I wouldn't say it made a massive impacted upon the way I look at the states but I do make the odd joke about people living there and having to deal with Trump!

To me, there is a difference. The US used to be something of a leader in the international community. Not only doing good but sort of a stabilizing force a lot of times. That, in my opinion, is completely gone. Now it’s the country with the selfish world bully (or giant baby 😂) as its great leader. There doesn’t seem to be any predictability about what the US will do next. If it wasn’t for the US dollar being tied into so much of the world economy, I think it wouldn’t be such a powerful global player. Everyone else needs the dollar to be reasonably stable. That’s isn’t the case for any other currency I know of.

I think the United States has always been a giant bully, ever since its founding. I do not see the nation as a leader in almost any sense and I've never thought that way. I mean it has a pretty shit track record in my opinion. I've always been very critical of my country because I think it can do better but it mostly just repeats its history time and time again. Not to say that people in the country are bad, I'm strictly referring to the government.

#3: That's interesting. Do you have a sense of if you are the norm or the exception in this regard?

#4 I think that it depends on where one grew up and one's parents' political ideology (my dad is Swedish and very apolitical and my mom is not really political either or doesn't talk about it). I think that  the more people know about the history of US in general and its role in the political economy of the world, the more critical they can grow. But unfortunately we weren't really taught to think critically about the US in school. When I was going to school, we still had to stand every morning and say the pledge of allegiance, which I either refused or didn't say the words at the very least. I thought it was so weird that we were all being indoctrinated so young  to think that the country was so great (and the religious part) when we weren't being told the whole truth. I remember two different teachers said, "I am going to teach to you guys something that is not in curriculum and you can't tell your parents that I told you or I will be fired". One was a biology teacher when I was a freshman in high school who taught us about evolution (and it wasn't even a religious school but the theory contradicts with christianity so parents would flip). Another time was about when we were learning about the US presidents. But I don't remember exactly what it was he said. 

I don't really discuss politics with anyone back home because I know that I will be the single one out,  - however people that have moved away from Sacramento and lived in big cities like Portland and San Fran tend to be more politically aware.  I am in different online circles relating to the news and podcasts I listen to. Most people are from the US in those groups and are quite aware and critical of the US so I don't think I am the only one.  For instance, I've had several American professors here in Sweden that share my thoughts on the US.

Aha, then I’m not completely off the mark. Thanks for interesting information!

#5 That is crazy, it is like brainwashing in one way.

#7 I feel that way

I think it's interesting to see the international reaction to the attack on 2 Gulf tankers. I've been reading comments in the FT. Almost everyone seems to just assume that the US are lieing and the Iranians are more likely to be telling the truth. Had this happened under Obama's Presidency, people would have been far more inclined to give credence to the US explanation.