by free2beme 38 Replies latest jw friends
THE REASONS WHY EUROPE DOESNT LIKE THE AMERICANS
The Spanish - Because they'd like the Caribbean back
Um fifi40 I'd just like to point out that the Caribbean is British Commonwealth , head of state is the Queen, policed by British police and they play Cricket!
It is simple genetics.
Many of those migrating to America did so so they would be free to practice religion as they saw fit.
At the time, this was often due to real persecution.
But the psychological profile of those people was the way it was in part due to genes.
America has got far more reactionary/isolationist/group-think genes in its pool as a consequence, as those migrating were far more likely to have such genes than those who stayed at home.
Europe changed. America changed less due to the concentration of certain genes.
Now in some ways the US is still in the 1950's. People in Europe still went to church back then...
( this is just fun :-) ?
I think you're all talking apples vs oranges. Europe and America are both big places with lots of people. I live in Seattle. The difference between Seattle and say Spokane is probably as big (or bigger) than the differences between Seattle and Paris. A New Yorker is not a Texan. And a Spaniard isn't a Pole or a Swede (OK technically or at least geographically Sweden isn't even part of Europe - which I suspect a lot of people don't know).
From what I know an American liberal is likely a moderate in Europe, and what we'd call a conservative doesn't even exist there.
Mia B - I was referring to the spanish-american war in 1898 in which America took back control of former Spanish colonies, such as Cuba and Puerto Rico, and it was all meant as a little humour in an all to serious world.
"technically or at least geographically Sweden isn't even part of Europe"
I beg your pardon?
The bit about Sweden not being part of Europe confuses me too...
... of course, Norway isn't on the map on the Euro coins and notes; this means Sweden and Finland look like a side view of schlong and ball-sack, LOL.
Is it true that in Northern Holland folks there are big and somewhat shy and conservative? My father comes from Siberkarspel. I think it's in Ackerlands near Freisland. Is this a Genetic predipositiopn? It seems rather strange considering how liberal Holland is in so many ways. Everyone is his family are freakin huge too.
The Cloggies as a group are the 2nd tallest in the world at 6ft for young males (1.83m), only an inch behind a population group in the foimer Yugoslavia.
And don't think the Dutch are Liberal; they aren't as a whole. As a whole they are tolerent; just because pot isn't treated as a crime and prostitution is legal doesn't mean they are all pot smoking whore users, but they support the right of those who want to do stuff like that to do stuff like that.
It is more pragmatism than liberalism; it will happen anyway, let it happen under some controls (like pot and prostitution) rather than none (when such things are criminal).
I think that Europeans in general are indeed more liberal than Americans, and I think that at least part of that does come from the world wars. Not just from the number of people that died, but also because of the amount of devastation inflicted on infrastructure. Because of American geographical isolation, We've never really had to deal with the aftermath of war. Oh sure, there was the War of 1812 when Washington was burned, and there was the attack on Pearl Harbor, but comparitively speaking we've been unscathed. That leads to an attitude of there being very little risk involved in diplomatic policy, whether it be just throwing our weight around, annoying other nations with our policies, or actually going to war.
There's an acronym used in the US; NIMBY...it means Not In My Backyard. Don't know if Europeans use that or have a similar one. It's usually used when speaking of things that might be needed, but nobody wants them around. Like a new sewage processing center, a city dump, a jail, whatever. Lots of people may agree that such a thing is needed, but nobody wants it built in their hometown or neighborhood. Well similarly, foreign policy politics and war have never been in America's 'backyard'. I think that American attitudes might be a little different if they were.
Many posters stated that Americans feel superior, or are in 'their own world'. I think this can be related to geography as well. We only have 2 neighbors, Canada and Mexico, while the typical European country has 3 or 4 bordering countries, in many cases those borders can be reached in a matter of hours, while in the US reaching a border can take an average person days. From what I understand from speaking to a few friends I have on the net from Germany, Denmark, and the UK, it is also not so rare to have a relative in your family from a different country than yourself, just a few miles away. In my opinion, this leads to more of a feeling of community and comradery across borders than what exists in the US.
Regrettably, I also have to admit that many Americans are just plain stupid...I tried to have a conversation at work once with someone about politics, and had to explain to them who Chirac was in the course of the conversation. *sigh* Even though I consider myself somewhat above average, I only speak a smattering of 2 other languages other than English; Japanese and Spanish. But my Danish friend is fluent in 4, and can get along in 2-3 others passably well. Again, I feel geography has a role in this. Most Canadians speak English (despite their English vs French political schism in recent years), and many Americans look down on Mexicans as just a potential source of illegal immigrants, so nobody much cares about learning other languages in the US.
