I don't lose respect for them. But I do find it funny that non-Americans are accusing Americans of ignorance and xenophobia and all this other bullshyt., and yet they're the ones always bashing America and throwing shots at Americans with whatever information, often false and exaggerated, they throw at us. How do you demand respect from others when you don't show any?
And I don't see what traveling outside of your native country has to do with changing your perspective, because for all of you so-called sophisticated world-travelers, American and non-American, it hasn't made any of you any less pompous, narrow-minded, elitist, and insecure -- in fact, it has made you even moreso. And yet you're the first ones to complain about Americans "thinking they're the best in the world." Guess what? So does every other country! Why is it a problem when Americans think the same way? Why does it bother you non-Americans so much?
If the entire world is on your country's dikk 24/7, wouldn't that make one think that their country is indeed the best? I find it telling how non-Americans get upset and inflammatory when an American takes pride in their country or claims that it's the best, but when a non-American says the same thing, not a fukk is given. The truth does indeed hurt.
And shame on you self-loathing Americans falling for all this propagandist, apologetic, pseudo-intellectual nonsense that makes you think that you're not the "typical American" and that you're one of the "good ones." Ironically, through all that self-righteous pseudo-intellectual nonsense, you guys do indeed prove that you are a "typical American" -- ignorant. What you fail to realize is that it's easy to criticize America because it's the top dog, and unlike most countries, America has no shame in leaving all its dirt out in the open for all to see. Most non-American countries sweep their issues under the rug and pretend that they don't exist, while self-righteously and hypocritically pointing their fingers at America for everything that's wrong with the world. But most non-Americans haven't even been to America (if they have, it's reserved to going to the most European of cities, some beach or other tourist trap) let alone left their country, and what they do know of America comes from TV shows and whatever misinformed Anti-American propaganda that their government feeds them. What's the point of having significant ammo when you're essentially shooting blanks? And somehow we're the ones who are arrogant and ignorant?