It wasn't just you. The other European colonization efforts likewise destroyed the lives of millions of people. I always get a chuckle when I see Europeans deriding the American Empire. Pot calling the kettle black much?
You can't put all European countries in a single pot here, only a small part of them were leading empires. Most of other countries/nations were incorporated in empires against their will and suffered greatly too.
So what "most other nations" are left, except for some easterns states?
And that not all the people them were happy patriots, sure - thats common in empires. (and I don't like empires btw.) But the ordinary person was pretty much pro empire at that time. And that meant also conquering and ruling other nations and people.
Firstly, Europe is not a country, it is a continent of countries and many did not partake in colonialism. Referring to Europe as one homogenous group is one reason Americans are derided, because it is ignorant.
Secondly, the US has an unhealthy superiority complex and considers itself exceptional among all other nations, despite being pretty much the same as any other Empire that has existed in the past.
The fact that (to an outside observer) they consider themselves immune to the weakness that destroyed previous superpowers is another reason they are derided, because those weaknesses are pretty apparent to anyone who isn't a flag-waving jingoist fanatic.
Thirdly, those countries that did engage on colonialism no longer do and the people living there today have basically nothing to do with it. They deride Americans because they are in fact engaging in colonial-type practices today, despite the lessons of the past.
Right having, companys to do it for you, with support of bribed locals- moral advances- they are basically more abstraction layers to the horrors.
It is an exception (I speak as a European). It was the last of the great powers, and the first to figure out that a loan is a better weapon than a gun. The American empire is qualitatively different from all European empires.
> They deride Americans because they are in fact engaging in colonial-type practices today, despite the lessons of the past.
Don't kid yourself that Europeans just happened to learn how immoral empire is at the exact moment their empires fell apart. It's more like the Americans figured out (lucked into?) a better form of empire, and nobody could compete with their first-mover advantage.
We'll see if China can outcompete America at its own game, I guess.
Aren't you being just as ignorant when you talk about Americans as one homogeneous group? Just because it is one country doesn't mean each state isn't as distinct as every country in the EU. Alabama and Oregon are as different as France and Slovakia.
>Secondly, the US has an unhealthy superiority complex and considers itself exceptional among all other nations, despite being pretty much the same as any other Empire that has existed in the past.
There are places in the US where a lot of people feel this way, but in my experience the majority don't feel this way. At least where I live most people have traveled extensively outside the US and don't feel superior. Again your are ignorantly lumping all Americans together and imply that we all feel the same way when really it's just a vocal minority in certain states.
>Thirdly, those countries that did engage on colonialism no longer do and the people living there today have basically nothing to do with it.
That doesn't mean anything. White Americans today have basically nothing to do with black slavery, yet we still have to face the consequences of what white americans did in the past. In fact I've research my family history down every line back to when they came to the new world, and I know for a fact that none of my ancestors were involved in slavery. But as a white american I don't get a free pass on slavery just because I can prove I and mine had nothing to do with it.
Likewise, as a European, you don't get a free pass on colonialism just because it wasn't you specifically that participated in it. People today are still suffering as a result of your past colonialist actions and policies.