The European View on all things American
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I apologize if someone already said this (9 pages is a bit much to check) but I like how Europe seems to have a tendency for "more sex, less violence" where as here in America it's the opposite. It's ok for kids to see people get shot up in pg-13 movies, but it's not ok if they see tits....wtf? I also don't like how everybody is obsessed with the military. (at least around Norfolk Virginia, the largest naval port in the world) Yes, we can extinguish all life on the planet 7 times over with the push of a button, doesn't make us better....
Yes, I'm serious. If you had just said "dancing" I would have been fine. However, "line-dancing," the stereotypical folksy activity of the less cultured American lower classes, fits in with Europe's aggressively protected preconceived notions about the US. Read [a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2201447/pagenum/all/#page_start"]this[/a] if you want another example.Chaz D said:
You're accusing me of having a cultural bias and belief that America is "backward" and "folksy" because I mock American football players because of the amount of time they spend literally dancing. Frankly, I think what you're saying is offensive to the modern line-dancer.SeaCalMaster said:
"Line dancing" or not, you're clearly reading far too much into someone's statements, without any clear evidence whatsoever of knowing a thing about my attitude towards America. Not only that, but you also tar the rest of Europe with the same brush.
Really, you can't be serious.
Australian of course o.oWeedWorm said:Well I never said that he was good or that he was bad, I just said how and why he became PM. All I know is that my as Irish as anyne can be, except Im not ginger but, hey, who would want to be?PaulH said:Well it was aimed at the argument that Churchill was good simply because opened aggressions with the Germans. Rather than just being seen as total dick and that was his one redeeming quality.WeedWorm said:Is that first part aimed at me or what?PaulH said:So ... by that logic ... us Australians can forgive Edmund Barton for introducing the 'White Australia' policy ... which purposely setup limits on how many Asian foreigners we're allowed into the country .... simply because he introduced the world's first Old Age pension, medical welfare, as well as the right for a worker to declare he only wants to work a 9 hour day .. as well as being one the first countries to allow women to vote?WeedWorm said:Yeah, Churchill was a prick, hence why he wasnt elected after the war. He got into power originally because he wanted to fight the Germans and not try to appease like like the PM before him, cant remember his name.PaulH said:Since when did Europe become this one country ...? And when the hell did Europe suddenly become a bastion of Liberal freedom and awesome that farts sunshine and rainbows?;
The way some people write on this forum you'd think that every single person within Europe all held hands and danced around a maypole in some collective celebration of the spirit of Humanity.
Europe (From Iberian Peninsula to the Kamchatka Peninsula ... yes yes I'm including Russia..) .... has born the greatest collection of arseholes ... the world has EVER .... EVER ... seen. And this isn't some Knee jerk poke at Hitler, Stalin or Mussolini ... it seems every new generation of Humanity there is an arsehole of arseholes being born in Europe ...
Collectively .... 'Europeans', as people like to group them, NEED a *good* sense of humour .... because one look at it's history would be enough to bring most people to tears ...
So I don't see why Europeans rip on 'Americans' (why is it people group Europeans together ... but never Group all nations within North and South America as 'Americans' ?) ... because I'd take having GWB by an arsehole power of 10 as a political leader before I would take an autocratic Churchill ....
As for "needing" a sense of homour, youd better be excluding Ireland. We got the short end of the stick in Europe but we're the best laugh to go drinking with.
Also, whats with Americans saying theyre from Ireland when theyve never even been here? Srsly, just because youre great-great-great-great grandad went over on one of the coffin ships, doesnt make you Irish. It doesnt even make you Irish American, it makes you American.
So we can forgive his blatant and open hatred of the Chinese because he did other things right? o.o; How does that argument even make sense ...? Sorry, upon re-reading this .. it may sound offensive .. I understand where you're coming from .. but I don't think's it's good enough to say a Political leader was beneficial if they were majorly flawed in one particular area, even if offset by the fact that they were good in others.
Anyways ... I believe it would be because many Irish were hated by the settled Americans upon arrival ... and so even if you were born in America, you'd still be seen as the son/grandson/greatgrandson of an Irish Immigrant during the Potato famine.
