Quote:
Originally Posted by ipollux
I'm an American, but I consider us a terrorist nation under the Bush regime. If China or Russia invaded a country unjustly and threatened to do the same to other countries, they'd be considered terrorist nations, yes? Fair enough.
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Actually no, they wouldn't be considered terrorist nations. There's a very strict definition of "terrorist nation", and invasion of another country doesn't qualify. A "terrorist nation" uses state funds and resources to enable individuals or small groups to attack enemy resources and citizens. That's why Israel doesn't qualify as a terrorist nation (they use their military to fight terrorists) and Columbia does (they fund right-wing paramilitary groups to fight the FARC).
To answer the OP, I'm an American and it really is a situational issue. It depends on where I am, what I'm wearing and who I'm talking to. If I'm in Paris wearing shorts, a golf shirt and a floppy hat with a camera around my neck, people may make assumptions. If I'm hanging out on a train between Ekaterinaburg and Irkuskt and buying beers and vodka while hosting a party in my room, the response is going to be much different and people will actually ASK me what I think rather than assuming.
The inverse of this is host's "Canadians and other visitors: why don't you tip properly?" thread (I don't feel like looking it up, so the title might be different). He assumed that foreigners don't tip will - and a lot of them don't - but there are lots of cases where he's wrong to make any assumptions. And if that's the one thing life has taught me thus far - don't make assumptions about people; you'll almost always be wrong.