Anti-Americanism is a form of bias against the institutions, nature or customs of the USA and, sometimes, against its people as well. It ranges in intensity from a mild and occasional dislike up to the willingness to condone or even conduct acts of violence against American interests, military personnel or civilians.
There are several principal reasons for anti-Americanism: ideological, aesthetic, historical and personal. The ideological reason results from the belief that American society is too much given to capitalism, to the lack of social solidarity and the propensity to put the interests of the rich over the interests of the poor. This motivation was particularly strong during the Cold War, when resources were devoted by ideological adversaries to the USA in order to persuade people that an alternative approach was desirable. The aesthetic reason deplores the nature of consumerism in the USA and the promotion of celebrity culture. It dislikes the way that American cultural artifacts (e.g. Hollywood movies, MTV music videos and MacDonald’s, for example) have spread so successfully around the world and taken over from local, cultural institutions. The historical reason focuses on American foreign policy since the expansion of the USA – to Hawaii, the Philippines and Latin America, for example. In many parts of the world, the violence used to support American foreign policy aims and the cruelty and inequity that followed are more widely known and discussed than they are in the USA itself (of course, the people of many countries are unwilling to accept the truth of the evil of what their predecessors did in the past). Very many people in Central and South America suffered from coups supported by US money and influence and death squads and suppression which followed. The final reason is the personal, which occurs when people have come into contact with the USA or what they perceive to be its interests in a negative way. This includes, for example, many people in Middle Eastern countries who have suffered from what they consider to be America’s support of an Israel which has struck against them, as well as people in East Asian countries who suffered from anti-democratic regimes supported by the USA (e.g. in South Korea) or whose lifestyle has suffered because of the spread of American influence (e.g. some religious leaders with ‘conservative’ or ‘old-fashioned’ beliefs). Personal motivations can be extremely powerful and so people or organisations who wish to enflame Anti-Americanism will seek to convince people that ideological or historical reasons are in fact personal ones.
It is important to note that very many people will have reservations about some aspects of American society or foreign policy without being in any way an anti-American or to dislike or hate American people. The prime minister of the UK, Gordon Brown, for example, disagrees with some aspects of American foreign policy in the past but is very much in favour of American society and politics and takes as many holidays in the country as he can. Also, it is very common for non-Americans to make jokes about stereotypical American attitudes without being opposed to American people in any way – people make jokes about pretty much every country of the world and, as was once supposedly remarked about the thought of Sigmund Freud, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
译文:
什么是反美主义?{Translated by Shermee}
反美主义是一种对美国制度、本质或风俗习惯，甚至对其人民产生偏见的表现形式。反美的程度从不怎么喜欢到不能容忍，甚至到对美国的权益、军人或人民实行暴力行为。
反美主义主要源于对于思想上的、美学上的、历史上的和个人上的几个方面。思想方面是因为一般认为美国社会充斥着资本主义，缺少团结及重富轻贫。这在思想冷战期间格外强烈，那时候冷战的反对者极力告诉群众除冷战以外还有条令人期待的一条出路。美学方面则是反对美国消费主义本质和名人文化的推崇，不满美国文化产物（例如：好莱坞电影、MTV音乐电视和麦当劳等等）在世界范围内如此广泛的发展并充斥着地方、文化和制度。而历史方面集中在美国的对外扩张政策，例如对夏威夷、菲律宾和拉丁美洲的扩张。与在美国本土不同，在世界上许多地方广泛地明了和讨论美国为了达到其外交政策目标所使用的武力和随之带来的残酷与不公正。（当然，许多国家的人们也不愿接受他们的前辈过去所做的坏事）。美国在中美洲和南美洲暗中支持政变的行为令许多人遭受痛苦，而随之而来的影响、死亡和镇压是无可避免的。最后是个人原因，当人们与美国的人与事接触时或当人们察觉到自己的权益受损时，反美主义就产生了。它包括，例如许多中东国家一直与以色列抗争，其人民都因为美国对以色列的支持而受到伤害；再例如韩国等的东亚国家人民经历了由美国支持的反民主政权运动而受到伤害；或那些因美国化的蔓延而使自己的生活状态受到影响的人（如一些宗教领导所倡导的“保守”或“守旧”信念）。个人动机将是一个强大的动力，那些支持反美主义的个人或组织会努力说服人们：思想上的或历史上的的反美实际上都是出于个人的反美情绪。
须注意的是许多人会在美国社会或对外政策的问题上有所保留，他们不会表现出任何反美或不喜欢或讨厌美国人的样子。如英国首相戈登.布朗（Gordon Brown），过去并不认同美国外交政策的某些方面，但对美国社会和政治却很有兴趣，并尽可能在那儿度假。诚然，我们以不和美国人民对立的方式去嘲笑美国人的迂腐，这似乎已经司空见惯了，大家几乎可以对世界上的每个国家都开玩笑，就像西格蒙德·弗洛伊德以前假设的那个想法：有时候，一支雪茄就仅仅是一支雪茄。
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