#Americentrism

[awwkie]

I have to admit, this isn't really my typical post. I'm just really frustrated and want to vent that frustration somewhere. I just hope someone from the US ends up seeing this and rethinks things.

I've started using Tiktok as a consequence of the new hate speech regulations on Meta platforms.

Today, I got this video on my FYP:

It's a video of an anti-fascism protest in Germany. Specifically, it's a protest against AfD, a German far-right party.

So far so good.

What really bothered me is what I saw in the comments:

These are all comments from people from the US (I checked their profiles before taking the screenshots). They constituted the majority of top comments under that video.

As a European, this is incredibly frustrating. Why do so many Americans think everything is about them? A quick Google search would have told them that the protest is against the German far-right, not president Trump. It's absurd to assume that a protest in a foreign country (that you know nothing about by the way!!) is about your elections. Anyone familiar with German politics would have known that the AfD has unfortunately gained a lot of support in the country. Protests like that have happened before, but the majority of people from the US care about it only when they think it's about them.

Another comment really bothered me:

I know it's an innocent comment. But the reason you are not seeing this on US platforms has nothing to do with censorship. The truth is, when do you *ever* see in-depth coverage of foreign politics on US platforms? Mainstream US news are not reporting this because this is about German politics, and the US as a whole does not care about what's going on over here in Europe.

If you're from the US, I encourage you to research Americentrism. A lot of USamericans live in a sort of bubble and fail to consider not everything exists in relation to their country. This leads to a lot of frustration from people from other nations like me.

English is used as an international language. For most of us it's the only way to interact with people from other countries. It's already hard to find content online that isn't made from a US perspective. But even when we do find it, it often gets co-opted by USamericans, even when the original post was not about them.

[angelshizuka]

"Dhorks pulling the "we're from the (American) goverment" card while in Mexico is bad writing."

Or maybe that's the entire point, because Dhorks are supposed to represent the kind of Americans who think the entire world resolves around the USA and are so high up their own horse they think pulling that card works outside of the USA, too.

Like, you're delusional as hell if you dare claim Americans like that don't exist in real life, so how is it suddenly "bad writing" if characters like that are portrayed in fiction?

There's literally a term for it; Americentrism/US-centrism.

[folklorespring]

Some tankie made a poster with this photo from Georgian protests for 33$ and is profiting off this woman's image without her consent (also tying it to their cause, obviously, because they would call her color revolutionist if they knew it's in Georgia and against russian influence). If anyone knows who this woman is - please let her know:

https://x.com/bomblefts/status/1786132710064328965

https://bomblefts.com/collections/posters/products/slay-poster

Update: they deleted the post and poster off the website

[milkywayan]

not to complain about americentrism again, but syria's regime was literally just overthrown and all people talk about is the ceo who got shot

[tired-fandom-ndn]

Hey.

Hey.

You can have a magic story set in New York City without implying or even outright saying that America is the center of the magical world, okay. Like it can just be another magical community that is no more special than any other in the rest of the world. Seriously.

[blackarmychoir]

brave are the internet users who refuse to bend their outlook on life to fit into the narrow americentrist morality and normalcy

[bertmobile]

the tankie belief that america is so uniquely evil that anyone who opposes it is automatically an ally is itself a form of americentrism. in this essay i will

[paperuniverse]

“Illegal ship” according to where? Your tiny USAmerican views???

[areawest]

it truly is fascinating how (some) usamericans will use “oh but our states are BIGGER THAN ENTIRE COUNTRIES” as an excuse for why they don’t know shit about geography.

[correlance]

This is the most Scottish post I've ever seen on Reddit. 😂

[angelshizuka]

(This isn't an attack on Blitz, just pointing out the hypocricy of Blitz defenders who attack Stolas.)

If there's anything in Helluva Boss' writing that I will (currently) criticize, is that it doesn't know what morals it wants to take seriously and what's "haha just a joke bruh", even when it's literally the same topic.

Like, how in the living hell am I ever supposed to take the SA "criticism" against Stolas seriously, when those exact same people (and often the show itself) have literally ZERO issues with the SA things Blitz has been doing to Moxxie and Millie since the literal beginning, not to mention the things Blitz did to Stolas when literally breaking into his house and stealing from him (I will die on the hill Blitz made the deal as much about sex as Stolas did).

