Shifting Sentiments

There are many stereotypes around Americans, just as there are stereotypes around the Chinese, Russians, French and any group of people on this planet. No stereotype is fabricated, but of course they also exist clearly as examples of over-generalization. Arguably, there are more negative stereotypes about Americans than positive ones.  Sure, Americans are known for our generosity, manners and hardworking personalities, but the more commonly talked about portrayals of ourselves include us as materialistic, violent, gun-bearing overweight mass consumers.One of the greatest negatives stereotypes is the portrayal of Americans as ignorant and arrogant people, especially when dealing with foreigners.  This stereotype is so prevalent that a best selling book was made about it, The Ugly American, which anybody from the sixties would remember. We are portrayed as people who want the rest of the world to bow down to us, to expect that they speak English, to import their culture and their sense of “democracy” in the name of “freedom.” This perception of us has only been further fueled by failed military operations of such number that other nations have begun to think that war is just a game on TV for us. The number of American troops abroad in our existence—over 100 million troops in over one hundred countries—would make Genghis Khan jealous. And in many ways, a lot of these stereotypes are completely true.But arrogance isn’t a disease that can only be contracted in the United States. The Conquistadors were afflicted with it and so were the Ottomans, Prussians, British, Greeks and Romans.  And just like any of these nations, America is slowly falling, has been slowly falling.But what makes the difference here is that Americans are finally starting to realize it.  And that is what is breaking the barriers of ignorance—no neighbor from the 80s would tell you that they thought China was going to be a real threat someday.In a survey by the Pew Research Center, only 62 percent of Americans still think that their culture is dominant to others. This is far overshadowed by South Koreans, of whom more than 90 percent believe that they are superior to others. In fact, the United States is only number 12 on what is essentially a ranking list categorizing the magnitudes of each nation’s arrogance.Everybody has probably heard by now that China’s economy is going to overtake ours. Some still doubt it however, but when saw a projection from a branch of the World Bank last week stating that the Chinese might overtake us by the end of this year, I was shocked.Your average American, however, would not have been. A Gallup poll collected data on which country people in the U.S. thought was the leading economic power. This year, only 31 percent of Americans still thought that they were at the top, even though the U.S. still is. Does our slide to second seem so inevitable that we just want to think it has happened already?A recent piece of news that reached all of us was the fact that the Canadian middle class was now more affluent than the American middle class.  It’s a piece of troubling news, to know that for the first time in our country’s history that there is more social mobility in places like Europe and Canada. Acknowledgement of our decline is growing to become ever more and more widespread.There’s nothing wrong with toning it down. Less arrogance means less overreach, less confidence means less hubris and less risks means less of a chance for failure. It’s time to realize that the American dream might no longer be attainable, and it’s time to start working on getting it back.