>>48
Parentheses.
>>45
lol internet
I think that people 'hate' any entire population of any country because of ignorance. They base their judgement on black sheep (few OR many in number) and politics. I'd say there are many good reasons to dislike American capitalist expansion and the fact that few Americans bother to learn a 2nd language. (See March editorial article in Houston Chronicle on 'foreign languge month').
>>35 is blatantly wrong. If s/he has lived in or spent a significant amoutn of time in America, s/he would know the cultural differences of the Est, West, and 'Third' (Southern) Coasts. Hell, even wishing to distinguish 'your' coast from the 'other' coasts reveals an underlying conciousness of that coastal cultural as unique, or a active dislike of another coastal culture. Also, >>35 is being unfair by comparing countries to states. Yes, there will be more cultural variation in the European Union because it is composed of different countries, and countries have this funny little way of carving out a culture for themselves. And, well, that's just the coasts. There are other cultural regions, too - they have accents, slang, and mannerisms just like regions in the UK. Is that not culture?
Unfortunately, mass media/mass consumerism/mass marketing/sprawling corporations can have a degradative affect on any country. If there's a McDonald's in Hollywood and a McDonald's in San Antonio, a McDonald's 'culture' will be transmitted to both those cities - this is especially more important because McDonald's has a strong, corporate, advertising-based outlook, thus needing a homogeneous culture to transmit. If every McDonald's had different adverts and different slogans, the brand would not be as strong. Just because every large city in the United States has a McDonald's doesn't mean they've been homogenised. Many cities change McDonald's, they force it to carry x product, to give customers more nutritional info. See information on In-n-Out Burger, a California-based fast food chain, for an example of postive local corporations.
And speaking of mass media, BBC is better than commericial American news - and many who seek out important and informative news items know that. PBS, while a tad subliminal in it's advertising, is growing from seeds sown by BBC. It is a fairly good (though under-supported) emulation of the BBC style.
Multinational corporations are everywhere; they come from Europe and Asia as well. Any anti-Americanism hinging on corporate abuses and capitalism should target them, too. Schlumberger, anyone? It's wording might be suspect, but this isn't a dig at Europe, just a simple fact.
An American tourist helped the injured Londoners in these recent blasts, along with Britons, Muslims, and others. Does anyone hate her? She might have a Texan accent, that was her first time out of the US (she was ~35), but she did help. Don't hold those things against her. (source: Sky News, morning after the attacks)
And, well, most of us know about the more blatantly political arguements against the United States. I don't like the political system, I don't like the lack of choice, I don't like the majority's view on sexual issues, I don't like the baseless war, I don't like the PATRIOT ACT I & II, I don't like the imperialism. But, hey, I like the United States. It isn't superior, it's an equal to the major cultural powers of Europe and Asia, and that's how it should be portrayed.
I hope ** makes Italics. if TL;DR, then here's a summary: >>35 has not observed cultural regions in America well enough to realise subtlties or even basic differences. Mass markets affect every country. There are corporations from all around the world (and I believe they can have negative, as well as positive effects); they are not American phenomenons. Americans have helped people earnestly, and that's not bad. That doesn't extend to the whole population, but are those indivduals to face anyone's hate STILL, after doing good? On political issues, blah. Dislike the politics, don't push that dislike on ALL of the population. I couldn't care for the politics of many countries; I'm certainly receptive towards their people.