Disclaimer: This is not meant to be a bait or any kind of bad-faith devaluing or stereotyping. This is only based on my experience, hearing similar stories from others and wanting to understand. I’m aware that there are good and bad people everywhere.
So I’m European and starting on a good note I always admired America for many things like the freedom, diversity and cool movies.
But after more experience with meeting real Americans I noticed this personality type that I and I think many other non-Americans would describe as arrogant.
Like I stated before I’m not saying every American is like that and I know there are many very nice Americans. But I often saw that some Americans seem to only be nice on the surface (if at all) but actually seem to have this attitude of “I don’t give a f about you”. And I know that America is a very individualistic culture that focuses on the self and the belief that everyone can achieve anything on their own.
But I still think having a sense of empathy and sensitivity towards others is a very important core human quality that everyone should have. And from personal experience and also from a very prevalent notion of others both in every day life and when looking it up online it’s clear that many non-Americans perceive many Americans to cross a line there.
For example there’s a prevalent observation of Americans visiting other countries and acting like they own the place by being very loud, demanding and not accepting if things aren’t the same way as they are in America.
We know that Americans have very big issues with divisiveness and social injustice and it seams like there’s also this sort of “ghetto” personality including trash-talking, lots of vulgar slang and slurs and bragging.
And a general perception of money playing a big role as if many Americans judge someone’s worth by money and this attitude of not feeling like needing to help someone. I think there’s this famous description of a person lying in the middle of the ground in a public city and people just walk around the person not feeling the need to help.
It almost feels like they’re very entitled and put their ego up way higher than it actually is and lacking the quality of making themselves smaller/putting themselves second to treat others with more dignity.
theres some
confirmationselection bias in that most americans will never have the ability to travel abroad. so the group youre interfacing with are the more entitled, wealthier class which is also a much smaller contingent of americans.Not to be contrarian, because I think you’re probably right, but for example if you send my poor southern family to another country and expect better results/impressions on the populace, your gonna be in for some disappointment.
@[email protected] this comment is mostly it. Live in America for a bit and you’ll see there are people that way and there aren’t. And guess what, every other country, too. Americans also have speech patterns that push more air, which sounds loud and projecting to many other nationalities. (Am American)
A plane ticket to a saner hemisphere is what, 1% of the median yearly income? 2%? You don’t even need visas.
not to be that guy, but that’s selection bias
oops, thanks!
You’re welcome
Because the American culture has indocrinated Americans to put themselves first. Whoever has “me first” hard-coded in their personality tends to view everybody else as inferior, and tends to have an unwavering confidence in their own greatness.
US citizen here, sounds like you have already figured it out:
And I know that America is a very individualistic culture that focuses on the self and the belief that everyone can achieve anything on their own.
This goes deep into the heart of the matter. A good portion of the population has been propagandized for literally decades that every man is an island and reliance on others is “pussy shit.” There is no conception of society. No one wants to fix society, they all want to become rich so the rules of society just stop applying to them.
Temporarily embarrassed
millionairesbillionaires and all that.For those of us with empathy and understanding of how economics and international relations actually function, let me tell you, it is a nightmare on our mental health. It has been that way long before Trump, too, I remember how viciously we wasted the world’s outpouring of compassion after 9/11. In response to that compassion we went and swung around our big military dick in the middle east and wrecked millions upon millions of lives. It is a daily endless gaslighting by society that caring about people makes us weak. We often are literally denied opportunities to thrive because we aren’t following the right “script.” We will be passed over for jobs in favor of nepotism and social connections.
Like literally the entire fraternity/sorority culture in the US is and always was for forging early business connections so you can be a useless fucking loser but still rise to the top.
That culture has lead to the worst, dumbest, and least competent running the entire fucking country.
A lot of days it really feels like it would just be easier to let this system fucking kill me and let it win just to get it over with.
Somehow, though, people like me continue living out of spite for what America is and what it represents.
I have a soft center and part of me wants things to slow down and be more inclusive and understanding and to have time for more connection… and generally shift our culture away from survival of the fittest.
That didnt get me anywhere and i was poor as shit and was taken advantage of by employers and the system constantly.
Now i say fuck everyone else im getting mine and relish getting ahead. Its a learned behavior that i want to shed when i have financial independence. It is what it is.
It’s seems like USA’s culture rewards individual success above all else, hence successful people behaving like main protagonists, or even as if others were NPCs.
To be fair, other comments that speak about selection bias are also spot on: not all people there do commercial tourism, even domestically. The ones that do are successful enough to have that disposable income.
the american populace at large is deeply arrogant; not only that but also incredibly ignorant. it’s this noxious blend that is not only really popular to personify, but often lauded for doing so as loudly as possible.
I’m curious, have your interactions with Americans been with those that have traveled to Europe? The reason I ask is because I was able to visit years ago and wondered if maybe European’s view of Americans is skewed because they mostly see those of us that come from well off backgrounds (upper income). I met young Americans that had been there multiple times because their parents paid their way while they were on summer break from school. In contrast, I was the exact opposite. You’re not likely to see many low income folks visiting so you may have a skewed viewpoint.
I think its because they tech how great a nation is America from a very young age. The country is great. It is the best. The ultimate true power. President is like more powerful than pop. God always their for America. White american people are true American etc etc. So it goes on and they become blind of truth. Hence it forms in their character. Its the main contributing factor I believe.
showing an offensive attitude of superiority : proceeding from or characterized by arrogance (an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions)
The US suffers deeply from cultural narcissism where a significant number of people believe that their needs are more important than the needs of others.
More ashamed of my country than ever and feel stuck here. From California and feel like we have some dead corpse strapped to us.
