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Interesting that the chickens have come home to roost long and loud enough for the government itself to assist with damage control. The political instability

Interesting that the chickens have come home to roost long and loud enough for the government itself to assist with damage control. The political instability of the United States causes real anxiety in other countries. While both the major political parties are significantly ignorant of the impact of the United States upon other countries, some people are clearly more ignorant than others. A very timely and tragi-comical guide from the State Department indeed.

tadfisher 3y ago
It's opinions like this that prompt me to tell others I'm Canadian when I'm a foreigner in their country. I'm not here to represent the U.S. government or enter debates about the shittiness of our culture, and in fact I very much enjoy leaving those subjects at home when I am abroad.
- sys_64738 3y ago
  I don't have any problem telling folk I'm an American now. I will never apologize for it and never apologize for actions that are not my doing.
  - tadfisher 3y ago
    That's perfectly fine. I just want to enjoy myself instead of engaging with the negativity of others. I try to hold my elected representatives accountable for what I can, and that's about all I can reasonably control.
    - nonethewiser 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - tadfisher 3y ago
        [flagged]
- gregjor 3y ago
  I have traveled and lived abroad full time for almost a decade. I have never encountered anyone who attacked me or expected me to defend the United States because I was born there. Not once. I’m pretty sure most people around the world understand I don’t represent all Americans, or the actions of my government. I have several times encountered other Americans pretending they come from Canada, or complaining constantly about the USA. And I have witnessed Americans abroad starting arguments about politics or guns or something about another country or culture they know nothing about. If you need to pretend you come from Canada to feel comfortable traveling maybe look at yourself. I don’t have any shame about my nationality. And I don’t feel any need to defend my country or engage in comparisons or criticisms that would lead to that kind of talk.
dragonwriter 3y ago
> Interesting that the chickens have come home to roost long and loud enough for the government itself to assist with damage control. The government has been doing this kind of image management targeting foreign audiences (and, through them, the policy stances of foreign governments) as part of public diplomacy for generations; the new thing isn’t realizing it is necessary and “trying to help”, its reframing what it has been doing for generations and providing resources to train and encourage individual Americans to act as agents of the government’s public diplomacy efforts.
- waffletower 3y ago
  It is an ostrich reaction to deny that sentiment toward Americans even among our closer allies in the West has been eroding. These efforts made by the State Department are indeed timely, regardless of any historic precedence. In very recent news, we see these perceptions discussed openly in US media: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/world/europe/brics-expansion-xi-lula.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/world/europe/brics-expans...
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    > It is an ostrich reaction to deny that sentiment toward Americans even among our closer allies in the West has been eroding. I didn’t deny that, what I denied is the claim that the recognition by the government that it is valuable to address various negative perceptions is a reaction to any recent change in overall perception, since they’ve literally been actively doing it for generations; what is new is the approach.
  - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
    > It is an ostrich reaction to deny that sentiment toward Americans even among our closer allies in the West has been eroding. I'm not American, but I'm white and speak English. When I was backpacking Europe and Asia almost 20 years ago, I would often get insulted just for being assumed to be American. Of course that was when Bush was in power which probably had something to do with it.
lolinder 3y ago
This material dates back at least to September 2020, before the 2020 election and the craziness that followed. It's not a reaction to any specific event or series of events, more to the general sense that Americans abroad have always been asked to account for the weirdly specific ideas that people have about what America is like. http://web.archive.org/web/20200927073110/https://www.state.gov/so-youre-an-american-a-guide-to-answering-difficult-questions-abroad/ http://web.archive.org/web/20200927073110/https://www.state....
- waffletower 3y ago
  2020 could be considered a much more urgent time for such cultural framing for American travelers.
  - lolinder 3y ago
    You mean because there weren't any because the borders were still all closed?
ksec 3y ago
> to assist with damage control........ The political instability of the United States causes real anxiety in other countries. >In the article: People outside of the United States are often curious about American culture, its politics, and the general way of life. Worth pointing out, 60%+ of HN audiences are from US, roughly ~20% from UK. I dont think most people are actually interested, but in English speaking countries we are constantly bombarded with US news, US politics, and worst, US culture war. This is further amplified by Internet and Tech. Before the mid 00s, Modern Tech wasn't a common industry for front page news. New product announcement didn't show up in local front page until iPhone ( At least outside US ). But we now live in an age where a 5 years old kid in developed world would have played with a Smartphone, watched TikTok or YouTube. And Tech, which is 90% concentrated in Silicon valley has their own culture bias to export. As much as we the rest of the world would like to ignore it, it has its influence to the outside world. Look at Twitter for example.

