Britons tire of cruel, vulgar US: poll

[no name 1]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/britainuspopularitypoll

Living over Blighty as a US expat, I sure felt this way as well!

[Jaylen Brit 0]

Copying the peice in full as these links have a habit of disappearing to be replaced by newer news

I note they don't say how many people took part in the poll.

(quote begin) LONDON (AFP) - People in Britain view the United States as a vulgar, crime-ridden society obsessed with money and led by an incompetent president whose Iraq policy is failing, according to a newspaper poll.

The United States is no longer a symbol of hope to Britain and the British no longer have confidence in their transatlantic cousins to lead global affairs, according to the poll published in The Daily Telegraph.

The YouGov poll found that 77 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement that the US is "a beacon of hope for the world".

As Americans prepared to celebrate the 230th anniversary of their independence on Tuesday, the poll found that only 12 percent of Britons trust them to act wisely on the global stage. This is half the number who had faith in the Vietnam-scarred White House of 1975.

A massive 83 percent of those questioned said that the United States doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks.

With much of the worst criticism aimed at the US adminstration, the poll showed that 70 percent of Britons like Americans a lot or a little.

US President George W. Bush fared significantly worse, with just one percent rating him a "great leader" against 77 percent who deemed him a "pretty poor" or "terrible" leader.

More than two-thirds who offered an opinion said America is essentially an imperial power seeking world domination. And 81 per cent of those who took a view said President George W Bush hypocritically championed democracy as a cover for the pursuit of American self-interests.

US policy in Iraq was similarly derided, with only 24 percent saying they felt that the US military action there was helping to bring democracy to the country.

A spokesman for the American embassy said that the poll's findings were contradicted by its own surveys.

"We question the judgment of anyone who asserts the world would be a better place with Saddam still terrorizing his own nation and threatening people well beyond Iraq's borders," the paper quoted the unnamed spokesman as saying.

"With respect to the poll's assertions about American society, we bear some of the blame for not successfully communicating America's extraordinary dynamism.

"But frankly, so do you (the British press)."

In answer to other questions, a majority of the Britons questions described Americans as uncaring, divided by class, awash in violent crime, vulgar, preoccupied with money, ignorant of the outside world, racially divided, uncultured and in the most overwhelming result (90 percent of respondents) dominated by big business.

(end)

Part of the problem, for me, is that often people only see the US thru the eyes of the media..which always carries some reporting bias (oops showing my sociology degree roots here, lol)..and a lot of them will either never have been there, or not know any Americans personally.

I think this poll could be equally used to describe how people felt about the UK in its Imperialist days - with the exception of the Bush comments/current world affairs

I've no doubt SOME Americans are 'rude and ignorant' but then so are PEOPLE from EVERYWHERE.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I would have thought vulgar and cruel described your average british town centre during kicking out time at the pub

[Wrenly 0]

[snip]

Part of the problem, for me, is that often people only see the US thru the eyes of the media..which always carries some reporting bias (oops showing my sociology degree roots here, lol)..and a lot of them will either never have been there, or not know any Americans personally.

I think this poll could be equally used to describe how people felt about the UK in its Imperialist days - with the exception of the Bush comments/current world affairs

I've no doubt SOME Americans are 'rude and ignorant' but then so are PEOPLE from EVERYWHERE.

Well said.

[Tim and Bethanie 1]

[snip]

Part of the problem, for me, is that often people only see the US thru the eyes of the media..which always carries some reporting bias (oops showing my sociology degree roots here, lol)..and a lot of them will either never have been there, or not know any Americans personally.

I think this poll could be equally used to describe how people felt about the UK in its Imperialist days - with the exception of the Bush comments/current world affairs

I've no doubt SOME Americans are 'rude and ignorant' but then so are PEOPLE from EVERYWHERE.

Well said.