We only ever hear about THE UGLY AMERICAN. Never the ugly Brit or Canadian, or Aussie, or Italian or Swede or Frenchman. Why is that?

The only Ugly American I ever heard of was that movie from 100 years ago.

This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at November 7, 2016 8:37 AM MST

Canadiens are sexy and polite  ;-)

I think there are two reasons for that:

1) America is the only empire left in the world (Yes, Russia and China have done some local annexations, but they don't have 700+ overseas military bases in 90+ foreign countries the way the United States does). Some resentment against Caesar's legions (or their supporters) is to be expected.

2) Americans are a significant outlier among world cultures. Compared to people in similarl rich industrialized nominal democracies, Americans are notably more individualistic, more optimistic, more prone to religious fundamentalism, and several other characteristics I can't remember from the literature. One such characteristic is, because America is relatively isolated geographically, Americans are not forced to learn much about other nations and other cultures. Hence, they tend to see the rest of the world as Americans who are a different skin tone and speak a different language. When they do travel, they are surprised to learn people in other cultures look at the world differently than Americans do. This leads to more cultural friction than it would for people who have a better understanding of cultural differences.

The "Ugly American" was the title of a political novel written in 1958 by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer. It depicts the failures of the US diplomatic corps in Southeast Asia. It is famous because it influenced real politics and caused changes in government policy. It also influenced the manner of how political novels are written in literature.

The term was adopted by popular culture as a term that had different meanings:
1. In tourism, the term "ugly American" was a pejorative term to refer to loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless, ignorant, and ethnocentric Americans. It was a stereotype.
2. In the corporate America, it is used to describe companies who spend millions on projects in foreign countries, while ignoring the needs of their own country.
3. In sports, it is used in describe Americans who bahavd badly, breaking international rules or norms, like Ryan Lochre in the Summer Olympics in Brazil. He was called "the Ugly American". 
4. So it is a stereo type. It has appeared in "The Simpsons" and "Sex in the City"---pop culture films.

Not sure about the rest of the World but in Canada it's because we eat a lot of maple syrup and it makes us very sweet. Cheers! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_American

A political novel written in 1958 it's as pertinent today as it was then.  Read it.  This book prompted the founding of the Peace Corps.

Now you know.

This post was edited by Sugar Skull at November 7, 2016 6:25 PM MST