Either you care about SA or you don't and these "critics" keep proving over and over again they don't, because if they did, they would put the same amount of effort into "criticizing" Blitz as they do for Stolas, instead of treating him like a "poor innocent saint".

And that's not even getting into the American puritan mindset how sex related topics in general are always treated as the worst thing ever, even worse than literal death, so people make the biggest issues about it, while they don't give a single fuck about Blitz being a literal assassin who's killed god knows how many people (both humans and hellborn) by now.

God, sometimes I'm too damn European for this... You Americans wouldn't surive a day in our cultures.

[calicopolitics]

Something that frustrates me is that the English-speaking internet is very American-centric, and this extends to discussions of real-world issues.

The issue with this is that I feel that topics that really ought to be known and discussed more throughout the internet often go unknown if they are not happening in the US or big enough to spread better, such as wars.

You have to specify *country* politics if you want to find posts about it if it is outside of the US the majority of the time, and even then, it seems that it rarely becomes especially widespread outside of those circles.

America is treated as the default and the most important country an awful lot of the time, and I just wish that it wasn't the case.

For one, it would be nice if America wasn't talked about like it was the default, and that people discussed issues from around the world more.

I understand that people are more likely to talk about politics/issues in general specific to their country as they're more likely to be familiar and it is more relevant to them, and that America is a big country with a very large population, but it would nevertheless be nice to see things a little more balanced.

[lydiardbell]

The greatest lie US American cultural imperialism ever told is that there is no US American culture

[360degreesasthecrowflies]

Its kind of funny how growing up surrounded by SOME US exports of pop culture but also some huge gaps of things that didn't really export to your country...

Can leave you with a totally warped understanding of where some references actually come from.

Like it took me to today to learn that Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin is an actual old cartoon and not a sardonic fandom parody creation based on that old art style but taking something cute and saccharine and making it weird and creepy.

I wonder how many other things I (and other non USians) might've come across without recognising it was based on a reference to something else even older or more well known than the fan byproduct...

[milkywayan]

seeing posts on instagram about the massive protests in belgrade, and in the comments, a lot of people from different countries comment their solidarity

except of course the US americans, who only post about 'we need this in america!!!1!'

This is not about you

shut up

for once, just shut up

[flowerandthesongstress]

it's mega fringe knowledge, and you probably won't believe me, but:

not everyone is from the usa

not everyone wishes to be

not everyone who speaks english as a native language is from the usa

it's rare, but cats can be allergic to common meats like chicken and beef; due to a certain genetic predisposition

not everyone who posts things in english is from the usa

not everyone who posts things in english is a native speaker

not everyone has a choice in this regard

not all of usa's problems and issues are universal or even universally relatable

slow-blinking at a cat communicates affection and helps develop trust

there are places with different and/or bigger problems and issues (there are other places! omg srsly so crazy!) and even historical milestones unrelated to usa's history

not every system—be it conceptual, social, political, economic, veterinary, legal, or educational—functions in the same way as it does in the usa

not everyone's experiences and environment match yours

if something does not match your experiences, does not mean that it's made-up

not everything is about you (mind. blown.)

norwegian forest cats are really big, fluffy, and super cute! unfortunately they suffer from a number of hereditary health problems

accidental ignorance is not a crime; willful ignorance is

inquisitiveness is never a fault; presumptuousness is

writing can have layers, and they're not always hidden subtext

cats are like family, we love them like family

things that are an ingrained norm for you might be virtually unfamiliar and/or inapplicable to the mythical peoples in those mysterious places that you probably think I've just made up (but I swear! I've seen them! they're real! I tried to take a picture but it came out blurry!)

not every fictional character is from the usa

not everything needs to be americanized

cats don't live very long lives

cultures and cultural contexts that differ from yours are not ‘weird’, ‘unusual’, and ‘surreal’

saying that they are ‘weird’, ‘unusual’, and ‘surreal’ is most definitely not a compliment

some plotlines and details might seem random, but they hold a crucial meaning and hide a resolution, even if neither were spoon-fed and spelled out for you

it's important to douse your biases and pay attention

...phew, some legit mind-blowing stuff, hard to believe, I knooow!