Ameriphobia
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Ameriphobia is a term used by bloggers to describe either one of two things.
- 1. An irrational fear or hatred of the United States of America.
- 2. Anybody remotely liberal/left-wing who dares to criticize American government policy, meaning that they must hate the U.S.A.
The first kind[edit]
An irrational fear and hatred of the United States is a core issue among some politicians and groups. Conspiracy theories are the most common form, such as exaggerating the power of the US or treating it as the source of all evil. Other times, the role of the Central Intelligence Agency is greatly exaggerated when it comes to foreign policy. The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov is big on this, claiming, for example, that the deaths of Hugo Chavez and other Latin American leaders who were critical of American foreign policy were caused by the US giving them diseases. Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro
similarly claimed that the death of Hugo Chavez was caused by Americans giving him cancer.[1]
Islamic fundamentalists and terrorist organizations often portray America as a great Satan that wishes to destroy Islam itself and promote sinfulness in its place. Any foreign policy decision or intervention by the US are viewed by these groups as an attack on Islam.
Conspiracy theories such as the moon landing hoax and America being a tool of the New World Order or Illuminati are recurring themes as well. The webshite Globalresearch is a good example of a website that pushes Ameriphobic conspiracy theories.[2]
Internet tankies are infamous for basing their entire ideology on "critically" supporting countries that oppose American interests regardless if the country is communist or not. Anyone holding nuanced opinions on foreign policy will be labeled as a CIA Agent or white by them. Nazbols will also call their ideological opponents "Amerimutts" or Jews alongside the previously mentioned labels. Whilst not neccesarily tankies, many individuals on Twitter, as a result of the US being complicit in the genocide of Palestinians committed by Israel, now interpret any military action by the US on the Middle East as inherently imperialist.[note 1] Such as the case of the recent Houthi attacks causing many to accuse the US of killing Yemeni civilians even though that the only casualties are Houthi militants, not to mention the attack was started by Houthis on commercial cargo ships.[note 2]
The second kind[edit]
The word is also used by American right-wingers and conservatives, as a slur against those who disagree with them. These groups portray virtually anybody who doesn't believe America is the greatest country in the world, or criticizes American policies, as being "Ameriphobic".[3] Basically, "If you don't agree with us, you must hate America".
Of course, these people tend to also be Europhobic and many of the comments they make about Europe are extremely similar to what Islamic Fundamentalists say about America, mainly "they're Godless secularists!"
In a sense many wingnuts apply a "with us or against us" dichotomy that boils down to "you either believe in American exceptionalism or you are an Ameriphobe". Of course the fact that the real world is never black and white is lost to them. For instance, such wingnut don't seem to realize that it's possible to oppose certain US administrations and/or specific US policies without being anti-American, but then again, such wingnuts tend to hold similar views of their domestic opponents (though the sobriquet tends to be un-American, rather than anti-American).