Why Do Europeans Dislike Americans So Much?

I'm asking questions about how Europeans see Americans. I think it's a third world country with a lot of money. Very negative. Very negative. Yeah, I don't see anything positive about America. I think they're a bit stupid. American TikTokers, they earn too much money with what they do. Like in Belgium, we have to work for money and they just make videos and that's it. You know, I might be completely wrong about this, but I think it was a little bit cooler. to be american when i was a kid i've lived in europe for several years now and look i've romanticized this continent quite a bit i really like living here but there's a funny feeling that i cannot shake and i think it has to do with how europeans view americans or how Europeans view me when they discover that I'm American. And it's not entirely positive. This feeling has not gone away even though I've been here for a few years now. And it's not hatred. It's more like negative undertones. Offhand comments or jokes that are made. And it makes me feel not very cool. And by the way, I recognize not all Europeans dislike Americans. That is a massive generalization. But I'm bringing this up because it's been enough of a trend. for me to confidently talk about this as something that's really happening in the world. I don't think it's just in my head. It just seems like when it comes to Europeans' view of Americans, there's a lot to dislike. I don't necessarily entirely disagree. I have plenty of my own criticisms about the United States and the way of life over there. And I think that all places, all societies merit criticism. That's how we get better. So this applies to everyone. But there's something deeper going on here that I want to explore. on a personal level, my own identity as an American, but also the identity of Americans on the global stage. We don't live in a bubble, and it turns out the whole world has opinions about us. Now, I have my own theories about what's going on here, but I thought I'd get to the root of the matter and ask Europeans themselves. It makes me a little bit nervous talking to strangers, but I'm just gonna go for it. What are the stereotypes? Actually, I like Americans because they are very chilled. America is so expensive for good food. For fruits and all this fresh stuff, it's so expensive. I have two visions. I have the version where they are so cool and the version of the beautiful American. Do you think the stereotypes about Americans are true? Kind of. I have a classmate that is American and we are talking about our traditional foods. And the American was like, my typical food is hamburger. Ice cream, like the McDonald's one. And we are like, oh, so McDonald's is your typical food. She was like, yeah, kind of. Could I just take a couple minutes, ask a couple questions? It's OK. If you don't have time, it's fine. OK. All good. Have a nice day. The Americans don't have time for me. That's kind of funny. Would you mind if I asked you a couple questions? Polarized. Polarized. Yeah. More than the Netherlands? Much more. Do you feel younger people feel the same way or differently about American? I think even stronger. Even stronger? I think they feel even stronger. Yeah, the older people I feel may be thinking of the World War II and World War I, which the Americans did a very good job by helping because Europe was not doing very well. Yeah. They only know what's happening in their countries. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They know about their own country, but not about other stuff in the world. They're overrated. They're overrated? How? They receive too much attention? Yeah, too much hype on the internet. Are you also German? Yes, I am. And in Germany, you feel like German people have a positive view of Americans? Not really, I think so. Okay, so more negative. Yeah, I think so. Do you feel that there's been a change at all in terms of how Americans are viewed like in the last 10, 15 years? I think so, yes. Especially due to the Trump and the Tea Party things happening. It got more polarized and that made it more negative in my view. There's more that I'd like to say about why I believe this dynamic is happening. why Europeans see Americans in this way. But before I do, I want to thank the sponsor of this video, which is BetterHelp. And look, therapy is a really powerful tool when it comes to anything and everything identity-related. I absolutely love living abroad. I wouldn't exchange it for the world. But it has come with its own emotionally challenging situations, and it's been helpful to work with a therapist over the years. Loneliness, my own self-image, my self-worth. Those are the kinds of things that I've been working at developing a deeper understanding of over the years thanks to therapy. BetterHelp is a hundred percent online and designed to be convenient and flexible to adapt to your schedule and what works for you. You can message your therapist at any time and schedule live sessions when it works for you. They give you access to a very large network of licensed therapists and so if the therapist that you're working with doesn't work out, it isn't a good fit, you can switch to a new one at no additional charge. So, if you're interested in checking it out, you can get 10% off your first month if you sign up at BetterHelp.com slash Nathaniel Drew, and I'll leave that link in the description as well. It's one of the