User	Comment
Galomorro	posted 10-Aug-2002 1:04am   I think I'll guess "mixed feelings." I do know that lots of people in developing countries like to acquire US things, like clothing and music.
anoddoblivion	posted 10-Aug-2002 1:22am   Most have no feelings or dislike, although almost all see it as a land of opportunity.
romkey	posted 10-Aug-2002 8:30am   My opinion is that I don't have much basis for an opinion. When we traveled in China (during the whole stupid spy plane incident) people we met seemed able to distinguish between the actions of our government and the actions of individuals, and were very nice and friendly on an individual basis. They were also not big on talking politics. On a collective basis, I don't think even Canada and Mexico like us. I think it's difficult to really deal with this question because conditions in China are very different from conditions in Cairo. We didn't get much man in the street opinion in Cairo; we were insulated by our hotel and our guide, which I feel a bit bad about except that it helped avoid the whole trip there being one big cheap souvenir selling experience. (China's so big that conditions that conditions in China are different from conditions in China, but I digress)
romkey	(reply to joachim) posted 10-Aug-2002 8:32am   hey, welcome back!
confetti	posted 10-Aug-2002 11:16am   I'm an American living in a third world country (Costa Rica) and I would say there are undertones of mild condescension (no crap) which is mostly humorous...and a lot of people who dream of Miami and defend all Gringos
confetti	posted 10-Aug-2002 11:17am   It's not something you know of until you've experienced it first-hand, BTW.
Enheduanna	posted 10-Aug-2002 11:17am   I don't know, since I haven't talked to "most" people in the developing world. The ones I have talked to, as well as many of the ones in the developed world, mostly have a pretty positive opinion of the US. Most of them would like to come here, at least to visit. They may not always agree with our foreign policies, but I don't think I've ever heard one of them use the phrase "globalization." Many of them also think of the US as the land of opportunity--and compared to some of these places, it is. They also really like our culture--or rather, this funny image of our culture that they have. Most of them have very little idea what the US is actually like.
moonstone	posted 10-Aug-2002 12:02pm   "The opinions of the population of the developing world are too diverse to be lumped into any single category."
juliw	posted 10-Aug-2002 1:15pm   Plus, their opinions probably vary.
Jemmy	posted 10-Aug-2002 2:53pm   I haven't met most people in developing countries. I think though, that most in welthier countries would be more likely to dislike the United States than those in developing countries.
Jemmy	(reply to romkey) posted 10-Aug-2002 2:55pm   I live in Canada, and I think I know why Candians don't like Americans. It has more to do with being referred to as "The 51st state" than individual Americans.
NthenSome	posted 10-Aug-2002 2:57pm   I'd say "mixed". I'm curious - very curious - of the results. I'm not sure I understand the criterion placed on the question though...
NthenSome	(reply to Jemmy) posted 10-Aug-2002 3:02pm   So you confirm Romkey's supposition that Canadians hates Americans? I work with a lot of Canadians (in Canada), and I disagree. We seem to be well-like enough by Canadians. On the West Coast, that is. On the Toronto/Montreal side, it seems we're a nuisance to them. That's the attitude I get anyway. We once went to Toronto to close a deal a company out there (Panavision), and we got more attitude than we ever imagined we would sitting across a table with anyone! He just slid our proposals back to us and said, "We don't need you or your business, thanks." Since, he's called my boss and actually said, "I think I f*cked up, back in March." I think his attitude had a lot to do with us being Americans.
