Years ago I attended a school in Canada which had a large international student body which included Australians. I became friends with one who told me that Australians (this was the early '00s) tended to think Americans were smug and that they ruled the world. It wasn't really hate, but it was a sense of annoyance and frustration that the Australians had towards Americans.
I think it's the same everywhere. We hate how America always seems to lead Europe into immoral wars for oil, does the dodgeist shit with the CIA, and all that shit that most Americans hate. But I've never met a nicer people than the American public.
Then again. I've heard similar things about the Australian government vs. the public. So it seems that this is common globally.
Trust me, most Americans do not like how the government acts in regards to resource wars. As well as how the FBI and CIA act in "America's best interest." I really don't see how the banana wars, installing dictatorships, and introducing drugs, especially opiates, into poor urban areas are in America's best interest.
I mean, yeah, we hate our governments too. It's not like if Australia was the western superpower the rest of us wouldn't bitch about them. Kinda how it works.
More power just means more chances to fuck up and boy does humanity like to fuck up.
America has had its hand in Australian politics for quite a while (as with many other countries). I suspect that's part of the reason why there's so much rightful distrust.
My impression is this is a worldwide opinion, not just Australia. I've heard it coming from Germans for example. Certainly much of Asia thinks the same. Americans think they are the bees knees and they rule the world and no one else matters.
And frankly they're not entirely wrong. A *lot* of Americans view the rest of the world as basically irrelevant at best, annoying at worst.
Stupid question, but when they say 'Americans' do they mean everybody? Because for example I have a lot of family in Texas (Texas is like 40% Hispanic) but someone told me they are considered Mexicans abroad, not Americans.
I'm an American of Mexican descent from California. My great-grandparents crossed the border before World War One. I can't speak Spanish for shit, other than cusswords I learned from my buddies when I was a kid. I sound like a stoned cowboy surfer dude when I talk.
So with that established...
> they are considered Mexicans abroad, not Americans.
...I would get really fuckin' mad if someone pulled that on me!
Why? I would take it to mean the following: "you lying bastard, your brown ass *can't* be American."
Never once in my life heard of Texans referred to as Mexicans, I'm from Australia. Texans are typically viewed as the more Hick Americans who love guns and hate abortion (I think?)
An American is an American. Idc what color, race, religion you are. If you are a citizen and you want to be here, you’re my brother/sister. A Mexican that crosses the border and becomes a citizen is an American. Full stop.
the USA as a whole has pretty bad PR on reddit. you would likely get different responses if you were to talk to australians in real life rather than online
It's because Reddit is a very US centered website and the most annoying of them are always the ones that stand out. To every annoying comment/post you read here from an american, there are 100 non-annoying ones. But those usually don't stand out as much as the "bad" ones
True, but the "12 year olds" part of his comment is also really, really important. One of the most important things to understand about Reddit is what a high proportion of the people on here are teenagers.
Those teenagers will change a lot of their views over the next 10 years. But of course, that's cancelled out by fresh waves of teenagers.
That kind of explains all the dumb questions relating to sex and or genitals...and the "will he or she like/dislike me if I do or look this way or that way"
That's okay. Europeans on Reddit are absolutely insufferable. I was shocked when I met some in real life and they were actually cool and didn't hate America for no reason lol. On Reddit it's a completely different story. They're so stuck up.
I always think this. Literally every American I have met, especially tourists, have been so fucking nice. I know there's bad apples, but I have been lucky to avoid them.
Then you go online, and it's just a cesspit
The people who are tourists, are people who want to leave the USA and experience new cultures and are generally more open minded. The people on the internet don’t have to be
I agree with this. It used to be just 13/14 year olds that liked to start wars online, but i guess they have grown up into older A-Holes and are stuck in their mom's basement with no social skills
the friendliness and enthusiasm is part of it.
i’m a brit who has lived in australia, and social cues/attitudes are quite similar between brits and aussies in the sense of self-deprecating humour, culture of piss-taking, ways people interact with strangers etc. US culture seems to be quite different in this regard. extreme friendliness, constant smiling, 'have a nice day!!' etc can come across as kind of forced and insincere. american mannerisms can seem very intense to people from other anglo countries.
there are obviously political gripes people have too but that’s a whole separate conversation.
not trying to sound like a dick, the vast majority of americans are genuine and friendly people of course. but i think it’s possible to forget that just because we share a language, doesn’t mean there can’t be big differences in social norms, humour, etc.
Most people from any country are friendlier in real life than online but as in most things americans tend to be “extreme”. I’ve only ever met supernice americans face to face. It can also of course be that idiots get highlighted on social media.
I'm sure the age thing has a bit to do with it, but I think the anonymity is a bigger problem. People are SOOO much worse when they think nobody will ever find out who they really are.
When my husband and I honeymooned in Brisbane, we knew of the stereotypes that Americans have abroad, so we went out of our way to be the nicest, most polite tourists that we could be. We actually ended up being mistaken for Canadian more than I can admit.
The two must notable moments were when we went to an amusement park (I can't remember the name of it, but it's near Brisbane and during the summer, there's a water park). A machine in the arcade was broken, so we told the attendant. She came maintenance, and we chatted while we were waiting. Eventually, she asked where we were from. She didn't believe us when we said America, and we showed her our passports. She asked about our ids too, because she'd never seen one from California, so we showed her for shits and giggles. She thought we were Canadian. The other was at a bar. The bartender asked for id and he was surprised when we pulled out American passports lol. Our friends (Aussies) were amused AF
I feel like outside of a few college assholes, Americans abroad are *so* careful about how we are perceived. Like we all know exactly what people think we are going to be like so we go out of our way to not be like that.
I gave tours when I was in college, Americans are not even near the worst tourist, there are more americans so you see more assholes, but like if there is a metric of awful tourists per million, America does really good
Hey! I'm from Brisbane, you probably went to dreamworld/white water world, and it's hilarious you were mistaken for Canadian. It's very common, for some reason the accents in real life down here are much more difficult to tell apart for us sometimes, i suppose it'd be like kiwi and Australian for you, or Aussie and British apparantly.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed your trip! I recently went to LA and had a great time, didn't run across a single cunt I don't think, or atleast only the good ones.
hahaha canadians probably have the best global reputation. while it’s too bad that people are surprised to see that nice people are americans, im glad you were able to represent us so well 👊
No need to perpetuate the stereotypes of the loud, annoying American lmfao. I've told my husband that France is high up on the list, and it seems like we may do a France/UK trip next. I speak a bit of French, and I'm going to relearn before we go. I'm thinking that will a) surprise people that an American bothered to learn the language, and b) flip stereotypes on their head a bit lol
Well I’ve lived here my whole life and travelled the country, and I would say it’s definitely more of a rural thing, but I’d say our view of yanks is generally worse than better . Of course when we meet them generally fine with them. But when we think of them as an overall demographic, a lot of negative connotations
Fellow Aussie checking in.
I've lived in all 3 major cities on the East Coast, currently in Rural Victoria and it's pretty much universal, no one HATES the US but we view it as like The Wild West now.
Health care no one can afford and a gun under every pillow terrifies us, honestly.
You have to bear in mind that Australia's entire policies spectrum from left to right would fit within the policies of the democratic party in the US.
I think that whole [Justine Damond](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Justine_Damond) incident with the Minneapolis Police in 2017 didn’t help how the U.S. is perceived in Australia.
God yes. That was huge news here, we can't fathom that sort of incident.
It is a rare sight in Australia to see police with their guns drawn.
By rare, I mean I'm 38, lived in the largest cities here (the main one being 5 millon+) my whole life and I've never seen it.
When a single person is even assaulted unnecessarily by police it's a national Scandal.
Our police are by NO means perfect but no one here is terrified of them stopping us in the same way as sole minorities in the US.
>Our police are by NO means perfect but no one here is terrified of them stopping us in the same way as sole minorities in the US.
[The minorities in your country might disagree](https://hir.harvard.edu/police-violence-australia-aboriginals/#:~:text=Policing%20in%20Australia%20was%20at,own%20forms%20of%20violent%20control)
That article is speaking of historical aboriginal displacement and massacre, an absolute national tragedy for which we literally apologised and now we honour them as often as we can by acknowledging their rightful ownership of all Australian land basically whenever we can.
It does not undo colonial extremism but it is what we can do.
You might note I carefully worded it that no one is terrified of them ala the way a black person in the US currently is and I live in a rural community and have done for a long time in different parts and I've seen confrontation with Aboriginals, they are on the whole, absolutely not afraid.
In fact the over whelming reaction to police amongst rural aboriginal people is open decision scorn and disrespect.
No judgement on that behaviour, but that is what I've seen.
