So I’m European and am aware that American culture is very different in many ways. Idk if this is just some type of thing about American culture and mentality in general that has always been there or if it is a trend that started recently in the past few years.
I don’t wanna generalize any country and know that not everyone is like this but I definitely noticed this type of pattern.
I increasingly noticed in the past years that many Americans are very hateful/cruel, are lacking empathy, become more and more aggressive and it seems like it’s becoming worse.
I’m not sure if this is maybe related to Americans needing to be “though” or something because I always hear about that the American mentality is pretty competitive and individualistic and instead of saying “we will go through this this together” they often have this mentality “it’s either me or you but it can’t be both who will win”. I mean I’m pretty sure that all these things like this biking culture, driving big “manly” pick up trucks, wrestling, football etc. are pretty prevalent in America compared to other countries and American culture generally seems very loud and direct. I think here in Europe people are way more reserved and I guess the strongest opposite to Americans are probably Japanese people. Maybe American culture is generally more “rough” where they aren’t super sensitive and don’t really care how their words come over and just speak their mind (maybe cause they value free speech so much).
But to me this seems to go to the point where many Americans seem to have this attitude and are very ignorant and arrogant and basically think they’re better than anyone else and they only care for themselves.
And it feels like it’s so extreme to the point where everyone is hating, attacking and bashing on everyone and instead of being stronger united they’re just fighting against themselves and putting each other down and they always focus on the negative.
Especially online it seems like that no matter what the topic is and independent from whether they are Democrat or Republican they’re constantly bashing on someone and baselessly calling them “weak” even though in reality they’re probably the ones who are weak and trample onto people cause they’re obviously dissatisfied with themselves and aren’t able to man-up to face the real issues. You just can’t blame everything on others and have to take responsibility for yourself!
Some stuff that I’ve seen on American news like “Fox News” just seemed crazy where the reporters personally attack and bash on people which is something that would be unthinkable in Europe.
Even though many people were saying that Americans have this “fake friendliness” I’m thinking that even that disappeared in the last few years and they’re becoming more open to show what they really think which seems to be that they “don’t give a f* about you”.
Many Americans that I encountered seem so aggressive like they always need to bash onto something in this toxic way even though they’re actually in a very good position and have a lot to be grateful for. Like in other poor countries people have real problems and are literally starving because they have no food or they have war in their country.
I’m always thinking “dude, you need to chill” cause literally no one is attacking them and they’re fully secure. But it seems like they’re always searching for a fight or something.
It seems like many of these people are so disconnected from nature and become less human and I wonder why they can’t just spend meaningful time with other people being positive and not constantly waste their time with hating or complaining about something. Because this just doesn’t work and in a society with multiple people especially in a world where everything is more connected than ever we need to hold together and have empathy for one and another. That is one of the core morals that a human needs!
It seems like many Americans generally have this “cruelness” about them cause I also heard things that many Americans are physically beating their children and even the fact that guns are popular and legal in America to the point where you can’t even safely walk alone in public during the night or safely send your kid to school and also this general mindset of America is doing everything the best and “America first”. I really don’t wanna bash on Americans at all and only want to share my experience because I just haven’t experienced this type of hate here in Europe in that extreme way and it just makes me very uncomfortable because I feel like this mood is affecting the whole world since American media and influence is prevalent everywhere.
To me it feels like this won’t end well and it feels like it’s just a matter of time until something very bad happens like the second civil war or so and the storm on the capitol might be nothing compared to that. But maybe that’s the only way they will finally learn if they’re lacking these core morals and integrity and they don’t get educated about that in school.
It also seems like they can’t handle critique and can’t admit it/stand to those things. When I once asked a similar question on Reddit the only thing I got back was bashing and personal attacks and I hope it’s not the same here, cause that is literally just proving my point. There needs to be constructive discussions.
There’s war in Europe. Climate change is fucking up the world faster than we can respond, and America is burning to the ground physically and metaphorically as we speak.
Tensions are a bit high.
If you look around you’ll see it’s not just Americans. The earth is dying. Resources are running out and economic systems are reaching end of viability. People are struggling while the corporatocracy fleeces the masses any value left. As this happens people become more agitated, stressed, and radicalised. They blame outsiders, reject science, and embrace misinformation. Expect it to get much, much worse.
The world as at a breaking point, what happens after the smoke clears will be interesting, assuming we are still alive to see it
I definitely agree. I think this increasing cooperate greed is a global thing and people generally become more depressed. I really don’t wanna bash on Americans as this is just my experience but to me it feels like the amount of hatred from Americans is not even close to the rest of the world. Maybe I’m wrong here but to me it feels like they become less human…
Maybe I’m wrong here but to me it feels like they become less human…
Oof, try not to do that. De-humanizing a people is a slippery slope.
If you look at the rhetoric spewed by our president-elect and his flunkies, you can see where many Americans (at least 77m) get their marching orders. Unfortunately, the rest of us are just left to deal with this bad rap because of it. A lot of it comes from, as others said, propaganda in the media - distraction techniques, obfuscation, identity politics - because it sells. This, of course, also stems from our obsession with capitalism - letting the market and million/billionaires do whatever they want because it’s “good for the economy”. We haven’t matured enough to know that what’s good for the worker is good for the economy (or more insidious theories of this being done purposefully to keep us in “survival mode”).
Many of us who are not as you describe are moving out - a sort-of “vote with your wallets” of what country we support. However, not everyone has the ability to do that, and still others have a desire to fix this country. So, don’t paint Americans with such a broad brush because there are many of us who look at those you are speaking of with shame and disgust.
It’s worse for Americans because they’ve been told for generations that they are the greatest in the greatest country. Now they can readily see it’s not necessarily true. The cognitive dissonance creates a much stronger stress.
A bit subtler than that. We still have the largest economy and the strongest military, but the problems we’re facing (both individually and globally) can’t be solved with those tools.
So we’re “great” but we can’t solve these problems… why not? Someone offers a scapegoat or similar “common sense solution”. And if you believe in it then everything makes sense. But for it to make sense you have to get angry.
I think this is a huge part of it but there is certainly a lot of nuance here. We have a phenomenally funded, equipped, and trained military, but in the last 20 years it’s been shown to be only moderately effective at addressing the threats in the world that have a small fraction of the resources our military does with few exceptions (naval might is probably the largest of those exceptions). So even problems we think we should be able to solve we barely can.
There is also large and growing wealth disparity which drives the tribalism deeper and makes many folks dig their heels in to positions that just aren’t based in reality (see anti-vaccine and lockdown sentiment around COVID as but one example). Couple this with the majority of Americans being truly terminally online and being stuck in echo chambers that just further ingrain the basis they hold and it causes a lot of vocal Americans online to lash out irrationally.
I would like to offer OP a view that we aren’t all like this though. For many of us our incoming government, the corrupt people they are tagging to lead our various institutions, the incomprehensibly rich heads of various companies, and the brainwashed cults that worship them all are sources of deep shame. I can only speak for myself, but my friends, close coworkers, and even a few of my family all feel this way. Please don’t write off all Americans because of the loud, obnoxious jerks you have to see in many places, some of us are pretty decent people that really want to make the world a better place and help everyone we can.
There are still a lot of us around these parts that strive to be kind and generous, it’s just that kindness and generosity doesn’t sell a lot of newspapers.
Actually, print media is basically dead. It’s all about clickbait these days!!!
Where’s my million dollars?
Those are the best people though and they should make the newspaper imo. Life is too short and valuable to deal with hate, we should embrace being kind to each other more. Nothing better than having a smile because some random stranger did something kind. That is what makes it worth living!
Coincidentally, I was on my bike the other day in just kind of a funk. And I was sitting there with a sourpuss mug thinking how no one ever smiles on the greenway anymore, particularly in bigger cities.
And then just like clockwork, as soon as I finished my thought, a guy who I never would have predicted looked over at me with a beaming bright smile. It changed my whole day.
American here.
First, you’re right. About basically all of what you said above.
I think you particularly hit the nail on the head with this:
I’m always thinking “dude, you need to chill” cause literally no one is attacking them and they’re fully secure. But it seems like they’re always searching for a fight or something.
The media here, funded by the big corporations, manufacture tons of FUD (“fear, uncertainty, and doubt.”) Things to be scared of. “They’re putting chemicals in the water that’s turning the frogs” (and by extension, your kids) “gay.” “The ‘woke mafia’ is trying to convert your kids to atheism.” “The Democrats are going to take your guns so they can install a totalitarian one world government without any resistance.” Most of it’s not true at all. Some has a nugget of truth but it’s not actually any threat.
I will say the Republicans are worse about this than the Democrats (the Democrats’ concerns are more legitimate than the Republicans’), but the Democrats are far from immune. Both are living in fantasy worlds.
…until something very bad happens like the second civil war…
Indeed there’s plenty of rhetoric out there pushing the idea that the U.S. is in a civil war. Between the woke antifa (short for “antifascist”) and the fascist conspiracy theorists.
social media…
Can you BELIEVE rage bait gets likes?
It’s not that the country is more arrogant and idiotic (although that’s arguable) but it’s more that arrogant and idiotic messages and people are being broadcast more.
2 reasons:
- first past the post system --> everything is good or bad, with me or against me, blue or red, black or white, …
- the initial lawlessness of the pilgrims just continued and permeated the culture
IMO, until USAmericans finally get rid of “winner takes all”, they won’t be able to change the attitude.
The short answer is that we haven’t really become any more hateful or cruel, however a VERY vocal minority of Americans have lost they’re goddamned minds and want to drag the rest of us down with them. Those are the people you’re hearing from and they make the rest of us look awful
dont forget the raging propaganda preventing the silent majority from believing they can affect change. ~40% of people who are eligible to vote never do.
And that minority gets an outsized place at the media table due to billionaire oligarchs who want total control.
Actuay a great summation in another post around the same time:
Their*
Thanks
I hope it is just a minority. I remember when I once asked on Reddit why so many Americans like Donald Trump considering all the things he has done and said and they were saying it’s just a very small minority and that they personally don’t know any one who likes him. Turns out the majority of people voted for him making him president again. So that seemed quite detached from reality.
Here’s your answer on Trump.
How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind
Still as true in 2025 as it was in 2016. If you truly want to understand, read it. I read it a couple of times a year to retain my sanity, get some understanding of the seeming anarchy.
This might explain why rural voters support Trump but what about all the city dwellers who do? They aren’t mentioned at all.
And comparing Trump to House or Iron Man shows how truly ignorant they are that they pick the stupidest rich man.
Iron man and House are genius who break rules because they are forging new ones. While Trump is a conman, this says a lot about what they aspire to be and deplorable is a fitting term for it.
Let’s remember the large amount of people who couldn’t be bothered to vote.
the majority of people voted for him
Eh… That’s not quite accurate. Current estimates are that 77,301,997 people voted for Trump, which is less than 50% of the 155,211,283 total votes cast. (But Kamala, the second-most-voted-for candidate got less than that at 75,017,626.)
But only about 64% of those eligible to vote voted.
So, not even half of those who did vote in the 2024 presidential election voted for Trump, let alone those who were eligible to voted, let alone all “people” in the U.S… But the ones who voted for Trump composed many more than the number of people who voted for any other candidate.
But isn’t that kind of putting lipstick on a pig? I mean got elected to become president. And 77 million is a lot of people… And I’m not sure if that’s going to change policies and society. It’s kind of accepted now to be a biggot and do harmful things. And I’m really not sure if it’s acceptable under these circumstances to be a “silent majority” anyways. I mean it’s not exactly like watching the nazis take over a country. But I think there are parallels. And I don’t think it’s ethically alright to just watch. At some point if you don’t do anything, you become part of the problem. IMO.
I don’t disagree with anything you’re saying here. Yes, even though the pro-Trump folks don’t comprise a majority of Americans, it’s exceedingly concerning that they’re as close to 50% of the U.S. population as they are. I don’t think I said otherwise, though. I also didn’t say anything about whether the anti-Trump majority (if indeed it is a majority) is/isn’t/was/wasn’t/should be/shouldn’t be “silent.”
Were the anti-Trump folks really “silent” before the election? Was there something they weren’t saying that they should have? 'Cuz it’s not like there wasn’t anybody campaigning against him.
I wasn’t even implying that. I think it’s more nuanced. And I don’t think America is as democratic as it should be. So I’m not sure if I’m even blaming the people. For a lot of things there are exactly zero solutions available, disregarding how/whom you vote. I mean I’m kind of with OP here. I’m not from the US and I can’t really relate. We just hear very different takes from overseas. Some people believe the country is turning into an authoritarian system soon, some think we’re painting an overly dark image. And I, too, wouldn’t know how to vote if you always get only 2 (fake) choices who both don’t really care for the people… So I can somehow relate to people just not taking part in voting. It’s just a bad situation. And I wish for the best. Though, I think at least 50% of the citizens have lost track on what America is about… And politics is more entertainment than solving any of the big issues. And you people in the US really have some big issues to tackle.
Can you give some hard examples of what you mean, and a contrast of what you would expect from a non-american please? I’m reading through this post and I don’t know what you’re seeing. It’s not clear to me given what you wrote so it’s hard to pinpoint which behaviors you’re referring to.
A lot of the things you bring up (about guns and walking safety at night and sending kids to school) doesn’t jive and sounds quite a bit like media washing the entire country. Like. Yes. Guns are legal and lots of people have them. I don’t see guns on a daily basis and even when I lived in a particularly crime prone area for the most part gun violence wasn’t my main concern.
The thing about corporal punishment of children is that what’s legal and illegal varies by state but it’s not outright outlawed to spank children (and I was absolutely not spanked, but beaten as a kid).
