Why do people hate America?

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Not envy, but resentment, Dox47.


I'm sure some do. But you've got to try and look at that from the point of view of people raised in a system way to the left of yours where very few people attend church, and where guns are seen as the root of all evil.

But why should I try to empathize with a point of view that is wrong? Or to dial it back a bit, a point of view that I think is wrong? A large part of my motive in these posts is educational, by not being a stereotype American I can help combat misconceptions, as well as engage in some reasoned debate. On the gun thing in particular I try to educate, since it's sort of my pet issue and an area where many people, especially outside of the states, are incredibly uninformed. Guns are one area that I can actually claim some expertise in, having a degree in the subject and a longtime association with them, rare knowledge outside the US. Most people who have such a vitriolic hate for guns and gun owners know next to nothing about them and have come by their opinions through conditioning and emotion, that goes for the anti-gun people here in the US as well as abroad. Perhaps it's naive of me, but I always hope that by bucking the stereotype that they hold that I can perhaps prime the thinking process, but so far my success has been limited.

Because it might help you direct your argument more effectively, or even to realise you've set yourself an impossible task. The people you're refering to are just as convinced that their position is correct.

As far as guns go over here, most people have only seen the police at airports or criminal thugs carrying them. Legal ownership has gradually been made more difficult since these events:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungerford_Massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre

More people are killed in a few days on the roads, but that's lost on most, so doesn't give you much hope for your reasoned debate. The few people with reasonable views generally have military connections, or live in rural areas where people shoot for sport or pest control.

Dox47, how do you get a degree in guns? I have a BS in medical technology and I don't remember ever seeing a major in guns.

The difference is that I don't engage in the kind of smear tactics and ad hominem attacks against people I disagree with as I'm likely to encounter as an American firearms enthusiast. As has been well demonstrated on this thread, there really are people that think all Americans must be uneducated right wing hillbilly types waving pistols around when we're not thumping bibles and beating gays, I hope to provide a counterpoint to that stereotype. I may think that people who put so much trust in their government and are so willing to give up their individual liberties are wrong, but I'm not going to engage in the same level of personal attacks that so often characterize this type of debate.



This is exactly what I'm talking about, something bad happens and people respond emotionally rather than thinking it through. I'm hoping the Fins don't follow in England's foolish footsteps on this one with their recent shooting, it seems to be the blueprint for European gun bans. Thank god we have our Constitution to keep such over-reactions in check, Americans can be just as prone to knee-jerks as anyone else. It's a seriously divisive issue though, I personally will not vote for any supporter of gun control, and as a practical matter that rules out most Democrats. I identify as Libertarian, and am almost as unhappy with the Republicans as the Dems lately, but I just can't bring myself to vote for any anti-gun politician, I just feel too strongly on the matter. I think the Dems may have gotten wise that people like me are a significant voting block, notice that they have not mentioned the issue at all this campaign... At least Obama hasn't tried to pass himself off as a sudden sportsman like John Kerry, even if I hadn't been aware of his voting record my intelligence would have been insulted.

So true, note that the "criminal thugs" still do have guns in all of those "civilized" nations, it's just that innocent people don't the means to defend themselves. Haven't violent crime rates gone up in the UK and Australia since they instituted even more severe gun control measures than they already had? Places in the US that have begun to allow people permits to carry guns on the street have seen their crime rates drop, while strict gun control centers like Washington, D.C. and Chicago are as violent as ever. And what about Switzerland, where every man is required to own a gun? That is easily one of the least violent places in the world. The USA does have its share of problems that cause a higher than average level of violence, but these cannot be solved by taking guns away from honest, peaceful people (by "peaceful" here I mean those who would use violence in self-defense but not otherwise).

America has killed its repetiton in the world, that is why many people in the world hate america. We need to stop sticking the middle finger to the rest of the world and grow up and fix our own problems so america will be great again.

and stop policing the world, stop pushing everyone around, not just raising the middle finger.. already they've killed over a million in the middle east.. i find that so unbelievable, how people become used to this, and stop caring.. i really hate the government, and i mean the world government..

My degree is in gunsmithing, it's a pretty specialized field. There are only two or three schools in the country that offer an actual program in the field, that's why I had to move to Denver to go to school.

Some americans seem to be pretty arrogant and ignorant. there's also the matter of "cultural imperialism", some american people, organisations and institutions hold the attitude that the rest of the world thinks like them and should think like them, that they should have the cultural norms of the U.S.

Sure. I've known some Europeans that seemed pretty arrogant and ignorant. That's just people.



Well. I've gotta give you that. I could even see how that prevalence in some ideologies in this country could contribute to the "arrogant" and even "ignorant' reputation that Americans have. Again though, you will find that most anywhere; we just have had over the last 20 years or so a better infrastructure to spread the belligerence than most.

They're just jealous because they know we're better than everyone else.

I think it is more a matter of that given our position in the world, our culture is very appealing and tends to spread on it's own. I've yet to meet the American that sits around thinking of ways to subvert foreign cultures and make them all think like us, it just isn't something that's on the average American's to-do list. Because we have been so powerful and successful, people in other countries that are less so want to be like us, so that they too can at least appear to be powerful and successful, hence the spread of American culture. This of course makes many people feel very insecure, hence the backlash.

Or Sweden.

Responding to the original question, isn't it obvious? Our leaders lie about other nations and protray them in false ways to its people, along with the "I am the bestist" type attitude. This is of course incredibly obnoxious, especially for people in those other countries when in fact the people with those liberal attitudes have absolutely no idea what those countries are like in the first place. They are just feeding off the lies. It's quite disgusting, to be an American that is, oh, did I just say American? I believe I meant to say to be a resident of the United States. Which is in fact, not the same as saying "American" (saying it is would be just another way to be arrogent).