Dino	posted 10-Aug-2002 3:32pm   Probably the same way that people feel towards the big kid in the playground. a. Scared b. Admiration (and wannabe) c. Jealousy d. Resentful of their power. e. Hate. f. Respect. Whatever. People are different.
joachim	posted 10-Aug-2002 4:04pm   Personally I think most of these people dislike the US but would like to come here and be part of it. It's sort of a love/hate thing for many people, I imagine.
joachim	(reply to Jemmy) posted 10-Aug-2002 4:07pm   Why do you think the citizens of wealthier nations would dislike us more? I guess I always figured they would consider themselves more similar to us and therefore dislike us less.
kaleb777	posted 10-Aug-2002 4:20pm   Mixed feelings. I think it goes for the west, not just America. I've studied several 3rd word writers for my degree so I have a pretty good idea that the 3rd world sees the west as hypocritical. Many good things come from the west, and most third world people would like to have the medical service, clean water and energy used by westerners which is why they get angry with western green groups like Greedpeace blocking their attempts to improve their lives. Several dams which were to be built in India have been blocked by do-gooders in western countries that live well because of such things as dams. One dam which would have provided electricity and clean drinking water and irrigation water to many hundreds of thousands of people was not built because green groups pressured the world bank to withhold funds. The biggest killers in the third world are water borne diseases and respiratory diseases. With no dam, people must drink dirty groundwater and burn cow crap indoors for fuel. I think western green groups are all hypocrites. I can also understand why the Iraqi people hate the US. The sanctions are anly hurting the poor, and are causing the deaths of babies. The US also disposed of some of their nuclear waste over Iraq by using depleted uranium shells in weapons. There is more radioactive waste spread over Iraq as a result than was caused during the Chernobyl disaster. There are many birth defects. This should be treated as a war crime. Western, and especially US big businesses like Monsanto are also seeking to control agriculture in the third world by flooding the market with GM varieties of seed that need to be activated with their own fertiliser. There was talk of selling terminator seed to the 3rd world also which would mean poor farmers would be forced to by fresh seed every year since terminator seed is infertile. I think the west and especially the US needs to understand that much of their wealth comes from screwing over the third world, and no one should be surprised if they hate us. The US even screws over Australia, and we are supposed to be an ally.
NthenSome	(reply to kaleb777) posted 10-Aug-2002 4:23pm   Do you see Bush as responsible for the failing export economy - and, ultimately, the economy all around - in Paraguay, Uruguay and Brasil? (I really forget - there was another country where all this began. Maybe you've heard about the situation...?)
kaleb777	(reply to NthenSome) posted 10-Aug-2002 5:08pm   The US always promoted the idea of free trade. Through the World Bank, IMF and others, it actually managed to apply penalties to countries that kept trade barriers in place. Australia is one of the few countries that played the game and removed all tarrifs, import taxes, subsidies and quotas and we have repeatedly had to fight for the US, who told us this was the way to go, to do the same. Our farmers and manufacturers have become very efficient, they had to when all the protection was removed. Now the US wants to stop us exporting to them because US steel manufacturers and farmers can't compete. It seems like the whole thing was a game to ruin the competition or something. No one expected Ausralia to be doing so well and to be working so efficiently. Australia is considering applying tarrifs on US goods in retaliation. I wouldn't be surprised if other countries do the same. The US can't expect to protect inefficient domestic farmers and manufacturers from imports then export to countries who can no longer export to the US. I'm not sure exactly what you are talking about, but I don't blame Bush for much yet. Things tend to lag. Whatever is happening now had its beginnings with Clinton. Bush hasn't been in power that long. 9/11 didn't help. It's all about how people feel about the economy rather than any real economic failings. If people feel optimistic they will buy things, shares, new houses etc, and that will fuel the optimistic feeling. If people feel bad about the economy it will be a self fulfilling thing. The share market usually reacts to feelings, not concrete occurences.
