[vikiomega9]

I certainly concede the cutural context, and wouldn't care much if the article we're written in German and I were reading a translation, but I assume this article is written for consumption by an English population, which means barring regional difference in English there shouldn't be much ambiguity in interpretation for that population.

Your anology doesn't quite line up. What you point out are specific actions of people. You are now easily empowered to go ask that person why they stood up to the national anthem or ask someone else. The line quoted here is an impression of a German author of what an other culture percieves. This just doesn't sound like good reporting. Is the author projecting third world impressions or projecting what _anyone_ reaching America would feel about non costal cities? The tone of the rest of the article suggests the latter, but what really stood out was the added impression of someone from Switzerland. Growing up in a culture with with tons of colonial baggage, I don't see why I shouldn't feel offended.

[germanier]

The article was originally published in German in their print magazine about a week before the linked translation. http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/dieselskandal-drei-us-studente... (paywalled)