Why does everybody here hate the U.S.A

[BNguyen]

The way I see it, America appears pretty much every day on global news and typically only tragic events are ever reported, very few 'happy' times are used as subjects, but it seems to me that every country in the world has their fair share of wrongs that they've done to someone or group but because they mostly remain small, it remains out of the global community's eyes, but if every country were to just admit that they've had their own problems then we wouldn't be having too much hate on America.
But think about it, America provides jobs and resources to small, underdeveloped or poor nations, we try to provide the concepts of democracy and freedom as well as capitalism (which is much more fair than socialism or communism by the way - these government types seem to be only favorable to small populations which are either too rich or too poor).
Tell me, is it wrong to tell people that they deserve a voice and have the right to display their opinion?
America is not completely blameless nor is the rest of the world spot free and its time we all fess-up to this reality.

 

[Jacco]

Fun story: a couple from Boston once asked my parents if they were from "french Canada or American Canada" on a cruise. Suffice to say, my parents never spoke to them again.

That's not exactly fair. More than likely it was just a poorly worded question and your parents over reacted because the couple was American.

Not two weeks ago I was flying home and ended up next to this Aussie girl. When I asked her where she was from, she said Brisbane. I was unfamiliar with where that was and asked if it was near "Mel-born" or Sydney. She harshly corrected me by saying it was "Mel-burn" and stupidly, (because I was shocked by her tone and partially enamored by her) I said "Whatever." She stopped talking to me after that.

My point is that I certainly meant no offense by either of the things I said but she clearly took it. That couple more than likely was asking a simple question not realizing it was offensive.

 

[Jacco]

It was an American inventor that gave the world Toilet Paper.

YOU'RE WELCOME!

Oh, and the motherfucking polio vaccine.

And light bulbs.
And production lines.
And nuclear weapons.

 

[TonyVonTonyus]

The following is a small list of some of the reasons people don't like Americans.

1:Fox News
2:Tourists
3:Fox News
4:Western attitude
5:Fox News
6:Obnoxious people who think they're better than other people
7:Fox News
8:Republicans who tax the poor
9:Fox news
10id I mention Fox news?

Yes I know I said Fox news a lot and that may seem biased but a lot of people from abroad watch Fox News and they believe most people in America agree with them, them being people who believe taxing the poor, cutting programs and everyone should believe in Jesus Christ and that evolution doesn't exist.

(Also, I know this sounds like I'm generalizing but we're talking about how people generalize and hate americans)

 

[Jake0fTrades]

It was an American inventor that gave the world Toilet Paper.

YOU'RE WELCOME!

Oh, and the motherfucking polio vaccine.

And light bulbs.
And production lines.
And nuclear weapons.

The list really just goes on and on doesn't it?

 

[BNguyen]

It also seems as though many of the more idiotic or uneducated groups within America get more media attention which spreads like wildfire to everywhere, people from without tend to view these statements as the opinion of the entire nation, but really, the ignorant masses probably only make up around 2 or 3%, not even worth mentioning,what the rest of the world needs to do is get a little less sensitive about these statements, come to terms with the fact that there exist only a small number of people who couldn't location a country on a globe unless you pushed their face into it.

 

[Pyroguekenesis]

This.
http://i.imgur.com/z7Pak.jpg
And this.
http://randomoverload.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/3580f9442e57f1f1441.jpg
Sigh...god I really hope the world ends sometimes... and its people like these...

 

[Random Encounter]

The word Hate use to have meaning but now everyone just uses that word to describe anything they're not fond of for exaggerated effect.

As for why every other nation "Hates" America, well, it's been said. Other countries arn't happy about phrases like "We're Number 1" or "Greatest country in the world". I'm aware America didn't mean to offend other nations by saying this but the implications are still there.

 

[manaman]

Because we don't use the metric system, we don't have healthcare, we don't have a good education system, etc.

And we have a Bible Belt.

We do use the metric system, at least as much as say the UK does. They use imperial measurements as commonly as they use metric. We use it where it counts. I myself use it quite often from day to day. Really who else but people very invested in math even need to worry about it anyway?

