Question about anti-American sentiment

Am I the only one who is severely disgruntled by the amount of anti-American comments and xenophobic representations of myself (as an American) all over the internet and the world. The reason I bring this up is because I recently went back to the Azores (islands that belong to Portugal in the Atlantic ocean) to visit my old family. I was born in the Azores on an American base (mother is portuguese) I went to a hotel and to rent a room and the keeper wouldn't let me book a room because I was American, and of course I was offended so I told him in portuguese to fuck off and I went on my merry way to another establishment.

I understand that not everybody of that nationality is an ignorant prick so I don't judge them as such. But yet I am constantly bombarded with rude comments (not necessarily towards myself) on the internet and these forums. You can have a logical conversation about anything pertaining to American life or country without having extremely generalizing comments blurted out. Although thus is the nature of a completely anonymous forum but these rude comments transfer into real life as well.

Hell I was talking about my grandfather who served in Vietnam, only to have an several Australians tell me "you fucking yanks lost the war but we won our part," "your gran dad deserved it" and they got voted up. Again I hold nothing against Aussies i've met very many that I like, I just wish more people around the world judged us Americans on a one by one basis rather than thinking all 300 million of us are the same and treating us like targets to take pot shots at. ugh.. does anybody else feel the same way, try and keep it civil, i'm just testing the waters to see how other people view the issue.

I know that my government has sent many men my age to do evil things around the globe, and i'm sure much of the negative sentiment is from that, but judge the ones who committed the acts NOT ME. Hell I wish our democracy was direct, that way we could have actually voted on the war, I for one would have said nay. Thoughts?

Moving to Off Topic, General is for stuff about games and the site.

Telling people to fuck off is not doing america any favors.

@Dagbiker said:

Telling people to fuck off is not doing america any favors.

What the fuck did you expect me to say. So because I'm American it's perfectly acceptable to deny me service, would you say the same thing if I was German. I doubt it

@c0kemusheen said:

@Dagbiker said:

Telling people to fuck off is not doing america any favors.

What the fuck did you expect me to say. So because I'm American it's perfectly acceptable to deny me service, would you say the same thing if I was German. I doubt it

Actually i wouldn't, if you where German, i would say

Telling people to fuck off is not doing Germany any favors.

Eh, that's how the world works if you're Chinese, Iranian, Italian, Cuban... 
 
You get the point. Everyone has to deal with this problem from everyone else, it's a fucking sociological paradox I tell you, but it happens all the same. It's not a good thing, but to change that would require the entirety of civilization to agree on something. We're so ass-backwards and so deep in it, that we really can't help but deal with it, unless the nuclear holocaust forced it upon us or something equally world-changing. Racism isn't dead, it's just not acceptable legally anymore. 

A few months ago I spent five weeks in Spain and never had anyone treat me differently because I'm American. I only got a couple nasty looks because my Spanish was so bad and I was often a pain in the ass when trying to buy something.

People are generally friendly no matter where you are, but there will always be a few assholes in every culture.

@Dagbiker said:

@c0kemusheen said:

@Dagbiker said:

Telling people to fuck off is not doing america any favors.

What the fuck did you expect me to say. So because I'm American it's perfectly acceptable to deny me service, would you say the same thing if I was German. I doubt it

Actually i wouldn't, if you where German, i would say

Telling people to fuck off is not doing Germany any favors.

What I'm saying is, it was wrong regardless of who is involved. Do you think it's okay that I was refused service because of my nationality? I hope not

@SirOptimusPrime: Thanks for a logical reply, I agree with your points. It seems like no matter how much you try and solve a problem like this, it's a fruitless endeavor. People are stupid, ignorant and I just have to learn to live with it. I think it was just a series of stupid situations that really opened my eyes as to how unfair the world is towards all people.

@McGhee said:

A few months ago I spent five weeks in Spain and never had anyone treat me differently because I'm American. I only got a couple nasty looks because my Spanish was so bad and I was often a pain in the ass when trying to buy something.

People are generally friendly no matter where you are, but there will always be a few assholes in every culture.

This, I thought i would get a whole lot of looks in Europe, but everyone treated me great, and any wrong doing was because of communication.

@Dagbiker said:

@McGhee said:

A few months ago I spent five weeks in Spain and never had anyone treat me differently because I'm American. I only got a couple nasty looks because my Spanish was so bad and I was often a pain in the ass when trying to buy something.

