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Are Americans Still Welcome in Europe?
- dtagames 1y agoThanks for this timely post! My mother is going to Paris next week and asked me the very same question. I concur with Rick. In my experience travelling and living in Europe, Americans are well liked despite whatever politics the country as a whole may take on. As he says, it's extremely important for us to be good ambassadors -- deferential, open, and keeping it light.
- trgn 1y agoEarly Iraq years were the same. It's alright, just nod and smile through all the reductive and offensive things you'll be hearing
- mano78 1y agoAs we do when Vance speaks of us
- sirbutters 1y ago[flagged]
- dtagames 1y agoI told Mom that, too. By putting yourself on a plane and spending money there, you are sending the message that you like France and that's the message they receive. They know that makes you different from Americans who don't come.
- orwin 1y agoHonestly, I don't think most french she will talk to will care who your mother voted for. She will probably find us 'rude', but we really aren't, we have different social software than people from the US, and some of us will probably find your mom 'too nice'. I hope she enjoys her trip here anyway.
- robocat 1y agoI'm much more interested in someone who says they voted for Trump. What makes em tick? Then again, I find people with mental health issues interesting - some of my good friends are literally crazy. There are Trump supporters that are New Zealanders too - although they are often quiet about it (due to pushback from more socialist types). The memetic infection of American partisanship and bullshit is strong here. Talk with people and hear clichéd US words and statements (left & right) regurgitated.
- BrandoElFollito 1y agoIf this is her first time in France, please tell her that the remove indifference she will be faced with has nothing to do with her being American. We are much less "surface friendly" then in the US - this is particularly visible in shops and restaurants. Nobody will greet her as if she was a long time friend. I would say this is probably the only thing that she will notice. Ah yes, and kilograms, meters and celsius. And people crossing the street on red light. And people saying fuck rather than f**k.
- fifilura 1y agoI think most of Europe understands that half of you did not vote for the orange man. And in particular if you are well educated or work at a university looking for new opportunities you will be more than welcome. If you misbehave though you will probably be frowned upon as a MAGA. But not much more than a frown. No reason to invent any risk, most of Europe is still an open society and have not changed. If you plan to go to Hungary or places like Serbia, I am guessing that you will more greeted. And soon enough I guess you will be able to travel to Russia and Belarus (also Europe), but I would not recommend it.
- mvdtnz 1y agoThings have changed significantly the past couple of weeks. I'm much less welcoming of Americans - any Americans - in my life now. I'm not European and don't speak for Europeans (or anyone but myself) however.
- BrandoElFollito 1y agoThe important thing for her will be the weather. This week was great, next week may be less great. Another imprint thing is that this is vacation time for children in the Paris area. This is rather a good thing. Besides that they're is nothing to worry about. Seriously. We discuss like crazy what is happening in the US but this is like a tv series. When we meet real Americans we don't care (well, someone may tease her a bit :))
- agubelu 1y agoTell her to be polite, learn the most basic French sentences and say bonjour/bonsoir to bus drivers, shopkeepers and hotel staff, and she'll be more than fine.
- AStonesThrow 1y agoLook at it this way: the United States is such a gigantic territory with a broad spectrum of different peoples and cultures. It’s like asking if Africans are welcome, or are Asians welcome? I think any tourism or hospitality industry will welcome anybody who is polite, courteous and spends money. That’s the bottom line, literally. Bonus: most Americans understand English and spend $USD! Anyone who will check into a hotel, spend money on taxis, dining, and entertainment, doesn’t get into illegal shit, and purchases souvenirs? That’s a welcome tourist. Of course, that’s assuming that Americans travel for conventional tourism. If you’re going to travel for a protest, or to smuggle drugs, or to advance some political agenda, then that’s not really tourism. Or if you’re a member of a women’s basketball team and you’re casually smuggling marijuana... all bets are off.
- basisword 1y ago>> most Americans understand English and spend $USD! Please don't try to spend USD in Europe...
- ahoka 1y agoProbably still works in the Balkan.
- dtagames 1y agoAmericans think of it this way because our bank statements will show the USD amount, no matter where we buy things. And to us, it is "spending USD" because that's what we had to earn.
