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Why are so worried, then, whether the world is anti-american or not? Why use that term, if you personally don't want see the world through nationalist optics?
by js8 1y ago
Why are so worried, then, whether the world is anti-american or not? Why use that term, if you personally don't want see the world through nationalist optics?
I saw a commenter the other day here claiming that in EU, there are lot of "anti-american" far left sentiments. They weren't able to elaborate, who exactly that is; as someone on the left, I don't see it.
For example, I live in EU, I support DiEM25, and I am against NATO, as well as stopping other military activities. I also agree with Chomsky. Is any of this anti-american? How is then yibg's comment anti-american?
I guess you can't have it both ways - the american soft power (you seem to miss) came with exceptionalism. I agree that Switzerland is nice, but they simply don't have that soft power.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 1y agoIf people outside the US complain about what the US does, we should stop doing it. The fact that everyone complains about US foreign policy means we need to course-correct. No one complains about Swiss foreign policy. I think we agree, since we're both against NATO. Not sure why you're trying to argue with me.
- herbst 1y agoAccording to swiss news orange man does in fact complain about swiss foreign policies to the American public.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 1y agoNews to me.
- herbst 1y agoEx. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/04/swiss-president-shares-plunge-us-tariffs-trump https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/04/swiss-presid... He literally made a personal point out of it calling the swiss president things in public.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 1y agoI don't see any complaints about the Swiss policy of neutrality, which is what I want to adopt in the US.
- js8 1y agoNo, I think we agree, that's why I wonder why you use the word "anti-american". And I think you should consider not using it, as it's inappropriate* to use that word to denote just critics of american government or american foreign policy. I think people abroad who criticize these things recognize that not every American agrees with these policies, and mostly don't have any objection against ordinary Americans or their way of life. *The issue is in American politics, especially on right-wing, the term "anti-american" is typically implies presumed hatred against ordinary Americans or their way of life. In other words, its meaning is about ethnicity, not a political view.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 1y agoIf you look at the Wikipedia page, my usage is fairly typical. It's a vague term which can be applied to critics of US foreign policy who want us to stop being the world police: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Americanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Americanism >people abroad who criticize these things recognize that not every American agrees with these policies Pretty common nowadays for all of the US to be blamed for Trump's election. See this discussion from the other day. No one outside the US said I shouldn't be blamed for the votes of my neighbors: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45035046 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45035046 In any case, the original discussion is related to freedom of speech. The US is usually criticized more for this, regardless of how other countries are doing. See e.g. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/08/europe-free-speech-republicans/683915/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/08/europe-fre... This represents an anti-American bias, which is due to our foreign policy. >its meaning is about ethnicity "American" is not an ethnicity.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 1y agoI'm not sure why people are downvoting this comment. Is it some sort of "beatings will continue until morale improves" thing?