Subject:
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Re: Conversation w/ a LEGO Rep
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 25 Aug 1999 16:01:02 GMT
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Viewed:
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1924 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Jesse Long writes:
> > PS. Why don't Europeans like us? I've heard this before, but never
> > understood why.
>
> From what I understand, we don't spend enough money on our poor people. I
> have found that the more socialist a country is, the less they like
> Americans. And when asked why, it often comes down to our wealth
> redistribution policies and our Black/race problems. The anti-American
> sentiment is directly proportional to the overall tax rate in the given
> country, I think.
I've just seen some very strange answers to this question.
Jesse, I think what you've written comes closest to the truth. Eric Kingsley
was pretty close to the mark too.
Coming from the UK, I think that yes it is true that *in general* many
Europeans
don't think highly of Americans. Since I'm only an individual I can't really
speak for Europe as a whole but I'll try say what my impressions are. Bear
in mind in this that I'm going to have to make some generalizations, which
clearly don't apply to everyone.
It's to do with political culture. Bluntly, by seen from Europe and by European
standards, the American political culture looks incredibly selfish.
In Europe, when we see that people are poor or suffering due to a brutal
dictatorship or starving or having their human rights abused, our instinct
is to say 'how can we help? What can our Governments do to help?' People
here may sometimes complain that they'd like lower taxes but that's
always tempered with a recognition that we need to pay taxes in
order to pay for maintaining a reasonably fair and stable community.
We may use our cars lots but we generally recognise that something needs
to be done about the resultant environmental problems etc. We may not
like it when politicians cheat on their wives but we recognize that doesn't
really have any bearing on how good they are at their jobs.
What we see coming from America on the news is a constant stream of
'We don't want to pay for this' or 'this is none of our business'
or 'We don't want to help other countries'. Not only that, but we see reports
of kids being sentenced to death, of guns being everywhere because
Americans expect the right to have them. Of American churches distorting
the Christian message into a right wing propaganda tool. Of anti-gay
and anti-any-minority-group prejudice.
Perhaps some of that isn't really true, but all those images do add up to
create a very poor impression of Americans.
Now like I say I am generalizing. I also think it's really a political
thing. From Americans I've known personally I'd say that when it comes
to *personal* life, most of you are very caring people. Possibly
more so than people in the UK. But when it
comes to politics, it's different. I've seen debates here on lugnet, where
many Americans are saying about how they don't want to pay any taxes.
In the political culture in America, I guess that sounds reasonable. But
seen from a European perspective those postings just make you
look incredibly selfish.
That is IMO the reason why a lot of Europeans
have such a poor view of Americans. It's got nothing to do with
America's power or history, or the two World Wars, etc.
OK - so how many people have I offended? <grin>
Can I stress that for me personally there
are many things I admire about America, and many other things
I don't like. And just because I don't like what I see of the politics
in America doesn't stop me from regarding many of you
as good friends.
Perhaps someone should follow up with a 'What Americans think of
Europeans' thread....
Simon
http://www.SimonRobinson.com
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Message has 4 Replies:
 | | Re: Conversation w/ a LEGO Rep
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| (...) ^^^...^^^ (...) Being from Germany originally, I have to wholeheartedly agree that the European 'news' media generally strive to (and succeed at) creating a very poor impression of America. Besides intentional misinformation[1] and genuine (...) (25 years ago, 25-Aug-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Conversation w/ a LEGO Rep
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| Simon Robinson <simon@simonrobinson.com> wrote in message news:FH135q.M3B@lugnet.com... (...) (snip) (...) Yeah. Only when it's too late to nip the thing in the bud, then the rest of the world gets draged in kicking and screeming. (snip) (...) (...) (25 years ago, 25-Aug-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Conversation w/ a LEGO Rep
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| Adam Howard <abhoward10@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:FGzy1q.A59@lugnet.com... (...) I'm a Yankee. Although don't tell anyone, as I currently reside in Texas. Ever look at the productivity rates in Europe? Or the unemployment? I like it better (...) (25 years ago, 25-Aug-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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