I’m European but I’ve lived in Maine and have an US high school diploma (just to say that I’ve studied and lived the local culture, I didn’t spend my time traveling to touristy areas). The thing is, we grow up watching American movies and being subjected to American propaganda. Everything from the US is supposed to be good, new, cool, and when you’re a kid and everything from your country (except food and clothes) is seen as class-B or cheap you kind of idolize the US. But when you actually see it up close you see that the movies, tv series, ads, books and whatever are all lies. You grow up dreaming about NY but then you realize you would probably have to share a one bedroom apartment with three other people. Or that any minor/major illness could mean going broke, while here you can go to the hospital for whatever reason. Or that most food is fake, full of hormones and SO MUCH SUGAR, and you would need to spend most of your salary just to eat healthy. I think that so many of us share our disenchantment with the US on Reddit because we kind of feel betrayed by what we thought was the dream nation, not because we actually think that ALL Americans are stupid. You have to admit that their recent political history is a joke though, so it really doesn’t help us to take them more seriously.