You might be anti-American if your name is Fred.
IMO the above statement has about as much relevance as most of your top ten there: While being 100% true, the one has little to do with the other.
1. You think the average American is "stupid" or "a sheep" or "brain washed".
If I thought that, and also that the average Russian was a chess master and a goat (or other barnyard animal), perhaps. But how about equal opportunity feeling superior to others in the brains department? I'd say it makes me want to watch my head in narrow doorways, but doesn't convey much about my nationality bashing. Although perhaps it shows a very pessimistic view of the world population, and if being American means being optimistic (little_whip), that would make me un-American at least.
7. You hope that the United States "loses" in Iraq.
I felt sick to my stomach when I heard George W Bush interrupt my radio station to inform me that we'd been dropping bombs on Baghdad for the past few hours. I was shocked, if not awed. And I remember wondering what side I should take. I didn't want our boys to die, but neither did I want civilian casualties, and to be honest those Iraqi soldiers were just doing their job, and I wouldn't want to be the mailman handing their mothers the dread telegrams. So, at the time, did I want the US to lose in Iraq? No, I just didn't want them to win, either. The situation is even worse now, as leaving or staying will both cause more deaths. Anti-American or anti-war?
8. You would like to see China or Russia or the European Union act as a "counter balance" to the US militarily
I wouldn't mind it, certainly. Plus it does seem likely, the real question is when. I'll throw out the libertarian chant here: Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Assuming that up until now the United States has been a benevolent sole Super Power, there is still a great threat if no checks and balances are in place. (And to go off on a tangent, why is it that Libertarians never say that when talking about Microsoft?)
2. You prefer law be made by appointed judges rather than elected officials.
I can't honestly say that I agree with that statement, but I fail to understand the anti-American sentiment behind those who do. I personally believe in a strict separation of the judicial, executive and legislative branches of government, but seeing as it is very American to have the head of the executive be able to veto the legislative and appoint the judicial, I'd say the separation is already lost. Perhaps I simply fail to see the obvious, but I'm stumped on this one. In what way does this signal for Senator McCarthy?
3. - 5. + 9. I'll try and sum up: The United States of America (generally reflecting on companies or political policies, with an optional president thrown in every now and then) is baaaad.
Let me answer that with some questions, I know how that tactic is loved and adored:
Is it anti-German to think Hitler was a war criminal, anti-Russian for Stalin, etc? Personally I find it harsh to condemn an entire nation for the acts of some. Be anti-Nazi, anti-Hitler, anti-getting a man elected Chancelor in a vote more hokey that Florida 2000, don't go nation bashing. We've had American Indian haters as president, may I be less than thrilled with them? We've had "not a crook"s, arms dealers who developed amnesia (or had it all along, as the case may be), etc. May I dislike their policies, their lack of honesty, the way they tainted our reputation, and perhaps even go so far as to dislike them? Sure, maybe I should forgive and forget, but I would think I reserve the right to not like certain people on account of their actions. I didn't like the kid who bullied me in school, and although I haven't seen him since I still don't like him. Perhaps I don't think of him as a war criminal, but even if I did I don't think that would make me anti-School. Anti-bullying, yes.
So, to wrap up the above paragraph: Dislike of a few, even those elected to lead the rest, does not make me dislike the group itself. I'm anti-Bush, anti-Kerry, anti-Nader and anti-Libertarian guy. I'd be anti-Socialist if they were running anybody, but he's running for Senator in New York as the Green party candidate, so I'm against him there. But I don't think that makes me anti-American, I think that makes me pro-wanting a president I can agree with more often that not. So I'll vote against the worst evil and hope for better luck next time. But if thinking that there are problems with America, and wanting to change those, is anti-American, then I guess we'd better get back to only male white landowners being allowed to decide the course of our country.
6. You think that the United States kind of "had it coming" on 9/11 because of years of its "foreign policy"
While I'd love to really go for the jugular, I can't think of any way to agree with that. But I'd say it doesn't constitute being anti-American, so much as being either pro-terrorist, or just plain being a jerk. (That word chosen out of sensitivity to the readers' eyes.) Now, the USS Cole bombing I saw as an act of war, which I disapprove of, but which seems to be unavoidable. So, am I back on the anti-American list?
10. You believe that US-style capitalism is a force for global ruin, individual degradation, or environmental catastrophe
Again, the faults of some don't necessarily bring down an entire nation. Capitalism and the US aren't joined at the hip, there is a chance (roughly the same as Lucifer building a snowman) that America turns Communist. Will anyone who didn't agree with the above be labeled an anti-American traitor and executed? Yeah, probably. So are we better than that? I should friggin' hope so.
--Nate
