I wish DMan hadn't requested that his original node on this topic be removed. Even though it was getting downvoted straight into the Fifth Circle, there is such a thing as courage of one's convictions.In its absence let me recap: he was tired of whining foreigners bashing America simply because they were envious of our wealth, power etc.
DMan may be tired of it but the rest of the world ain't. Whose vote do you think counts more?
Anti-Americanism is indeed fueled by resentment but imo, only a small fraction of that resentment comes from envy. Most foreigners I know from living almost half *my* life overseas do not envy our horrific crime rate, our feeble public education system, or our widespread religious bigotry combined with a most un-Christian lack of charity towards the less-fortunate. My cousins in Germany are politely incredulous that American students actually have to *pay* for an education, or that health care costs more than a token amount of money. They laugh at the consumer crap that passes for "ecological" or "ergonomic" here. They shudder at the nightmare twilight that awaits senior citizens here who aren't rich. Most of all they don't understand how a country founded on principles of individualism and liberty can be so intolerant of differences, so conformist, and so cruel to the disadvantaged. That robs us of any moral authority we might have beyond our shores.
In general, the rest of the world is in awe of American technological, military and trade power, and rightly so. But let us not kid ourselves that America uses that power in the world for the good of the world. We use it for our own good, and that of our allies where appropriate, and to hell with the rest. Anti-Americanism arises from the exercise of that power without corresponding moral authority. Who are we, they say, to dictate world culture simply because Hollywood and Madison Avenue are ours? Who are we to ship our garbage overseas because of NIMBYs at home? Who the hell are we to prop up one regime and let another fall because it serves *our* interests? It's that "to hell with the rest" attitude that accounts for Anti-Americanism.
Don't get me wrong: I believe this is the greatest country in the world bar none. Far from hating America, I love her. But as we are cautioned to love the sinner as we hate the sin, I hate some of the ways America behaves at home and abroad. We are so far from perfect that it behooves us to tread more lightly. That is, if we care what others think.