- AStonesThrow 1y agoTechnically we are spending USD, if we show up somewhere without already having converted our currency. Personally I purchased a Travelex prepaid debit card ahead of time, with Euros ready to spend in Catalonia, but it was reloadable, and I also needed to do some snap ATM conversions to £ Sterling in London. Most tourists head to an exchange window, turn their USD into the local currency, and therefore those exchanges have got our genuine Benjamins to do whatever with. And USD is highly-favored, highly-negotiable money everywhere in the world, as of April 2025 anyway.
- VoodooJuJu 1y ago[dead]
- jacknews 1y agoi think americans are generally welcomed in most places, with some caveats and reservations the real question is how many nationalities are now welcome in america?
- fragmede 1y agoBy the people that live there or the government?
- mezod 1y agoTLDR: Yes, of course. PS: Happy to show you around if visiting Barcelona.
- betaby 1y agoVisited Barcelona in 2015, at that time anti-tourist graffities were abundant at Gothic Quarter and generally visible everywhere in the city. I saw some anti-tourist gaffities at Ghent as well, for example. However, amount of them in Barcelona left me thinking.
- zabzonk 1y agoAnti-tourist yes, but not necessarily anti-American.
- mezod 1y agoThat's a whole other topic. There's a relevant part of Barcelona's society who reject tourists in general (not Americans specifically) because of the impact tourism has had in the city. Note that many still haven't recovered of the impact of 2008 GFC, 2010-2012 slump, with incomes still under pre-2008, and who are now having serious trouble to even afford a roof. So even though there might be some minor hostility towards tourism, it has nothing to do with americans. It's a problem in every major european city I believe.
- Freak_NL 1y agoThose are there because of overtourism, and the locals have a point. Europe is big enough, but if you have any sense you'll ignore Venice, Barcelona, Bruges, Amsterdam, Ghent, and even parts of Paris and Rome, and go to somewhere where tourists aren't mostly seen as a nuisance crowding out the local residents. Or do go and get splashed at with water pistols.
- optionalsquid 1y agoLeave your MAGA hats and your MAGA views at home, and few Europeans are gonna have a problem with you
- bilekas 1y agoI think leaving politics at home is always good advice when travelling, you're there to enjoy yourself, not spread political ideas. Unless you're entering a genuinely willing conversation that can be had maturely, definitely leave it at home.
- jofla_net 1y agoI was told I was 'forgiven' long before MAGA was a thing, near the bridge outside of Notre Dame Cathedral. Let me tell you, that made my day. Don't envy that waiter's career.
- AlgorithmicTime 1y ago[dead]
- brandall10 1y agoI've traveled quite a bit over the past few years (including a couple dozen cities in Europe), and I've found at events at many hostels/shared housing I've been at, it routinely comes up, esp. when alcohol is involved. With young Europeans, it seems to be a point of fascination with them that such stuff is happening in our country. And they will implicitly assume you're progressive because you're traveling in that part of the world.
- kmeisthax 1y agoThe funny thing about this is that Europe is chock full of even loonier fascists than the MAGA hats. The far-right is, ironically, very globalist. Almost like a rainbow coalition of fascists. The problem is that they all think fucking over each other is going to make them #1. You can't have a world where "America First", "Germany First", "Islam First", "Japan First", "Korea First", "Korea First", "China First", and "India First" all[0] coexist. They're far too egotistical to be satisfied with a tie. Someone has to be second. We're seeing a lot of Europe and Canada rally around the current liberal establishment, because Trump started the global race war before every country was actually committed to it, and the fascists are realizing they might wind up on the losing end of it. But let's also remember that a year ago, the AfD was talking about deporting German citizens, and had even hoodwinked the liberal establishment into supporting shit like holding refugee claimants in Rwanda. Europe looked like it was about to fall to fascists that are smarter and more well-connected than the American equivalent. The divide, of course, is not "European" vs. "liberal American" vs. "MAGA hat". It's "those who show humanity to others" vs. "those who see others as a tool to be consumed". [0] If you're wondering, these correspond roughly to the MAGA wing of the GOP, the AfD, ISIS, all those idiots in Japan with sound trucks, Kim Jong-Un, , Xi Jinping, and Narendra Modi. For context, Xi Jinping is very, very ethnonationalist, despite running a nominally Communist party.