We do have a health care system. We don't have a free health care system. We happen to have a pretty damn effective health care system, the failure is that it isn't as accessible to everyone.

The education system is average. Seriously. Average among developed nations. It's not the worst in the world. In fact it's pretty damn close to average scores across the entire European Union, which suffers from the same problem as the US some areas are doing extraordinarily well, while many poorer (especially inner city areas) are not doing as well.

The last statement, well that one is born of worse ignorance then the ignorance that went into any of the other statements. Those are people, like you, not things for you to gloat over from your elitist perch. Aside from a few groups that make it their mission to make south eastern US look as bad as they can I would bet you half the stories that you would cite as true cases of southern ignorance are blown out of proportion, or down right never happened.

 

[Syntax Man]

Because you have no health care system, because your education system sucks, because you have a "bible belt," because our government models many of its policies on the ludicrous decisions of your dumbass leaders, because you are spending billions of dollars and roping other hapless countries into a foolish drug war, and because you are a modern empire that your leadership and electorate have clearly proven that you don't deserve and aren't responsible enough to have in the first place.


That's why.

Love the logic behind your posts. Can you cite a single example to your already flimsy argument? I'll settle for a direct example of one of our governmental policies leading to the direct change of any other nations policy that's worth a damn.

Also politicians kind of suck everywhere. No sense on hating on ours alone.

And why is it that you can't ever see the pros of our country? Yes, we have roped in innocent people into our wars. So has nearly every other super power in the world. We have sent billions in aid to other countries, and forget just for a second that we shouldn't be interfering with others business, and realize that yes, although many dollars were simply stuffed into the pockets of corrupt politicians in the country, many more dollars were used to help the citizens.

I'm straying from civility. I simply wish to see an example of the arguments you have produced, that are either completely obvious from many, many other perspectives, or have written and confirmed sources.

Our stupid drug war is a perfect example of questionable American leadership being mirrored by equally questionable Canadian leadership, as for your comment defending your roping other countries into your wars, the real question is whether or not you deserve to be a superpower, all evidence of your reign as no.1 power points to the negative, sure the British Empire was bad, but at least they never installed local dictators just because they were anti-communist, or actively attempted to sabotage democracy in foreign countries, as happened several times during the cold war.

 

[Zmerc]

The following is a small list of some of the reasons people don't like Americans.

1:Fox News
2:Tourists
3:Fox News
4:Western attitude
5:Fox News
6:Obnoxious people who think they're better than other people
7:Fox News
8:Republicans who tax the poor
9:Fox news
10id I mention Fox news?

Yes I know I said Fox news a lot and that may seem biased but a lot of people from abroad watch Fox News and they believe most people in America agree with them, them being people who believe taxing the poor, cutting programs and everyone should believe in Jesus Christ and that evolution doesn't exist.

(Also, I know this sounds like I'm generalizing but we're talking about how people generalize and hate americans)

Every news station is biased, if you dont believe that then your a fool. More republicans believe in tax cuts, its the democrats that want to tax everyone from dust to dawn. Never once seen on fox news where they just said "HEYYYY EVOLUTION DOESNT EXIST" i mean come on man, where you getting your information from?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Because if I were use a school yard as a metaphor to describe the world stage, the USA would be the schoolyard bully going around beating up all the smaller kids and taking their lunch money.

 

[Dense_Electric]

It's these sorts of topics that make me remember that while many forums are too disgustingly right-wing for my tastes, this forum is often too disgustingly left-wing for my tastes.

And I'm sorry, but what is all this garbage about the US being involved in illegal wars? I have two problems with that statement:

One, whether you agree with the idea of going to war in the first place or not, if you're seriously trying to make people like Hussein or Gadhaffi out to be victims, I'm going to have to ask you to step outside. Or maybe to go live under one of those regimes for a few days, and then come back and ***** to me about "how bad America is."

Two, SO WERE FUCKING YOU. Last time I checked, the UK, France, Canada, Germany, Australia, Israel, and a ton of other countries all had boots on the ground in at least some of those wars, so don't give me that shit about the US somehow being the only guilty party. Oh, sure, we were the main presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that doesn't change the fact that we weren't the only ones.

