Annoying Anti-Americanism

[Steve Piranha 28,782]

2 hours ago, heavens-champion said:

Anyone besides me find anti-Americanism annoying? Seriously, you hear things like 'Americans wanna take over the world' and 'Evil America' all over the internet. Oh, I'm sure there are some good excuses for it, but honestly, it's ridiculous. Makes it seem like Anti-Americans think Americans aren't people. Good reason for me to thinkthat people who are from other countries and hate America are welcome to stay where they are... especially the ones who make up wild stories.

As son of two non-americans, I get sour with that bullcrap, specially if done by my parents, and the rest of my Bolivian family. They LOVE to make those remarks, as if Evo is a great president in the first place  

[Brightbart 268]

I personally love living in America and most people I know love living in the US as well. While other countries may not like it the US is indeed a special country, it's the melting pot of the world and spans the length of a continent. I don't fixate too much on politics because it's not healthy and I as a single person can't do much about it. I've seen a common theme on the internet, those that fixate on politics tend to be angrier and look at only the negatives. I have too happy of a life to become too bothered from stuff like that, though it is difficult with it being the internet. 

[LunarShadow 397]

The United States certainly is special when it comes to expensive healthcare, extreme wealth inequality, incompetent government officials, insane incarceration rates, debt, poor public education, etc. All of this despite being the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. We sure are a glorious and prosperous union.

Edited May 26, 2017 by DayShadow

[N.W. 3,619]

As somebody who used to fall under the category of self loathing Americans, I can say that it is annoying. I do not posses such views anymore and have not for some time. 

 

That being said, I think it's important that we Americans criticize our own country and government(s) (federal and state) as much as we criticize other nations. That is how we better our nation. You should also remain skeptical about some statements and actions of the government. Should you go full Alex Jones? Certainly not, but when the CIA makes a statement regarding something like chemical weapons or hacking without any evidence, you should question it. 

I do not always agree with out government, and I have been angered at much of the hypocrisy in our government and culture. An example would be people criticizing Russia for doing that which we have done on previous occasions.  Another example would be our continued support of Saudi Arabia, one of the biggest abusers of human rights in the Middle East and one of the biggest sponsors of terrorism. 

 

All that being said I still love this country and what it was founded on. Though I will say that I think our founding fathers are rolling in their grave due to what our political system has become in 21st century. 

 

[LunarShadow 397]

Couldn't have said it better @Nebula Wolf. As a young American i do love my country but the amount of social issues we have is staggering compared to the rest of the developed world. A few years ago i was oblivious to the political situation but as i got older it became impossible to avoid it. I don't consider myself well versed when it comes to politics but just taking a look at it from the side lines its easy to see how deeply troubled this country is socially and economically. I hope one day this country will get better but from what i can see the situation is looking pretty bleak. In my honest opinion i think if Bernie Sanders would have won the presidency he would have set us on the course for developing our nation in the right direction. Instead we got screwed over with two truly awful candidates that physically embody everything wrong with the United States. In Trumps case being a complete idiot and a walking American Stereotype. Its going to be a long four years.  

[heavens-champion 1,893]

1 hour ago, DayShadow said:

The United States certainly is special when it comes to expensive healthcare, extreme wealth inequality, incompetent government officials, insane incarceration rates, debt, poor public education, etc. All of this despite being the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. We sure are a glorious and prosperous union.

Makes you wonder if American-hating foreigners are hating the wrong country.

[Daring_Do 552]

5 hours ago, GeekySonic said:

My home used to be a tiny room with a flat air mattress and a bag of clothes. Doesn't mean it wasn't a piece of shit.

Try traveling a little. Maybe you'll actually be grateful for what you have.

5 hours ago, K.Rool Addict said:

 

No ones saying America is "the best country on Earth" here. Hell, I truly believe the USA is one of the WORST places on Earth to be living atm. The last 10 or so years have all but destroyed America and American society as a whole. 

Care to clarify what you mean? If America's so bad, why do foreigners keep pouring in here? (Unless that's *why* it's bad now in your eyes.) America's one of the best places to live in the world, and frankly anyone who tries claiming otherwise must be awfully sheltered.

[JonasDarkmane 19,777]

I think a lot of this "anti-americanism" is misunderstood. 