- hn_throwaway_99 1y agoI thought these paragraphs were the most insightful: > While the Trump phenomenon feels unprecedented to many Americans, much of the world has seen figures like him before. Many Europeans have had firsthand experience — whether recent or generational — of chafing under a leader whose politics they find outrageous. In recent years alone, we’ve seen the rise of right-wing politicians across Europe who can broadly be described as “Trump-like,” from Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi and Giorgia Meloni, and from France’s Marine Le Pen to the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders. Trump is merely our local manifestation of a global trend. > While Americans tend to be idealistic, many Europeans are steely-eyed realists. A hard history has taught them that you can’t always judge a person by their current leader. And they recognize that more Americans voted against Trump than voted for him; even if they’re alarmed at the actions of America, they don’t paint all Americans with the same, broad brush. I think the reason that the rise of Trump has been so painful for many Americans is that it has shattered our view of American idealism (or perhaps a slightly different type of "American Exceptionalism", if you will). When I was a kid and learned about the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, I remember thinking "How could people be so stupid? Why would they want to support these autocrats?" I don't think that anymore.
- zabzonk 1y agoPeople are still stupid and willing to be misled, wherever they are from.
- lo_zamoyski 1y agoI think the lessons people most fail to learn concern why someone like Trump could be elected into office in the first place. It's easy to sigh with contempt at the current leadership (and there is plenty to detest), but it is more difficult to examine the failures of the political establishment, to examine the failures of the liberal order, and to examine how these failures create a situation that allows for the proverbial poison that lurks in the mud to hatch out. It is especially difficult for such an establishment to do so as that would require self-criticism. Note that I am not legitimizing the poison, but as often happens, excesses and errors committed in one direction often produce excesses and errors in the other, as if to counterbalance. It doesn't mean all poison is the product of an opposing poison. There is no legitimacy to Hitler (who was driven by and preyed on German narcissism and insecurity, as well as economic factors) or Stalin (who preyed on class envy). And it is also lazy to put all reaction to these failures into the same bucket. MAGA is not the same as much of what falls under "postliberalism"[0]. There are serious thinkers who are responding, within a broader tradition, to the collapse of the liberal order by examining its causes and looking at possible exits from the situation. [0] https://www.postliberalorder.com/ https://www.postliberalorder.com/
- basisword 1y agoIt reminds me a lot of the Iraq years. I don't think people judge individual Americans but be ready for people to say lots of negative things about American politics to you, even if you don't bring it up. Nothing personal but just generally.
- maeil 1y agoAs a Swede who was around back then, it's completely different this time around. At that time despite animosity, there was no (anywhere remotely mainstream) talk of decoupling from the US, reducing dependence on them, seriously reevaluating the relationship. Now there is, and people are serious. More importantly, the way in which the US spoke about Europe back then was completely different. Currently, the US treats Europe as adversaries.
- Sparkyte 1y agoI think these comments here are politically charged. There are a lot of walk of life in the US not limited to politics or who/what someone voted for. I am sure if Americans are not welcome in Europe it isn't because they are an American, but that individual isn't very nice or polite around others. I haven't been to Europe in a long time, because Asia is so much more awesome.
- maeil 1y agoThere are plenty of Russians who aren't politically engaged. I think you can see why they may still not be as welcome in Europe as, say, someone from Peru.
- Sparkyte 1y agoDemeanor is everything. Not politics.
- maeil 1y agoI can tell you that it's now the norm in many European institutions that are even remotely sensitive or deep technology related to spend much more effort on background checks for Chinese and Russian nationals than for those of other countries. That's not very welcome. Look past pure tourism.
- thctphr 1y agoWhat an odd thing to ask. Why wouldn't they be?
- mog_dev 1y agoWhy would they be? We have enough of one threat on the east
- davidw 1y agoPeople are likely to start suffering real, personal pain because of all the garbage coming from the White House. If you lost your job at the factory because of the tariffs, and hear some loud Americans next to you at the bar... maybe you don't feel so charitable towards them compared to a more abstract dispute over, say, your views on the best way to provision health care. Not sure how likely that will be (the bars where factory workers hang out tend to not be the ones in tourist areas, for one), but it seems plausible to me. I wouldn't let that stop me from travelling though.
- simlevesque 1y agoThe US is instigating an economic war against the every single country in the world. Americans pretending to be canadians while abroad to be treated better was already a thing before this happened. Your reaction of ignoring this problem and acting as if all is normal because it doesn't affect you amplifies the problem.
