Anti-Americanism?

[PureX]

To be perfectly honest, I think our own bias and ignorance on this subject makes it impossible for us to discuss in any useful way.

 

[Faminedynasty]

If we can't discuss it in a useful way, then we most definately cannot resolve it in any way. So I hope that you're wrong.

 

[Halcyon]

I don't think many countries hate the US, i think most of us are just a little put off by the arrogance and attitude we see projected from across the pond.

For example, what annoys me is when people say, casually in conversation, "America is the greatest country in the world" - that gets my back up, "who the **** are you to declare that you arrogant little ****" is what usually crosses my mind.
Seeing crowds holding 'U.S.A No.1' signs, in places other than international sports events, also tends to make me want to buy a flamethrower.

Other than that, the political heavy-handedness tends to grate as well, not so much like the big kid of the playground being a bully, but more like the arrogant snobbish rich kid who is so spoilt and self-absorbed that he thinks everyone else is beneath him.

Obviously i'm picking the worst aspects of an entire country's image, individually Americans are no different to anyone else i know, if a little louder.

 

[greatcalgarian]

Actually, it is a common story circulating in the internet chat room that the general American public is not aware of the rest of the world, and is not aware of a lot of world geography. World geography is not properly taught in American school and so is the world history. How true is that, I do not know.

 

[greatcalgarian]

For example, how many American general public read newspaper other than American newspaper? How many American watch TV other than America TV stations? Only Americans of non-British origin that maintain their original cultural background, for example Italian american that still read and speak Italian etc will have a broader understanding of the world.....

 

[greatcalgarian]

Let us first agreed on the term Anti-Americanism, is it as defined in Wikipedia? Or is it like the OP about this guy blaming the French?

Anti-Americanism, often Anti-American sentiment, is opposition or hostility toward the government, culture, or people of the United States.[1] In practice, a broad range of attitudes and actions critical of or opposed to the United States have been labelled anti-Americanism and the applicability of the term is often disputed. Contemporary examples typically focus on international opposition to United States policy, though historically the term has been applied to a variety of concepts. Interpretations of anti-Americanism have often been polarised. Anti-Americanism has been described as a belief[2] that configures the United States and the "American way of life" as threatening at their core.[3] However, it has also been suggested that Anti-Americanism cannot be isolated as a consistent phenomenon and that the term merely signifies a rough composite of stereotypes, prejudices and criticisms towards Americans or the United States.[4] Paul Hollander defined the prejudice thusly:

Anti—Americanism is a predisposition to hostility toward the United States and American society, a relentless critical impulse toward American social, economic, and political institutions, traditions, and values; it entails an aversion to American culture in particular and its influence abroad, often also contempt for the American national character (or what is presumed to he such a character) and dislike of American people, manners, behavior; dress, and so on; rejection of American foreign policy and a firm belief in the malignity of American influence and presence anywhere in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Americanism

 

[greatcalgarian]

For example, French was stated as to be the leader in this:

The degeneracy thesis
Anti-American sentiment in Europe originated with the discovery of America, the study of the Native Americans, and the examination of its flora, fauna, and climate. The first anti-American theory, the "degeneracy thesis," portrayed America as a regressive and culturally bankrupt continent. The theory that the humidity and other atmospheric conditions in America physically and morally weakened both men and animals was commonly argued in Europe and debated by early American thinkers such as Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson.

In 1768 Cornelius de Pauw, court philosopher to Frederick II of Prussia and chief proponent of this thesis, described America as "degenerate or monstrous" colonies and argued that, "the weakest European could crush them with ease."[19]

The theory was extended to argue that the natural environment of the United States would prevent it from ever producing true culture. Paraphrasing Pauw, the French Encyclopedist Abbé Raynal wrote, "America has not yet produced a good poet, an able mathematician, one man of genius in a single art or a single science."[20]

 

[greatcalgarian]

My own contention what constitute anti-Americanism:

Political policies and hypocrisy
U.S. Foreign Policy - Main article: Opposition to U.S. foreign policy.
Samuel Johnson hit upon one theme that, in various and different forms, has long defined some forms of anti-American sentiment: the perceived hypocrisy of a supposed freedom-loving people engaged in less than admirable practices. Americans in his eyes were hypocrites in their relations with Indigenous peoples and African slaves.

