Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not anti-American. In fact, I’m American. I’ve lived in Austria long enough to be eligible for citizenship, but hesitate to apply largely because I still believe in certain things associated with the United States.
Like freedom of speech and separation of church and state. The bill of rights in general. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
These are things available to varying degrees in most modern, western countries, but not to the extent that they are in the United States, ideally. Here in Austria, for example, if you are officially member of a official church, then the church can charge you a tax.
Anyway. America.
In my uninformed, subjective opinion, one reason many people throughout the world are critical of the United States, and the reason they have been at similar times in the past, is that the US has long been a shining example of enlightened self-government, with democracy and the rule of law. When a US administration itself appears to be in the process of undermining such principles, people feel betrayed – world-wide, not only in the US. And they are more critical of such actions than they would be of similar events in other, less-respected countries.
The current Bush administration is flouting democratic principles and the rule of law worse than any other administration in my lifetime, as far as I can tell, including Nixon. So people feel betrayed.
I’m not saying anti-Americanism doesn’t exist. It exists across the political spectrum world wide. There are fascists still upset over losing WWII, and there are leftists who confuse the United States with capitalism.
What I am saying is, a great deal of the current criticism of the US springs *not* from anti-Americanism, but from great respect of the American way: democracy and the rule of law, equal opportunity, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, not fast food, Hollywood, mass consumption and SUVs.
interesting p.o.v., mig. i assumed (as an ethnocentric american), that anti-americanism stems nearly 100% from a hatred of this government’s two-sided nature. ie: preach about how wrong it is to kill babies in this oil-rich country here, meanwhile kill babies in this not-oft heard of country here. hypocrites. et cetera. not to mention the egotistic America-is-right and might-is-right attitude.
i’m not anti-american, but i’ve never been exactly pro-american, either. i like the ideals, as i’m an idealist and ideallic things appeal to me, but the practices. hrm.
Eh, babies schmabies. Plenty more where they came from.
Hypocrisy, yes. Yes, there are many factors, Bran. Also the tall poppy syndrome, wherever who’s on top is hated most; the eat the rich syndrome. Shallow Americans whining about anti-Americanism need to consider where it comes from, and shallow anti-Americans need to consider what exactly it is they’re against.
Deep anti-Americanism, is okay, of course.
My favorite thing to do when I travel to Europe is to hang out in cafes and talk politics with random strangers. You can’t do that so much here because a) strangers don’t talk, usually, unless there’s money or sex as a motivator and b) the majority of people are just not up to political discussions. So that’s refreshing, but more than that I find that most people who are up for such discussions have views very similar to those of informed Americans. Anti-administration, anti-lies and thievery, anti-making a big deal out of extramarital nookie, etc. It usually doesn’t even get to SUVs and crappy propaganda.
Sigh. We think we’re coming in late April.
Well. I tried this theory out on an Austrian (cello teacher…) this evening. He went along with the part about America setting high standards so it being logical to judge it by the same standards. But he sort of raised his eyebrows at my “shining beacon” part. “You know, Kennedy etc,” I said. “Kennedy? It’s been a while, dude,” he said, basically.
Hrm. Bran might be close with her hypocrisy theory after all.
April? Late April. Great. Should be rid of the lice by then!
Personally, coming from a country that has its share of anti-American bollocks I would like to add some reasons, if I may.
We have a love hate relationship with America. We are at once bullied by and assimilated into American culture; most of our teevee/ entertainment has moved from British to American. I think it’s just another type of colonisation sometimes; globalisation, schmobalisation.
However we need America. We’re tied to America. We’re very small, and very insubstantial and it’s nice to be on your side. Yet we really hate how America changes the rules to suit itself. I agree that we confuse capitalism with America; although since most of that which reaches us comes from America’s direction, it’s possibly understandable, definitely forgiveable.
I think that what I’m trying to say, is that America is no less nor more a steaming heap of shit than anywhere else. What America has on its side is its size and wealth, and really, who can compete with that?
Certainly not my little slice of home.
I love America for the diversity it allows, for the possibility that exists within it. And I hate it for the hypocrisy and the way that once it gets going, it’s like an inevitable machine that’s gonna eat you. And when it’s that machine with no one at the wheel, or a lunatic, it is rather scary. Rather being somewhat of an understatement.
As another expatriate, living in a different European country, the feeling I get here is more that people are angry because when it comes down to it, the U.S. simply is not a team player, and being a team player is VERY important in Sweden…
Interestingly enough, I talked with my sister who does live in the U.S., and what she is terribly upset about is not an impending war with Iraq, but the fact that George W. Bush is basically gutting domestic programs and taking money from childcare, education, programs for the poor and cities, etc., and individual states are then following suit because they simply can’t take up the slack. Meanwhile, huge tax breaks
That’s why I find this sort of thing so interesting.
hi. new here. waving from america.
this is slightly off topic, but this is one of the real reasons i am in love with blogs and the internet. here in the united states, it is extremely eye-opening and important for regular people (like me) to be easily able to read what people all over the world think – without the horrid media filter i’m fully aware we live behind.
Nothing’s off topic at Feral Living, Kay. That’s also the main reason I like reading blogs, seeing life through the eyes of people I’d otherwise never meet.
I guess every medium filters the news somehow. I read 5 different newspapers here as part of my job, and each one has a different slant.