- thctphr 1y agoI've never heard of Americans disguising themselves as Canadians to be treated better while traveling abroad. I just looked into "Flag Jacking," an interesting concept. I travel quite a bit and have never done this, nor would I ever. If people treat me differently, it is a testament to their character. I don't have such hatred and bias toward people regardless of their government's position on certain topics. There is a problem; it has existed for a long time and it's called complacency and stagnation.
- happytoexplain 1y agoYou gave a response in the format of "what could you be referring to?", but there is a whole blog post under the headline explaining the premise of the question (a premise which you may reasonably disagree with).
- maeil 1y agoAre Chinese people still welcome in Europe? Yes, but with caveats, and more scrunity. So not as welcome as e.g. Japanese people. Americans are now part of the same group as Chinese people.
- fifilura 1y agoThe Chinese are looked upon with distrust, not because of who they are, but because the Chinese regime puts pressure on exchange students, workers and probably tourists to spy.
- ValveFan6969 1y agoWatch any travel vlog. Someone goes to China, Russia, Pakistan, you name it. The people are decent when you treat them decently. If you Europeans are openly showing distrust for Americans and Chinese simply for being American or Chinese, it might be a "you" problem, just saying.
- BrandoElFollito 1y agoWe are not, don't take the word of someone random on internet. As your said, this is the behavior of an individual, tourist or local, that makes the man or woman.
- empath75 1y agoI have backpacked around places where literally the US funded decades-long civil wars that devastated the country, and people do not blame you for what your government does. Even in places like Nicaragua where the government is _tremendously_ anti-American, even talking to communist true believers that say they hate everything America stands for (oh and was _that_ a fun night of drinking), in towns with "Viva la Revolution" and "Colonizer Go Home" graffiti, they were incredibly nice to me personally. There was one particular person in a group of locals I was hanging out with who pretended she didn't speak english, because she was annoyed about having to accommodate me and my terrible spanish, until we started talking about Sasha Baron Cohen movies and then suddenly she started speaking enthusiastic english that sounded like she was a UCLA Film Studies major. I talked to a guy in El Salvador that got deported for being in MS-13 and he just wanted to chill and talk about the US and sports. I talked to someone from Colombia that was struggling to get a visa to visit her brother and she was mad about the _situation_, but not mad at _me_ about it, she just wanted to vent. Just listen more than you talk and be careful about how you talk about politics unless you're in the mood for an argument.
- qoez 1y agoAmerican movie exports is alive and well. Most europeans see americans positively from decades of hollywood propaganda. A few months of trump hasn't and isn't going to change that. Stop reading twitter if you've been convinced otherwise
- Freak_NL 1y agoOf course they are, as long as you make an effort not to stand out too much. Obviously, that means no MAGA hats (but who wears those outside of the US?), but also no USA flags on clothing, hats, or whatever (and definitely no flag of Israel). Tip: look more neutral by wearing camouflage, like a white sweater with a red 11-pointed maple leaf on it. Don't try to pay everything by credit card (excepting tourist traps and museums). If you voted Republican and consider yourself one: don't tell a soul. Ever. Learn to say 'good morning/day/evening', 'thank you', 'please', and 'I'm really sorry about Trump' in the local language. A little effort is often appreciated.
- orwin 1y ago> But one consistent idea resounded clearly. When I asked each of our guests whether Americans would still be welcome in their country, they all said the same thing: Yes, of course! Why on earth wouldn’t Americans be welcome here? I concur. Asking the question is weird. And contrary to the comments here, and despite my extremely leftwing views, I don't care if you voted MAGA or not, and I think most European, except maybe terminally online ones, is the same. Half my friends have politics I don't like, as long as they aren't disrespectful and talking shit about people they don't know, I'm fine with it.
- skerit 1y ago> And what if you’re a Trump supporter? I believe that, yes, even Trump voters can have a good experience in Europe — provided that they travel with a spirit of empathy, curiosity, and open-mindedness. I met an elder couple from Arizona on a European cruise last year. (Seated at the table next to us at dinner) While they were very nice, I had no intention of involving any politics in our conversations, out of fear of having to listen to batshit insane rants. At some point, it became clear that they were not in any way pro-Trump, and it made our conversations just a tad nicer to have that out of the way. On my other side there was a couple from Canada and a couple from the UK. The Canadians kept talking about how they wish the conservatives would get back to power and-for some reason-their love for the _previous_ pope, while the Brits repeatedly said they miss Boris Johnson.
