Why America is hated » Forum Post by Paladin77

Are you an American? Your views seem pretty well biased.

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cactoblasta

Join Date 04/2004

+48

This annoys other nations because they can’t see what is so great about America and why their nation is not seen that way. When I worked in Europe I noticed striking differences in how we think of ourselves. If you look at a European passport you will notice they don’t smile. In America no matter what kind of official photograph you are always told to smile. That was the first thing I noticed. The same in the Asian nations I visited. Why smile life sucks and you’re stuck in it. That may or not be true but that is how it looks from the outside looking in.

Hehe. You do realise the frown is a state requirement, don't you? The reasoning is that few people smile when going through immigration, so it's better to have the photos show a frowning face than a smiling one. It makes identification easier.

The reason we defeated the Soviet Union is because we believed we could do anything! They believed we could do anything and gave up.

Possibly... Or the US' superior economic base allowed it to drive the USSR into an arms race it couldn't win. Historians are of course divided between the "America was a land of magical positive thinking pixies" and "rational argument" schools.

Other than the United Kingdom which mirrors our way of life you don’t have many countries that are prosperous.

You do, actually. Singapore is nothing like America, and yet it's much more prosperous on a per-capita basis. Japan is also little like America yet has been and looks set to be just as prosperous. South Korea is also approaching first-world. Prosperity has little to do with the American Dream.

The chief reason America is hated is because we are Americans and can do what we want and they aren’t and can’t. (Colon Powel)

I do believe his name is Colin. As for his statement, I think it's ridiculous. There are plenty of good reasons to hate America - cultural imperialism, its lack of tact, its apparent warmongering, neocolonial ambitions etc. Power disparity is not the most important of these reasons.

Its not our fault they can't learn from thier mistakes.

Of course not. But the US doesn't learn from its mistakes either. After a century of superpowerhood it still hasn't figured out how to manage a client state without it falling into disrepair and/or anarchy.

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Prosperity has little to do with the American Dream.

Funny that all of the nations you mentioned have one thing in common; they all cooperate, are supported by, and do business with the U.S. Perhaps the American Dream has more to do with it than you are willing to admit.

cultural imperialism

Really? How so? I can't seem to recall a situation where the U.S. forced another nation to adopt English or any other aspect of American culture.

its lack of tact

Lack of tact? You must be kidding. Since when is not being a pandering pansy a negative?

warmongering

Yes, America is a warmonger. It's not like we weren't directly attacked on our own soil or anything. It's not like we weren't being attacked for over 20 years or anything. What a crock of shit.

neocolonial ambitions

Oh please, this is pure bullshit.

The U.S. is hated because we don't pander to the socialists that have taken over most of the world. We are hated because we won't bow down to the radicals. We are hated because we have a higher standard of living and a stronger economy than the pansies who hate us. Here's the real rub for those who hate us; we don't give a damn.

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It's kinda funny how the world actually works. People hate those who try to help but don't care about the ones who do them harm. Leave it to someone to insult you for telling them their kids are doing bad things but fear the guy across the street when he insults their kids for making so much noise.

Cactoblasta

I would expect Dan Greene to say the same thing to you that he said to the writer of this article.

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I'd like to know where you got this figure from. It doesn't seem right and after several google searches for "emigration from america," american expatriate statistics and the like, I can't find any numbers on this at all.

Don't google got to the library of Congress or the State Deparment in order to be in that group you have to renounce your citizenship then look at the reason given. it is not a list that is easy to find. I took three random years and averaged them.

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Are you an American? Your views seem pretty well biased.

yup, born in the Bronx. Former registerd Democrat. can't get any more American than that.

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Possibly... Or the US' superior economic base allowed it to drive the USSR into an arms race it couldn't win. Historians are of course divided between the "America was a land of magical positive thinking pixies" and "rational argument" schools.

It had nothing to do with the economic base since we entered into détente in the 70’s because both the Soviet Union and America were on the verge of economic collapse. It was only Mr. Reagan’s tax cuts that pulled our country out of the abyss where as in the Soviet Union refused to build up the nation at all. With that as an example it proved that Americans can do anything. At the time all of Europe was in the same boat and they laughed at Mr. Reagan for his economic policies. Four years later all the leaders that laughed at him were asking how he turned the nation around so fast. It was the President’s faith in the American people that allowed us to turn the problem around. Mr. Carter on the other hand did what the Europeans did and raised taxes. We ended up with 21% inflation. I know I was there. Mr. Carter had no faith in the American people and restricted the nation causing a panic.

