Why Does The World Hate The U.S.?

Recently Michael Medved gave a talk in Aurora Colorado which my wife and I attended. His focus was the title of this blog post. He proposed four possibilities for why the world hates the U.S.

The first is envy. People hate what they cannot have and cannot replicate. Here in America individuals have more choice about their own destiny than anywhere else on earth. The American Dream is to strive to be whatever we want to be. Medved cited the example of Arnold Schwarzenager, who had a dream and came to America to begin his life anew. In his new book Right Turns Mr. Medved told about his grandmother who lost five children to starvation in Russia, then, at age 49 gave birth to Michael's father, who came to America and lived his dream as a scientist/astronaut.

The second is the legacy of communism. The majority of the world has been raised under the tyranny of communism. The communists drilled anti-America hatred into the heads of two billion people, from childhood on. Although many of these regimes have fallen, there seems to be something of a renaissance of communist states, especially in Latin American countries such as Venezuela, Brazil, and Bolivia.

The third is popular culture. The world sees us in the images packaged by Hollywood: corruption, violence, failed marriages, sexual promiscuity. Medved points out that many people in the world, including in America, are actually quite conservative in the way they live their lives. But, that is not the image of America packaged by Hollywood.

The fourth is American exceptionalism. The Pilgrims and Puritans came to America not so much to escape religious oppression as to build Christian communities here in America. The A.C.L.U. may deny it, but this country has always been different because of profound faith, mostly Christian. Most Americans believe that God has His hand on this country, and most Americans are committed to living in such a way as to honor God. America is a country based on ideas. One idea is that government should have a limited role in human affairs. We believe that if we take individual responsibility we can shape our own destiny.