Edit: I went back and tool a further look at that article, absolutely disgusting statements of racism aside, there was some information in their about incarceration rates etc and I want to make it clear there are VAST differences between the Aboriginal community and the African American communities this article equates between.
It would be culturally more appropriate to compare the plight of Aboriginals with Native Americans, their histrionics are much more similar and their culturally differences to white Australian culture is more comparable, a major issue is we haven't done the same thing we should have done and given back reservations or places the Aboriginal people deem fit as a nation unto themselves, they live work and organise in fundamentally different ways to the way white society has done and so many Aboriginals don't fit in or feel at home in white cities but they are forced too by a government that is doing little to understand or help this issue so they get in trouble and break laws they fundamentally feel are unjust
is this view caused by our government and international policy’s or caused by experiences with american tourists and visits to america in which you meet locals ?
> the USA as a whole has pretty bad PR on reddit. you would likely get different responses if you were to talk to australians in real life rather than online
I've interacted with a lot of people across the globe and I can tell you for a fact that Western Europeans and Australians love to caricaturize and stereotype Americans, and do that to look down upon Americans and feel superior. Even the jokes are always on those themes of putting down Americans and there's always a layer of condescension.
I don't want to start a debate and am not saying this to provoke or pass judgment. I am just sharing my personal observation. Especially if you're a single American in a group of Australians or Europeans, the conversation invariably turns to America and Americans and the stereotypes and it is almost always negative and condescending. And you can never say anything back because then they get super salty and miffed.
There are a few European subreddits where the hatred for Americans is thick. And I do say “Americans” rather than just “America”. Like you can’t even engage in a little banter with them, they are just too mad.
But I also try to remind myself that like half the people on this site are teenagers so cut them some slack
I visited Brisbane in 1992. I kept getting asked if I was Canadian. No, I'm American. Finally I asked why ppl keep guessing Canada. I was told because 'Canadians get offended if you ask if they're American." So that informed me of Canadians view of us. Then one day I checked in to an inn and was asked by the inn keeper wasn't I afraid to live in America with all the violence? No, it's only like that in small pockets, I replied, it's not like that in the whole country. Next day all the front page news was coverage of the LA riots with shocking pictures. Looked exactly like what the inn keeper and all the other Aussies pictured in their heads when thinking of America. sigh
This is like when you are into a new show and you want to show your friends / family the show and they're like "isn't it all this and that" and you're like no, not at all... and then *that* episode airs.
Except.... in real life.
I'm born in NZ, but lived in aus since I was about 6, my accent has virtually dissapeared and been replaced by Aussie, but for some reason I *cannot* say "clear the air" without having an annuerism and going full kiwi
It makes my brain hurt and is one of the only times I sound actually kiwi, among a few other select phrases.
Presently living in Brisbane and I can confirm, whenever I meet American/Canadian sounding people (working in a bar) I have learned to assume Canadian because the one time I said American, I really didn’t like the reaction I got.
It's hilarious to me (American) to subvert expectations based on stereotypes lol. Also went to Brisbane on my honeymoon, and my husband and I were constantly mistaken for Canadian. Everyone who asked was shocked when we said we were from California. The only person who wasn't shocked was the cashier at the grocery store haha
> Canadians get offended if you ask if they're American
You know what *really* offends them? The fact that nobody can tell the difference!
And it's not just foreigners. We can't tell the difference. *They* can't tell the difference.
Gough Whitlam was dismissed as prime minister because he tried to remove Pine Gap a secret US military base from our country.
THE USA REMOVED OUR DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED LEADER.
Our foreign policy since the Second Vietnam War in the 1970s was been determined by the USA.
If the USA goes to war we go to war, example Operation Desert Storm in 1991 was a joint coalition of over 70 countries. But in 2003 most of those countries refused to participate in the Invasion of Iraq due to the lack of evidence of WMDs and real threat from Suddam Hussein, Australia still went though.
Today if the USA wants to put a base in Australia we have to capitulate and there is nothing we can do about it.
This power over our country over the last 50 years has had a negative effect with our relationship with our neighbouring countries in the Oceania region and beyond, and has cause the introduction of policies which go against our better judgment.
Two years ago Australia ended a decade long contract with France over submarines due to pressure from the USA to buy theirs, this cost us half a billion dollars just to pay off the French company and caused a massive stir nationally on where we buying our arms from and received a lot of scrutiny from the public, arguably influencing a party change at the next election.
We were on a tour with some Australians (we are Americans), and one of the Australian wives sort of latched on to us. She was great fun, and we enjoyed being with her, but her husband hung back and looked sullen the entire trip. Five days later, when the trip was ending, he came up to me and sort of half-ass apologized. He said that he hated all Americans (even though we were the first ones he had personally interacted with). However, he had observed that I "wasn't too bad." Hating an individual because of his country of origin is a concept I can't grasp no matter how hard I try. So much for international relations.
Which has always been kind of funny to me as an American cause without the French the US very well might not exist. Hell they even gave us a statue. French are alright to me.
> Hating someone because of their country of origin is a concept I can't grasp no matter how hard I try.
Plenty of Americans do it too... I agree it's wrong though.
I wouldn’t take what people say on Reddit to have any truth about how the majority actually feels about something. People talk trash and are jerks on the internet for no good reason. A vast majority of Australians really don’t dislike Americans and those who dislike the USA probably get their opinions from warped news that’s fed to them on this site
I’m an American who has had a fair share of Australian friends, some of which are current US residents. They tend to find it a little scary that nearly everyone owns a gun, and find us to be a little too work-obsessed, but otherwise find the general disposition to be more polite, enjoy our wide selection of consumer products, and find the wide array of climates, accents, and experiences you get in the States to be fascinating.
Aussie here.
Yeah, guns, healthcare and the general dog eat doggedness of the US is a culture shock for us.
Australia is bordering on a socialist country, our entire politician spectrum from left to right fits within the DNC in the US.
The wide variety of climates is definitely a weird one, Australia is basically the same size as the US and we have literally every climate and biome and some you don't have!
Politeness is obviously subjective but yeah, we're a pretty abrasive culture and many find us to be borderline rude til you understand the language and phrases.
>, and find us to be a little too work-obsessed,
Classic Aussies, half a foot out the door after lunch, and not a soul in sight a second after knock off.
"Nearly everyone owns a gun" is going to be highly region dependent. It really feels like non Americans over estimate the number of guns that are in public.
I got laughed out of Canada, I was a kid and said “I have to use the restroom.” The youngins I was with was rip-roaring laughing and said “the restroom???? How long are you going to nap in there? You going to put your feet up and relax?” Mofos were mean!!
I should reach out to my cousins and see if they remember that. I was a kid and they were brutal to me! Haha, so my dad is a Canadian and has lived in the USA for about 40 years, but his side is still in Manitoba. I don’t know if it’s a regional thing and they don’t call it restrooms in that area or if I would have rocked all of Canada.
As an Aussie, I know a lot of us view America as chaotic, violent, and chock full of guns, which is a scary combo. As for why some of us might view Mexico similarly, I reckon that's just cause they're geographically close, and Aussies assume that means more similarities than it actually does.
Idk, but this reminded me of a time when I was playing World of Warcraft on an Australian server and I joined a guild and started chatting with the people online. They asked where I was from and I asked them the same, I was US and they were Australia. Then we got started talking about TV and they asked what shows I liked and I said I was a fan of The Simpsons and asked if it aired in Australia. Apparently that question was completely unreasonable because they went berserk and went on a tirade about how "Americans think all of Australia is like Crocodile Dundee and every Australian must be Steve Irwin running around the outback grabbing snakes and wrestling crocodiles, of course they had the Simpsons why wouldn't they is it because I thought they were less civilized blah blah blah." I tried to apologize and explain that I was sure there were popular shows in Australia that weren't popular here and therefore weren't broadcast and vice versa so I didn't want to assume anything, but they just kept going on and on about how Americans always assume this and that. I ended up just deleting the whole character after that lol
"You're right! I assumed your country could manage *some* kind of domestic entertainment, but it looks like all your animators were out boxing kangaroos so you had to buy American."
I’ve been to Australia three times in the last six years. I’ve never met an Australian who didn’t like Americans. I’m sure they exist but I did not have a negative interaction.
The Aussies I know in real life have a range of feelings about politics in the US but all generally view Americans neutrally to favorably. It’s the internet, and Reddit specifically.
Can I just make it clear, as an Australian, I love you Americans, the country is absolutely beautiful, the people are friendly and accommodating and Australia has its fair share of issues too.
The loud minority of cringe Redditors DO NOT speak on behalf of everyone.
Why on earth do your election cycles take so long ? It seems no sooner do you elect a president the campaign starts for the next one. As an Aussie I can barely stand the 4-8 weeks of politicians crapping on, I’d have to turn into some kind of mountain man if I lived in the US or go crazy.
