Why do people dislike Americans?

[Luxcario]

No offense, but Americans are kind of everywhere - your movies are the ones that become blockbusters, your TV shows are the ones that don't get cancelled if in competition with non-american shows, your fast food chains are pretty much global, and you sort of make up majority of the internet.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

EDIT: Yes. Business-wise, Americans always come first.

 

[Valerunner]

(also funny how we're the only part of the Union that's so self-deprecating - you'd never in a million years hear a Scots or a Welsh person criticising their countries so harshly)

Because we have you to complain about. :)

But seriously now, the only reason Americans are being "targeted" is because the US damn near controls the worldwide media. The entertainment hub? LA, Hollywood. New York is considered one of the Big Four of Fashion alongside London, Paris and Milan.

American culture is at the forefront of Western media. So we're all more aware of their stereotypes, their faults more than we are of any other country. So we have more of an opinion on American culture.

Not to mention the sheer landmass. Probability says that there's bound to be more idiots there and bound to be more extremists under American soil because... there's more American soil for them to be in. So combine these two and you have a massive megaphone ready for any idiot to shout their incoherent blurb into for the rest of the world to have to listen to.

Sad that people actually listen to these and assume the worst of any country.

 

[Tarvos]

I like Starbucks.

 

[Butterfree]

I was just stating a fact that there are people who would treat me badly because I am American, so why bother?

Nobody in this thread is treating you badly for being American. Some people dislike things they associate with America and prominent American attitudes, but nobody at all accused you of being part of the problem, which, yes, is kind of a requirement for it to qualify as "treating you badly". You can be annoyed by stereotypes of your country, but you aren't being targeted here and the only post that presented itself as having something against American people as a whole was a fairly blatant joke.

Anyway, I haven't been aware of a particular dislike of Americans, just aspects of American politics, culture and education. Which people have every right to dislike, so long as they don't extrapolate this into a prejudice against American people. In fact, when on the Internet, I tend to assume by default that people are American unless stated otherwise. Sometimes I sort of pity Americans, I guess, for living in a country where health care is insane and theories like intelligent design manage to get taken seriously, but when I think of Americans I think of the ones who are facepalming at all that, not the ones who propagate it (who, I suppose, must exist somewhere, but in my head they're these nebulous entities that cross over from Bizarroverse to haunt Earth when they get bored).

 

[Music Dragon]

I like Starbucks.

That's only because they put American mind control drugs in their admittedly delicious Frappuccinos.

 

[Espeon]

Because we have you to complain about. :)

But seriously now, the only reason Americans are being "targeted" is because the US damn near controls the worldwide media. The entertainment hub? LA, Hollywood. New York is considered one of the Big Four of Fashion alongside London, Paris and Milan.

American culture is at the forefront of Western media. So we're all more aware of their stereotypes, their faults more than we are of any other country. So we have more of an opinion on American culture.

Not to mention the sheer landmass. Probability says that there's bound to be more idiots there and bound to be more extremists under American soil because... there's more American soil for them to be in. So combine these two and you have a massive megaphone ready for any idiot to shout their incoherent blurb into for the rest of the world to have to listen to.

Sad that people actually listen to these and assume the worst of any country.

Well, actually I think taking the landmass into account with respect to the number of citezens is kind of irrelevant. Compare Singapore's 7000 people km^-2 to the US's 30 people km^-2 (approximately speaking). We don't tend to hear too much about Singapore in the media. (Either that or I am very, VERY detached from the world). I mean, of course you could fit a trillion Singapores into the USA simply because of its sheer size but I think the number of extremists is purely down to the total population of the country rather than the landmass:person ratio or whatever.

 

[RosesBones]

As an American, I'd like to say that, personally, I kind of despise all the patriotism. I mean, it's great for one to be patriotic if one so chooses, but it gets really annoying to constantly hear "you need to be patriotic to show you're proud to be American" when I'm not patriotic because I'm not particularly proud to live here.

Also, I might just be uninformed, but it seems like our sketch comedy is severely lacking. xP

 

[Momo(th)]

Every minority or majority is bound to have stereotypes. A reason I think Americans are hated is they tend to have such "high" needs, such as needing the new iPhone despite a ridiculously large portion of the world unable to afford anything besides food, or eating thirty times as much food than a starving family in, lets say, Africa. It really sucks that the world tends to view everyone els because of the actions of a few, or events that happened over a century ago( And I'm talking in everyone's defense, not just America's).