And that being the case .. if you cant be seen as an American ... nor if you aren't seen as an American by other americans ... then you can take pride in being an Irishman.. the proud .. the belittled ... the workmen of workmen that built many of the roads and slaved (toiled is perhaps a better word, but they were paid less than the African American workmen ...) in many mines.
Anyway, yeah, the Irish were probably hated when they first arrvied but that was hundreds of years ago. These days, I cant imagine anyone, well most people, giving a shit about what the natives think. And thats if they even meet one. They can take all the pride they want in being an Irish desendent, calling themselves that would be grand, but calling themselves Irish, as if theyre born and bred, here is just annoying.
I don't know ... I think its purely a matter of pride. I agree with you though, I'm half British pastoralist ancestry ... like 6th generation or some crap like one ancestor on my father's side paid for a ticket to start up a farm near the colony at Botany Bay.
And like you say however, I wouldnt call myself British, or British-Australian .... and my mum is Filo but I don't consider myself Filo either <.<;
"Different folks different strokes" - I guess?
What would you call yourself? Australian? Just out of curiousity.
That's Capitalism for you ... its not America's fault for wanting cheap labour ... it's perhaps the nations that allow it to happen?Zeke the Freak said:
And I HATE pepsi ... 'Rock n' Roll Cola Wars' generation here *moshes*
And Rugby requires more concentration thatn you think, in Gridiron your players can run around in confusing little circles and pass to absolutely anybody on the freaking field.
Not only that, but Gridiron players wear five times as much body armour as I do on my motorbike .... gridiron players to me are like hyperactive children who wear kevlar because their parents are psychotic in their paranoia
Well if that was the case, why did Nazi soldiers prefer the Russian PPSh-41 as opposed to their own issue weapons?Zeke the Freak said:
And as for the tank = God case .... why didn't it work at Tobruk? Tobruk was the perfect terrain for tanks, and yet Rommel still failed to defeat a much smaller initial Australian defense force with no tanks, very little artillery .. and an average of 30 bullets per man.
Tanks = useless ... because once you remove their ability to move (i.e damaging their treads or blowing up fuel and ammo dumps) they become about as dangerous as an improperly refrigerated egg salad sandwich.
Not only that, but tanks are useless without infantry to cover the delivery of logistics TO the tanks themselves in a warzone ... so the tanks themselves become only as strong as the infantry protecting them ...
Tanks are useless IF ONLY for the fact that they do not have the multifaceted strength of infantry, nor the destructive power of Aircraft. Yet requiring much better conditions to operate effectively than both.
Thats why modern military organizations around the world prefer the use of APCs as opposed to tanks ... High-speed maneuverability and diverse 'combined arms' tactics against the old belief of the 'Armoured Fist' approach to warfare.
Precisely, Russians started making some better guns basically <.<scumofsociety said:Ammo capacity and ability to fire from a prone position more easily than the MP40PaulH said:
Very much so indeed. Back tot he subject at hand.scumofsociety said:
I think it's a good social window looking at how the arguments are flaring up across this thread! Mostly it's all down to someone from Europe saying that America is full of wimps or w/e and then some American saying that Europe is full of gays......or whatever......
The fact of the matter is that what it comes down to is patriotism. Now, we all know America is full to the eye balls with the stuff, and it's not a bad thing either! I respect anyone who loves their country so much they have to slate every one country for not being them. Now, before you get all riled up, bare in mind that England does the exact same thing. Take any standard issue CS game. As soon as their is an American and a Brit with the headset and something annoys one of them its a matter of seconds before the dirt throwing contest kicks off. Usually with a small comment, but before long we hit full blown international affairs!!
Ok, so maybe international affairs is a bit strong, but it might as well be.
On the subject matter, I have respect for American football, shit, I play it for my university!! And, of course, I understand that it's a rough tackle with no "real" set rules, other than face masks and whatnot. I've taken some beastly hits before now that just wouldn't happen in rugby.