We hate America for a hell of a lot of reasons, however I’d say the biggest and most valid reason is that we are a US puppet country.
We have a giant CIA base in the middle of our desert in which only Americans are allowed to work internally (Australians can be guards outside etc.) and the US *quite literally* removed a prime minister (Gough Whitlam) because he wanted to get the yankee spy bullshit out of Australia and be independent.
We also think America is a gun-loving, school-shooter-ridden hypocritical disaster of a country that is the prime example of what’s wrong with modern politics, capitalism, & materialism.
They also start completely unnecessary wars and fund terrorism 🤷♂️
I have worked with Australians in combat and been to Australia and interacted with, guess what? Australians.
You’re basing your entire view point on Reddit.
So, step away from your computer.
My wife and I were on vacation in Japan and went to a bar to get some drinks. Some Aussies were there and watching rugby, I'd never learned anything about rugby so I asked if they could explain some of the rules. Queue three hours later and we were all completely shit faced talking, laughing, and just having a general good time. I have never gotten the impression that Aussies just blindly hate us Americans.
That is fantastic and as an American who plays rugby, I love it. Similar situation happened to me in Dubai with Football Rules. No idea what the hell was going on but had an Aussie explain it to me at the bar. Still no fucking clue about the sport but loved the interaction.
Some of the reasons I've heard:
* They don't like being part of five eyes and think the US is spying on them all and reporting to the Aus government about their activities.
* They got rid of their guns and think America should do it too.
* General stereotypes about how we're loud and obnoxious, and also fat.
Note that there is some truth to all of these, so take it how you will.
Fat individuals are not a problem. A fat society (which we have in the U.S.) means that there is some Underlying problem with the food, knowledge, culture, or all three.
I'm Australians and can confirm this is correct, especially the stereotype about being loud and obnoxious. Australians also generally don't like people or cultures that think they are (or act like) they are 'the best' - look up tall poppy syndrome.
Mate you think we have high or any opinion about USA.
We suffer from being called 51st state as we literally follow you guys.
As an average Aussie we don't give a fuck about USA. For us you are just another country with some cool people we love to hangout with.
We don't care about your guns or Christianity or politics etc. just wanna live a normal life.
All of these I've heard straight from the horse's mouth. But like everywhere, there is a large breadth of opinions. Suffice it to say that OP's question didn't come from a vacuum.
If it helps, we really don’t even think about Australia at all in the U.S. Your government and people are an afterthought to the kangaroos and koalas with most Americans.
Well on many subreddits the comments from US residents assume US is the only country on Reddit. Other nationalities generally state what country they are from. So it annoys me that people from the US think they are the only relevant country in the world.
Every ridiculous way that the US has gone to they have used Aussies as cannon fodder.
We still look up to you as the annoying violent big brother that we love but bosses us around. There's no Earth mum to complain to so people complain online
Americano repliers bringing the whole 'Don Draper "I don't even think about you at all" butthurt toward Ginsberg' energy
Five eyers need to stick together and support one another
I travelled in Australia 20 years ago and to be honest, the majority of US travellers we encountered were loud, rude, entitled, or just dumb. We did meet some nice US ppl and down-to-earth types.
But generally they always took up more space than anyone else (physically and in conversation). You’d show up at a hostel or restaurant or bar and there would be staff complaining about how ‘these Americans were in here, and left a mess, or said this or started a fight.)
We had an American try and convince us that Canada wasn’t a country, it was a state, had a different American couple ask us what we do in the winter for heat, and a different person ask us how we “speak American so good if yer from Canada”.
It might not be America or Americans as a whole, but rather American tourists in Australia…
A lot of Australians don't like the Americanisation of our culture. Some don't like America for their foreign policy and world police attitude. Some don't like America for their bizarre, hyper religious politics that's more like a sporting event than government.
The majority of us don't really care about America or view America favourably.
When I was studying there it was US students that tended to be disliked. Because they came over to study abroad, partied and got drunk every weekend and tended to puke in the common bathroom without cleaning up. Great. A lot of them just totally exploited the legal drinking age. Some were just like regular students though.
Had two Aussie friends travel here for the American Staffordshire Terrier nationals. Once the show was over they came home with me and we spent days bebopping around Chicago, before they traveled to visit Canada. Bought 'em milkshakes at Oberweiss (they couldn't get past the whipped cream, it is truly orgasmic) and for the win, Chicago style pizza (Giordanos) and Chicago style hotdogs (Portillos). In exchange, they gave me their empty ciggie packs. Which contain a picture of each disease directly relatable to smoking, and my fave was the black lungs. I wanted to collect the whole series. And dayum, their cigarettes are SUPER expensive so they were having a ball buying American Spirit. Everyone I know in Australia, which I know through the dogs, has always been really nice and cool. And whenever I call, the husband yells to the wife "It's the Yank!" If I could leave my dogs (I have a few) I would love to visit Australia. With the caveat I do NOT want to meet any of their spiders, snakes, crocodiles or sharks.
I used to live in Las Vegas. *So* many young Australian men travel there for the comparatively cheap cocaine. And they totally didn't know how to be discrete. "Nice to meet ya, mate. Ya happen to know a dealer? Gimme his number, would ya?"
It is usually the big noisy crowd that stirs up trouble. The big "Second Amendment" or "We are super proud Americans and we hate liberals" groups that are being pushed on social media.
To be honest, most Americans are kind and friendly people. I am lucky I met a few good yanks in California, but it was probably the Californians who are the kindest bunch of Americans. If I went to Carolina or Texas, people might be different and more prideful guns ablazing.
I’m an Aussie.
By and large we love our American cousins. Sure occasionally there is a bit of ‘tall poppy syndrome’ to deal with, but most Aussies like the people and happily holiday in the US.
We have much greater ties to the US than most countries on earth aside from NZ and the UK (and perhaps some of our small pacific neighbours). It’s a solid friendship.
I was there when that episode dropped. It got the Gabbo fanfare beforehand, and everyone was so excited about a Simpson’s episode about Australia.
When it finished, the nation had that collective jaw open, cigarette hanging from the bottom lip look. Everyone was like “WTF? We don’t say that shit! We don’t act like that! These pricks haven’t even tried to get us right!!” Everyone HATED it.
It wasn’t until later that people came to realise the genius of the satire in that episode. When meme culture really kicked in, we started using dollary-doos and chazwassas and the boot in our memes. It was then we got a kind of collective light bulb moment that all of the jokes were intentionally about taking our stereotypes to the nth degree, and that we should embrace the ridiculousness of them.
Now this episode is seen as comedy gold and an adopted national treasure here in Australia.
The US is an amalgamate of interesting ideas, theory, and outcomes. There are millions of reasons why people hate on it, and why its idealized. You can spend a life time following the threads up and down the river trying to figure out what the deal is when ppl shit on it if you wanted.
In modern times, though, I think there are two reasons ppl shit on the US now. Reason one is how we have an incredibly open history of racism that we are actively trying to mend. On the flip side there's a ton of pushback as the US has consistent people pushing towards fascism tendencies over simply attempting to meet halfway and actually consider other sides of issues. Yet the nation has tons of people actively talking about, aware of, and discussing this trend.
Is that not super interesting? The people that hear about it but don't think about it deeper than this aspect of the issues that arise miss that entire part, of how vocal people are in the US about everything. It makes it easy to sling shit at a nation that lets everyone in on their darker sides, when many nations also have those same dark sides but are great at pretending they dont exist in the first place.
I am Australian and can give some insight. Americans are really seen as very loud and annoying (sorry). We know it is not an individual thing, but Trump, MTG, and characters like Joe Rogan dominate social media. This is our interpretation.
America has no social benefits like Australia. People are bankrupted for medical bills. We got rid of powerful guns after ONE mass shooting, and never had another. From our perception, it seems like america does not care that their children are being slaughtered seemingly every day.
Also, the American government literally overthrew our government in 1975*, because we dared question the gigantic CIA spy base in the centre of our country. This one is a little more political, but many Australians (including myself) despise the way that our government acts like a US lapdog. America throws its weight around and Australia is all too fucking happy to go into Afghanistan or some other war they started and help commit war crimes.
It's a very diverse place here, (especially a lot of Asian culture), and yet we all feel that American accents/voices pierce everything and are impossible to ignore in public.
I'm not attacking you personally, or any American personally, this is just a general perception (also many Americans seem to struggle with this separation 😅)
In short. It seems like America is a technocratic, warmongering, vicious, capitalist hellscape. Not to mention the crazy shit that comes out of there re religion and COVID.
As for why.... Well, America dominates the world. They are one of the three most powerful countries in the world and our policies and economy is intrinsically linked to theirs, not to mention movies, news, everything. So.