The US is by no means perfect, but the way some people talk about it you'd think their country was somehow a beacon of perfection that all other countries should strive to be and bow down before.

 

[Saltyk]

As for the WWII comment, it's probably because, well, America didn't join till the end. They didn't join until they were pulled in. The other countries did most of the hard work actually defending and whittling down forces and such, and America sweeps in at the end and then afterwards tries to make out like they single handedly won the war (See previous statement of arrogance).

The problem is that is just as ignorant as people claim we Americans are. We were technically neutral, but we weren't really. We supported Britain and her allies in the war. American destroyers would even escort Allied ships as far as Iceland practically guaranteeing their safety (Germany wouldn't attack neutral ships). We basically gave Britain supplies for the war for free.

The main reason America stayed neutral for so long was that the people didn't view the battle in Europe as our fight. They just kind of viewed it as "those darn kids are fighting again". Most Americans thought the only place we should fight, at all, was the Pacific (Japan), especially after Pearl Harbor. Sorry Europe, but the people didn't want to fight "your battles". Half the reason we had a reason to engage Germany and Italy was because Hitler declared war on the United States four days after Pearl Harbor.

And actually Roosevelt was preparing for America to go to war long before we actually declared war. In 1939, he had ordered members of his staff to get America on a war footing. He wanted to ensure that the country would be ready for the inevitable.

So, it's not fair to say that we didn't join until we were "pulled in". I doubt anyone actually wants to go to war, anyway.

While Germany probably wouldn't have won the war, no one really agrees that the Allies would have succeeded without American help. The most anyone agrees on is that Russia would have won.

 

[manaman]

The following is a small list of some of the reasons people don't like Americans.

1:Fox News
2:Tourists
3:Fox News
4:Western attitude
5:Fox News
6:Obnoxious people who think they're better than other people
7:Fox News
8:Republicans who tax the poor
9:Fox news
10id I mention Fox news?

Yes I know I said Fox news a lot and that may seem biased but a lot of people from abroad watch Fox News and they believe most people in America agree with them, them being people who believe taxing the poor, cutting programs and everyone should believe in Jesus Christ and that evolution doesn't exist.

(Also, I know this sounds like I'm generalizing but we're talking about how people generalize and hate americans)

Every news station is biased, if you dont believe that then your a fool. More republicans believe in tax cuts, its the democrats that want to tax everyone from dust to dawn. Never once seen on fox news where they just said "HEYYYY EVOLUTION DOESNT EXIST" i mean come on man, where you getting your information from?

Obviously not from any actual research.

The person I quoted before hand didn't either. Hate spreads because it's easy to believe the lies, and once you start it's even easier to believe more lies as long as they confirm the bias you already have.

 

[Toriver]

And we have a Bible Belt.

OMIGAWD SOMEONE BELIEVES IN SOMETHING I DON'T!

OP: There seems to be a strange belief that The Escapist is a British magazine, populated mostly by Brits who are bitter and anti-american.

However during my many adventures on this site I have found that it is an "American" magazine populated by self-loathing Americans. Strange.

As for your question, I haven't ever lived in any other country, so I have no proper basis to compare the states too, but it's not a bad place to live. It's on par with the others for the most part, at least.

This post brings up an interesting point, and I think, one factor of anti-Americanism on this forum that never seems to be addressed, and that is, anti-Americanism as a by-product of other nations' nationalism, most notably that of the UK, Canada, and Australia, but on this forum, the primary one being the UK by a large margin ([sarcasm]Thanks a lot, Yahtzee... [/sarcasm]). I mainly see it as people from those countries doing this:

"FUCK YEAH AMERICA WOO GO TO HELL YOU FUCKING MOUNTIE"

at the US. Honestly, I tend to think that pretty much everyone does it, whether we notice it or not. Nationalism exists everywhere. I don't consider it either an inherently good or bad thing, though. All depends on how you use it.

 

[kzeelio]

Because we don't use the metric system, we don't have healthcare, we don't have a good education system, etc.

And we have a Bible Belt.

We do use the metric system, at least as much as say the UK does. They use imperial measurements as commonly as they use metric. We use it where it counts. I myself use it quite often from day to day. Really who else but people very invested in math even need to worry about it anyway?

