Do you hate Americans?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

(I didn’t post this in the BBQ pit, bbecause i didn’t want flames, I wanted dialogue)
I was working on a review for the movie “Hostel” for my website (Dante’s Inferno and all night video store if you want to know) I read some of the comments in the IMDb message board. Again, there seems to be a lot of general hatred and dissin’ of americans.

I figure there are a lot of folks in these boards from all over the world. I just want to know, do you hate Americans and America and if so why? I don’t want flaming statements like “America sucks! Your all Assholes!” if thats how you feel. I just want to know why you would feel that way.

I and most people i know were raised to respect everyone and where they were/are from. I live in Europe and have lived here for some time. I understand that the government has stepped on some toes and made us look pretty bad to most. (I didn’t vote for Bush, but this isn’t about him). I just want to know why anyone would automatically assume that an american is a jackass. Thats like thinking all the french are snobs, all the germans are nazis and all the asians know kung fu to me. Its unfair and prejudicial.

#2

No. Hating Americans - what, there are like 300 million of you? How could I possibly hate every single one? Hating America - I won’t try and hide the fact that I think the current administration is very, very bad. I think America and the world would be vastly better off with a drastic change in direction. I think there are many things wrong with America, and I think that some qualities that I believe to be characteristic of Americans (but not, of course, present in all Americans) are negative. I also would like a world without a superpower, or at least a world without a single superpower, better than the one we have now. I don’t like the degree of influence that America has.

But hate? Puh-leese.

#3

My loathing for all things American burns with the fire of a million suns. :mad:

#4

I hate Americans that murder, rape, lie and steal. Simple as that. I also hate any other (insert country here)-ans that murder, rape, lie and steal. Simple as that.

Not bad for an American, huh?

#5

Almost every American I’ve ever interacted with in real life have always been very friendly, open and hospitable (given the opportunity). There are many things I love about America: culture, pop-culture, its nature. I’ve been to about 15 states (never the northeast, except for stop overs) and the size of the place is mindboggling to a European, even one coming from a fairly large country.

Some cons as well -
Though I’ve never experienced it myself, or even witnessed anything, the violence is disturbing. I’m aware that crime rates are going down, but the U.S. is still a fairly violent country.

The debates originating in different views on religion is very strange for me too: Abortion, evolution, gay marriage. It’s strange that the Swedish Lutheran Church (which is fairly conservative) has decided to perform marriages for gay people, whereas its counterpart in the U.S. condemns it. Why are these things even an issue in the 21st century?

And finally, the foreign policy sucks. Just becaue you’re the biggest guy in the schoolyard, doesn’t mean you need to go and beat up the weaker kids at every opportunity. I’m a bit concerned that the quagmire that is the MENA region in general and Iraq in particular, has opened a backdoor for China and I’d much rather live with the U.S. as the world’s superpower.

On the whole, thanks to its many graceful people, the pros certainly outweighs the cons. Hate as an emotion doesn’t even figure in that equation.

#6

Electric suns even.

#7

Why? I’m not trying to be a smart ass here. Could you please tell me why?

#8

I’m an American and I hate most Americans.

Well, hate is a strong word. I have an issue with the vast majority of Americans who turn a blind eye to problems. Having only been to Mexico, I can’t say if this is a big issue elsewhere in the world, but it seems to be an attitude that’s prevalent here in America. “Ignore it and it’ll go away; it’s not my problem.” That bothers me a lot. Also, the vast majority aren’t willing to stand up and do something about what they view as wrong in this country. They’re apathetic (or bored maybe).

I don’t hate any one group from any country, but as an American, I am disgusted with most of my fellow citizens.

~Tasha

#9

I’m an Englishman, and, no, I don’t hate Americans.

After all, without them I’d probably be speaking German now and brushing up my goosestep.

Seriously, it should never be forgotten what a huge debt Europe owes to the US for the preservation of its liberties. That doesn’t mean a blank check, but it does mean a little understanding and a lot less irrational hatred.

#10

Well, I am an American and I agree with all that!

#11

I am an American.