Where in Europe are you from? Cause Im from Europe and i feel like this is just a human trait. To answer your question though, america is basically the center of the world for a lot of people, and they truly do think america is better than the rest of the world. That’s probably why.
Most Americans don’t have passports and only know about outside USA from TV and news. And if they’re watching fox, they hate themselves as much as they hate outside USA. So yeah, were uncultured swine in that regard.
I do not feel USA is the best, haven’t in a long time, in fact lately we’re sliding downhill so fast, literally racing to the bottom of everything, education, empathy, human rights, healthcare, basic reading skills, astronomical prices, burnout… You name it, we’ve fucked it up.
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Yeah but America thinks theit shit doesn’t stink and it’s getting really annoying.
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I’m sure if you polled the average American they would not agree that “America is better than the rest of the world “. Maybe 20-30 years ago that might have been true.
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Liking it and thinking it’s the best in the world are different. I like our national parks, but USA is far from the best.
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Any of them really. Shenandoah is near me and it’s a beautiful place to go especially during the summer. I like going up to PA during the winter I found a leanto that you can block off the wind and snow pretty well and it’s fun to camp though winter. Don’t remember the name of the park though. Zion national Park is amazing but I haven’t been there since 2016.
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Nah, we have a great park system. One the highest rated services globally, rated internally and by visitors.
Maybe because it’s nature and not humans you deal with.
I have observed a huuuge difference in this regard between the Usamericans that I have met in real life (when they have moved to Europe) and the ones that I have met online because they still live there.
So, one part of the arrogance comes when they have never seen the world, but talk about it as if they knew it.
But after more experience with meeting real Americans I noticed this personality type that I and I think many other non-Americans would describe as arrogant.
Where did you meet them?
Tourists are usually only rich people who can afford traveling around the world.
Regardless, Nationalism is an idea almost universally taught in every country. I was born in People’s Republic of China and National Anthems, Flag Raising Ceremonies are a common thing. Chinese movies were all WW2 war movies portraying the CCP in a posiyive light. Similar to Americans with the Pledge of Allegience, National Anthem, and American movies also portraying the US in a positive light.
People grow up with nationalism, and of course feel very arrogant because they are part of a powerful nation, so they feel superior. And the US military bases all around the world probably make them feel like they own the world, especially if the Americans you were talking to were rich tourists.
America is a very individualistic culture that focuses on the self and the belief that everyone can achieve anything on their own.
Yes this is a thing I’ve noticed when I immigrated to the US. Apparantly parents in the US like to kick out their kids at 18, or sometimes at 16, and kids really want to run away from parents for some reason, even though its a very bad form a financial standpoint. In many Asian cultures, you aren’t expected to move out until marriage.
People in western cultures seems very anti-mask, where as in Asian countries (even the Democratic ones), they are much more willing to wear a mask.
But I still think having a sense of empathy and sensitivity towards others is a very important core human quality that everyone should have.
Empathy isn’t just lacking in Americans, but all around the world. But of course, western individualism is only making that aspect worse.
Tourists are usually only rich people who can afford traveling around the world.
That’s an excellent point. A lot of people are getting their impression of Americans from those of us who are likely conservatives, and therefore the least likely to show any humility or empathy.
Rugged individualism and American exceptionalism are the likely culprits
This is itself arrogant.
Are you American? If no… Ever heard of stereotypes?
Why does it seem like so many non-Americans stereotype Americans?
Ah, there’s that arrogance.
^case in point
I’m an American citizen, buddy.
Okay buddy. Stockholm syndrome isn’t a bragging point
Self reflection doesn’t hurt that much. I’ve been doing a lot of it lately. I see it as a sort of … Not inoculation, kind of a penicillin shot for the current Ill of thought, word, deed. We’re human, sometimes better, often worse, never a train not to seek to be better, but even then, we’re human. Some days are better than others.
That’s not how Stockholm Syndrome (not real) is supposed to work (it would mean I held my fellow Americans in high esteem, not the opposite) but whatever… It doesn’t mean I can’t recognize the arrogance of my fellow Americans, including one who literally had the situation explained to him very clearly but is still too obtuse to understand as if that doesn’t prove his arrogance. But you do you, man. Have fun being the Ugly American.
^When you get wooshed but double down on it and start insulting people because you didn’t get the joke
I’d rather not get a weak joke than be insufferable.
Because everyone hates xenophobia until it makes them feel superior.
You assume that just because you and your country is so ignorant to the rest of the world that we too are ignorant to you.
We experience your country and its citizens everywhere, all the time, constantly. You come to our cities without even learning how to pronounce their name. You get confused when we don’t know your local terms for food, drinks, podunk towns, etc. Your discourse consumes the internet, colonialistically driving all analysis through a purely “American” lens. At this point you’re so used to this digital status quo that I am regularly assumed to be American by default, even on local discussion boards. My news feed is filled with articles about your despotic leader and increasingly radicalized population, as they speculate whether this spur of the moment decision will crash our economy or totally collapse the world order. And then I’m told by you (not literally you) that “this is not who we are”, despite the fact that a majority of your voting population asked for this. Asked for persecution of your most vulnerable populations and cheered on as it was enacted.
I understand that the negative associations do not apply to all Americans. For one, obviously near half of the voting population did not vote for your current largest liability and are also horrified by his actions. My point is that you’re failing to recognise how omnipresent your culture and politics have been on the global stage for decades, along with your literal presence in our conversations. A lot of these “stereotypes” are formed from personal experience.
My point is that you’re failing to recognise how omnipresent your culture and politics have been on the global stage for decades, along with your literal presence in our conversations.
Well said.
You managed to describe a feeling I’ve had for a while but never managed to articulate correctly. Thanks.
It’s who we are.