People are generally friendly no matter where you are, but there will always be a few assholes in every culture.

This, I thought i would get a whole lot of looks in Europe, but everyone treated me great, and any wrong doing was because of communication.

Okay, I guess I just had a bad experience, I understand telling him to fuck off was rude and uncalled for. But at the time it seemed justified for him refusing room and board to an American

Yeah, I feel the same way. I haven't necessarily had a personal experience in real life, but I know what you mean. It's just pushing everyone away from one another when almost everyone really wants equality I'm sure. I think someone in our government and otherwise needs to step up and stop this competitiveness between nations, 'cause it makes us and others just look pompous. Like when I was listening to Obama talk on the last State of The Union speech, he was saying how we shouldn't have people that come from other countries be deported back to their countries once their done studying here, I mean, I do believe it should be the individuals choice, but I also think when he said those people should be here for the 'cause of America (at least that's what he was getting across), I was kind of thinking that it'd be great if the person just chose whether it was here or not and it would be beneficial for everyone regardless. Shit, I'm just talking now. I just don't understand why we're all struggling with the simplest things that need to be overcome so we can move on to better things. I think other countries have a problem with America the same way we do, but they don't understand that, and so they blame the rest of us as well. Couldn't find a place to separate that for two paragraphs, sorry.

because america is the dick that fucks the rest of the world

Every nationality gets shit for something, not just the American one, duder.

@c0kemusheen said:

I know that my government has sent many men my age to do evil things around the globe, and i'm sure much of the negative sentiment is from that, but judge the ones who committed the acts NOT ME.

Sorry, but the American government is a representation of the people (i'm pretty sure I have read that on an important piece of paper to the Americans). It's not just the government though. I work in the hospitality industry and no matter where I work everyone dreads Presidents week. Your nickname is "Cranky Yankee's," because you come in with such a sense of entitlement, demanding to be treated like kings and queens then all you do is complain and treat us like lower-class citizens.

I'm not saying that every American is like that, especially since it is mostly upper to middle class, white, Americans that are usually doing the traveling. That is just the impression that is left on us from the people that visit our country, then you look at the absurdity of your media, the gross corruption of your government, empire through hegemony that your nation has built (for example Canada wanted to decriminalize marijuana, that means you get a $80 fine instead of jail time, the American government threatened to clog up the border with such insane bureaucracy that it would interfere with Canadian business) and you have just a few of the reasons why foreign countries hate Americans.

I don't get why Americans get so defensive whenever people have a go at them on the Internet. Do you seriously grow up being told that your country is the greatest country in the world? I thought that was a joke.

because america is the dick that fucks the rest of the world

@c0kemusheen said:

I know that my government has sent many men my age to do evil things around the globe, and i'm sure much of the negative sentiment is from that, but judge the ones who committed the acts NOT ME.

The right to vote comes with a great deal of responsibility I'm afraid.

To be clear, I don't think that guy should have denied you a room. That doesn't really do anything to help anyone. But as long as America is the most powerful country in the world, we have to deal with your decisions. When those decisions really suck...well, we can't vote in American elections and most americans don't consume foreign media. Having disdain for Americans is pretty much the only method of communication that we can depend on to get the message across.

@c0kemusheen said:

I just wish more people around the world judged us Americanseverybody on a one by one basis

This is my sentiment. I share it with whoever will listen.

sorry when you told that guy to fuck off you pretty much cemented his views of americans to him, so yeah he was an asshole but instead of trying to make him "see the light", you were an asshole back.

@c0kemusheen said:

on the internet and these forums.

The internet is not the real world.

@MonetaryDread said:

@c0kemusheen said:

I know that my government has sent many men my age to do evil things around the globe, and i'm sure much of the negative sentiment is from that, but judge the ones who committed the acts NOT ME.

Sorry, but the American government is a representation of the people (i'm pretty sure I have read that on an important piece of paper to the Americans). It's not just the government though. I work in the hospitality industry and no matter where I work everyone dreads Presidents week. Your nickname is "Cranky Yankee's," because you come in with such a sense of entitlement, demanding to be treated like kings and queens then all you do is complain and treat us like lower-class citizens.

I'm not saying that every American is like that, especially since it is mostly upper to middle class, white, Americans that are usually doing the traveling. That is just the impression that is left on us from the people that visit our country, then you look at the absurdity of your media, the gross corruption of your government, empire through hegemony that your nation has built (for example Canada wanted to decriminalize marijuana, that means you get a $80 fine instead of jail time, the American government threatened to clog up the border with such insane bureaucracy that it would interfere with Canadian business) and you have just a few of the reasons why foreign countries hate Americans.

