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Notes -
I was rather surprised to see how outright hostile the sentiment was towards Americans, while attending a reasonably high profile comedy show in Edinburgh tonight. Even directed at the poor sods who responded when the MC/individual comedians asked if there were Americans in the crowd. Apparently "I didn't vote for him" is no defense.
I ran into a very nice gentleman from Washington state while sheltering from the rain under the alcove of his building, next to the venue. I told him that while the show was nice enough, he's better off pretending to be Canadian. He was a tad bit strange, since, as he explained and then demonstrated, he'd stepped out to get soaked in the rain in lieu of a shower. That is probably whimsy and not pathology, but I opted to stay dry.
To be fair, I was sampling from the most vocally leftist/progressive strata of Scottish society. The average Scot seems to be much less deranged, and outright welcoming of the odd American tourist. Anyone else notice such obvious hostility in other countries?
Mr. Human, our libtards are the same way. My only trip to Europe was during the height of Iraq War tensions. There were no issues, even when I was obviously culture shocked.
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Idek but I travel all over the world and I find people who are openly hostile to me when I tell them I'm an American- and/or from a red state- is a huge red flag. This kind of bigotry is so inane and ubiquitous that I just seek out people who don't judge me no matter where I'm from. I've met people from all kinds of places that are openly hostile to Americans or the American empire and never would I consider judging them based on the country they're from rather than by the things they say or the actions they take. To treat someone poorly based on their nationality is always a bad sign no matter what part of the world you're in. (This pattern matches similarly to people in blue states who are begging to hear some trump denouncement/land acknowledgment from you as soon as you're identified as being from a red state. If you're someone who sees half of your countrymen with such contempt I'll just find somebody else to talk to rather than grovel) And this comment probably makes me sound like I am a rude person but I should specify that I am extremely polite when I sus out that someone is judging me and am tactful enough to disengage with them gracefully. I have had multiple instances where I was traveling abroad with other men- one a very liberal German, another a jew from NYC, and had locals harass and yell at them specifically while in the same breath were kind and apologetic to me. I think the defining factor is the level of respect you show toward others, which I make a habit of being conscious of, and others often are not.
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We are costing other countries and their residents a lot of money with the whole Iran and tariff thing. Usually, even of Trump, the critique would be merely aesthetic. In 2026, it is in the pocketbook.
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That used to be the advice for Americans travelling abroad: put a Canadian flag sticker on your luggage/backpack/laptop. This was, oh, mid-late 2000s? Early 2010s?
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If you play the "but I'm one of the good ones!" card in trying to suck up to lefty Europoors, I suppose you deserve the mockery that ensues. You're from the global military and economic hegemon that composes more than 60% of the world stock market cap.; no need to be embarrassed by it. Normies need a lesson in yes_chadding.
I don't exactly like so-called "ugly Americans" throwing their weight around, being crass and acting flabbergasted by anything that's the slightest bit different from back home (just yesterday evening I had to run over to a carload of them and politely tell them that we drive on the left here – thank Christ I noticed before they got themselves into an accident). But I will say this in their defense: at least they're being authentic. I find the "preemptively apologising for being American" oikophobia routine even more insufferable, and insincere in exactly the same way Scott described in "I Can Tolerate Anything Except the Outgroup" – you're not apologising for being American, you're "apologising" for things the Red Tribe did in your name. What I find most irritating about it is that, for all their talk of how embarrassed they are by their nationality and how much they admire the European way of doing things, these people usually seem exactly as ignorant about the world beyond the stars and stripes as their "ugly American" brethren.
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