This article doesn't prove that any of the animosity is new. It mentions a spike of people who think it may happen, but I strongly doubt that is actually grounded in reality.
The first time this phenomenon showed up for Americans was “the Ugly American” phase of the late 1950s. The book “The Ugly American” was written in 1958, when America’s wealth and prestige was at its zenith as compared to Europe. American tourists to Europe had been perceived as loud and boorish for 100 years prior, as evidenced by travel writing of the period.
But the disparity between America and Europe had never been as lopsided as the late 1950s, in terms of wealth, social influence, military power and even moral weight, since many tens of thousands of young American lives were selflessly lost on European soil because of the moral failings of European governance. And so labeling Americans as “ugly” (couldn’t call them poor, weak, dumb, immoral, etc.) provided a particular release to Europeans and guilt-addled wealthy Americans alike.
I guess the US has reached that same degree of imbalance with most of the rest of the world in 2025 as we had in 1958, for this sort of article to be published in the WSJ. Americans are naturally loud, boorish and insular and always have been…part of our unique charm.
This cautionary article could have, and probably has, been written in various forms since the 1880s for American tourists crossing the pond by sail, steamship, and air.
Isn't this largely projection about a minority with enough money to travel the globe every summer not liking the current set in charge?
As a non American happily living _not there_. When dealing with foreign tourists at the individual level, the politics of the white house aren't even close to the top of my mind
So don't worry, you're being a hypochondriac.
This article is bullshit sensationalism with a side effect of keeping people apart from other people.
I suspect that there's 1% of the population that vehemently hates me because I'm MAGA. But 99% of the people in the world love others and will look past my failure to reach out and converse with me.
Don't let fear keep you from meeting other people.
Hate is the wrong word. "Despise" might be a better fit for many. At least in Europe I would think that might be true for the majority of people to some degree. However, that's no reason for bad treatment of an individual.
Was in Amsterdam, Berlin and Reykjavik in April for 9 days. Only thing that bothered me was running into people who wanted to talk Trump.. good or bad. I love talking to folks while traveling Europe or wherever just not having to talk about politics. I'm on vacation for fun and politics is buzzkill to "fun!"
Well, a lot of people voted Trump into power, again. Those people are the problem. However, that's no reason to show animosity against random tourists.
Partially, but there has also been a persistent strain of illiberal new, privileged left for the past 20-30 years who don't like debate on inconvenient or unapproved topics.
But now, in past 10-15 years, there is also a populist right-leaning faction that has also begun to emulate this by attacking free speech and gatekeeping discussions too.
This is sad because illiberalism harms both the precepts of separating people from the problems/ideas and also shuts-down and marginalizes thoughtful curiosity. This, in turn, calcifies and balkanizes ideological camps into sports team-like divisions without a universally safe public forum for inquiry and expression.
So even when it's the populist right doing something, it's the "privileged left" to blame for setting the example?
Even though this is a new phenomenon that didn't happen with the "privileged left"? I don't seem to recall HN silencing all criticism of Obama in 2009?
If people want to treat me badly for where I live, why should I give them any tourist money? I'm perfectly comfortable in the US (and nobody has been like that in Canada either where I visit frequently). I'm certainly not going to suck up to them by pretending to be Canadian.
I am still wondering what the general outcome will be of the new isolationist politics of the US. The world will keep moving on, with the US as a global power and without it. I fear the world will be worse when the US stops being a global power, but we will see (the US itself will obviously be worse off, though).
