Neither coronavirus, the election of Donald Trump, nor the January 6th Capitol riots were the source of this antagonism to 21st-century America, though they provided expedient justification for an otherwise ill-defined, impressionistic prejudice. This broad-stroke anti-Americanism is typified by disdain for the national character (they are brash and lack taste), the contours of its politics (they are susceptible, perhaps even prone, to fits of populism) and its cultural output (bland Hollywood is responsible for artistic atrophy).
This sneering at the United States – particularly potent in Britain but evident in Ireland and much of Europe too – is a modern phenomenon. Twentieth-century America was beloved and feared – celebrated as a bastion of democracy; a national experiment that sought to link its people not by ancient heritage but by civic belonging; a country far from flawless but still a lodestar for old Europe to aspire to. In fact, as
Janan Ganesh pointed out in the Financial Times, plenty of countries have heeded the American example: boasting large migrant and naturalised migrant populations, with market economies and no-longer-relevant aristocracies. In short, Europe owes a lot to its weirdest ally.
Nobody enjoys a bit of anti-Americanism more than Americans. But it would be a mistake to indulge in cynicism
www.irishtimes.com