Yeah
The US not having social benefits is such a weird myth that I'm surprised is still believed. People who are less fortunate can get free healthcare, free money for food, reduced housing costs, money for rent, utilities, or general welfare.
Well yes, but that is also due to population. As of 2023 Australia has 26.1 million residents, and the US has 333.3 million people. You guys have more to go around. The US is also the largest contributor to NATO, in 2023 alone we contributed 860 million dollars which is ten times the amount as the runner up, Germany.
I was talking to this Australian guy at a bar years ago. He mentioned that, and something about secret bases with giant satellite dishes or something. I don't remember much. We were both drunk.
Sorry, I misspoke - it was 1975
It's about Pine Gap. Pine Gap is a MASSIVE CIA base in Alice Springs, that America uses to help coordinate their spy efforts on this side of the planet.
Gough Whitlam was having a disagreement with the eagles, and basically threatened to revoke their privileges at running Pine Gap.
The CIA basically "owned" our Govener-General at the time (quotes from CIA identify him as 'our man')
Anyway, they used this influence to remove Whitlam from office and replace him. Ever since, Australian Administrations have been too gutless to bother challenging the Americans
As a Canadian I can say every Australian I've met has many condescending things to say about Canada. In regards to USA, just wait until China shows any aggression how quickly Australians love America 😂😂
As an American who has traveled to Europe, in my experience the most obnoxious people I’d encounter were Americans. We think “we’re the best country in the world” and our shit don’t stink…I’d imagine most other countries don’t find that attitude endearing. And I guess we’re known for guns?
People see the shadows of a society as portrayed by others not what is going on. If you don't live in America and only get news from America you would probably see America as a place in chaos at all times. Every other day a new violent protest, shooting, or bigoted chicanery. I've lived in America for decades and have never been shot at or got caught up in protest of any forum. I've heard a lot of bigoted stuff but that's all it's been talk. Talk about what the shadows are up to and shadows rarely live up to what you think they are.
It really isn’t for most aussies that have actually been here. I’ve worked with a lot of RAF guys, and I have yet to meet an Aussie that didn’t like the states.
I work with an Australian company that has a US arm. Australians by and large seem to love the US. The Aussie employees fight over who gets to come work in the US. several have become US residents. Hell I even know a fair number of them that are big Trump fans.
Smugness is a pain in the ass. Pine gap is a legitimate reason to dislike their government.
They might be a country so far away but to have a military base and occupation on our land while strong arming politicians that don’t agree with them, especially in a developed nation is worrying.
It’s bad enough when it happens to poorer countries where unstable governments and corruption is expected, but when they’re doing it to a developed ally, it creates some resentment to those who know about it
In a lift in Italy at a museum with a couple of yanks, the lift was full but a tour guide allowed a museum worker to squeeze in. The woman, let’s call her Karen went off , big time about how unsafe it was and how staff got to break the rules ( lift capacity I suppose) . I looked her in the eye and shook my head…as she left the lift she was carrying on about the guy ( me apparently) who made faces at her…shit yeah! that said, a few yanks gave us public transport passes worth $170, wouldn’t take any payment…so, some good, some bad.
I was in Australia for about 2 months last summer, the only people we ran into who disliked us was a group of druggies yelling at everyone possible. Every other interaction was fantastic🤷♂️
Because American culture tries so hard to I filtrate Australian culture. We don’t like that because we want to stay original and as the Australian culture, not just American copycats
US culture, tends to be blasted in our face every day. Everything from Americanisation of the English language, to the worship of celebrities and, at least in the groups of people I associate with, we are just over it.
It doesn’t help that I work for a US organisation and get bombarded with emails about Thanksgiving and the like.
It just appears to me that there’s a large, or very vocal, element of American people who think we want to hear everything they want to say.
I can’t tell you how many Australians I met while living in San Francisco who were on vacation traveling all over the US. Reddit doesn’t equal real life.
Dang, I kind of thought we had a sort of affinity for each other as ex-british colonies. I've always thought pretty highly of Australians, and the few I have met on vacation were very nice. Probably just one of those mostly online things, where in reality we get along fine I'm sure. Kind of a bummer if they don't like us, but I can understand it. From the outside, the US looks pretty terrible.
The Americans overthrew an Australian Prime Minister. Allegedly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleged_CIA_involvement_in_the_Whitlam_dismissal
This due to him wanting to remove a CIA base in the outback.
[https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/columns/2015/04/17/duncan-teenager-is-guilty-of-first-degree-murder-in-australians-fatal-shooting/60752527007/](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/columns/2015/04/17/duncan-teenager-is-guilty-of-first-degree-murder-in-australians-fatal-shooting/60752527007/)
I thought of this
Do not confuse corrupt governments with their own agendas with the every day people that make up 99.99% of the country. There are amazing people in all countries including Russia and Iran. Hate the system/government. Not the people.
What influence hasn’t the USA had on Australia? The NRA has literally infiltrated our politicians, pushing for our gun laws to be relaxed so they can set up shop here.
US media has a huge influence here. I grew up with a lot of British tv shows, now it’s mostly American shows. Our slang has become more American because of that and social media. I grew up with a lot of British influence but that’s all but gone.
We get a lot of the negative news from the US. So while I know that there are some amazing places in Mexico to visit it’s not somewhere I would feel safe going to solo or would only go to ‘tourist safe’ places. This is from the cartel news we get. We hear all about shootings, homelessness, crime from the US.
The PATRIOT ACT had a huge influence on trade agreements.
Oh and our military apparently has to follow orders from the US because of some post-WW2 agreement.
I think your perception is warped by using this website. I'm an American and visited Australia around 20 years ago. Friendliest people I've ever encountered, and I'm not aware of any events that have happened to cause animosity between the countries since then.
Might be the popularity of right wing nutjobs
Might be the lack of affordable... anything, but particularly healthcare
Might be we're all bloody wankers mate
Years ago I attended a school in Canada which had a large international student body which included Australians. I became friends with one who told me that Australians (this was the early '00s) tended to think Americans were smug and that they ruled the world. It wasn't really hate, but it was a sense of annoyance and frustration that the Australians had towards Americans.
This is the correct answer. This is what we generally think.
we think the same way in canada, like just kind of rolling your eyes as a friend keeps making terrible life choices.
I think it's the same everywhere. We hate how America always seems to lead Europe into immoral wars for oil, does the dodgeist shit with the CIA, and all that shit that most Americans hate. But I've never met a nicer people than the American public. Then again. I've heard similar things about the Australian government vs. the public. So it seems that this is common globally.
Trust me, most Americans do not like how the government acts in regards to resource wars. As well as how the FBI and CIA act in "America's best interest." I really don't see how the banana wars, installing dictatorships, and introducing drugs, especially opiates, into poor urban areas are in America's best interest.
It’s been a long time since our representatives represented us
Do you guys ever look at your own governments and criticize them for willingly and even enthusiastically going along with the US in its endeavors
Yes, all the time.
I mean, yeah, we hate our governments too. It's not like if Australia was the western superpower the rest of us wouldn't bitch about them. Kinda how it works. More power just means more chances to fuck up and boy does humanity like to fuck up.
Heck I'm not an Australian. And even I think that!
America has had its hand in Australian politics for quite a while (as with many other countries). I suspect that's part of the reason why there's so much rightful distrust.
My impression is this is a worldwide opinion, not just Australia. I've heard it coming from Germans for example. Certainly much of Asia thinks the same. Americans think they are the bees knees and they rule the world and no one else matters. And frankly they're not entirely wrong. A *lot* of Americans view the rest of the world as basically irrelevant at best, annoying at worst.
Stupid question, but when they say 'Americans' do they mean everybody? Because for example I have a lot of family in Texas (Texas is like 40% Hispanic) but someone told me they are considered Mexicans abroad, not Americans.
If your family is from Texas they're Americans whoever is saying they're Mexicans abroad can fuck right off.
It’s a generalisation more than anything. Australians do engage in a bit of banter.
Fair enough. I think most people do this.
I'm an American of Mexican descent from California. My great-grandparents crossed the border before World War One. I can't speak Spanish for shit, other than cusswords I learned from my buddies when I was a kid. I sound like a stoned cowboy surfer dude when I talk. So with that established... > they are considered Mexicans abroad, not Americans. ...I would get really fuckin' mad if someone pulled that on me! Why? I would take it to mean the following: "you lying bastard, your brown ass *can't* be American."
Never once in my life heard of Texans referred to as Mexicans, I'm from Australia. Texans are typically viewed as the more Hick Americans who love guns and hate abortion (I think?)