 

I don't think that most will refer to the American people when they say they hate America or they think America wants to take over the world. Usually people are talking about the governments of said countries. 

 

I for one have never been a fan of the US government due to their foreign policy. I don't have anything specific against the people themselves, just their politicians. 

[StormBlaze 991]

im British and im afraid over here you yanks have set a stereotype for yourselves. Historically and socially.  America has in deed become a giant country and over here at least, we do see you as a big, loud personality that thinks everything you say is the right thing or right way and at times throws a tantrum when called out on it or nothing goes your way. I mean, hell, Trump is pretty much the living embodiment of America's faulted stereotype. 

I suggest you look up the webcomic Scandinavia and the World, its very accurate on how us Europeans (soon to be former) see the US. 

please dont take my comment as offence - its stereotyping but not at you personally. 

[Ironic Nickname 31]

Remember George W. Bush? Back then, Anti-Americanism was quite common. Obama's win changed that, and he certainly made the US look better, from an international point of view. Then Donald Trump was elected (and he didn't even get a majority/plurality of the votes).

The US is not the worst country in the world, or even bottom 50. It's a first world country, however, and thus is held by higher standards by most. Unfortunately, the US doesn't quite live up to those standards in many cases. The US has significantly flawed environmental policies, causes a lot of wars (including the Iraq war, which Europe had to pay a lot for), only 22nd best in gender equality (which is pretty good, but not good enough to be "The Best Country in the World"), lots of annoying patriotism (you'd think a country like Norway or the Netherlands or Canada would be patriotic, since they legitimately live in some of the best countries in the world, yet they seem to be less patriotic on average compared to the US). Oh, and for some reason conspiracy theories seem more popular in the US (such as anti-vaccination), and belief in science is weaker than most first world countries (See this picture: )

People are also annoyed that the US was a huge factor in the large immigration crisis in Europe and the Middle East, but is barely willing to do anything to help at all. Talks about allowing 10,000 immigrants seem pathetic. Taking responsibility for ones action is a core value for many people, yet the US isn't doing that when it comes to things like war they've caused, or environmental damages it has caused (if you break it, you should pay for it). 

Does this mean Anti-Americanism is directed towards Americans? Eh, not necessarily. I imagine most people are more concerned with what the US government does than Americans in general. And, after all, different Americans act differently. We can hardly blame environmentally conscious hippies for wars and environmental damages or attitudes towards immigration, for instance.

[GeekySonic 1,150]

 [-----Deleted!-----]

Edited May 5, 2018 by GeekySonic

[JonasDarkmane 19,777]

21 minutes ago, StormBlaze said:

I suggest you look up the webcomic Scandinavia and the World, its very accurate on how us Europeans (soon to be former) see the US. 

I disagree with you there, Humon is not a good example at how Europeans look at the US. Humon only speaks from her own little prejudice. 

 

In any case though, I would dare say that most commoners in Europe do not hold a bright shiny image of American politics, not now or in the past. 

[Soma O))) 30]

10 hours ago, heavens-champion said:

Anyone besides me find anti-Americanism annoying? Seriously, you hear things like 'Americans wanna take over the world' and 'Evil America' all over the internet. Oh, I'm sure there are some good excuses for it, but honestly, it's ridiculous. Makes it seem like Anti-Americans think Americans aren't people. Good reason for me to thinkthat people who are from other countries and hate America are welcome to stay where they are... especially the ones who make up wild stories.

Well, I find the lack of unity amongst our species (i.e. humans) to be deplorable. Anti-americanism to me is comical. Patriotism and/or nationalism of any kind is a dangerous prospect to adopt as it furthers divisions among us. 

I'd argue that we ought to do away with national identity and borders. Why do we need countries when we all share the land? I am neither an American nor a Hungarian. I am from earth and even that I would consider small minded. We are all born of this universe. Still too small. We are all, for the time being, alive.

[LunarShadow 397]

@Soma O))) I wouldn't say Patriotism is dangerous so much as nationalism is. From my perspective Patriotism is loving ones country for the things it does well where as Nationalism is loving ones country no matter what it does. If the United States got its shit together and managed to become number 1 in Healthcare satisfaction and education in the world that's a pretty good reason to be patriotic and proud too be American. On the flip side if the U.S. fails on both those fronts and a person thinks the U.S. is still the greatest thing ever and the rest of the world should be ruled by us, that is nationalism and it's cancer.

