From ‘The Ugly American’, to Mindless Americans?
- Ashok Dhillon
- Aug 26
- 6 min read
A book co-authored by two Americans, William J Lederer, a naval officer, and Eugene Burdick, a political scientist, was published in 1958, which coined the phrase ‘The Ugly American’, a tag describing the loud, boorish, self-absorbed, arrogant, and ignorant of cultures and values, and unwilling to learn American, who is a ‘Bull in a China Shop’ in foreign lands. This perception of ‘The Ugly American’ would describe Donald Trump very well today, as he is perceived by the vast majority of the outside world. As for the American people, in the eyes of the world, while fitting the description of ‘The Ugly American’ to a certain degree, for the most part, are unlike Donald Trump. Even in America, Trump stands out as particularly dishonest, boorish, uncivil, arrogant and ignorant man. But what does shock the world today, it the mindlessness of the American people who voted to have a incredibly flawed character like Donald Trump as their supreme leader. This irrational choice brings into question the state of the collective American mind.
