Do Eurpoeans Look up to America

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dr150

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2003
6,570
24
81
To many Europeans, America is a cultral wasteland and not a place to be envied.

You have to mindful of the fact that Europe has thousands of years of head start with the culture.

The USA is an EXTREMELY YOUNG country in comparison.

Regardless of its youth, it has accomplished an enormous amount.

Many would argue that it has given more practical progress (i.e. science, technology, etc) to humanity than any region in the world in the history of humanity...
 

mammador

Platinum Member
Dec 9, 2010
2,120
1
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Are you out of your mind? What is there to admire about the Brits beside their awesome accent? Why would you want to move to London? They don't have any personal freedoms, they get taxed up their arse, they have carpet in restrooms ffs (do they sit to take a piss?), oh and their water tap cannot be mixed between hot and cold.

The UK is a backward country. Well, being French, hating on them is almost a passion :)

Is gun ownership widespread everywhere in the US? Or is this the only area where the USA has more freedom than in Europe?
 

mammador

Platinum Member
Dec 9, 2010
2,120
1
76
You have to mindful of the fact that Europe has thousands of years of head start with the culture.

The USA is an EXTREMELY YOUNG country in comparison.

Regardless of its youth, it has accomplished an enormous amount.

Many would argue that it has given more practical progress (i.e. science, technology, etc) to humanity than any region in the world in the history of humanity...

So ICT is the entirety of all scientific knowledge in the history of man? :D Surely that's the US' only true scientific contribution, right? That said, much of our modern day science has ultimate roots in 18th and 19th centuries, when the US was just a small and globally insignificant country at the time.
 
Sep 12, 2004
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The US was primarily founded by Europeans who were smart enough and motivated enough to shake off the stifling prescriptions of their day in their own countries and decided to leave. That's why we eventually exceeded those same Europeans in so many ways and the EU is still struggling to keep pace while relying on their "cultural heritage" as their trump card. Honestly, as far as cultural heritage is concerned, American Indians have much more than Europeans do. No need to tell the Euros that though and totally deflate them. It's one of the few things they can still wave about to maintain a semblence of superiority when it's clear they have a massive inferiority complex.

:awe:
 

davmat787

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2010
5,512
24
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To put it into even more perspective, Texas is almost twice as Germany.

Also, Seattle to Miami is over 2700 miles, London to Athens is 1500 miles. The USA is geographically larger than a lot of people realize I think, especially those that have not been outside the US.
 

davmat787

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2010
5,512
24
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Is gun ownership widespread everywhere in the US? Or is this the only area where the USA has more freedom than in Europe?

You might want to read up on the recent squatter problem in London and self defense concerns some have in London.
 

deanx0r

Senior member
Oct 1, 2002
890
20
76
Not only that, but the English have the reputation of fucking around with personal freedoms. Look at at what they did to the Gaels or the Irish under the penal laws. From the moment the English took their right to bear arms for the greater good of public safety, they started to strip away so many freedoms to the point where US slaves 'enjoyed' more freedoms than the Irish.

You might want to read up on the recent squatter problem in London and self defense concerns some have in London.
 

Imdmn04

Platinum Member
Jan 28, 2002
2,566
6
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I am European, and I see the US as no better than us politically or socially.

The US is not freer nor drastically wealthier than Europe is.

United States has a higher standards of living not because we make more (on the contrary, we make less than many European countries), but because things are MUCH MUCH cheaper in U.S.

Try to buy 2200Sq Ft (about 200sq meter) house in Europe and see how much that costs. A house with enough space in the backyard for a swing will be almost unobtainable by the middle class over there. Cars usually cost 30%-100% more in Europe, even for European brands like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, anything that is bigger than a 2.0L engine would be taxed the hell out of. Gas costs 100% more. Food/clothing/basic living necessities are all cheaper here, as are taxes. I do admit that our health care suck, so it is better to grow old and die in Europe than America.

Yes, a lot of the typical American lifestyle are seemingly excessive (V8 SUVs, McMansions), but you can't deny the awesome purchasing power and the vast amount of usable land we have.
 

Blitzvogel

Platinum Member
Oct 17, 2010
2,012
23
81
United States has a higher standards of living not because we make more (on the contrary, we make less than many European countries), but because things are MUCH MUCH cheaper in U.S.

Try to buy 2200Sq Ft (about 200sq meter) house in Europe and see how much that costs. A house with enough space in the backyard for a swing will be almost unobtainable by the middle class over there. Cars usually cost 30%-100% more in Europe, even for European brands like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, anything that is bigger than a 2.0L engine would be taxed the hell out of. Gas costs 100% more. Food/clothing/basic living necessities are all cheaper here, as are taxes. I do admit that our health care suck, so it is better to grow old and die in Europe than America.

Yes, a lot of the typical American lifestyle are seemingly excessive (V8 SUVs, McMansions), but you can't deny the awesome purchasing power and the vast amount of usable land we have.

And how many poorer countries rich American business execs exploit to make those cheap products possible. The purchasing power of the American consumer is kind of sickening I think, in fact shameful. It seems so many people have this foolish idea that they deserve these things, just because they have the money (and so many of us are in such deep debt or financial hell). If it ever comes crashing down, I'm not going to fret, I'm just going to laugh.
 