best ways to support my work. Thank you BetterHelp for sponsoring this video. Alright, time for me to share some of my own personal theories here. Here's why I think it was maybe a little bit cooler to be American in the past. I was born in the 90s, maybe like some of you. And back in the 90s... It's not like the United States, or the world for that matter, didn't have its problems. It definitely did. You're not gonna get any of that classic, nostalgic, those were the days kind of thing from me. But one thing I think we can all agree on is that back in the 90s, the internet had not yet completely taken over our lives like it has now. And in my view, the internet feels like it's taken whatever problems already existed and made them bigger and louder. That might actually be what the internet is best at. the fast transmission of ideas and information which in turn amplifies them and there's another thing that the internet is really good at which is that it is a canvas for less curated or filtered versions of that information or ideas there are less gatekeepers so anyone can say anything my theory is that as time has gone on and as the internet has played a bigger and bigger role in our lives the world has been exposed to a less curated version of the united states you know you had movies and tv and pop music reaching the entire world but it wasn't like it is today with social media and even the news reaching so many more people nowadays it feels like you cannot escape the news about the mass shootings that are constantly happening in the us or the insane election cycles i think in some ways the internet might have taken away some of our innocence right some of our naivete as a result even more curated versions of culture like the highly produced tv shows and movies are reflecting the things that we're seeing the unintelligent or simple American is a very believable archetype and not a new one. You've got at least one and often more than one character that perfectly fits that archetype in pretty much all American sitcoms. From Friends to How I Met Your Mother. And there are plenty of shows that play off of this very intentionally. I think of South Park. Family Guy and The Simpsons. And internationally, the contrast is even more stark. And it might just be me, but it does feel like the perception of Americans is deteriorating. I mean, I'm thinking about shows like Emily in Paris or The White Lotus. The White Lotus in particular blew me away because it felt so believable. and oftentimes in a very depressing way. Clearly, Americans are not known for being refined or in touch with reality. This is particularly true of wealthy Americans. And why wouldn't Europeans feel this way? We are famously terrible at learning foreign languages. To many, we're seen as living in our own giant bubbles. A lot of people beforehand used to think like the US was like very cool and... this really lovely place to go to, but I feel like everyone just thinks it's dangerous and that they don't care about their citizens. There's all these shootings going on, like their health care is horrible, their schools, schooling is horrible. So there's been a change? I think it's always been like that. I think there's a change now because like social media is like, is making it more apparent. American crime used to be, you know like the American dream? Like a lot of them used to be a big thing. Like gun crime was getting like publicized a lot more. So I think like the narrative is changing a little bit. And I see them as capitalists. In fact, if you have money, you live well. But if you don't have money, there's no one to help you. March ou crème. In France, we say the Americans are big and fat. But I love America with the friends, the celery friends. So there's a positive side and a negative side. Yeah, that's right. Global, global, people think that. But at the same time, everyone goes to New York and everyone goes to the United States. That's right. Most people love Canadians. Okay, so once you clarify you're a Canadian, they're like, whew. People are like, oh, Canada, where are you from in Canada? For me, it's like a lot about the money, like the times I went to New York, and it's like, you know, winners and losers and, you know. you gotta make it, and you gotta make loads of money, and la la la la, and then if you don't have money, you're basically fucked. I would say extremes. It's like an extreme country, like very, very rich, very, very poor, eat very much, eat very, very, very healthy, extreme healthy, extreme, like XXXL, McDonald's, whatever. Where are you from? England. Perfect. So I'm doing a video on Europeans' view of Americans. Do you feel like it's a more positive or a negative view of Americans? I'd say negative. I feel like there's a lot going on there that's just a bit backwards. I feel like we need to move along. All the abortion laws coming in, all the gun crimes, things like that. I imagine most of the country is absolutely lovely, but there's some of the morals that are just a little bit off for me, so I struggle with that. I agree, but I do think you all like proper chatty and that, and you're really energetic. Yeah, so that's a positive thing. Yeah, but I also agree with that as well. It's lovely to meet Americans. Love meeting Americans. Okay, so why am I so interested in this topic? Well, over the last few years, I have shared my journey moving abroad and looking for a home. Because that