For example, view like the following, blaming anti-Americanism to be the fault of those who hate America:

Anti-Americanism Is Racist Envy
Paul Johnson, 07.21.03, 12:00 AM ET

Anti-Americanism is the prevailing disease of intellectuals today. Like other diseases, it doesn't have to be logical or rational. But, like other diseases, it has a syndrome--a concurrent set of underlying symptoms that are also causes.

• First, an unadmitted contempt for democracy. The U.S. is the world's most successful democracy. The right of voters to elect more than 80,000 public officials, the length and thoroughness of electoral campaigns, the pervasiveness of the media and the almost daily reports by opinion polls ensure that government and electorate do not diverge for long and that Washington generally reflects the majority opinion in its actions.

http://members.forbes.com/global/2003/0721/017.html

 

[greatcalgarian]

Luckily for Canadians, there are very few instances of Anti-Canadianism

Anti-Canadianism represents a consistent hostility towards the government, culture, or people of Canada.

This may or may not include general anti-Western sentiment directed against Canadians.
One person commonly thought of as an anti-Canadian thinker was Voltaire, who is generally quoted jokingly as saying Canada was "a few acres of snow."[1]

Main one is from the Southern Border

"Soviet Canuckistan" is one unflattering epithet for Canada, used by Pat Buchanan on October 31, 2002, on his television show on MSNBC in which he denounced Canadians as anti-American and the country as a haven for terrorists. He was reacting to Canadian criticisms of US security measures regarding Arab Canadians.[3] However, the term has probably been around a lot longer, and was previously used by white supremacists to describe their distaste of censorship of racist and hate speech. At least one reference to the term can be found as far back as April 2001 online. [1]

Buchanan has a history of unflattering references to Canada, having said in 1990 that if Canada were to break apart due to the failure of the Meech Lake Accord, "America would pick up the pieces." He said two years after that "for most Americans, Canada is sort of like a case of latent arthritis. We really don't think about it, unless it acts up."[3]

 

[greatcalgarian]

Anti-Americanism: A Clinical Study



By Bernard Chazelle



Last summer, with France on his mind, the British historian Paul Johnson graced the pages of Forbes Magazine with this trenchant observation: "Anti-Americanism is racist envy" [1]. Lest anyone miss the point, the best-selling author quickly rephrased it in more accessible language: "France is not a democracy." His novel insight could hardly be dismissed as mere anti-Frenchism for the simple reason that the word does not exist. In fact, neither does anti-Polishism, anti-Spanishism, or even anti-Vaticanism. (Each one googles in the single digits—the modern definition of nonexistence.) With over 115,000 Google hits, anti-Americanism stands alone: a living testament to US exceptionalism.

Some one else is of this opinion regarding Paul Johnson and anti-French

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/politics/antiam.html

 

[Reverend Rick]

Actually, it is a common story circulating in the internet chat room that the general American public is not aware of the rest of the world, and is not aware of a lot of world geography. World geography is not properly taught in American school and so is the world history. How true is that, I do not know.

It is sad but true. The majority of young Americans do not have a grasp on world history or geography. Not to say that some young Americans are not well educated on these subjects, but as a whole, they are quite ignorant. People who were educated 25 years ago received a well rounded education that their younger counter parts have not.

When our country decided to give students an equal education, the schools that were lacking did not improve as much as others declined in my opinion. So equal education has backfired and reduced the over all quality of education.

I'm not so sure the curriculum failed them as much as most young Americans do not care about anything political and do not even watch American news much less the BBC or other foreign news shows.

When I was young, people talked about traveling abroad much more than what I hear now.

 

[PureX]

It is sad but true. The majority of young Americans do not have a grasp on world history or geography. Not to say that some young Americans are not well educated on these subjects, but as a whole, they are quite ignorant. People who were educated 25 years ago received a well rounded education that their younger counter parts have not.

When our country decided to give students an equal education, the schools that were lacking did not improve as much as others declined in my opinion. So equal education has backfired and reduced the over all quality of education.

I'm not so sure the curriculum failed them as much as most young Americans do not care about anything political and do not even watch American news much less the BBC or other foreign news shows.

When I was young, people talked about traveling abroad much more than what I hear now.

In Chicago what failed was that the political machine used the school administration as a place to exercise patronage in return for votes. And in short order the administrators almost out-numbered the kids, and needless to say they sucked up vast amounts of money, leaving little for the schools, teachers, and books.

