By TLR’s resident liberty loving Latino, R. Brownell
While racial division, massive incarceration, religious apathy, and constitutional quarrels tear at American society at home, another factor is tinkering away to change the face of the USA abroad as the identity of America comes into speculation around the world, specifically in Germany.
According to a recent pew poll, researchers went to Germany to learn the perception of America the German people held. In 2014, 58% of Germans polled felt that the American government still treated its citizens with respect; since that initial poll was taken, the dynamic has shifted towards only 43% of Germans feeling that the US government still respected the rights of the people.
Of the Global Pew Poll as a whole, the top three countries that had a hostile view of the US were Argentina, Russia, and Turkey, which is strange because everyone thought our nation’s hip new theme song would have warmed our geopolitical foes’ hearts….
A recent Washington Post article had this to say as being a leading factor:
One factor may be Germany’s own experience with freedom, or the lack thereof. The 20th century saw not only the rise of Nazi Germany and its associated horrors, but also the Stasi surveillance state in East Germany until the Berlin Wall fell.
Researchers found that it wasn’t the Iraq war or policy blunders which weakened America’s liberty loving image overseas, it had everything though to do with the NSA leaks back in 2013 from American fugitive Edward Snowden, whose namesake is known as the “Snowden Effect”, when the world learned of the massive unconstitutional data collection by the US government on not only its citizens, but also allies like German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Will America once again be seen as a bastion of liberty? Only time will tell us if the American identity is once again the land of the free.
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