home is not the United States. I just don't feel connected to that country. Not as a home, even though I'm coming to realize that it did shape me in many ways. I'm just trying to find my place. But as I've said before, different people will treat you in different ways based off of how they perceive you. The first time I experienced this was during my high school exchange in France when I was 16 years old. Obama was president, and regardless of your personal political opinion... or feelings he was seen in generally positive light abroad so in a weird way even though I was not responsible for electing him I wasn't even of age to vote that scored me some cool points and then on top of it 16 year old French kids living in a small town in the west of France thought it was cool that I rode a yellow bus to school and that I had my own personal locker in the United States so I was benefiting from all these things that I didn't Really control it all then I get to Argentina a few years later And I see what it's like to be on the flip side where the general sentiment was more negative I'm generalizing here, but there's a bit of an anti-american streak in Argentina I think this comes down to the image that the United States has of being a bit of a bully I mean Che Guevara is a bit of an anti-american anti-capitalist symbol, right? So that was a very different experience and now I'm back in Europe and I've been here for a while and the perception has changed yet again 90% of the Dutchman think Trump is quite strange. They think Republicans are also quite strange. Americans are very Puritan. This might just be me, but I do feel like the image of Americans has deteriorated a little bit over the last 10 years. That might come down to the government that's currently in power. It might come down to social media. This is a very complex thing, so I can't point to a single reason, but it's definitely a feeling that's there. Now on a personal level, before I realized that this was going on, I was kind of unintentionally overcompensating. I felt like I needed to show that I wasn't the out-of-touch American in Europe. And the same thing happened to me in Argentina. where I was speaking with as much slang as I possibly could that I picked up over there, even when it was just way too much, when it was inappropriate. Why was I acting like that? Was there a deeper need within me to be accepted by the people that I am surrounded by? To me, it's a little bit cringy to behave that way because it's overcompensating. for something. Which, in this case, was the identity that people were associating with me. Whatever it was. The out of touch, stupid American, whatever it might be. But that's actually a me problem, not a problem with the world. I've come to realize that people can think whatever they want about you. It doesn't change who you are. If people see me as yet another dumb American, it doesn't mean that's true. And also, it doesn't mean all Americans are that way. I think we all know this. We all know that individuals don't necessarily follow the stereotypes. But, it's also... how people operate in a world of 8 billion people. I can't blame people for having formulated an idea about the place that I'm from considering how much culture is exported from that place. A part of me used to try to distance myself as much as possible from anything and everything American. But the truth is that at least some part of me, some piece of me has been influenced by my upbringing there. There are a lot of things I don't like. but there are some things that I do. If genuinely being very enthusiastically excited about simple things is the dumb American thing to do, then fine. Maybe I'm a dumb American sometimes because that is something that comes naturally to me. I would rather be myself and accept the consequences than try to be someone that I'm not. And you know what? Everyone wants to feel welcome. wherever they are and especially in their home but the reality is that that's actually a luxury not a given so many immigrants in the united states were never made to feel that way despite the fact that the country benefited tremendously from all the immigration all the people that risked their lives to go build something over there honestly i don't have it that bad who am i kidding i don't have it bad at all it could be so much worse and oftentimes it is exploring this topic has really given me quite a bit of empathy for the immigrants that are very poorly received all around the world. So what do you think about everything I just shared here? What is your perception of Americans or of Europeans towards Americans? I would be curious to hear because this is a giant open-ended topic and I invite all different opinions and perspectives on this it's just something i love to explore also apologies to all latin americans and canadians who are americans in their own right i have decided to use that word in this video because there isn't really another word that has been widely adopted to still speak of the people of the united states so i just used it for simplicity and i hope that you can forgive me thank you so much for watching and i'll see all of you very soon

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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:05 Asking Strangers, Part I
05:52 Personal Theories
08:26 Asking Strangers, Part II
11:20 Conclusion


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