Posted on 07/03/2006 9:26:03 PM PDT by familyop
Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, when Americans celebrate Independence Day. But a YouGov survey for The Daily Telegraph suggests that the Stars and Stripes will be flying at half mast in the eyes of most Britons. There has probably never been a time when America was held in such low esteem on this side of the Atlantic.
A majority of Britons think American culture and the actions of the present American administration are making the world a worse place to live in, and almost no one believes America is now, if it ever was, a beacon to the world. Well over half of those interviewed regard the US as an imperial power bent on dominating the world by one means or another.
President George W Bush's standing in this country could scarcely be lower. More than three quarters of Britons believe the current president is a "poor" or even "terrible" world leader and almost as many believe that his rhetoric about promoting the cause of democracy in the world is merely a cover for his promotion of American national interests.
Americans as individuals are still held in high regard in Britain, but America's role in the world is not. The so-called "special relationship" may still thrive in Downing Street and at Camp David but it has obviously atrophied among the British public.
As the figures in the chart show, a large majority of Britons like Americans as people either "a little" (49 per cent) or "a lot" (21 per cent) and more than half, 54 per cent, are inclined to feel positively about the US in general. There are certainly few signs in YouGov's findings of an across-the-board anti-American prejudice.
The core problem is with America's relations with the rest of the world. George W Bush is no Franklin D Roosevelt, Dwight D Eisenhower or John F Kennedy. All of those American presidents inspired respect. Mr Bush appears to inspire nothing but contempt. Fully 69 per cent of Britons say their overall opinion of the US has gone down in recent years.
YouGov also asked respondents to assess the Bush administration's impact on the world beyond America's shores. Their assessment is overwhelmingly negative. Fewer than one quarter, 22 per cent, believe that the present American government's policies and actions make the world a better place to live in. Three times that proportion, 65 per cent, regard America's influence in the world today as predominantly malign.
The reputation of American culture - fast-food restaurants, popular music, Hollywood movies - stands somewhat higher, with more than a third of YouGov's respondents approving of America's worldwide cultural impact. Even so, more than half of those interviewed, 52 per cent, clearly regard America's impact as, on balance, pernicious.
The figures in the section of the chart headed "America, Bush and the world" paint an even bleaker picture. Many Americans like to think of the US as a beacon to the world - as its "last, best hope". That view is not shared in this country. Only one in nine Britons, 11 per cent, accepts that view. A massive 77 per cent appear positively startled by the idea that the US may currently be setting the rest of the world a good example.
As the figures in the chart also show, confidence in America's ability to handle problems outside its own borders has plummeted over the past three decades. The Gallup Poll in 1975 found that roughly a quarter of Britons, 27 per cent, had considerable confidence in American leadership. That figure has now fallen by more than half to a mere 12 per cent.
President Bush's personal ratings in this country are horrendous. Almost no one holds him in high regard as a world leader. Fully 34 per cent think he is a "pretty poor" leader and even more, 43 per cent, reckon he is "terrible" in that role.
Opinion polls rarely produce figures quite as negative as these. Moreover, a majority of Britons regard the US President as not only incompetent but also as a complete hypocrite. As the findings in the chart indicate, 72 per cent of YouGov's respondents reckon Mr Bush cares little for democracy and is merely using his pro-democracy rhetoric as a pretext for pursuing selfish American interests.
Even more of YouGov's respondents, 76 per cent, think that, even if the president really does want to promote the cause of freedom and democracy in the world, he is not going about it in the right way. Hardly anyone - a mere nine per cent - thinks Mr Bush is performing well, even in his own terms.
The view that America aspires to ultimate world domination is only a little less widespread. Despite America's anti-imperial past, well over half of YouGov's respondents, 58 per cent, reckon it is now fair to describe the US as "an essentially imperial power, one that wants to dominate the world by one means or another". Only 28 per cent dismiss such a view as unwarranted.
The section of the chart headed "How the US looks to us" will also make grim reading for America's many admirers. Respondents were offered pairs of contrasted words and phrases and asked to say which of each pair they thought best described the US today.
The figures turn much of America's self-image on its head. From this side of the Atlantic, America appears to be a class-divided and racially divided society and one that fails to offer its citizens equality of opportunity. Nearly three quarters of Britons, 72 per cent, believe American society is essentially "unequal".
More predictably, most Britons believe America is dominated by big business and preoccupied with money. Large majorities of Britons look down on America as "vulgar" (65 per cent) and "uncultured" (56 per cent).
Perhaps most worrying in political terms is the almost universal sense in this country that the US is determined to go its own way in the world, with an almost casual disregard for everybody else. Roughly three quarters of Britons think the US is "badly led" (73 per cent), "ignorant of the outside world" (73 per cent) and "doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks" (83 per cent).
Still, some individual Americans and US institutions do strike a chord on this side of the pond. As the figures in the chart indicate, YouGov's respondents take a positive view of such diverse American phenomena as Microsoft,
Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, the Disney theme parks and television comedies such as Friends and The Simpsons.
They take a much dimmer view - or so they say - of 4x4 recreation vehicles, McDonald's, the two Hilton sisters Paris and Nicky and, unsurprisingly, Michael Jackson. YouGov's very last question was also the bluntest: "If you could, would you like to go and live in the United States?" A considerable minority, 19 per cent, replied that they would but more than three times that proportion, 67 per cent, indicated that they would prefer to stay put or go to some other country.
YouGov elicited the views of 1,962 adults across Great Britain online between June 26 and 28. The data have been weighted to conform to the demographic profile of British adults as a whole. YouGov abides by the rules of the British Polling Council.
Sod off, you limeys.
Yeah well, it'll be a long time before the Queen gets MY vote!;)
That's interesting! I have read posts of a lady from England who now lives in Scotland. She said the English bash America, but many would jump at the chance to live here.
No arguement there!
There is some truth to that.
I can't speak for other Americans but THIS American won't lose 1 seconds sleep worrying about what Briton's think.
*Michael Jackson doesn't live here anymore.*
Bump.
...included, even.
The crux of the matter. The sun never sets on the American Empire these days.
"The forces of the United States military are located in nearly 130 countries around the world performing a variety of duties from combat operations, to peacekeeping, to training with foreign militaries. Some of these deployments have existed for nearly 50 years, as in Japan, Germany, and South Korea, while other deployments have more recent origins such as the current occupation of Iraq.
As of January 2005, there are some 250,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen deployed in support of combat, peacekeeping, and deterrence operations. This figure does not include those forces normally present in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom or Japan unless bases at those locations are actively supporting a combat operation. Furthermore, tours of duty in these locations are routine and not considered hardship tours. If one were to include these forces the number of deployed troops worldwide would be around 350,000."
Worth repeating; Independence Day celebrates our parting from...England. I still have a special admiration for them as all my ancestry is British. They are simply temporarily mad. After they get over their Muslim-coddling and kitchen knife bans and Red Ken, they'll come around.
Oh, I thought our "empire" consisted of Puerto Rico and one Virgin Island. Oh, and the District of Columbia.
Where is MadIvan? I'd like to hear his take on this poll.
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