Growing anti-expat resentment?

John C. wrote:

St. Lucia in 1991 was very backward and foreigners – especially those with no deep pockets – were often poked fun at.  “Why don't you go back to your country” was on the lips of many locals in those years.

I can see their point but, as a note, the vast majority of expats I know get on perfectly well in their adopted country.
Perhaps it's just you.


For "perhaps", read "actually".

No real problems here with a large and every growing expat presence.

Bob K

Hi John,

Your observations regarding the growing xenophobia in most nations are correct. I think however that you will find that they are also tied to the global economy and politics. Since the sub-prime crisis of 2008 and the European Credit Crisis that followed xenophobic attitudes really took off.

Also I think you'll find that in most countries being a foreigner (to them) means being an American and when they find out you're not from the USA you get treated better. Anti-American sentiments in most countries are cyclical and depend on the current Presidency and its policies.

This is exactly why serveral US citizens I know have sewn CANADIAN FLAGS on their backpacks when they travel internationally.

wjwoodward wrote:

Also I think you'll find that in most countries being a foreigner (to them) means being an American and when they find out you're not from the USA you get treated better. Anti-American sentiments in most countries are cyclical and depend on the current Presidency and its policies.

I'm a dual citizen, and America is one of my nationalities. As long as I'm in an area where it's not a question of physical safety, I'm not hiding my American status behind a canadian flag, or behind my second nationality. People need to realize that Americans aren't all loud monolingual fatties who've never traveled beyond the safety of a package tour to Paris. The only way we can change these stupid stereotypes is by showing, one person at a time, that these opinions are totally idiotic. When I do say "hey, I'm American", I'm generally met more with curiosity than rancor, and I've had a lot of good discussions as a result. Many of these people I've met haven't ever met anyone from the States, so their opinions were formed mostly via the one of the largest American exports, Hollywood films. Can we blame them if they have no clue what it means to be American?

wjwoodward wrote:

Also I think you'll find that in most countries being a foreigner (to them) means being an American and when they find out you're not from the USA you get treated better. Anti-American sentiments in most countries are cyclical and depend on the current Presidency and its policies.

I have lived in countries where there were enough Americans to be able to judge, in East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) from 1969 to 1975 and in Switzerland from 1978 to today and, as far as I can remember, have never noticed undue dislike of Americans by the indigenous populations or other expats. Your comments surprise me. There must be very large differences between both East Africans as well as the Swiss on one hand and Brazilians on the other.

Hi ECS and El_Jost,

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-American by any means. I'm just stating exactly what I've seen. Americans are very much disliked in all of the Central and South American countries. This is slowly impoving but unfortunately the Bush administration really did a lot of damage to the image of the USA throught all of Latin-America and many other countries. Here in Brazil it was certainly difficult for American citizens during that era. I noticed a real difference in the way that I was treated because of being a Canadian. While it's not as pronounced these days, I'm still treated and accepted much better here than US citizens seem to be.

From what I've been told it's quite the same in France, where Canadians are accepted with open arms and Americans are snubbed and in some cases mistreated. I don't think that Americans would be safe if they publicly annouced their citizenship in Middle-Eastern or North African countries either.

Hopefully this will change over time, but who knows?

wjwoodward wrote:

Also I think you'll find that in most countries being a foreigner (to them) means being an American and when they find out you're not from the USA you get treated better.

That tend to be true but I'm unsure the people are actually anti American, just anti American foreign policy.
I'm often asked if I'm American and the moment they find out I'm English, their attitude changes totally - for the better.
The American government does a great job in making so many people hostile to its own people.
There was I , thinking the job of government was to help its people.
Ho hum.

mas fred wrote:

That tend to be true but I'm unsure the people are actually anti American, just anti American foreign policy.
I'm often asked if I'm American and the moment they find out I'm English, their attitude changes totally - for the better.
The American government does a great job in making so many people hostile to its own people.
There was I , thinking the job of government was to help its people.
Ho hum.

This is when I usually point out how voting works. Not everyone votes for the people who end up running the country.

I'm not the most enthusiastic American given that the tax filing requirements for us citizens mean we are in effect paying for the "privilege" of the blue passport, but it still bugs me when people pass judgement on all Americans when they have never met a single one of us.

wjwoodward wrote:

I don't think that Americans would be safe if they publicly annouced their citizenship in Middle-Eastern or North African countries either.

Well, I would certainly agree with that assumption. When the politics of a super power destabilizes other countries, and results in loss of life it is difficult for the people on the receiving end to differentiate between the US administration and the country's citizens.
Possibly here we should also point out that it is not 'Dubya' Bush who is heading up the govt. but the new incumbent Prez. Obama -- the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize -- who is the present leader and who is ably carrying on with his predecessor's work with even greater gusto.

Unfortunately, other countries uderstand the American political system all to well. They know that while the presidency may pass to other hands that all the people in government, the advisers, those who make policy decisions stay in place, so little really changes from one president to the next. They know if you've got idiots or warriors in those positions that the president, whoever he may be isn't going to make any major changes all by himself.

ECS wrote:

This is when I usually point out how voting works. Not everyone votes for the people who end up running the country. .....
...... but it still bugs me when people pass judgement on all Americans when they have never met a single one of us.

