Rest of the World Increasingly Dislikes American Citizens

[Frodo]

Not only does the world dislikes our government and the policies it has pursued overseas -we now learn they dislike us on a personal level:
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Bad news, America: World doesn't like 'We the People'

By David Wood
Newhouse News Service

WASHINGTON — The United States long has been a source of irritation for the rest of the world, but the news is worse this year.

While Europeans and Asians and Arabs increasingly have disliked U.S. policies or specific U.S. leaders in recent years, Americans were liked and admired.

Polls show an ominous turn. Majorities around the world think Americans are greedy, violent and rude, and fewer than half in countries such as Poland, Spain, Canada, China and Russia think Americans are honest.

"We found a rising antipathy toward Americans," said Bruce Stokes of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which interviewed 93,000 people in 50 countries over four years.

Few analysts expect more than marginal improvements, short of another Sept. 11.

 

[MODU]

Another worthless poll.

"...Americans were liked and admired."  Hardly.  Respected, maybe, but for the past 30 years, I highly doubt individual Americans were admired.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Well I can fake a canadian accent so..

[Gabu]

I doubt that this will particularly affect anything, because I'm increasingly getting the sense as time goes on that most Americans don't give a wooden nickel about what any of the rest of the world thinks about anything that they or their country is doing.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Given that I'm an english speaker getting whatever passes for a green card in australia or canada shouldn't be to bad.

[ilikeverin]

I doubt that this will particularly affect anything, because I'm increasingly getting the sense as time goes on that most Americans don't give a wooden nickel about what any of the rest of the world thinks about anything that they or their country is doing.

The funny thing is, that's absolutely true.  For some reason Americans seem to be trending isolationist lately

Oh well, there'll always be another WWII to snap us out of it... right?  :S

[Mr. Paleoconservative]

We ought to stop worrying what they think about us, and they ought to start worrying about what we think of them.

Most of the countries that spit on America take our handouts, have relied on the blood of American boys, and exploit our trade agreements to piggyback our economy with American businesses.

[Nation]

When an  American gets a chance to go abroad (as everyone should if they get the opportunity) they should simply have to act in a decent, polite manner and that should be enough for foreign folks to respect us.

If people "dislike" an entire citizenship of a certain country, that's their problem, not mine.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Given that I'm nonwhite and not religiously evangelistic I don't think I'll get any problems abroad.

[Q]

Most of the countries that spit on America take our handouts, have relied on the blood of American boys, and exploit our trade agreements to piggyback our economy with American businesses.

^^^

[TomC]

Yes, but will they still drink Coke?

[opebo]

Most of the countries that spit on America take our handouts, have relied on the blood of American boys, and exploit our trade agreements to piggyback our economy with American businesses.

^^^

What rot.  American 'handouts', what few there are, come with stringent conditions that amount to a surrender of sovereignty.   All of america's interventions since WWII have been of debatable utility for the native peoples in the country in question, and even during the 'world wars' US losses, while no doubt greatly appreciated, where very small compared to the other combatant nations.  Lastly, most foreigners are workers, and naturally view american business as yet another master making their lives miserable. 

So on the whole you should not be surprised.  When one has an empire, the subjects will tend to resent it.

[MasterJedi]

And yet every country wants to become America. -_-

[opebo]

And yet every country wants to become America. -_-

'Wants to'?  Or is being forced to?

Of course if you mean every country would like to be sitting in the catbird seat of Empire, then yes, obviously.  But not every person in every country wants the same specific trappings.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's largely a result of how the media covers the U.S.

[David S]

I doubt that this will particularly affect anything, because I'm increasingly getting the sense as time goes on that most Americans don't give a wooden nickel about what any of the rest of the world thinks about anything that they or their country is doing.

The funny thing is, that's absolutely true.  For some reason Americans seem to be trending isolationist lately

Oh well, there'll always be another WWII to snap us out of it... right?  :S

Well lets see, we are actively fighting wars in two countries and we have troops stationed in more than a hundred countries around the world. American forces have intervened in disputes all over the world, most of which have nothing to do with us. We probably trade with more countries than any other in the world and the American dollar is used throughout the world. You think we are isolationist?

