04-23-2019, 09:25 AM
There are at least two types of anti-Americanism.
One is leftist anti-Americanism. They hate America for being "imperialist", for doing military interventions against Third World nations. What they don't understand is that any country would act like that as a world hegemon. Britain, Spain, China or Japan would also intervene against the Taliban or Saddam if such action would be in their interest. Especially the Japanese would certainly play very rough if they weren't defeated in WW2. Anti-American leftists hated George W. Bush more than any other president. The also hate American businesses for "homogenizing the world", but I think British, Chinese or Japanese businesses aren't any better in this regard. Capitalism, despite its achievements, tends to disrupt time-honoured ways of life. One could also point to many instances of American businesses donating to charity, or valuing the environment and human rights.
Another, and growing variety is neoreactionary anti-Americanism. Cf. Russia's Alexander Dugin. People like him hate America for being the place of origin of "degenerate lifestyles". Their buzzword is "Hollywood values". This also makes little sense, because European intellectuals are at least as supportive of social freedoms as American ones. The very idea stems from the French Enlightenment. According to the Pew's global moral survey, the most pro-gay nation is Spain. It's true American pop-culture played a role in promoting the notion of social freedom throughout the world, but again - global hegemony of any Western European nation would likely result in the same effect. The neoreactionaries claim Europe's true identity is pre-Enlightenment Christendom, but it was destined to die off anyway. The cultural and political changes of the 1920s were caused by domestic factors more than by American influence.
One is leftist anti-Americanism. They hate America for being "imperialist", for doing military interventions against Third World nations. What they don't understand is that any country would act like that as a world hegemon. Britain, Spain, China or Japan would also intervene against the Taliban or Saddam if such action would be in their interest. Especially the Japanese would certainly play very rough if they weren't defeated in WW2. Anti-American leftists hated George W. Bush more than any other president. The also hate American businesses for "homogenizing the world", but I think British, Chinese or Japanese businesses aren't any better in this regard. Capitalism, despite its achievements, tends to disrupt time-honoured ways of life. One could also point to many instances of American businesses donating to charity, or valuing the environment and human rights.
Another, and growing variety is neoreactionary anti-Americanism. Cf. Russia's Alexander Dugin. People like him hate America for being the place of origin of "degenerate lifestyles". Their buzzword is "Hollywood values". This also makes little sense, because European intellectuals are at least as supportive of social freedoms as American ones. The very idea stems from the French Enlightenment. According to the Pew's global moral survey, the most pro-gay nation is Spain. It's true American pop-culture played a role in promoting the notion of social freedom throughout the world, but again - global hegemony of any Western European nation would likely result in the same effect. The neoreactionaries claim Europe's true identity is pre-Enlightenment Christendom, but it was destined to die off anyway. The cultural and political changes of the 1920s were caused by domestic factors more than by American influence.