US citizens may be less smug and self-righteous but more bound to be convinced of the superiority of their country. I met someone here at my University and after a discussion with her about the US being the most important country in the world, something which I vehemently refused to accept she wouldn't talk to me again, and even if I could have been less confrontational (as I tend to be now) I find that attitude worrying.

The US culture is self-referential in that whenever an analogy is drawn or a role model is mentioned, or some public figure is epitomized for something the US media will use a US reference. References to classic culture or international figures could be used but aren't.

MangoMan, meat is always rotting unless it's frozen, that's why refrigerated meats at the supermarkets have those "sell by" dates. Sorry that your international travel failed to show you the positive aspects of other countries, or maybe you're just ignoring them?

BTW, I can say I'm an American, see we have this little cultural thingie in Latin America where we use the word America to refer to the whole continent, what the US calls "The Americas." In case you haven't noticed I avoid saying American to refer to the US only.;) If you ever see the word "estadunidense" in Spanish language media feel free to read or hear it as "american" if you want, that's the one word we typically use, but you do hear some people saying "americano" instead.
Not that I think there's something wrong or arrogant with saying American for the USA only, just noting that it isn't a custom everywhere in the world.

After all, I'm an American, how can I be unfriendly towards Americans?