re: It’s awesome to hear people from another country admire the US

Excellent story, my brother.

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I will never understand why Americans have so much loathing for America.

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Because we know it could be better. It's not a hate for America. It's a desire to be better. You don't want America to be better?

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Because we know it could be better.

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It could be better, yes. Obamacare, illegal immigration, the massive centralized leviathan we have, endless regulations and taxes getting slashed would greatly improve this country.

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It's not a hate for America.

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I would say quite the contrary, the antifa types, the left in general have a great disdain for America.

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You don't want America to be better?

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Yes, I do want it to be better. Better in the way that the Founders would be proud. Not the way the Wilsons, Roosevelts, Kennedys, Johnsons, Carters, Clintons, Obamas, and all the rest of the left today would be proud of.

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Most of the world outside of western Europe loves the US.

I don't know if it is because of the typical dip shite American tourist that visits western Europe or if it is due to the media propaganda.

Go somewhere without dip shite American tourists (no offense travel board) and you will find people respect our country.

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The whole world doesn't love us, but that's just part of being king. Some of these countries have their own deeply ingrained biases as well (see: Japan, Germany). A good chunk of the world is just fairly indifferent to us.

Of the East Asian countries that have a very favorable opinion of the U.S. (Philippines, Vietnam, Korea etc.), it's a mixture of foreign policy (actively opposing Chinese intentions, most often) and soft cultural power (sports, music, etc.). Of the African countries that have a favorable opinion, it's a mixture of things like W's AIDS policy, our efforts in combat Islamic radicalism in their countries, our way of doing business compared to the historical Europeans and current Chinese, cultural capital, and so forth. Latin American opinion tends to be more complicated, but we have two centuries worth intervention, direct economic influence, and so forth in many of those countries that we don't have in the rest of the world.

I think the Western European attitudes tend to come from a mixture of jealousy and bewilderment. They are jealous that we have overtaken the post of the leader of the cultural, economic, and political center of the world over the last 75 years and are, at the same time, bewildered by a lot of what we do. The Iraq invasion being probably the prime example.

I'll make a special note of the French here as I don't think they mis-understood our Iraq policy (as opposed to, say, virtually all of southern Europe, Germany, and northern Europe in their peacenik proclivities). They, as much as anyone, understand the nature of and have taken action towards combating Islamic radicalism (their actions in the Near East and in the Sahel over the last fifteen years clearly demonstrate that) since 9/11. They are not and never were pussies, as the commonly demonstrated American stereotype likes to portray. As I've gotten to know more French citizens, worked with their military, and understood more about the country, I think they really just thought we were being stupid, wasting resources and political capital, and would generate blowback beyond our control with such strategically ill thought decisions, not that we were being erratic cowboys. The French understand very well how aggression can and cannot work, and I think they thought we were being morons (as opposed to the Germans, who largely against the idea just on pure principle). They were, for the most part, correct.

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I will never understand why Americans have so much loathing for America. We have our shortcomings, but we are the biggest force for good in the world. We truly are the shining beacon on the hill. No matter how much our “friends” on the left try to disparage America, time will show that we are a good and just country.

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Then why are you the only American in this thread disparaging other Americans?

dean?

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I’m traveling in Danang, VN.

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Drink Booty Sweat ....

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The Vietnamese immigrants here are also very conservative, pro 2A and hate communist.

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I'll have a very conservative pro 2A immigrant that hates communists and a side of fries please.