HOWEVER!!! Has anyone see Australian rules american football? Now that's a real hard nut game. As far as I know it's like normal American football, but without the pads....
Correct me if I'm wrong though =]
Basketball way superior.
Oh and though America is built on liberty and freedom the people somehow get screwed over by their own government who constantly keeps funneling their HARD EARNED money to buy more guns instead of funding a system INSIDE the country that actually benefits people in everday life, those people being the tax payer.
It´s a well known governmental factor in history and it´s called socialising the cost, and keeping the profit (which is not socialised, eg distributed to the institutions in society that should be in the peoples interests, schools, healthcare, etc) Main part is that the tax payer cache is not working for the tax payer themselves. As a consequence u.s has a very low voting base. And people turn to analyze sports and other culturual offerings instead of keeping up with politics and decisions that a priori "doensn´t concern them".
Oh and the goverment work in tandem (and are a part of big corporations) that has a "personal interest" in undermining job security and worsen the condition for alot of people that in the end translates to profit in their pockets. Managerial elites spend alot time thinking about this. Again a very common theme in western culture and a part of a very elaborate and thought out system of control in industrial times.
Of course our European elites sees this system and deliberate policy making [inside governmental institutions] as an role model and the Old world used to be run on roughly the same premisses but U.S is undoubtly taking it to another level. Rome is of course an hessian precursor with "divide et impere"
Don´t get me started on international policies and politics.
Apart from that U.S is grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat.
Oh and though America is built on liberty and freedom the people somehow get screwed over by their own government who constantly keeps funneling their HARD EARNED money to buy more guns instead of funding a system INSIDE the country that actually benefits people in everday life, those people being the tax payer.
It´s a well known governmental factor in history and it´s called socialising the cost, and keeping the profit (which is not socialised, eg distributed to the institutions in society that should be in the peoples interests, schools, healthcare, etc) Main part is that the tax payer cache is not working for the tax payer themselves. As a consequence u.s has a very low voting base. And people turn to analyze sports and other culturual offerings instead of keeping up with politics and decisions that a priori "doensn´t concern them".
Oh and the goverment work in tandem (and are a part of big corporations) that has a "personal interest" in undermining job security and worsen the condition for alot of people that in the end translates to profit in their pockets. Managerial elites spend alot time thinking about this. Again a very common theme in western culture and a part of a very elaborate and thought out system of control in industrial times.
Of course our European elites sees this system and deliberate policy making [inside governmental institutions] as an role model and the Old world used to be run on roughly the same premisses but U.S is undoubtly taking it to another level. Rome is of course an hessian precursor with "divide et impere"
Don´t get me started on international policies and politics.
Apart from that U.S is grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat.
What does the rest of the world think of Rocky? How about Rocky 2? Rocky 3? Rocky 4? Rocky 5? Rocky 6?
How about Rambo? Rambo 2? Rambo 3? Rambo 4? The upcoming Rambo 5?
How about Rambo? Rambo 2? Rambo 3? Rambo 4? The upcoming Rambo 5?
Well, Im from Finland(Northern Europe) and I have pretty stereotypic view on Americans(they're idiots, etc.) but I like American movies, series and games. Only few british series is worth watching but the ones which are watchable are excellent(like TopGear). In Finland we study British Englinsh in schools(but American English is allowed) but still I think BrE sounds funny and weird.
So I think Americans make better stuff than Brits but Americans are stupid in so many ways. For one example; the gun policy. In my opinion everything is wrong with it. Or maybe it's just the people?
So I think Americans make better stuff than Brits but Americans are stupid in so many ways. For one example; the gun policy. In my opinion everything is wrong with it. Or maybe it's just the people?
Okay, let's try and assume for a second that there is a reason for Europeans and Americans being different.
It could easily have something to do with the fact that American culture is a lot younger than European culture, this would be the first place chronologically where American culture deviates from it's European counterpart. Next up we have the fact that the United States of America is a Big Ass country compared to every single European country. So I we're going to compare the United States and Europe, we have to count all of Europe as one entity.