- ath3nd 1y ago> even Trump voters can have a good experience in Europe — provided that they travel with a spirit of empathy, curiosity, and open-mindedness. I chuckled.
- lo_zamoyski 1y agoThere's plenty of batshit to go around tbh. I wish people would notice more of it on their own "side", as it is easy to notice it on the other. Both the Left and the Right are utterly unhinged in their own ways.
- ath3nd 1y agoTo be fair, one of the side's actions terribly remind me of some events that happened sometime ago in Europe. - hostility towards non traditional sexuality - immigration being used as the scapegoat for economic problems - strong feeling of national exceptionalism - assault on women's productivity rights - politicizing of science - deportation for political reasons - "Roman" salutes Mind you, I am not mentioning which "side" nor which events in Europe. But if the shoe fits...
- jjice 1y agoI was in London last week. Everyone was incredibly kind and welcoming. Some people made some jokes about the US (which were welcome and light hearted) and we all had a good time.
- moomin 1y agoI remember when Brexit happened, every time I got chatting to someone in Europe they would, politely, try to figure out where I stood on the issue. When they figured out that I was pro-European they wanted to know my take on what was going on in the UK. I imagine that if I'd been pro-Brexit they'd have just avoided the subject and discussed the weather. I imagine you'll experience the same thing as an American coming to Europe right now.
- lo_zamoyski 1y agoI find it odd to opine about the political business of other countries. That is, I might perceive a subject matter a certain way, or I may recognize the moral issues with a particular policy (if serious enough, I might even endorse some form of intervention, if prudent). Heck, I might even, in principle, offer a dispassionate analysis of a given policy if I were a political analyst. But what I don't understand is how a foreigner can be "pro-X" as it the issue were personal. In the case of Brexit, as someone who isn't British, I have no opinion one way or another. I might have a view of what the relative trade-offs are, perhaps te impact of Brexit on my country, but to claim to be pro- or contra-Brexit seems as ridiculous as supporting or opposing my neighbor's choice of furnishings or home building material. The question doesn't belong to the common good I share with the neighbor. Brexit, like many issues, was more of a litmus test for gauging "political purity", whether someone is in the political in-group or out-group, kosher or treif.
- moomin 1y agoBut neither Brexit nor the US foreign and trade policy _are_ just other country's politics. All of these things directly affected/affect the EU27. It's not just a football game. e.g. You'd best believe the average polish person cares pretty deeply about what's going on in Ukraine. In any event, I found they didn't want to tell me what they thought about it, they wanted to hear my perspective on why these things were happening. Obviously I claim no great political insight, but I could tell them what it looked like at ground zero.
- bryanlarsen 1y ago> I find it odd to opine about the political business of other countries AFAICT, they weren't opining, they were asking questions. I think that's very natural. "My media is telling me that there's some weird stuff going on over there, can you tell me what's really going on?"
- SirMaster 1y agoAre people actually worried about or even spend time thinking about this?
- happytoexplain 1y agoYes
- pseudalopex 1y agoYour question was answered in the article's 2nd sentence.
- SirMaster 1y agoWhat constitutes "being asked many times". Is it a statistical significance in the general population? I don't know anyone who is even remotely thinking about or concerned about this. If you read farther they say: "When I asked each of our guests whether Americans would still be welcome in their country, they all said the same thing: Yes, of course! Why on earth wouldn’t Americans be welcome here? Some of them seemed perplexed, even offended, by the premise of the question."
- pseudalopex 1y ago> What constitutes "being asked many times". Is it a statistical significance in the general population? I don't know anyone who is even remotely thinking about or concerned about this. The author does. Statistical significance has no definition in this context. You would ask the author what constitutes being asked many times if you wanted to know. > If you read farther they say: "When I asked each of our guests whether Americans would still be welcome in their country, they all said the same thing: Yes, of course! Why on earth wouldn’t Americans be welcome here? Some of them seemed perplexed, even offended, by the premise of the question." Do you believe this disproves any Americans spend time thinking about it? Some Europeans I know would be offended by the question. I doubt any would be perplexed. And some feel less gracious than the American travel writer's colleagues.
