Ask Lemmy

As someone who would probably qualify as one of these anti-American Americans on Lemmy I can say this: A big factor for me is the despair I feel (having genuinely believed the myths for most of my life) as I see the facade falling away. The genuine awfulness and inhumanity of not just our government, and our economy, but also of the culture, the people themselves, is just overwhelming. These forums are one of the outlets I’ve been using for my rage. I can only speak for myself. I’m not a bot, or a Russian actor, or an edgy teen. I’m a disillusioned middle aged American.

I'm allowed to complain. I live here.

Well, I'm a real European who is not a fan of the US. Not to the point where I'd prefer Russia or other dictatorship shitholes, but it's like having to choose between getting kicked in the balls really hard and getting shot in the head (just for context, I'm not one of the people who enjoy being kicked in the balls).

Every sane person in this situation would choose getting kicked in the balls, but that doesn't mean you're really happy about it.

as an american, i whole-heartedly support anti-american sentiment. we fucking deserve all of it. we voted in a clown shitshow of a government and of course the world should laugh

Honestly, most of it seems like edgy kids who learned about communism from a YouTube video and are now convinced they have the secret to a better world that nobody else understands. So many of the comments display a substantial lack of understanding about the real world. Many other comments are completely disingenuous, blatantly ignoring or attacking anything that doesn't support their singular argument. They're the viewpoints of inexperienced teenagers, not adult discussions.

There are certainly propaganda posts and communities, but I think the majority of the work is done by actual people who are just echoing what they've read or heard. Filter out a few key communities and a lot of it will disappear.

But, to answer your question more directly, yes, I do feel what you're saying and it gets annoying. Sometimes it gets overwhelming and I consider just deleting my account entirely. I'm so very tired of only seeing the extremes of either side of the pendulum online, rather than having a place for discussion with people of all viewpoints. I'm tired of the polarization.

I'm less worried about the anti-American tendencies than about the pro-Russian and pro-Chinese ones.

Lemmy was founded to be where anti-American Americans would go after a lot of their subs were quarantined on Reddit.

That said, it has a major American focus because a lot of users are angry with the American system and don't have a ton of experience with others directly. They've developed an echo chamber here and only got interrupted by the Reddit exodus.

American here. When you elect a man—twice—whose character and policies have led to a fractured nation, a failing education system, crumbling infrastructure, and a healthcare system that leaves millions behind, it's no surprise that the world views us with disdain. When your citizens are struggling to afford basic necessities like rent and groceries while a handful of individuals hoard wealth that rivals entire nations, we’ve earned every ounce of criticism.

Buckle up, because the descent into this nightmare is far from over. The worst is yet to come, and it's going to be a long, suffocating fall.

True, we've already seen that right wingers are paid off by Russia to spout about inflation and other brain rot. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnJ6Ttaiu9M ) And a lot of people who are from the US compare their country to EU countries and find glaring holes in their society, like a lack of socialised healthcare, streamlined government services, ect and rant about it like Lemmy is twitter. Keep in mind that because Lemmy is majority English speaking the vast majority of post will be about the US, because its the defacto empire of the 21st century. For me I go out of my way to include communities from my own culture so I'm not out of the loop. The kinds of people who post politics to !Menes are the same people who take the definition of "meme" literally, and suck to talk to at every party they attend.

The best thing you can do with your free speech, while you've still got it, is to exercise it as much as you can. Call them on their bullshit. Call EVERYONE on their bullshit. We need more people aware of the absurdity of the world we live in.

How insanely American to think America being criticized a lot must mean propaganda.

Lemmy.world may have the least of this since they neolib gobblers

I was listening to NPR a few days ago and they were talking -- in the context of Jimmy Carter's passing -- about the global community having to grapple with two different sides of the United States. The side that is incredibly generous and has contributed an enormous amount to the welfare of people throughout the world and the side that is a basically a bully that uses it's vast power and influence as a means to further it's own selfish interests.

Both of those things can certainly be true. The US has contributed a lot of positive things to the global community and at the same time, the US is effectively the most powerful and sophisticated empire in human history. Empires cannot maintain their power without oppression. Over the last 249 years, we have created some truly horrific disasters, at home and abroad, in the name of acquiring and maintaining power. That deserves criticism no matter who's doing it.

I'm American. I'll jump on the criticize America bandwagon any day!

So, no, we suck in the worst possible ways. That is really all there is to it

I understand the concern and certainly believe that troll farms are slowly creeping into Lemmy as it gains traction. However, I think most of US bashing is authentic as it reflects the enormous impact of US political life on the rest of the planet. Moreover, other countries receive a constant flux of information about the US, to the point where it seems that US news is as important as domestic news. The fact that Trump remains omnipresent in the media doesn't help either.

You mean lemmy, the platform created and maintained by staunch marxist-leninists? That lemmy strikes you as anticapitalist and antiAmerican?

Weird.

I'm American and the main reason I don't aim the same criticism towards other countries is that I'm American and don't know enough about them. Maybe some people are agitating for malign purposes, but how much does that matter to a responsible netizen? No one knows who anyone is - maybe idiot takes are made by idiots or bad actors, it doesn't change much. Lastly, one quote stuck with me after the last election season : " the reactionary is always right about what is wrong but almost always wrong about what would be right"