Maybe if we were a bit more isolationist we might not make so many enemies.

[Platypus]

put it like this: when I go to argentina, i'll make it pretty bloody clear im not american; the risjk of being a victim of petty crime probably triples if you wear a US-flag bandana

[Richard]

The losers always dislike the winners.  *shrug*

[??????????]

The losers always dislike the winners.  *shrug*

^^^

[ilikeverin]

I doubt that this will particularly affect anything, because I'm increasingly getting the sense as time goes on that most Americans don't give a wooden nickel about what any of the rest of the world thinks about anything that they or their country is doing.

The funny thing is, that's absolutely true.  For some reason Americans seem to be trending isolationist lately

Oh well, there'll always be another WWII to snap us out of it... right?  :S

Well lets see, we are actively fighting wars in two countries and we have troops stationed in more than a hundred countries around the world. American forces have intervened in disputes all over the world, most of which have nothing to do with us. We probably trade with more countries than any other in the world and the American dollar is used throughout the world. You think we are isolationist?

Maybe if we were a bit more isolationist we might not make so many enemies.

I don't think President Bush is isolationist, no.  But what does that have to do with how the public feels?

[AkSaber]

It's largely a result of how the media covers the U.S.

That's what I was thinking.

[Gabu]

And yet every country wants to become America. -_-

That's news to me.

[Platypus]

And yet every country wants to become America. -_-

That's news to me.

Hardly. A while back, the BBC had a show, "What the world thinks of America". It discussed poll findings, had interviews with people, etc.


The participating nations were Canada, the US, Brazil, France, the UK, Russia, Israel, Jordan, South Korea, Indonesia and Australia.


Here are some results. Obviously, things will have changed since then, but not all that much.

The US, Canada, UK, Israel, Australia, Korea and Russia had a net positive view of the US, in that order. France, Indonesia, Brazil and especially Jordan had net negative results. The average was slightly positive, but without the US, it would have been borderline/negative.

Nobody liked Bush except Americans and Israelis...now, it's probably just the Israelis.

A majority of people supported US policies on Terrorism and the spread of AIDS, but most dissaproved of policies for World Poverty, Global Warming, Nuclear Proliferation and Israel/Palestine.

Only Russia, Indonesia, Brazil and especially Jordan dissaproved of America's anti-Terrorism policies, but only a small majority of French people supported it.

Russia, France and Jordan dissaproved of the way the US combats the worldwide spread of AIDS, with 3/4 of Indonesians in favour of the US method, along with the large majority of Koreans and Americans. Koreans very strongly approved of the US's position on mighting world poverty, whilst Indonesia and the USA had much smaller levels of support for the policies. In order, Canada, Israel, the UK, Australia, Russia, Brazil, Fraqnce and especially Jordan dissapproved. Jordan wasn't very welcoming of anything vaguely American in the poll

Korea, the USA and Israel supported the US policy on nuclear proliferation. Australia, the UK and Canada moderately dissaproved whilst the rest strongly disagreed with the policies.

Again, Korea, Israel and the US were the only countries to approve of US policy with regards to global warming, although Russia was borderline.

Only Americans agreed with American policy on Israel/Palestine-even a small majority of Israelis disagreed. Disagreement was strongest in Jordan and weakest in Australia, although Canada and Israel were also borderline.

(cont.)

[Gabu]

And yet every country wants to become America. -_-

That's news to me.

[long post]

Er, how does this prove that every country wants to become America?

[Platypus]

When asked to determine which of two words better suited the American people, this was the result:

arrogant beats humble 65-15, with the French thinking the Americans were Arrogant more then any other nation, and Americans thinking they were humble more then any other nation (although Jordan was actually second)
friendly beat antagonising 47-33; The US was most likely to consider itself friendly, with Jordan a close second; Half of the surveyed Brazilians thought the US was antagonising.
United beat divided 54-34. Over 2/3 of the respondants in Israel, Canada and the US saw America as united, with similar numbers in the UK and Australia. Only 24% of Jordanians agreed, with over half saying the US was divided.
Religious beat non-religious 50-34. 3/4 of French people thought America was religious; only 10% of Jordanians felt the same way.
Free beat Unfree 73-19. Majorities thought America was free in every country except Brazil; Indonesia, the US and Korea were the most strongly supportive of the 'free' stance; Jordan and France the least supportive besides Brazil.

