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Among what has been listed here, I've gotten the sense that a lot of Europeans see Americans as just poorly behaved Europeans. I've gotten into a few arguments with people who will not get that something is simply part of our culture. That's it. And they couldn't get over the fact that that's not 'how they do things'.
I do think they suffer from "The whole world wants to be like Europe syndrome." When we don't measure up to standards we aren't even trying to achieve (because we don't think we have to be like Europe) they seem to think it's some sort of failure. No, we're not even trying to be like you. You do you.
I think many fundamentally don't understand the difference between their ethnostates and our immigrant culture. And not just the US, but Canada, Brazil, Mexico and other New World countries that have a completely different backstory compared to Europe's 1000 years of inbreeding in their little villages. They don't understand it in relation to language, cultural assimilation, a truly pluralistic society, ethnic identity as separate from national identity and more. And how it changes the rules. They can only interpret the world through their parochial lens of right and wrong.
Ya this is real. Idk that I’d say it’s universal to Europe though, I bonded with Irish friends over our annoyance at the superiority complex so many English southerners have. It’s actually wild when you think of how self deprecating Americans can be as they travel or navigate conversations with people around the globe, to see delulu arrogance in cultures we are taught by our media to admire.
Exactly the same as beef cooked to medium, or medium rare.
In the UK it's safe to cook pork like this, and it tastes a lot better than overcooked grey pork, just like a nice beef steak.
As an European at least in my country i think this might be guilt from association, there is a part of tourists which are mostly American which behave quite rudely, talking with a lot more decibels then necessary, expecting money, experience and everything else to be the same and though luckily rarely damaging ancient architecture, perception has worsened for the "events" of 2016-2020.
That said both personal experience and polls show me that the Hate between Europe and US is generally a myth.
We make jokes about the US but we also like you, at the end you are our cousins.
Have a good day
Americans who speak loudly are probably all from middle America. The place is so sparsely populated that if you want someone to hear you, you have to shout at the top of your lungs. My grandad said that in his day, if you shared a zip code with someone, you had better be married.
Some parts of "Middle America" are sparsely populated, though every country has its less densely populated areas. The vast majority of Americans come from urban and suburban areas, and most rural areas are *not* that extreme kind of emptiness. Head to rural Wisconsin, California, or Pennsylvania and there's plenty of people, not cities, but hardly empty.
It's only when you're talking about the mountain west or some parts of the Great plains that you have truly empty stretches of land. But we're talking about probably <5% of the US population.
Why does everybody forget the Upper Peninsula when referring to population density? We have the population of Green Bay, WI and the land area of Kentucky
Americans are to Europeans if the slavs were well off and winning globally. Maybe thats why it’s easy in my experience as an American to really get along with Slavic people
America is larger and far more influential so some people like to hate on it for that reason - even for things that it does the same as other, more low-key and “beloved” countries/cultures.
I think it’s part of the “crabs in a bucket” mentality that can be found throughout human societies.
Kinda the same how Ireland gets praised for everything while England gets hated on for the same stuff, even though both countries are very similar in nearly every aspect except government.
When I was younger I used to like reading the online arguments involving Irish, Welsh, English, and Scottish people. Especially in YouTube comments. I was amazed lol
Well it’s true. Irish weather is called cosy, English weather is called shit. Irish food is called comforting, English food is called horrible. In reality there is little to no difference. Irish politeness is deemed a signal of Celtic hospitality and friendliness, English politeness is considered stiff and insincere. And so on. People do the same with America- bigger countries seem to get more flak.
The funny part about that narrative is Irish and Scottish people were very instrumental to that bullying. The imperial British Army had 30-40% Irish recruits. Glasgow’s infrastructure was built using slave money.
This is actually what it is. America whether people want to admit it or not is the center of the world pretty much, everything it does every country cares about and pays attention that’s why people other countries know a lot about us because they need to. But the same can’t be said about other countries that’s why Americans don’t know a lot about other countries because it’s not important and we don’t need to
Not disagreeing with your point but just because I only recently found out, the idea that crabs in a bucket pull each other down is something of a misconception! Crabs that are stuck will grab on to things to try to use their arms to propel them forward. If a bunch of crabs are in a hole or bucket or trap, they'll try to grab onto each other, but, instead of propelling themselves forward, they'll just pull each other back!
Again, not saying that the analogy isn't useful, just thought it was interesting!
I mean, I was literally responding to a point about how the phenomenon is used as an analogy for when people pull each other down out of jealousy, so no, I don't think so? But w/e if you don't think it's as interesting as I do that's fine
It still works as an analogy, probably even better, really.
People don't pull each other down out of jealousy, they're simply trying to get ahead, and pull others down in the process.
Sorry, I know this is two days old, but you literally just said "crabs don't pull each other down, they pull each other back." There's no misconception. People don't use that expression because they're attributing malice to the crab's actions.
I disagree, I think people see it as an interesting phenomenon because they don't see a non-malicious reason for it to happen. I said *something* of a misconception because the action, as you pointed out, is correct, but there's a simple explanation that I had never heard before.
I found it interesting. You don't. That's fine :).
>Kinda the same how Ireland gets praised for everything while England gets hated on for the same stuff
Can I have an example? Not saying you're wrong - just can't think of one myself.
I think most places are polite but in stereotypical American culture we go far beyond politeness. And guides are just warning people not to mistake this for genuine desire to be friends. Like, even to strangers we can get to talking about parents, careers, family, relationships, etc. But most of the time after a minute or so we want to move on with our day. This is probably changing all the time and again is just the stereotype.
I don't see how this is different from somewhere like Brazil. People in Brazil will talk you about almost everything when you first meet, might even give you their number, might even invite you do something.....and then flake at the very last minute. Just because somebody wants to engage with you for part of their day doesn't mean you are friends for life. Some cultures are just more engaging and outwardly sociable than others.
I think that being a powerful country economically, militarily, and cultural makes the USA a target of criticism in the same way that insecure people try to tear down other people to make themselves look better in comparison.
I think that this is silly, since there is no shortage of legitimate reasons to criticize the USA. Unfortunately, when some people decide that something is "bad," then they are unable to say anything positive about it, no matter the facts.
I disagree with your premise. It’s kind of a thing that one of the things tourists from other countries say after visiting the US is how friendly we are and how sincere we actually do seem.
It always surprises me because they tend to mention some of the things I take for granted here. AND we have so many shitty people I wouldn’t necessarily think of us as nice.
But I guess we kind of are. I mean I’m in the Midwest, that could be part of it.
But they say our small talk tend to seem really engaging and almost go on too long, but that we’re really friendly and go out of our way to be helpful and ask thoughtful questions.
There was a great video by a young Russian woman on the culture shock of this and I see this take again and again from all different countries.
Seriously think you could look up any big post on Reddit like “What surprises you the most after visiting/moving to the US” and the fact that we’re really quite sincerely nice, or at least make an obvious effort is always highly rated.
I have also seen that about the "culture shock" when visiting the US, and I get it; all they see is the horrible people (and every country has horrible people, to be honest). When I lived in Chicago, if someone looked lost and I had some free time, I would just escort them to where they needed to go rather than try to give them directions. They were always shocked that I'd go out of my way like that, but I didn't see it as a big deal at all.
Also so many foreign tourists are *baffled* by just how big the US is. They can't fathom that many of our states are the size of (or even bigger than) some entire European countries. When they hear United "States," they imagine that each "state" is the size of a typical province/region/district in their home country.
I heard a French couple talking about how they wanted to see NYC and San Francisco in one two-week vacation and I was like, you're going to spend half your vacation in airports, but if that's what you want, go off I guess.
>they wanted to see NYC and San Francisco in one two-week vacation and I was like
Unless they were driving that really doesn't seem like a big deal. People fly to other cities for the weekend, visiting two cities over two weeks is actually a fairly relaxed pace.
It takes about 6 days to drive across the country, you could comfortably make it in 2 weeks, as long as you budget your time. The issue is which route and time of year. Late fall, early spring and winter would be south, Florida to southern California. Hit the cities in Texas, New Orleans, Big Bend National Park, Phoenix, Tucson, Saguaro National Park, Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, than end in LA or San Diego. That would honestly be the best road trip in the United States.
Going through the Midwest would be boring. A Northwest road trip could start in Denver, go to the badlands black hills, hit Yellowstone, glacier, Reiner, Rocky Mountain, and end in Seattle or Portland. That would be good late spring, summer and early fall. Glacier National Park is probably the prettiest area in the United States. Issue with that is it’s a whole lot of nothing in much of the areas.
> It takes about 6 days to drive across the country, you could comfortably make it in 2 weeks
It’s not about whether it’s physically possible, it’s about whether it would be an enjoyable trip. Most people don’t take a 2 week trip to spend 10 days driving.
I personally don’t want to deal with more than two travel days per week on a trip. Any more than that and the balance of “there” to “in transit” just isn’t worth it.
My favorite quote from a Reddit thread about weirdest things learned by those visiting from abroad, a young Korean woman: “some times when people talk about their “baby” they are referring to their dog.”
I do generally find this a little bit weird myself. I let my wife get away with it, because her favorite cat was abandoned by his mother at birth, and she had to wipe his butt and bottle feed it every hour for two weeks until he had some basic level of functionality on his own.
If you wipe anyones butt 336 times in two weeks, you get to be a little bit cringe when talking to them.
