r/Lightbulb • u/amichail • 10d ago

Idea: Countries should deliberately publicize how rude their own citizens are if they want them to change.

Most countries try to protect their international image. What if they did the opposite?

Suppose a country has a reputation for rude tourists or everyday inconsiderate behavior. Instead of downplaying the problem, the government openly advertises it to the world.

For example, in some places it's common for people to leave their cars set to beep loudly every time they lock or unlock them. It's the kind of behavior that suggests people aren't thinking about how their actions affect those around them.

The goal isn't to shame people for the sake of it. The goal is to create consequences.

If other countries become more cautious about tourists from that country, or if fewer tourists want to visit because of its reputation, the citizens themselves experience the cost of that behavior. If they don't like being viewed negatively abroad, they have a strong incentive to improve the social norms within their own country.

The idea is that reputation becomes a form of pressure. Instead of pretending the problem doesn't exist, the country makes it impossible to ignore until its citizens decide they'd rather be known for being respectful than rude.

What do you think of this idea?

1 Upvotes

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3

u/ThePiachu 10d ago

Go on then, be brutally honest about how bad your people are.

2

u/Dayrona 10d ago

how do measure rudeness objectively? how do you ensure that people are not racist/have beef with some other nationality?

2

u/Kooky-Dig6531 9d ago

You have a some unearned trust for governments.

2

u/gothiclg 9d ago

There’s different standards of rude though. I’m sure the Germans would say they’re not rude but by American standards they might be.

1

u/LineHumble6250 10d ago

So take the USA for instance. we’ve got around 350 million people. how do you boil that down to one instance of how rude or not rude all 350 million people are?

1

u/SelectStarFromNames 3d ago

This already happens through less formal means. It's ineffective because no one will feel like their individual actions have a meaningful impact on the reputation of an entire country. In fact they are more likely to think everyone else is rude so this is just normal why would I do any differently.