 

[Tarvos]

That's only because they put American mind control drugs in their admittedly delicious Frappuccinos.

I hate frappuccino. How about people just GIVE ME COFFEE. :)

Which is another pet peeve of mine; American coffee could be mistaken for goat piss. Ugh. Coffee needs to be STRONG.

 

[Saith]

The reason I hate America the country is because it has a stranglehold over, well, the Western world. British politics are being influenced more and more by America, American media pervades our entire society. Shit like that.
I mean, there's also tradition of course.
Most of Europe traditionally despises America in the same way most of Britain traditionally hates England. And France. And sometimes the Italians. Oh and the Polish. We can't forget the Polish.

 

[Tarvos]

I don't despise many things. Not Americans either.

 

[Music Dragon]

I hate frappuccino. How about people just GIVE ME COFFEE. :)

Why would you want plain coffee when you could have a Pumpkin Spice Latte, a Skinny Peppermint Mocha, or a Frappuccino® Blended Beverage? Man, I hate Dutch people. You have such piss-poor taste in coffee.

Most of Europe traditionally despises America in the same way most of Britain traditionally hates England. And France. And sometimes the Italians. Oh and the Polish. We can't forget the Polish.

Oh, don't even get me started on the Polish! I hate the Polish. It's always "kurwa" this, "kurwa" that... I'm telling you, if they come over here with that Kubuś car, we're going to kick their asses, no thanks to the French. Bloody frogs. They can take their striped shirts and stupid berets and shove them up their trous du cul. The only thing that bothers me more than their fancy cheeses and poodles is Tibet. Those damned Tibetans and their... I don't know, their yaks or something?

 

[Datura]

You did not just shit on Starbucks.

 

[Phantom]

Caribou all the way.

 

[Cerberus87]

Well, actually I think taking the landmass into account with respect to the number of citezens is kind of irrelevant. Compare Singapore's 7000 people km^-2 to the US's 30 people km^-2 (approximately speaking). We don't tend to hear too much about Singapore in the media. (Either that or I am very, VERY detached from the world). I mean, of course you could fit a trillion Singapores into the USA simply because of its sheer size but I think the number of extremists is purely down to the total population of the country rather than the landmass:person ratio or whatever.

There's extremists everywhere. My country's large and has many, many of them. It all depends on how much they're allowed to voice their opinions and unfortunately, in the USA, they give a lot of air time to those extremists, who are nationalists and religious fundamentalists.

Not that Brazil (my country) isn't guilty of that, too. There are congressmen here with very archaic political views.

 

[M&F]

Not that Brazil (my country) isn't guilty of that, too. There are congressmen here with very archaic political views.

Mostly because of a system that lets pretty much anybody sneak into a political position so as long as they have a figurehead to push in, but, it does say something that, once, a competent candidate lost mayor elections to a known lout because the former was an atheist, and in spite of the latter being most known for a seven-month long presidential stint which helped throw the country into the clusterfuck that led to decades of military dictature.

 

[Starship Trooper]

the ones who propagate it (who, I suppose, must exist somewhere, but in my head they're these nebulous entities that cross over from Bizarroverse to haunt Earth when they get bored).

I live here and while they might not be nebulous, I wouldn't be surprised if they were from the Bizarroverse. They'd have to be if their logic makes any sense to them.

 

[Shiny Grimer]

Europeans are just jelly that they finally created a monster they couldn't control. 8|

In all seriousness, I've noticed little hate towards US Americans... lots of comments like "oh those fat stupid nationalistic Americans with their conservatism and preventing the world from being a socialist paradise!" (I am not even kidding with that last one). Very few people would hate on individual US Americans for their American-ness.

I think people dislike the US's policies, and since people vote into power those who make many of the policies, this tends to get extended to "US Americans are stupid." On the forums I go to, there's a dislike for the US's special brand of cultural and economic imperialism. The US government does do a lot of questionable things.

Of course, after hearing "The US sucks!" for a while, US Americans start getting defensive... because it sounds like they are being targeted. They are not! but that's what it feels like. And so basically you end up arguing why Nixon was the greatest president ever and nationalized health care is THE DEVILS, even if you would never rationally argue this outside of this context.

 

[Ultra-Saiyan Jace]

Well, I am an American, so I cannot dislike my own country. I think its mainly becasue we just do too much. I mean, just casue come plane hit a building, we have to go to war thats been going on for TEN years. Thats just stupid.

 

[Harlequin]

Well, I am an American, so I cannot dislike my own country.

Why?