Exploring Anti-Americanism
POSTED BY: Khyron
UPDATED: Monday, April 30, 2007 03:01
VIEWED: 18266
PAGE 1 of 23
Thought some of you might find this interesting.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6547881.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/6592479.stm
"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
This was really fascinating, Khyron. I think that if people could open a polite and thoughtful discourse about the subject, maybe America could improve relations with other countries and vice versa.
*************************************************
"If you want to win a war, you must serve no master but your ambition."
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I'm not sure if I would say that is is sad but it is certainly true that most of America still does'nt realise just how much their nation is vilified by people in supposedly "friendly" countries all over the world.
I live in a relitively small seaside-town on the east coast of England that happens to have a large foriegn -language school in it and almost all of the students that i host in my home from all over the world declare a dislike and even hatred of the USA. Most of them see you as war-mongering arogants who are out to bleed the world white.
So, how are you going to prove them wrong?
For myself, I only have to read some of the threads on this board to cause me to heave a sigh of resignation at your country's innevitable future.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:For the most part, I consider it futile to prove bigots wrong. They will believe whatever they want to believe regardless of how rational it is. What can I do? And how much should I really care?
Originally posted by oldenglanddry:
So, how are you going to prove them wrong?
Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.
Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.
-- Cicero
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Don't feel like responding to your whole post, but some people can't be proven wrong because they're bigots, and some of those who unconditionally hate America certainly bear all the hallmarks of being just that. Hating America is an accepted and somewhat fashionable type of prejudice, and while anti-Americanism is certainly borne out of principle in many cases (with some justification), it's mostly so popular simply because it's just trendy. Sort of the lowest common denominator of political statement (some of those involved might even call it philosphical movement or principle). It's become the Myspace or Pop Idols of ideology.
Originally posted by oldenglanddry:
... almost all of the students that i host in my home from all over the world declare a dislike and even hatred of the USA. Most of them see you as war-mongering arogants who are out to bleed the world white.
So, how are you going to prove them wrong?
"The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I think it comes from the belief that you can't victimise the big guy, kinda the same logic that says you can insult the WASP male when insulting anyone else makes you a racist/sexist. I think there is a general feeling taht it's OK to insult America just because they are the big kid on the block. Oh and there is a big side helping of envy in there too.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Going by my own purely subjective experience, I think there is a helping of disappointed admiration in there.
Growing up, TV America as portrayed in movies and tv shows (which are everywhere), tied to the role it played for Europe in WW2 and its glorified revolutionary past, seems to be the coolest thing ever, because it's a distorted fictional reality that no other country exports in this way. (Not saying that's a bad thing to do, just a fact.)
Then the more young people start actually paying attention to the world, its flaws start to emerge. They had slavery? They waged war of questionable justification? They make questionable choices now?
Never mind that every country has its flaws, America's become more apparent in how positive and all over the place it is presented in the media. The contrast, I think, makes people irrational, causing an overt rejection and vilification.
It's like a child rejecting a disappointing role model, I think, ignoring that a role model is just a projection upon a person.
But that's just my lowly theory regarding younger people.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
"to the kind of democracy that celebrates and encourages ordinariness"
Yes. that is America to a 'T'. But not just ordinariness - ignorance and small mindedness. Americans foster that, celebrate that, memorialize that. I mean, where else do you have people passing laws about teaching evolution? And what better place to look for the epitome of American values made whole than to dubya?
Don't know much about history
Don't know much biology
Don't know much about a science book
Don't know much about the French I took ...
I don't know much about art, but I know what I like.
So are Americans 'ugly' and hateful? You betcha - and by choice.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I think Webb ignores some very real facts about America that make it very likely that we WILL be hated. The first is that we spend more on our military than the rest of the world combined. That, and our 800 military installations around the world make our military footprint large and very resented. In addition, our previous lock on international banking and the UN made it impossible for other people to be heard.
Webb also makes some blatantly inaccurate statements about supposed lack of European success. Germany in particular has been growing very quickly, and the Euro is rising relative to the dollar. (Good thing I invested in forex).
And most American are completely ignorant about the rest of the world, and about a science and technology as well. Most people think that the USA represents the highest order of civilization. They have no idea that many other nations are ahead of us on a number of key quality of life and economic indicators. (For example, new technology is never introduced into the USA- we're too backwards. It's usually introduced into Japan and Europe first.)
---------------------------------
Always look upstream.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME