[QUOTE=FunkyDexter;4001929 Almost every American I've ever met has been an educated, erudite and thoroughly pleaseant. [/QUOTE]

That big puddle between you and us does act as a marvelous filter.

However, most PEOPLE are generally nice and usually treat each other nicely...at least to begin with. Continued contact with any person will tend to expose the diffences which exist between any two people. Whether those differences can be ignored, or cause opposition, depends on lots of factors.

That only holds true for individuals. Groups work with dynamics that can be instantly repelant.