# So you say that you hate the United States…. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 29, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444 "2002-05-29T21:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/21 "2002-05-29T23:06:54Z")
We caught you, Osama . . . now let’s see who you _really_ are! Why, it’s old Mr. Jeebers from the abandoned service station! ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/22 "2002-05-29T23:13:27Z")
> [@](#): > > You’re a bunch of belligerent fools with low education who don’t know the difference between Sweden and Switzerland. You take that back, or I’ll stab you with my Swedish Army knife. ---
**Author:** ![Sparc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Sparc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparc)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/23 "2002-05-29T23:19:34Z")
Ouch! :stop that!.. I said stop that Jodi!: ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/24 "2002-05-29T23:30:36Z")
See **Jodi** , I worry you work too much. Another women might have said summin like “Gee, those Swiss make cute furniture”. But no, for you grievous bodily harm springs to mind. I blame it all on Bush – the politician, not the Belgium band. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/25 "2002-05-29T23:32:10Z")
‘n’ dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/26 "2002-05-29T23:46:27Z")
> [@](#): > > See Jodi, I worry you work too much. Another women might have said summin like “Gee, those Swiss make cute furniture”. But no, for you grievous bodily harm springs to mind. Well, FWIW, grievous bodily harm doesn’t have anything to do with my work. For me it’s just a hobby. 😃 [sub]Hey, some people knit [/sub] Jo “No, ‘grievous bodily harm’ is my _middle_ name” D. ---
**Author:** ![lenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3bc359/32.png) [@lenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lenin)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/27 "2002-05-29T23:50:16Z")
The main problem I see: Why do people equate “Anti-Bush” with “Anti-America?” ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/28 "2002-05-30T00:34:18Z")
The opinion I have formed, through twenty-one years of experience and a damn fine AP US History class in high school, as well as my studies for foreign languages and cultures, is this: Sure we suck, but so does everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/29 "2002-05-30T00:41:41Z")
Studies OF foreign languages, rather. That’s what I get for posting under the influence of onion dip. It’s all Beaumarchais’s fault, the Figaro-marryin’ bastard … ---
**Author:** ![Skydive101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@Skydive101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skydive101)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/30 "2002-05-30T01:39:58Z")
I’m very anti-Bush. I much prefer shaved. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/31 "2002-05-30T01:50:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, FWIW, grievous bodily harm doesn’t have anything to do with my work. For me it’s just a hobby. > > Hey, some people knit Just to add to the hijack, I knit so I have an inconspicuous way of committing grievoud bodily harm. “Who me, officer? I’m just a nice, 30 something lady who knits. :innocent look:” CJ ---
**Author:** ![bagkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bagkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagkitty)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/32 "2002-05-30T02:53:27Z")
We dislike Americans because they bring down the property values… could you please move somewhere else? And try to leave the part of the continent you’ve bee on the way it was before you came. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_The\_Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/33 "2002-05-30T03:04:09Z")
USA! USA! USA! (Does anyone else even vaguely remember that thread?) ---
**Author:** ![Lockfist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@Lockfist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockfist)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/34 "2002-05-30T04:05:14Z")
If the **Yankess** won every world series for the last 40 years, I can guarantee you that _everyone_ would be rooting for the **Yankess** to lose… I have some Arab friends here in San Francisco and they all tell me that if you went to the Mideast and approached a group of locals who just got done denouncing the US and told them you have a free one-way ticket to America, you would see thousands of hands waving in the air. Eager to make a “better” life for themselves. Obviously this is a generalization and I hope its not my biased point of view, but I find this scenerio quiet believable… ---
**Author:** ![Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/35 "2002-05-30T05:58:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Binarydrone \* > \*\* > > For example: > [ul] > [li]We try to send hungry people food.[/li][li]We try to have a representative democracy, and due process of law.[/li][li]We aspire to Racial/gender equality (as a society).[/li][li]In cases of natural disaster (around the world) we send aid.[/li][/ul] \*\* Hey **Binary Drone** , you want people to bow down before the US because it “tries to help people,” but you should know the US is _dead last_ in foreign aid per capita among first world nations. That information comes from the CIA World Factbook, hardly a bastion of anti-American sentiment. You need to realise the US is not very compassionate in its foreign policy. Let’s look at a few reasons why I detest the US government: [ul] [li]The CIA overthrew the democratically elected government of Guatemala in 1953, creating a civil war that resulted in the deaths of 65,000 people.[/li][li]In the same decade, the US overthrew the democratically elected government of Mossadeq in Iran, about the only truly progressive government to ever exist in the region. The government the U.S. installed, headed by the shah, was famous for extrajudicial killings. Amnesty International named SAVAK (the Shah’s secret police) the worst human rights violators on the planet in 1976, although the US wholeheartedly supported that regime[/li][li]Several year later, the U.S. overthrew the democratically elected government of Allende in Chile, installing General Pinochet. 14,000 people were “disappeared”.[/li][li]The US has an intelligence program in place, the so-called ECHELON, which is used for such noble things as economic espionage and keeping tabs on followers of liberation theology in South America.[/li][/ul] I’m American myself, although I live and work abroad. I have nothing against the people of America, but I do think its government is incredibly corrupt and its corporations are damaging the cultures of other countries though ceaseless marketing of American products and stupid Hollywood blockbusters. We _need_ more criticism of the US, idealism is not a bad thing, and every people should feel proud to point out that something is unjust. UnuMondo ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/36 "2002-05-30T05:59:05Z")
I vote we give France back to Germany. They obviousy want it more. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/37 "2002-05-30T06:09:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Buck The Diver \* > \*\*USA! USA! USA! > > (Does anyone else even vaguely remember that thread?) \*\* Yes. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/38 "2002-05-30T06:21:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I am asking is why it is ok (even fashionable) to hate the US It’s not. U.S. hotels do provide wash cloths. I hate having to always pack one on trips to Europe. 😛 I wonder why a boat load of naked Chinese men landed on our shores. Or so I hear. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/39 "2002-05-30T06:29:49Z")
**UnoMondo** - Criticism is one thing, knee-jerk bashing is another. I agree with all of the specific criticisms you listed, but I do think a certain level-headedness is called for when making them. Including a pragmatic assessment of the rest of the world. Calling the U.S. government corrupt _might_ be accurate in some respects ( certainly the Democrats and Republicans just love slinging arrows of this sort at each other 😉 ). But at the end of the day there has to be a realization that compared to say, most of the rest of the world, it is remarkably open and amenable to modification. There’s plenty of room for improvement, but I think far too often some folks take a shrill and unbalanced view of the U.S. simply because it is so BIG in almost every respect. But since I’m really just repeating what others have already said, I’ll shut up about it now :). - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444/40 "2002-05-30T06:42:41Z")
I’m a Republican. I vote for Bush…every weekend! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-say-that-you-hate-the-united-states/111444.md?page=3)