DEBATE: How Do We See America Now That We've Left?

These days, do non-Americans like America more than Americans? Are kids less bratty outside of the U.S.? Brent and Michael debate...America!

Hey Michael!

Not long ago, you and I had a newsletter debate about our differing feelings about taking pictures while traveling.

I thought it might be fun to ruminate on another topic we talk a lot about — namely, how our views of America have changed since we left Seattle four years ago.

When it comes to my own view of America, two things have surprised me most about our travels.

First, there’s the amount of sheer goodwill America generates around the world.

At its best, America can be a land of great opportunity.

These days, it seems like a lot of Americans truly hate America. Plenty of people talk like United States is a hypocritical bully of country that was founded on pure evil. And plenty of other people seem to think that America used to be a great place, but now it’s terrible — mostly because of those people who say the United States is a hypocritical bully of a country that was founded on pure evil.

But neither of these takes is how much of the rest of the world sees us.

Most non-…