Australians have a general reputation for being friendly, laidback, affable and easy-going people.
But a recent Reddit thread shared by an American woman questioned why a country that prides itself on values like mateship appears to have an apparent ‘dislike’ of Americans and the United States.
Earlier this week, the woman wrote: ‘I’ve seen lots of polling lately showing that Australians really don’t like Americans very much.
‘It makes me super sad as an American who has visited Australia multiple times (I am actually in WA right now) and is obsessed with your country.’
The research the original post referred to was a Pew Research Center report published on June 11 titled, ‘Views of the United States’.
The paper identified the countries that viewed the US most and least favourably. Among the western nations, Australia came in at second behind Sweden in the list of countries that had the ‘least positive assessment’ of the US.
The Reddit user wrote that she was ‘genuinely curious’ to understand whether Australians’ ‘dislike’ for Americans was as a result of recent ‘politics’ – or if it stemmed ‘farther back’.
‘What is it about Americans that really turns you guys off?’ she asked.
An American tourist currently visiting Australia asked in a now-viral Reddit thread to better understand the reason Aussies appeared to have dislike for the US
‘I have some guesses, like maybe we take ourselves too seriously or are way into work culture, or maybe we see ourselves as the centre of the universe too often?’
Within a matter of days, the post attracted over 1800 comments, many from Aussies offering detailed explanations and even bullet point lists of reasons.
The comment with the most up-votes surmised that the disdain many Australians felt stemmed from a misalignment of cultural ‘values’.
‘I don’t think Australians dislike Americans in general. It’s rather about some of the values America is currently exporting that turns people away,’ one Aussie suggested.
They continued by citing specific examples, such as ‘tipping culture, removing social safety nets, the gigantic trucks and the polarised politics’.
Replies to that post also singled out other issues Aussies perceived about American society, such as ‘gun culture’, ‘rubbish healthcare system’, and ‘views about reproductive rights’.
Many Aussie commenters were at pains to specify that most Americans are ‘lovely on an individual level’.
But the broader issue was around some of the values the US represents. One reply explained: ‘[A]s others have said it’s not individuals but rather the collective values of the USA arose to be; greed, violence, dishonesty and selfishness.’
The American tourist’s Reddit post has yielded over 1800 responses, which detailed a range of perceived cultural issues that complicate the perception Aussies have of the US
Another suggested reason was that ‘American exceptionalism’, evident in common sentiments like ‘USA NUMBER 1!’ goes ‘directly against Aussies anti tall poppy ethos’.
Past Australian history with the US – particularly during wartime – was also raised as an explanation for the complexity of Australia’s feelings towards the US.
But there were also multiple comments laying blame at the feet of the current state of American politics following the recent re-election of President Donald Trump.
It wasn’t just Aussies chiming in, with one New Zealander confirming that the US was disliked by kiwis for similar reasons to those expressed in the comments.
Another person based in Europe added that locals viewed American tourists as ‘loud’, ‘rude’ and ‘entitled’.
A separate comment said: ‘Unfortunately there’s an extremely prevalent stereotype of ignorance and arrogance [about American people], and you’ll find this stereotype exists all around the world, not just amongst Australians. These kinds of folks are the minority of Americans of course, but unfortunately the loudest.’
The avalanche of comments served as wake-up call for the original poster, who said they ‘appreciated’ people sharing their honest thoughts.
‘We can’t fix our blind spots without being aware of them and some of the things said definitely apply to me, so thank you. Just trying to gain some perspective and humility,’ she admitted.
The poster of the original Reddit thread responded after the post went viral, thanking people for their genuine feedback and saying it helped her to ‘gain some perspective and humility’. (Pictured: stock image)
To the woman’s credit, they also replied to multiple comments throughout the thread, humbly agreeing with many reasons.
For instance, in reply to a comment about Australia’s Vietnam War conscript involvement, she said that she ‘had no idea’.
She also conceded that Australia’s willingness to overhaul its gun laws in the immediate aftermath of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre demonstrated ‘a deep moral divide between Australia and the US’.
She even agreed that American tipping culture had gotten ‘out of hand’.
The American woman also noted that certain attitudes she thought were the norm are actually more specific to American culture.
As an example, she said ‘a lot of Americans can’t take a joke or any other kind of perceived insult’ – admitting even she still tends to take herself ‘too seriously’.
The original poster also touched on the ‘American Exceptionalism’ point and offered an explanation for it.
‘My generation… was brought up with a very strong message of “USA #1”, which is part of that American Exceptionalism you speak of. It pervades everything, even if it’s not explicit, it’s implicit.’
