It’s True – Kiwis Don’t Really Like Americans

Continuing in our series of Migrant Tales – first hand immigrant stories about life in New Zealand, taken from locations around the net.

This post was left on an international emigration forum, one that caters to migrants in many different countries. It was made by a New Zealander who comes from Christchurch and although it is brutally honest don’t shoot the messenger, s/he admits these are sweeping generalisations and there is no intention to offend.

We’re showing it here because it may help many Americans to understand why they find it hard to be accepted into small town minded New Zealand:

Its True – Kiwis dont really like Americans.
We generally don’t like or trust Americans. Sad but true. Sorry. If you are an American, make sure you know other Americans that you plan on socialising with when you come out to NZ. Otherwise unfortunately, as many of you are finding out, you are likely to remain socially isolated. Out of all the English speaking world, Kiwis dislike Americans the most (probably unfairly).

Don’t shoot the messenger but here is a bit of a heads up about how we Kiwis think. Please try not to be offended; be aware that these are sweeping generalisations, they are NOT necessarily the truth of the situation but I have outlined some of the ways that Kiwis generally perceive the USA and Americans.

Rightly or wrongly WE:

a. View your political antics on the world stage with suspicion

b. Are scathing of the arrogance with which the USA has dismissed UN directives (eg over Iraq) and initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol – truly your arrogance on the world stage is breathtaking;

c. Believe that your country thinks it is a law unto yourselves and we don’t respect that

d. Feel you selfishly gobble up far too much of the world’s resources – much more than your share

e. Believe that given the size of your country, you have had the capacity to do things like end world hunger but because it is not in your political interests to do so, you don’t bother

f. View your extroverted nature with suspicion as some sort of attempt to dominate others by being the biggest and loudest and having a superior attitude (much as you attempt to dominate the world stage)

g. See much of your sense of humour as being corny and simplistic (eg the only sitcoms we really like are those that rely on an ironic, more sarcastic or dry humor)

h. Cant believe how many people in the USA seem to be gullible and just not all that intelligent (that’s the result of those day time chat shows/media/trashy magazines/Hollywood superstar silly behaviour that don’t present you in a good light)

i. Resent that the USA sets a trend and a few short years later we have it happening in our society eg increasing obesity. Given media influence and the economic power of your corporates, we feel powerless to stop this and really really don’t like it.

These are some of the ways we think and the attitudes you are up against. Thought you should know then you wont be surprised when you don’t get a fair welcome and open offers of friendship.

You may also be interested in the following selection:

An American’s take on “rip-off New Zealand”

Studying in New Zealand – An American students tells what it’s really like to study in New Zealand

Immigrants caught in a cold poverty trap – An American and Australian couple

American says Tauranga mis sold

An American asks himself “why New Zealand”

American ‘put downs’ in the NZ media – 2 examples

1:30 “What happens is these big fat americans, of which there are plenty you gotta admit, they’re up to here with MacDonalds..they’re huge blubbery people…”

0:24 “You’re fortunately then one of those Americans who are aware that Australia and New Zealand are two separate countries?”
10:13″‘Well Rugby is our national game, it’s a little bit different to (American) football, you have to be a real man to play it”

399 thoughts on “It’s True – Kiwis Don’t Really Like Americans”

  1. Yep totally agree.. I’m sorry but find the “loud mouthed, love the sound of my voice” American annoying. This is generalised but find most are media hyped and think that the sun shines out of their a holes.. The attitude gets nowhere with a lot of us dte NZers. :/

    • “loud mouthed, love the sound of my voice”
      This same thing applies to Kiwis. I’ve got to shut the back door when the people next door are out in the yard talking.
      I wouldn’t mind it so much if they said more than nonsense in their droning.

  2. Wow! This is my exact experience here. I’ve spent the past 5 years in New Zealand. At least once a month, a complete stranger tells me how much they hate America. They have bizarro anti-american propaganda on TV all the time, and yes, I have almost no friends here and moving here ended my 20-year career as a designer. Kiwis do absolutely hate us. I wish I could convince my Kiwi partner to go live in the USA, but she won’t, so I’m stuck in this little green slice of Hell.

    • I can relate to this. I’ve lived in NZ for over a decade
      and at least once a week someone comes up to me and gives me
      negative comments about America and Americans. They do this in
      front of my children as well. After they rant on they ask me what I
      think of NZ and NZers I pause. I usually give a diplomatic BS
      answer and comment on how beautiful the landscape is…and how it’s
      great for children, then move on .(I was raised to respect others
      no matter whether I liked them or not.) In the US, I grew up as a
      minority and had to develop a shell to swat off and deal with
      racism. Little did I know that this was preparation for adulthood
      and how to deal with going overseas and being hated for something
      else…my nationality. Oh and by the way: I’m not loud, rude,
      arrogant, un-educated, or obese. People ask where I am from when
      they hear my non discript (N. California) accent and then pounce.
      This is my home. This is where I am raising my family. ( My
      children will grow to be resilient.) If I said what I have seen,
      and heard, and experienced….they (NZers) would hate me for
      shining a light on their true nature.” Pure” is not a word that
      comes to mind….there are exceptions though. (The exceptions make
      my living here worthwhile.)

      • Thank you for your reply Denise. New Zealanders forget that people who migrate to their lovely country do so with every intention of integrating and becoming part of their community. In a country where everyone has an immigrant past it is unforgivable that you should meet such xenophobia and resentment, all you want to do is blend in and make a contribution.

        We’re always looking for contributors to our Migrant Tales series, if you’d like to add something it will be warmly received.

    • They don’t even confine the nasty comments to New Zealand. I talked to a guy today who runs a flea market stall here in the States, and he said that when he asked some Kiwis what they thought of America, they had snarky stuff to say to him. He was just being friendly. You know, they could have said something positive about their travels, even that they enjoyed the shopping. Anything. Whatever I thought of New Zealand, I did keep it to myself out of politeness when Kiwis asked me what I thought of their country, when I was living there. I just told them it was very pretty and stopped there. The things I wanted to say! What a vicious little country. Glad to see people letting it all hang out on this website.

      • NZ is one of the most disorganized Western countries- work in Government, go to their Universities and you will get to know…. There is little courtesy like asking you what you like or need in the workplace even if you have a health issue that limits you- they do not care unless you happen to be friends- it is all about them and what they are used to. They say they hate the POMs but they are more like the POMs than Americans- reasons why… little standards, little ethics, little boundaries, esp when it comes to casual sex, drinking and eating fish and chips and dark chocolate and beer- NZers are not very different than POMs and they fit well together culturally. NZ have little manners and are more brash than what meets the eye. My warning- if you come here be prepared to be treated indifferently by your colleagues as many will be jealous of you if you have some skill or standards of living or taste in dress or fashion because very few of them do… Most all the women dress alike and very few give attention to their appearance- the men who dress nice are usually gay or business men.

    • you should leave that Kiwi slut! These women are all out for American husbands. They act the slut to travellers to try and hook one. ‘ended my 20 year career as a designer’ that right there is everything! Move back home, man! Career comes first no matter what because love don’t pay the bills. I always am shocked at Americans who stay for Kiwi love. These people are ugly as SHIT with no personality and terrible accents who smack their food. Leave her wrinkled up slut Kiwi ass!

      • Little advice for you, Tired: Don’t attack a man’s woman. You can guaranteed that I’ll never take any advice from you, ever.

  3. Hey, don’t usually comment to things like this but after reading what that Kiwi said I’m ashamed to be a New Zealander. I’m not sure whether its cause I’m young or where I’m from (Christchurch) but I’ve always loved Americans. The people, the accent, the comedy and definitely the music. I don’t at all agree with what they said, although there may be some like that, there are some Kiwis like the 1 who posted that. Doesn’t mean you judge every American by that, when in reality it is only a few.

    Anyway I’ll finish up by saying don’t listen to what 1 New Zealander thinks about Americans, because it isn’t what we all think. Someone in the pub tells me they’ve moved to NZ from overseas you won’t stop me talking, trust me you won’t get socially isolated whatsoever.

    And for all racist Kiwi’s (all racists in general really) reading this, you’ll soon realise karma bloody sucks lol.

  4. All this talk about racism and discrimination in my opinion is ridiculous and is fast becoming a thing of the past.

    This is ongoing and current. My comment [above] was based on the “super storm Sandy” that hit the east coast of the US the week before the US presidential election [Nov. 6]. That is less than a month ago.

    You are dreaming if you think that this is “old news”.

  5. Thank you Kiwi for your contribution, if you took the time to read some of the comments on this page and our others blogs about racism in NZ you’d know that people have been seriously affected by racism in New Zealand. Are you calling them silly for being victims? An apology for the actions of your countrymen and women would’ve been more appreciated, racism obviously is a non issue for you. If that attitude is widespread perhaps that is why racism is so prevalent in New Zealand?

  6. you are going to find small minded people wherever you go, especially if you are looking for them. I go out of my way to avoid them but have spent years trying to educate my homophoebic mother about the dreaded weed , and try telling my father that ciggerettes are addictive! I think I was about 15 when i seen my first black person. The bottom of the south island is red neck country. mullets, and black singlets, v8’s. we are shocked by the ’emo’ culture. most haven’t left the country esp. the older generation. farms wil get passed down through the generations, and there is generally too much work to do to be able to take some frivolous trip overseas when we know full well ‘there ain’t no place like home’. I think USAers biggest problem is their innability to accept local customs and complete inability to understand sarcasm. and remember BLOWING YOUR OWN TRUMPET is seen as being a wee bit up yourself ’round here. apologies for my over generalisations and spelling mistakes.

