May

29

The USA is by far the top global destination for economic migrants and political refugees. The notion that we're hated is absurd and countably false. That foreign elites with hands on bureaucratic and media levers hate the USA, for easily understood reasons of envy and competitive fear, is equally obvious.

USA elites who wish to subsume American power into a global cauldron of "expert" rule, simply exaggerate the nonsense spewed by their overseas sympaticos.

David Wren-Hardin responds:

In some ways I agree with the critics, though not to a great degree. But if everyone in the world is against us, why did France just elect a president who ran on a platform of increased cooperation with America?

Shui Kage replies:

I am not aware of any French military cooperation with the US in Iraq. If the new French president has decided to do so, then I cannot understand why the French elected such an insane president. 

Marion Dreyfus remarks:

The US is envied and lusted for. Big Bro is so powerful it dwarfs the modest claims of the littler countries. And France's new president is not "insane" because he professes more support for a country that has in the past done a great deal for the people of his modest state.

Chirac was a nasty bit of work, and we are deserving of a man whose raison d'etre is not hatred of the US for no particular reason other than to regain the Sun King reputation France lost so very long ago and has been striving to recapture foolishly and with an ugly complexion. 

Stefan Jovanovich adds:

I don't think that we Americans should spend much time being unhappy about the world press's not liking us. We are the only country that has the military capability to destroy every major city on the planet. That is hardly the kind of power that makes people want to say nice things about you. China has been bent on expanding its "sphere of influence" for quite a while. Notably, its East Asian neighbors are pushing back. Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are all undergoing major military expansions in their naval and air capabilities. On balance, the Chinese, even with their expansion, have less relative clout in the region than they did five years ago. Then, political reunification seemed a distinct possibility for Taiwan, given the presumption of China's military dominance. One does not need to like the Russians to concede that, from their point of view, enlarging NATO and establishing military bases in Central Asia could be seen as threats to their diminishing territories. But there is little the Russian Federation can do except bluster. The decline in the capabilities of the great conscript People's militaries of the Marxist world (first China, then Vietnam, then Russia) is the most important change in the past third of a century. Then, the U.S. had trouble invading the island of Grenada, and the Soviets could, simply by hinting at their strategic capabilities, force the IDF to let the Egyptians walk away from the east bank of the canal. Now, both the Chinese and the Russians have extreme difficulties in attracting even half-bright people into their militaries. They know that conscription does not work, but they have no ready alternative to it. They both have the money, but they are not willing to spend it. Both the Russians and the Chinese think their foreign currency reserves are more potent weapons than an all-volunteer military. 


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4 Comments so far

  1. bluffing all the time on May 30, 2007 7:59 am

    might be the top destination in nominal terms becasue it’s a huge mass of land, but on a per capita basis Canada, Australia, Ireland, even UK are far, far ahead. also look at the demographics. 70% of immigrants are mexicans because the alterantive is chavez i think.

    don’t fool yourself, 1.2bln (with a “b”) hate you becasue you’re in cahoots with israel. the rest of the world find you abnoxious i suppose, not hatred.

    as an european, i can tell you the old folks here hate you for your help to israel, while the young guard hate you for your attitude towards the environment.

  2. lw on May 30, 2007 12:07 pm

    Both source nations and quality of foreign graduate students in hard sciences change every few years. Possibly these talented people are not essential to keeping the US running, but looking at where they come from provides a measure of how educated young people elsewhere view the US. The smartest Chinese no longer come here to learn, I think, though they did 10 years ago. I do not
    think the US is as appealing for central europeans from any but the most economically distressed provinces either. Looking at the most desperate people is not the right way to do this, I think.
    In general, it seems that attacking the motives of people one disagrees with is useful only when speaking of one individual or organization with a particular history.

  3. Jackson Hole on May 30, 2007 12:10 pm

    It’s that ‘you’ don’t use your power outside of your country for productive means. It’s that you think ‘hate’ stands for ‘envy’ so you can feel better about yourself. It’s that your population is controlled by a media with multiple agendas and mixed messages that aim to work in your president’s favour. It’s that 74 Million people vote for American Idol. It’s that your first name spoken phonetically would sound really funny.

  4. Acetrader on May 30, 2007 2:09 pm

    wow…everyone always has to hate, whoops, sorry Jackson Hole, I mean “envy” number one! We are number one at many things, good (aid around the world, hello peace corps, doctors w/o borders… and bad, enery consumption. As a former Marine reservist and college student I am offended, Jackson Hole, that you actually believe I can’t watch Idol and also Al Jazerra…I chew gum at the same time as well! How dare you buy into that “the media and prez control the American public” that arguement is simple-minded and tired.

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