NthenSome	(reply to kaleb777) posted 10-Aug-2002 8:56pm   What crap! I think this may be the second time I've apologized to you for the actions of my country - and I do apologize! What fudging crap, excuse my language. Do you have any good articles? I'd like to get a hold of some Australian-originated articles and go on campaign. Man, the reason I thought about coming out with a survey like this (and joachim beat me to it) was to find out about this kind of crap our government does to others. That the average American isn't educated on its own foreign dealings is partly what makes us seem so pompous to others, I think. Because, unknowing of these sorts of dealings, we still wave the American banner, and look pompous. I really believe, while we also wave the US democratic ways around in everyone's faces like it's the only way to go, we don't exercise what the whole system is founded on. "A government by the people" - we suck at managing our own government and our foreign policies. We should be practically writing those policies let alone being educated to them and the effects of them. This is why I apologize. I'm the guiltiest American I know as far as not having an active place with my government. Kristal Rose is probably a good model to being the average person who keeps their nose in the government's business. In any case, we don't handle ourselves well. I just wish I knew how to better balance things in my life to enable myself to have that 'active hand' in our dealings. I really need to discover balance in my life for this sort of purpose, before I'm one of those who's fifty years old, shaking his head at the world I created. Boy, I went on a tangent there, but - God - that pisses me off what you described there, Kaleb. Kristal Rose is also very good about resolve. I know you and she have talked quite a bit in length about political issues, and from what I've seen she has quite a few quick-fix ideas that seem just a step away from being a reality. I wonder if, in these kinds of cases, there could be something like a forum where 'the average citizens' of countries talked things like this out, and - in that forum - gained a political stance by providing formal petitions for each, dressed with the appropriate Congressmen or Parliamentary members or litigators...ready to be filled with signatures, then forwarded for immediate action. I wonder if anything like that is feasible for development and implementation... (Sorry for the rambling...grrrrr.)
Zang	posted 10-Aug-2002 10:35pm   Having visited a few third world countries, and talked to people about their attitudes and beliefs, I feel somewhat qualified to respond. I suspect that most of these people have mixed feelings toward the US. Many of them would prefer to live there if they could, and have very positive ideas about it being the best place to be. On the other hand, they also have very negative attitudes towards US foreign policy, US corporate exploitation, and the US military. They tend to find American tourists to be very amusing, and take great delight in conning them out of their hard-earned and very desirable currency.
Jemmy	(reply to NthenSome) posted 10-Aug-2002 10:36pm   Well, I live on the east coast. From my experience in school, a lot of young people hate americans, whether I agree or not. I mean, I don't really like America, but I don't take it out on individual americans. Only the ones that bug me. There is a difference between the people you work with, and the people I work with. If you are cutting a business deal with someone, you should be nice regardless. When you are in high school, you voice opinions more.
Strider	posted 11-Aug-2002 9:07am   Where's the option for I Don't Know
romkey	(reply to Jemmy) posted 11-Aug-2002 1:40pm   I think that'd definitely annoy me
kaleb777	(reply to NthenSome) posted 11-Aug-2002 5:13pm   I thought you were flaming me at first! You have to remember that the priority for US politicians is the US people. They are the ones that vote for them, so it isn't surprising that they want to protect them from imports that take away jobs. I expect my government to do the same, but they don't always. Japan is doing the same to us with rice. Our rice is far cheaper but the Japanese want to protect the few remaining rice farmers with import taxes. What pisses off Australians and New Zealanders too for that matter is that both countries removed all protection at least by the early 90's. New Zealand may have done it in the 80's. We have done the hard yards, restructured, lost entire industries to competing Asian countries. Do you know the popularity of the Kiwi fruit? This came about because of the restructuring of industry due to New Zealand adhering to the ideology of global free trade. When NZ removed all tariffs from imports many locally grown foods could not be grown cheaper than the same foods that were imported. As a result, entire farming sectors simply stopped producing that foodstuff. Kiwifruit production was one of the diverse crops that New Zealand took on in order to find a niche again. The fruit was originally called the Chinese Goosberry, but New Zealand growers found that Americans were reluctant to buy a fruit named as such, so they renamed it the kiwifruit and it took off. The kiwi is the national symbol of New Zealand, a bird. New Zealanders are also commonly known as Kiwis. Llama farming replaced some sheep farming. In Australia, emu and crocodile farms took off. You have no idea of the incredible social and economic changes that many countries have had to endure in order to comply with the IMF free trade guidelines. That's why people get angry when a double standard develops. It seems like the US was pushing for the free trade thing, then backed out after most of the world went through the transition. Japan and Europe aren't any better. There are penalties for countries that restrict free trade, but Europe as a bloc can pay these easily while subsidising their farmers. I had a quick search on a local TV station site for 'trade'. You might find this interesting http://www.abc.net.au/rural/sa/stories/s581801.htm and http://www.abc.net.au/am/s580373.htm . You can search for other issues using this link http://abc.net.au/search/ The ABC is a respectable, non-commercial Tv station with excellent news and current affairs. I hope it's helpful. You might get some insight into how the US is seen from here.