    If you think we are racist look to australias terratorians. small minded, shit customer service and blacks were ground up to tar the roads. while i lived in katherine there were two black people run over in one night. the next morning a young white guy on a motercycle crashed and burned. blacks: 3rd page 200 words. white guy, front page for three weeks, tv that night. people still saying what a waste( the guy was an absolute shit). not a word about the young black fellas that were killed. best stay off the road ’cause ya can’t see the buggers at night, cause they black, chuckle. all they can say is how they feel sorry for the poor white chick who run one over and how her life must be so difficult now. made several good friends there though….

  7. I just don’t get any of you people on both sides of the debate. Honestly, shark finning, warm restaurants, animal cruelty? Kiwis are this, Americans are that.. I mean, jesus, I always thought Americans were a warm people and I was treated so well when I was in America that I couldn’t conceive they could actually be anything like the stereotypes, I’ve always thought my fellow Kiwis laid back, she’ll be right sort of people. But here you BOTH are, Kiwis and Americans alike reinforcing the worst possible stereotypes of each other.

    Well done, really, this is, by far the stupiest ‘debate’ I have ever read, anywhere. I now feel stupid even contributing to it.

    • The problem is that Americans are pretty straight up about America’s problems. We have a People of Walmart site for instance showing off the worst of ourselves, and we debate our open sores freely. New Zealand markets itself cleverly and its people have an inaccurate idea of themselves and their country. Sites like this were set up when enough migrants became fed up with the disparity.

  8. Very bad country. I have been here for 4 years as an immigrant from North America and I can tell you that living here is not nice.

    By all north American and European standards New Zealand is a very poor country. Also, they lie a lot when they market themselves. They tell you we have a very good education system and unviersities and it’s all green, clean and we care about animals. But in reality, they have a very low standard level of education, high pollution level and the worst curelty to animals; best examples are how they treat their pigs.

    The funny thing is that they think they have a better quality of life where every 6 months more than 4000 kiwis cross the boarder to Australia to have a better life. You can’t make it in this country. Economy is very bad and literally no jobs here. Get to north america or Australia before thining about immigrating to this little unkown country called New Zealand.

    • Martin, you’re quite right. The reality of New Zealand is vastly different than the propaganda. More so than you’d ever expect. It’s the opposite of a clean, environmentally aware, safe place. I’m glad you’ve brought up the issue of animal cruelty. It’s appalling to see so much of it here. There are many, many examples, but one is the “charming” practice of tethering a lone goat to a low tin shack, usually in full sun. Imagine the suffering of the poor, gregarious animal being left out alone like that, yet it is an extremely common rural sight, and considered a part of Kiwiana. Animal abuse seems rampant. Not surprising, though, considering the extremely high rates of child abuse and child murder. Kiwis sweep problems under the rug, and blandly accept behaviour that would appall others.

      • Add shark finning too (which is legal if the shark is dead…wonder how they met their deaths…). Their hypocrisy is appalling, they criticise Asian countries, but they should look in the mirror first.

        Kiwiana = boganism

    • USA is not the same anymore and at least in Aus and NZ you
      can get some kind of benefit without having children if you are a
      permanent resident. Not in US unless you have unemployment. Yes the
      health system is sh** and the education system pathetic in NZ but
      if you have no money at least you have something- not in the good
      old US. Standards of living are low in NZ- yes that is true.
      Standards of sex are also low but that is everywhere. If you have
      morals and principles to live by – great! live by them and who
      cares what everyone else is doing- most people live in a daze
      whether in US, Aus or NZ. Nice people are everywhere – just learn
      to take the babe and leave the bath water. South Island is more
      narrow-minded than North Island when it comes to
      multiculturalism.

  9. Don’t worry about it, Rubygirl, no offense taken, and you know, I might have had the same reaction only a couple months into it, because I wanted to embrace it. I had invested so much in loving it here. I didn’t want anyone raining on my parade, either, back then. I sincerely hope you have a happy time here. I don’t want people not to like it, because the loss of the mistake, for some of us, has been unrecoverable. Left eye looking and I, for various reasons, did not enjoy living here. Seems like the people themselves were the worst of it for both of us, though the financial aspect was not negotiable for me either. It is an isolated island that has produced a particular way of its inhabitants relating to one another, although you cannot really see this until you have peeled back a few layers and embedded yourself. That takes time (unless, like lefteye, you are very recognisable on the street). And you know, luck comes into it, too. But outside of the bad luck, for me, it was just a culture I didn’t enjoy. It was like sandpaper to my sensibilities.

  10. I’m sorry.

    I’m sorry that I was judgmental, I really didn’t mean to be. I’m sorry that I called Kathleen close-minded. I wrote that without thinking and I wish I could take it back. I also wish that we could move on from that. I understand that I was wrong and I would like to move forward.

    Like I said twice before, I will remain open-minded during my stay here and will report back when I’ve been here longer. Perhaps my experiences will be like yours, perhaps they will be quite different. Only time will tell.

    What I do know is that my experience has already been different from what is described here. You are all asking that I respect your experiences, and I sincerely do, I only ask the same from you.

  12. I’m sorry I said you didn’t have an open mind. You had your experiences and I respect that. You can direct your comments directly to me, I am here and listening with open ears.

    Like I said, in my previous post, I am sorry that I sounded “judgy” and I will give it a year and 1/2 and repost my experiences.

  13. Thank you, webmaster. I have lived in other countries and enjoyed them. I especially enjoyed France, because I like wine, art, history and a vigorous intelligent discussion. :o) That might give you a clue as to why I didn’t enjoy New Zealand, though the wine does help make you forget the rest of it! ;o) Yes, I migrated with a completely open mind, and even shoved aside the things that I noticed, things that started to happen to me, because “yes”, bad things happen everywhere and problems exist everywhere, of course they do. I tried to “only remember the positive things” in an effort to make my positive atittude less shaky when the bad things happened to me. But eventually the bad outweighed the good, and it took about a year and a half. It could be that this poster won’t have the experiences others have had. Not everyone does! Auckland is more multicultural, and the Kiwis there are more accustomed to foreigners. She needs to move further into the society, work, invest, try to develop a support network, date men (or women), and in general become more familiar with New Zealand. I sincerely hope she is one of the lucky ones who fare well and like it here. But she shouldn’t tell the rest of us that we aren’t open-minded enough. I kept my mind quite open. The problem was what they filled it with! :o)

  14. Sorry, I didn’t feel as if I was judging. I am of the camp that believes you get what you put out there. If you expect people to treat you a certain way, they will.

    But I will check back after being here a few years and let you know my experience.

    • Rugbygirl don’t most migrants belong to that camp?

      No one emigrates looking for the same old same old. They all put a great deal of effort, time and resources in to the whole emigration process, it’s too simplistic to say they “only get what they put out” when they’ve put their lives and financial security into making the move to New Zealand.

      Thanks for your contribution, keep in touch and we wish you well.

  15. Rubygirl, there was a time when Kathleen was as idealistic and as “open minded and ready to embrace” as you are now. If you ever have to stay in New Zealand for as long as she and our other readers have, please come back and share your experience with us. We will not judge you as easily as you have judged..

    Until then, enjoy your honeymoon while it lasts.

  16. Kathleen, you sound like you wouldn’t be happy where ever you go. You sound closed minded and jaded. Yes, I’ve only been here for a short time, but I remain open minded and ready to embrace anyone who is the same. I’ve lived all over the world and I have found that no place is perfect, there is a downside to where ever you live, even a tropical paradise like Hawaii. You have to take the bad with the good and focus on the good to be happy.

    Not every place is going to make every person happy. We’re all individuals with independent dreams, goals and standards of living. That said, to lump an entire country of people into a few stereotypes is unfair. I would hate it if it happened to me, and I’m sure you would too.

    • @Ruby girl

      I’m glad you’re having a good experience in NZ. That’s great! I noticed your reply to Kathleen; just because someone else doesn’t like NZ, does not mean that there is something inherently wrong with them because of their reaction to the culture. To take the focus away from her experience and pinpoint her reaction is a form of “gaslighting.” It makes the focus about what is wrong with her, and there is nothing wrong with her. When the focus should be what she can do to get the most out of her time in NZ, a country that can be difficult to live in at times.

      (The currentconscience.com has a blog post about gaslighting.)

      Look I’ve lived all over the world as well and some places I’ve liked better than others. I love Denmark! I love Mexico! I can’t stand NZ! Does that mean NZ is a bad place because I don’t like it? No it doesn’t. NZ is a good country, however as a person of color from the U.S., I would not advise other POC to live there. It’s a great place for a vacation but I don’t think that is a place that a POC or someone from one of the more cosmopolitan areas of the world could enjoy living (not vacationing) in NZ without noticing some glaring anti-POC problems.

      I was there for a year and the amount of anti-everything (pick an ethnic group) diatribe that I had to listen to daily was exhausting. It reminded me of living in pockets of the U.S. that are white supremacist. Every country has its flaws, that is correct. My problem with NZ is that from the North island to the South Island, I heard some really ignorant racist ideologies which were based on some kind of indoctrination. They weren’t small pockets of the country, it was pervasive and everywhere.

      I had several Kiwis tell me that people of African descent and Asians were cursed.
      Many people told me this and they weren’t trying to be offensive, they really believed what they said.
      I was also tired of telling Kiwis that no one calls people “negroes or n*****s” anymore. in the U.S. and U.K. It wasn’t just the older generation, it was the younger generation who thought it was perfectly fine to call someone this in casual conversation. Example, “Oh look there are two negroes walking down the street.” You’d think that since the NZ media has been saturated with British and American tv, by request of NZ networks (U.S. and British networks didn’t force NZ to buy their tv shows) that they would know that no one is called by racial derogatory names/epithets as a matter of casual conversation.

      NZ kind of reminds me of a secular version of Texas. If you stripped away the psychotic-religious culture of Texas and made it agnostic, then Texas and NZ are similar.
      Golliwogs and all…..