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You do, actually. Singapore is nothing like America, and yet it's much more prosperous on a per-capita basis. Japan is also little like America yet has been and looks set to be just as prosperous. South Korea is also approaching first-world. Prosperity has little to do with the American Dream.

I have never been to Singapore so I can’t speak for them I will take your word on it. Japan is a mess because they refused to follow the dream and the taxes there are crippling, South Korea is following the American dream and life there is not bad and getting better. Another nation I did not mention is the Philippines, I have a home there and they don’t follow the dream but they have great love of American and our way of life. The politicians are what is keeping that nation poor. The people have hope but little else.

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I do believe his name is Colin. As for his statement, I think it's ridiculous. There are plenty of good reasons to hate America - cultural imperialism, its lack of tact, its apparent warmongering, neocolonial ambitions etc. Power disparity is not the most important of these reasons.

You’re joking right? Yes, he said it. If you think it is ridiculous take it up with him. Please explain this cultural imperialism to me. What is it?
Warmongering? That would not be the case or we would have attacked China when they downed our spy plane in 2001, or attacked Iran, and North Korea. If we are war mongers then we would be at war with all our enemies instead of the ones that are involved in our destruction i.e. Afghanistan.
Iraq we went to war because of the failure to obey the surrender document they signed. So warmongers is not appropriate at this time.
What power disparity do you speak of?

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Of course not. But the US doesn't learn from its mistakes either. After a century of superpowerhood it still hasn't figured out how to manage a client state without it falling into disrepair and/or anarchy.

Please explain what you mean. America did not become a super power until 1948 which is 58 years not 100. So after a little more than half a century of superpowerhood we are the only ones left standing. What client states are you writing about?

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Oh please, this is pure bullshit.

The U.S. is hated because we don't pander to the socialists that have taken over most of the world. We are hated because we won't bow down to the radicals. We are hated because we have a higher standard of living and a stronger economy than the pansies who hate us. Here's the real rub for those who hate us; we don't give a damn.

I would have to agree with you here.

It makes them mad that Americans will ignore them.

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neocolonial ambitions etc.

I forgot this little tidbit. Horse SHIT!
Not one nation has America won in a war that we did not give back. The last one was Japan in 1975. We won the Philippines in the Spanish American war I think. We fought hard to win that country back from Japan during WWII and then two years later as promised we gave them their independence. Since then what countries have we colonized? After WWII we gave back Germany and Japan after it became stable like we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every war we have fought after the Spanish American war we have left the nation to their own way of life after the war was over. If this is not the case then a third of Germany would be ours, all of Japan would be ours as well as all of Korea and China. We liberated Grenada how come they are our colony? Try looking at this strange thing called fact. Guam was given to us to manage and after we finished the term of management the people were given the choice to become American citizens or not. They chose yes by voting on it. Please provide nations the United States of America has colonized in the last 58 years of superpowerhood.

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cactoblasta

Join Date 04/2004

+48

Funny that all of the nations you mentioned have one thing in common; they all cooperate, are supported by, and do business with the U.S. Perhaps the American Dream has more to do with it than you are willing to admit.

Everyone does business with the US. It's hard not to. But lots of countries don't believe in the American Dream of freedom. Singapore is a dictatorship and a particularly brutal one, yet they are a success. Of course I suppose you could contend brutal dictatorships are one with the American dream, but that's not something I've ever believed.

Most of those catchphrases of the third world that I mentioned are based on ideas of soft power. I don't believe in most of them - for example cultural imperialism ascribes a guiding hand to global economic success, which is absurd - but they are believed by lots of people. That makes them important as alternative sources of hate for the US. It's not just a "oh, you're 'free' - I'm going to try and kill you because of that" kind of deal.

Re warmongering, well, it's an unfair accusation. But it's one that can be made. The US has traditionally destabilised governments throughout the world in pursuit of its global objectives, from South America to Asia to the Middle East. It's hard to trust or like someone when they'll turn on you as soon as you don't obey their every whim.