tadfisher 3y ago

It's opinions like this that prompt me to tell others I'm Canadian when I'm a foreigner in their country. I'm not here to represent the U.S. government or enter debates about the shittiness of our culture, and in fact I very much enjoy leaving those subjects at home when I am abroad.

sys_64738 3y ago
I don't have any problem telling folk I'm an American now. I will never apologize for it and never apologize for actions that are not my doing.
- tadfisher 3y ago
  That's perfectly fine. I just want to enjoy myself instead of engaging with the negativity of others. I try to hold my elected representatives accountable for what I can, and that's about all I can reasonably control.
  - nonethewiser 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - tadfisher 3y ago
      [flagged]
gregjor 3y ago
I have traveled and lived abroad full time for almost a decade. I have never encountered anyone who attacked me or expected me to defend the United States because I was born there. Not once. I’m pretty sure most people around the world understand I don’t represent all Americans, or the actions of my government. I have several times encountered other Americans pretending they come from Canada, or complaining constantly about the USA. And I have witnessed Americans abroad starting arguments about politics or guns or something about another country or culture they know nothing about. If you need to pretend you come from Canada to feel comfortable traveling maybe look at yourself. I don’t have any shame about my nationality. And I don’t feel any need to defend my country or engage in comparisons or criticisms that would lead to that kind of talk.

dragonwriter 3y ago

> Interesting that the chickens have come home to roost long and loud enough for the government itself to assist with damage control. The government has been doing this kind of image management targeting foreign audiences (and, through them, the policy stances of foreign governments) as part of public diplomacy for generations; the new thing isn’t realizing it is necessary and “trying to help”, its reframing what it has been doing for generations and providing resources to train and encourage individual Americans to act as agents of the government’s public diplomacy efforts.

waffletower 3y ago
It is an ostrich reaction to deny that sentiment toward Americans even among our closer allies in the West has been eroding. These efforts made by the State Department are indeed timely, regardless of any historic precedence. In very recent news, we see these perceptions discussed openly in US media: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/world/europe/brics-expansion-xi-lula.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/world/europe/brics-expans...
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > It is an ostrich reaction to deny that sentiment toward Americans even among our closer allies in the West has been eroding. I didn’t deny that, what I denied is the claim that the recognition by the government that it is valuable to address various negative perceptions is a reaction to any recent change in overall perception, since they’ve literally been actively doing it for generations; what is new is the approach.
- PrimeMcFly 3y ago
  > It is an ostrich reaction to deny that sentiment toward Americans even among our closer allies in the West has been eroding. I'm not American, but I'm white and speak English. When I was backpacking Europe and Asia almost 20 years ago, I would often get insulted just for being assumed to be American. Of course that was when Bush was in power which probably had something to do with it.

lolinder 3y ago

This material dates back at least to September 2020, before the 2020 election and the craziness that followed. It's not a reaction to any specific event or series of events, more to the general sense that Americans abroad have always been asked to account for the weirdly specific ideas that people have about what America is like. http://web.archive.org/web/20200927073110/https://www.state.gov/so-youre-an-american-a-guide-to-answering-difficult-questions-abroad/ http://web.archive.org/web/20200927073110/https://www.state....

waffletower 3y ago
2020 could be considered a much more urgent time for such cultural framing for American travelers.
- lolinder 3y ago
  You mean because there weren't any because the borders were still all closed?

ksec 3y ago

> to assist with damage control........ The political instability of the United States causes real anxiety in other countries. >In the article: People outside of the United States are often curious about American culture, its politics, and the general way of life. Worth pointing out, 60%+ of HN audiences are from US, roughly ~20% from UK. I dont think most people are actually interested, but in English speaking countries we are constantly bombarded with US news, US politics, and worst, US culture war. This is further amplified by Internet and Tech. Before the mid 00s, Modern Tech wasn't a common industry for front page news. New product announcement didn't show up in local front page until iPhone ( At least outside US ). But we now live in an age where a 5 years old kid in developed world would have played with a Smartphone, watched TikTok or YouTube. And Tech, which is 90% concentrated in Silicon valley has their own culture bias to export. As much as we the rest of the world would like to ignore it, it has its influence to the outside world. Look at Twitter for example.