  17. Note some of the ones who like it here have only been here a short time. It took about a year and a half of trying hard, mixed positives and negatives, and ignoring red flags so as not to look like a whinger, for me to see that I was a poor fit as an immigrant.

    I think that those those who haven’t tried to embed themselves in a community yet and seen how they operate here have a sunnier view of New Zealand.

    The ones who do not like it turn their attention towards leaving, and mainly succeed.

    The few who stay are the ones who were good fits as migrants in the first place. The ones who realise it’s not for them and then put all their effort into leaving as soon as possible are the ones you do not hear from as often, but they are the ones who are important to listen to if you are thinking about migrating, because they’ll be straight up about what they didn’t like. You’ll hear from them more as they are trying to work out in their minds why they don’t like it, so they will sound off a bit on one forum or another (not just expatexposed but other ones too) and then stop spending time on the Internet and simply use their waking hours to get it together, leave, and never look back. It is considerably harder to leave than to immigrate here due to having less money after landing, having it siphoned off you while living here, and having been left behind in one’s skills or unable to find work, etcetera.

    I appreciate the efforts of this site owner and others such as Agness on expatexposed who didn’t just leave and not look back. They took the time and effort after they left to shine their flashlights on NZ’s problems, the reasons why so many Kiwis leave the country, and the cultlike efforts to attract fresh blood and their assets to keep the country afloat. If you come after reading all this and like it, more power to you for informing yourself. If you decide NZ might not be for you because these sites exist, and so you’re better informed than some of the rest of us were, so much the better. If you read all this and still come, well… you have my sympathy but you’re either very idealistic or a fool and you’ll be parted from your ideals and money soon enough.

  18. Its not just aniti- Americanism – its anti -pretty much everyone. Just like “small men” generalisation (you know – they are nasty/bitchy/over aggressive/self conscious and overcompensation for lack of stature), NZ has “small country” syndrome. The world is one big threat to their way of life.

    Also very unfriendly, and subscribe to stereotypes about whoever – yanks, saffas, aussies, french, etc- like its gospel instead of just finding out themselves – so set in tehir wasy and staid. I dont find Kiwis very warm at all – not outgoing or hospitable at all. And, if it aint kiwi work experience, it doesn’t count (ridiculously in some cases, where some offshore experience dwarfs stuff done here) .

    • Kiwis are incredibly small minded too, this also includes some “happy immigrants” who try too hard to be like kiwis, bitching about other nationalities based on stereotypes, but who in reality live in no-man’s land, I’ve had the misfortune to deal with some of those as well.
      NZ is nothing but a white Gary Coleman (rip) 😉

    • (ridiculously in some cases, where some offshore experience dwarfs stuff done here) .

      You’d think that a small insular country would welcome diversity of experiance, but things need to be done the kiwi way [even if it is slower, poorer quality…]
      Offshore tech is not valued.

  19. Interesting reading.

    I’m an American living in Auckland and I have found Kiwis to be incredibly friendly, especially when they hear my accent. Granted, I’ve only been here for a little over 2 months. Someone posted that they don’t like to chat just for the sake of chatting, which I don’t agree with. I’ve met a lot of chatty Kiwis, they seem to be more chatty than not. As a whole, they seem to be open and friendly people.

    I’ve had one negative experience. I had one guy call me an “Aggressive American” in a bar after he introduced himself: “Hi my name is XXX, I like the small of a woman’s back, the turn of her ankle. I am recently divorced with two children. You have beautiful eyes. I’m not picking up on you.” He was three sheets to the wind and after I very politely told him that I was married (a few times) he stated calling ME “aggressive”. Perhaps I had to get a little aggressive with him to get the point across that I was married and was not interested. All in all, it was pretty funny (I took no offense) and my new Kiwi girl-friend and I have laughed about that night quite a bit.

  20. @ Tired

    I feel your pain. I lived in ChCh, NZ from 2001-2002 and I couldn’t WAIT to get the F*** out of there. I was surrounded by so many racist white-kiwis who reminded me of old, racist, kkk men from the deep south in the States. I kept thinking to myself, “well I could have just visited the southern part of the states for a year instead of cominng here, it’s the same thing.” The level of ignorance about the U.S. is astounding and it’s based on tv shows, movies, tabloids, etc. Yes there is antiamericanism in NZ and I wouldn’t have a problem with it, if it were based on facts and personal experiences/travel to the U.S. If someone came to me and said, “I hate the U.S. and I used to live there for a year or so.” , Then there would be validity to their statement but most of them have never been to the States and will tell you how much they despise a country they have never visited. It’s perfectly normal to dislike a country or culture, it’s called being human. However, it’s wrong when a person has never stepped foot in the country they dislike so much.

    I’m an expat who has lived abroad for years. I had a Kiwi roommate who was a guy and he was obnoxious. I couldn’t stand him at all. The 3rd week I was living at the apartment, he let me know his opinion of the states but it wasn’t based on any facts. It was based on some tv shows and movies. I told him that too and he became defensive. Plus there was just the lack of knowledge about global politics and what is going on in the world, he had lived abroad for years and was completely clueless about what was going on in other countries. He was also a know-it-all and was constantly dispensing unsolicited advice.

    I’ve met a few, rare, wonderful exceptions and befriended them, but most of the Kiwis I’ve met when I lived in NZ and also while traveling abroad tend to only care about drinking, smoking weed, taking acid or pills, staying ignorant, and telling you how much they hate {insert a country} based on movies and tv shows.

    My best experiences with expats have been with Scandinavians, Germans, Dutch, Polish, Czechs, Italians, Israelis, Brazilians, Argentines, Cubans, and Chileans. They tend to be multilingual, well traveled, educated, and know what they are talking about in a conversation or a debate. They are a lot of fun to be around.

    The worst people I’ve met abroad are Kiwis, Americans, English and Aussies; to me they are the worst for different reasons that very specific.
    So perhaps it’s just people from English speaking countries that are the worst?

    I don’t know but I usually avoid them (including my fellow countrymen/women) when I live abroad.

  21. Tired, I hope your year of study goes quickly and you can find a place where people treat you the way you want to be treated. I am a Yank (white) and had a next-door neighbor who was a tribal lady from Africa, and she was a breath of fresh air compared to the Kiwis. I was so sad when she moved away.

  22. NZ has a large international group of people due to tourism and EUs are just as terrible and so rude. Yet they ALL sit and watch American reality TV all day long and get drunk listening to American top 40 at the bars.

    I am an Afro-American and people listen to our music and watch us on TV then act like i’m some sort of alien because they have never actually seen one in real life.

    European men are so racist, i’m a girl, and people just stare at me when i walk down the street. i wanted to leave the deep south to get away from all that but it is my life anywhere. people try to touch me and pet my hair like i’m an animal and talk to me like a baby. It is impossible to get a job because your looks are a big deal in getting a job except, sorry, but EUs are some of the ugliest people i’ve ever seen.

    Most americans work hard to look good and EU look like death walking. sorry but if people are going to turn me away from jobs for being brown with natural hair then they should look in the mirror. Most NZ young people are so underqualified for employment that I thought it would be no problem landing a job in my field. Nope. Cafes will hire foreigners and they’ll put you to the dishes. I was making the food and all the customers complained and my boss said ‘that’s why all americans are fat’. the food here is so terrible. stale crusty shit with no flavor…or giant ass sausages that will give you a heart attack.

    The university system is a joke. My professors are really unaware and only know about NZ and are biased because i was educated abroad and I have brought so many changes to the department. The young people take a year off and work at bars in canada then come back to NZ totally unprepared. Kiwis and EU and American young people all live off their parents money and travel around and get drunk and don’t work. I thought I left that behind! They can only speak English which more Americans know a second language than Kiwis.

    There is racism all around. Afro-Americans have made a long journey to drop the hate and anger towards whites and no it is not perfect but people are starting to make a conscious effort now. Maoris and Islanders are so racist so then nothing gets done. Think about it…everything they complain about Americans are what white Kiwis hate about Maori they just can’t say it. The Maori imitate black culture as a way to figure how to deal with oppressiona and find a current identity. Maori people are generally closed off. I thought as a person of color there would be warmth and a connection but they will not interact with me or speak with me or invite me over.

    Indians are many here and the same way they seem to prefer white people as friends and try to be like them. Africans don’t even smile at you…unless they are pervy men. In the states there is a inner connection between people of color (non white people) and black people greet each other even if we don’t know each other. Africans will not but I force them to by saying hello first. I know these are completely different cultures but I thought there would be some kind of common ground my god. People act like i should hate America because I’m black but it’s complicated. They are the powers that be so learn their knowledge and ways and fight the system from within, accomplish what they have then excell at it and make a path for others. Maori just haven’t gotten there yet. and I don’t want to hear what some Norwegian brat has to complain about America when she has been there for a week as a tourist on her daddy’s money and watches America’s next top model marathons.

    People ‘joke’ alot and then say take it its just a joke what is your problem. If you defend yourself they think you are a b$%^&. I feel like all these foreigners will go back to their countries and say how awful black people are because I am so strange to them yet they listen to hard core rap and know every word. They talk shit about America but all they know is white America and I’m waiting for the day someone slips up. Kiwis don’t know anything about the Spanish speaking world either…which is like half the globe!

    Everything is so expensive yet the quality is so bad! Rainjackets are essential here…300-500 dollars and thin as paper! I came here for school and the overseas fees are insane and i’m having a terrible time and getting a shit education and my degree will be a joke back in the states.

    I wanted to leave the south because all the young ladies were just getting married like it was 1800 and talking about weddings all the damn time and I wanted to see the world. I should have gone to NYC or London. I have met some good people but everyone is so much younger than me that I feel like a late bloomer. I will try and enjoy myself and make the most of it. Back home I’m the only one that has ever been to NZ. Study abroad here kids but don’t get the whole degree and don’t move here!

