Is it really hard to fathom why many people despise the US?

[RenewableCandy]

Gah, "Aspects" of verbs...I was only going by the last 3 letters.

But you get people who say things like "I buried my father yesterday"...doesn't mean they were responsible for the death, just that the person has outlived his father. If someone wanted to say "I'll outlive you" and was being a bit of a drama queen...well you get the idea.

[ceti331]

The problem for the modern world is that the US military-industrial complex has got hooked on the heroin of public money and its own global policeman rhetoric and since 1989 needs a new foe. Islamic fascism has fitted the bill nicely and once again we see a relatively small number of people on both sides benefitting from the contrived paranoia, aggression and cynicism deployed to justify massive spending, massive control and power grabs. The utter inability of most Americans I have met to discuss some of the issues rationally, or indeed in a normal tone of voice, also contributes to the perception the the US is a country of psychos.

I would hypothesize it was just plain old competing powerblocks , and capitalism vs communism was just branding. "we're different to them because <...>", as the powers went around the world trying to convince people to join their 'side'..

i've heard this theory elsewhere that americans are more "free-marketeers" than "socialists" basically because they already had a 'reset' (revolutionary war) , whereas in western europe - as you mention - the established powers appeased the masses with a little socialism to balance things out.

as for the current status of the US military industrial complex, i'm satisfied with the peak oil/petrodollar explanation.. US oil has been in decline for ages, and Americans benefited from the status of the dollar, abroad the military protects that, and at home, the US 'elites' are continuing preparations to survive a societal collapse as oil supplies continue to diminish.

[UndercoverElephant]

Don't underestimate the level of paranoia with respect to communism that is generated in a society which is itself so right wing that it is off the normal scale. To Americans, who think 15% taxes are ridiculously high, the whole idea of "government" is inherently evil, that everybody ought to own guns, and that government-provided healthcare and education are backwards, socialism/communism must be almost incomprehensible.

A lot of them genuinely feared that "communism is taking over the world". The fear was completely irrational, and out of all proportion to any real threat, but that doesn't make the fear itself any less real. These are the same people who think climate change is a left-wing conspiracy.

[vtsnowedin]

Perhaps the American public was paranoid in 1945 from watching recent events. Lets see : 1923 A Wacky WW1 vet is in jail writing abut "My Battle" By just 1933 He is Chancellor of Germany but the people in Britain are assured they can tend their gardens and enjoy "Peace in our time" in 1938 but war breaks out in Poland in 1939 and in 1940 the battle of Britain is fought including bombs being dropped on civilian targets in London. All this before Hitler turns and invades the USSR in 1941.
Quite a sudden turn of events and far too close to total defeat for comfort don't you think. Now what peaceful soul sitting at Gitmo should we let out of jail so he can return home to build "peace and prosperity" for his tribe and religion?

[biffvernon]

Pete Seeger sang "We Shall Overcome". They probably thought he was about to take over the world. No wonder they wanted to lock him up.

[biffvernon]

Now what peaceful soul sitting at Gitmo should we let out of jail so he can return home to build "peace and prosperity" for his tribe and religion?

That's a particular focus for why the rest of the world hate America. This side of the pond we have those quaint old fashioned ideas of/ people being regarded as innocent until proved legally guilty by properly constituted courts that are independent from the executive and where important decisions are made by juries of 12 good men and true.

This is one of my favourite pieces of prose.

[AndySir]

Pete Seeger sang "We Shall Overcome". They probably thought he was about to take over the world. No wonder they wanted to lock him up.

Since he didn't, is that a case of close but no Seeger?

[RenewableCandy]

We Shall Overcome all these puns...

[UndercoverElephant]

Perhaps the American public was paranoid in 1945 from watching recent events. Lets see : 1923 A Wacky WW1 vet is in jail writing abut "My Battle" By just 1933 He is Chancellor of Germany but the people in Britain are assured they can tend their gardens and enjoy "Peace in our time" in 1938 but war breaks out in Poland in 1939 and in 1940 the battle of Britain is fought including bombs being dropped on civilian targets in London. All this before Hitler turns and invades the USSR in 1941.
Quite a sudden turn of events and far too close to total defeat for comfort don't you think. Now what peaceful soul sitting at Gitmo should we let out of jail so he can return home to build "peace and prosperity" for his tribe and religion?

Eh??

The US quite happily sat out the start of WWII. It was primarily interested in profiting from it, by selling lots of stuff and accumulating lots of everybody-else's gold.

And the US did not join WWII because of anything happening in Europe. It joined because it was attacked by Japan. Germany declared war in the US 3 days later.

