Anti-American sentiment in SL forums

Why is it perfectly acceptable to bash an entire group of people over and over again in these forums? Arrogant, lazy, stupid - those are just the nicer things that get said about Americans by some non-American SL residents. Whether it is complaining about what time something is scheduled, how a message is worded, or something even as innocuous as a "what major events have happened since your birth" thread (with a list containing things like Princess Diana's death and the fall of the Berlin Wall among things like 9/11 and the Challenger explosion) all get met with posts about how self-involved Americans are , how there is more to the world than the US, how stupid Americans are, blah blah blah.

I am not from the US originally - I became a citizen as an adult and lived half of my life in Venezuela. I have been on the other side and seen the US from outside the US, and still I don't understand bashing an entire group of people. America, like any country, has its flaws, and Americans, like any country, are wildly different - not one collective hive mind. That type of nationalism is just divisive and does nothing to help. SL is without borders - it is one giant world, yet you couldn't tell that with how people act in the forums. Those with some attitude about Americans, get over yourself - it is not like your country is any better - and you don't represent your country, only yourself.

*uses voice over to not sound so borg-ish due to being part of the great big "evil" while i am lazy, i deny all other charges! and seeing as its the same ole same ole sentiment that has been going on for AGES and nothing ever changes 'round here cristiano.. i suggest we just suck it up...or cut off all foreign aid whichever ya want you decide

I'm afraid you'll see examples of Fundamental Attribution Error/Group Attribution Error pretty much day to day, Cris. It's not just anti-American sentiments, which is all the rage lately -- but even inside the US you'll have people picking on which states suck and the people who live in them. There's all sorts of ways of shoving groups of people into a box and sorting them that makes it easier to manage and conceptualize.

Honestly, it's rather hard to avoid doing it at times -- how many times a week have you considered thinking someone else is 'stupid'? A lot of times it's simply the other person is being difficult or otherwise disappointing, I've found -- yet, I, like others I know, reach for that 'stupid' word because it's easy.

What I can do, however, is recognize easier ones such as the one you're describing and stick out of it. It's also pretty useful as an earlier warning sign of folks you may wish to be more cautious around, if not avoid, depending on demeanor.

Oh I understand the localized phenomenon (believe me as a Floridian I understand it) - it is just something I see in the forums particularly acutely. It's generally the same people over and over saying the same tired crap. I just wonder how tolerated a bunch of posts targetted at people of other countries would be.

But you are what you eat and you Americans just eat burgers and fries. So whether you like it or not, you're all going to be the same.

Burgers and Coke make people shout "Woohoo!", "DOH!" and "WTF is this shit?!". Oh and not fogetting that cute little forgiving - "Why, thankya mam".

Oh and you have a tendency towards George Bush. You can't deny it. Cris. You're all the same!


Anyway, I'm off to go get myself some fish and chips and a nice cup of tea.




* sneaks into Mcdonalds for a coke and a burger *

It shouldn't be acceptable... however I can tell you this, even in Australia, even though the US is our ally, there is a strong anti-US sentiment. I know a lot of Americans in-world, and I find them as varied in their opinions and their nature as any other nationality. Im constantly trying to explain to RL friends that Americans aren't all as they view them, but just even mention the US and you always get 'Americans are so this and that'.
I can tell you where a lot of it stems from. Rightly or wrongly, a lot of resentment comes from US foreign policy, and that resentment spills over into people's opinion of US as a whole. I would hate to be judged by some of our countries policies, like the way we treat refugees here, so I won't judge anyone else in the same manner. But many people do.
There is a considerable amount of resentment here because many believe we were led into a war based on a lie. In fairness, that anger should be directed wholly at our government, but it's not. Also, many view the US as picking and choosing its' fights based on motivations other than the stated reasons. People wonder why one dictator is bad, and another is ok to do business with.
It's not my view, but it is a common view here, and this is from a country that soaks up US culture like a sponge.
Which leads me to another point. Your culture is dominant, all-pervasive. When you're in that position, what we call in Australia 'tall poppy syndrome' kicks in. As long as you are dominant, there will always be people who will try and pull you down. It's just human nature, sadly.