  24. “they are upright in their dealings and uncompromising to do on what is right”

    I would disagree with this. Though there are some upright ones, too many justify their behaviour with a veneer of uprightness, using arguments intended to appeal to fairness. That is not the same thing. Also, the elderly people are in the main honest. The younger the generation, the “more likely” you are to find fast and loosers.

    Many misunderstandings arise when foreigners accustomed to a life of relative luxury, or good quality for reasonable prices, come down to New Zealand and feel they are ripped off by poor quality, sharp trading, high prices. I wish people were more aware of what to expect. Many Kiwis do not know any better, and are offended. There is a chasm of difference in expectation and experience! They think the foreigners are spoiled. Relatively speaking, they are! Some of this is genuine misunderstanding. It is good that more descriptive, balanced accounts of New Zealand living are appearing on the web, so immigrants have more information available to them than they did 10 years ago.

    I know one woman who moved to Outback Australia? She could not hack life on the station, having to drive hours to the nearest store. Similar for New Zealand. When the beautiful views become more mundane, and novelty wears off, daily life in a country with unfamiliar hardship becomes a grind for those who take comforts for granted.

  25. I’d been living here in NZ for the last 5 years now and I find that most Kiwis, in general, have a peninsular mindset and are ignorant, hence, their views about Americans and the world are always suspicious. This peninsular mindset is ingrained and taught while Kiwi children are still in their primary school, no wonder, they develop a sarcastic attitude when they become adults. While I must admit that not all Kiwis have a peninsular mindset, most of them, in their own right, more often than not, has this “supremacy attitude” and this attitude is expressed by implicitly and explicitly looking down on others, ie, by always making rude, smart-ass remarks or comments, mocking a non-Kiwi accent, making a sarcastic comeback that’s triggered to make someone feel stupid so Kiwis feel “supreme” over the others.

    This “supremacy attitude” is directed to all non-Kiwis, btw, not just Americans. Singling-out Americans as Kiwis don’t like them is an understatement. This “supremacy attitude” applies to all nationalities as long as you are not a Kiwi. Perhaps, I should say that “racism” is actually NZ’s best-kept secret and this is magnified by their ignorance and lack of understanding on what’s happening around the world.

    On the other hand, there are Kiwis who are also polite and accommodating, but you will find that these Kiwis are more of an exception than a general rule. But just to be fair, Kiwis in general have good virtues too – they are upright in their dealings and uncompromising to do on what is right. But then again, “what is right depends on what Kiwis consider as right”, and being polite and having excellent customer service is not one of them (they’re not friendly people-persons). Not because they don’t want to, it’s simply unnatural for them and takes more of an effort to practice courtesy. Kiwis, in general, often obey rules and laws and they know if they have crossed the line, hence, you can admire that most of the population practices self-discipline to right the wrong.

    What I find fascinating here is that it’s easier to deal with Kiwi men as they are more level-headed than to deal with Kiwi women. While most countries have an equal balance of gender, Kiwi men are calmer, level headed and more intelligent than Kiwi women, in general. Again, there are many intelligent women in NZ but, in this regard, the scale is tipped towards men than women. But both genders share equally the same rights, freedom and privileges.

    I find it contradictory that Kiwis do not like Americans when the contrary is true with KIwis when it comes to international training that requires expertise, you might be surprised to know that aside from other nationalities, Americans are paid for and sought-after by Kiwis to train them.

    To think that Kiwis do not like Americans is a complete fallacy, to be honest. Talk is really cheap. The very main reason why Kiwis dislike Americans in their talks is the very same reason that Kiwis seek and pay for Americans to help them to be trained to become experts. What, did I hear someone say hypocrites?

    • “they are upright in their dealings and uncompromising to do on what is right”, more like the apearance of what is right.
      Kiwis are great believers of it is OK, if you don’t get caught. There is a thin veneer of propriety, once you scratch through that veneer, it is a whole new ball game.
      There is a public face [proper, upright…], and a private face [do whatever as long as you don’t get caught].

    • All i could read was the first paragraph, theres so much hate in there for someone talking about hate, whats your problem, so what are kids are still in school, i can say my young brothers are in school learning, playing, laughing while im not there and i dont have to worry about some crazy guy shooting because he has problems with someone else. Im ery sorry that has happened in the US but what do you expect, people young and old are carrying guns…

      Not all kiwis are haters, im pretty open minded knowing the stereotypes but dont always jump to assumptions that a certain race automatically puts them in a certain stereotype.

      And your saying we are sarcastic, rude, smart-ass comments, mocking non kiwi accents, again, you tell me where in the world people dont mock other accent, tell me one, and ill say sorry, im wrong, and what about americans sarcastic attitude against serious events, like that fatal shark attack on the father and that “disgusting, sarcastic, one minded american show” who mock the death and made a song and dance about it. If you dont like new zealand feel free to move.

      • I think the difference is that one American guy on TV being an asshat doesn’t represent the general experience of Kiwis in America. In the USA, random Americans won’t come up to you and tell you they hate your country (and you by extension). But that happens all the time here. Kiwis who are skilled and qualified have little trouble finding jobs in America. Those of us who were top in our field in the USA end up working retail here in NZ.

        You read hate in the first paragraph. I read my daily experience. I know you want to blame us for relating our experiences, but your unique country is unique in the Western world in the level of its hatred toward outsiders and especially Americans…and we must daily deal with these issues, not simply ready about it in the Herald or watch it on TV1. Your impression of the USA is formed by a news media that makes its money by bagging on America. Our impression of NZ is formed by living here and being harassed, threatened and put down by the locals.

        • “In the USA, random Americans won’t come up to you and tell you they hate your country (and you by extension). But that happens all the time here.”

          I second this. It’s true. I had it happen to me as well.

          • This happens several times a month. I go out of my way to go to corner stores that are run by Indians, they seen to have a better attitude toward Americans. Other than that, I just stay home, don’t talk in public, and NEVER talk around a Kiwi that’s been drinking [they are few and far between].

            I third it.

          • I agree, they are much worse when they are drinking. In beer-o veritas. Louder, nastier and stupider, filters off!

          • Guess what, “Justin”, if there were a bad part of town where you were mugged and gangbanged, and it was not well posted, would you want other poor naive unwitting migrants stumbling into it?

      • @ Pj: “but what do you expect, people young and old are carrying guns…”

        And you’ve spent exactly how much time in the states? And how much of the U.S. did you see?

        Yes, your sarcastic empathy for the victims of school shootings here, insincere as it is, is touching, but you may not be aware that you are far more likely to be struck by lightning while holding a winning lottery ticket than you are to be a victim of a shooting, most anywhere in the United States.

          • The race organiser said of Lundy

            ”He’s quite a marketable chap,” he said. ”It’s definitely in bad taste. People are offended by all sorts of behaviour but they need to harden up.

            ”There is not a lot you can do these days without offending someone so why not go all out and make light of a double homicide.”

            With NZ’s high murder/manslaugher/”accidental death” rate it must be a laugh a minute!

          • Yeah. Their “candidness” seems refreshing until you’ve lived there for awhile and realize that they are actually not candid at all about their country’s problems. Big secrets and big, big lies to hide them. The humor is a diversionary and coping tactic. Don’t let it fool you into thinking New Zealand is a merry place.

      • Less than half of US citizens own guns. And the vast majority of gun crime is caused by very few people, namely criminals.

  26. read some Kiwi in America type blogs, comments, forums and they are funny – Kiwis who move to America think they will be shot at due to the image of America in their own press, and while there, they are amazed that they aren’t instant victims of gun crime! 😀

  27. It is not a merit-based society. They operate on the basis of who knows whom and palm greasing. So if you take pride in having worked to reach a certain level and expect that to be recognised, drop that idea.

    If you can roll with the punches you will do fine with the snide remarks. I second talking to local migrants.

    The gouging is another thing entirely. I met an American lady in town the other day who said she was fresh off the boat and already ripped off once, and also been warned twice by other Americans about ripoffs. Won’t be long before she wished she had met more like that and spoken with them before selling up and moving down here. I have not met a single other American in town (I know a handful) who doesn’t have at least one ripoff story.

    There are nice Kiwis here, but they take awhile to find. And then actually forming good permanent friendships with them is a whole different ballgame.

  28. Hello everyone. I wanted to take a minute and investigate what is really going on here. Obviously you can’t hold an entire country that is comprised of VERY different states accountable for the federal government that runs it. Especially when most of the inhabitants of this country absolutely despise and do not condone the behavior of its government. Texans are, probably in many ways, very similar to people from your region. Surely visitors to NZ are looked at on an individual level and given a chance to present what could be an extremely pleasant human being who values important things like love and genuine happiness? Everyone that I talk to speaks so highly of the NZ region, i’ve never heard an american say a bad thing about a Kiwi. It’s shocking to see that there is hate there.

    At any rate. I am an american, but I am not fat, do not eat fast food, and i haven’t watched TV in over 5 years. I’ve worked extremely hard to get to where I am by performing and not taking advantage of others, or losing myself in the process. After a substantial number of life experiences, I was considering a move to NZ so that I could focus on internal and spiritual growth. It seems that this may not be a good idea.

    To be clear: If I am an american, and if I am a good person (helpful, balanced, caring, strong) with a good sense of humor (can roll with the punches, loves sarcasm)… am I still going to be prejudiced against in NZ?

    • If you’re going to accept being treated as a second-class person, you’ll be okay.
      It seems they get antsy if you know your rights or refuse to accept their stereotype of you.
      Get to know some of the migrants, they’ll probably set you right about what you need to know coming in as a foreigner. And as far as possible gain supplementary local information from different officials and representatives – so that you aren’t “suddenly surprised” by information that was, for whatever reason, “forgotten to be passed on”.