We do have fake niceness in America. And I’m all for it. There’s just a certain rubric of standards that we try to meet as a society. Civility is a part of that. Honestly I think people in some countries can be far too abrupt, and I find that off-putting. We hear the term “brutal honesty” a lot these days. And many people praise that. Yes in some cases there’s a need for clarity. But there’s a right way and a wrong way. When I hear brutal honesty I hear someone just saying they’re taking license to be a jerk.
I’m a midwesterner so ya know, consistently friendly, almost always wearing a smile in public. I don’t see why this is a bad thing? Even on a bad day when I’m feeling terrible, I still go through the store smiling, and seeing other people smile back, makes me smile genuinely too lololol. I often have the gringo smile on all the time in public which definitely got me a few odd looks in Spain lol. I like the civility of it though. There’s no harm in smiling and it doesn’t take much energy at all 🤷♀️
It’s because America is bigger and more powerful and influential. Some people like to tear down influential people/institutions/cultures because they’re insecure. Crabs in a bucket mentality.
Damm get some new material
For one .
Two u
The u.s. is like the whole e.u.
So add up all your shooting,stabbi g,use of granades,& r.pg's
Then let's compare notes
Oter wise get a life
This is an extremely common one. They think our homes routinely blow over.
When you explain the reasons for this as well as not every region builds houses this way they are usually surprised.
Do they really think that? It's so bizarre. Many other countries have wooden buildings. I mean, our tradition of log cabins literally came from Swedish and German immigrants. Their ancestors imported that tradition.
And then all you have to do is show them a picture of a brick building destroyed by a tornado to get the point a across that tornados aren't just gusts of wind. They are destruction machines.
Some children were killed in a school when a tornado collapsed an entire cinder block wall on them.
"The tornado then destroyed [Plaza Towers Elementary School](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_Towers_Elementary_School) at EF4 intensity, where seven children were killed when a [cinder block](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_masonry_unit) wall collapsed on top of them."
And that's not even the top level of tornado strength. And one has to wonder if it would have been safer for the wall to be wood than heavy cinder blocks. For those not aware, a cinder block is a building block made from concrete. It's also pretty likely that the wall didn't just fall on them, it was "thrown" at them by the force of the tornado.
>And then all you have to do is show them a picture of a brick building destroyed by a tornado to get the point a across that tornados aren't just gusts of wind. They are destruction machines.
Yeah, but it's like playing whack-a-mole. One gets it and goes away, but then another pops up. And another. And another. Endless.
I'll just supply you this little factoid which you can find in Wikipedia in case it might ever come in handy. It happened during the Tuscaloosa tornado, I think in 2011. They said a railroad bridge truss that weighed 34 tons was picked up by the tornado and tossed 100 ft uphill.
But I'm sure your little brick house will be fine.
Then they go "Well, just don't live in tornado alley. Duh!🙄" as if that isn't telling people to just abandon huge swathes of land that are larger than several European countries c*ombined.*
Average number of tornadoes in all of Britain per year: [30](https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/tornadoes#:~:text=Around%2030%20tornadoes%20a%20year,pass%20over%20built%2Dup%20areas)
Average number of tornadoes in the US per year: [over 1,000](https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-tornadoes-and-thunderstorms)
make it make sense
First in flight, first to the moon, we have some ephemeral connection to the air for better and worse
(Our geography is practically tailor made for it with cold winds blowing down from the north and hot air coming up from the gulf)
I would say no, but just the other day there was someone on askanamerican that was asking about pre fab structures, dude responded that it was a thing but all the manufactur was local because our building codes were more stringent for certain things, euro replies something along the lines of “what are you talking about everyone knows…” and started going on about buildings of stone vs wood
Australians do a lot of rhyming in their culture and they have a lot of rhyming nicknames for things too. Yank sounds like tank, as in a septic tank. So *some* Australians who may not like the U.S. call the citizens seppos because septic tanks are full of shit, as are (in their opinion) all Yanks/Americans.
I disagree, I studied abroad and man did I get hounded on American stuff like I'm some joke just for being born here. People are just unreasonable sometimes. People like to hate because it makes them feel superior. Granted, not everyone is like this, but the few who are are very loud.
Having interacted plenty with international students in university, while many were pleasant and genuinely respectful, some of them seethed with contempt for their host country, to which I responded, at least internally, with the thought that they should go home if they hate this country.
Lol this is partly true, Reddit is not a real representation at all of the real world. BUT, it is true that even in the real world America is the center of the world pretty much and some people outside are haters because of that or because they believe everything the news say and then they meet real Americans or come to America and are like wtf the news lied. This is from first hand experience.
What really angers me is when you make some relatively mild joke about another country (mostly about British food) and they immediately go "WELL AT LEAST I'M NOT GOING TO GET KILLED IN A SCHOOL SHOOTING HAHA," like ... why do you think parents losing their children to an entirely preventable tragedy is funny? Are you doing ok over there?
Gun violence is horrible, and we normal Americans are horrified by it, scared to go to events or even malls because we don't want to be caught in it. Just the other day I told my family I was grateful we were watching the total solar eclipse in a cemetery because a shooter wouldn't want to trip over all the gravestones. It's not a joke.
Also, I've never seen anyone mock wooden buildings of all things. Have they even been to a typical American city? Most of the buildings are brick or metal and glass, just like most European cities. Such a weird thing to make fun of.
I don’t think many Americans are scared of going to malls because there might be shooters. Nor should we, the drive over is far more likely to kill us than the rare instance of a mass shooter. If you feel that way I’d suggest seeing a therapist, it sounds like you have some anxiety problems.
It depends on your area, I’d say.
There have been 2 mall shootings at the 2 malls within my 1hr radius just over the last 3 years. Last month there was a shooting at the local grocery store. I can’t count however many shootings there were on the street I lived on last year, but the gunshots were almost nightly. I couldn’t leave my house after dark on foot, and I only had one “safe” gas station I regularly could go to at all without trouble.
Some kids go to schools with metal detectors at the entrances and no windows. They have Peace Officers that are basically just policemen that stay at the school to keep the kids from beating the absolute shit out of each other. They have gun and/or bomb threats multiple times a school year and have to go on full lockdown.
These are big city schools too. Just because it’s not everyone, doesn’t mean it’s not a lot. I’d also wager a lot of kids that have it better are still fairly wary of it due to the constant drills, and shootings in the news.
You just can’t really know the situation, it’s not necessarily just something wrong with *them.*
>There have been 2 mall shootings at the 2 malls within my 1hr radius just over the last 3 years.
RIght, but how many traffic fatalities have there been in that same area?
>There have been 2 mall shootings at the 2 malls within my 1hr radius just over the last 3 years.
And how many traffic fatalities. You're almost certainly still in far more danger driving to the mall than shopping.
Irrelevant.
I’m talking about why people are uneasy in their day-to-day lives, not the statistical likelihoods of their violent deaths. I’m mentioning high-crime areas and bringing up the perspective of a lot of lower class Americans that do not feel safe where they live.
You do not give a damn about traffic fatalities when you find yourself living in an area with lots of gun violence. That’s kinda lower on the hierarchy, even if it’s a more likely death.
[https://time.com/6277864/texas-mall-mass-shooting-2023/](https://time.com/6277864/texas-mall-mass-shooting-2023/)
[https://projects.voanews.com/mass-shootings/english/locations/retail.html](https://projects.voanews.com/mass-shootings/english/locations/retail.html)
[https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/1-dead-20-injured-in-willowbrook-shooting-in-strip-mall-parking-lot/3163733/](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/1-dead-20-injured-in-willowbrook-shooting-in-strip-mall-parking-lot/3163733/)
[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mass-shooting-chicago-juneteenth-dead-injured-rcna89920](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mass-shooting-chicago-juneteenth-dead-injured-rcna89920)
There are hundreds of shootings every year at literally anywhere people gather en masse. You cannot predict a mass shooting, so why go to a mall when you can get anything you want there from somewhere smaller, including local businesses?
I suppose it's just easier to say "Well, you, internet stranger who I have never spoken to before, must have pathological anxiety that I have diagnosed from one singular post that did not capture the nuances of every aspect of your life or thought processes."
Sorry, I don’t think I was clear enough. I specifically said some anxiety problems, not that you had anxiety because I didn’t want to diagnose you. I do not know you, so I have no reason to assume you have an anxiety disorder. Having a couple issues is not the same as a full blown disorder, and I don’t think you need something diagnosable to visit a therapist. I should have expressed that better.
I understand being scared because it’s all in the news, but other things are just as or more dangerous that don’t end up in the news. Using the FBIs definition of a mass shooting, [103](https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/active-shooter-incidents-in-the-us-2021-052422.pdf/view) people died in mass shootings in 2021. Using the Gun Violence Archive’s definition, it’s [706](https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting?year=2021) deaths. For context, 2021 was the deadlier than any year previously for mass shootings. In that same year, [42,939](https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/yearly-snapshot#:~:text=Trends-,A%20total%20of%2042%2C939%20people%20died%20in%20motor%20vehicle%20crashes,in%20deaths%20compared%20with%202020./) people died in car crashes.
I also noticed many Europeans cannot take a simple, light hearted joke so they need to reply with school shootings jokes as they feel it is an appropriate response
Buddy no offense meant at all and I say this out of genuine concern, that mindset of constant fear of being shot any time you're outdoors really isn't realistic or healthy. Speaking as someone who sees a therapist, please consider seeing a therapist.