There goes stereotypes for you.
I'm a Muslim so I commonly kop the the suicide bomber bull.
Welcome to the club.

mas fred wrote:

John C. wrote:

St. Lucia in 1991 was very backward and foreigners – especially those with no deep pockets – were often poked fun at.  “Why don't you go back to your country” was on the lips of many locals in those years.

I can see their point but, as a note, the vast majority of expats I know get on perfectly well in their adopted country.
Perhaps it's just you.


For "perhaps", read "actually".

Fred,

1). I would not accept people you know to even talk directly to my face, far less to waste time listening to their ineptitudes coming from nullities like them.

2). You have no clue how many people come to small islands (mostly 3rd world countries) and leave with their dreams shattered and their pockets emptied.
If you want to progress, you should read and listen more, and talk less.  If you do not want to progress, keep exhausting yourself anytime, anyhow and anywhere you can.

3). Again you talked and said nothing. 

wjwoodward wrote:

Hi John,

Your observations regarding the growing xenophobia in most nations are correct. I think however that you will find that they are also tied to the global economy and politics. Since the sub-prime crisis of 2008 and the European Credit Crisis that followed xenophobic attitudes really took off.

Also I think you'll find that in most countries being a foreigner (to them) means being an American and when they find out you're not from the USA you get treated better. Anti-American sentiments in most countries are cyclical and depend on the current Presidency and its policies.

This is exactly why serveral US citizens I know have sewn CANADIAN FLAGS on their backpacks when they travel internationally.

I could not have said it better myself ... 

Ladies and gentlemen,

Your input is welcome, but what I want to say is this:

If you are a big employer, would you bring an expat in your country with all the implications we all know all tooooo well ( ) to work for you, or would you hire him to work over the Internet from his home country? 

Judging according to what I see the possibilities of telecommuting have become, it makes no sense (to me) to have my staff in the same office where I am.
Computers are super-fast, Internet is super-fast, software for support is amazing ...
I can log into your computer through software like TeamViewer, train you at the same time via Skype, and then monitor your work every 30 minutes if needed.

(John c. to himself) I know what my problem is.
I always come up with something new which gets a certain type of people irritated.

A big issue of great men (of whom I am one  ) is that they are ahead of time.
Since I am greater than the great men, I truly do not care what little men are going to say.
I just say things as they come to my mind.
I want to help but if someone gets irritated, then so be it, I start irritating him even more.

I must follow the gift Mother Nature gave me: inspiration at all times even at the high price of being ahead of time.

In Angola still it is practised...........if you are coming first time then someone has to guarantee for you that you are not going to settled here...and if nobody guaranteed for you in your arrival in the airport they deport you.........i was there in the airport for 16 hours without food and water...........someone came and guaranteed my status then i come out......strange but true......

John C. wrote:

(John c. to himself) I know what my problem is.
I always come up with something new which gets a certain type of people irritated.

Actually, it's your inability to post anything without mentioning how much cash you have (or lies about such).
The only expats I know of that have problems are usually anti social twits, ones that always say how much better their home country is, or fools that have no respect for the people of their adopted country.

Yes, there is racism, and that can be a problem with a minority of people in any country, but daftdickism is universal (and understandable).

aryavrat wrote:

In Angola still it is practised...........if you are coming first time then someone has to guarantee for you that you are not going to settled here...and if nobody guaranteed for you in your arrival in the airport they deport you.........i was there in the airport for 16 hours without food and water...........someone came and guaranteed my status then i come out......strange but true......

So it exists at state level.
Why would the Angolan government have such rules and who are they afraid of settling in their (Moderared: Inappropriate posting) stupid country?

I am sorry Anil to hear how you landed over there like a fly in the soup.    Really. 
You must get out A.S.A.P.

Yes Sir, i may be going on saturday or next tuesday...........

In the Ecuador forum there was a thread where Americans extolled the virtues of living off a US$500 / month pension.
Are Ecuadorians happy to get such expats? 

Is there not enough poverty in Ecuador (or other countries) to get more poor people from overseas?

I believe these are the issues which will confront larger and larger numbers of potential expats in the years to come.
In countries where special programs for retirees already exist, there are minimal income requirements in place.  Some countries do not even have such programs as yet.

Last Sunday I spent the whole day indoors surfing the Net for novelties, something which I do once a year.
It is absolutely amazing how many possibilities, software packages, innovations, ...
A tremendous leap every year in a very plus way.

All office work, sales and customer support for a company in Peru could be done by persons living outside Peru.  Usually the trend is from advanced countries to contract work overseas (the 'outsourcing' phenomenon) with no need for expats who need to relocate physically.

Telecommuting inside the borders of the country was something new (how many years ago?).  This now will shift to international telecommuting.

I say in 2020 we shall see great changes in labour markets, where Internet is used exclusively and intensively for work from home.

By the way, I know a British lady living in St. Lucia for several years now who gets permanent accounting work from her former UK employer.
No doubt, she was a good employee and he did not want to be a jerk hiring somebody else upon her departure from the office.

International telecommuting is the way of the future.  Catch and ride the trend! ...

aryavrat wrote:

Yes Sir, i may be going on saturday or next tuesday...........

Now that you are out, how long was your period of residence in Angola?

ECS wrote:

When I do say "hey, I'm American", I'm generally met more with curiosity than rancor

My usual reply to this is "You're American? Great! North or South America?"