The answer is simple. All you need to do is look at who is saying what. The elites are the ones saying how terrible America is, but the normal people know better and are the ones who come here.

Shocking! You are going to trust your lying eyes?

In 2002 I was visiting Thailand. I found the disconnect between what I was reading in the local papers and what I heard from the people to be amazing.

The elite was upset and protesting the brutal war of aggression in Afghanistan. (Yes, Afghanistan) But I whenever I talked to people on the street and they found I was an American they went out of their way to express their condolences for 9/11.

If you really want to judge how unpopular the U.S. really is, look at the lines for visas at the American Embassy or consulate.

The answer is in the question. If they're responding to journalists, it means they haven't migrated to America, right?
Your trite comment borders on the old "Love it or Leave it" chestnut, which neatly, but revealingly sidesteps the idea that America was founded by those who understood dissent, and the importance of protecting it.
There’s lots to criticize about America, starting with our ignorant foreign policy, lack of respect for international law, expensive & inefficient health system, shocking economic inequalities, etc. Plenty to admire & emulate as well: entrepreneurial spirit, a finance system that works to create wealth, rather than protect the traditional elite, the ingenious system of checks and balances (threatened by the now-recognized- loser Bush administration), etc.
So engage the real debate, and drop the shallow, easy swipes at “critical foreigners”.

If 5% have come to America and 5% want to come to America you still have 90% who havn't come or don't want to come to America.

I think that you are misunderstand what they dislike. I live overseas, and it is clearer when you talk to them. What they dislike is not the living conditions in the US, they love that and would love to experience them. They don't like the foreign policies of the US.

I'm constantly infuriated but no longer surprised by comments like Jebuff's. His remarks are the reason why I've completely restructured my social life. I don't believe the authors of this type of autonomic lunging responses are unaware they commit the very things they complain about.

"your trite comment borders on the old 'love it or leave it' chestnut, which neatly, but revealingly sidesteps the idea that ....."

Go ahead and argue with something that *wasn't* said in the article, so much easier, which revealingly sidesteps what actually *was* said in the article.

Then to prove the point the article has made, no remark is complete without a Bush-derangement axiom. No, Jbuff, I'll pass on your Kool--Aid.

People don't remember the 80s anymore. They hated us then, too. And they lined up in droves to come.

I've been many places around this world, I've never been anywhere where the taxi drivers didn't want to go to New York and drive there (it seems they all made it).

I read stuff like the US is unpopular and China is now more respected, but I know that noone is closing themselves in a shipping container with 100 of their closest friends to get to China. Well, there are some immigrants. People fleeing North Korea are moving up.

But millions of people every year are coming here, legally and illegally. Imagine what it would be like if we were popular.

http://battlefieldbiker.com/Anti-Americanism-and-American-Immigration
After reading the posts about Anti-Americanism at Instapundit and Frank Martin, it reminded me of many of the conversations I have had with friends in Europe. As some of you know, I am an American citizen, but English resident for the last 13 years due to marriage. I love Britain and enjoy living here for lots of reasons, but I also still love the U.S. and go back very often. I want my kids to be both British and American and feel comfortable in either place.

I agree with Martin that anti-Americanism is trumped up, both in the U.S. and abroad. I read lots about how the French hate McDonalds, Hollywood and America, but I don't see it. When I ride and work in France (over 5,000 miles so far), I usually have to wait in line at McDonalds (and there is one in most small-to-medium French towns), the cinemas are packed watching stuff like Independence Day and almost all of the people I meet are unfailingly friendly to me. The same for Germany, Italy and virtually everywhere else I ride in Europe.

However, I am troubled by the increase of anti-Americanism. What I have seen is more prevalent lately than before. I also think there is a good reason for it... a lot of pro-Americans are moving/ have moved to the U.S. This is not new (Scots-Irish, Italian, Vietnamese, Jews, Mexicans), but immigration from all over the world to the U.S., legal and illegal, has picked up since the end of the Cold War. In the departed countries, the remainder, by definition, will be less pro-American in percentage terms. The amount of Europeans and Indians I personally know who have gone or are planning to go to the U.S. is increasing. The lowering of pro-Americanism comes from two reasons. One is that the pro-American individual goes to the U.S., leaving the discussion. The second is that the people who are going are more vocal in their pro-Americanism, because they are the self-confident types who don't shy away from conversations about the topic, even if they know they might offend some of the chattering class types at dinner parties, etc. Additionally, the anti-Americans, who tend to be blowhards, are bolstered by the fact that the guy he argued with at last year's Christmas party about American cultural dominance has now taken a job in Boston, so the anti-American has the floor to himself. (note both the British and French guys I'm thinking about have worked for an American multi-national for years...being anti-American does not preclude you from taking the Yankee cash, does it?)[If you're curious, the French guy was the one who went to Boston].

Overall, I believe anti-Americanism is overblown, but I do see more now than I used to. The one thing I do think we all tend to agree on is that motorcycles are great! Now, the type of motorcycle?....that's another question.

When I visited Ireland for the first time, I was advised to downplay the aspect of seeking "roots." The reason, my Irish friends told me, was that the Irish know the cream of the population left to go to America in the 19th century. Their own ancestors had been too stupid or lazy to leave and they didn't like to be reminded of it.

I lived abroad for many years, returning in 2005. In the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand everyone would tell me how bad America was, then ask me if I could help them get a green card to work there. I also found that especialy in the UK and New Zealand, when someone found out that I was an American living in thier country, they would invaribly ask "Why would you want to live here"?

You're making the mistake of assuming those people are intelligent.

Why do the same Mexicans who sneak in to the US to find work here want the southwest to become part of the Mexico which they are fleeing?

Why do Moslems who fled Islamic countries for Europe want to have Islamic rule in Eruope?

Why do infants soil their diapers?

Because they are immature.

Most foreigners want to be as wealthy as Americans without having American values (or foreign policy). They can't (or don't want to) understand that American wealth is generated by American values.

Also, the more someone starts becoming like you, the more they resent you because everyone wants to have a unique identity. Jealousy works on a national level as much as on an individual level. Everyone wants to be as rich and powerful as the US, but in the pursuit of their own goals. That's also why they publically disapprove of, but private admire, the United States. Just look at China: it's basically trying to copy the American success story but with some crucial ingredients missing. That's the sincerest form of flattery.

I think the primary feeling that "informs" anti-Americanism in Europe and much of the rest of the world is resentment of various kinds.

Mostly resentment of America's outsized and not effectively counterbalanced power and influence in the world, whether military, diplomatic or cultural. Also resentment of American wealth and of America's pursing much more unabashedly capitalistic competition than prevails in much of Europe, particularly continental Europe, thereby they fear making their own quasi-socialist welfare schemes harder to sustain.

None of this cuts particularly strongly against moving to America, and joining the winners, if that works on an individual socioeconomic basis.

It used to be that America at least also kept the Soviets in check, which at least a part of the Euro population appreciated. Now the principal threat of Islamism is perceived by many in Europe and elsewhere as being notably increased by American polices, including but not limited to those related to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Some big countries are very pro-American, as described here.

This also explains why left-wing racism is targeted towards certain groups, masked by opposition to 'outsourcing'.

DOUGJNN said: "Now the principal threat of Islamism is perceived by many in Europe and elsewhere as being notably increased by American polices, including but not limited to those related to the Israel/Palestine conflict."

I suspect in Europe that this perception is the key point driving anti-Americanism. Many of them honestly believe that the US trying to actually do something about Islamic radicalism is driving Jihad and riling up the Muslims, while American foreign policy is driven by the perception of it being the other way around.