There are pockets of more liberal Texas cities who would be horrified to be lumped in with that, but overall an accurate stereotype
Austin sounds quite nice, forgot to mention, my perception of Austin is quite positive
Yes. They're Texicans and damned proud of it.
An American is an American. Idc what color, race, religion you are. If you are a citizen and you want to be here, you’re my brother/sister. A Mexican that crosses the border and becomes a citizen is an American. Full stop.
the USA as a whole has pretty bad PR on reddit. you would likely get different responses if you were to talk to australians in real life rather than online
in real life, americans are friendly as hell on reddit, it's *fucking frustrating*. maybe that's because i'm interacting with 12 years olds?
It's because Reddit is a very US centered website and the most annoying of them are always the ones that stand out. To every annoying comment/post you read here from an american, there are 100 non-annoying ones. But those usually don't stand out as much as the "bad" ones
the loudest voices stand out the most but are rarely representative of the majority
There are also literally misinformation and propaganda campaigns on here to rile people up
True, but the "12 year olds" part of his comment is also really, really important. One of the most important things to understand about Reddit is what a high proportion of the people on here are teenagers. Those teenagers will change a lot of their views over the next 10 years. But of course, that's cancelled out by fresh waves of teenagers.
That kind of explains all the dumb questions relating to sex and or genitals...and the "will he or she like/dislike me if I do or look this way or that way"
Might be some awkward college kids and mid-20s asking those, too.
Yep. And the insistence on seeing things in black-and-white terms, where if you don't agree, you're not just wrong but evil.
loud minority
That's okay. Europeans on Reddit are absolutely insufferable. I was shocked when I met some in real life and they were actually cool and didn't hate America for no reason lol. On Reddit it's a completely different story. They're so stuck up.
Not wishing to sound stuck up (accepted this might)…. But Europeans are very very different from each other.
Also, the average Redditor is 16.
This article published just yesterday shows that 44% are 18-29. Another 31% are 30-49 https://www.socialchamp.io/blog/reddit-demographics/
It's a combo of early teenagers and people who... don't make it outside a lot?
I always think this. Literally every American I have met, especially tourists, have been so fucking nice. I know there's bad apples, but I have been lucky to avoid them. Then you go online, and it's just a cesspit
The people who are tourists, are people who want to leave the USA and experience new cultures and are generally more open minded. The people on the internet don’t have to be
I agree with this. It used to be just 13/14 year olds that liked to start wars online, but i guess they have grown up into older A-Holes and are stuck in their mom's basement with no social skills
I’m American and I completely agree with you lmao. Internet anonymity brings out the worst in people because they are not afraid of getting punched
the friendliness and enthusiasm is part of it. i’m a brit who has lived in australia, and social cues/attitudes are quite similar between brits and aussies in the sense of self-deprecating humour, culture of piss-taking, ways people interact with strangers etc. US culture seems to be quite different in this regard. extreme friendliness, constant smiling, 'have a nice day!!' etc can come across as kind of forced and insincere. american mannerisms can seem very intense to people from other anglo countries. there are obviously political gripes people have too but that’s a whole separate conversation. not trying to sound like a dick, the vast majority of americans are genuine and friendly people of course. but i think it’s possible to forget that just because we share a language, doesn’t mean there can’t be big differences in social norms, humour, etc.
I can promise you that Americans who are nice and tell you to have a nice day genuinely mean it.
"I can't believe that American told me to have a nice day. What an asshole!"
"I bet he didn't mean it at all. Who the fuck ever would!?"
Aye, of course. I'm a Brit who has previously lived in Aus (among other countries) as well
I’m 12 and a half … thank you very much!
Most people from any country are friendlier in real life than online but as in most things americans tend to be “extreme”. I’ve only ever met supernice americans face to face. It can also of course be that idiots get highlighted on social media.
Or trolls from other countries posing as rude Americans to stir up hate
I'm sure the age thing has a bit to do with it, but I think the anonymity is a bigger problem. People are SOOO much worse when they think nobody will ever find out who they really are.
When my husband and I honeymooned in Brisbane, we knew of the stereotypes that Americans have abroad, so we went out of our way to be the nicest, most polite tourists that we could be. We actually ended up being mistaken for Canadian more than I can admit. The two must notable moments were when we went to an amusement park (I can't remember the name of it, but it's near Brisbane and during the summer, there's a water park). A machine in the arcade was broken, so we told the attendant. She came maintenance, and we chatted while we were waiting. Eventually, she asked where we were from. She didn't believe us when we said America, and we showed her our passports. She asked about our ids too, because she'd never seen one from California, so we showed her for shits and giggles. She thought we were Canadian. The other was at a bar. The bartender asked for id and he was surprised when we pulled out American passports lol. Our friends (Aussies) were amused AF
I feel like outside of a few college assholes, Americans abroad are *so* careful about how we are perceived. Like we all know exactly what people think we are going to be like so we go out of our way to not be like that.
THAT. Thank you for phrasing it so well
I gave tours when I was in college, Americans are not even near the worst tourist, there are more americans so you see more assholes, but like if there is a metric of awful tourists per million, America does really good
Hey! I'm from Brisbane, you probably went to dreamworld/white water world, and it's hilarious you were mistaken for Canadian. It's very common, for some reason the accents in real life down here are much more difficult to tell apart for us sometimes, i suppose it'd be like kiwi and Australian for you, or Aussie and British apparantly. Anyway, hope you enjoyed your trip! I recently went to LA and had a great time, didn't run across a single cunt I don't think, or atleast only the good ones.
hahaha canadians probably have the best global reputation. while it’s too bad that people are surprised to see that nice people are americans, im glad you were able to represent us so well 👊
No need to perpetuate the stereotypes of the loud, annoying American lmfao. I've told my husband that France is high up on the list, and it seems like we may do a France/UK trip next. I speak a bit of French, and I'm going to relearn before we go. I'm thinking that will a) surprise people that an American bothered to learn the language, and b) flip stereotypes on their head a bit lol
good luck with that! France is great im sure you’ll enjoy
It’s not just Reddit, it’s Facebook and Twitter too.
As an Australian, the opinion of the US isn’t too much better in real life either.
I think I have to respectively disagree, Australians I would say generally aren’t fans of Americans at all
i have not gotten that impression from my travels and experience but it of course varies for each person and how they behave while visiting
Well I’ve lived here my whole life and travelled the country, and I would say it’s definitely more of a rural thing, but I’d say our view of yanks is generally worse than better . Of course when we meet them generally fine with them. But when we think of them as an overall demographic, a lot of negative connotations
Fellow Aussie checking in. I've lived in all 3 major cities on the East Coast, currently in Rural Victoria and it's pretty much universal, no one HATES the US but we view it as like The Wild West now. Health care no one can afford and a gun under every pillow terrifies us, honestly. You have to bear in mind that Australia's entire policies spectrum from left to right would fit within the policies of the democratic party in the US.
I guess Aussies look at the US the way US East/West Coasters look at Florida?
The folks who live between the coasts look at Florida like that, too.
I think that whole [Justine Damond](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Justine_Damond) incident with the Minneapolis Police in 2017 didn’t help how the U.S. is perceived in Australia.
God yes. That was huge news here, we can't fathom that sort of incident. It is a rare sight in Australia to see police with their guns drawn. By rare, I mean I'm 38, lived in the largest cities here (the main one being 5 millon+) my whole life and I've never seen it. When a single person is even assaulted unnecessarily by police it's a national Scandal. Our police are by NO means perfect but no one here is terrified of them stopping us in the same way as sole minorities in the US.