    • Yes. In a simple word.

      What alot of Kiwis don’t realize is that NZ gets the best of the best from other countries.. It takes alot to get permanent residency in NZ (background, health checks, etc) and only the best come. But when we are treated like dirt — we question the entire thing & wonder whether we should go somewhere else.

      I have lived here for 2+ years and was not prepared for the amount of anti-Americanism that exists here. It will really amaze you.

      And if you are accustomed to polite, caring people — good customer service, good restaurant food – you will be in for another rude awakening. None of these exist.

      • I miss being able to walk into a warm restaurant, order from a large, varied menu of reasonable choices, and just enjoy a meal.

        Many places open up their establishments and leave the door wide open in winter. They like their indoors so cold, I hate that here. And you can’t afford anything, either. When you do buy something, it is 9 times out of 10 not as good as home, or they are stingy with the servings. The prices are terrible.

        We live in New Zealand, and we never eat out. The high cost of living makes it impossible as a regular enjoyment, anyway. Most of your income will go on housing, utilities, petrol and food. After that, you are lucky to have a penny left, anyway. We close up the house except for a couple bedrooms and only heat those, and the bill is over 300 a month. And this is in the “winterless” north. And yes, we are leaving when we can manage it! This is not the lifestyle we moved here to have.

        Should have stayed home.

        • 100% I agree with you…. and what about police corruption…. I am an Italian citizen and I love Americans but I wish I never moved here. And definitely I am putting a petition to United Nations to take my kids out of this sad country.

    • Being proud of being American is a very bad thing here. A very very very bad thing. New Zealanders don’t show the same degree of patriotism. But when they do, it’s called being proud of their country and it’s ok. But when an American shows his/her patriotism, it’s called being a stereotypical, arrogant American who thinks everything is always better in America. Double standards. (Not all New Zealanders are like this. But for the most part. I still have some wonderful New Zealander friends who are fascinated with America and think it’s amazing that I’m from there. I’m always over-ecstatic when I meet a New Zealander who loves America. 🙂 )

      • Ok so can you tell me a countrie where there is patriosim where that situation wouldn happen, a foreigner showing his/her love for their country wont gain a little sniffle against that person… I like how americans choose to live in the NZ, and then they have a bad experience with a dumb arrogant person takes it to heart tha all kiwis are bad. I think we all know that America is quite a hugely patriotic country, if i had gone to the US and showed my love for NZ, would’nt my comments be put down.

        • No. If you were in America and showed your love for NZ people would agree with you and think you cool and exotic. Americans aren’t like you, mate.

        • Carvin, has this exactly right. If you were in America, and refrained from bashing our country, we would love to hear all about New Zealand, and you could wear your flag and tell us all about how much you love it. No one would be offended. Why would we be offended over someone being proud of his/her country?

        • PJ, your comments about the love of NZ would NOT be put down. Being proud of where your from is embraced in America. My best friends, both of which I’ve known since elementary school, are from the Philippines and Puerto Rico. The only people who judge them or look down upon them are narrow minded, unintelligent racists who likely are that way because of their low self-esteem and emotional issues. Be proud of who you are no matter where you are from or who you are! Judging people based on what you see and not who the people actually are would make anyone a fool themselves. Because of all the nonsense going on in America today, I was contemplating moving my family to New Zealand to get away from all of it. But it seem we likely would be moving from one fight to another-no thank you.

          • Good for you, voice of reason, to decide against New Zealand. Worst mistake we ever made, to move there. Once we had been there for awhile, our money had dwindled to nothing, and with no buffer left, it was so hard to leave again. We had to borrow from family to leave. Meanwhile, many of the migrants who have moved there and are still there send back beautiful scenery pictures to make everyone else think they’re in Paradise and doing dandy. I know how many of them actually feel, and they’re trying to boost themselves up in their own minds and to the eyes of others. Many of them are depressed, drinking, wanting to go home, struggling, and yet putting on a big act for everyone else or trying to persuade themselves they’re happy there. It makes me angry to see them being this dishonest, because then more people are fooled and move there on the basis of this projected fake contentment.

        • In the larger American cities with large migrant populations we actually have pride days and parades for other cultures like Puerto Rico and such. For the REALLY large migrant populations we even have national holidays dedicated to other cultures like Cinco de Mayo where we celebrate Mexican culture and St. Patrick’s day for the Irish. We even started celebrating other peoples sexual orientation with gay pride parades in just about every decent sized city. Being different is something we all celebrate because it is what makes you, you and frankly what makes you interesting.

          We have our backward ‘dey took our jobs!’ People sure but I’d bet my bottom dollar that if you were in a crowded place and some jackhole yelled, ‘what a typical f—–in kiwi.’ Before you could even reply 3 other Americans would have already taken him out back and beat his ass.

          Intolerance is simply not tolerated here.

          Lol, in fact every time I’ve met a foreigner I’ve always made things awkward by being too curious and friendly.

          To be fair though, I wish we would treat our indigenous people the way new Zealand treats theirs.

    • Just as an example; More than just a few kiwis have proffered the idea that the “moon landing” was faked. It is a way of imposing the “tall poppy” thing on other nationalities.
      So, no matter how much you want to contribute to society, you’ll be sadled with that bagage.

    • I think you would do O.K. in he golden bay, motueka area, there is a large immigrant population (including several American family that have been there for a long time, aas well as spiritual leaders that spend part of the year in the area) that is interested in spiritual matters there, i.e. yoga, buddism, spiritual retreats etc. Another area you might be interested in is the west coast of the south island, especially kaniere just outside of hokitika, but these places are small with little work opporutnities unless you have your own business or bring a lot of money with you.
      I don’t know much about the north island.

      • KiwiUsa, please don’t mention the West Coast my ex husband is from there… they are a bunch of ignorant and police officer are pretty corrupt I been assaulted by one and nothing happened. The Italian Embassy was inside the matter and the Ministry foreign affairs of Rome. Very traumatising. I think is a very racist country and not used to foreign. I feel very sorry for them when I publish my book in 2month. But I am putting a petition to the United Nations. News need to travel outside New Zealand. Working on it with few journalist. 😉

  30. http://www.jasonsummers.org/new-zealand-apparently-needs-9-billion-from-us/

    NZ gets 9 billion from US? Did that ever happen?

    and

    http://forextrib.com/forex-news-analysis/forex-market-news/china-new-zealand-announce-cny25-bln-currency-swap-agreement-imarketnews/

    China and NZ swapping USD?

    http://www.dailymarkets.com/forex/2011/05/29/forex-nzdusd-weekly-outlook-may-30-june-3/

    Media outlets in New Zealand reported that China Investment Corporation, a USD300 billion fund, may have set aside up to 1.5% or USD 4.9 billion of its foreign-exchange reserves to invest in New Zealand assets.

    Which assets? do the locals know? They are not keen on selling off their patrimony to foreigners, as we know.

    Are any of these events connected? Economists? I smell a rat. All I hear here is how America’s going down the tubes and NZ is a better place to be. B.S. As long as their mortages don’t go up an extra 100 a month, maybe. Second Worlders are certainly more used to austerity than First Worlders are. They do have that advantage.

  31. Not all Kiwis dislike Americans, of course not. And just because one person doesn’t dislike them doesn’t mean that their compatriots uniformly treat Americans well. I think “a certain percentage of Americans are surprised to see the degree to which it does exist here”. That would be a better way of putting it. Also, there is a kind of hazing that Americans never expect, and you will do a wee bit betterif you can get past that with humour and tolerance. As earnest and emotionally out front as they are, Americans expect to be taken seriously as human beings on an interpersonal level and are sometimes chilled to find interpersonal relationships take a different form here. The intimacy they are accustomed to is just lacking. Kiwis are really defensive, too, however, and I find they take umbrage at things unintended as offensive by the other lot.

    Possibly Americans find it hard to accept that chit chat here has more of a purpose. If there is no gain in it for them, Kiwis don’t want to chat. Whereas in America, chit chat is just that – people chat “just because”.

    There are cultural differences that are irritating on both sides, for certain..

    Googling around will find sufficient instances of a certain Kiwi attitude towards Americans – that they are all rich, burger-gobbling land-grabbing, nuke-throwing fat morons. We have come in for it to some extent.ourselves and I have posted on it before, so don’t feel like reproducing it.again for someone who can’t be bothered to check it out.

    Upshot. Some of it is taking politics to an interpersonal level and blaming Americans for their government’s actions, some of it is ignorance about stereotypes, and some of it is cultural friction.

    • i agree. The original poster perhaps doesn’t realize that Americans themselves MAY NOT actually be happy with the way the government runs or they wouldn’t have emigrated here in the first place. So to place Americans with the actions of the government, really is a bit over the top.

      What matters to me, is if people are nice to me. You treat others how you yourself want to be treated. I was brought up with manners, and because manners are a part of my culture (being American) — I have not left them there…they have come with me.

      I feel that all cultures have something to bring to NZ, and NZ should accept the differences that we bring – rather than being suspicious when we compliment you (and mean it) — just say “thank you.”

      I do like where i live in NZ but I am not particularly fond of most (not all) of its people. I do have a Kiwi friend and we discuss the differences between the 2 cultures often, as we are both open about it…and we can examine the differences.

      In other words, in America — we support people who want to better themselves, while here – it seems to be a society full of envy. If you envy someone or are jealous, it is enough to just hate you or think of enough reasons to make things up.

      I have found South Island people to be a bit more welcoming to outsiders, but that is just my personal experience. Living in Taranaki – there are not that many happy Kiwis here (it does not appear that way) and so I miss being around people who can make fun of themselves. Yeah, our American humor is corny, but so what. At least we don’t take ourselves so darn seriously. Life is too short to be angry & rude all the time.

