Reply #11: Hubby and I were discussing this same thing last night

[magellan]

He's a Brit, and like me he believes Americans get their arrogance by virtue of their ignorance about the rest of the world. They have no idea what they're comparing themselves to; they haven't traveled outside their own state in most cases, let alone abroad. Our news is self-centered. And many Americans just aren't curious enough to educate themselves beyond their assumptions.

To be fair, I was like that once too...before I lived in the UK and in Europe. The average Joe in the EU knows ten times more about the world than the average American. They HAVE to. We should have to as well, but that would mean acknowledging we aren't superior.

The same goes for Canadians, in general they have that laid back world-view humility we Americans are sorely lacking.