Here's the real rub for those who hate us; we don't give a damn.

Really? Then why did you open this article at all? You seem to care quite a bit, and sales of books like "Why do they hate us?" have been quite high in the past. Americans, particularly leftist Americans, constantly obsess about their country's image. I would suggest that Americans do give a damn.

I would expect Dan Greene to say the same thing to you that he said to the writer of this article.

So? Everyone's biased. We just all show it in different ways.

Paladin:

Re economic USSR/US: I'm glad to see you agree with me. The US' superior economic management drove the USSR into the dust. I'm not sure what you mean with the Reagan/Carter comparison though. Do you believe Carter was a secret Soviet working against the US?

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It's ironic, if Americans talk about a hatred for people from somewhere else, it's called "bigotry", but if others hate Americans, it's considered our own fault. ;~D

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Draginol

Join Date 03/2001

+137

Possibly... Or the US' superior economic base allowed it to drive the USSR into an arms race it couldn't win.

Why did the US have a superior economic base?

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Re warmongering, well, it's an unfair accusation. But it's one that can be made. The US has traditionally destabilised governments throughout the world in pursuit of its global objectives, from South America to Asia to the Middle East. It's hard to trust or like someone when they'll turn on you as soon as you don't obey their every whim.

South America we did play there, Asia and the Middle East were a result of the Europeans before WWI not the Americans. If you remember it was the Europeans that were the super power of the day. America was just a minor world power after WWI with little say in world affairs. The Middle East was a mess created before WWI by the superpowers of the time all of them European. We did over throw the dictator of Iran and install the European created Shah who we refused to support when he needed our help because he was a dictator. The Europeans did the same in Asia, what I mean is they colonized and diced up territories as they saw fit. Without regard to who was there first or any culture that may have been in place. All the Arab royalty were created by the Europeans because that was what they believed in back then. So don’t put it all on the U.S. I notice you don’t mention the Soviet Union which was doing the exact same thing wherever they could which started us off to counter them. One sided history is so much fun till you add in context.

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Paladin:

Re economic USSR/US: I'm glad to see you agree with me. The US' superior economic management drove the USSR into the dust. I'm not sure what you mean with the Reagan/Carter comparison though. Do you believe Carter was a secret Soviet working against the US?

You should know better than that! Mr. Carter was doing what his political ideology said was best for the nation. No one of his party could conceive that lowering taxes would increase the tax base. Well almost no one, JFK lowered taxes and we ended up with billions in excess money that Mr. Johnson spent on the Great Society. It was the radical idea of tax breaks for the rich that brought us a surplus in the treasury. Had Congress not tried to hide the losses in Vietnam we would still have that money there.

Please don't get me wrong. Liberals and Conservatives both are doing what they believe is best for the nation. Sometimes the liberals are correct, not many times but sometimes. in this case they were wrong for all the right reasons.

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Why did the US have a superior economic base?

We had a superior economic base because we believed in freedom. Take a risk, if you do well you are rich if not you try again. In other countries failure is the end of the line. In America failure is just a false start. We don’t tax companies into the poor house or at least we try not to because we understand that as long as business is thriving the people do well. When the government tries to regulate business too much we end up with France. Their unemployment is a disaster but they are a union nation. So nothing gets done unless the union says so.

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cactoblasta

Join Date 04/2004

+48

Why did the US have a superior economic base?

You know as well as I do capitalism is vastly more efficient than communism. Communism cripples industrial quality and stifles innovation through rewarding obedience over creativity.

The US' economic base, built on a large, well-educated population, a huge resource base and canny economic management both on the national and international level (through the '70s Bretton-Woods agreements), was so much better than the Soviet's it wasn't funny.

I'm surprised that you of all people question the advantages of a capitalist system.

So don’t put it all on the U.S. I notice you don’t mention the Soviet Union which was doing the exact same thing wherever they could which started us off to counter them. One sided history is so much fun till you add in context.

I never said the US was alone in doing it. But this article seems focused on America. It doesn't make much sense to go roping in every country that indulges in a little neo-colonialism.

By the way, neo-colonialism is separate from colonialism because it does not require direct rule. PNG and the Solomons are neocolonial possessions of Australia but we don't rule them directly. We just own them politically, culturally and economically. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does breed discontent in the ruled and hatred for those who do take charge.