We do have a health care system. We don't have a free health care system. We happen to have a pretty damn effective health care system, the failure is that it isn't as accessible to everyone.

The education system is average. Seriously. Average among developed nations. It's not the worst in the world. In fact it's pretty damn close to average scores across the entire European Union, which suffers from the same problem as the US some areas are doing extraordinarily well, while many poorer (especially inner city areas) are not doing as well.

The last statement, well that one is born of worse ignorance then the ignorance that went into any of the other statements. Those are people, like you, not things for you to gloat over from your elitist perch. Aside from a few groups that make it their mission to make south eastern US look as bad as they can I would bet you half the stories that you would cite as true cases of southern ignorance are blown out of proportion, or down right never happened.

Honestly? I wasn't being entirely serious. I actually agree with you on almost all counts (except the metric system, England at least uses metric for almost everything.) I apologise for offending you. I'll edit that part of my post out, since it seems to have struck a sore spot on multiple people.

 

[Jacco]

I've seen threads from "America was useless in World War 2", to "American economy is the worst in the entire world" to more recently "I hate the way Americans spell things" to "Would you join the U.S if they offered".

Those last two you mention were my threads and I'm American. I don't hate it here and I don't want to leave- I'm not sure why you got that impression. The first one I was just asking for foreign perspective on our way of spelling things because I was curious. The second one, which I started earlier this evening, was just a fun hypothetical I was wondering about and it turned into a cluster fuck.

 

[TonyVonTonyus]

The following is a small list of some of the reasons people don't like Americans.

1:Fox News
2:Tourists
3:Fox News
4:Western attitude
5:Fox News
6:Obnoxious people who think they're better than other people
7:Fox News
8:Republicans who tax the poor
9:Fox news
10id I mention Fox news?

Yes I know I said Fox news a lot and that may seem biased but a lot of people from abroad watch Fox News and they believe most people in America agree with them, them being people who believe taxing the poor, cutting programs and everyone should believe in Jesus Christ and that evolution doesn't exist.

(Also, I know this sounds like I'm generalizing but we're talking about how people generalize and hate americans)

Every news station is biased, if you dont believe that then your a fool. More republicans believe in tax cuts, its the democrats that want to tax everyone from dust to dawn. Never once seen on fox news where they just said "HEYYYY EVOLUTION DOESNT EXIST" i mean come on man, where you getting your information from?

Obviously not from any actual research.

The person I quoted before hand didn't either. Hate spreads because it's easy to believe the lies, and once you start it's even easier to believe more lies as long as they confirm the bias you already have.

Remember the original point of "this is what people believe"? Well, that's pretty much what we see from outside the America. Also, Democrats want to tax everybody but they also want to tax the rich more heavily, while most people at Fox have repeatedly expressed their will to tax the poorest instead of the rich (who have all the fucking money While the poor control about 3% of American wealth), the people who make less than 22000$ a year for a family of 4. And I'm also well aware that all news stations are biased and the left has zealots as well but I'm being a bit biased here myself because I agree more with those zealots from the left.

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

But when I see the ignorant hate that is spewed on The Escapist, a place I've been visiting for 4 years, that's supposed to have an informed and intelligent community, I really have to wonder how much credit I'm giving the userbase that they deserve.

To be fair, I'd say it was more 'informed hate' than any sort of ignorance. Yes yes, the U.S is a superpower, for now, and I guess I'm a little confused about how it got there. But, that's all in the past, and now we're observing an America with a struggling economy (the whole 'almost defaulting on debt' thing comes instantly to mind, as well as the GFC due to the weird way U.S banks work their housing loans), which keep threatening global recession.

Also, the way the U.S handles it's budget seems kinda irresponsible to me. I mean really, who NEEDS 13 Supercarrier groups?! China has ONE. Russia has ONE, you have nothing to worry about.
I'm sure there are a few other areas (I dunno say, national healthcare, education, cyborg R&D) where you could share some of that funding around.

That's about it for now. I'm not gonna bring up any of the wars or whatever, that just gets messy. Instead, I'm gonna post Dylan Moran, because he's awesome.