I honestly don't understand why we can't teach at least the basics of world geography, history, and current affairs in our schools. It's true that most kids don't retain that stuff well, but with access to computers we could at least teach them how to find out things quickly and easily so that when they grow up they can learn about global issues when they become part of current events. Sometimes teaching people the habit of learning is better than trying to make them memorize places and dates and events.

 

[Ciscokid]

Actually, it is a common story circulating in the internet chat room that the general American public is not aware of the rest of the world, and is not aware of a lot of world geography. World geography is not properly taught in American school and so is the world history. How true is that, I do not know.

Yeah we hear this all the time, I'm not convinced that if I strolled the streets of Paris, Helsinki or Venice that I'd get people who would answer common world geography questions. This is a double standard that gets tiring and old

 

[greatcalgarian]

Yeah we hear this all the time, I'm not convinced that if I strolled the streets of Paris, Helsinki or Venice that I'd get people who would answer common world geography questions. This is a double standard that gets tiring and old

This is a generalized statement, which is to say, comparatively speaking. For example, you will find some members of RF from the state are relatively ignorant of the rest of the world, and mainly originate from US. I know this is a very sweeping statement, and may not be liked by many, but that is the impression I get when I read through the postings, and discussions etc.

 

[Reverend Rick]

This is a generalized statement, which is to say, comparatively speaking. For example, you will find some members of RF from the state are relatively ignorant of the rest of the world, and mainly originate from US. I know this is a very sweeping statement, and may not be liked by many, but that is the impression I get when I read through the postings, and discussions etc.

I don't agree with you much, but you are spot on if your talking about the majority and not the exception. I would say 20% of people under 30 in my country watch the news more than once a week. I would say less than 3% listen to any foreign news ever.

The words fat, uneducated and lazy come to mind.

 

[lombas]

Most people I know are anti-American.

 

[kiwimac]

Take a look at the following quote which mr Webb uses.

And this is not a recent migration brought on by Mr Bush. In May 1944 (just weeks before American GIs landed on the beaches of Normandy), Hubert Beuve-Mery, the founder of Le Monde newspaper - certainly no mouthpiece of the right - wrote this: "The Americans represent a real danger for France, different from the one posed by Germany or the one with which the Russians may - in time - threaten us. The Americans may have preserved a cult of Liberty but they do not feel the need to liberate themselves from the servitude which their capitalism has created. "
It is time that we understood that this attitude, this contempt for what democracy can do, is at the heart of at least some of the anti-Americanism we see in the world today.

So a: Capitalism is equal to democracy, at least in Mr Webb's mind.
b: contempt for capitalism is ergo a contempt for democracy.
c: Some French writers & philosophers have a contempt for American Capitalism so ipso facto they are contemptuouse of democracy.

This argument is untenable, my goodness me, if a student turned this in on an undergraduate certificate in politics they would rightly get an F. A contempt for the inequities of capitalism does NOT mean that there is an identical contempt for democracy, they are NOT synonymous.

 

[Booko]

Actually, it is a common story circulating in the internet chat room that the general American public is not aware of the rest of the world, and is not aware of a lot of world geography. World geography is not properly taught in American school and so is the world history. How true is that, I do not know.

If my kids' education is any guide, it's true enough.

Fortunately, we supplement their supposed "education."

I thought the most interesting part of the article was the bunch of response to it. I thought this was the most relevant of the bunch:

As a rule, any opinion expressed in a British pub should be ignored.
Andrew , Montreal, Canada

I commend Andrew for his show of good sense.

 

[!Fluffy!]

This is a generalized statement, which is to say, comparatively speaking. For example, you will find some members of RF from the state are relatively ignorant of the rest of the world, and mainly originate from US. I know this is a very sweeping statement, and may not be liked by many, but that is the impression I get when I read through the postings, and discussions etc.

:biglaugh: and I just read a post from across the pond claiming the Nazis were communists, and that England could have won WWII on their own!!

(fortunately I was not tempted to assume all Europeans are equally.... uh, "uninformed", lol.)

 

[Booko]

:biglaugh: and I just read a post from across the pond claiming the Nazis were communists, and that England could have won WWII on their own!!

Truly! That one unhistoric comment had more comedic value than the Daily Show and Colbert Report put together.

:biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: