Why do so many Americans hate their country so much?

As a non-American I am baffled - again - by the amount of ignorance and hate swirling around in the US among people mostly of the conservative constituency.

The latest health care controversy is clearly created by political and industry interest groups who use the media, internet, lies and deceit to scare people away from providing themselves and their fellow citizens with a very important fundamental human right, namely health care. A right that is self evident and guaranteed in just about every wealthy and civilised country, except the US.

Not only do these people create even more hate and division in a country that is already extremely divided and dealing with many social tensions, they also do everything they can to prevent their country to save itself from social and economic self destruction.

In the following article some examples are given of disturbed meetings with congressmen trying to explain the health care plan. It seems people all over the country are being used as sheep to attack and disturb exactly that which is good for them.

All that after 8 years of Bush raping the economy, robbing middel class tax payers, killing untold innocents and wasting trillions of dollars in the name of freedom, Jesus and conservative ideology.

When are these people who blindly hate Obama, democrats and their own country so much, going to realise that it is THEIR and their favorite politicans fault why their country is in such a mess?

I guess never. I guess for these people there is no other way than their misguided, ignorant, hatefull way and nothing is going to stop them to make sure those who are actually doing their best to improve the situation are stopped.

And then these are the people who scream the loudest they love their country above everything else. More lies. They prove day in day out that they do nothing but simply hate their country and do everything they can to destroy it even further. I can never understand that kind of hate.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...town_halls

fear is a powerful political tool, and a two-party system plays right into that. "the democrats will kill your grandmother" and "Obama's healthcare plan would kill my down sydrome child" can only work when fear and division are stoked constantly. reasonable voices are drowned out, and opposition is vilified and dismissed. it's pathetic.

It’s because reasonable voices do not try to incite violent outbursts for political gain, resort to the juvenile name calling, crying, shouting fits and lies.

They are drowned out when conservatives throw spit balls and epithets, and their opponents are vilified and are dismissed while handing out lit torches.
Who can compete with that? this gets anyones much attention easier than boring lectures.

There is large ignorant constituency here in the US that the conservatives have figured out how to tap. They have found a new source of voting gold, fools gold yes, but you get what you can get..
They have found out what this group wants to hear, what it eats, what makes it tick and has created a minstrel for act for them as they clap and cheer and laugh like it was WWF wrestling. They have trained their new constituency to jeer when they hear names like Barney Frank or Nancy Pelosi, and drool at the names of Beck, O’Rieley and Limbaugh.

You cannot change your audience, we just need leaders that can address the ignorant in ways that they can understand and respond to. When dealing with this type of audience, you do not respond with someone like Phil Donohue or Barrack, you need to send out someone like Larry The Cable Guy, someone they can relate to.

I think they main problem has been communication, the Right found its pulse and its voice in communicating with their new constituents, and the Dems have to learn how to communicate with them too.

I have seen great advances in communicating with chimps and dolphins and even rats, surely the dems can develop the techniques to communicate with hicks.
[Edited 8/9/09 8:53am]

i don't think these people believe that they hate their country. i think they behave the way they do out of a love for the USA, even if other people see it as misguided and dysfunctional. it's kinda like that movie 'the great santini', where the guy wants to be a good husband and dad, but he's so damaged that what he sees as love everyone else sees as abuse. or something like that.

in the 1950s, during the Cold War capitalism over Marxist War Communism became part of the concept of America. Anything remotely socialist was viewed as suspect. However I think most polls show Americans in favor of a government run health care system. However in a down economy the supporters of reform don't have the money to throw at it like the Health Care Industry does. Sadly the Congress is more concerned in their own personal futures than the well being of the rest of America

I don't think people hate their country. People are just self-centered where they believe what's good for them should be good for the country.
If health care came with a guarantee of all the medical care you want by the doctor of your choice and someone else is paying for it, there would not be a problem at all.

The right always says that the left hates the country. We just tell the truth about what its leaders do, but we don't hate the actual country. We want it to live up to the myth that was created about it.

That is why we are called progressives, we want our land to progress in its ideals, not go backward like what the right want. They are afraid of change.

Wave your wildsigns high!!

To be fair the left does violent outbursts too, like the 9/11 people.

Wave your wildsigns high!!

2freaky4church1 said:

Tremolina said:

Whatever party that's not in charge uses fear,it's the American way I guess.the GOP admitted they have to move more to the center to be better prepared for the next pres election,but so far the far right has been the most vocal.it will be interesting to see if this rhetoric will backfire and the moderate republicans distance themselves.not wanting to be affiliated with the far right.

While America is a great country
(compared to other contries)
It's not a great country compared to it's own constitution, values, morals, promises and everything our forfathers made it out to be. (And it's still not) America has a long long long way to go in the tratment of it's people. I don't hate America, but I'm tired of it (the powers that be) givng people a bone, telling them it's steak and justifying why it's the way it is.

maybe because the symbol of the American system is the CLOCK
1
second
2
minute
3
hour

> always the order, the order, the order
> always the method: to separate, to separate, to separate
> always to specify, to specify, to specify

maybe in this method, so specific, the result is:

> to shuffle, to shuffle, to shuffle
> to complicate, to complicate, to complicate
> to control, to control, to control

very little space for the emotions!

The obsession with Money and being no. 1

Dayclear said:

Americans don't hate their country, they are just disappointed in the mofos running it. I guarantee you that an American will defend their country to the last foul cuss word if some foreigner came over trying to tell them a thing or two.
[Edited 8/10/09 11:03am]

" LOVE YOU 4EVA GRANDMA LOLA, WATCH OVER US TILL WE MEET AGAIN. PRINCE: WH3N U L3T TH3 RAIN FALL DOWN, TH3Y ALL GONNA G3T W3T!

It's easy being stupid... you don't have to think hard to do it!

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A working class hero is something to be...

DesireeNevermind said:

I think Americans love their country very much, they just have a very funny way of showing it.

DesireeNevermind said:

Genesia said:

DesireeNevermind said:

Americans don't hate their country, they are just disappointed in the mofos running it. I guarantee you that an American will defend their country to the last foul cuss word if some foreigner came over trying to tell them a thing or to.

Just like any dysfunctional family.

ingamilo said:

DesireeNevermind said:

Americans don't hate their country, they are just disappointed in the mofos running it. I guarantee you that an American will defend their country to the last foul cuss word if some foreigner came over trying to tell them a thing or two.
[Edited 8/10/09 11:03am]

that is not a democratic attitude!

" LOVE YOU 4EVA GRANDMA LOLA, WATCH OVER US TILL WE MEET AGAIN. PRINCE: WH3N U L3T TH3 RAIN FALL DOWN, TH3Y ALL GONNA G3T W3T!

^ and let's be realistic here, no one wants a foreigner telling them how to fix their nations' problems; this is true no matter where you go and has nothing to do with democracy and a lot to do with patriotism and xenophobia.

" LOVE YOU 4EVA GRANDMA LOLA, WATCH OVER US TILL WE MEET AGAIN. PRINCE: WH3N U L3T TH3 RAIN FALL DOWN, TH3Y ALL GONNA G3T W3T!

I don't know that it has anything to do with xenophobia (at least, it doesn't for me). I think it's more a matter of knowing that other countries have plenty of problems of their own - and the citizens thereof oughta sweep before their own door before pointing out their neighbors' shortcomings.

because a lot of them are self-righteous, arrogant, ignorant, racist, sexist, uneducated bigots. America was founded on ignorance. White bread White Men are the only ones who you see not complaining about their country. Maybe because they have never gone through any kind of struggle...always had stuff handed to them...example Bush. The law and constitution caters to them and then they complain about Affirmative action...bitch please! America need to wake the hell up and make a change. I'm not fully American, I'm British as well and I am sooooo glad that I am not full blooded American. I'm glad i don't have blinders on about this country like these "patroitic" americans do. America is a walking contridiction, BOTTOM LINE.
[Edited 8/10/09 17:27pm]

Genesia said:

I don't know that it has anything to do with xenophobia (at least, it doesn't for me). I think it's more a matter of knowing that other countries have plenty of problems of their own - and the citizens thereof oughta sweep before their own door before pointing out their neighbors' shortcomings.

Dayclear said:

violetblues said:

DesireeNevermind said:

Genesia said:

I don't know that it has anything to do with xenophobia (at least, it doesn't for me). I think it's more a matter of knowing that other countries have plenty of problems of their own - and the citizens thereof oughta sweep before their own door before pointing out their neighbors' shortcomings.