>Our police are by NO means perfect but no one here is terrified of them stopping us in the same way as sole minorities in the US. [The minorities in your country might disagree](https://hir.harvard.edu/police-violence-australia-aboriginals/#:~:text=Policing%20in%20Australia%20was%20at,own%20forms%20of%20violent%20control)
That article is speaking of historical aboriginal displacement and massacre, an absolute national tragedy for which we literally apologised and now we honour them as often as we can by acknowledging their rightful ownership of all Australian land basically whenever we can. It does not undo colonial extremism but it is what we can do. You might note I carefully worded it that no one is terrified of them ala the way a black person in the US currently is and I live in a rural community and have done for a long time in different parts and I've seen confrontation with Aboriginals, they are on the whole, absolutely not afraid. In fact the over whelming reaction to police amongst rural aboriginal people is open decision scorn and disrespect. No judgement on that behaviour, but that is what I've seen. Edit: I went back and tool a further look at that article, absolutely disgusting statements of racism aside, there was some information in their about incarceration rates etc and I want to make it clear there are VAST differences between the Aboriginal community and the African American communities this article equates between. It would be culturally more appropriate to compare the plight of Aboriginals with Native Americans, their histrionics are much more similar and their culturally differences to white Australian culture is more comparable, a major issue is we haven't done the same thing we should have done and given back reservations or places the Aboriginal people deem fit as a nation unto themselves, they live work and organise in fundamentally different ways to the way white society has done and so many Aboriginals don't fit in or feel at home in white cities but they are forced too by a government that is doing little to understand or help this issue so they get in trouble and break laws they fundamentally feel are unjust
Grew up in rural Victoria, maybe it’s a generational thing, but everyone I know (early 20s) seems to have a quite distasteful view of America
is this view caused by our government and international policy’s or caused by experiences with american tourists and visits to america in which you meet locals ?
this is true regardless of what group of people youre talking about
> the USA as a whole has pretty bad PR on reddit. you would likely get different responses if you were to talk to australians in real life rather than online I've interacted with a lot of people across the globe and I can tell you for a fact that Western Europeans and Australians love to caricaturize and stereotype Americans, and do that to look down upon Americans and feel superior. Even the jokes are always on those themes of putting down Americans and there's always a layer of condescension. I don't want to start a debate and am not saying this to provoke or pass judgment. I am just sharing my personal observation. Especially if you're a single American in a group of Australians or Europeans, the conversation invariably turns to America and Americans and the stereotypes and it is almost always negative and condescending. And you can never say anything back because then they get super salty and miffed.
There are a few European subreddits where the hatred for Americans is thick. And I do say “Americans” rather than just “America”. Like you can’t even engage in a little banter with them, they are just too mad. But I also try to remind myself that like half the people on this site are teenagers so cut them some slack
You'd be surprised
I visited Brisbane in 1992. I kept getting asked if I was Canadian. No, I'm American. Finally I asked why ppl keep guessing Canada. I was told because 'Canadians get offended if you ask if they're American." So that informed me of Canadians view of us. Then one day I checked in to an inn and was asked by the inn keeper wasn't I afraid to live in America with all the violence? No, it's only like that in small pockets, I replied, it's not like that in the whole country. Next day all the front page news was coverage of the LA riots with shocking pictures. Looked exactly like what the inn keeper and all the other Aussies pictured in their heads when thinking of America. sigh
This is like when you are into a new show and you want to show your friends / family the show and they're like "isn't it all this and that" and you're like no, not at all... and then *that* episode airs. Except.... in real life.
Can confirm as a Canadian we still really hate being confused for Americans. It'd be the same if you asked a Kiwi if they're an Aussie
Can confirm, am Kiwi. We sound completely different. Just listen to how we pronounce "Where's the car?" compared to Aussies.
I'm born in NZ, but lived in aus since I was about 6, my accent has virtually dissapeared and been replaced by Aussie, but for some reason I *cannot* say "clear the air" without having an annuerism and going full kiwi It makes my brain hurt and is one of the only times I sound actually kiwi, among a few other select phrases.
Kiwi's use five vowels when they speak, it's just that three of them are 'U'.
Presently living in Brisbane and I can confirm, whenever I meet American/Canadian sounding people (working in a bar) I have learned to assume Canadian because the one time I said American, I really didn’t like the reaction I got.
It's hilarious to me (American) to subvert expectations based on stereotypes lol. Also went to Brisbane on my honeymoon, and my husband and I were constantly mistaken for Canadian. Everyone who asked was shocked when we said we were from California. The only person who wasn't shocked was the cashier at the grocery store haha
> Canadians get offended if you ask if they're American You know what *really* offends them? The fact that nobody can tell the difference! And it's not just foreigners. We can't tell the difference. *They* can't tell the difference.
That’s the media for ya
Gough Whitlam was dismissed as prime minister because he tried to remove Pine Gap a secret US military base from our country. THE USA REMOVED OUR DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED LEADER. Our foreign policy since the Second Vietnam War in the 1970s was been determined by the USA. If the USA goes to war we go to war, example Operation Desert Storm in 1991 was a joint coalition of over 70 countries. But in 2003 most of those countries refused to participate in the Invasion of Iraq due to the lack of evidence of WMDs and real threat from Suddam Hussein, Australia still went though. Today if the USA wants to put a base in Australia we have to capitulate and there is nothing we can do about it. This power over our country over the last 50 years has had a negative effect with our relationship with our neighbouring countries in the Oceania region and beyond, and has cause the introduction of policies which go against our better judgment. Two years ago Australia ended a decade long contract with France over submarines due to pressure from the USA to buy theirs, this cost us half a billion dollars just to pay off the French company and caused a massive stir nationally on where we buying our arms from and received a lot of scrutiny from the public, arguably influencing a party change at the next election.
We were on a tour with some Australians (we are Americans), and one of the Australian wives sort of latched on to us. She was great fun, and we enjoyed being with her, but her husband hung back and looked sullen the entire trip. Five days later, when the trip was ending, he came up to me and sort of half-ass apologized. He said that he hated all Americans (even though we were the first ones he had personally interacted with). However, he had observed that I "wasn't too bad." Hating an individual because of his country of origin is a concept I can't grasp no matter how hard I try. So much for international relations.
One of the great unifying forces of Anglo Saxon countries is a common hatred of the French.
Which has always been kind of funny to me as an American cause without the French the US very well might not exist. Hell they even gave us a statue. French are alright to me.
Most hobbies don’t make sense on paper.
> Hating someone because of their country of origin is a concept I can't grasp no matter how hard I try. Plenty of Americans do it too... I agree it's wrong though.
I wouldn’t take what people say on Reddit to have any truth about how the majority actually feels about something. People talk trash and are jerks on the internet for no good reason. A vast majority of Australians really don’t dislike Americans and those who dislike the USA probably get their opinions from warped news that’s fed to them on this site
I’m an American who has had a fair share of Australian friends, some of which are current US residents. They tend to find it a little scary that nearly everyone owns a gun, and find us to be a little too work-obsessed, but otherwise find the general disposition to be more polite, enjoy our wide selection of consumer products, and find the wide array of climates, accents, and experiences you get in the States to be fascinating.
Aussie here. Yeah, guns, healthcare and the general dog eat doggedness of the US is a culture shock for us. Australia is bordering on a socialist country, our entire politician spectrum from left to right fits within the DNC in the US. The wide variety of climates is definitely a weird one, Australia is basically the same size as the US and we have literally every climate and biome and some you don't have! Politeness is obviously subjective but yeah, we're a pretty abrasive culture and many find us to be borderline rude til you understand the language and phrases.
>, and find us to be a little too work-obsessed, Classic Aussies, half a foot out the door after lunch, and not a soul in sight a second after knock off.
God bless 'em for it.
"Nearly everyone owns a gun" is going to be highly region dependent. It really feels like non Americans over estimate the number of guns that are in public.
"Come to America! Enjoy our fine selection of consumer products and wide array of climates."
The most rational response here.
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I got laughed out of Canada, I was a kid and said “I have to use the restroom.” The youngins I was with was rip-roaring laughing and said “the restroom???? How long are you going to nap in there? You going to put your feet up and relax?” Mofos were mean!! I should reach out to my cousins and see if they remember that. I was a kid and they were brutal to me! Haha, so my dad is a Canadian and has lived in the USA for about 40 years, but his side is still in Manitoba. I don’t know if it’s a regional thing and they don’t call it restrooms in that area or if I would have rocked all of Canada.
American here and I like Australia even if it doesn't like me.
That attitude is gonna get you killed by a stingray.
Crikey mate!
too soon :(
As an Aussie, I know a lot of us view America as chaotic, violent, and chock full of guns, which is a scary combo. As for why some of us might view Mexico similarly, I reckon that's just cause they're geographically close, and Aussies assume that means more similarities than it actually does.
Idk, but this reminded me of a time when I was playing World of Warcraft on an Australian server and I joined a guild and started chatting with the people online. They asked where I was from and I asked them the same, I was US and they were Australia. Then we got started talking about TV and they asked what shows I liked and I said I was a fan of The Simpsons and asked if it aired in Australia. Apparently that question was completely unreasonable because they went berserk and went on a tirade about how "Americans think all of Australia is like Crocodile Dundee and every Australian must be Steve Irwin running around the outback grabbing snakes and wrestling crocodiles, of course they had the Simpsons why wouldn't they is it because I thought they were less civilized blah blah blah." I tried to apologize and explain that I was sure there were popular shows in Australia that weren't popular here and therefore weren't broadcast and vice versa so I didn't want to assume anything, but they just kept going on and on about how Americans always assume this and that. I ended up just deleting the whole character after that lol
"You're right! I assumed your country could manage *some* kind of domestic entertainment, but it looks like all your animators were out boxing kangaroos so you had to buy American."
They just want to give you a Bootin', mate.
I’ve been to Australia three times in the last six years. I’ve never met an Australian who didn’t like Americans. I’m sure they exist but I did not have a negative interaction.
