I’m a little late coming to the party about the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitude Survey. My feeling, expressed by many others, is who cares what other countries think? We should do what we think is right, not give into peer pressure. However, plenty of people think this means we are too rich and powerful. To which I respond, this means we’re not rich and powerful enough. The big complaint seems to be that
“Many people around the world, especially in Europe and the Middle East/Conflict Area, believe the U.S. does not take into account the interests of their country when making international policies. Majorities in most countries also see U.S. policies as contributing to the growing gap between rich and poor nations and believe the United States does not do the right amount to solve global problems.”
If the United States was rich and powerful enough, we could give up any worries about our own well being, share the wealth with everybody else, and never bother to advance our own interests. As it is, we act like other countries and take care of number one first. I think we do look out for the common good more than most other countries (I’m in the American majority here). Let’s face it, the problem with the world isn’t that America isn’t liked enough, the problem is the rest of the world isn’t enough like America.