icurok	posted 11-Aug-2002 6:28pm   How should I know. I'm not most people
Wicksy	posted 12-Aug-2002 7:34am   I think the Americans are perceived as being arrogant in Europe even though the UK holds a very special place for them
Biggles	(reply to Wicksy) posted 12-Aug-2002 7:41am   At the bottom of a pit filled with hell-fire?
grmbrand	posted 12-Aug-2002 10:31am   I'd say most of them hate us. Can't blame 'em, either.
mandy	(reply to Biggles) posted 12-Aug-2002 6:36pm
teatree	posted 13-Aug-2002 12:12pm   How would I know?
Iseult	posted 16-Aug-2002 12:36pm   They HATE USA. I am talking about one particular country, and I know for a fact, from my friends that there they were celebrating about 9/11. Sick...
jonmachine	posted 16-Aug-2002 7:40pm   a large percentage of the people in the UK and rest of Europe dislike the U.S let alone the 3rd world which has far greater reasons for resentment. It is worth mentioning however that virtually no-one in 3rd world nations have access to information that means they can form an opinion or for that matter any way of expressing that opinion.
Biggles	(reply to jonmachine) posted 17-Aug-2002 11:52am   However, in the UK and Europe.......
southernyankee	posted 20-Aug-2002 2:04pm   I don't know. They seem pretty happy. Hell, they better be. After all the help that we given them. Why is it that we keep giving everyone around the world help and solve all of their problems, and we're the only one's doing crap about it. Especially considering that these countries are becoming a lost cause (at least for us). Damn, what a waste of money.
southernyankee	(reply to joachim) posted 20-Aug-2002 2:16pm   I think I know why. We have helped developing countries out more. Whereas the weathier countries are not really poor so they don't need our help, but yet they aren't as rich as us, thus they are still jelous. Also, just because they are wealthier, it doesn't mean that they are more like us, as opposed to poor countries. For instance, take Europe (well, most of it). They don't have as much as us, but thats because they don't work as much. "When 2 ol clock hits around, work STOPS" Greg Proops. Now take China or Japan. They're a bunch of workoholics. They're "worse" than us. They might not have as much as the US, but they have the same attitude. They're more like us. Remember, the US wasn't always this powerfull. How do you think it happened??
misDKfits	posted 25-Aug-2002 2:25pm   I, unlike most people, am not going to fall into this fad of "I love America again!". No, this country is facism in disguise.
jonmachine	(reply to southernyankee) posted 29-Aug-2002 12:01pm   Are you actually suggesting the developing world should be happy?!?! when 10-20,000 people are dieing a day from lack of clean water and another 20,000 from lack of food every day! And much of this due to debt caused by 1st world nations and economic policies that keep developing world poor. As for your statement about the US helping developing nations, the US is the cause of far more international disputes around the world than solutions, for example 200,000 people killed in Indonesia because of US support and military aid for the regime carrying out genocide and war crimes, tens of thousands of deaths in Lebanon due to american military and political support for Israel, massive atrocities committed by turkey supported by huge amounts of arms provided by the US. Similar situations where thousands of deaths and war crimes have been committed due to the actions of the US could be found in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Columbia, Haiti, Laos etc.... These and other examples are reasons why the US is resented and that the idea of it being a 'helping force' around the world is wrong. I'm not blaming individual americans for this, i'm not saying they are 'evil' or all fascists that don't care about anyone but themselves or anything but you can see why people are very anti-american. The US comes across as consistently arrogant, self-righteous, (which you have so excellently displayed), disrespectful of any international laws, disrespectful to cultures and nations, and lacking in ethics. These factors contribute to negative opinions of the US, not your hastily cobbled together argument about jealousy and who is 'worse' or 'better' As for your euro-bashing, i would rather have more time off work, better conditions and protection at work, have a better quality of life, free health care, free education, low crime rate, beautiful cities, a rich continental culture etc.. than live in the states, earning a few more dollars a year. I certainly don't feel like i don't have as much as you.