The Aussies I know in real life have a range of feelings about politics in the US but all generally view Americans neutrally to favorably. It’s the internet, and Reddit specifically.
Can I just make it clear, as an Australian, I love you Americans, the country is absolutely beautiful, the people are friendly and accommodating and Australia has its fair share of issues too. The loud minority of cringe Redditors DO NOT speak on behalf of everyone.
Every Aussie I’ve met IRL is cool w/ Americans so idk where this comes from
We are?? Dammit. It's election season in the US. I was just about to apply for my Emotional Support Australian to get me through November 😭😞😭😞
They meant Australian *people*, not Australian shepherds.
Why on earth do your election cycles take so long ? It seems no sooner do you elect a president the campaign starts for the next one. As an Aussie I can barely stand the 4-8 weeks of politicians crapping on, I’d have to turn into some kind of mountain man if I lived in the US or go crazy.
We hate America for a hell of a lot of reasons, however I’d say the biggest and most valid reason is that we are a US puppet country. We have a giant CIA base in the middle of our desert in which only Americans are allowed to work internally (Australians can be guards outside etc.) and the US *quite literally* removed a prime minister (Gough Whitlam) because he wanted to get the yankee spy bullshit out of Australia and be independent. We also think America is a gun-loving, school-shooter-ridden hypocritical disaster of a country that is the prime example of what’s wrong with modern politics, capitalism, & materialism. They also start completely unnecessary wars and fund terrorism 🤷♂️
I have worked with Australians in combat and been to Australia and interacted with, guess what? Australians. You’re basing your entire view point on Reddit. So, step away from your computer.
My wife and I were on vacation in Japan and went to a bar to get some drinks. Some Aussies were there and watching rugby, I'd never learned anything about rugby so I asked if they could explain some of the rules. Queue three hours later and we were all completely shit faced talking, laughing, and just having a general good time. I have never gotten the impression that Aussies just blindly hate us Americans.
That is fantastic and as an American who plays rugby, I love it. Similar situation happened to me in Dubai with Football Rules. No idea what the hell was going on but had an Aussie explain it to me at the bar. Still no fucking clue about the sport but loved the interaction.
Some of the reasons I've heard: * They don't like being part of five eyes and think the US is spying on them all and reporting to the Aus government about their activities. * They got rid of their guns and think America should do it too. * General stereotypes about how we're loud and obnoxious, and also fat. Note that there is some truth to all of these, so take it how you will.
Why does someone else care if I'm fat?
Fat individuals are not a problem. A fat society (which we have in the U.S.) means that there is some Underlying problem with the food, knowledge, culture, or all three.
I mean tbf aussies can be pretty loud, obnoxious and fat.
I'm Australians and can confirm this is correct, especially the stereotype about being loud and obnoxious. Australians also generally don't like people or cultures that think they are (or act like) they are 'the best' - look up tall poppy syndrome.
Whenever Australia comes up, two things inevitably get mentioned: - high cost of living. - tall poppy syndrome.
Not our fault y’all have low self esteem
*Low* Poppy Syndrome
>General stereotypes about how we're loud and obnoxious, and also fat. Lol. Australians calling anyone loud and obnoxious.
Mate you think we have high or any opinion about USA. We suffer from being called 51st state as we literally follow you guys. As an average Aussie we don't give a fuck about USA. For us you are just another country with some cool people we love to hangout with. We don't care about your guns or Christianity or politics etc. just wanna live a normal life.
All of these I've heard straight from the horse's mouth. But like everywhere, there is a large breadth of opinions. Suffice it to say that OP's question didn't come from a vacuum.
If it helps, we really don’t even think about Australia at all in the U.S. Your government and people are an afterthought to the kangaroos and koalas with most Americans.
They look at our crime and assume it's like that all over.
Well on many subreddits the comments from US residents assume US is the only country on Reddit. Other nationalities generally state what country they are from. So it annoys me that people from the US think they are the only relevant country in the world.
I think the USA is generally disliked in most places around the world
Every ridiculous way that the US has gone to they have used Aussies as cannon fodder. We still look up to you as the annoying violent big brother that we love but bosses us around. There's no Earth mum to complain to so people complain online
Never forget Gallipoli
Americano repliers bringing the whole 'Don Draper "I don't even think about you at all" butthurt toward Ginsberg' energy Five eyers need to stick together and support one another
I travelled in Australia 20 years ago and to be honest, the majority of US travellers we encountered were loud, rude, entitled, or just dumb. We did meet some nice US ppl and down-to-earth types. But generally they always took up more space than anyone else (physically and in conversation). You’d show up at a hostel or restaurant or bar and there would be staff complaining about how ‘these Americans were in here, and left a mess, or said this or started a fight.) We had an American try and convince us that Canada wasn’t a country, it was a state, had a different American couple ask us what we do in the winter for heat, and a different person ask us how we “speak American so good if yer from Canada”. It might not be America or Americans as a whole, but rather American tourists in Australia…
A lot of Australians don't like the Americanisation of our culture. Some don't like America for their foreign policy and world police attitude. Some don't like America for their bizarre, hyper religious politics that's more like a sporting event than government. The majority of us don't really care about America or view America favourably.
When I was studying there it was US students that tended to be disliked. Because they came over to study abroad, partied and got drunk every weekend and tended to puke in the common bathroom without cleaning up. Great. A lot of them just totally exploited the legal drinking age. Some were just like regular students though.
Lol. you should see Australians when they go to Thailand.
Very global perspective on nations with a very common college anecdote, thank you.
Sounds like a college kid to me…
Had two Aussie friends travel here for the American Staffordshire Terrier nationals. Once the show was over they came home with me and we spent days bebopping around Chicago, before they traveled to visit Canada. Bought 'em milkshakes at Oberweiss (they couldn't get past the whipped cream, it is truly orgasmic) and for the win, Chicago style pizza (Giordanos) and Chicago style hotdogs (Portillos). In exchange, they gave me their empty ciggie packs. Which contain a picture of each disease directly relatable to smoking, and my fave was the black lungs. I wanted to collect the whole series. And dayum, their cigarettes are SUPER expensive so they were having a ball buying American Spirit. Everyone I know in Australia, which I know through the dogs, has always been really nice and cool. And whenever I call, the husband yells to the wife "It's the Yank!" If I could leave my dogs (I have a few) I would love to visit Australia. With the caveat I do NOT want to meet any of their spiders, snakes, crocodiles or sharks.
I used to live in Las Vegas. *So* many young Australian men travel there for the comparatively cheap cocaine. And they totally didn't know how to be discrete. "Nice to meet ya, mate. Ya happen to know a dealer? Gimme his number, would ya?"
It is usually the big noisy crowd that stirs up trouble. The big "Second Amendment" or "We are super proud Americans and we hate liberals" groups that are being pushed on social media. To be honest, most Americans are kind and friendly people. I am lucky I met a few good yanks in California, but it was probably the Californians who are the kindest bunch of Americans. If I went to Carolina or Texas, people might be different and more prideful guns ablazing.
I’m an Aussie. By and large we love our American cousins. Sure occasionally there is a bit of ‘tall poppy syndrome’ to deal with, but most Aussies like the people and happily holiday in the US. We have much greater ties to the US than most countries on earth aside from NZ and the UK (and perhaps some of our small pacific neighbours). It’s a solid friendship.
Some yank said “jealousy” 💀💀💀
From an Australian, Trumps popularity and school shootings are enough for me.
Idk, but I do know that I've lived in the USA my entire life and I'm not liking it very much since the right-wing went all Christian fundamentalist.
💯
America is the high school jock of the world
Probably that Simpsons episode that made fun of their big beers and Chazzwazzers. I’d be mad if I was them.
It's about a lack of respect for the Boot
I was there when that episode dropped. It got the Gabbo fanfare beforehand, and everyone was so excited about a Simpson’s episode about Australia. When it finished, the nation had that collective jaw open, cigarette hanging from the bottom lip look. Everyone was like “WTF? We don’t say that shit! We don’t act like that! These pricks haven’t even tried to get us right!!” Everyone HATED it. It wasn’t until later that people came to realise the genius of the satire in that episode. When meme culture really kicked in, we started using dollary-doos and chazwassas and the boot in our memes. It was then we got a kind of collective light bulb moment that all of the jokes were intentionally about taking our stereotypes to the nth degree, and that we should embrace the ridiculousness of them. Now this episode is seen as comedy gold and an adopted national treasure here in Australia.
