Hey! I've lived in the USA my entire life. I spent a semester in Asia and confronted many different opinions on being an American. I also had a friend from Germany come live with me last year, and it seems the world has quite a few stereotypes of many nationalities. Most people treated me very differently in Asia based on my nationality. I'm just curious to see what Europeans think of Americans. If you have a negative view of the US, would you still give individual Americans the chance to prove their character and that not all fit the stereotypes? What are stereotypes of your nationality that don't apply to you?
I'm American and don't like most Americans. Then again I don't like most Europeans either. Fortunately 58% of Brits don't identify as European ( European Commission’s bi-annual Eurobarometer survey) so I'm in the right place lol
Which we did with German Nazi rocket scientists (Von Braun etc). As civilisations go, US and Europe are inseparable (being part of Western Civilisation - long known as "Christendom")
I admit I do usually laugh at the stereotypes associated with the USA but I know these stereotypes don't represent all Americans.
I have some wonderful American friends and I went to Space Camp in Alabama when I was 12. Everyone was so nice and I found it so funny that they were fascinated by the 2 English people there (me and my brother)
They kept asking us to say things and asking of we had cola in England or of we knew who 50 cent was etc. It was so cute!
So yeah, I don't dislike Americans and I don't think I know anyone who does!
I'm fine! Totally fine. I don't know why it's coming out all loud and squeaky, 'cause really, I'm fine!
I don't Identify as European but that's a different discussion.
I don't dislike Americans or America, there are a lot of things I like about them and there are things I don't and to be honest if we are going to live in a world with superpowers I would rather have America the dominant power than Russia or china.
what I would also like to add is that I've noticed how acceptable it is for people to say they dislike or even hate America/Americans, it would be unacceptable to say anything similar about any other nationality or people (try saying the same about Pakistan/Pakistanis and see how long you last) so it does seem that anti Americanism is accepted or at least not challenged as fiercely as any other type of bigotry.
To be honest, I kind of think of the USA, for the most part, as being an extension of Europe, not geographically, but culturally. The vast majority of Americans are of full or partial European descent - British, Irish, German, Italian, Spanish etc. The country was founded and built for the most part by Europeans (do not mistake the nation for the land, which of course originally belonged to the Native Americans). I feel similarly about Canada and Australia.
Individual European countries kind of naturally hate each other anyway, we used to be at war with one another every five minutes, so hating America seems natural too. Lol.
In all seriousness, I don't have a problem with America or most Americans. I like US history and I'm not ashamed to admit they were a vital help in the past, like during World War II. Of course there's no shortage of self-absorbed knobheads from America online, but there's many from other countries too.
I don't think I know anyone that outright hates Americans, but maybe a good couple of people are guilty of lazy stereotyping, off hand remarks and misdirected rage ("Americans" become a euphemism for actions by the US government, especially in relation to foreign policy). Then again, that goes both ways.
Everyone seems to hate England.
In football, I hear 'we support x and anyone that England plays'
And a football chant I heard 'we hate England more than you'
I'm fine! Totally fine. I don't know why it's coming out all loud and squeaky, 'cause really, I'm fine!
I don't identify as european either. I was born in england so i think of myself as english (or british i guess). I don't dislike americans and i absolutely fell in love with new york when i was there. but personally there can be a bit of a culture clash between americans and british people- for example american people are often louder and chattier than british people which can be harder to kind of process. some american people can be really over the top and exaggerated, i guess i think of americans as being very extroverted which is a huge stereotype and im sure if i got to know some american people i would think differently. so no i dont hate americans, but as a fairly introverted person i can find them harder to interact with as it leaves me feeling tired.
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different…
you once called your brain a hard drive, well say hello to the virus.
I don't identify as european either. I was born in england so i think of myself as english (or british i guess). I don't dislike americans and i absolutely fell in love with new york when i was there. but personally there can be a bit of a culture clash between americans and british people- for example american people are often louder and chattier than british people which can be harder to kind of process. some american people can be really over the top and exaggerated, i guess i think of americans as being very extroverted which is a huge stereotype and im sure if i got to know some american people i would think differently. so no i dont hate americans, but as a fairly introverted person i can find them harder to interact with as it leaves me feeling tired.
Its funny that you like New York because many Americans from other parts of the country say New Yorkers are too extroverted and chatty lol. There's some truth to that as well.
A lot of "stereotypes" have some basis in reality - and there are certain "hyper" Americans. Part of the problem is media of all forms. America has become the champion of garbage media and I include "icons" like the New York Times. I often get better news about the US from the UK media.
Advertisers, entertainment creators, news media etc - all like to goose people up 24/7/365. Now we cant just watch football games anymore. We need "fantasy football" we everyone conjures up imaginary teams they can bet on. Its become a massive preoccupation for "fans". When people are excited and flattered they are more suggestible and open to manipulation. It become so bad that people now tend to think almost exclusively in slogans. Knowledge of fundamental principles and nuance have been simmered off. People can believe in many things that contradict each other when spread out "on the table" and seen in total. But they take the things one at a time and never see how they contort themselves.. Its heading us over multiple cliffs at the mo.
That's very interesting! When I was in the US I definitely noticed the difference in the commercials between UK and US TV. In the US it's all very in your face, loud, fast paced advertising which you don't see so much in the UK on TV.
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different…
you once called your brain a hard drive, well say hello to the virus.
That's very interesting! When I was in the US I definitely noticed the difference in the commercials between UK and US TV. In the US it's all very in your face, loud, fast paced advertising which you don't see so much in the UK on TV.
I had to watch the Olympics on BBC (online) to get away from NBC (US). US television has this idea that they need to goose women in order to get them to watch. They said women don't watch for the competition but for the "narratives" that surround it. They want cancer comeback stories, broken families with magical coaches who turn wayward children around with sports etc lol. The result was that the broadcasts were full of emo nonsense and ratings were massively down compared to London and Sochi.
Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of good things about US but the media is a rock around the neck - just sucks the life out of everything. Only the smartest of the dumb people get to work in media lol
I have never been there but from what I've read/watched the language and exaggerated voices do annoy me.
I watch this couple that had quadruplets in america and there voices are so high pitched and annoying. If I heard GIRRRRRRLLLLSSSSS in the loudest voice possible to start my day I'd be completely annoyed. urgh lol