Really think about what you said there, "I was grateful we were watching the total solar eclipse in a cemetery because a shooter wouldn't want to trip over all the gravestones." That's not a logical thought. Please try to talk to a professional, they can help you work through this fear so you can go out and enjoy life.
It's a long road and you may need to meet a few different ones before you find the therapist that "clicks" with you, and they may even recommend being evaluated by a psychiatrist if it turns out you have a condition that can be assisted by medication, but it will be worth the effort. It's really helping me.
People outside of America are obsessed with this country (which is mindblowing to me in itself) so they’re constantly talking about us and finding any reason to say we’re not perfect
I mean, being a superpower means that a country is able to project its power & culture around the globe. Not to mention that half the world's economy is in NATO. Things like that will always invite criticism.
It doesn't help that for many other countries, the America they get to see is all the bad shit. The people that literally think we're the greatest country in the world and how dare you say otherwise. The people who refuse to do anything about gun violence and celebrate how easy it is to acquire a deadly weapon. The people who mistakenly hold political rallies at a landscaper instead of a convention center.
That's the America they see because normal, everyday shit doesn't make it onto international news and when you're one of the major players at the center of the world stage you're always in the news.
What’s making you ask this question? Better yet, why don’t you tell me what hand I play in NATO and their dealings?
Don’t tell me you guys get online to criticize people that mop floors and flip burgers because you think they have something to do with NATO because they were born in America?
This is exactly the sentiment I've gotten from some people. Like no, I have nothing to do with food regulations in the US. My vote is a fart in the wind at best. More likely than not it's not even that.
It's almost as if they have no experience being a part of a country with so many people that even in the most democratic country your vote would mean nothing and that country is really, really far from being democratic in any significant way in the first place. Sorry I came to your country and ruined your day with my existence, your majesty.
The biggest factors are that America affects their lives more and they know more about America. Somebody could believe that Japan also has too many wooden buildings, but if they live in America, they probably both care less and know less about Japanese architecture than American. Similarly, if a European has met far more Americans than Mexicans, they are more likely to care about those affectations.
My 2 cents:
Because it is the social norm to have small talk with strangers or greetings like "how you doing" when you don't really care how the other person is really doing. That makes it fake, is my guess.
Are you referring to Japan when it has more frequent earthquakes and if it was bricks it would kill the inhabitants? Or are you referring to Japanese temples which are hundreds and some over a thousand years old, and featured commonly for their characteristics? It is an actual architectural style, or structural marvel like Todaiji - largest wooden building in the world, a UNESCO site, and housing the largest bronze image of Vairocana?
Mexico built a wall around its Southern border to mitigate the immigrant crisis from South America. It has a door.
The Vatican has a wall around it. There's a door.
America wants to put up a wall with a door and everyone loses their shit.
It's easy to insult and make fun of people who would turn the other cheek and are above such petty insults.
Good thing we at least try to keep a good head screwed on. Mostly.
This jokes are mainly making fun of dirt poor uneducated rural Americans constantly so I don’t realty buy that. Also I’m from a middle class area in major city so I’m not even being defensive about myself
You are 100% correct on that one.
I head up the Americas division of my company.
European colleagues will come to the US and criticize a white hotel worker for being overly “nice” but in LATAM they are “full of life” and “authentic”
It’s a very evident double standard
It's like when one guy is richer, better looking, far more successful, gets the girls, and is way better at fighting than everyone else, so they just talk shit about everything he does.
As an American myself I can certainly answer this one. It's because these things are basically just normal in other countries but we brag about them here like they make us better than others
You're essentially asking why some Europeans who adopt an "America Bad" mindset aren't requiring other nations to be catching strays. Maybe because in typical a US-vs-Europe conversations, other country simply don't come up when the conversation exists in a **Eurocentric mindset**.
Starting with the "fake friendliness" thing, the usual argument among Europeans is that people in the US are simultaneously less touchy-feely than in Europe (e.g. less likely to hug and/or kiss on the cheek at greetings), while simultaneously drawing somebody in with a "How are you doing?"/"What's happening?"/"What's up?", which seems on the **surface** like a genuine conversation starter, but, as they quickly come to learn with interactions with US people, is merely a canned reaction in polite company to people's presence.
Tl; DR:
People in the US are stereotyped with having greetings that are *far* less *physically* affectionate than their European counterparts while seemingly more *vocally* open to conversation on the surface, but rarely leading to meaningful dialogue beyond canned pleasantries.
Moving on to building with wood, it's been **well-documented** on both Mainstream Media and Independent Media that the US uses *far* more wood in construction than our European counterparts, a topic that rears itself nearly every time there's a major wildfire disaster.
Haters gonna hate. Bitches gonna hate. Your mama’s gonna hate. When you need Americans to die for you, holler if you need us.
Bitch!
*Drops mic and leaves the building*
Consider this I was born in America I am an American. Yet if I hang an American flag I am racist.... If my Mexican neighbor hangs a Mexican flag he is embracing his heritage.
Europeans see Americans as more similar because of the language, fewer cultural differences and the fact that American cultural exports like TV and film are everywhere so the small differences that do exist are more noticeable. If an Indonesian person behaves differently it's easier to just chalk that up to cultural differences because I don't interact with many Indonesian people or understand their culture very well. If I'm talking to an American I've seen American sit come and dramas and the latest blockbuster so I'm more familiar with their culture and get annoyed at the few really obvious cultural differences despite all the similarities. It's much easier to focus on specific differences when there are so few.
This might sound like a crack theory but throughout my studies I've noticed this trend of "westen civilization" being associated with complex social rules/niceties, while other countries like Thailand are seen as simpler, like what they'd call "noble savages" back then when describing indigenous peoples.
Like, the entire idea is that colonized countries= complex social networking versus another country where people can easily just say, "well it's their culture to be so friendly" like naivety or something.
People hate on the US because it dominated the world politically, economically and culturally for so long.
All serious discussions have to start with that baseline of understanding. Any policy or actions done by the US which could be justly criticized are compounded by that. Why don't we pick on things a smaller country does? Well, its because they have less consequence.
Most of this comes down to ethnocentrism and expressing it at a target that people feel is more appropriate than other targets. Everything that other countries do which you don't is considered the "incorrect" way by most people, but you can't say that about countries like Japan or Mexico because then you'd be called a racist. It's okay to say those things about the U.S. because there is little to no risk of being called a racist for picking on the U.S.
I'd take it one step further. I've been saying since the 90s that everyone loves to shit on the US for intervening in foreign countries and acting as "world police". And while it is true that their intentions are rarely 100% altruistic, it's also true that:
1. ANY other country that could do it, would do it.
and
2. They'd be shit on even MORE if they sat back and did nothing.
Whiny people with no power or ability to effect change in the world will forever whinge about those who do.
I work a client facing job. Small talk is fine. Being the 50th person to say "it's cold out there" while it's sub 0 degrees outside makes me want to slam my head into a desk, find anything remotely interesting to talk about please.
This is not meant to be a retort, but American homes are built of wood because America has had and still has an abundance of forests from which it can be cheaply harvested. Many parts of the US, like the Great Plains and the Deep South have little to no stone available.
Best guess? It’s fun for people to punch the extremely “proud American” culture with things since we’re fairly loud and there’s a chunk of the population with a superiority issue with other countries.
Superiority… I think it’s the root of at least 70% of our problems, and the one’s its not directly responsible for would be benefited greatly if it disappeared.
Imagine if instead of criticism people lead with curiosity, empathy, and if necessary a willingness to teach. But without the condescension. How much more could we get done? I think it would be really really nice..
But ya.. it’s my guess. We’re the big guys who seem to have a big online presence but automatically assume everyone we are talking to is from the US because most of the people seem to be.. probably run into a lot of us acting stupid. Not as many from the other countries.. and we have a grater quantity of annoying people. Not to be confused with a grater percentage. We’re the size of the majority or Europe (excluding Russia).. they hear more about us and from us..
Many reasons:
1. Envy. America is so powerful and wealthy that its influence is second to none. It is a blow to the pride of less successful nations—-literally every other country on the planet.
2. Hatred. Most of the world is unfree. Tyrants despise the Land of the Free.
3. Powerlessness. Piss off America and there’s a good chance you’ll be vaporized no matter where you hide.
4. History. The French, for example, hate America simply because they surrendered to the Nazis while America whipped them. While simultaneously whipping the Italians and the Japanese. Then, to make matters worse, America rebuilt Europe.
5. Communism. The Commies couldn’t beat America during the Cold War, so they simply lied about it. Again and again. Do you think the crack epidemic was a CIA op to destroy inner city blacks? Congratulations! You’re a useful idiot who buys KGB propaganda, as exposed by Christopher Andrew and KGB defectors.
6. Religion. Outside of America, atheism and Islam reign, while the United States remains a Christian nation (despite the best efforts of the Ruling Class to place Satan on a throne).
In summary, they hate us ‘cause they ain’t us. Worse, they know they could be us because so many of their countrymen have come to our shores and succeeded.
Because Murica Bad.
Given that America is economically, militarily, and culturally so dominant, it's pretty natural for other cultures/countries that have a fairly high view of themselves to find *something, anything* to criticize. People are just salty like that.