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I'd like to know where you got this figure from.

Theres no way they are correct. If it were our own 1996-2000 figures show that we'd account for between 25%-40% of all emmigration from the states. Although i can't be bothered looking any further at this point in time we know these figures have risen dramatically since Bush took office.

American money is whats fueling the rise in our coastal property prices. Very widely reported down here. Frankly it (your figure of a 1000) even sounds ridiculous as does the rest of article.

This article is entitled "Why America is hated" and yet the entire article basically consists of the author pointing out what he hates about the rest of the world.

However the title of this article does illustrate beautifully why so many of the rest of the world dislike American foreign policy; the rest of the world would have entitled it "Why is America hated?" in question form seeking out answers. Instead the author chooses the statement form "Why America is hated" and proceeds to tell the whole rest of the world how it feels and why it feels that way.

The mere fact that you choose to lump everyone in the rest of the world together is typical of the black and white, for and against, American idiocy thats so dispised. Thats why you lose wars by the way. You cant distinguish one enemy from another.i.e Saudis attack you on 9-11 so you invade Afganistan and Iraq?

The fact is Paladin is that beyond boatloads of refugees and border hoppers the vast majority of "us" wouldn't want to live in the States for all the tea in China.

If you hadn't invaded oil rich Iraq, you'd be but a blip on the radar. I mean, beyond bombs and Microsoft, all thats left is a cardboard culture. Frankly in New Zealand at least, you're far more pitied than hated.

And with respect to Iraq you look quite silly. The bully being bullied. The ridicule is endless.

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I never said the US was alone in doing it. But this article seems focused on America. It doesn't make much sense to go roping in every country that indulges in a little neo-colonialism.

By the way, neo-colonialism is separate from colonialism because it does not require direct rule. PNG and the Solomons are neocolonial possessions of Australia but we don't rule them directly. We just own them politically, culturally and economically. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does breed discontent in the ruled and hatred for those who do take charge.

So which countries does america have this neo-colonialism?

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American money is whats fueling the rise in our coastal property prices. Very widely reported down here. Frankly it (your figure of a 1000) even sounds ridiculous as does the rest of article.

So you are sayin that more than 1000 Americans leave to take up citizenship in other nations because they have a gripe with America? I understand your dislike of actually looking up the number so just tell me how many do you estimate to have left in a year?

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This article is entitled "Why America is hated" and yet the entire article basically consists of the author pointing out what he hates about the rest of the world. :ScoffPiggyThomlinson

I think it would be best if you learned reading comprehension. I have never stated in any article I have written that I hate any nation. With the exception of France i have no serious gripes with any nation. That does not mean that I have to tell lies to make them look good. Facts are facts and the truth is the same no matter if you like or dislike a nation. All I wrote were things I learned while living ourside the U.S. then caped it of with a quote from Colin Powel. If you see what I wrote as bad or a slam against a nation then you misread it.

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ScoffPiggyThomlinson:The mere fact that you choose to lump everyone in the rest of the world together is typical of the black and white, for and against, American idiocy thats so dispised. Thats why you lose wars by the way. You cant distinguish one enemy from another.i.e Saudis attack you on 9-11 so you invade Afganistan and Iraq?

You are good at telling lies I grant you that. Though the majority of people who attacked America on 9/11 were Saudis they belonged to a terror group that was based in Afghanistan. My president declared a new policy that anyone that helps the terrorist that were responsible for the 9/11 attack would be counted as an enemy of the United States. He gave fair notice that you are either for or against the terrorist and to make up your mind which side you want to be on. If you wish to be counted with them then we as a nation will be coming after you as well. Hence Iraq who had been giving aid to the terrorist to the point that terrorist injured in Afghanistan were in hospital in Iraq. That was enough to go to war with Iraq. Any other nation that is seen as aiding the terrorist that attacked us will be in for the same fate.

If giving fair notice to others is not right too bad. The President's job is to protect Americans and I won't fault him for that.

Unless you have re-written history lately the last war America lost was Vietnam.

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I'm have not read all the above content, other that the article itself. In response to the OP and his article: It's lonely at the top, and your entitle to be as jealous as you like.

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