Hatred of America - Where's it Going?

[JailBush]

The United States is presumably the most hated nation in the world. If one could conduct an international survey of the most hated people on Earth, George W. Bush and Bill Gates would almost certainly rank among the top ten, which would likely include a few other members of Bush's administration.

Our allies are pretty much limited to the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia and Israel - and we're generally talking about governments (or Tony Blair), not the people.

Adding insult to insult, we can't stand ourselves; some of the people who hate the U.S. the most are U.S. citizens. Even right-wingers can be argued to hate America, as they attack the Constitution, civil liberties and the United States' most intelligent and patriotic citizens.

As the U.S. continues in its role as international Problem Child and as millions of people continue to suffer under he U.S. Chamber of Commerce jackboot, hatred of the U.S. will probably continue to grow.

And don't forget hate's handmaid, fear. Other nations have every reason to fear the United States, whose threats range from preemptive military strikes to sabotaging the global economy.

One has to wonder if hatred of the United States could get any worse. What kind of international protests will we witness if we launch another preemptive strike against Syria, Iran or Cuba? If Cuba goes ballistic, will the world blame George W. Bush for rattling its cage?

How will global citizens react if the U.S. detonates a nuclear weapons on foreign soil - besides stunned?

Most intriguing of all, how will this anger translate into action? Will foreign governments and NGOs begin meddling in U.S. politics? Will Al Qaeda be joined by Scandinavian tourists and Latin American suicide bombers? Will we get hit with trade wars and economic embargos?

This nation as a whole certainly deserves anything and everything it gets. If we don't show the world we care by not only booting Bush out of office but bring that treasonous bastard to justice and reversing his policies, then God damn us.

[amber dog democrat]

1. Welcome to a new Roman Empire

Let them hate so long as they fear.
I am thinking if the US in its Preemptive Strike Doctrine ever uses a thermonuclear device anywhere, then we are already finished as something recognizabable to our selves or other nations.

The United States Government will no longer be a leagal entity in the family of nations. It will have shed all pretense and become just another empire to take its place along side of the Mongols, or the Third Reich. Maybe not to the degree that these states posed threats to the rest of the world, but the strange transformation into a warring imperial nation state will by then be nearly total.

As it stands now, much of what is happening now under the Bush Admin is insuportable.

[jpgray]

2. Hopefully out of the white house next year

BAZING!

:D

Okay, seriously--

We already are getting hit with trade wars and embargoes. Those oil powers that we haven't shacked up with are switching to the euro, and the EU planned to react with outright hostility to Bush's amazing vanishing steel tariffs. The US can't do this sort of thing alone, at least not for any extended period of time. We do need partners in crime, economically if not militarily.

And I'd say fear is the "midwife" of hate. :D

[Deja Q]

3. Oh, it won't take much for the self-proclaimed superpower to fall

* oil embargo (uh, didn't we notice this in 1973 and not prepare since, instead just needing even more and more of it?!)

* we're in a nasty trade deficit as it is; we need the rest of the world more than they need us, especially for manufacturing.

* if enough countries boycotted our products, we'd be toast... some started on a minor scale because of the Iraq situation. My guess is that Europe, Asia, and other countries, can easily hold their own or might reconsider their need for us and prepare (like how we didn't after the 70s oil crisis...).

What good will America the country be to corporations, since they are also Americans and should be held accountable as well?

The Christian Science Monitor reported the US has been using nuclear weapons in Iraq (depleted uranium bullets). Why hasn't anybody been angered over that?

ANd you're right. The US will get what it deserves. If the people are so self-centered not to recognize the world and the US's horrendous involvement, they will get what they deserve. (we know better but we suffer as 'guilty by association'.)

We gotta wake 'em up.

[proud patriot]

4. They Hate Bush and his arrogant policies

I believe if Americans vote his ass out , that will go a long
way to reclaiming some of our integrity in the world .