      My Canadian friends have moved back to Canada…they just couldn’t take the people here. It got to them at such a level that they just couldn’t stand it anymore.

      This is too bad, because NZ really needs talented people. I really think the foreigners that come — that they come for a reason. Maybe it is to learn tolerance, or maybe to help make NZ a better place. What I do know, is that I think many other cultures (if we stick together) CAN make it a better place for everyone to live. At least that is what I am hoping for.

    • “and you will do a wee bit better if you can get past that with humour and tolerance”

      So just suck it up and take the abuse and the name calling? What if I said the same nasty things to you that were said to me? Would you just suck it up and take it? Could you get past it with humour and tolerance?

      Here are the things I have been called for being an American:
      Loud, obnoxious, arrogant, violent, money-grubbing, a “CUNT” (yup, to my face, by another girl at a friends Birthday party!), loose (sexually), fake, tacky…

      I must add, I am none of these things. I am becoming very tired of being judged for where I am from and then being told “not to overreact”. Honestly, Upshotte, how would you respond if someone called you a “Cunt” at a friend’s birthday party just because of where you were from? She hadn’t said two words to me the entire night before she said that. Honestly, would you get past that with humour and tolerance? If you could, you are a much better person than I.

      Even experiencing all of this… I still try to make Kiwi friends. I still try and remain open, I don’t want to judge an entire country based on my experience with a few or else that would make me no better than those who judge me.

      • Hey, I’m sorry that happened to you 😦 sigh reading all of this makes me sad because as a kiwi I want our tourists to be made welcome here. I still haven’t met an American I didn’t like 🙂

      • There is this ironic love/hate relationship with things [and people] from the States. They love our music, culture, fashion, products…
        They just don’t like seeing you here, in the flesh. They would much rather observe Americans on TV. Deep down inside, most would rather be Americans. Jealousy and envy mixed with national pride prevent them from admitting it though. So, they have to hate you because they are not you. Same thing with Aussies.

        • To be fair, I have run into several people that DO honestly agree that there are “other” products out there that are better, and cheaper than the “iconic” nz brands. Yet, if you go into a “koolaid” store, they look at you as if you had two heads, asking for something other than the standard iconic brand [which generally is both inferior in quality and more expensive].

  32. If our readers have any examples of anti-Americanism in New Zealand we’d love to hear from them.

    • I am a kiwi married to an American. I recently (December 2011) went home to introduced our daughter to her NZ family. Well I must admit, I had never noticed the bias against Americans before quite as strongly as I did on that trip. We were at puzzle world in Wanaka, and my husband was taking photos of my daughter and I pretending to hold up the leaning tower thatis there. Some kiwi bloke facing the opposite direction (like the coward he was) yelled out “F**king Americans, that kid isn’t even wearing a hat! (my daughter was one and you couldnt keep a hat on her head she hated them) F**king typical yanks, don’t know a bloody thing about taking care of kids!” Wellllllllllll you can imagine my reaction. As soon as I opened my mouth and sounded like a Kiwi he was all apologetic and couldn’t apologize enough to me. I just couldn’t believe it! Another incident was in Hokitika, where my husband wanted to buy me a piece of pounamu and the store tried to charge him twice as much. He couldn’t afford it so he put the piece back. I thought I would give it a try, and they sold it to me for half the price they were going to sell it to him for! Disgusting. They also tried saying that Canadian jade was real Arahura jade from the west coast, and I knew it wasn’t I am from the coast! Also I used to think Kiwis were polite, but they are not, and I am one! We were at a countdown, and my husband was talking to me across the aisle, a kiwi lady was walking down the aisle and pushed her trolley right into my husband, gave him a look of disgust and said, “watch where your bloody going”, again shocking behavior! I was so embarrassed by the behavior of my fellow kiwis, I felt so bad for my husband who I had dragged half way around the world, to see where I came from, and that is how he was treated! Terrible!

      • I don’t think that a lot of Kiwis have really experienced this first hand. You had the fresh perspective of your family [as seeing it through their eyes and ears…].
        It is really shocking, at times.
        There was a thread on racism and there was a discussion on “micro agression”, the same applies to dislike of forieners.
        I’ve had this discussion with my family, and after pointing out things that would normally be ignored or overlooked, the light came on.
        The double standard of what would be OK for a Kiwi to do, but be completely ridiculed if someone of another nationality were to do: Kiwi- “she’ll be right”, other nationality- “bloody xxx”.
        I remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoons when there would be some reference to a bull seeing red, same goes when some Kiwis hear an American.
        Sad, but true.

        • I understand South Island dynamics and they are what we
          consider in America to be rednecks. My partner was Kiwi so I was
          protected from a lot of flack from other women- Kiwi. But Wanaka
          area is very small-minded unless you are spending money. Dunedin is
          more friendly but they still got some people with pokers up their
          ends… Otago Uni has many. Be fake to them and they will come
          round…

        • I have read with great interest these what so called generalized points of view regarding what ‘Kiwis in general believe of Americans’, I do agree with the original comment overall of the general view of Americans and as I read down, instead of trying to change this perception, it has actually enhanced and added value to the original OP perception. I have been here in Boston for 6 months, I am told I am not to wear my english shirt, Im a Maori Kiwi, the Irish are anti English, so I’m told, I am not allowed to wear my nice shirt which says another baseball team, this is seen as aggressive stance, so they say, I have not ever seen such aggressive behavior toward clothing alone, I have been told Boston belongs to Irish and we should be mindful about this and respect the Irish culture .. this is all okay, I’m open minded and happy to learn their culture. I do believe however a lot of the comments placed are unfounded as a generalization and only a personal prospective of the OP at hand. Please remember NZ is only 4million population, NZ is also not only based on the English culture but very strongly Maori culture, (I am unsure how familiar many maybe towards understanding the Maori culture), it is also a welfare state, it is multicultural community holistically and no one has ever forgotten when Christchurch experienced the horrific earthquakes, it was the Americans who followed the Australians to come to our aide, we will never forget the aide which was given and this has changed the average Kiwis views overall. No matter where you are in the world you will always find the riff raffs of each culture if you look hard enough. I hope you enjoy Aotearoa as much as I am enjoying USA. Kia Ora

          • Now if you openly antagonize, wearing clothing, like wearing gang colors I guess.
            How are you treated if your accent is overheard. Do you have people looking at you funny? Do you have people saying rude comments? Are you insulted publicly just for having a Kiwi accent and being identified as a Kiwi?
            There is a huge difference in how you’d be treated as a Kiwi in the States.

          • Generally, the Kiwis that don’t get bent out of shape when hearing an American accent are the older ones. They remember and are grateful for the US’s participation in WW2.
            I’ve got a few friends that are vets, and they are quite happy to stand beside me and be my friends as I am quite happy to be their friend.
            So, not all, of course not. But I’ve never had the frequency and intensity of insult for being an American.

      • My child was called names in school (none of which applied to him physically, but are attributes they ascribe to Americans in New Zealand). We were in a store once and some Kiwis walked in, heard our accents and walked up to the cashier demanding loudly for him to find them “anything that isn’t American” while glancing at us the whole time, snickering and hoping for a reaction. Even Kiwis who were otherwise pleasant would rant about America to me on occasion, blaming America’s place in the world for their own country’s problems New Zealand is not the only place they do this. But mind you, it is no different from many other countries where Americans are generally disliked. Do you want to give these countries your tourist money or move to live there? Of course not. Kiwis do not like our accents, our mannerisms, our confidence, our cultural omnipresence, the pitch of our voices, the fact we have an army and know how to use it. You name it, they don’t like it. Walk into a bar of drunks in New Zealand and you may get more than you bargained for (I am saying, if you want to go in for a drink and open your mouth, you will get more than that drink). Do I want to subject my American children to that kind of treatment? No.

  33. If it walks like a Kiwi, talks like a Kiwi……

    Who cares where he was born, New Zealanders are all immigrants. He’s Kiwi now.

  34. Oh & Paul Henry is not a Kiwi – he’s British! The irony of your assumptions & misinformation given what you have accused Kiwis of is not lost on me folks!

  35. Well isn’t this interesting? I am a Kiwi & I think you should all have a look at what you have said here. It says a lot more about your attitudes, biases & natures than it does about us Kiwis. I am well aware that not all New Zealanders are nice people, nor are they all worldly or intelligent, however the same goes for anywhere else in the world. The fact that you have chosen to ignore this fact & spew vitriol onto the www that everyone (yes, even Kiws) can read is offensive & ignorant. I don’t care where you are from, your actions are what matters. Perhaps your words are actually mirrors of your own behaviour, because in reading what you have all said, a lot of you have exhibited exactly the behaviours that you are criticising. Food for thought perhaps?

  36. The original poster seemed to have an inferiority complex. The bastard from Boston is why I hate Yankees. I wasn’t aware of the New Zealand attitude towards Americans. Now I think we should’ve left you sheep lovers to the Japs.

  37. There was a post on his daughter not long ago on the GP forums. In Kansas, what a place for her, and doing her dad proud.

    “I don’t find him funny,” she told Women’s Day. “People tell me about the things he has said, but I don’t watch because I’m not really into what’s happening in the world.”

    Spoken like a true Kiwi! If she isn’t just taking the p*ss, she also wants implants.

  38. Did you hear Paul Henry went to visit his daughter and promote his book in America. He was pulled over for speeding three times in his Mustang in one year. No doubt he was trying to provoke an incident that he could joke about.

    He said, “I can usually talk my way out of it, but in this case the guy [the police officer] was quite aggressive and unpleasant and you’ve got to be a bit careful over there because they are heavily armed.”

    (and violent, Paul, don’t forget violent – you should be permitted to speed, shouldn’t you!).