Now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one.

Lewis

I drink Mt. Dew and eat a lot of pizza, which is why I say WOOT a lot (and why my lactose intolerance repeatedly kicks my ass ). I voted for Gore and Kerry, though thanks to the magical election system in Florida, I am sure my votes ended up for Pat Robertson or something equally abhorrent.

I did vote for Jeb Bush though. You have to feel sorry for a grown man named Jeb. Also, did you ever notice he looks like Peter Brady of the Brady Bunch? I love the fact that his trophy wife thought she could sneak through customs after a $25,000 shopping spree and not declare anything. Those crazy rich people!

I am now going back to watching my Tivo, there is this really trashy British show called Footballers Wives that I like. Nothing like a show with a hermaphrodite baby storyline. Those wacky Brits. Oh wait...

See, that is my point.

crazy masshole!

gg;nm d00der.

LOL that is as bad as Floriduh.

I'm the craziest Masshole on the entire gird.

Word.

you cant take lewis seriously cristiano, he still thinks england will invade and retake america...but unless he pays me the big bucks to get him into the country is not happenin!

bel you SO dont beat me in that category!

Oh I don't take him seriously, it's just an example.

Yet again you use one of my posts as a launchpad for another generalisation. I was just starting to think your posts in the last day or so were starting to sound more reasoned. Is there anything, anyone, that's 'ok' with you Lewis?

Oh you should, I'll be there again in two weeks for another holiday... sorry vacation, I forgot you guys don't speak English.

Look at the crap you guys have on the tv, and the amount of channels full of that crap that you have.

"Everybody loves Raymond"

"Everybody hates Chris"

Wow... such imagination.

Lewis

I like pie.

Lewis

actually two of my fave shows of all time are british...ab fab and young ones....bring me some marmite and maybe i will let you live

Everybody Hates Chris was named that as a tongue in cheek reference to the other show. Like your tv is any better, or less derivative? Television sucks in general.

Dude I'm English by birth... and let me tell you, Eastenders, It's A Knockout, Are You Being Served?, Benny Hill, Coronation Street, etc... not exactly quality either.

As long as the pie isn't doing better than you, I'm sure.

Ok, let's try to give a reasoned response.

Firstly, I don't disagree with you that this kind of anti-American sentiment can be seen, and the stupid comments from one poster confirm that.

There are a number of reasons for it, I think. One of them is that the American culture is so ubiquitous. In Britain we go down to the local McDonald's, then go home to watch all-in wrestling or some American detective series on the TV. American expressions are invading the language. In my lifetime we have gone from saying 'You can get it free' to 'You can get it for free', and there are lots more examples of this. This tends to breed resentment, albeit on an unconsious level.

American foreign policy is another. To be quite honest, from our perspective America seems to be an aggressive imperialist country, run by a lunatic. That doesn't exactly warm the cockles of one's heart.

Thirdly, there is the thing that has only become manifest since the internet appeared - the perception of many Americans that America is the world. This one does annoy me, and I often comment about it in the forums. SL is supposed to be an international site, and yet I have gone to trivia where all the questions have been purely of American interest, have seen postings where a general comment is made and on checking you find it is referring to some American phenomenon. People have made comments on here like, "We are all Americans, after all."

This posting is not intended to be a criticism of Americans, but you asked a question, and I have tried to give you a response. Certainly the British are far from immune to the same failings.

I would take heart from the fact that at the moment, when people in Britain make anti-American statements, they usually do so in a humorous manner. There is still a lot of affection for Americans here (the response to 911 over here proved that without a doubt), and we like to shake our heads and 'tut' at the antics of our young cousins. It's just that sometimes we fail to see how hurtful those kind of comments can be under certain circumstances.