• Right, but if the person I was talking originally to had said “I’m not from the US so I know nothing about it” it woulda been fine and I would have immediately apologized and we’d go from there. Having a nice chat.

    That’s not what happened. Someone new chimed in with a pretty rude non-sequitur in the vein of ‘stupid Americans’. I don’t think I was particularly defensive or angry, but maybe it came off that way.

    • The phrasing of “more civilised places” in the comment you mention seems highly problematic to me, yes. I think the “stupid Americans” is your biased interpretation though.

      Oh, btw I wouldn’t call people from the USA “Americans”, because it is just one of many countries in the Americas. Another blind spot in the US perspective.