But there’s a reason the public hasn’t broken out in violent opposition of the government as a whole (the liberal majority I mean) and it’s twofold. Americans don’t generally want to have to do violence to force change. If we did there would be a lot more Luigi’s, Trump shooters, and BLM founders out there advocating in public for violence against the system and the people who uphold it.
Additionally, people don’t want to get involved with that if it means that it will significantly detrimentally affect their lives (which in a lot of cases is very much true). Living in between the “eat the rich/guillotine” idealism and the realism of making it day to day is hard and it doesn’t allow a lot of fertile ground for empathy and perhaps that’s what you’re seeing.
People have too much still to lose for a civil war to be particularly viable. They haven’t reached a level of desperation that will allow most of them to commit indiscriminate violence against the system. But also, the education system has been decimated and so they don’t think they understand the system well enough to effect change and that goes hand in hand with not getting involved in politics, lobbying, or playing the long game to indoctrinate liberals in a similar fashion to the way conservatives have been indoctrinated (but for the opposite view point, meaning incensing them to make change via a more long and arduous process that has lasting effects). We didn’t see Roe v Wade get dismantled overnight. That was the result of decades of conservative movement. We haven’t been actively and cohesively trying to counter that with our own movements.
I’d also like to add that the vast majority of people live in cities where nature isn’t easily accessible and time isn’t given to them to enjoy it. I work something like 60 hours a week. Some people work more than that. The system is directly designed to keep people tired, poor, ignorant, and just desperate enough to continue to participate in the system. So yes, we are disconnected from nature in a lot of ways.
Because our empire is dying
This is factually untrue. At the end of the Trump era, China had thought they had the upper hand on the global stage, but we have put into place more stoppages around the world. So much so that Blinken said on The Interview the other day that whenever he and the Chinese ambassador meet, the ambassador starts off by complaining for 30 minutes on how the West has railroaded their plans.
He also put it eloquently, that whenever parties from other nations come together, there’s always a seat at the table available for America. They want to know our position.
I wish I was as ignorant as you
Keep trying to will those thoughts into existence…may work out for you and your party one day.
You mean you haven’t noticed the clear degradation of culture?
The west already lost the US now with dickhead’s first electoral victory leading to his second term.
Fox News
My guess it has to do with their 2 party political system. You have to SHOUT and pretend THE WORLD IS BURNING GAYS STEAL BABIES ALL POLICE IS RACIST EVERYTHING BAD THAT HAPPENED TO YOU IS BECAUSE OF THE OTHER DONT VOTE FOR THEM to scare 1% of voters one way or the other and get political power.
Messages of those extremes make their way over the big pond way way more often than the lady doing a job that she enjoys, having a pleasant evening with her family.
It’s a deliberate push by the elites. They don’t want us cooperating, because that would lead to revolt. They fill our media with identity politics, fear and hatred so that we’re too bitter to work together. It works beautifully for them.
I decided to scroll through the replies to see if anyone already said what I was going to, and you did.
Everyone thinks that irrelevant culture wars are more important than things that actually affect them directly, and our REAL enemies love it.
The problem is that the “irrelevant” culture wars (identity politics, wedge issues) that don’t affect any given individuals directly are about important issues, and they’re being used by the rich as hostages. We can’t help but care about those issues, even if they don’t impact us directly, and the rich are using them as human shields while they take our watches and wallets and force us to sign over our properties
Let’s be cynicism buddies maybe we’ll get buried in the same mass grave
Sounds good to me!
For some reason – likely because it’s propaganda – people get caught up with groups of annoying people and totally blow past the fucks destroying the planet, siphoning off all of the government money, and generally fucking over the country, and the world for their own gains.
Like I understand that you find some of our many varieties of annoying Americans annoying…like our purple haired Disney women, or flamboyant gays, or what the fuck ever…but that’s enough to base your vote on? Nuts.
They’re are too many annoying types of people in America for me to even select a grouping to hate – I lie actually, I fucking hate narcissistic billionaires that can’t stop posting – and many of the people in media are annoying as hell themselves and act as if they aren’t when discussing the random (though I know it’s not really random, it’s “LiBEraLs!”) groups they’ve selected to “destroy” with their donkey-brained podcasts.
I gotta say, living in a red state, it definitely feels.like most have gone hollow. I can see the madness in their eyes at work. Its generations of capitalistic abuse, sacrificing ourselves for the profit of the few. I think we have irreparable damage done to our culture’s zeitgeist.
HATEFUL AND DESTRUCTIVE??? HATEFUL AND DESTRUCTIVE??? FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!!!
sets your car on fire
HOW COULD YOU CALL ME HATEFUL AND DESTRUCTIVE???
😂
