What is Anti-Americanism?
by An introduction to and explanation of the causes of bias felt by many people against American institutions and society.
It is important to note that very many people will have reservations about some aspects of American society or foreign policy without being in any way an anti-American or to dislike or hate American people. The prime minister of the UK, Gordon Brown, for example, disagrees with some aspects of American foreign policy in the past but is very much in favour of American society and politics and takes as many holidays in the country as he can. Also, it is very common for non-Americans to make jokes about stereotypical American attitudes without being opposed to American people in any way – people make jokes about pretty much every country of the world and, as was once supposedly remarked about the thought of Sigmund Freud, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
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Post CommentJ J Neuman
On October 17, 2009 at 8:37 am
Very interesting and balanced, John. I’ve thought about this from time to time, and can see how people can turn against us because of our cultural appearance to the world (e.g. the excesses, Hollywood movies, MTV music videos, silly celebrity behavior, McDonalds, Walmart) which is almost indefensible. But that is really not how everyone behaves here and they don’t see how difficult it really is to survive here. And, it’s always about money and economics. And, the reality is, we are not a pure capitalistic society. Because of the media, I think America will continue to be perceived as ‘the haves’, by the ‘have nots’, even though we have more than our share of ‘have nots’ here.
Jo Oliver
On October 17, 2009 at 12:06 pm
I do not see anything un-American about questioning the route society in America has taken. I do see it as un-American when people, American or non, defame and try to alter the principles this country was founded on.