entertainment than politics, Hollywood, and the fact that every time I see a North American map published by the US-- Canada and the US are of equal (sometimes, US is of larger) landmass size--even though, Canada is a lot bigger.

Overall... hmm, I don't really get along very well with Americans but I get along better with them than I do with Europeans. I feel glad that Canada is on top of America, I wouldn't have it any other way. :>

To be honest, you aren't very popular right now. As an individual, I try to keep in mind that the decisions of your government aren't the unanimous decision of all people living in the states, and that there are a lot of good people living there, but sometimes its very hard to keep that in mind - the decisions of the Bush administration have turned the US from a respected superpower into a international pariah whose hypocrisy is sometimes compared to the communist government of China - and I live in Canada. If that's the opinion just north of the border, then it's no surprise that things seem to be falling apart for the US overseas. People up here (in Canada, at least) are hoping things will improve after the next presidential election, which most of us are watching pretty closely, but there's a lot of pessimistic sentiments involved right now, and most don't think that things will improve that much. I hate to say it, because I know it sounds offensive, but what was it that Obama's controversial pastor said? 'America's chickens are coming home to roost', or something like that. There's a lot more truth to that statement than most people are willing to admit.

As in the government or the people or the culture?

1/ Government: Bush is out of the spotlight in British media now so on that side there certainly seems to be a more positive reaction to the US government. Coverage of American politics is dominated by Clinton and Obama, neither of which are doing a remarkable job at making the US political system look as good as it actually is.

2/ People: Kind, friendly and all that. And whilst I don't understand the whole complete lack of personal space and the random ability to hug strangers and like everyone you meet for no apparent reason (just my experience of most americans) I do appreciate the warmth of the people.

3/ American culture: It has come to dominate the city centers and airwaves of Britain. McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks blah blah blah can be found everywhere. The US has a remarkable ability to export its culture in huge chunks to the point that they begin to saturate foreign markets. God knows what it is to be British, but you have to admire the entrepreneurial culture that made the US able to dominate many aspects of British life.

As someone who resides in the United States, well, I have a lot of respect for the country itself, i.e. the people who live here. As far as the Government goes, the administration, and all the political garbage, it's a love-hate relationship. I love politics, debating, critiquing, and learning from others with different perspectives, but I despise politicians, the media, and our current, and many former, administrations.

So in short, looking at the citizens who live in the U.S., I'm fairly pleased with what I see. Even though this does encompass religious nut-jobs, materialistic self-loving celebrities, etc. (who I could give two shits about) most of the people that live here are honest, hard working men and women just trying to make a better life for themselves, just trying to do what they think is right, that in itself is respectable. The political structure, media garbage, etc. I have no respect for, I wish we could do away with it all.

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