While I agree that the guy should not have refused you the room, what this guy says is pretty apt. It's like yes, not all Americans are boorish and self-righteous, but it's difficult not to carry a little prejudice when we are bombarded daily by your media, tourists and global politics that represent exactly those qualities.

Of course there are the Breaking Bad's, the peace-keeping missions, and the nice, friendly people as well, but it's easy to allow that negative stuff to overpower the good.

@Animasta said:

sorry when you told that guy to fuck off you pretty much cemented his views of americans to him, so yeah he was an asshole but instead of trying to make him "see the light", you were an asshole back.

Yeah, but that guy deserved a 'fuck off'. So I don't see your point.

Haters gonna hate.

Seriously though, there will always be those people who dislike you for some reason. I can't be angry with anyone having bad stereotypes about Americans, because we as Americans have stereotypes about people in other countries as well. And, as with other stereotypes, there are those of us that reflect that stereotype. It's how the world is.

You see, there is this thing where there are complete prejudiced dicks all throughout the globe who hate people for a variety of stupid reasons such as but not limited to race, gender, shoe size, favorite water polo magazine etc. As seen by this thread, this also extends to hating people for their nationality.

You should've have laughed in his stupid face for being such a close-minded idiot. It's one bad experience, not a microcosm of the world's perception of America. Don't let it bother you too much

Also, stop visiting Reddit.

You got my support.

I'm from New Zealand, pretty much everyone thinks we're just a quaint, harmless nation of shepherds and rugby players

Its pretty awesome

It sucks that you guys get judged based on the shitty things done by a handful of people, but you cant avoid it so you may as well live with it

@PrivateIronTFU said:

@Animasta said:

sorry when you told that guy to fuck off you pretty much cemented his views of americans to him, so yeah he was an asshole but instead of trying to make him "see the light", you were an asshole back.

Yeah, but that guy deserved a 'fuck off'. So I don't see your point.

lots of people deserve that; trying to be the better person is something you should always strive to be, even if someone does tell you to fuck off.

@c0kemusheen said:

I know that my government has sent many men my age to do evil things around the globe, and i'm sure much of the negative sentiment is from that, but judge the ones who committed the acts NOT ME. Hell I wish our democracy was direct, that way we could have actually voted on the war, I for one would have said nay. Thoughts?

Im pretty sure thats what almost all muslims in your country were saying for the last 10years. "Dont judge me based on what others have done" But u still see people being treated like monsters in their home country. I once heard a story that a man who spoke perfect english and was raised in Canada, but spoke in Arabic in an airport and that caused him to be held back and be interrogated for hours. He swore to never do that again.

@MonetaryDread said:

@c0kemusheen said:

I know that my government has sent many men my age to do evil things around the globe, and i'm sure much of the negative sentiment is from that, but judge the ones who committed the acts NOT ME.

Sorry, but the American government is a representation of the people (i'm pretty sure I have read that on an important piece of paper to the Americans). It's not just the government though. I work in the hospitality industry and no matter where I work everyone dreads Presidents week. Your nickname is "Cranky Yankee's," because you come in with such a sense of entitlement, demanding to be treated like kings and queens then all you do is complain and treat us like lower-class citizens.

I'm not saying that every American is like that, especially since it is mostly upper to middle class, white, Americans that are usually doing the traveling. That is just the impression that is left on us from the people that visit our country, then you look at the absurdity of your media, the gross corruption of your government, empire through hegemony that your nation has built (for example Canada wanted to decriminalize marijuana, that means you get a $80 fine instead of jail time, the American government threatened to clog up the border with such insane bureaucracy that it would interfere with Canadian business) and you have just a few of the reasons why foreign countries hate Americans.

This person has it right. You guys always give off the vibe of, "GTFO i am the best, no one can or should stand in my way"

Yeah too bad you DID collaborate in the act just by being american, paying taxes, using state infrastructure and being a consumer of various products all while letting your government stick their dick in the world's cake.

That's the way bigotry works, my friend. Even inside America, people love to shit all over the South based on presumptions. People are terrible at being human, all over the world.

Prove them wrong? How about that?