- kmeisthax 1y ago> Over that span, the time that felt most like our current situation came in 2002 and early 2003, when President George W. Bush began to pressure European allies to join the I-can’t-believe-we-actually-called-it-that “Coalition of the Willing” to invade Iraq, based on what turned out to be false claims. When France was reluctant to join our fight, the response of the American public was as immediate and intense as it was nonsensical. Many Americans, who insulted the French as “surrender monkeys,” pledged to rebrand French fries as “Freedom fries” and boycott French’s mustard… which is based in Rochester, New York. Sales of our tours and guidebooks in France took a significant hit. One silver lining of the post-truth hellscape we live in is that it's far harder for the US government to directly manufacture consensus like this. In 2002 Bush had every US paper burying anything outside the narrative[0]. In 2025, if Trump so much as says the sky is blue, you'll see at least one clueless, schismogenic[1] idiot insisting that it's green, always been green, and that green is better. While that's an obviously stupid example, it's generally good that people are questioning ShitGovernmentsSay™. Now if only we could get the MAGA hats to start questioning their chosen god-emperor... [0] To be clear, most people in Europe knew Saddam wasn't buying yellowcakes, because the papers were reporting on the obvious falsity of the evidence over there. [1] Schismogenesis is the process of social division, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schismogenesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schismogenesis
- r0ckarong 1y agoIf you actually perform all the steps to get a passport an leave the country to see the world for yourself that's a YUUGE (sic!) sign that you're not "one of those".
- mvdtnz 1y agoAccording to my very quick googling the difference in the likelihood of owning a passport between republicans and democrats is only about three percentage points - hardly "YUUGE".
- PeterStuer 1y agoNobody ever cared about politics when it comes to tourists. It's about your behaviour as a human being. Yes, there are different customs, and while the last few decades have steadily grinded to erode these, even today there are still stark differences between the different European people. If you are going to be loud, opinianated and callous, people are not going to dislike you for being 'american', 'english' or 'dutch', just for being loud, opinionated and callous. Many americans visit here and are amical, culturally curious and respectfull. Nobody sane over here is going to go object to you because 'trump'. Leave your maga hats as wel as your pronouns at home, and enjoy your trip.
- happytoexplain 1y ago>Leave your maga hats as wel as your pronouns at home, and enjoy your trip. It's hard not to point out how desperately sad the state of affairs is when wearing a political slogan and using a pronoun (I'm assuming there is an implicit premise you're leaving out) are on the same level of "being political". Shall we also leave our race and gender at home? How?
- sph 1y ago> Shall we also leave our race and gender at home? How? “I don’t want a Black History Month. Black History is American History. I’ll stop calling you a white man if you stop calling me a black man.” — Morgan Freeman You can leave race and gender at home if you stop talking about it all the damn time. Whatever passes these days for racial equality is anything but. I don’t hear people making so much fuss about including the correct quota of green eyes people in movies and work teams. /rant
- threatofrain 1y agoIt's the reverse direction which always warrants us fulfilling a causal chain. If we see something then we should be able to talk about it, even if there's an army of meta-commentators producing downstream effects. For example, we should be able to talk about an ongoing bank run even if it tilts the outcome, just as we should be able to talk about the plain observations of race in front of our faces.
- notlisted 1y agoEurope worries about Americans that don't leave the country. Americans who travel to Europe (have a passport) are rarely the 'T%%' shirt or 'Maggi' Cap-wearing kind. If anything, traveling Americans have always been known for their ample smiles, friendly nature, unbridled enthusiasm, and positivity/sunny outlook. [Recent actions by the current administration did help unify Europe, but they mostly feel sorry for us. Anyone part of the group stuck in the 'faux news' bubble may have a bad time, because nothing they've been told turns out to be true...]
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- ojhughes 1y agoYou might want to sew a Canadian flag on your bag just in case
- iteratethis 1y agoYes, you're welcome. I'm from the Netherlands, middle-aged and have never met a person in my circles with a genuine hate of America or Americans. There's plenty of critique on the state of US society, but that doesn't translate to general hate for any random American, unless you're intentionally provocative. Likewise, we do not hate US products. It's just that in the case of food and cars, we have plenty ourselves of an equal or better quality. Should you be conservative and drop a few of those views in casual conversation, I can assure you that this doesn't shock the average European. In fact, counter intuitively you may find out that progressive Americans are far more progressive than progressive Europeans. Culturally that is, not economically. Do avoid obnoxious patriotism or bragging about the US.