As a European who has been to most of Europe as well as a couple of the States, I'd have to say that the first thing I noticed was the hospitality which was great... at least in new Hampshire where I was staying. The next day at breakfast I did kinda wonder at the lack of anything healthy on the table... except maybe the blueberries in the blueberry muffins. And this was even in New Hampshire where I hear that the whole obesity problem isn't nearly as bad as the rest of the country. After breakfast I went to the local High-school to spend the day learning about the education in the United States. The first thing I noticed was the daily pledging of allegiance often followed by the National Anthem, do I smell brainwashing? Also, what was being taught in most of the classes was at about the same level as what we in Denmark learn in 7th and 8th grade, the classes I was at in America were junior year high school classes. I did really like that they had a whole class for creative writing though, we have nothing like that in Denmark.
The next shocker came around lunchtime when I discovered that the school cafeteria actually ordered pizza from Domino's to sell to the students. The pizza's came in two flavours, cheese and pepperoni, and just plain cheese. Alright, I'm not being entirely fair here, they did also have plastic cups with not quite so green salad.
After the end of the school day I decided to walk the 0.8 or so miles from the school to the home of the family I was staying with, and cars kept pulling over with people asking me if I needed a ride and looking at me like I might just be clinically insane for walking in the side of the road. One of the days there was even this big discussion at the breakfast table about whether one of the kids in he family needed to be driven to school with his bike on the back of the car, or if he could just ride his bike to school since he was going mountain biking for phys-ed that day anyway. In the end he actually talked his mom into driving him to school with the bike on tow. Keep in mind that the distance is still 0.8 miles, and that this is still New Hampshire.
There were many things I like about the U.S.A. however, it's a great place for shopping for one thing, I was absolutely baffled by the size of the stores and malls there. I also really liked the country faire I got to go to while I was there. And the fat free milk I tried there tasted a lot better than the fat free milk in Denmark... and it comes in one gallon jugs!
It could easily have something to do with the fact that American culture is a lot younger than European culture, this would be the first place chronologically where American culture deviates from it's European counterpart. Next up we have the fact that the United States of America is a Big Ass country compared to every single European country. So I we're going to compare the United States and Europe, we have to count all of Europe as one entity.
As a European who has been to most of Europe as well as a couple of the States, I'd have to say that the first thing I noticed was the hospitality which was great... at least in new Hampshire where I was staying. The next day at breakfast I did kinda wonder at the lack of anything healthy on the table... except maybe the blueberries in the blueberry muffins. And this was even in New Hampshire where I hear that the whole obesity problem isn't nearly as bad as the rest of the country. After breakfast I went to the local High-school to spend the day learning about the education in the United States. The first thing I noticed was the daily pledging of allegiance often followed by the National Anthem, do I smell brainwashing? Also, what was being taught in most of the classes was at about the same level as what we in Denmark learn in 7th and 8th grade, the classes I was at in America were junior year high school classes. I did really like that they had a whole class for creative writing though, we have nothing like that in Denmark.
The next shocker came around lunchtime when I discovered that the school cafeteria actually ordered pizza from Domino's to sell to the students. The pizza's came in two flavours, cheese and pepperoni, and just plain cheese. Alright, I'm not being entirely fair here, they did also have plastic cups with not quite so green salad.
After the end of the school day I decided to walk the 0.8 or so miles from the school to the home of the family I was staying with, and cars kept pulling over with people asking me if I needed a ride and looking at me like I might just be clinically insane for walking in the side of the road. One of the days there was even this big discussion at the breakfast table about whether one of the kids in he family needed to be driven to school with his bike on the back of the car, or if he could just ride his bike to school since he was going mountain biking for phys-ed that day anyway. In the end he actually talked his mom into driving him to school with the bike on tow. Keep in mind that the distance is still 0.8 miles, and that this is still New Hampshire.
There were many things I like about the U.S.A. however, it's a great place for shopping for one thing, I was absolutely baffled by the size of the stores and malls there. I also really liked the country faire I got to go to while I was there. And the fat free milk I tried there tasted a lot better than the fat free milk in Denmark... and it comes in one gallon jugs!
