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"If you're wondering why there was, and continues to be, resentment of the U.S. around the globe, the McDonald's protest is a pretty good example of how America

"If you're wondering why there was, and continues to be, resentment of the U.S. around the globe, the McDonald's protest is a pretty good example of how America manages to look like a bully to suit its economic interests." This feels like an exaggerated trope to me. There's certainly some concept of resentment of the US around the globe. Having traveled to a decent number of places and lived outside the US, however, I can't say that it's a significant amount among countries that the US makes some effort to maintain a cordial relationship with. A trade war involving tariffs and food regulations is still rather minor in the grand scheme of diplomacy and conflict.

dmix 7y ago
Edited: took a comment out about France which I realized was baiting some people the wrong way.
- vinay427 7y ago
  Well, in the case of citizenship I might pick France (it is #1 on the nationality index, after all) due to the EU and freedom of movement in the largest number of desirable places. https://www.nationalityindex.com/ https://www.nationalityindex.com/ However, as a place to live it would probably be far less clear for most people.
- Thrymr 7y ago
  > Don't worry, given the option between a citizenship in either I'd bet 99% of people would choose to live in the US instead of France. To challenge your made-up statistic, I'd bet that isn't even true of Americans if they were offered a choice and a work permit for France.
  - dmix 7y ago
    Sure but I'm not talking about a vacation or retirement. But a choice to live your life in either. Just my own estimation, so take that FWIW Not trying to trash them or start a flamewar. The French people and government do have a reputation in the Anglo world, probably equally as much as the US does in Europe. The country-side and cities are very nice there no doubt.
    - cc81 7y ago
      As far as the reputation of them being rude I've heard it is more of a Paris thing (which I guess would translate to a New York thing) and not so much outside of Paris. I've not been there in many years but I had a very nice time, even in Paris, and I would love to go back. I'm not from the US so depending on the relations at the time it might be a different experience. I assume when they were trashed in US media for not joining the Iraq war I there were at least some resentment against US tourists.
  - julienfr112 7y ago
    I know a couple that have an incredible apartment in the Keys florida. Really amazing. They are both French Us binational. One of them got sick. They live in Paris ever since. And that does not seem to be an isolate event : I can read weekly horror stories in Hacker News about health bills in the U.S.
- i_am_nomad 7y ago
  As an American so patriotic I practically have an A on my forehead, I can tell you that your 95% is way, way off. France, as a country and a culture, has essentially perfected the art of living. Even if (like me) you don’t like Paris, there are towns and villages throughout France that are heaven on Earth. Until I visited them, I could not believe such beautiful, happy and serene places existed.
  - david927 7y ago
    As an American who has lived in France, I can completely confirm.
    - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
      As an American who hangs out with a handful of french nationals, I'm not convinced enough to bet my citizenship on it, and this is coming from someone who likes both wine and cheese.
      - i_am_nomad 7y ago
        To be fair, the world’s greatest wines and cheeses often originate from the US these days.
        thiht 7y ago
        California has okay wines, but cheese? Please, you're the country of spray cheese and cubes of mozzarella
        i_am_nomad 7y ago
        There are cheeses being made today in Sonoma and Napa that are truly amazing. If you are a cheese aficionado at all, I implore you to sample them.
        vinay427 7y ago
        No offense, but as far as I can tell this doesn't even try to respond to the claim that there are great cheeses coming from the US today. It just propagates a largely irrelevant presumption that could be perfectly compatible with what it seems you're trying to disagree with.

dmix 7y ago

Edited: took a comment out about France which I realized was baiting some people the wrong way.

vinay427 7y ago
Well, in the case of citizenship I might pick France (it is #1 on the nationality index, after all) due to the EU and freedom of movement in the largest number of desirable places. https://www.nationalityindex.com/ https://www.nationalityindex.com/ However, as a place to live it would probably be far less clear for most people.
Thrymr 7y ago
> Don't worry, given the option between a citizenship in either I'd bet 99% of people would choose to live in the US instead of France. To challenge your made-up statistic, I'd bet that isn't even true of Americans if they were offered a choice and a work permit for France.
- dmix 7y ago
  Sure but I'm not talking about a vacation or retirement. But a choice to live your life in either. Just my own estimation, so take that FWIW Not trying to trash them or start a flamewar. The French people and government do have a reputation in the Anglo world, probably equally as much as the US does in Europe. The country-side and cities are very nice there no doubt.
  - cc81 7y ago
    As far as the reputation of them being rude I've heard it is more of a Paris thing (which I guess would translate to a New York thing) and not so much outside of Paris. I've not been there in many years but I had a very nice time, even in Paris, and I would love to go back. I'm not from the US so depending on the relations at the time it might be a different experience. I assume when they were trashed in US media for not joining the Iraq war I there were at least some resentment against US tourists.
- julienfr112 7y ago
  I know a couple that have an incredible apartment in the Keys florida. Really amazing. They are both French Us binational. One of them got sick. They live in Paris ever since. And that does not seem to be an isolate event : I can read weekly horror stories in Hacker News about health bills in the U.S.
i_am_nomad 7y ago
As an American so patriotic I practically have an A on my forehead, I can tell you that your 95% is way, way off. France, as a country and a culture, has essentially perfected the art of living. Even if (like me) you don’t like Paris, there are towns and villages throughout France that are heaven on Earth. Until I visited them, I could not believe such beautiful, happy and serene places existed.
- david927 7y ago
  As an American who has lived in France, I can completely confirm.
  - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
    As an American who hangs out with a handful of french nationals, I'm not convinced enough to bet my citizenship on it, and this is coming from someone who likes both wine and cheese.
    - i_am_nomad 7y ago
      To be fair, the world’s greatest wines and cheeses often originate from the US these days.
      - thiht 7y ago
        California has okay wines, but cheese? Please, you're the country of spray cheese and cubes of mozzarella
        i_am_nomad 7y ago
        There are cheeses being made today in Sonoma and Napa that are truly amazing. If you are a cheese aficionado at all, I implore you to sample them.
        vinay427 7y ago
        No offense, but as far as I can tell this doesn't even try to respond to the claim that there are great cheeses coming from the US today. It just propagates a largely irrelevant presumption that could be perfectly compatible with what it seems you're trying to disagree with.