# Anti-USA Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 28, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567 "2006-06-28T23:26:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/21 "2006-06-30T18:13:46Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > There were news photos and videos of Palestinians cheering for joy and firing guns into the sky in celebration of the 9/11 attacks, so it wasn’t unanimous. There was a small amount of footage of a few kids jumping up and down in the street, and it wasn’t clear exactly when it was filmed, nor whether the kids really knew what had happened (or was happening). ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/22 "2006-06-30T18:21:13Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > There was a small amount of footage of a few kids jumping up and down in the street, and it wasn’t clear exactly when it was filmed, nor whether the kids really knew what had happened (or was happening). Interesting. We saw endless footage here of crowds of Palestinians (and in other countries) burning US flags, cheering and holding up signs. It seemed pretty clear that they were cheering about the event. I remember one scene especially where a woman was cheering wildly (I THINK she was Palestinian) while holding a burning US flag. And several interviews where the people were talking about how the US deserved what they had gotten, blah blah blah. This wasn’t only on Fox mind you…all the network news stations carried this in the weeks after 9/11. How representative was this? IMHO not very…but not insignificant either. 20%? 30%? Probably no more than that and perhaps a bit less. But…yeah, it happened. For that matter, I was in Europe 2 months after the event and there were folks that, while sympathetic, told me that we basically got what we deserved. Its a shame, you know, but we provoked them and all… Goes to show…all the idiots aren’t in the US, contrary to Der Trihs and folks who subscribe to his interesting philosophy. -XT ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/23 "2006-06-30T20:25:58Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > I’m pretty sure citizens of Iran and North Korea would be jumping for joy I wouldn’t be so sure about the citizens of those countries jumping for joy at loss of American life. I have a few friends that grew up in Iran, live in the states but visit family in Iran quite often. From what they tell me, much of the country is moderate, educated and don’t agree with current leadership. There are some areas that do tend to agree with the leaders policies, but these are a minority. I think that, like any country, citizens do not necessarily hold the same views as those in power. And the image a country projects through official channels is not necessarily representative of it’s people. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/24 "2006-06-30T22:36:31Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > You don’t seem to see the irony here…which isn’t unusual. Unless of course you are some how tied into hundreds of millions of people who you can then freely paint with your broad brush of course. (\*but, but…all MY friends voted against Nixion! Its impossible he could have been elected… 😕 \*) > > I’m sure you don’t get it…c’est la vie. Or maybe de rigeur in your case, ehe? 😛 > > -XT What _are_ you babbling about ? I said that **I heard** people claim that everyone else hates us. Not millions of people, not even thousands; just people I’ve talked to and overheard. I don’t _know_ “hundreds of millions of people”, so how could I hear them say anything ? Speaking of foreign public reactions to American disasters, there were Iranians holding candlelight vigils for the 9-11 victims. We had plenty of sympathy, before we threw it away. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/25 "2006-07-01T05:00:52Z")
> [@Der Trihs](#): > > I often hear my fellow Americans claim everyone else hates us and celebrates our disasters. Usually, as an excuse for why we shouldn’t feel sorry about bombing/raping/torturing/murdering them; after all, “they hate us anyway”. The next time you “Hear” your fellow Americans claiming that everyone else hates them you might want to put them right on this because they have it wrong. Most people I know, especially Britons, like you guys and feel that any hatred shown towards the USA is a hatred born of jealousy. American is the number one power in the world, your standard of living is excellent, Americans are among the friendliest people on earth IMHO. Whenever a natural disaster strikes America is the first country to offer aid and assistance with no strings attached. I’ve visited the USA many times and just once have I met an obnoxious American, he was drunk so I guess that excuses him. You guys are OK. Believe me, without you this world would be in a far sorrier state than it is. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/26 "2006-07-04T23:33:49Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > There were news photos and videos of Palestinians cheering for joy and firing guns into the sky in celebration of the 9/11 attacks, so it wasn’t unanimous. True, but after 300,000 people were killed by a tsunami in Southeast Asia, there were New Yorkers broadcasting songs on the radio celebrating their deaths. How representative of either country to you consider these actions? ---
**Author:** ![DxZero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DxZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DxZero)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/27 "2006-07-04T23:46:54Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > True, but after 300,000 people were killed by a tsunami in Southeast Asia, there were New Yorkers broadcasting songs on the radio celebrating their deaths. Wait…what?!? Umm…CITE??? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/28 "2006-07-05T00:04:33Z")
[Swim, you bitches, swim](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298979&highlight=tsunami) I thought this incident was common knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![DxZero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DxZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DxZero)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/29 "2006-07-05T00:08:35Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > [Swim, you bitches, swim](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298979&highlight=tsunami) > > I thought this incident was common knowledge. Wow…I missed that one. Apologies to you for screaming for a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/30 "2006-07-05T00:31:53Z")
