At Stardate 20030620.0652, Jan Coffey wrote:
So....I asked if it was cool for me to post this question on the COOL list version of Brin-l, and I got the ok so......
JvB,
In previous discussions you have had some gripes about Americans. I know we (Americans) like to make fun of the Frech, but hay, the rest of Europe was doing that for centuries, and we just now got over the whole Statue-of-Liberty-gift thing and feel that we can join in. ;)
No, seriously though, as an American I am concerned that in some parts of the world, I am treated with reservation, fear, over done respect, or even detested. So what is it? Why is it that the country which came to the rest of the worlds rescue thrice in the last century is so feared and hated this century? Is it becouse we are the big dog and others are jelous or is their someting to this ant-Americanism? Wait, is it pride? Is it that we are so smug and "we saved the world, we saved the world" or is it that we are all such maveric John Wane types?
I believe there are a number of factors at play here.
First, the "coming to the world's rescue" part. True, the US did play a vital role in major conflicts in the last century. I'll take WW2 as an example. Really, people in Europe *were* grateful that the US helped liberate us from Nazi occupation. What we have a problem with is that the case is often presented as if the US liberated Europe singlehandedly, rather than as a member of an international coalition. Such an attitude comes across as very arrogant.
Second, the "big dog" part. The US, being the only remaining superpower, can pretty much do as it pleases in the world and appears to be happily taking advantage of that situation. Such behaviour is a recipe for resentment by the rest of the world. Basically, by doing whatever it wants and ignoring the wishes of the rest of the world, the US is seen as the bully of the playground. Phrased differently: with great power comes great responsibility, but the US is often seen as interested only in the power and not the responsibility. In that respect, the current US government has probably done more damage in the last three years than the combined previous US governments have done since WW2. The damage done in the last three years may very well take three *decades* to repair. That's the problem with a reputation: it takes little effort to ruin it, but huge amounts of effort to repair it.
Third, individual behaviour. It's not just the current US government that generates a lot of resentment in others, some very vocal individual Americans do it as well. FREX, when you discuss WW2 with a number of Americans, there will always be some among them who will make it sound as if the US singlehandedly liberated Europe rather than as member of a coalition, which comes across as awfully arrogant. Some will even expect Europe to be so grateful for it that we will forever support the US in whatever it does. Other behaviour includes endless praise of the US as "the greatest country in the world" (which can become quite annoying when you hear it often enough) and obnoxious behaviour by American tourists. Of course, when it comes to the "obnoxious tourist" problem, Americans *are* at a disadvantage: the US does have a high profile, and American accents are very easily recognised in a crowd.
Okay, true, we're talking about small minorities here. I'm sure that most Americans realise that the US didn't singlehandedly liberate Europe, and that most Americans don't expect Europe to forever be America's yes-man as payment for the liberation. I'm sure that most Americans will behave like decent folk when playing tourist abroad. The problem is that, while it's a small minority that's making a nuisance of themselves, it's also very *vocal* minority. Given people's tendency to generalise, attitudes can then quickly shift from "jeez, what an arrogant guy" to "jeez, Americans are an arrogant bunch". That may be unjustified, but that *is* what happens. Calling people who criticise the US "anti-American" doesn't exactly help either; it only reinforces the negative attitude towards the US, because it gives the impression of intolerance.
I think that most people who are labeled "anti-American" are not anti-American at all; they merely provide healthy criticism. Likewise, most Americans are not self-righteous arrogant assholes; it's only a small but very vocal minority (plus the US government) that's giving the US a bad name.
Jeroen van Baardwijk
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