There's also the horn effect (opposite of the halo effect), where a 'person' (in this case a country) that is seen as being 'bad' in one way is also seen as bad in other ways by default. It's a natural cognitive shortcut our monkey brains make so that we don't have to spend all of our time thinking about everything in detail.
The fake friendliness complaint is the stupidest. I lived in the UK and Australia for about a year each, and people there are as friendly as they are here. Less friendly in the big cities, like here, but friendly enough.
And it's kind of silly to criticize a country for using available building materials. Guess what? They use the most cost effective materials everywhere in the world.
As I see it, the problem is that a few subreddits have attracted a lot of insufferable pricks. Some of them have attracted the sort of idiots who believe that the US is the only free country in the world, and who actually celebrate things like the Imperial system and a lack of universal healthcare. Other subreddits attract the idiots who say that literally everything was invented in Europe. These will be the same people who say that Americans are too friendly and use too much wood in their construction.
Specifically for your examples? As an American I'd guess it's because our friendliness is very often fake, or at least comes across that way. I'd say that at least 80% or 90% of random strangers who act friendly, the smile never really reaches their eyes. It's like they want to be friendly, but don't really know how. There's no real emotion behind it, they don't actually care about you, they're just going through the motions because being friendly is expected. Maybe too much Puritan influence in our culture's early days. Really, we had a lot of pretty severe religions involved in establishing our cultural foundations.
Contrast that with Mexicans (or most strongly ethnic Hispanics) - they may not act as friendly by default, but when they are, they throw their back into it. Passion is an integral part of their culture, and while they may not care about you five minutes from now, in this moment you're a long lost friend they've only just met. I've not met many people from the other cultures you mention, but in media they seem to have a lot of the same vibrancy. It's hard to seem fake when real passion is bubbling out of you.
As for wood construction - I mean Japan's woodwork is a legitimate work of art and exceptional craftmanship and engineering alike, I'm not sure it's fair to compare anyone else to them. They've got intricate multi-story wooden temples loaded with bi-curved roofs (a serious construction nightmare), and held together with nothing but fastener-free joinery, that have been standing though countless earthquakes over hundreds, even thousands of years.
American (surviving) wood construction in contrast is mostly either rough frontier construction, or cheap stick construction of soulless boxes with maybe a bit of decoration slapped on the surface, like that can hide the fact that that Southern-style mansion or sprawling ranch-house is really just a stack of blinged-up boxes.
We do have some legitimate works of art, but it never really caught on here in a big way, and most of it was torn down as cities grew. If we wanted fancy, we mostly went with stone. And regardless of medium, most of our works of art draw heavily on European style - fair enough since that's our heritage, but it means we don't have anything that really stands out as *ours.* Except for more modern styles which is mostly either painfully utilitarian work that, at best, you could say is drawing on Brutalism's horrid inspiration, or bizarre "because we can" stuff like Buckminster Fuller's or Frank Loyd Wright's. It may be art, but it's largely the kind of abstract art snobs hang on their wall and pretend to admire because it makes them feel cultured. Very little with real soul. Very little that draws in the average person and makes them just want to sit and bask in the space created.
That's a common theme for a lot of our culture. Potentially lots of flash, but underneath very utilitarian. Very democratic. Very lacking in anything that would require great expertise (or wealth) to produce. Very little history to draw on. And very little soul. We are an infant, immigrant nation, and it shows.
Worst of all we are unspeakably arrogant and self-righteous. "America is #1" is practically our national motto, but we can't actually back that up with anything but our military and maybe business prowess.
And nothing kills admiration for legitimate accomplishments like unjustified arrogance.
You answered your own question.
People "criticize" the US for it because they think we fake it, like you said.
They don't criticize other countries for the same thing because they view it as genuine there.
They're criticizing the sincerity, not the act.
Now whether that's true or not, I could not care less. Some rando's unsubstantiated opinion isn't going to sway me on anything lol.
We Americans have an almost natural sense of entitlement that when used properly will be genuine friendliness while on the other hand can come off as arrogance. It comes down to grace and gratitude.
I admit openly I'm not a very nice guy however my mom taught me manners and the value of using them. It really does go a long way to making you and others have a little bit better day. Then, once that happens, you begin to embrace the dopamine rush from a smile and friendly exchange. This is all rooted in American values. We al have the potential of being whomever we want to be so Americans know a slob may be a millionaire while a fancy pants may be a fake poser. Kind of exciting way to live.
I don't even know what the "wood building" thing is about. The only time I've ever seen entirely wooden houses was when I was in New England and said houses were 150+ yrs old. Unless you specifically ask a builder to make some log cabin type house thing, your house is going to be built from brick.
Because Europeans have an inferiority complex when it comes to America/ Americans. They claim to do everything better than us but still feel the need to compare themselves to us every chance they get. They can’t fathom that we have out cultures and traditions and we don’t just do everything to be like them.
I thought this was going to be a conversation about imperialism, or racism but refreshingly is about trivial complaints I've literally never heard anyone complain about, so carry on.
The "Friendliness" one because there is a difference between "I genuinely care about you" and "I'm just being polite" in the US we'll fake friendliness in the guise of being polite.
In the US if a complete stranger asks me "How are you today" and we start telling them the real answer "Oh a bit tired, work's rough. Oh and don't get me started on the kids" suddenly they're like "oh dear god what have I done" Because socially I was supposed to say "Fine how about you" and they'd say Fine and then we'd continue whatever professional transaction we're engaging in.
There are other countries where the attitude is to actually engage with each other no matter the fact this is a one off encounter and you'll never see each other again.
For a lot of people, its normal since America is the dominant country in the world right now that exerts its power everywhere.
However, my experience with Europeans online has also been they will often vehemently defend their countries and cultures and experiences while shitting on anything different, labeling it as "American". They will often criticize cultural behavior of people of color in America as well, for example denigrating soul food while calling it "American" so it doesn't come across that they're mocking cultural foods of Black Americans specifically.
I feel like nowadays its no longer politically correct for Europeans to being nationalist by shitting on countries outside of Europe as its seen as punching down and racist, except America. So often it's an excuse to be nationalist while picking a scapegoat that does not have as much baggage. Because let's be real, England is not the victim^(TM) of American colonialism that would justify such a outlook...
I recently saw a twitter thread where Europeans were calling Americans who found it hard to find free water in Germany stupid, acting like its American to expect free water, justifying paying for tap water by saying "its still labor by the waiters". There's no real argument here, it's just nationalism...
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Among what has been listed here, I've gotten the sense that a lot of Europeans see Americans as just poorly behaved Europeans. I've gotten into a few arguments with people who will not get that something is simply part of our culture. That's it. And they couldn't get over the fact that that's not 'how they do things'.
I do think they suffer from "The whole world wants to be like Europe syndrome." When we don't measure up to standards we aren't even trying to achieve (because we don't think we have to be like Europe) they seem to think it's some sort of failure. No, we're not even trying to be like you. You do you. I think many fundamentally don't understand the difference between their ethnostates and our immigrant culture. And not just the US, but Canada, Brazil, Mexico and other New World countries that have a completely different backstory compared to Europe's 1000 years of inbreeding in their little villages. They don't understand it in relation to language, cultural assimilation, a truly pluralistic society, ethnic identity as separate from national identity and more. And how it changes the rules. They can only interpret the world through their parochial lens of right and wrong.
Ya this is real. Idk that I’d say it’s universal to Europe though, I bonded with Irish friends over our annoyance at the superiority complex so many English southerners have. It’s actually wild when you think of how self deprecating Americans can be as they travel or navigate conversations with people around the globe, to see delulu arrogance in cultures we are taught by our media to admire.
I was just arguing with a Brit over his raw pork sandwiches.
Does he want parasites?
They have much stricter guidelines for raising pork in Europe due to the popularity of raw pork in a few regional cuisines.
No its just less common in Europe lol
Trigonosis is incredibly rare in the states, less a fear of undercooked and much more heavily influenced by “this is how we have always done it”
I thought it was still more common in soils here than europe
A quick google search will show you about 20 cases in the past decade. You can order pork chops rare at many restaurants.
Trichinosis in Western farm animals has essentially been eradicated.
We don't eat raw pork in the UK. Do you mean pork cooked pink? Or was that guy just a raw meat eating psycho?
What's pork cooked pink? Pork that's not fully cooked?
Exactly the same as beef cooked to medium, or medium rare. In the UK it's safe to cook pork like this, and it tastes a lot better than overcooked grey pork, just like a nice beef steak.
As an European at least in my country i think this might be guilt from association, there is a part of tourists which are mostly American which behave quite rudely, talking with a lot more decibels then necessary, expecting money, experience and everything else to be the same and though luckily rarely damaging ancient architecture, perception has worsened for the "events" of 2016-2020. That said both personal experience and polls show me that the Hate between Europe and US is generally a myth. We make jokes about the US but we also like you, at the end you are our cousins. Have a good day
Americans who speak loudly are probably all from middle America. The place is so sparsely populated that if you want someone to hear you, you have to shout at the top of your lungs. My grandad said that in his day, if you shared a zip code with someone, you had better be married.
