Stupid and Evil Americans...?

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Do people in other countries really think that? I was reading youtube comments, and there was stuff like "USA=Empire of Evil" and "You're American and you can count?"
I'm a first generation American, I was born in Russia. My relatives back in Russia sometimes comment that they're surprised that my American schoolmates don't have horns...

I know George Bush is a war-loving moron, but he isn't the only person in America.

I'm just ranting a bit right now.

Yes, foreigners generally have an exagerated view of America's shortcomings. For instance, some of my asian wife's relatives are surpried that I not only like rice, but that I know how to eat it, too!

Many of the foreign engineers I've worked with expected to meet a beer-swilling, gun-toting, drug-pushing, wealthy klansman instead of the relatively normal, yet slightly wierd person that I actually am. Some are even surprised than my engineering degree actually means something.

Here's why ... Maybe I'm starting to think that too.

The Media ... I shoulda known ...

I am an American, and yes, I believe that alot of people around the world hate us.


They call us ignorant, arrogant, self-centered, fat, lazy, and power and money hungry. It's true, we have plenty of those people, but so does nearly every other country.

I think the root of the problem is the hatred of our government, and all of the crap that they do. I hate to break this to them, but most Americans don't like our government either. They see Bush on TV and assume every American is like that. I also think there is a little bit of resentment and jealousy of the power and wealth of our country, which came through many years of hard work, ingenuity, and determination. Yeah, we earned it.

Stupid? Hell yeah, but really only by general national average comparison.
The ones who work and travel, obviously, are the ones equal to anybody else in most other nations.
Evil? Depends on how you define evil - hard-core Christian extremism, manifest destiny belief and grossly insular culture would be evil in my book.
Both of these problems are largely due to Americas crippling group psychology, what many may prefer to call "patriotism" over there is an enourmous "f**k you" to the rest of the world. Hell, the US military refuses to upgrade it's ageing assault rifles, simply because of that fatalistic amerigasm attitude.

The country today is not what my ancestors - I'm a descendent of many of the founding fathers, from an old "blue blood" American family - intended. My grandfather had the right idea when he left that country, I think.

The Americans I have met were nice, and defiantly not stupid or
rude, you can have rude ignorant people coming from any country.

Last edited by spudnik on 02 Dec 2008, 3:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I should probably address that - there isn't really any resentment over americas supposed and largely mythologized wealth and power, but there is resentment of the perception that other nations are "just jealous". It smacks of the subtle arrogance Americans are infamous for, rather than the overt "Bush-y" arrogance many Americans assume is labelled to them.

We also have to remember that all countries have a stereotype with them. Not all people from China are sweatshop workers, not all people from France never shave and act rude, and person from Germany dosn't mean they're a nazi. America has one and so do others, not saying that's right of course.

Yeah, America, just like any other country stereotypes the people around them.

'The Brits with the Bad Teeth' sound familiar?

See...right there you are calling us subtly arrogant. lol I think Americans developed this as a defensive measure because of the constant resentment and remarks aimed towards them. What better way to get back at someone that has a chip on their shoulder and hates you?...laugh at them and downplay them.


I definetly think there is a lot of stereotyping and generalization going on. When people start to realize that everyone (no matter what part of the world they are from) is the same and can work together, instead of against each other, the world will be a much better place.

Most of the resentment comes from the fact that you Americans refuse to see yourselves as an Imperial power. The US fabricated the 'Splendid Little War' with Spain, occupied the Philippines, Cuba, and until recently constantly influenced South American politics and economic policies. Dictators like Augusto Pinochet or Manuel Noriega owed their position simply because the US set them up. Not to mention that, but the Vietnam War discredited the US as the 'good guys' considering that South Vietnam was a military dictatorship with harsh and repressive policies. 'Hard work, ingenuity, and determination'... I can't agree completely. The US has a lot of good things about it but its now an empire in decline, just like the British, Soviet or Romans in the past. There are A LOT of reasons why the US is hated globally, and its not really because of the decadent culture, but rather, historical precedent.

Go wave your flag arseoles J/K
Although most of the americans I see on Xbox Live are you're steryotypical ignorant Bastards I don't really think that's a fair enough view, since most people most people on XBL are, despite their nationality. And I've met Americans that alright people so I don't think you're ALL stupid and Evil.

Again, these are the government's actions, not the general population's. Hate the government (like we do), but dont judge the rest of our country based on what our government does.

That being said, I do think that our government should spend their time and money taking care of our own people, and worrying about our own problems first, rather that trying to police the world and interfere with other countries politics and policies.

It's almost adorable when Americans complain it's their governments fault, isn't it? An entire nation of puppy politics, that take's itself too seriously...

Well, I dislike your government too, but who elects it? Anyways I don't mean to come across that I hate Americans, in fact much of my family is American. I really don't like their attitudes though. I tend to notice most Americans I meet act like they have something to prove. My aunt provided me with a golden little example when a few years back, her and my cousins came up to visit. One of our friends was talking about a nearby area popular with nature tourists called the 'Thousand Islands'. My aunt immediately butted in and started talking about how Florida has 'Ten-Thousand Islands' that are sunny and way better. Sigh..

You can't blame the world for disliking America considering how much they're doing to keep developing countries down, and every time somebody mentions it most Americans play innocent and say 'blame the government'.