I believe the world is waiting with baited breath to
see what we will do .

It's not America or the American people that they hate
it's our government and what is done around the world in our
names that they hate .

Every Human on the planet wants Freedom and the Pursuit
of Happiness .

[dani]

8. yeah, it's not so much a hate of America

but rather a hate of our government's arrogance. Most people in the world seem to have a certain respect and admiration for America and its accomplishments and wealth.

There's a book that came out not too long ago about this topic, "The Eagle's Shadow" by Mark Hertsgaard.
http://www.salon.com/books/int/2002/11/06/hertsgaard/

[demconfive]

5. As it stands right now...

...the hatred is for Bush and his Cabal(or, I should say, the Cabal and their Bush).Most of the worlds people are more experienced and thus more sophisticated in the application of contempt. That anger will, however, be transfered to us, the citizen, if we do not protest or fight against these assholes. I think the 2004 elections will be the turning point. As we speak the EU is trying to influence the election by selective use of tariffs, backed up with WTO decisions.
They won the steel battle by getting thousands of steel workers pissed off at Bush. The next battle is tax loopholes for offshore corporations. It is telling that the tariffs would be targeted to important for Bush's reselection.
I think there is still hope of American redemption, but it will take public outrage to do it. And even then, this country is so damaged right now that it will take decades to repair. If people don't start screaming bloody murder in the next 6 months then I don't think we'll have the momentum to push out these vermin. So get out there and speak your mind! Tell the truth about these A-holes every chance you get, to every one you meet. This is no time for politeness. Take the battle to them as they've been taking it to us for years. Act as though we are in a civil war because , in a way, we are.

[salinen]

7. When the entire world

bands together to protest an illegal war, is completely ignored, then found to be right, with no apology forecoming, then it is an imperialistic empire on the march. It' the world vs. The Republicans. Who's gonna win?

[starroute]

6. It could get a whole lot worse

The US message and the US self-image still dominate the international media. But this is already fading -- I read a while back that American tv shows are no longer as popular in other countries as they were a few years ago.

What's going to be really interesting is if Americans start showing up as the villains in other countries' movies, or if anti-American lyrics start to dominate the international hit parade.

Could such things be kept from gaining US distribution? Very likely. But if American popular entertainment gets crappier and crappier -- as it certainly will if the MPAA and RIAA have anything to say about it -- there will be as much hunger in the US for "subversive" foreign entertainment as there was in the old Soviet Union for American movies and pop music.

And what if standard American clothing -- blue jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers -- becomes the symbol of American imperialism to the point of being abandoned by the rest of the world in favor of something newer and groovier? Wanna bet how American teenagers might react to that?

I'd sure rather see things turn around in 2005. But if they don't, life could get extremely interesting in ways we haven't even dreamed of up to now.

[citizen snips]

9. We will always be hated.

We will always be hated when it comes to Bush and his war in Iraq. He went the U.N. and they did not approve at first. So Bush went to war anyway and now we are considered an outlaw nation.

[cliss]

10. The problem with Bush and his cronies

is that they have shown, time and time again that they don't need Europe, they don't need Asia or even the Eastern Bloc countries.

A very brief look at this administration's threats, arm-twisting and coarse dangling of money on a fishing line should be enough to convince even the most casual observer that these guys are ARROGANT, to the point of being psychotic.

They do not understand the word 'negotiate'. All they understand is 'take' 'Steal'. They're not even subtle about it. And they don't care that they're not subtle.

They're basically saying, "the world be damned, we're going to do as we please". And they have been doing just that for the past 3 years.

So the rest of the world hates us. As a matter of fact, many global citizens go to sleep at night, dreaming happy dreams of watching an atom bomb being dropped on New York City.

And that's the part that I still don't understand; how they could so completely dismiss people as a force for good; as allies and helpers. People can be a tremendous force, especially in large groups, or even as individuals. Take Iraq, for example.