Why do people hate us? I’ve some ideas:

  1. On a global stage, we are a bully. Just look at U.S. domestic reaction to North Korea’s missile test. While President Kim is bonkers, North Korea, as a sovereign nation, has every right to embark on any and every weapons research program it wants. Imagine if another nation told the U.S. we couldn’t do weapons research. The hissy fit we would throw would rattle the globe.
  2. Despite being a nation of immigrants, we’re surprisingly xenophobic. Certainly, we’re not alone in this; it is a failing of the human race. However, to outsiders, the xenophobia points directly to them.
  3. We’re rich. Our natural resources are vast, and our economic might is currently unparalleled. We’re on top of the world right now, and have been there for the past 6 or so decades. There definitely is some jealousy. It doesn’t help that we export our image internationally. We create a desire for what we have, and then we allow and invite the best and the brightest from other nations come here to achieve it, strengthening the U.S. and weakening the other nations.
#12

I know what you’re getting at, but that’s a bad example. The US is hardly alone in chastizing NK, and we are not alone in berating Iran, either. What we did in Iraq is much more along the lines of what you’re thinking.

#13

According to this weeks Time Magazine, one in fifty American is morbidly obese. The percentage of merely obese Americans is obviously even higher. For me, those statistics validate my disgust of a large segment of America’s population.

#14

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/This is a blog from Iraq. I realize he knows so much less than we do.

#15

If anyone hates all Americans, then whatever comes out of their mouth regarding said people is immediately irrelevant.

In the UK for instance, there seems to be too much of the ‘we’re more civilised than thou’ attitude when one comments on Americans.

#16

Please… Yeah, he was probably the same CIA agent that drove the planes by remote control into the towers…

#17

I agree that “hate” is too strong of a word. I don’t hate Americans, but there are many aspects of American culture that I dislike:

  1. A broad sense of entitlement and a proud lack of respect for authority.

  2. Political apathy, and a complete lack of interest in what’s happening in the rest of the world. Along with this goes the astonishingly short memory that allows politicians to edit recent history and also allows the country to make the same mistakes over and over.

  3. Nationalism/xenophobia.

  4. Lack of foresight. We never plan ahead even when we are almost completely certain that we’ll need a solution to an issue in years to come. We wait until the last minute, or until a disaster sparks public demand.

  5. Gullibility. I believe this stems from our educational system. Students are not encouraged to debate and question. They learn to swallow whatever data is handed to them and regurgitate it on demand, but never seriously examine the data itself.

  6. Anti-intellectualism. It’s rampant in our culture. Just as an example, look how smart people are portrayed on TV. The smart characters are always hampered by their brains. Either they’re socially inept or they’re driven partially crazy by it. Many times, the smart person is “rescued” by a street-smart person who pries their nose from a book and takes them out to have fun, showing them what’s “really important.”

  7. Lack of ettiquette. We’re pushy, loud, obnoxious and what’s more, *proud *of it. Normal politness is seen by some to be “ass kissing” There’s a lot of people who have the “What-evah! I’ll do what I want!” attitude.

  8. Religion. American culture has a heavy streak of religion that is extremely wearisome to me. It sometimes seems like a constant struggle to keep the zealots from taking over every aspect of our culture and insinuating themselves into the government.

  9. Prudishness, influenced by #8. There’s nothing more tedious than yet another group of “concerned citizens” going to war over a naughty word on television, or a glimpse of a nipple. Even more disgusting are the book-burners.

  10. Our sense of humor. A look at the successful comedies reveals that Americans seem to like slapstick, laugh-at-his-embarassment, low-brow comedy. Some have said that Americans don’t get irony, but that’s not true. We get it, but we find groin injuries much funnier.

#18

I don’t hate America or Americans, either as a group or an individual (probably because I don’t know any Americans personally). There’s a lot about the culture(s) over there that’s very worrying to me, but i’m sure people there would say the same about us Brits. I think though that a lot of what I see as “problems” are also directly tied to advantages; the seeming preoccupation with success is both a good motivation and an excuse for a lot of unfortunate acts.

There’s room for improvement, but hey, that’s true of everyone.

#19

I feel some hostility for certain Protestant denominations and none for Americans per se. Unfortunately, the former has undue influence over the latter.

#20

We’re not alone in many of our behaviours. It is a case of haves versus have-nots, and the U.S. makes a real good target.