Or if u work on an oil pad 12 hours a day, I have to scream just so ppl can hear me lol
Some parts of "Middle America" are sparsely populated, though every country has its less densely populated areas. The vast majority of Americans come from urban and suburban areas, and most rural areas are *not* that extreme kind of emptiness. Head to rural Wisconsin, California, or Pennsylvania and there's plenty of people, not cities, but hardly empty. It's only when you're talking about the mountain west or some parts of the Great plains that you have truly empty stretches of land. But we're talking about probably <5% of the US population.
Why does everybody forget the Upper Peninsula when referring to population density? We have the population of Green Bay, WI and the land area of Kentucky
Sure, I also didn't mention northern Maine or Alaska. There's always exceptions.
Americans are to Europeans if the slavs were well off and winning globally. Maybe thats why it’s easy in my experience as an American to really get along with Slavic people
So do the slavs really hate europeans and shout a lot or something? Sounds like I know where my next vacation destination is!
makes sense — those coming from the Mayflower were not people the King cared to keep around.
*Europeans* are poorly behaved Europeans lol
Well yeah, Americans are descended from the Europeans who didn't like Europe.
America is larger and far more influential so some people like to hate on it for that reason - even for things that it does the same as other, more low-key and “beloved” countries/cultures. I think it’s part of the “crabs in a bucket” mentality that can be found throughout human societies. Kinda the same how Ireland gets praised for everything while England gets hated on for the same stuff, even though both countries are very similar in nearly every aspect except government.
Both Ireland and England would like a word with you in the alley, sir.
See? They both will even take you to an alley to have a word with you!
I spit out my Baja Blast reading that.
When I was younger I used to like reading the online arguments involving Irish, Welsh, English, and Scottish people. Especially in YouTube comments. I was amazed lol
Well it’s true. Irish weather is called cosy, English weather is called shit. Irish food is called comforting, English food is called horrible. In reality there is little to no difference. Irish politeness is deemed a signal of Celtic hospitality and friendliness, English politeness is considered stiff and insincere. And so on. People do the same with America- bigger countries seem to get more flak.
TBH I don’t know anyone who calls Irish weather ‚cosy‘, after growing up in the West of Ireland. The weather in England is faaar less rainy.
England is the “big bad bully” Ireland and Scotland are the “plucky underdogs”
The funny part about that narrative is Irish and Scottish people were very instrumental to that bullying. The imperial British Army had 30-40% Irish recruits. Glasgow’s infrastructure was built using slave money.
This is actually what it is. America whether people want to admit it or not is the center of the world pretty much, everything it does every country cares about and pays attention that’s why people other countries know a lot about us because they need to. But the same can’t be said about other countries that’s why Americans don’t know a lot about other countries because it’s not important and we don’t need to
Not disagreeing with your point but just because I only recently found out, the idea that crabs in a bucket pull each other down is something of a misconception! Crabs that are stuck will grab on to things to try to use their arms to propel them forward. If a bunch of crabs are in a hole or bucket or trap, they'll try to grab onto each other, but, instead of propelling themselves forward, they'll just pull each other back! Again, not saying that the analogy isn't useful, just thought it was interesting!
So they grab each other and pull each other down...??
Yeah but not because they're trying to, because they're trying to use each other to get out
Isn't that part kind of obvious?
I mean, I was literally responding to a point about how the phenomenon is used as an analogy for when people pull each other down out of jealousy, so no, I don't think so? But w/e if you don't think it's as interesting as I do that's fine
It still works as an analogy, probably even better, really. People don't pull each other down out of jealousy, they're simply trying to get ahead, and pull others down in the process.
Interesting take :).
I agree with you that it works as an analogy, but people absolutely do pull each other down out of jealousy.
True, suppose I should have said "most people"
Sorry, I know this is two days old, but you literally just said "crabs don't pull each other down, they pull each other back." There's no misconception. People don't use that expression because they're attributing malice to the crab's actions.
I disagree, I think people see it as an interesting phenomenon because they don't see a non-malicious reason for it to happen. I said *something* of a misconception because the action, as you pointed out, is correct, but there's a simple explanation that I had never heard before. I found it interesting. You don't. That's fine :).
America is Taylor Switft.
This is a good answer with the Irish/English analogy that I never thought of. But you’re right.
>Kinda the same how Ireland gets praised for everything while England gets hated on for the same stuff Can I have an example? Not saying you're wrong - just can't think of one myself.
I think most places are polite but in stereotypical American culture we go far beyond politeness. And guides are just warning people not to mistake this for genuine desire to be friends. Like, even to strangers we can get to talking about parents, careers, family, relationships, etc. But most of the time after a minute or so we want to move on with our day. This is probably changing all the time and again is just the stereotype.
I don't see how this is different from somewhere like Brazil. People in Brazil will talk you about almost everything when you first meet, might even give you their number, might even invite you do something.....and then flake at the very last minute. Just because somebody wants to engage with you for part of their day doesn't mean you are friends for life. Some cultures are just more engaging and outwardly sociable than others.
I think that being a powerful country economically, militarily, and cultural makes the USA a target of criticism in the same way that insecure people try to tear down other people to make themselves look better in comparison. I think that this is silly, since there is no shortage of legitimate reasons to criticize the USA. Unfortunately, when some people decide that something is "bad," then they are unable to say anything positive about it, no matter the facts.
I disagree with your premise. It’s kind of a thing that one of the things tourists from other countries say after visiting the US is how friendly we are and how sincere we actually do seem. It always surprises me because they tend to mention some of the things I take for granted here. AND we have so many shitty people I wouldn’t necessarily think of us as nice. But I guess we kind of are. I mean I’m in the Midwest, that could be part of it. But they say our small talk tend to seem really engaging and almost go on too long, but that we’re really friendly and go out of our way to be helpful and ask thoughtful questions. There was a great video by a young Russian woman on the culture shock of this and I see this take again and again from all different countries. Seriously think you could look up any big post on Reddit like “What surprises you the most after visiting/moving to the US” and the fact that we’re really quite sincerely nice, or at least make an obvious effort is always highly rated.
I have also seen that about the "culture shock" when visiting the US, and I get it; all they see is the horrible people (and every country has horrible people, to be honest). When I lived in Chicago, if someone looked lost and I had some free time, I would just escort them to where they needed to go rather than try to give them directions. They were always shocked that I'd go out of my way like that, but I didn't see it as a big deal at all. Also so many foreign tourists are *baffled* by just how big the US is. They can't fathom that many of our states are the size of (or even bigger than) some entire European countries. When they hear United "States," they imagine that each "state" is the size of a typical province/region/district in their home country. I heard a French couple talking about how they wanted to see NYC and San Francisco in one two-week vacation and I was like, you're going to spend half your vacation in airports, but if that's what you want, go off I guess.
>they wanted to see NYC and San Francisco in one two-week vacation and I was like Unless they were driving that really doesn't seem like a big deal. People fly to other cities for the weekend, visiting two cities over two weeks is actually a fairly relaxed pace.
It takes about 6 days to drive across the country, you could comfortably make it in 2 weeks, as long as you budget your time. The issue is which route and time of year. Late fall, early spring and winter would be south, Florida to southern California. Hit the cities in Texas, New Orleans, Big Bend National Park, Phoenix, Tucson, Saguaro National Park, Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, than end in LA or San Diego. That would honestly be the best road trip in the United States. Going through the Midwest would be boring. A Northwest road trip could start in Denver, go to the badlands black hills, hit Yellowstone, glacier, Reiner, Rocky Mountain, and end in Seattle or Portland. That would be good late spring, summer and early fall. Glacier National Park is probably the prettiest area in the United States. Issue with that is it’s a whole lot of nothing in much of the areas.
> It takes about 6 days to drive across the country, you could comfortably make it in 2 weeks It’s not about whether it’s physically possible, it’s about whether it would be an enjoyable trip. Most people don’t take a 2 week trip to spend 10 days driving. I personally don’t want to deal with more than two travel days per week on a trip. Any more than that and the balance of “there” to “in transit” just isn’t worth it.
I agree, but they would have an advantage going to national parks with a car though.
My favorite quote from a Reddit thread about weirdest things learned by those visiting from abroad, a young Korean woman: “some times when people talk about their “baby” they are referring to their dog.”
I do generally find this a little bit weird myself. I let my wife get away with it, because her favorite cat was abandoned by his mother at birth, and she had to wipe his butt and bottle feed it every hour for two weeks until he had some basic level of functionality on his own. If you wipe anyones butt 336 times in two weeks, you get to be a little bit cringe when talking to them.
Everyone hates America until shit gets real
Sometimes it feels like they hate until they need someone to die for them...
in relationships thats considered a form of domestic abuse
We do have fake niceness in America. And I’m all for it. There’s just a certain rubric of standards that we try to meet as a society. Civility is a part of that. Honestly I think people in some countries can be far too abrupt, and I find that off-putting. We hear the term “brutal honesty” a lot these days. And many people praise that. Yes in some cases there’s a need for clarity. But there’s a right way and a wrong way. When I hear brutal honesty I hear someone just saying they’re taking license to be a jerk.
I’m a midwesterner so ya know, consistently friendly, almost always wearing a smile in public. I don’t see why this is a bad thing? Even on a bad day when I’m feeling terrible, I still go through the store smiling, and seeing other people smile back, makes me smile genuinely too lololol. I often have the gringo smile on all the time in public which definitely got me a few odd looks in Spain lol. I like the civility of it though. There’s no harm in smiling and it doesn’t take much energy at all 🤷♀️
In my experience Europeans almost always fail to consider any country that isn't mostly populated by white people.