    He gave explanation, “You’ve got a V8 Mustang, you are in America, the speed limit is 75-80 miles an hour anyway, the road is straight and long and you are at least on a dual carriage freeway – it’s just so very hard to hold the car back. “Do you want to go through your whole life with your foot on the brake? I don’t think so…It’s not my style”.

    Given how Paul criticizes Americans’ lack of impulse control in overeating, it takes a bit of chutzpah to tool around racking up speed tickets. Then again, we can see that he believes it’s the car’s fault, wanting its head, and after all, it’s America. Forcing those Kiwis into bad behavior again, like our TV shows making them all violent.

    Own something, you dodgy b*stards!

  39. oh, and to add another comment – the 3rd story down on their America topic list today? was about what would be (in America) a very boring trade name battle between two NJ food establishments known for “hot dogs fried in fat until they rip”. Obligatory picture of someone stuffing their face with a giant hot dog. Where is Paul Henry when you need him at moments like this to make his 999th knee-jerk fat American joke? Oh, I forgot, the good-hearted humble and noble Kiwis who love him so much have not reinstated him yet.I am surprised that Kiwis continue to flog this “Americans are…” horse in a country where they need the meat off of the animal more than they do the canned laugh.

    • http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6046887/Kiwis-space-photos-stun-astronomers

      The press here is –

      yeah. Agree with Mac

      Along with top-viewed stories about fat American toddlers taken away from their parents and the usual Black Friday victim (fat Americans trampling and killing one another to Buy Sh**t!), always popular because it’s so much easier to laugh at furriners than to look at their own serious problems, they have the stellar Kiwi…

      “Kiwi’s space photos stun astronomers!”

      I read it and the guy is “Olsen”? uh….sure enough, at the very end, they quietly slip the truth in – dude is actually a Dane, who has lived here 8 years! Citizenship paperwork makes you a Kiwi if you do something cool, but if you do something naughty, they’ll make sure to downplay the citizenship angle. LOL!

  40. My teen kids and I lived in New Zealand for a couple years, and gratefully are home in Boston now.

    We liken the standard Kiwi press to a supermarket tabloid in its headlines. The Kiwi press would pick out items singling out America, and these were always insulting, negative, weird and brutal stories with no context to them at all, presented in a group every day so as to always give the same terrible and inaccurate impression of America. Or the headlines to the articles would be very misleading, assuming that no one would bother to read the actual article but counting on the impact of the headlines and choice of material and wording to reinforce the stereotype. They never published anything positive unless it was something about Kiwis teaching America something or Kiwis or their products doing well in America. The bad content was all they ever published about America. It was no wonder that Kiwis expressed such depraved views of the U.S.!

    My kids were shell-shocked at the level of ignorance about America and Americans there, because they knew the truth. We might as well have weighed 350 pounds, been retarded Southern Baptists, had a personal army and violent temper, owned a chain of McDonalds, and been walking around with giant nukes strapped to our crotches with wads of cash falling out of our pockets. That is what Americans are, to Kiwis. We were reading the New Zealand headlines today and laughed all over again, and yes we are home now, so it is funny. It was scary when we were there. It was like living among people who are always ready to file false abuse claims, and you don’t even want to LOOK at them for fear they will scream abuse about you. Scary! My daughter said being an American in Aotearoa was like reading in the Nat Enq that “Brittney Spears is addicted to coke” and in America the actual article on the last page would inform you that it was actually “Coca-cola”, only in NZ you wouldn’t find the article on the last page with the truth in it, even. To give you an example. The two top America-related headlines in the NZ news now are “U.S. launches missiles at Libya” and “Man Stoned to Death in the U.S.”.

    The actuality is that the U.S. is participating, after being asked to, in a FRENCH AND BRITISH LED ACTION against an unpopular leader who is trying to cope with an uprising in a tinderbox region, but the intelligent coverage on that would be minimal, while the U.S. MISSLE LAUNCH would be shouted from the rooftops, feeding that “Steroidal Warmonger America” stereotype perpetuated in New Zealand. The truth is that many Americans are 100% purely fed up with the military intervention, and the next election should be a very interesting one. Another one was “Man Stoned to Death in the U.S.”, right up there next to the “U.S. Launches Missiles on Libya”, equating the U.S. with hypocritical Arab-like brutality by marrying the one story with the other. The unfortunate stoning incident was actually a young, unstable religious nut dude hitting a poor gay guy in the head with a sock that had a stone in it. Not much different from anything that might happen in New Zealand, which has plenty of its own anti-gay crimes and violence, does it not. This was not Shirley Jackson’s Lottery, or a crazy fundamentalist sect with a compound. They deliberately and regularly foster this view of the U.S. in New Zealand. It was an eye-opening experience for myself and my children.

    We are glad to be home and away from the bloody-minded idiocy. A friend of ours is still stuck there in Wellie – she had a child with a Kiwi, and got that famous Scary American Treatment in their courts, so it is pervasive, we found it in academia as well, and in politics, at high levels among people you would think would have to possess something resembling a brain to be functioning at those levels. No. They do not have to have a brain to be warming those seats. We are so relieved to be back!

  42. Whoever says NZrs don’t like Americans is biased. I am a born Kiwi and I have yet to meet an American I dont like. Also, you do not have to be a man let alone a real man,to play rugby. Even our girls play rugby, they play soccer and cricket too. It makes no odds what ones nationality is, there are good, not so good and those one wouldn’t want to call a friend.

  43. Kiwis don’t like anyone other than themselves, if you Americans have experienced rudeness from them, imagine how we Asians feel, we are the scapegoat from everything bad here! they also hate Australians, Islanders, Indians, Brits, etc. but they sure love our money!

    • Im sorry if you happened to met kiwis at the bottm of the barrell, but who have you met that hates all nationalities you mentioned… Yes there are the typical stereotypes people consider with those nationalities but name a place where there isnt??? And as for “your money” i consider asia to be a huge money maker, because all you want is our food, milk, salmon etc.
      Ps your probably hanging out with the wrong crowd, my social circle includes a wide variety of people kiwi or not, and i have no problem

    • I love Asians. You need the peace and personal comfort you deserve. In my eyes, Asia is the highest educated Continent in the world, which means you must have some form of good education. I am proud of that, I wish the world was more like you all 🙂

    • Kiwis are some of the most passive-aggressive people I
      know. They cannot handle confrontation and live in denial about
      personal issues. I have lived with a lot of people over the years
      and Kiwis are the most un-accomodating I’ve ever experienced- won’t
      allow you to put a rubbish bin in bathroom, to leave a sponge on
      top of bench in kitchen, and many live in mold and chemical
      infested houses/flats and do nothing about it, etc… This is a
      culture that is not into change… Once I even dated a Kiwi guy who
      only changed his underwear once a week and saw nothing wrong. The South Island is full of nepotism. North Island is more savvy but
      you still have to watch your back. Kiwis do not act like they
      gossip on the surface but they are the same just as any people but
      the Tall Poppy complex is BIG in NZ. I do not think the culture is
      as bad as the UK, which I find incredibly repressed and
      passive-aggressive. BTW there are many POMS in NZ and NZ is based on POM culture. I tell both- sorry but I do not follow the Colonial Code of Conduct! I think many Maori feel the same. LOL

      • “NZ is based on POM culture” but New Zealand claims to be bi-cultural. Our readers with Asian, Dutch, Yugoslavian or Maori ancestry may see things differently to you.

  45. Im Australian. From my experience, all the poster’s comments are bullcrap. Americans are much much much nicer than white kiwis in Australia. Kiwis are rude, over bearing, and they are the ones that expect everything for nothing. They even think Australia belongs to them. And you guys pretend to be Australians, stop pretending to be us when you are not, and give us Aussies a bad name. The crime rate in Australia had rocketed since this millions of Kiwi arrivals over the past few years. And even though you do your best to fake an Ausralian accent, it is not going to work in Australia. We can tell from your lack of manners, rudeness and obscure comments alone, that you are a Kiwi mate.

      • Where does this rivalry b/w Australia and New Zealand stem from? Just New Zealander manners in Australia? It seems like kiwis also have something against aussies.

        • Not sure of origins but I believe it stemmed from a sporting rivalry which was good natured as the two countries are close competitors – there are also debates about the origins of many of NZ and AUS’s national icons, such as the pavlova, both kiwi’s and aussie’s will argue till they are blue in the face that it was invented on their soil. Also (bear in mind that I am a kiwi so there is a bias) there is the drama surrounding Aussie’s stealing our thunder internationally, such as the winning race horse Phar Lap who was from NZ but recognised as an Aussie winner. In general these rivalries are good natured and often used in advertising in a humourous way. I don’t actually know any kiwis or aussies who actually dislike their counterpart.

          It seems to me that there are huge extremes being expressed on this website and I would just like to remind everyone that populations are normally distributed – so yes a small percentage of kiwis are rude and arrogant, but they cannot speak for our population. Such, if you have had/heard of a negative experience visiting or meeting a kiwi, you cannot make assumptions about the population. Like anywhere in the world, there are good people and bad people – kiwis are known for their laidback disposition and dry sense of humour, meet a few more before you make up your mind!

          • How do you know only a small percentage are rude and arrogant, how many SD’s from the norm?

            How many Kiwis would you need to make a sample that is representative of the population? 30-40 perhaps? Not too hard to achieve, and what if they were all rude and arrogant, what would that say about your curve then?

            Define ‘norm’ in New Zealand.

          • Emily,

            I doubt that sporting rivalry has much relevance. Some years ago I was considering moving to NZ so naturally I did some research, I was concerned at the amount of anti-Australian comments in the NZ MSM. The difference between the two countries, in my opinion, is the degree of Oz-bashing by the so-called ‘opinion leaders’, I haven’t noticed an equivalent degree of Kiwi-bashing in the Australian MSM.
            Quite possibly I might have overreacted and missed a golden opportunity, however I wasn’t prepared to take a chance at my age.