Herr Kutz

Platinum Member
Jun 14, 2009
2,545
242
106
United States has a higher standards of living not because we make more (on the contrary, we make less than many European countries), but because things are MUCH MUCH cheaper in U.S.

Try to buy 2200Sq Ft (about 200sq meter) house in Europe and see how much that costs. A house with enough space in the backyard for a swing will be almost unobtainable by the middle class over there. Cars usually cost 30%-100% more in Europe, even for European brands like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, anything that is bigger than a 2.0L engine would be taxed the hell out of. Gas costs 100% more. Food/clothing/basic living necessities are all cheaper here, as are taxes. I do admit that our health care suck, so it is better to grow old and die in Europe than America.

Yes, a lot of the typical American lifestyle are seemingly excessive (V8 SUVs, McMansions), but you can't deny the awesome purchasing power and the vast amount of usable land we have.

In Europe, they prefer luxuries to be limited to few rather than to all. The peasants over there are brainwashed to think what they have is normal and what Americans have is overkill, and thus immoral.
 

magomago

Lifer
Sep 28, 2002
10,973
14
76
A lot of Europeans respect the hell out of America. Well, the educated and traveled ones do. Kind of like how the educated and traveled Americans realize the awesome and respectable values of Europe.

Or anywhere else.

I was over there before, during, and the several months following 9-11. there was a shit-ton of pro-USA love everywhere I went. it all went downhill fast though, the longer Bush stayed in office. Those were probably some of the darkest days for American-based sentiment in Europe, but things are changing again.

Are you suggesting that people who are educated and traveled can appreciate and respect other cultures D:

Haha although I would emphasize that both aspects (educated and travelled) are needed. Educated within the sense that they can think for themselves even if you don't agree with them and traveled in that they have been around to other places to realize that every culture has lots of redeeming factors, and their travels aren't spent in resorts or hotels the whole time.
 

Lobo56

Member
Apr 7, 2011
35
0
0
An interesting statistic for the Americans here:

Less than 5% of the worlds population lives in the United States.

That means over 95% of the worlds population is not an American.

When you consider those numbers, it is amazing how gigantic an influence the states has on our world politics.

I've visited 22 different states in the US. Yes I loved my trip there and found the people to be very friendly.

The problem is however, and I don't mean this to offend, but a large amount of Americans are totally ignorant about the rest of the world, YET have their media telling them that a certain country is bad and should be invaded. So you vote for leaders who say they will invade, and because you guys have so much global power you do just that.

While in Alabama a women asked me where I was from (She heard my accent). When I said Australia, she replied with "What state is that in?"

You would HOPE that she was just a complete idiot and not representative of the general american population..... However a few of our Kiwi friends had to explain that New Zearland was a real country and not some state of Australia.

Like I said, almost everyone was lovely and friendly, but I would bet $50 if the US government wanted to invade Australia, it wouldn't take much to convince the people that we were 'evil doers' and wanting to harm America.


Having said that, Australian Bogans (our rednecks) are pretty ignorant and stupid as well.
And America has acomplished many great things.

Just end Fox news, leave Iraq/Afghanistan, kill that dumbass Sarah Palin, blow up the Westboro baptist church, don't export episodes of Jerry Springer and tell Oprah to pay for her own damn holiday and we will all love America again :) (Oh and perhaps tone down the Christianity a little?)
 

TechAZ

Golden Member
Sep 8, 2007
1,188
0
71
An interesting statistic for the Americans here:

Less than 5% of the worlds population lives in the United States.

That means over 95% of the worlds population is not an American.

When you consider those numbers, it is amazing how gigantic an influence the states has on our world politics.

I've visited 22 different states in the US. Yes I loved my trip there and found the people to be very friendly.

The problem is however, and I don't mean this to offend, but a large amount of Americans are totally ignorant about the rest of the world, YET have their media telling them that a certain country is bad and should be invaded. So you vote for leaders who say they will invade, and because you guys have so much global power you do just that.

While in Alabama a women asked me where I was from (She heard my accent). When I said Australia, she replied with "What state is that in?"

You would HOPE that she was just a complete idiot and not representative of the general american population..... However a few of our Kiwi friends had to explain that New Zearland was a real country and not some state of Australia.

Like I said, almost everyone was lovely and friendly, but I would bet $50 if the US government wanted to invade Australia, it wouldn't take much to convince the people that we were 'evil doers' and wanting to harm America.


Having said that, Australian Bogans (our rednecks) are pretty ignorant and stupid as well.
And America has acomplished many great things.

Just end Fox news, leave Iraq/Afghanistan, kill that dumbass Sarah Palin, blow up the Westboro baptist church, don't export episodes of Jerry Springer and tell Oprah to pay for her own damn holiday and we will all love America again :) (Oh and perhaps tone down the Christianity a little?)

Who has ever gotten votes for saying they will invade a country? No offense, but I sense that your opinions on the US are based more on the internet than your actual experiences.

There are a lot of retards in the US, a LOT. I have seen a LOT of retards from other countries as well.

If the US retreated from the world stage, the world would be worse off. Why? Because the world needs us. Our allies need our military, they need our money, they need us.

P.S. I would love to visit Australia