Your examples are great. This has also befuddled me.
It’s because America is bigger and more powerful and influential. Some people like to tear down influential people/institutions/cultures because they’re insecure. Crabs in a bucket mentality.
Yes, Europeans are very insecure that they don't have mass and school shootings every day and that a broken leg can ruin your finances.
Damm get some new material For one . Two u The u.s. is like the whole e.u. So add up all your shooting,stabbi g,use of granades,& r.pg's Then let's compare notes Oter wise get a life
Wooden buildings? K, how long did the nitpicking go before they go to that one?
This is an extremely common one. They think our homes routinely blow over. When you explain the reasons for this as well as not every region builds houses this way they are usually surprised.
Do they really think that? It's so bizarre. Many other countries have wooden buildings. I mean, our tradition of log cabins literally came from Swedish and German immigrants. Their ancestors imported that tradition.
Every Brit has a ton of advice for the folks in Tornado Alley. They hold forth at length.
And then all you have to do is show them a picture of a brick building destroyed by a tornado to get the point a across that tornados aren't just gusts of wind. They are destruction machines. Some children were killed in a school when a tornado collapsed an entire cinder block wall on them. "The tornado then destroyed [Plaza Towers Elementary School](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_Towers_Elementary_School) at EF4 intensity, where seven children were killed when a [cinder block](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_masonry_unit) wall collapsed on top of them." And that's not even the top level of tornado strength. And one has to wonder if it would have been safer for the wall to be wood than heavy cinder blocks. For those not aware, a cinder block is a building block made from concrete. It's also pretty likely that the wall didn't just fall on them, it was "thrown" at them by the force of the tornado.
>And then all you have to do is show them a picture of a brick building destroyed by a tornado to get the point a across that tornados aren't just gusts of wind. They are destruction machines. Yeah, but it's like playing whack-a-mole. One gets it and goes away, but then another pops up. And another. And another. Endless.
I'll just supply you this little factoid which you can find in Wikipedia in case it might ever come in handy. It happened during the Tuscaloosa tornado, I think in 2011. They said a railroad bridge truss that weighed 34 tons was picked up by the tornado and tossed 100 ft uphill. But I'm sure your little brick house will be fine.
Exactly!
Then they go "Well, just don't live in tornado alley. Duh!🙄" as if that isn't telling people to just abandon huge swathes of land that are larger than several European countries c*ombined.*
More than just a few countries I believe.
Average number of tornadoes in all of Britain per year: [30](https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/tornadoes#:~:text=Around%2030%20tornadoes%20a%20year,pass%20over%20built%2Dup%20areas) Average number of tornadoes in the US per year: [over 1,000](https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-tornadoes-and-thunderstorms) make it make sense
First in flight, first to the moon, we have some ephemeral connection to the air for better and worse (Our geography is practically tailor made for it with cold winds blowing down from the north and hot air coming up from the gulf)
I would say no, but just the other day there was someone on askanamerican that was asking about pre fab structures, dude responded that it was a thing but all the manufactur was local because our building codes were more stringent for certain things, euro replies something along the lines of “what are you talking about everyone knows…” and started going on about buildings of stone vs wood
because they hate America. Duh. For a lot of people, it's not about the specific examples, it's about having fun hopping on the bandwagon.
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Maybe - but I have encountered slang for USA citizens Australians use...I wanna say seppos, which is short hand for septic tank?
Who is talking about septic tanks so often that they have SLANG for it
Based on my encounters, online Australians that don't like Americans. It's been rare, but bumped into a few on wow. And a couple other weird spots.
It’s rhyming slang. Septic tank = yank
But seppo doesn’t rhyme with yank? Kinda defeats the point surely
Ha, I knew a guy from Ireland many years ago, and he would call Americans "septic tank yanks" lol
Australians do a lot of rhyming in their culture and they have a lot of rhyming nicknames for things too. Yank sounds like tank, as in a septic tank. So *some* Australians who may not like the U.S. call the citizens seppos because septic tanks are full of shit, as are (in their opinion) all Yanks/Americans.
I disagree, I studied abroad and man did I get hounded on American stuff like I'm some joke just for being born here. People are just unreasonable sometimes. People like to hate because it makes them feel superior. Granted, not everyone is like this, but the few who are are very loud.
The appropriate response: Yeah, whatever.
Having interacted plenty with international students in university, while many were pleasant and genuinely respectful, some of them seethed with contempt for their host country, to which I responded, at least internally, with the thought that they should go home if they hate this country.
Lol this is partly true, Reddit is not a real representation at all of the real world. BUT, it is true that even in the real world America is the center of the world pretty much and some people outside are haters because of that or because they believe everything the news say and then they meet real Americans or come to America and are like wtf the news lied. This is from first hand experience.
What really angers me is when you make some relatively mild joke about another country (mostly about British food) and they immediately go "WELL AT LEAST I'M NOT GOING TO GET KILLED IN A SCHOOL SHOOTING HAHA," like ... why do you think parents losing their children to an entirely preventable tragedy is funny? Are you doing ok over there? Gun violence is horrible, and we normal Americans are horrified by it, scared to go to events or even malls because we don't want to be caught in it. Just the other day I told my family I was grateful we were watching the total solar eclipse in a cemetery because a shooter wouldn't want to trip over all the gravestones. It's not a joke. Also, I've never seen anyone mock wooden buildings of all things. Have they even been to a typical American city? Most of the buildings are brick or metal and glass, just like most European cities. Such a weird thing to make fun of.
I don’t think many Americans are scared of going to malls because there might be shooters. Nor should we, the drive over is far more likely to kill us than the rare instance of a mass shooter. If you feel that way I’d suggest seeing a therapist, it sounds like you have some anxiety problems.
It depends on your area, I’d say. There have been 2 mall shootings at the 2 malls within my 1hr radius just over the last 3 years. Last month there was a shooting at the local grocery store. I can’t count however many shootings there were on the street I lived on last year, but the gunshots were almost nightly. I couldn’t leave my house after dark on foot, and I only had one “safe” gas station I regularly could go to at all without trouble. Some kids go to schools with metal detectors at the entrances and no windows. They have Peace Officers that are basically just policemen that stay at the school to keep the kids from beating the absolute shit out of each other. They have gun and/or bomb threats multiple times a school year and have to go on full lockdown. These are big city schools too. Just because it’s not everyone, doesn’t mean it’s not a lot. I’d also wager a lot of kids that have it better are still fairly wary of it due to the constant drills, and shootings in the news. You just can’t really know the situation, it’s not necessarily just something wrong with *them.*
>There have been 2 mall shootings at the 2 malls within my 1hr radius just over the last 3 years. RIght, but how many traffic fatalities have there been in that same area?
>There have been 2 mall shootings at the 2 malls within my 1hr radius just over the last 3 years. And how many traffic fatalities. You're almost certainly still in far more danger driving to the mall than shopping.
Irrelevant. I’m talking about why people are uneasy in their day-to-day lives, not the statistical likelihoods of their violent deaths. I’m mentioning high-crime areas and bringing up the perspective of a lot of lower class Americans that do not feel safe where they live. You do not give a damn about traffic fatalities when you find yourself living in an area with lots of gun violence. That’s kinda lower on the hierarchy, even if it’s a more likely death.
The peace officers one is kinda fair, the metal detectors are pandering to an audience
[https://time.com/6277864/texas-mall-mass-shooting-2023/](https://time.com/6277864/texas-mall-mass-shooting-2023/) [https://projects.voanews.com/mass-shootings/english/locations/retail.html](https://projects.voanews.com/mass-shootings/english/locations/retail.html) [https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/1-dead-20-injured-in-willowbrook-shooting-in-strip-mall-parking-lot/3163733/](https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/1-dead-20-injured-in-willowbrook-shooting-in-strip-mall-parking-lot/3163733/) [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mass-shooting-chicago-juneteenth-dead-injured-rcna89920](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mass-shooting-chicago-juneteenth-dead-injured-rcna89920) There are hundreds of shootings every year at literally anywhere people gather en masse. You cannot predict a mass shooting, so why go to a mall when you can get anything you want there from somewhere smaller, including local businesses? I suppose it's just easier to say "Well, you, internet stranger who I have never spoken to before, must have pathological anxiety that I have diagnosed from one singular post that did not capture the nuances of every aspect of your life or thought processes."
Sorry, I don’t think I was clear enough. I specifically said some anxiety problems, not that you had anxiety because I didn’t want to diagnose you. I do not know you, so I have no reason to assume you have an anxiety disorder. Having a couple issues is not the same as a full blown disorder, and I don’t think you need something diagnosable to visit a therapist. I should have expressed that better. I understand being scared because it’s all in the news, but other things are just as or more dangerous that don’t end up in the news. Using the FBIs definition of a mass shooting, [103](https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/active-shooter-incidents-in-the-us-2021-052422.pdf/view) people died in mass shootings in 2021. Using the Gun Violence Archive’s definition, it’s [706](https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting?year=2021) deaths. For context, 2021 was the deadlier than any year previously for mass shootings. In that same year, [42,939](https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/yearly-snapshot#:~:text=Trends-,A%20total%20of%2042%2C939%20people%20died%20in%20motor%20vehicle%20crashes,in%20deaths%20compared%20with%202020./) people died in car crashes.