southernyankee	(reply to jonmachine) posted 29-Aug-2002 3:52pm   That exactaly my point. Thats one of the reasons why we don't have free education, and great medical care, work hard and still have to pay huge taxes. Where do you think this $$ money is going. We sqauter a good bit of it around the world, some of it harming the world, but overall the US has done more good for the world than harm. Yes, I admit, we have caused a few problems, and are PARTIALLY responsible for the conditions of 3 rd world countries, but at least we're doing something to try to improve it. I don't know is it fair of a European to critisize the US for world poverty. During the 1800's, the Europeans were everywhere, destroying people all over the world, with very little to give. We may have done a little bit of that, but at least we had something to offer. Oh, and you got me on the cities part. Well, its not our fault that we were only around since 1776. And also, as much as its a terrible tragedy that some of those beatiful cities are all flooded now, but thats not our fault either, (which off course we might end up providing some assitence) Oh, but when hurricane Andrew came around, how much did any country offer us for our troubles. Uhm, not a fudgeen dime. Somehow, everything around the world is OUR fault. Some of these people should spend a bit more time and take a look in the mirror. Next thing you know, its our fault that Prague is flooding.
Biggles	(reply to southernyankee) posted 30-Aug-2002 12:34pm   Could be that it is. If gloabl warming is taking place that could be why Prague flooded. America is the biggest polluter.
jonmachine	(reply to southernyankee) posted 31-Aug-2002 8:45pm   Biggles is right about Prague, the US has pulled out of Kyoto and contributes 25% of all greenhouse gasses, by far larger than anyone else. u asked for that. And how exactly have you ended up providing this elusive assistance? Russia has provided equipment, france, demnark etc.. have all given help, spain has offered flood victims free holidays (quite a cool idea), even thrid world mozambique has raised money! I'm not saying the states should help the flood-hit nations, but you really can't moan about a lack of aid, and then refuse to give it to anyone else. I will also point out that there has been plenty of times where Europe has come to the aid of the U.S. Another thing, i really think that reverting back to the 1800's to find blame for europe is pushing it a bit far, i mean yes european nations were bastards but it was 200 years ago. And what exactly is it that the U.S has to offer? Because it certainly isn't trying to improve the lives of the 3rd world people, you only have to look at the summit in johannesburg to see that. It would seem that George W is far to busy on holiday to attend the one summit that would show he cares, possibly the most important in a decade. US 'aid' often isn't as simple as you would expect. e.g aid being given to nations so that the money can be used to buy arms back off he U.S. Or there was the 'aid' given Jamaica in a currency that devalued it to the price of a second hand car, etc....... And i think you'll find if you check your facts that even including these obviously very strategic 'aid' packages from the US, the E.U nations, quite rightly due to our historical past, give far more aid to the third world and has written off a much larger amount of debt. But then we do have a responsibility to out ex-colonies that were milked for quite a while for the benefit of european powers. sorry, i've gone into ramble mode again. oh well its a good discussion.