[Daring_Do 552]

5 hours ago, StormBlaze said:

im British and im afraid over here you yanks have set a stereotype for yourselves. Historically and socially.  America has in deed become a giant country and over here at least, we do see you as a big, loud personality that thinks everything you say is the right thing or right way and at times throws a tantrum when called out on it or nothing goes your way. I mean, hell, Trump is pretty much the living embodiment of America's faulted stereotype. 

I suggest you look up the webcomic Scandinavia and the World, its very accurate on how us Europeans (soon to be former) see the US. 

please dont take my comment as offence - its stereotyping but not at you personally. 

I'm assuming you've studied the history of the British Empire in school.

 

5 hours ago, GeekySonic said:

I have lived in 9 different states since my birth, and I am quite grateful to not be sleeping in my car, thank you very much.

Sorry, I didn't mean your specific situation - I thought your "piece of shit" analogy might be claiming the US was a "piece of shit", so I was saying seeing more of the world might make you more grateful to live in America.

[Jeric 46,835]

14 hours ago, Celli said:

but if our founding fathers saw how it was today, they'd probably be ashamed of us. 

Jefferson would likely be the only one really ashamed. Washington would visualize himself signing audibly (since he really worked to not have his countenance betray his emotions). Hamilton would be fine. Franklin would be mostly fine. Adams would be fine. Rutledge would be shocked for obvious reasons. Dickenson may be a little ashamed at our military might since he was a Quaker, but not exceedingly so.

Back to Jefferson. You see, Jefferson wanted a new Constitution every 20 years. Madison was like lolno. The fact that we still have so much love to that document would sadden Jefferson to no end. To him it should be extreme dynamic and changed generationally (he had some weird idea of 20 years equalling a generation after some impressive math in a letter to Madison). I really don't think any modern Party wants what he wanted ... even the Article 5'ers. 

Washington hated Party politics and the masses who blindly followed Parties. He would say that both the Republicans and Democrats (the politicians AND the electorate) are exactly what he warned us about. Then he would see how misattributed he is and wish his correspondence was not set to flames. 

If Franklin had anything to say about today, he would first pick his ass of the floor after learning about the advancements in science. Then he would look at the politicians and see hundreds of less intellectual John Adams running the place. 

Madison built is ideas from massive research on others' governments and societal views. He was a very dynamic man who was more pragmatic than Jefferson. Hard to tell what he would thing since his views evolved over time. 

Most of the people that talk about the Founders and Framers haven't once seen a personal letter they wrote. Most of them are ill informed children who are still playing with the political equivalent of Duplo blocks, complete with imagining their creation as an original masterpiece akin to the Taj Mahal. 

And America is a good nation and exceptional. We aren't alone in our virtues and our faults. Comparing governments and nations like some sort of fandom discussion of who is best  character illustrates how obtuse some are. I'm cool with it though. Just as long as I don't step on the Duplo blocks on my way through. Ouch!

[Celli 4,332]

@Jeric Are you saying they were just as corrupt as our current government is?

[Jeric 46,835]

Quote

“If it should be the Will of Heaven that our Army should be defeated, our Artillery lost, our best Generals kill’d, and Philadelphia fall into Mr. Howes Hands, ... It may be for what I know be the Design of Providence that this should be the Case. Because it would only lay the Foundations of American Independence deeper, and cement them stronger. It would cure Americans of their vicious and luxurious and eleminate Appetites, Passions and Habits, a more dangerous Army to American Liberty than Mr. Howes.” - John Adams in a letter to Abigail Adams

25 minutes ago, Celli said:

@Jeric Are you saying they were just as corrupt as our current government is?

I'm saying that their overuse by pundits and dime store political analysts by taking cherry picked popular quotes and disseminating them to the masses as validation of some truth is as hilarious as it is inept. They worst thing is that most of them KNOW it. The electorate, with it's consumption based traits fueling their opinions without internal discourse, does not. 

The Founders are Framers were certainly not paragons of virtue in all matters. They even thought themselves and their fellow Americans as corrupt, but much of that opinion was owed to the atmosphere of liberty that permeated Revolutionary America (racially integrated taverns owned by women where ethnic dancing and music was routine is an example some of the American Gentry would point to as evidence of corruption of the people).

