I remember when Germans would buy me a drink while arguing Reagan’s policies regarding the Pershing II deployments in Europe. There have always been people in other countries that didn’t always agree with us, but they used to at least respect and like us for what we represented.
18DoughtyStreet.com, Britain’s first political web TV station, has launched a two minute viral campaign to combat growing anti-Americanism across Britain and Europe.
The two minute campaign that has been posted on YouTube and is being distributed across Britain via email paints a world that would be less free, less healthy and less prosperous if America had never existed.
Through five fictional news reports from the 1950s onwards it portrays a world dominated by Soviet Russia and warns that much of the world’s prosperity and medical advances would have been lost.
The damage Bush has done to our reputation in the world cannot be solved by an advertising campaign.
Europe still owes us for WWII.
Bush is a person without humanity.
“Europe still owes us for WWII.”
What ????
How many years do you think they still owe YOU mxpwr03 ?
#35 – the British paid off their war debt last year. The Krauts paid their Marshall plan debt off years ago. I think the Russians and the Chinese are the only ones who owe us anything.
#35 — one aspect of discussions with conservatives that’s missing from your viewpoint — is hearing anything factual about history.
The Chinese government would be no more bound to repay Lendlease — which was only offered to the Kuomintang — than, say, the independent government of India for debts run up by the Imperial government which preceded.
#20 – Yeah, right, like Bush was ever elected. Appointed in 2000 by a Republican Supreme Court when it became apparent that any form of recount would tip Florida to Gore. 2004 stolen by Republican corruptos who did everything but build barricades to prevent honest recounts in Ohio and Florida. Read the exit polls, fer crissake.
#33 is on the right track – Our country has been overthrown, by a corporatocracy. Once they gave corporations the same rights as individuals, our country was doomed – except that I think it is possible to mount a counterrevolution by conservatives who honor the principles of the U.S. Constitution, with help from Dems. Repairing the federal judiciary, well, that’s another question. It will take years, even if the revolutionaries who took over the Republican party are booted. And I don’t see that happening yet.
#27
> A world without America wouldn’t have overthrown the
> democratically elected President of Iran and replace him
> with the Shah.
Yep. Who really knows how that would have turned out? We all saw what happened during the Olympics with their “democratically” elected person.
> A world without America wouldn’t have
> overthrown the democratically elected President of
> Guatemala, and Central America would have been more
> prosperous and today’s border problem would not exist.
Riiiight. So, a region that has been embroiled in civil war ever since the European’s conquered it (and probably before) would have magically become more prosperous. To say that “today’s border problem” would not have exist is quite possibly the most ignorant thing I have heard.
> A world without America means that no one would have sold a
> Nuclear facility to Iran in the 70’s.
Somehow, you are able to divine that no one else would have done such a thing to such a benevolent and understanding government to gain an advantage? (/sarcasm)
> A world without America means Saddam Hussein would have lost the war to
> Iran, there would never have been a Persian Gulf War, the
> US would have never stationed a base in Saudi Arabia, and
> therefore 9/11 never would have happened.
Riiiight. That also means that most of, if not all of, the middle-east would be controlled by the Iranians. With such a wonderful government, they might have set off another two or three World Wars. Jihad on a massive scale. Without the US, you would probably be looking at a German Europe or perhaps as someone said earlier, a British Europe. So, it is likely there would have eventually been a title match between Britain, Germany and/or the Iranians. Let’s not forget Asia by the way. Asia would likely be controlled by a militant Japanese government.
> A world without America means that Osama Bin Laden never would have gotten
> involved in the Mujaheddin, and probably would have been
> some rich nobody.
Well, if the middle-east were controlled by Iran, then yes it is hard to know whether Bin Laden would have become the nut ball he is today. Although, with Iran, Germany and/or Britain controlling the middle-east, it is possible that he might have been the catalyst against one of those two countries.
By there, there is one more thing that would not have happened: democratically elected republics. If the American Revolution does not happen, that form of government would not have spread (or it would have taken much, much longer to spread) throughout the world. Most of the world governments at that time were monarchies or dictatorships.