southernyankee	(reply to jonmachine) posted 2-Sep-2002 12:09pm   oh, you just had to bring up the Kyoto treaty. Now, I dont want to get off on a rant but, Its a pretty terrible treaty and a ton of nations hadn't singed it. For instance, Germany hadn't singned it, and in fact, no one really adhears to it anyway. Oh, and off course there's a reason why we produce 25% of the pollution. Can you guess why? Well, can you guess which nation produces 25% of all the world's GNP, even though it only has 6% of the population? An indisputable fact, Western culture (US + Europe + some few other countries) has always been ruining cultures around the globe. And after that, we all together have decided to try to undo some of the things by providing them aid. First, we ruined them and now we're all rebuilding them. But the amount of damage done by the US was far less than by European countries. India, ruined by England, Cuba, Agentina, Brazil: ruined by Spain and Portugal. Russia: ok, this one was ruined a bit by the US. A lot of small islands around Southern Atlantic: France, China: ok, now this one is was a mutal one. The only thing that Europe has over the US on this issue is that most of its damage was centries ago and now many countires have forgotten about it, while the terrible things we did were much more recent. But not to say that Europe hasn't done anything recent. WW1: European countries have gotten their colonies to provide service while fighting each other. Begining of WW2: Itally has droped deadly chemicals from planes over defenceless technologically unadvanced Etheopians. And before we stuck our nose in Vietnam's bussiness, France was in there doing the same things that we did. And, besides France helping us defeat the British and giving us that statue, I really haven't heard of any other way that they have helped us. If you can think of any, I'd be more than happy to hear about it. Buts thats just my opinion, I could be wrong.
jonmachine	(reply to southernyankee) posted 4-Sep-2002 12:25pm   The US produces 25% of pollution not because it has a high percentage of GDP but because it makes no effort to be environmentally friendly and americans frankly don't care about the environment if it means a loss of profits or even inconvenience. The richest 1% of the world consumes as much resources as the poorest 44%. Not that i'm that much of an environmentally friendly person myself (i worked out on bbc.co.uk/news that if everyone lived like me we would need 2.5 planets).And Germany HAS signed the Kyoto treaty and is the first nation to formally ratify it. The parliament voted unanimously to make the treaty part of German law. it may not be a perfect treaty, but it is a start and it should be ratified not only because it could genuinely help global warming efforts but to give a sign to the world that the US at least cares abut the environment and to aid ailing relations with the rest of the world, particularly mainland europe which is very environmentally aware. Its true that european powers caused huge amounts of damage in ex-colonies many years ago, damage that is still being felt today, people are dyeing but the fact that poor nations exist is not a european fault. poor nations aren't a direct result on colonisation, nations are getting poorer, poverty is getting worse, this can't just be blamed on being colonised hundreds of years ago but modern policy towards the third world in the forms of debt, agriculture, trade tariffs and quotas, subsidies, protectionism, exploitation of labour and that is the fault of the entire developing world, as well as europe. Not every poor nation was once a colony either - e.g Thailand. There are also important factors such as war and disease which the developing world doesn't seem too interested in solving. France may have been in Vietnam, but it gave up before thousands of people we killed and it stopped short of dropping tonnes of chemicals on civilians that are still causing death, misery and malformed babies and cancer till this day, which does show restraint. I managed to find a time when france helped the US- November 2001 when it sent an aircraft carrier to support the US-led war in Afghanistan. And while i'm on Vietnam, in 1979 Vietnam overthrew Pol Pots regime in Cambodia, who had comited countless genocides and war crimes. The US response to this was to back a Chinese invasion while the US gave diplomatic and military support to the Pol Pot regime. I read that quite recently. Something i noticed is that there seems to be a false idea of aid, there aren't hundreds of billions of dollars of aid being pumped into the third world that is holding these nations together and rebuilding them from the ground up, if there was 2 thirds of the world wouldn't live on less than 2 dollars a day. It has been estimated that if everyone in the UK put 1 penny from each 10 pounds of income into aid 8 million lives a year could be saved! Thats maybe a good indication of how little aid is getting down to the third world people.
Glassa	posted 4-Oct-2002 8:29pm   They probably dislike us. I say this because I believe they've most likley been lied to about our great country and told we're a great Satanic worshipping state full of murderers.
Biggles	(reply to Glassa) posted 5-Oct-2002 4:46pm   You mean to say you're not?
warp9	posted 9-Oct-2002 1:28pm   What if you don't have a clue what other countries think, and , don't care? If they don't like the U.S. they should stop emigrating into this country and stay where they are.

 
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