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What's the international perception of Americans?
3 years ago
General
I mean I'm sure in general we're perceived as undereducated, overweight, racist gun nuts obsessed with mandating Christian fascism, but how far does it go? I mean I take some weird comfort in at least knowing the rest of the world sees us as the shithole we are so please, I want to know just how horrifically we're viewed. Like I'd hate to think it's a more pragmatic thing where instead of being loathed for our ignorance we're pitied for our poor leadership, especially considering that we empowered them in the first place.
Like if you're somebody from elsewhere in the world, Europe, Australia Asia, or even just Canada, when you meet an American, like if you meet one here on FA or whatever, is there a part of you that scans for trouble? Are you more wary than usual of prideful stupidity, blatant bigotry, and general sociopathy? Is every individual American under a greater burden to prove to you that they're not an awful human being in one way or another than somebody from a legitimate country would be?
Because, they should be.
So if you're a non-American then I want to know, in great detail, what the perception of us is for you, and the community around you, in as cruel and callous of terms as possible. Considering the existential threat we pose to the world at large, I'd hate to think that we're being given a benefit of the doubt that we don't deserve.
Please, tell me all about it.
Like if you're somebody from elsewhere in the world, Europe, Australia Asia, or even just Canada, when you meet an American, like if you meet one here on FA or whatever, is there a part of you that scans for trouble? Are you more wary than usual of prideful stupidity, blatant bigotry, and general sociopathy? Is every individual American under a greater burden to prove to you that they're not an awful human being in one way or another than somebody from a legitimate country would be?
Because, they should be.
So if you're a non-American then I want to know, in great detail, what the perception of us is for you, and the community around you, in as cruel and callous of terms as possible. Considering the existential threat we pose to the world at large, I'd hate to think that we're being given a benefit of the doubt that we don't deserve.
Please, tell me all about it.
These are all good people, who are very much against what is going on.
So as a whole, looking at America is looking at the shithole just the way you describe it, but on the level of individuals, it is not always. And this scrutiny that you mention, it's simply not necessary for the most part. The things to look out for tend to come out rather quickly, and rather obviously.
Now, for the community around me... Well, I'm kinda seen as the America nut. I'm the one with contacts in the US, the one who gets more than a glimpse of what is going on there. For example, were I to mention the Jan. 6th hearings, they wouldn't know what I was talking about. Should I mention Tucker Carlson, they wouldn't know who that is. They simply don't know how bad it is. That doesn't necessarily mean that there is this benefit of the doubt. America is just this far away thing that isn't considered enough for that.
Should it be? Given the influence of the country over the rest of the world, probably yes. But, we have plenty of stuff going on over here ourselves. We're a lot closer than you are to the whole Ukraine war. Just like the rest of the world, we're suffering from the consequences of hyperinflation. And, within our country right now, we're dealing with the farmer protests.
Their advice for me when I was at my worst, contemplating what I was willing to carry out in response to it, was to just do as they planned to do - let the Nazis win and just try and ignore it for however long it takes to be hauled off of the camps. One said "You can be healthy without necessarily being happy."
Americans, in general, come in 2 forms. The ones actively trying to genocide you, and the ones content to just watch it happen because anything else would be toooooooooooo harrrrrrrrrrrrrrd.
So what I'm saying is, fuck the 'good ones.' They're every bit a part of it.
But compared to Russia... you are fucking ANGELS!!! So whatever US has for problems... since Putim tries to be a new Hitler and conquer the world and kill everyone who is not russian.... US is our friend. After all you have to choose between US, Russia and China in the world.... and there US is by far the lesser evil of all three.
So claiming we're better than Russia is pretty silly when we're basically endorsed by Russia.
I generally don't put much stock into an American I meet. Unless their opening introduction is their country of residence. I start getting reserved at that point. Looking in, I'm seeing the people most likely to be proud of being American are those who don't see a problem with the systemic issues coming out of America the last 20 years. And I view that as a problem.
It's really hard for me to put into words all of my feelings because I will never forget a political discussion I had with an American. We discussed a lot of the differences from our two countries. Really just, discovering what the other thought.
I really discovered what they thought when I was informed "you know, I feel pity for you." I was kind of confused and then they said "you will never enjoy the freedoms I do as an American." And it's stuck to me.
So I guess it's the opposite. I just assume someone is a decent human until they start to mention their core identity is American. And I hate to say it, but all of them have proven me right.