            Of course populations are normally distributed, however what’s significant in this case, is the mean for each country.
            BTW I couldn’t give rat’s as to where pavlovas were invented, although I’d put a few dollars on 18th century France.

          • I’m an American. I am a toolmaker, in other words a common laborer. I’m also a Bible believing Christian that knows all human beings bear God’s image. I guess I was naiive’ about New Zealand. Rather than choosing to judge, I think Id’e rather choose to continue being naiive.’ Sorry, I don’t know how to spell naiive. I dont feel like looking it up. I found a good job opening there , New Zealand wont let people over 55 move there.

        • BT Aus/NZ have always had a rivalry but recently it has become something else. Many Australian resent the Kiwis that come to Australia for a better life but disrespect us. Many (not all) expect everything handed to them on a silver platter and expect to give nothing back. The Kiwis also have a very strange sense of humour that other people just don’t get. They insult you and then laugh. On top of this, Aussies have always had unwritten law that if 2 blokes want to fight, let them. Unfortunately since the kiwis have moved in this no longer happens. Now a bunch of 50 blokes have to jump in behind them.

  46. Yes the younger generation IS anti-American. The older ones still remember the war and relate to America as a former ally against a common enemy. Now, America is blamed for everything. And if you are an American, by default you too are blamed. The rudest comments I have heard down there have come from younger people. Do NOT be fooled.

  47. Americans who set up home in tourist hot spots like the Lakes District of the South Island can enjoy great scenery, good climate and less anti-Americanism than elsewhere. ( the younger generation is not anti-American btw ) But NZ is primarily about scenery and nature. Canadians are loved more than Aussies or Brits so just fake it- kiwis cannot tell the difference accent-wise. Christchurch is very ”English” and snobby

  48. I would not recommend americans moving to new zealand. A visit is expensive but pleasant. Don’t move there unless you feel like being looked down on and being the object of ongoing extortion.

    • Yes, it’s expensive. So is Alaska ( isolation) , and Sweden (social democracy, free medical care etc) for the same reasons… as for the “object of extortion ” remark… ridiculous. So but that’s simply not true.

      • Yes Alan, Sweden is expensive, but you cannot compare Sweden to NZ. For a start, the Swedes have one of the best social security systems in the world so they get back what they pay in. And on top of that, their average annual disposable income is 28859 USD as opposed to 23213 USD in NZ. I know where I’d rather be…

        Source: http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/income/

  49. Thanks for providing such a lucid account of how an average Kiwi thinks, but we think the OP’s comments were far better.

    Normally we don’t publish comments that use fake IP addresses but yours was too good to pass up.

    Update:
    Anti-Americanism has been going strong for some years in New Zealand, perhaps it started with the anti-nuclear protests, perhaps with the Vietnam war. The conflicts in the middle east certainly haven’t helped much.

    How may it be defined? we liked this one:

    “Anti-Americanism is not solely, or even mostly, about harassing Americans. Former US Ambassador to New Zealand, Charles Swindells, once described anti-Americanism as “empty, inaccurate criticism of US ideals or actions that offers no constructive alternatives and gives no credit where credit is due”. He said it was also about rejecting policies simply because they came from the US. Others would have a broader definition and certainly allegations of cultural imperialism and criticisms of globalisation are usually targeted directly at the US.” The Listener, 2006

    Further reading
    http://deanesmay.com/2007/10/08/anti-american-bigot-vs-wife-abroad/

    • The anti-Americanism is weird considering that:
      1. New Zealand supplied Agent Orange to America during the Vietnam War:
      http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0109-09.htm
      and
      2. American media and music is extremely popular in New Zealand. Many New Zealanders have not watched movies produced/created in their own country with the notable exception of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and perhaps “Perfect Creature”/”Boy”.
      3. New Zealand has had its own share of questionable activities, such as the conflict in Bougainville, where mercenaries from New Zealand were hired to “maintain stability”.
      http://www.greens.org.nz/speeches/mercenary-activities-prohibition-bill
      It’s a weird attitude to have when rather than the country “being in the right and therefore correct in criticising others”, it is more likely the country where “people really don’t care what the government does or did in the past (NZ-ers have famously told me that their democracy is “real democracy”) but need a convenient focus for hatred or suspicion”. Think “1984” and all the hypocrisies that entails.

  50. I’m sorry but this post is rubbish..In fact I would go as far to say as “every single comment” in it is rubbish. I’m a North Island Kiwi, my family have lived in NZ for many generations and although most nationalities in the world will joke about the “loud American” that’s pretty much where it ends. Yes, we do think Americans are more opinionated, some NZrs don’t like that, I personally don’t like that NZrs lack the ability to communicate what they think and should be MORE opinionated. And the comment that NZrs don’t trust Americans is interesting, NZrs don’t trust anyone, period! My partner and I enjoy befriending people from other countries and cultures…they’re more interesting…topics of conversation are almost endless. This post is just the view of one very obviously narrow minded person and considering the poster is from Chrimechurch, I guess it shouldn’t surprise. South Islanders don’t even like North Islanders that much. NZrs are very much influenced by America…most of our TV shows are American, the majority of music we listen to is American, if we were anti American why would it be so entwined in our everyday lives? To any Americans out there reading this…NZrs don’t dislike Americans, it doesn’t mean everyone will like you either, but it won’t be because you are American HOWEVER If you’re contemplating coming to NZ for anything more than a tourism holiday I would think twice…I would guarantee it’s not going to be as great as you think and want it to be, but you probably already know that if you’re on this website 🙂

    • I’m an American living in Auckland. And I have been called names, had rude things said to me, or about me.. It used to bother me, but honestly, if you’re that kind of person, then I don’t want to be your friend anyway, so thanks for showing your true colors so soon!
      I wanted to add to Benson’s comment about South Islanders not liking North Islanders. I was called a JAFFA by a South Islander recently and I was shocked!!!! He was a tour guide (we had family in town) and it was really rude. He proceeded to rip apart the north island. I was really embarrassed in front of my in-laws, everyone was uncomfortable.

      • I also have been singled out for being American [accent] in various places [supermarket checkout lines…].
        I find it funny as Kiwis can’t get enough of American stuff, just can’t stand Americans. Ironic.

        • I’m glad I had the experience to travel to NZ, but the Kiwi people were unfortunately rude & unfamiliar with the likes of individuals such as myself. The country, however was beautiful & I was rather impressed with the Maori culture. Moving on to other places in the world.

          • Aww I’m sorry to hear that 😦 that makes me sad to think us kiwis were rude to you. I always thought we were a friendly laid back bunch

          • Spend some time on MSN news and keep tabs on every article relating to housing, immigrants, refugees and you’ll see what our fellows are really like. You may find some good material on the trademe forum in the related areas as well. I don’t know if you’re online a lot but you won’t see a huge amount of this in public, as most kiwis are total coward keyboard warriors posting safely from behind their computer screens.

    • Have you ever thought why we have so many crappy US tv programmes? They are cheap and they fill the many gaps in tv broadcasting time. Not one person I know likes them hence the tv goes off and we are better for it.

    • This is too cute. I’m an American with an Asian (but raised american) partner who is considering immigrating so I’m doing research on the prevalence of racism and xenophobia in New Zealand.

      I dont see how any American can be offended by what was said above, none of it was ad hominem or lies. Heck me and my friends and family say far worse things about America and we live here!

      Any american with half a brain would agree with all of those points. Frankly the part about america though that bothers me far more than any other is the endless chasing and fantasizinb of wealth.

      My fellow indigenous people used to pity the type of man who chased wealth his entire life and considered the endless hunger and greed for MORE MORE MORE a legitimate mental illness and i still feel that way today.

      People of New Zealand, when I become POTUS I can promise you that the first thing I’ll do is raise taxes on the wealthy up to 50% on all incomes and property taxes and make it harder for corporations to be bailed out either with taxpayer money or by declaring bankruptcy.

      I’d then cut military spending and end all foreign wars while offering reparations to the countries we effected to help them rebuild.

      With all the extra money I’d offer free housing for the homeless, universal healthcare and free education. I’d then make it easier to forgive debts between individuals and corporations and adopt the Kyoto protocols.

      Next order of business would be creating additional taxable incomes by laxing our immigration laws honoring the promise on the statue of liberty. Minimum wage would be increased to 15 dollars an hour, impose a 20x maximum wage law and expand labor rights to include 1 year off for parental leave and at least 2 months a year for vacation while finally and completely outlawing slavery, i.e. no more work without compensation including in our prison system and pardoning non violent offenders by the busload to lower overhead while creating more taxable incomes. Then I’d make attaining small business loans easier for the average joe and start enforcing strict anti-competition monopoly laws.

      Finally I’d encourage philanthropy by boosting tax breaks and engage with non profits to provide clean drinking water, vaccines, food and free WiFi to the entire planet. Then on my 8th and final year create a law that allows foreign countries to sue us if they can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we meddled in any fair and free elections discouraging any future presidents with puppet state ambitions.

      In other words; I’d make america the good guys again. So have your American friends vote for me in 2028 if I haven’t moved to Christchurch by then.

      P.S. I’ve never ever grabbed a woman by the p…y who didn’t want me to.

      • I Am an American kiwi and I voted for the Donald J Trump. Do you get us now? the voice of the US people displayed how much we value the freedoms in our CONSTITUTION. We are a republic and the people revolted against a liberal agenda. We don’t need government to infiltrateour our lives, at times unconstitutionally (Obama). We the people are awake, deliberate that we want capitalism and Trump is our messenger!

    • Thanks for the heads up. Sounds like a sizable number of KIWI’s fall into the category of the 47% of americans that voted for trump. I don’t like them either. If ever visiting New Zealand I would go for the beauty of the landscape anyway.

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