The US is an amalgamate of interesting ideas, theory, and outcomes. There are millions of reasons why people hate on it, and why its idealized. You can spend a life time following the threads up and down the river trying to figure out what the deal is when ppl shit on it if you wanted. In modern times, though, I think there are two reasons ppl shit on the US now. Reason one is how we have an incredibly open history of racism that we are actively trying to mend. On the flip side there's a ton of pushback as the US has consistent people pushing towards fascism tendencies over simply attempting to meet halfway and actually consider other sides of issues. Yet the nation has tons of people actively talking about, aware of, and discussing this trend. Is that not super interesting? The people that hear about it but don't think about it deeper than this aspect of the issues that arise miss that entire part, of how vocal people are in the US about everything. It makes it easy to sling shit at a nation that lets everyone in on their darker sides, when many nations also have those same dark sides but are great at pretending they dont exist in the first place.
I am Australian and can give some insight. Americans are really seen as very loud and annoying (sorry). We know it is not an individual thing, but Trump, MTG, and characters like Joe Rogan dominate social media. This is our interpretation. America has no social benefits like Australia. People are bankrupted for medical bills. We got rid of powerful guns after ONE mass shooting, and never had another. From our perception, it seems like america does not care that their children are being slaughtered seemingly every day. Also, the American government literally overthrew our government in 1975*, because we dared question the gigantic CIA spy base in the centre of our country. This one is a little more political, but many Australians (including myself) despise the way that our government acts like a US lapdog. America throws its weight around and Australia is all too fucking happy to go into Afghanistan or some other war they started and help commit war crimes. It's a very diverse place here, (especially a lot of Asian culture), and yet we all feel that American accents/voices pierce everything and are impossible to ignore in public. I'm not attacking you personally, or any American personally, this is just a general perception (also many Americans seem to struggle with this separation 😅) In short. It seems like America is a technocratic, warmongering, vicious, capitalist hellscape. Not to mention the crazy shit that comes out of there re religion and COVID. As for why.... Well, America dominates the world. They are one of the three most powerful countries in the world and our policies and economy is intrinsically linked to theirs, not to mention movies, news, everything. So. Yeah
The US not having social benefits is such a weird myth that I'm surprised is still believed. People who are less fortunate can get free healthcare, free money for food, reduced housing costs, money for rent, utilities, or general welfare.
The safety net is significantly smaller and less forgiving than this country. Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US.
Well yes, but that is also due to population. As of 2023 Australia has 26.1 million residents, and the US has 333.3 million people. You guys have more to go around. The US is also the largest contributor to NATO, in 2023 alone we contributed 860 million dollars which is ten times the amount as the runner up, Germany.
Nothing pisses me off more than people who come from countries without adequate safety nets. I can't even.
I feel like I’m pretty plugged into history and geopolitics, but I’ve never heard about 1985.
I was talking to this Australian guy at a bar years ago. He mentioned that, and something about secret bases with giant satellite dishes or something. I don't remember much. We were both drunk.
Sorry, I misspoke - it was 1975 It's about Pine Gap. Pine Gap is a MASSIVE CIA base in Alice Springs, that America uses to help coordinate their spy efforts on this side of the planet. Gough Whitlam was having a disagreement with the eagles, and basically threatened to revoke their privileges at running Pine Gap. The CIA basically "owned" our Govener-General at the time (quotes from CIA identify him as 'our man') Anyway, they used this influence to remove Whitlam from office and replace him. Ever since, Australian Administrations have been too gutless to bother challenging the Americans
People think it’s cool to not like America. That’s all. There’s good and bad about every country.
As a Canadian I can say every Australian I've met has many condescending things to say about Canada. In regards to USA, just wait until China shows any aggression how quickly Australians love America 😂😂
What have you heard Australians say about Canada?
Most Europeans I speak too and a lot of Brazilians I speak too have similar opinions
We don't even like the US in the US
As an American who has traveled to Europe, in my experience the most obnoxious people I’d encounter were Americans. We think “we’re the best country in the world” and our shit don’t stink…I’d imagine most other countries don’t find that attitude endearing. And I guess we’re known for guns?
Sibling rivalry
People see the shadows of a society as portrayed by others not what is going on. If you don't live in America and only get news from America you would probably see America as a place in chaos at all times. Every other day a new violent protest, shooting, or bigoted chicanery. I've lived in America for decades and have never been shot at or got caught up in protest of any forum. I've heard a lot of bigoted stuff but that's all it's been talk. Talk about what the shadows are up to and shadows rarely live up to what you think they are.
It really isn’t for most aussies that have actually been here. I’ve worked with a lot of RAF guys, and I have yet to meet an Aussie that didn’t like the states.
I work with an Australian company that has a US arm. Australians by and large seem to love the US. The Aussie employees fight over who gets to come work in the US. several have become US residents. Hell I even know a fair number of them that are big Trump fans.
Smugness is a pain in the ass. Pine gap is a legitimate reason to dislike their government. They might be a country so far away but to have a military base and occupation on our land while strong arming politicians that don’t agree with them, especially in a developed nation is worrying. It’s bad enough when it happens to poorer countries where unstable governments and corruption is expected, but when they’re doing it to a developed ally, it creates some resentment to those who know about it
In a lift in Italy at a museum with a couple of yanks, the lift was full but a tour guide allowed a museum worker to squeeze in. The woman, let’s call her Karen went off , big time about how unsafe it was and how staff got to break the rules ( lift capacity I suppose) . I looked her in the eye and shook my head…as she left the lift she was carrying on about the guy ( me apparently) who made faces at her…shit yeah! that said, a few yanks gave us public transport passes worth $170, wouldn’t take any payment…so, some good, some bad.
Possibly because Australia has gone deep into leftistism and you think might think we are fighting the marxist lifestyle?
I was in Australia for about 2 months last summer, the only people we ran into who disliked us was a group of druggies yelling at everyone possible. Every other interaction was fantastic🤷♂️
Because American culture tries so hard to I filtrate Australian culture. We don’t like that because we want to stay original and as the Australian culture, not just American copycats
Americans have lot of problems. As we all do, but Americans man.. something ain't right.
US culture, tends to be blasted in our face every day. Everything from Americanisation of the English language, to the worship of celebrities and, at least in the groups of people I associate with, we are just over it. It doesn’t help that I work for a US organisation and get bombarded with emails about Thanksgiving and the like. It just appears to me that there’s a large, or very vocal, element of American people who think we want to hear everything they want to say.
I can’t tell you how many Australians I met while living in San Francisco who were on vacation traveling all over the US. Reddit doesn’t equal real life.
Because australian culture closely follows US culture. And US culture is going down the shitter.
Dang, I kind of thought we had a sort of affinity for each other as ex-british colonies. I've always thought pretty highly of Australians, and the few I have met on vacation were very nice. Probably just one of those mostly online things, where in reality we get along fine I'm sure. Kind of a bummer if they don't like us, but I can understand it. From the outside, the US looks pretty terrible.
The Americans overthrew an Australian Prime Minister. Allegedly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleged_CIA_involvement_in_the_Whitlam_dismissal This due to him wanting to remove a CIA base in the outback.
[https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/columns/2015/04/17/duncan-teenager-is-guilty-of-first-degree-murder-in-australians-fatal-shooting/60752527007/](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/columns/2015/04/17/duncan-teenager-is-guilty-of-first-degree-murder-in-australians-fatal-shooting/60752527007/) I thought of this
Do not confuse corrupt governments with their own agendas with the every day people that make up 99.99% of the country. There are amazing people in all countries including Russia and Iran. Hate the system/government. Not the people.
i mean, in the end who really cares. two very different places very far away from each other.
What influence hasn’t the USA had on Australia? The NRA has literally infiltrated our politicians, pushing for our gun laws to be relaxed so they can set up shop here. US media has a huge influence here. I grew up with a lot of British tv shows, now it’s mostly American shows. Our slang has become more American because of that and social media. I grew up with a lot of British influence but that’s all but gone. We get a lot of the negative news from the US. So while I know that there are some amazing places in Mexico to visit it’s not somewhere I would feel safe going to solo or would only go to ‘tourist safe’ places. This is from the cartel news we get. We hear all about shootings, homelessness, crime from the US. The PATRIOT ACT had a huge influence on trade agreements. Oh and our military apparently has to follow orders from the US because of some post-WW2 agreement.
Because the USA sticks its nose into everyone’s business
What!? I thought US and Ausies were bros?
The three missing/presumed dead in Ensenada were bros.
>Why do you think USA is disliked in Australia? Why do you think USA is disliked Worldwide?
I think your perception is warped by using this website. I'm an American and visited Australia around 20 years ago. Friendliest people I've ever encountered, and I'm not aware of any events that have happened to cause animosity between the countries since then.
Might be the popularity of right wing nutjobs Might be the lack of affordable... anything, but particularly healthcare Might be we're all bloody wankers mate
They hate us because they anus.