41,
Not so fast. Haiti had a democratic revolution in 1791 against the French, and in a world without a Monroe Doctrine that Caribbean could have become the beacon for democracy in the world.
If you are going to speculate, f*cking speculate.
What I don’t understand is why Europeans still buy stuff like Coke, Apple computers, and Nike shoes. If they just stopped buying American stuff, the big American corporations would quickly yank the strings on their puppet Administration to get out of Iraq and start behaving like a good citizen of the world.
43,
Why don’t we stop buying from China to stop them from imprisoning and executing dissidents? Same reason.
#44, because the U.S. has happily shut down all its factories and moved all production to Asia. Europe hasn’t gone that far down the “next quarter’s profits uber alles” road yet. They can boycott American goods a LOT more easily than we can boycott China.
I think we need to hire Denny Crane (from TV’s Boston Legal) as our ambassador to the world. I mean, most of the rest of the world thinks he is modeled after President Bush (except for the lawyer, coming across as intelligent part) anyway.
”Canada. Japan. England. Any number of those pinko countries, I’d be in jail for shooting somebody”
“It’s a good feeling, you know, to shoot a bad guy. Something you Democrats would never understand. Americans… we’re homesteaders, we want a safe home, keep the money we make, and shoot bad guys.”
“There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News”
See: (keep refreshing for more quotes)
DENNY CRANES QUOTES
Please explain to me why I should care what the rest of the world thinks about America.
The only thing anyone, anywhere has that’s better than what America has is topless beaches and nudity on regular television. Everything else is superior in America.
“The Ugly American” was coined decades before Bush became president.
The success of the European Union requires that all EU countries find common ground for unification. The sovereignty and economic interests of each member country creates tension. To combat this, the US is painted as a powerful, rogue nation that must be contained at all costs; thereby, providing the EU powers a suitable target to rally against.
As an American, I could gnash my teeth and scream, “How could you after all we’ve done for you!?” Or I could shrug my shoulders and just see it as politics in action. Human nature is what it is. The feud between the US and Europe is just a larger version of the hate building between Democrats and Republicans. It’s destructive, it’s stupid . . . but it is what happens when people no longer fear for their survival — minor issues suddenly become mountains.
That citizens of other countries should hate us is understandable (and expected). That US citizens should hate themselves is laughable.
#41 Well you sort of missed my point completely. The point is “What if there were no America?” is a pointless debate. The video strings out a bunch of good things that America has done. I wanted to point out that we have also done a lot of stupid things in the world as well, and I was pointing to some of the more famous ones that are often cited as being root causes of the problems we face today. We are our own worst enemy.
May I point out a book that explains it all: “Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic” by Chalmers Johnson.
Our last, best chance to be cherished by the
rest of the world happened in the late ’80’s
-early 90’s, when the Japanese attempted to
buy us up and repurpose us as “cute and
adorable America”. We balked, they went broke,
and now we’re on our own.
Sorry, UK is NOT europe and no one gives a crap what they think in the UK. There is little anti-American sentiment in Europe, I have lived here for 26years. It’s yet again CNN and Fox Noise trying to make Americans prejudiced. People world wide see Bush for what he is. For some reason, only some Americans have. TOO LATE!
51,
I also lived there, and my kids still do. You are right that Europeans don’t hate America the people, but they certainly hate America the country right now.
#41 – Thomas
[ ]
#41 – Thomas
[ ]
^^^^ insert appropriate smiley denoting victorious ‘high-five’ here.
People in Europe are critical of some of the policies of the US. Period.
Anti-Americanism does not exist. In my native country, Americans are well liked and regarded as friends. Good friends can take a little criticism, both ways.
The real threat here is not anti-Americanism, but the reporting of this non-existent phenomenon.
55,
Sadly, Bush can’t take criticism. He thinks critics are traitors that should have their rights ignored.
What country do you live in?
LOLerskates!