| I think that it is caused by an unfortunate stereotype image that people he have been exposed to. As in all countries a lot of peoples perspectives on other nationalities is a direct result of the portrait painted by the media, notably television rather than personal experience.
In the same way the British are regarded as a race of binge drinking hooligans by half of southern Europe who suffer a high level of British tourism. Indeed if some of our press is taken as gospel then a lot of Brits would feel that as well, but the majority of us are nothing like that.
These stereotypes have been around for quite a while, but it seems to be more acceptable now for people to express these views quite strongly, often hiding behind the anonymity of the internet. If I was to make a comment, America, rather than Americans, often comes across as wanting to run the world and have everything their own way, even with their allies which does influence some people's opinion..
Having been to America on a number of occasions, that is not the experience when you are there and I have always found the people very friendly and helpful with levels of service in shops, restaurants etc we can only dream of over here.  |