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[i] ... however the US government really is of the people, by the people, and for the people ... Therefore my opinion is that if you insult the US government, you insult the US people.
Again, really? I didn't notice that.
I respect your opinion, jamesh, but, really, in my view you go too far.
Insults are an emotional political tool, and nothing to get hung about.
Therefore my opinion is that if you insult the US government, you insult the US people.
The Swedish government is made up by Swedes, but you can critizise the Swedish government anyway - the Swedes would not be insulted. (We would love that it's not just us disliking it)
I don't think there are many people in this world that truly like their governments, so not many people would be insulted by anyone saying something negative about their government.
I don't really think that people in "the rest of the world" hates Americans; it is more about the government thinking it can rule any place in the world and decide what is right or wrong (the same thing as EU is trying to do right now, and that is not so popular outside of Brussels) and the disrespect the "rest of the world" experiences coming from Americans (e.g. American tourists are oftentimes louder than other tourists from other nationalities, and don't go well with the normal "pace", or that "The US is THE best country in the world and no other country has the same freedom or any freedom - and we freed the world", which is not at all true).
In my experience, there is no real hate against Americans, no more than the "disliking" of other nationalities. It is just that the US is more...present in everyday life, so it is more in our minds and discussions than other countries.
But, of course, I haven't been to every country in the world, so I can't really speak for ALL countries or people
But, in my experience, the world doesn't really hate Americans. There is disliking of things, but no country is without people disliking it. IMO.
I respect your opinion, jamesh, but, really, in my view you go too far.
Insults are an emotional political tool, and nothing to get hung about.
Oh well, you know... it's not like I'm going to come to blows with anyone about it. I don't care that much!
Like I said before I am not entirely sure when I hear foreigners insult the US gov't whether they really see a difference and therefore mean what they say (US gov't=bad! Americans=good!) or if they're insulting me and just softening the blow. For me, it always stings a little because-- contrary to what Americans themselves sometimes believe --the government is composed of us. They're often the richer and more privileged of us, but they are still us.
After years of living abroad, the few times I've received any anti-American comments, to be honest with you, they were from rude people whom I'm sure had other issues. If I were still in communication with those people I'd kind of like to print jhassler's post on evaluating oneself and send it to them.
In my experience, there is no real hate against Americans, no more than the "disliking" of other nationalities. It is just that the US is more...present in everyday life, so it is more in our minds and discussions than other countries.
But, of course, I haven't been to every country in the world, so I can't really speak for ALL countries or people
But, in my experience, the world doesn't really hate Americans. There is disliking of things, but no country is without people disliking it. IMO.
I think there's some people out there that really HATE America (Osama Bin Laden comes to mind ), but yeah the US is very much in the spotlight.
In Scotland we dont hate Americans but we think that some of the stuff that you guys do is stupid.
I think this sentiment is indicative of the human condition...in general.
I don't hate my mother, but I realize she's made mistakes in life and isn't a perfect human being. My wife and I argue, but I still love her...but we still don't share every ideal and belief.
We live in a world today in which the individual has more opportunity to learn about and communicate more with other individuals, everywhere in the world. I think we should use forums like this to destroy generalities and other stereotypes that-as I referenced before-destroy our humanity and individualism.
...As for other points that have been brought up in this forum....
Quote:
Originally Posted by phallicphantom
What other people would have rushed to the polls to re-elect a president who the majority of them disagreed with.
America has a 2 party system, for all intents and purposes. I wish we could change it, but that seems to be the road that we've taken.
Current Americans don't have the luxury of being able to vote based on one issue, but are called to make a decision based on a multitude of factors.
To get personal...I voted for Bush (twice) quite frankly because I found him less detestable than the alternative. Although I disagree with a lot of what republicans stand for (personally I'm a Libertarian/Classical Liberal..along the lines of John Locke -> Milton Friedman.. Libertarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...) I disagree more with the other side...therefore I had to make a utilitarian decision. Waste my vote on a candidate which I know has no chance of being elected, or make an alliance with a party that I could possibly tolerate for 4 years.
NOTE: I'm not looking to get into a political debate, just making an example!
Would I like it if Americans had the realistic choice of more than 2 parties to represent them in congress or the senate (not even mentioning President)? Sure I would... I didn't create the system..
Personally, I don't enjoy politics, because politics is a fancy term for (excuse the term) "Organized Bull****" in order to allow the power hungry to put themselves into a position of power. It has nothing to do with the act of civil service, or making the world a better place to live. Politics is a career and (at least in America) we shouldn't have any illusions about it.
Again, I don't want a political debate, I'm just stating that the choice that Americans made in 2000, 2004 and will make in 2008 is not simple, or black and white. I; as well as many Americans (and people worldwide); face a dilemma and have to make a utilitarian decision when voting. To say that we vote with the "Golly Gee! I love this guy so i'm going to vote for him!" frame of mind would be overly simplistic and incorrect.
"terrible naive" (sic)? I'm not trying to spark an argument about where the perception of power or blame lies in American government (which would be waaaaay off-topic), however the US government really is of the people, by the people, and for the people. It may not be for everyone of the people, but hey. That's democracy in action.
All of this ranting about democracy doesn't negate the cold facts. Go back and read my original thread. My point is that Americans in the eyes of the world are generally not respected or regarded as wise for having elected NOT ONCE BUT TWICE, a president who plunged America into an ill-conceived war.
I don't think that Americans are hated. "Hate" is too strong a word. Americans are just not admired anymore.
What a terrible naive thing to say! Ofcourse the people elected this president, but after he was elected the decision to commit the people to an unpopular war was his decision based on whatever intelligence he had. That intelligence was not (could not) be shared with the American people and as it turns out, it was a bad decision.
Congress also had access to the intelligence and decided to vote in favor of the war.
The people who hate America now, hated us prior to Bush, and the people who really liked us still like us despite of Bush.
Do you think all of these Euros and Brits only began cracking jokes at our expense after Bush was elected? Of course not! This has been going on since WWII.
The world is like a great big version of King of the Hill. Once you get to the top of the hill, as America seems to have done, everyone else is going to want to throw you off. Its as simple as that.
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Naturally.
