American Hatred, Born From Jealousy

During breakfast last week I read the label of Wolfgang Puck’s ‘Chicken and Dumpling Soup’. My interest moved from reading the label to imagining the path Mr Puck took in order get “..where he was, to where he is.”.

“Wolfgang Puck”, is such a distinguishing name. This name, I thought, may have aided in the success he has earned. I began to daydream. How did he rise to the top of American cheffery?

He came from Austria and now is a successful Chef with restaurants, franchises, cooking goods for sale and recipe books.

I think to myself, “What is there not love about this story.” All Austrians and Americans should be proud of Mr. Puck. I think most Americans are proud of him. I believe most Austrians are as well.

It would be no surprise if the average American and Austrian citizen had similar aspirations as Wolfgang Puck. They want what is best for themselves and their families. Those who are successful may have been inspired by successful predecessors. The respect for other’s accomplishment plus the desire to ‘have what they have’ is a motivator no doubt.

The inspiration to do what others have done and be successful, appears to instill respect. Most folks would respect a successful business man for example. A few may let the respect turn into jealousy.

If both Americans and Austrians are similar by nature, wanting what is best for themselves and family is a priority. Many people can be respectful of success, but others may fall victim to destructive thoughts. This jealousy does not stop with just a desire to have the same size house as the successful person. The man who is jealous may be vocal about the jealousy. However the jealousy may not take an obvious form.

Have you heard someone who talks about wealthy families or individuals? They do not always express how they want the same lifestyle. They also may bring up how pompous or stuck-up they must be to drive they sports sedan or live in their big house. This could easily lead into other slanderous comments including making broad judgements of all wealthy people as a group. When at first the person was jealous of the wealthy man. Now, personal attacks are being levied on the person he may not even know.

This destructive thought of jealousy may be fogging the objectiveness of folks from countries who formerly looked to the US with respectful eyes.

The media has painted a European disdain for America. If someone only listened to mass media for their opinion making, their interpretation would be “every country on the planet hates America, even most Americans.” If the media was our only source, the citizens, government, rock stars, and sweet grandmothers of all countries would more likely be moved to burn an American then to support any American cause, just out of spite.

It seems unreasonable to conjecture the virulent hatred toward the US simply boiled over overnight, just because of say… the War in Iraq.

It would be naïve to think everyone agrees with US policy abroad. It is understandable some people within and outside of the country would hate the US for specific decisions. Most I feel can not defend why they hate America. However this is another debate in itself. However I am relieved to believe a small minority truly hate this country. There are pockets of hatred for the US, small pockets, in many places. While a minority of people hate America, they are still getting their own message out. Where is the majority who support America nearly unwavering? “A loud minority speaks louder then a quiet majority.” The masses of supporters are still out there… they are just mute or whispering their opinions at best.

Reasons to hate the US have been and are; Economic, Political, religious, too many freedoms, unilaterialism, highest average income, too many pairs of Nike’s per capita, levis jeans in French retail stores, and now western music in Iran and crackdown on all media. There are even words which have a negative connotation or have been coined to represent America. The last couple examples listed above are purposefully focusing on the productive power of the US and what this means to every other nation.

The millions of people worldwide who reportedly hate America I believe are undoubtedly the minority in number. However they all do not hate America for the same reason(s). There may be 100 reasons to hate America (whether justified or not). If there are 50 million vicious haters of the US, they each picked one or more of the 100 reasons. Some of these folks overlap in their dislikes and hates for the US, however they are by no means one voice.

Then enter, September 11 which led to US President Bush declaring war on terrorism and eventually war on Iraq to stay ahead of the curve. There was decent from the beginning about the war. The UN Security Council obviously wanted the war to wait. Everyone who hates America suddenly had a new option for hating America.. This time, it was a hate “all together now.” The war in Iraq had become the 101st reason to hate the US. All 50 million then had the 101st reason in common. This united their individual complaints of “the greatest country on God’s green earth” (courtesy Michael Medved) and raised it to a fever pitch as they were able to sound off in unison under one troop flag. This hate for America maybe just a disguise for a hate rooted in jealousy. It is easy to see, if someone is jealous of another, how easy is it to then dislike them for a second reason. Could this dislike eventually could to hate if the jealouy increases. Citizens of other countries may first see the US and be jealous. Then they hear a friend who verbally attacks the US citizenry on a personal note all stemming from the intial jealousy for freedoms, material wealth, etc.... The bandwagon is born.

I re-read my post from July 13, 2005, “Hugh Hewitt Interviews American-Muslim”. It was an interview by talk show host Hugh Hewitt out of LA. An Ethiopian immigrant called in and advised if America stopped pushing their culture on the rest of the world, the terrorism would stop. Mr Hewitt asked the man why he came to America. The man said he is a taxi cab driver. He came for a better life. The debate then changed and Mr Hewitt pointed out the rest of the world may be asking for American culture. American music, blue jeans, Starbucks and democracy are all things citizens of other countries must purchase and demand on their own. America is not forcing it on them.

The American haters call the Iraq War “An illegal war”. These people are also jealous. The American supporters call it the Iraqi Liberation. And they respect American progress. If a crowd of American supporters stand in front of a blind man and no one makes a peep, the crowd may not be heard over the 3 crazies in the front pounding their chests and bongo drums, saying how much they hate this country.

I do not know what Wolfgang Puck thinks of America. He makes many of us proud. We should not be jealous of success, but inspired by it. This stand alone idea could cause the numbers of American haters to decline.