Why do Americans feel guilty about everything

Question

I am not an American but to me it seems like Americans are always apologising for things that every country has history doing or that has happened a long time ago. Many of my American friends always feel guilty about anything the country done which is crazy because no country is perfect.

Answer

This is actually the opposite of what the people I come across have said, haha!

Answer

Lol I'm not guilty about anything. And I sure as hell don't care if I offend anyone, especially for flying my flag where it should be flown. My husband puts his life on the line and fights for this country and I have nothing to be sorry for.

Answer

By Americans I'm going to assume you meant the citizens of the U.S. And not an entire continent.

For what I see/hear/read, most (white) U.S. Citizens spend their time denying any wrong doings (heavily simplified) they're ancestors committed, or denying any systematic oppressions imbedded into their society today.

Answer

Don't mistake humility and awareness for guilt. I was quite apologetic when I traveled abroad during the Bush years. Our country's foreign policy messed up the lives of a lot of people globally (including ours). With our economic, political, and military power comes responsibility to not behave like jacka**es either, whether it's talking about Mexican immigrants or in international sporting competitions.

However, I'm not tolerant of rants against the U.S. or Americans when done generally.

Answer

Theres a difference between acknowledging a wrong and taking responsibility for it. As an American I am represented by the choices of my government and my fellow citizens. Some of those choice are straight up wrong. The whole owning other people thing springs immediately to mind. I'll apologize that my country allowed that. I won't take responsibility for it.

Don't other countries do the same? Germany has several Holocaust memorials. Very few people alive today were in any way directly involved in those atrocities. It's still important to acknowledge and remember what happened.

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This is an unusual observation. Usually people think Americans have a very non apologetic sense of entitlement and ignorance about history.

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The best thing you can do about a mistake is learn from it, not repeat it and let it the fuck go.

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America could do a lot better

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I don't feel guilty about anything unless I do it personally... I will NOT apologize for someone else EVER unless it's my children... And that's only because they're still learning... Once they're of age they can apologize for themselves...

Answer

I don't believe this is unique to any specific country. People say that people in Canada apologize for everything which is totally different than what I see as a Canadian

Why do Americans feel guilty about everything

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