Anti-Americanism In Various Countries
The term anti-Americanism, or anti-American sentiment, refers to opposition or hostility to the policies, culture, society, economics or international role of the United States. Common contemporary negative stereotypes of Americans include that Americans are: aggressive, arrogant, ignorant, imperialistic, know-it-alls, loudmouthed, militaristic, obsessed with making money rather than making friends, too moralistic, obnoxious, and that many Americans are overweight.
Political scientist Brendan O'Connor suggests that Anti-Americanism cannot be isolated as a consistent phenomenon and that the term originated as a rough composite of stereotypes, prejudices and criticisms towards Americans or the United States, evolving to more politically-based criticism. French scholar Marie-France Toinet says use of the term "is only fully justified if it implies systematic opposition – a sort of allergic reaction – to America as a whole."
Discussions on anti-Americanism have in most cases lacked a precise definition of what the sentiment entails (other than a general disfavor), which has led to the term being used broadly and in an impressionistic manner, resulting in the inexact impressions of the many expressions described as anti-American.
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“At the end of one millennium and nine centuries of Christianity, it remains an unshakable assumption of the law in all Christian countries and of the moral judgment of Christians everywhere that if a man and a woman, entering a room together, close the door behind them, the man will come out sadder and the woman wiser.”
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