[vtsnowedin]

Perhaps the American public was paranoid in 1945 from watching recent events. Lets see : 1923 A Wacky WW1 vet is in jail writing abut "My Battle" By just 1933 He is Chancellor of Germany but the people in Britain are assured they can tend their gardens and enjoy "Peace in our time" in 1938 but war breaks out in Poland in 1939 and in 1940 the battle of Britain is fought including bombs being dropped on civilian targets in London. All this before Hitler turns and invades the USSR in 1941.
Quite a sudden turn of events and far too close to total defeat for comfort don't you think. Now what peaceful soul sitting at Gitmo should we let out of jail so he can return home to build "peace and prosperity" for his tribe and religion?

Eh??

The US quite happily sat out the start of WWII. It was primarily interested in profiting from it, by selling lots of stuff and accumulating lots of everybody-else's gold.

And the US did not join WWII because of anything happening in Europe. It joined because it was attacked by Japan. Germany declared war in the US 3 days later.

Now wait a minute! You can't have it both ways. On one hand you say that Americans one and all are war mongers and insist on dominating the world post WW1 and on the other hand you say America had to get dragged into WW2 kicking and screaming. I believe Churchill was happy to get any war material we could deliver to him, paid for or lent to him. Your an ungrateful lot to say the least.

[UndercoverElephant]

Perhaps the American public was paranoid in 1945 from watching recent events. Lets see : 1923 A Wacky WW1 vet is in jail writing abut "My Battle" By just 1933 He is Chancellor of Germany but the people in Britain are assured they can tend their gardens and enjoy "Peace in our time" in 1938 but war breaks out in Poland in 1939 and in 1940 the battle of Britain is fought including bombs being dropped on civilian targets in London. All this before Hitler turns and invades the USSR in 1941.
Quite a sudden turn of events and far too close to total defeat for comfort don't you think. Now what peaceful soul sitting at Gitmo should we let out of jail so he can return home to build "peace and prosperity" for his tribe and religion?

Eh??

The US quite happily sat out the start of WWII. It was primarily interested in profiting from it, by selling lots of stuff and accumulating lots of everybody-else's gold.

And the US did not join WWII because of anything happening in Europe. It joined because it was attacked by Japan. Germany declared war in the US 3 days later.

Now wait a minute! You can't have it both ways. On one hand you say that Americans one and all are war mongers and insist on dominating the world post WW1 and on the other hand you say America had to get dragged into WW2 kicking and screaming. I believe Churchill was happy to get any war material we could deliver to him, paid for or lent to him. Your an ungrateful lot to say the least.

Actually, I said Americans were psychopathic and insanely right-wing. Somebody else called them war-mongers. I also never said that the US had attempted to dominate the world post WW1. I said they had attempted to dominate it post WW2.

And as for "being grateful" for US intervention in WW2? As already stated, not only did the US only join in that war after it was attacked by Japan (previously had been happy to profiteer from it), but the US absolutely shafted the UK at the end of it. We were totally bankrupt, no gold left and our industrial base destroyed. The US used this opportunity to loan us some money - a loan so large that it was not fully paid off until the early years of the 21st century. At the same time, the US imposed on the rest of the world a monetary regime which permanently tipped the playing field to its own advantage and even that wasn't enough. Oh no...having got itself addicted to using its unfair advantage to engage in strutting around the world supposedly playing "policeman" while actually enriching itself and trying to ensure ever-more power for itself, it still ran out of money after losing the war in Vietnam at the same time its internal oil supply peaked, and in response it welched on the unfair monetary regime it had imposed on the world and replaced it with an even more unfair one, by refusing to cough up any more physical gold for paper dollars as it had previously agreed to do.

Ungrateful? Nobody outside the US should be grateful for anything the US has done since 1940.

[biffvernon]

But let's not forget that some Americans are really nice people (all the ones I have ever met) and many have done a great deal of good in the world.

I've just been reminded today by a woman from Alaska who now lives near me, that when she first settled in England she was so embarrassed about being a US citizen that she used to say, vaguely, that she came from North America, in the hope that people would assume she was Canadian. SInce the tar sands affair she doesn't bother with that anymore.

[vtsnowedin]

But let's not forget that some Americans are really nice people (all the ones I have ever met) and many have done a great deal of good in the world.


.

I hope someday you will include me in that group. Nicely said by the way.

[biffvernon]

Any time you're in England (arriving by sailing boat, of course) you'll be welcome to stay with us.

[snow hope]

I would agree that any Americans I have ever met have always been very nice people. It must be the phsycopaths who get to the top that give the US a bad name......