But, not all corrupt ideas led to bad things, hence the solution to the representation question during the Federal Convention. With that, no central government yo! 

It's adorable that some Parties pick and choose which Founding Father's to celebrate. It's like they are adopting them. 

The Founders worried more about their experiment lasting than whether they were the best. The term they used was 'uniquely American'. Also considering the letters and discussions about other nations, they were acutely aware that the new US was not the best in many things. 

[Zyrael 1,471]

14 hours ago, DayShadow said:

The United States certainly is special when it comes to expensive healthcare, extreme wealth inequality, incompetent government officials, insane incarceration rates, debt, poor public education, etc. All of this despite being the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. We sure are a glorious and prosperous union.

Any time we actually try to do something for ourselves like increasing minimum wage, doing more for teachers, improving healthcare, fox news types scream "socialism" and it's back to square one.

 

Interestingly, we've never had a problem spending the bulk of our wealth on waging war and firing missiles in distant corners of the globe even while our own country is in shambles. The people who were on trump's team kept going on about the "working class" but they elected a wealthy man who's done nothing but protect and fund big corporations, wall street, and the military. I thought we were beyond this stage, but apparently not.

[zerox 1,050]

I think lots of anti americanism comes from the fact that lots of people are ignorant. america is the best at everything, lots of guns makes us free and safe, complaning about unimportant shit, america first, european countries that have good social welfare programs are socialist countries... etc stuff

 

I'm anti Trump and anti alt-right. I think the guy is a joke and the worst leader of any western country. I also dislike communism and the extreme left.

btw I'm european and I have been to the US 3 times

[StormBlaze 991]

5 hours ago, Daring_Do said:

I'm assuming you've studied the history of the British Empire in school.

 

 

i have a keen interest in History. 

[LunarShadow 397]

One of the biggest things that annoys me in this country is the rabid fear of anything deemed socialist by the media. Its ironic really considering things like medicaid, medicare, and social security are socialist policies with social security being one of the most successful policies ever enacted. 

Edited May 26, 2017 by DayShadow

[Soma O))) 30]

12 hours ago, DayShadow said:

@Soma O))) I wouldn't say Patriotism is dangerous so much as nationalism is. From my perspective Patriotism is loving ones country for the things it does well where as Nationalism is loving ones country no matter what it does. If the United States got its shit together and managed to become number 1 in Healthcare satisfaction and education in the world that's a pretty good reason to be patriotic and proud too be American. On the flip side if the U.S. fails on both those fronts and a person thinks the U.S. is still the greatest thing ever and the rest of the world should be ruled by us, that is nationalism and it's cancer.

The differences between patriotism and nationalism are a real fine line. It's almost like splitting hairs if you ask me. I'd also like to reiterate that this was not the focus of my post. The message I was attempting to convey is that the frail/dated ideals of national identity are a hindrance in regard to the unification of our species. This is basically all I really care about. You'll hear me blabber on and on and on about unity and what not. My dream and life's work (mind you, said work is in progress as I am barely an adult) are a product of this. I dream of a life where any and all intelligent life is either unified or assimilated into a singular unified culture.

[LunarShadow 397]

1 hour ago, Soma O))) said:

The differences between patriotism and nationalism are a real fine line. It's almost like splitting hairs if you ask me. I'd also like to reiterate that this was not the focus of my post. The message I was attempting to convey is that the frail/dated ideals of national identity are a hindrance in regard to the unification of our species. This is basically all I really care about. You'll hear me blabber on and on and on about unity and what not. My dream and life's work (mind you, said work is in progress as I am barely an adult) are a product of this. I dream of a life where any and all intelligent life is either unified or assimilated into a singular unified culture.

We are centuries away from humanity being united under a single flag. To much conflict exists between different people and cultures to even make a global union remotely viable. Its why countries exist to begin with. Not to say a united, global society is a bad idea for humanity as a whole just virtually impossible for now and the foreseeable future. 

[Strong Copper 126]

I feel like this would be a good place to put this. It is the first episode of a series about how the US Constitution actually came about... and all the bullshit that people had to go through in order to get that far.