But seriously (Okay, I was half serious there) not that you need me to tell you this but one of the most bizarre things about our citizens is how we're indoctrinated to believe that we enjoy some level of freedom experienced nowhere else on Earth. A lot of that is simple propaganda, saying shit like 'land of the free' all the time but it's also partially due to the fact that the ultra-wealthy and the massive corporations have convinced people that their 'freedom' from basic regulations is somehow a victory for every Billy Bob Fuckwit with a 4th grade education. They get to poison your municipal water supply, that means FREEDOM from commie environmentalists and what not. They get protections against class action lawsuits, that beings deregulatory FREEDOM for...well you get the idea. Basically it's true that it's an incredibly 'free' country for rich, unscrupulous, monstrous corporations who face next to zero accountability, and the genius of them was convincing people that their success was also ours.
Granted, that's overcomplicating it a tad. For a lot of people, the 'freedom' part just means you can buy an assault rifle. You can't abort your rapists baby and soon enough you won't be able to marry your same sex partner but you can buy just about any ridiculous gun you want and that's all 'freedom' actually means to said freedom fetishists. Well that and getting to say the N-word. Although more if you hear someone talk about how important Free Speech is. 80% chance they just mean they want to say racial slurs on twitter.
But to your initial point, I definitely double take at anybody just on this website who puts that "American Furs" icon in their profile. Maybe they're just one of those...simpler furries who feels the need to put every group icon that possibly applies into their profile but otherwise I'm like...why would you paste that there, almost like you're proud of it? It's not okay to be proud of being American.
I guess I can kind of forgive the individual State icons since that might be for the sake of meeting other furries in the area, but still if you jot down "Texas Furs" then you should be obligated to point out that you know you live in a Christo-Fascist shithole. Well, a bigger one than most, since we all admittedly do, here.
That's actually been an interesting conversation to have when I can work up the mental fortitude. I like to try to talk to these people about what they think makes an American "more free" than a Canadian, or a Brit, or a Scot, etc. The answers (wont) surprise you. It's always the same stuff. Our healthcare system has us waiting 95 hours to see a doctor, we lose 80% of our income to taxes. Trudeau is turning us into a hyper communist space. It's apparently a cardinal sin that intentionally mis-gendering a trans person can get you charged with a hate crime. I've never gotten anything that's both true, and a positive point against our culture. Like yes, we absolutely have issues in Canada, politically and as a society and pretending they aren't there just makes it worse.
And a lot of those issues the states are experiencing the rest of the world needs to be aware of. Not because of American Exceptionalism. But because I dunno if people are paying attention, but Conservative gov'ts and Conservative parties around the world are in lock step. They spout the same narratives, the same talking points. No matter how vile one is in another country, they rush to defend them. And it's easy to see. As the GOP is picking up its anti-Trans rhetoric, you see the Canadian conservatives doing it, you see the UK Cons doing it. You see global Conservative media doing it. Once the GOP won their war on abortion you immediately saw conservatives around the globe pick up the desire to win the same battle.
And then when I get asked why I voted in Trudeau I can feel the confused look when I say that the Conservative party unanimously voted against banning forced electro-shock therapy for Trans people and I don't like being electrocuted.
I feel like if I let myself I could rant for another hour. Specifically if I let myself, about the furs I've seen go "you only hate me because I voted for Trump in both elections" and I just go "yup. That actually about sums it up." :< And now I'm reminded I wanted celebration art, hmm.
I remember on Twitter, a guy, forget where he was from exactly, somewhere in Europe, was accusing me of being an arrogant American who sees everything through an American lens because I was warning them that the collapse of America and its civil rights is gearing up to happen in other countries all over the world. The guy just wouldn't hear of it, telling me "the rest of the world doesn't operate like America but you just can't see that because all your Americans are the same," despite the fact that we're already seeing that shift in Europe. Britain destroyed its financial future because they were mad at Muslim refugees, France keeps flirting more and more with their fascist party for largely the same reason, and Poland's well into the process of, ironically, becoming a modern Nazi-Germany with their policies. Hatred, in general, is extremely popular right now and for the entirety of human history has always been far, far easier to sell than compassion and competence leadership. Competent leaders have to convince you to trust them, and convince you HARD. Despots and fascists don't have to do a god damn thing, people default to them if not soundly convinced not to.
Like yeah, I agree that America's slide into the abyss has been especially rapid, due largely to our extremely vulnerable political institutions, and what might be tempted to think that it's therefore a problem unique to us, but we just offer a summarized glimpse into the path the rest of the world is bound to take, and is already taking, if they don't recognize it and change course.
To your last point, that's one of the most malignant parts of our political discourse - any position, any person, no matter how extreme, dangerous, and violent, is presented as a legitimate idea worth equal consideration so long as it's shrouded in a mainstream political outlet. That's how our media and pundits treat it. Trump was a joke before he was President and now that he's proven that paper-thin white nationalism is popular and effective, we're forced to endure untold hours of coverage tantamount to "Should trans kids and Mexicans be ground up as supplemental fuel for automobiles? Conservatives say the practice could give the US a sizable advantage, but critics say..."