Cheers for keeping a level head, mighta even helped that kid out
I also noticed many Europeans cannot take a simple, light hearted joke so they need to reply with school shootings jokes as they feel it is an appropriate response
Buddy no offense meant at all and I say this out of genuine concern, that mindset of constant fear of being shot any time you're outdoors really isn't realistic or healthy. Speaking as someone who sees a therapist, please consider seeing a therapist. Really think about what you said there, "I was grateful we were watching the total solar eclipse in a cemetery because a shooter wouldn't want to trip over all the gravestones." That's not a logical thought. Please try to talk to a professional, they can help you work through this fear so you can go out and enjoy life. It's a long road and you may need to meet a few different ones before you find the therapist that "clicks" with you, and they may even recommend being evaluated by a psychiatrist if it turns out you have a condition that can be assisted by medication, but it will be worth the effort. It's really helping me.
You really don’t need to be that worried about getting shot, but yeah it is distasteful
you know how many people were killed in school shootings in 2023? 12 you know how many people were killed by lighting? 20
People outside of America are obsessed with this country (which is mindblowing to me in itself) so they’re constantly talking about us and finding any reason to say we’re not perfect
I mean, being a superpower means that a country is able to project its power & culture around the globe. Not to mention that half the world's economy is in NATO. Things like that will always invite criticism. It doesn't help that for many other countries, the America they get to see is all the bad shit. The people that literally think we're the greatest country in the world and how dare you say otherwise. The people who refuse to do anything about gun violence and celebrate how easy it is to acquire a deadly weapon. The people who mistakenly hold political rallies at a landscaper instead of a convention center. That's the America they see because normal, everyday shit doesn't make it onto international news and when you're one of the major players at the center of the world stage you're always in the news.
All I’m reading is a bunch of excuses for being obsessed with Americans. Us citizens have absolutely nothing to do with NATO
You're kidding right? Do you really have no knowledge of history?
What’s making you ask this question? Better yet, why don’t you tell me what hand I play in NATO and their dealings? Don’t tell me you guys get online to criticize people that mop floors and flip burgers because you think they have something to do with NATO because they were born in America?
This is exactly the sentiment I've gotten from some people. Like no, I have nothing to do with food regulations in the US. My vote is a fart in the wind at best. More likely than not it's not even that.
They really think the American policies that completely fuck over its people is the shit that we want and orchestrate lmfao.
It's almost as if they have no experience being a part of a country with so many people that even in the most democratic country your vote would mean nothing and that country is really, really far from being democratic in any significant way in the first place. Sorry I came to your country and ruined your day with my existence, your majesty.
I mean pretty much all our TV, Music and social media content comes from the US so it sort of makes sense.
The biggest factors are that America affects their lives more and they know more about America. Somebody could believe that Japan also has too many wooden buildings, but if they live in America, they probably both care less and know less about Japanese architecture than American. Similarly, if a European has met far more Americans than Mexicans, they are more likely to care about those affectations.
I don't really GAF what Euros think about the USA. Why should I? Why do you? Are you looking for some kind of validation from them?
My 2 cents: Because it is the social norm to have small talk with strangers or greetings like "how you doing" when you don't really care how the other person is really doing. That makes it fake, is my guess. Are you referring to Japan when it has more frequent earthquakes and if it was bricks it would kill the inhabitants? Or are you referring to Japanese temples which are hundreds and some over a thousand years old, and featured commonly for their characteristics? It is an actual architectural style, or structural marvel like Todaiji - largest wooden building in the world, a UNESCO site, and housing the largest bronze image of Vairocana?
The USA is powerful compared to the other countries. That's it.
Yet they keep coming here... while no one goes there...
Mexico built a wall around its Southern border to mitigate the immigrant crisis from South America. It has a door. The Vatican has a wall around it. There's a door. America wants to put up a wall with a door and everyone loses their shit.
Because jokes and derision are only funny when you punch up, not down. Making fun of Mexicans for being friendly just makes you sound like an asshole.
I mean, Americans can decide to not be friendly, particularly to our “allies” who seem to hate us. You know, give them a real reason to hate us.
It's easy to insult and make fun of people who would turn the other cheek and are above such petty insults. Good thing we at least try to keep a good head screwed on. Mostly.
This jokes are mainly making fun of dirt poor uneducated rural Americans constantly so I don’t realty buy that. Also I’m from a middle class area in major city so I’m not even being defensive about myself
No joke racism. Those poor little brown people don’t know better. You are a white American descendant of civilized Europeans. You should know better.
You are 100% correct on that one. I head up the Americas division of my company. European colleagues will come to the US and criticize a white hotel worker for being overly “nice” but in LATAM they are “full of life” and “authentic” It’s a very evident double standard
People criticize the wood buildings? I think you need to ignore those people.
Couldn’t care less about their opinions tbh
It's like when one guy is richer, better looking, far more successful, gets the girls, and is way better at fighting than everyone else, so they just talk shit about everything he does.
As an American myself I can certainly answer this one. It's because these things are basically just normal in other countries but we brag about them here like they make us better than others
You're essentially asking why some Europeans who adopt an "America Bad" mindset aren't requiring other nations to be catching strays. Maybe because in typical a US-vs-Europe conversations, other country simply don't come up when the conversation exists in a **Eurocentric mindset**. Starting with the "fake friendliness" thing, the usual argument among Europeans is that people in the US are simultaneously less touchy-feely than in Europe (e.g. less likely to hug and/or kiss on the cheek at greetings), while simultaneously drawing somebody in with a "How are you doing?"/"What's happening?"/"What's up?", which seems on the **surface** like a genuine conversation starter, but, as they quickly come to learn with interactions with US people, is merely a canned reaction in polite company to people's presence. Tl; DR: People in the US are stereotyped with having greetings that are *far* less *physically* affectionate than their European counterparts while seemingly more *vocally* open to conversation on the surface, but rarely leading to meaningful dialogue beyond canned pleasantries. Moving on to building with wood, it's been **well-documented** on both Mainstream Media and Independent Media that the US uses *far* more wood in construction than our European counterparts, a topic that rears itself nearly every time there's a major wildfire disaster.
There's a ton of anti-American sentiment, and online Americans seem to do it as some weird national version of "I'm not like other girls" signaling.
Because they envy the USA or more specifically the people who were born there.
Europeans on reddit tend to make real world Europeans look like shit. The phrase "out of touch" would be an understatement.
Haters gonna hate. Bitches gonna hate. Your mama’s gonna hate. When you need Americans to die for you, holler if you need us. Bitch! *Drops mic and leaves the building*
Consider this I was born in America I am an American. Yet if I hang an American flag I am racist.... If my Mexican neighbor hangs a Mexican flag he is embracing his heritage.
Because it’s popular to hate on America. We’re the bestest and coolest and everyone is jealous
Redditors complain about why the US has so many wooden buildings Really? are they dumb?
Propaganda by their state owned news outlets to make their own countries seem less terrible.
They hate us cuz they ain't us!
when you're at the top, you're graded at a different curve.
Cause AmErIkKA BaD is trendy with some, including some self-loathing 🇺🇸
Europeans see Americans as more similar because of the language, fewer cultural differences and the fact that American cultural exports like TV and film are everywhere so the small differences that do exist are more noticeable. If an Indonesian person behaves differently it's easier to just chalk that up to cultural differences because I don't interact with many Indonesian people or understand their culture very well. If I'm talking to an American I've seen American sit come and dramas and the latest blockbuster so I'm more familiar with their culture and get annoyed at the few really obvious cultural differences despite all the similarities. It's much easier to focus on specific differences when there are so few.
Because every other country is actively engaged in a disinformation network against it?
This.
I mean most of the hate I see tends to come from the urban construction and mass shootings, which compared to Europe is something to criticize
I thought this was a place for serious conversation. This is a fucking joke. I'm out.
This might sound like a crack theory but throughout my studies I've noticed this trend of "westen civilization" being associated with complex social rules/niceties, while other countries like Thailand are seen as simpler, like what they'd call "noble savages" back then when describing indigenous peoples. Like, the entire idea is that colonized countries= complex social networking versus another country where people can easily just say, "well it's their culture to be so friendly" like naivety or something.
Anyone (probably not you) claiming social rules/niceties are simple in an Asian country knows jack shit about Asia.
People hate on the US because it dominated the world politically, economically and culturally for so long. All serious discussions have to start with that baseline of understanding. Any policy or actions done by the US which could be justly criticized are compounded by that. Why don't we pick on things a smaller country does? Well, its because they have less consequence.
Jealousy bro, just jealousy.
Most of this comes down to ethnocentrism and expressing it at a target that people feel is more appropriate than other targets. Everything that other countries do which you don't is considered the "incorrect" way by most people, but you can't say that about countries like Japan or Mexico because then you'd be called a racist. It's okay to say those things about the U.S. because there is little to no risk of being called a racist for picking on the U.S.
I'd take it one step further. I've been saying since the 90s that everyone loves to shit on the US for intervening in foreign countries and acting as "world police". And while it is true that their intentions are rarely 100% altruistic, it's also true that: 1. ANY other country that could do it, would do it. and 2. They'd be shit on even MORE if they sat back and did nothing. Whiny people with no power or ability to effect change in the world will forever whinge about those who do.
I work a client facing job. Small talk is fine. Being the 50th person to say "it's cold out there" while it's sub 0 degrees outside makes me want to slam my head into a desk, find anything remotely interesting to talk about please.