As a Canadian I find that the American mentality of "What ever we do is right and everyone else is wrong" to be pretty strong and very off-putting, there are so many times even on Whiskey Media where I just have to shake my head and sigh, be it off-handed remarks on spelling (the Will and Norm conversation on the spelling of "gray") or the correcting of a Canadian's pronunciation of a word because he says it "wrong" ect. (I understand to an American this might just be for the lols but it's belittling and strikes at the very core of why the rest of the world takes issue with America as a whole.)

It's the American idea that you are somehow better then everyone else in the world. It may not be you personally and I'm sorry if it isn't but it's a fair generalization if there is such a thing. The fact of the matter is there is a whole world outside of the USA that lives on and has an understanding and even an appreciation for the differences in cultures, religions, speech ect ect and while certainly the rest of the world isn't perfect and there are many problems all over, to people over-seas or even to the people that live just north of you; you (as a country) come off as nothing but arrogant and foolhardy...so when some jerk person doesn't want to deal with the arrogant american tourist (again yes, probably not you personally but as an American you carry the weight of it's foreign arrogance as a nation) they see this as an opportunity to bring that arrogance down a peg...at least symbiotically.

I'm not saying that is right ether, gross generalizations hurt everyone, and in this situation you were likely just an innocent victim of this (though your reaction to the person did not help your situation) but it is a fact of life as long as the USA as a country continues to shout out to the world about how great they are and how wrong the rest of us are there will always be this situation.

In my opinion of course.

@SniperXan: we do that to each other too (grammar stuff) so don't be too put off by it.

The rest of the world hates Americans because they make lighthearted jokes about peoples pronunciation of certain words. Case closed, good work Sniper.

AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!!

After living in New Zealand for two years, I totally understand why the rest of the world hates us. A lot of our TV ends up over there, and when they see shit like Jerry Springer or "Trading Spouces", they are introduced to our most pathetic hillbilly gun-toting drug addict scumbags, and they assume they represent the whole country- America are a bunch of redneck idiots who talk with hick accents and have never seen the ocean (and for a lot of us, they're fuckin' right).

@SniperXan said:

@PeasantAbuse You win the prize for missing the point entirely while proving my point in a single breath! You win the Internet my friend! Thanks!

I was just joking around, but thanks man.

@PeasantAbuse You win the prize for missing the point entirely while proving my point in a single breath! You win the Internet my friend! Thanks!

I kind of enjoy the hate I receive as an American. It makes me feel like such a better person for not being so ignorant.

@Detrian said:

Yeah too bad you DID collaborate in the act just by being american, paying taxes, using state infrastructure and being a consumer of various products all while letting your government stick their dick in the world's cake.

I'd love to stop paying the government in protest, but homelessness and/or prison isn't much of an alternative. Slaves didn't support slavery when they worked for their masters.

Im canadian and american

I travel with the canadian passport and leave the american one at home.

Much of it the tallest tree syndrome. Just the same some trees got it coming. PPl. can be assholes. Probably get by better in the world to be Australian, Canadian or even British. PPl. would not perceive you as the big dick on the horizon. But again, some Americans fulfill that as if they were experts. Then again many do not.

it's the way of the world, and human psychology.

@SniperXan said:

@SniperXan

@PeasantAbuse You win the prize for missing the point entirely while proving my point in a single breath! You win the Internet my friend! Thanks!

Jerk comment retracted.

Yeah sorry. My joke was terrible, I wasn't trying to offend you (this time :P)

Anyway, on topic. Here is my advice, OP:

1. Stop taking the things people say on the internet so seriously

2. See step one

3. See step one

There are idiot's and racists everywhere, and most people seem to think their culture is superior, from Brazil all the way to Eastern Europe all the way to Australia. You're all a bunch of pricks. Except me, who is perfect in every way.

@Dagbiker said:

Telling people to fuck off is not doing america any favors.

What the fuck did you expect me to say. So because I'm American it's perfectly acceptable to deny me service, would you say the same thing if I was German. I doubt it

"I used to love Top Gear, until Jeremy Clarkson went around Las Vegas interviewing people and basically talking shit about Americans for the whole segment."

"Don't care what people think, I don't know if you've noticed but there is a lot of ignorance, xenophobia, hate and stupidity around the world."

"Ya know what I find annoying, the societal acceptance of xenophobia towards Americans and anti-American sentiment."

TC, all this from your posting history. maybe you shouldn't be on a video game website, huh?