When asked the question, 'Do you believe America is a force for good in the world", a very large majority of Americans responded favourably. Smaller majorities were seen in favour of the position in Israel, Canada, Australia and the UK. The countries that disagreed the most were Brazil, Russia and Jordan.

A quarter of Brazilians agreed with the statement 'america scares me', as did a bare majority of Koreans. France, Australia and Canada were the least overwhelmingly disagreeing nations; Israel the most.

A small majority of people on average agreed with the statement "America is a beacon of hope and opportunity", but without Americans being very much in favour of this statement, the result would be negative. Most Israelis, Canadians, Brtons and Australians also agreed with the statement, but Russians and Jordanians very much disagreed.

Only Indonesia, Brazil and the USA disagreed with the statement "America feels it is the only superpower in the world and can do what they like". Korea, Israel and Jordan were most in agreement with this statement.

Everyone agreed with the statement "The world looks at America and they see money and sex", with Americans most endorsing of it and the French, Israelis and Koreans doing so with less gusto.

France was most in favour of the statement "America is reaping the thorns planted by its rulers in the world", with every other nation agreeing except America.

Cultural views were also explored.

Only Russians and Jordanians disliked American movies, with Americans most in favour. Americans were also most in favour of American TV, although a large majority of Canadians also agreed with the statement; a slim majority of Brits disgareed, as did larger amounts of Brazilians, Frenchmen, Russians, Koreans and Jordanians.

Koreans, Russians and especially Jordanians disliked US music, whilst Americans and Canadians were very much in favour of it.

American-made clothing was liked by the USA, and disliked by Brazil, Jordan and most notably Korea. Slim majorities of Indonesians and French liked it.

Only Americans, Canadians, Indonesians and Britons liked American food; Australians, Israelis, Brazilians, Koreans, Frenchmen, Russians and Jordanians disliked it, in that order.

Only America had strong support for American drinks, with Indonesia, Canada, the UK, Israel and a slim majority of Australians also in favour of them. Jordanians most disliked them.

Here's the most important one, at least for us:

When asked the question 'Generally speaking, would you say you tended to like or dislike American internet websites?', a large amount of Americans responded in the positive. A more moderate amount of Canadians agreed, as did a slim majority of Britons, Australians and Indonesians. A slim majority of Russians and Israelis dissaproved; Brazil and France, and especially Korea and Jordan, held the same view.

Coca-cola creamed everyone when people were asked to name an American product off the top of their head. McDonalds came a distant second, and then there was another large leap back to Pepsi, 'Burgers', Nike and 'Computers'. Levis and Ford also got mentions.

Most people thought the influence of American consumer products and entertainement was too great in their own country (in the US the question was 'in other countries'. Only the US disagreed, whilst Koreans, Indonesians, Australians and Brazilians were most likely to endorse this view.

Everyone but Brazilians, Israelis and Koreans thought their country was more cultured then the US. 44% of Americans thought theitr country was the most cultured on earth. Indonesians were most adamant their culture was better.

A large majority of people thought that america was not a better place to live then their own country. Koreans and Israelis were least likely to endorse this view, and Australians the most likely, with only 1% of Aussies agreeding with the statement. 89% of Americans agreed their country was the best in the world to live in.

If given the chance to live in America, the respondants of every country mostly decined, although Israelis and Brazilians less then the others. The respondants from Russian and France would be the least likely to take up the opportunity. 74% of Americans would not like to live anywhere outside the US if they were given the chance, and 96% think most people outside America want to go and live there. That's rather a lot, especially in comparison to the poll results

Most people thought their own country was becoming more like America as time went on. This view was particularly expressed by Australians and Koreans. Indonesians, Brazilians and Russians dsagreed, as did Frenchmen and Jordanians.

(cont.)