> [@DxZero](#): > > Wait…what?!? > > Umm…CITE??? That would be New York’s [Hot 97’s Tsunami Song](http://www.koreanx.net/mailer/012405_hot97.html) sung to the tune of “We Are the World” \*\*There was a time, when the sun was shining bright So I went down to the beach to catch me a tan Then the next thing I knew, a wave 20 feet high Came and washed your whole country away And all at once, you can hear the screaming chinks And no one was saved from the wave There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away You can hear God laughing, ‘Swim you bitches swim.’ [Chorus] So now you’re screwed, it’s the tsunami, You better run and kiss your ass away, go find your mommy I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head And now your children will be sold to child slavery\*\* 2 people were fired and 3 people were suspended for 2 weeks with their salaries going to tsunami relief. 2 of those suspended were the DJ’s who played it. Even Howard Stern said it was lame and insensitive. Apparently there is a level below “crack whore” that censors find acceptable on broadcast radio. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/31 "2006-07-05T01:15:08Z")
> [@DxZero](#): > > Wow…I missed that one. > > Apologies to you for screaming for a cite. No problem, I wouldn’t have believed it either. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/32 "2006-07-05T02:04:35Z")
Getting back to the debate, The only thing can I recall is [Sheikh Abu Hamza’s](http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=5467) comment on the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster and the death of 7 astronauts. He said the disaster was a sign from God. Not sure how he felt 10 days later when 14 pilgrims died in the Stoning-of-the-Devil ritual. Maybe God was twice as pissed about something. Other than enviro mental-cases I don’t see a lot of anti-USA stuff going on. For all the protests in Europe over US politics they aren’t having any problems replacing liberals at the ballot with conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/33 "2006-07-05T02:14:40Z")
A columnist in yesterday’s (Tuesday 4 July) \*Australian \* newspaper felt it appropriate to respond to what he sees as the growing amount of general anti-American sentiment in Australia: [Bigotry too easily accepted: All men are equal; all men, that is, except those dumb Americans](http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19672263-7583,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/34 "2006-07-06T16:44:20Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > A columnist in yesterday’s (Tuesday 4 July) \*Australian \* newspaper felt it appropriate to respond to what he sees as the growing amount of general anti-American sentiment in Australia: > > [Bigotry too easily accepted: All men are equal; all men, that is, except those dumb Americans](http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19672263-7583,00.html) I found it interesting that the article suggested Aussies want to distance themselves from GB. I’ve always felt a great kinship with GB and I suspect that holds true with a lot of Americans. The sun has never truly set on the Brittish Empire when you look at the countries directly associated with English culture. For all the bantering among us we are really the same people. Not sure how to address the cultural takeover of Australia except to tell you we won’t rest until your toilets spin the water clockwise. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/35 "2006-07-06T17:35:41Z")
> [@Der Trihs](#): > > What _are_ you babbling about ? I said that **I heard** people claim that everyone else hates us. No, you didn’t. you said you “often” heard that. Frankly, the only time I’ve heard that is when _you_ are claiming that it’s a commonly voiced thought in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/36 "2006-07-06T18:59:36Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Equally, I’m sure the vast majority of people in other countries don’t give a second thought to America in their day-to-day lives, unless of course American soldiers are shooting up their homes and families or the USA is otherwise interfering in their lives. :rolleyes: Not necessarily true. At least not based on the amount of coverage the US gets in the media in other countries (or, at any rate, Western European countries and Canada – I imagine most Africans and Asians, for example, have more pressing issues to think about). I have been amazed in my travels how much media attention the US regularly gets. Amazing and kind of annoying. To answer the OP, no, I don’t think many people at all are “overjoyed” at the idea of American misfortune. But I have noticed a certain reluctance to show sympathy towards the US from certain types of people; there is a kind of attitude of “well, I guess it’s too bad that such-and-such happened to the US, but big deal because bad stuff happens all the time.” There is an underlying attitude that in some sense we deserve whatever misfortune befalls us, and the desire to, as someone else mentioned, take us down a peg. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567/37 "2006-07-06T19:34:02Z")
> [@Der Trihs](#): > > What are you babbling about ? I said that I heard people claim that everyone else hates us. Not millions of people, not even thousands; just people I’ve talked to and overheard. I don’t know “hundreds of millions of people”, so how could I hear them say anything ? Hey, can I help it if you are known for overblown exaggerations…and also that you can’t appearently remember what you even write?? 😛 > [@Der Trihs](#): > > I often hear my fellow Americans claim everyone else hates us and celebrates our disasters. Usually, as an excuse for why we shouldn’t feel sorry about bombing/raping/torturing/murdering them; after all, “they hate us anyway”. > [@Der Trihs](#): > > I see. Since you don’t hear such things ( suuuure you don’t ), it’s utterly impossible that someone else might. You, of course have me monitored at all times and know what other people say to me. Let me translate my babble then. You see, you are busting on someone else because they don’t hear these things (and alluding to the fact that they are making sweeping statements from purely personal experience)…while claiming that you ‘often’ do, as if that is meaningful. So…I made a joke about the fact that you MUST be plugged into millions of people to make such a sweeping statement, and tied it in with a paraphrase by an astonished woman who was remarking about the fact that Nixon lost…in spite of her assurances that all HER friends voted for the other guy! Ok, I’m sure you still don’t get it… > [@Rodgers01](#): > > To answer the OP, no, I don’t think many people at all are “overjoyed” at the idea of American misfortune. But I have noticed a certain reluctance to show sympathy towards the US from certain types of people; there is a kind of attitude of “well, I guess it’s too bad that such-and-such happened to the US, but big deal because bad stuff happens all the time.” There is an underlying attitude that in some sense we deserve whatever misfortune befalls us, and the desire to, as someone else mentioned, take us down a peg. Exactly…though I have to admit that the Austrailian article was a bit disturbing. I’ve been to Austrailia, though not recently…and don’t recall anything like that as far as my personal dealings with the Aussi’s went. ☹ They all seemed so friendly and outgoing, in spite of the fact that I was an American (though perhaps they thought I was from Spain or Mexico or something with my accent)… -XT [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-usa-question/362567.md?page=1)