To wonder if the anti-Americanism on MN is typical of the broader UK population?

[NCforthisonetwothree]

MN regular, NC for this. I’m an American, been in the UK for 10+ years. DH is also American, moved here for his work. Most of the posts I see that bring up the US are pretty down on it (and I agree! Trump, guns, healthcare, etc.) but there’s also a sort of strong general anti-American-ness, a sort of disdain, I’d say, for things (names, attitudes, behaviours, styles, etc.) that are “too American.”

We have two kids (born here) and both work full time and have integrated (reasonably well, I think?), but most of our friends are other expats and immigrants. I wonder whether the anti-American sentiment that seems fairly widespread here on MN is representative of most of the UK?

Posting here obviously as I don’t think anyone IRL would give me a straight answer.

Yes, plenty of high schools here in Scotland. Some are also called grammar schools but they are secondary schools.

I'm assuming you mostly interact with people who have enough money if you're talking about people who come from the UK to the US because I don't know anyone who could begin to afford that. But most Americans I know have had a lot of problems keeping up with their health insurance.

The UK patients I've interacted with do necessarily have to have the money to get medical treatment in the US. My point was not that this is an affordable option for most people. My point was that Brits who are happy to slag off the US heath care system don't seem to be boycotting it on principle when they have a serious illness when the NHS has nothing to offer them or wants them to wait months to start treatment. There is no rationing by waiting list here. My other point was that for all of it's faults, the US health care system consistently produces the innovations and more effective diagnostic tools and treatments that the rest of the world ultimately benefits from.

Without knowing how most of your American friends access the health care system I can't comment on why they have problems "keeping up" with their heath insurance. If they're on a government program like Medicaid, there are no premiums. If they are in an employer sponsored health insurance plan, their portion (typically about 15-20% of the total cost of the insurance) of the premiums are deducted from their pay automatically. Do you know people in the UK who have trouble keeping up with their National Insurance contributions, which start at 12% of income?

@LiveInAHidingPlace

"My state alone is the size of England.

"Stuff like this may be part of it...

What do you mean by that?

It's not a brag, it is. I'm pointing out that people making generalisations about such a big and varied country is ignorant.

For example use of ‘z’ instead of ‘s’ surprise

I assure you that nobody here spells 'surprise' with a z.

karen Americans pointing out how big their country is is something of a stereotype and will get many rolling their eyes, no matter the context.

Karen, are you in CA or TX?

But it IS big for fucks sake.

For what's its worth most Americans I know that have been to Britain actually love how much smaller it is. Less driving, rubbish collection and mail to your house and many other reasons.

Why the hostility?

@MissConductUS no Maine.

Ive worked in London for lots of US companies and with US teams and to be honest, the UK (and french/German teams) do have quite a laugh at the Americans. How relentlessly cheery they are... How everything is amazing... How poorly they understand other cultures... They constantly say Europe as if it's a single country. Their unwavering confidence and arrogance in own abilities. Cringey team bonding high fives. It's a very particular type of middle class American I work with I should say... The type who was in Delta Delta Nu sorority.

I'm sure they laugh about us too... I do find international companies seem to heighten stereotypes. I'm sure they think we are a miserable bunch who drink too much.

In American English, surprise is spelled with an "s."

On another thread, an American poster thinks having a funeral car parade with 20+ cars is 'respectful' and believes every other motorist on the road should just pull over for this grande parade and just wear it, because the deceased has more important places to go than motorists who could be late for chemotherapy or a custody battle hearing, etc.

I just took a look at this thread, and I do think you are misprepresenting American culture around funerals. It is part of American culture, especially in the South where I live, for traffic to yield to funeral processions. It is often orchestrated with the help of the police and it doesn't usually create delays for other motorists longer than a few minutes. From that thread, it appears also to be part of Irish culture, and should I venture to guess maybe that is partly its origin in the US. It doesn't come from some notion of showing off; it's part of the way we show respect for the deceased and for the loss the family has experienced.

karen Because we hear the same shit all the time. Just gets dull I guess.

I'm sure they think we are a miserable bunch who drink too much.

Guilty as charged.

But the point about size is important in the context of generalizations. There is a huge variation in cultural expectations and behavior in the US from region to region and even within regions and states. When you consider the size of the country, that's a whole lot of variations.

@LiveInAHidingPlace what same shit do you hear all the time?

Little-known fact: lots of American spellings are more trad than the British ones. It's the latter that have changed.

A lot of English (not British) people believe in English exceptionalism and have a subconscious or sometimes conscious superiority complex over all other nationalities. Our history lessons teach us to think like this.

Americans frustrate many English in particular because America is richer and is more important on the world stage now. In addition many Americans are loudly proud of this and it upsets many English who feel they have to put Americans down in order to put them back in ‘their place’.

Megan Markle would be getting nowhere near as much hate if she wasn’t a ‘jumped up American’.

It’s a weird mix of jealousy, fear and superiority complex.

Maybe it's where I live but most people I know here are really positive about the UK (and the rest of Europe.)

I've only once heard someone slag Britain off (and he's a asshole anyway).

Everyone I know wants to know all about life in the UK. It's actually frustrating someone's that everyone wants to talk about Europe so much, even strangers in shops or restaurants will often bang on and on about how they love the accent, always wanted to go or have gone and think it's the most amazing place ever.

It makes me sad to conversely hear such nastiness about Americans.

everyone wants to talk about Europe so much, even strangers in shops or restaurants will often bang on and on about how they love the accent, always wanted to go or have gone and think it's the most amazing place ever.

This is hilarious it's literally what I wrote below! I wouldn't say in my company we are nasty we would call it banter. British culture loves taking the piss

I've actually found where I live that people take the piss even more than Brits. And have a more dry sense of humour for the most part.

It REALLY wrongfooted me until I was used to it!

Americans frustrate many English in particular because America is richer and is more important on the world stage now. In addition many Americans are loudly proud of this and it upsets many English who feel they have to put Americans down in order to put them back in ‘their place’.

I think that this is a good part of it. And the fact that there is no widespread reciprocal anti-UK sentiment in the US bears that out. Of all the overseas tourists who come to New York, in my experience it's the ones from the UK who are the most warmly welcomed.

There are hundreds of Americas, if you will.

My current America is juice bars, yoga, organic food, spinning studios, great cultural programs, composting, a touch of plastic surgery, left-leaning, worldly and sardonic.

My America, two years ago, was libertarian, small town, dressed down, politically split left and right, deer hunting, and forthright.

These two towns are a thirty-minute drive apart, yet their inhabitants couldn’t be more different.

I'm married so obviously not in the market for beau but being British definitely gives me extra pulling power for sure.

I'm sure they laugh about us too... I do find international companies seem to heighten stereotypes. I'm sure they think we are a miserable bunch who drink too much.

IME - no, Americans don't spend much time laughing at other countries. That's one of the things people hate about Americans - that they just aren't particularly insecure, and they don't need to put down other nationalities to make themselves feel better. There's just no need to waste any energy on it.

Personally I quite like that about them, but then I am becoming less British and more American the longer I live in the US.

Americans don't spend much time laughing at other countries

They really don't. I've only ever heard one American say nasty things about another country.

I agree that people in the US, at least where I live, generally don't say negative things about other countries. I will say, however, that there does seem to be a bit of barely controlled how shall I put this not exactly glee, but amusement certainly, in news stories here about the goings on in Parliament with the current PM. I think it may have to do with the hope that the world's eyes are diverted, however briefly, from the goings-on of our current administration to the clusterfuck confusion that is Brexit.