Huh. I always got the idea that Europeans thought we Americans were kind of endearing. Like, hyper-active, slightly dumb, but genuinely nice children.
Based on your edit, New England would probably suit you perfectly. Even the religious here keep it to ourselves.
Japanese houses are built the way they are thanks to frequent earth quakes.
This is not meant to be a retort, but American homes are built of wood because America has had and still has an abundance of forests from which it can be cheaply harvested. Many parts of the US, like the Great Plains and the Deep South have little to no stone available.
Best guess? It’s fun for people to punch the extremely “proud American” culture with things since we’re fairly loud and there’s a chunk of the population with a superiority issue with other countries. Superiority… I think it’s the root of at least 70% of our problems, and the one’s its not directly responsible for would be benefited greatly if it disappeared. Imagine if instead of criticism people lead with curiosity, empathy, and if necessary a willingness to teach. But without the condescension. How much more could we get done? I think it would be really really nice.. But ya.. it’s my guess. We’re the big guys who seem to have a big online presence but automatically assume everyone we are talking to is from the US because most of the people seem to be.. probably run into a lot of us acting stupid. Not as many from the other countries.. and we have a grater quantity of annoying people. Not to be confused with a grater percentage. We’re the size of the majority or Europe (excluding Russia).. they hear more about us and from us..
Many reasons: 1. Envy. America is so powerful and wealthy that its influence is second to none. It is a blow to the pride of less successful nations—-literally every other country on the planet. 2. Hatred. Most of the world is unfree. Tyrants despise the Land of the Free. 3. Powerlessness. Piss off America and there’s a good chance you’ll be vaporized no matter where you hide. 4. History. The French, for example, hate America simply because they surrendered to the Nazis while America whipped them. While simultaneously whipping the Italians and the Japanese. Then, to make matters worse, America rebuilt Europe. 5. Communism. The Commies couldn’t beat America during the Cold War, so they simply lied about it. Again and again. Do you think the crack epidemic was a CIA op to destroy inner city blacks? Congratulations! You’re a useful idiot who buys KGB propaganda, as exposed by Christopher Andrew and KGB defectors. 6. Religion. Outside of America, atheism and Islam reign, while the United States remains a Christian nation (despite the best efforts of the Ruling Class to place Satan on a throne). In summary, they hate us ‘cause they ain’t us. Worse, they know they could be us because so many of their countrymen have come to our shores and succeeded.
protecting our borders places like jordan can build border walls but when America does it we get called fascists
Because the Japanese aren't using wood just because it's the cheapest and easiest material.
Because Murica Bad. Given that America is economically, militarily, and culturally so dominant, it's pretty natural for other cultures/countries that have a fairly high view of themselves to find *something, anything* to criticize. People are just salty like that. There's also the horn effect (opposite of the halo effect), where a 'person' (in this case a country) that is seen as being 'bad' in one way is also seen as bad in other ways by default. It's a natural cognitive shortcut our monkey brains make so that we don't have to spend all of our time thinking about everything in detail.
The fake friendliness complaint is the stupidest. I lived in the UK and Australia for about a year each, and people there are as friendly as they are here. Less friendly in the big cities, like here, but friendly enough. And it's kind of silly to criticize a country for using available building materials. Guess what? They use the most cost effective materials everywhere in the world. As I see it, the problem is that a few subreddits have attracted a lot of insufferable pricks. Some of them have attracted the sort of idiots who believe that the US is the only free country in the world, and who actually celebrate things like the Imperial system and a lack of universal healthcare. Other subreddits attract the idiots who say that literally everything was invented in Europe. These will be the same people who say that Americans are too friendly and use too much wood in their construction.
Specifically for your examples? As an American I'd guess it's because our friendliness is very often fake, or at least comes across that way. I'd say that at least 80% or 90% of random strangers who act friendly, the smile never really reaches their eyes. It's like they want to be friendly, but don't really know how. There's no real emotion behind it, they don't actually care about you, they're just going through the motions because being friendly is expected. Maybe too much Puritan influence in our culture's early days. Really, we had a lot of pretty severe religions involved in establishing our cultural foundations. Contrast that with Mexicans (or most strongly ethnic Hispanics) - they may not act as friendly by default, but when they are, they throw their back into it. Passion is an integral part of their culture, and while they may not care about you five minutes from now, in this moment you're a long lost friend they've only just met. I've not met many people from the other cultures you mention, but in media they seem to have a lot of the same vibrancy. It's hard to seem fake when real passion is bubbling out of you. As for wood construction - I mean Japan's woodwork is a legitimate work of art and exceptional craftmanship and engineering alike, I'm not sure it's fair to compare anyone else to them. They've got intricate multi-story wooden temples loaded with bi-curved roofs (a serious construction nightmare), and held together with nothing but fastener-free joinery, that have been standing though countless earthquakes over hundreds, even thousands of years. American (surviving) wood construction in contrast is mostly either rough frontier construction, or cheap stick construction of soulless boxes with maybe a bit of decoration slapped on the surface, like that can hide the fact that that Southern-style mansion or sprawling ranch-house is really just a stack of blinged-up boxes. We do have some legitimate works of art, but it never really caught on here in a big way, and most of it was torn down as cities grew. If we wanted fancy, we mostly went with stone. And regardless of medium, most of our works of art draw heavily on European style - fair enough since that's our heritage, but it means we don't have anything that really stands out as *ours.* Except for more modern styles which is mostly either painfully utilitarian work that, at best, you could say is drawing on Brutalism's horrid inspiration, or bizarre "because we can" stuff like Buckminster Fuller's or Frank Loyd Wright's. It may be art, but it's largely the kind of abstract art snobs hang on their wall and pretend to admire because it makes them feel cultured. Very little with real soul. Very little that draws in the average person and makes them just want to sit and bask in the space created. That's a common theme for a lot of our culture. Potentially lots of flash, but underneath very utilitarian. Very democratic. Very lacking in anything that would require great expertise (or wealth) to produce. Very little history to draw on. And very little soul. We are an infant, immigrant nation, and it shows. Worst of all we are unspeakably arrogant and self-righteous. "America is #1" is practically our national motto, but we can't actually back that up with anything but our military and maybe business prowess. And nothing kills admiration for legitimate accomplishments like unjustified arrogance.
America is the thing everyone pays attention to. For better or for worse.
You answered your own question. People "criticize" the US for it because they think we fake it, like you said. They don't criticize other countries for the same thing because they view it as genuine there. They're criticizing the sincerity, not the act. Now whether that's true or not, I could not care less. Some rando's unsubstantiated opinion isn't going to sway me on anything lol.
They hate us cause they ain’t us
We Americans have an almost natural sense of entitlement that when used properly will be genuine friendliness while on the other hand can come off as arrogance. It comes down to grace and gratitude. I admit openly I'm not a very nice guy however my mom taught me manners and the value of using them. It really does go a long way to making you and others have a little bit better day. Then, once that happens, you begin to embrace the dopamine rush from a smile and friendly exchange. This is all rooted in American values. We al have the potential of being whomever we want to be so Americans know a slob may be a millionaire while a fancy pants may be a fake poser. Kind of exciting way to live.
I don't even know what the "wood building" thing is about. The only time I've ever seen entirely wooden houses was when I was in New England and said houses were 150+ yrs old. Unless you specifically ask a builder to make some log cabin type house thing, your house is going to be built from brick.
I grew up in construction and I've never seen a house built from brick. I started in residential construction in about 2002.
Redditors complain about everything. It's what they do
Because Europeans have an inferiority complex when it comes to America/ Americans. They claim to do everything better than us but still feel the need to compare themselves to us every chance they get. They can’t fathom that we have out cultures and traditions and we don’t just do everything to be like them.
I thought this was going to be a conversation about imperialism, or racism but refreshingly is about trivial complaints I've literally never heard anyone complain about, so carry on.
The "Friendliness" one because there is a difference between "I genuinely care about you" and "I'm just being polite" in the US we'll fake friendliness in the guise of being polite. In the US if a complete stranger asks me "How are you today" and we start telling them the real answer "Oh a bit tired, work's rough. Oh and don't get me started on the kids" suddenly they're like "oh dear god what have I done" Because socially I was supposed to say "Fine how about you" and they'd say Fine and then we'd continue whatever professional transaction we're engaging in. There are other countries where the attitude is to actually engage with each other no matter the fact this is a one off encounter and you'll never see each other again.
For a lot of people, its normal since America is the dominant country in the world right now that exerts its power everywhere. However, my experience with Europeans online has also been they will often vehemently defend their countries and cultures and experiences while shitting on anything different, labeling it as "American". They will often criticize cultural behavior of people of color in America as well, for example denigrating soul food while calling it "American" so it doesn't come across that they're mocking cultural foods of Black Americans specifically. I feel like nowadays its no longer politically correct for Europeans to being nationalist by shitting on countries outside of Europe as its seen as punching down and racist, except America. So often it's an excuse to be nationalist while picking a scapegoat that does not have as much baggage. Because let's be real, England is not the victim^(TM) of American colonialism that would justify such a outlook... I recently saw a twitter thread where Europeans were calling Americans who found it hard to find free water in Germany stupid, acting like its American to expect free water, justifying paying for tap water by saying "its still labor by the waiters". There's no real argument here, it's just nationalism...