Greece as the Least Successful European Country
Captain Sasha June 9th, 2010
“I think all the resentment towards the US has to do with an inferiority complex. This is only heightened by the fact that US popular culture is enormously popular…
The countries in Europe, that are the most anti-American are Greece and Turkey (if you consider Turkey European). No surprise that they are the least successful among European countries. Eastern Europe (at least some countries like the Czech Republic and Poland) is spared from the anti-American tinge…”
- Excerpts from a comment in a blog run by American nationalists.
What surprised me about this was not the inaccuracy of this statement, but the authoritativeness with which it was made. The writer, who goes under pseudonums ‘JM’ and ‘itinerantsoul’ poses as a “well travelled, multi-lingual expert” on Europe. Summing it up, he was saying that the Greek resentment of the US stems from an inferiority complex because they are apparently the least successful among European countries. I could have expected this from a 15 year old whose exposure to the world is Fox News, but a liberal adult American coming up with such tripe?!
Greece: A 4000 year old cultural legacy.
Let us see if Greece is indeed the least successful among European countries. We’ll consider the economy first, the most important parameter of success by Americans. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports of 2009, Greece has a per capita GDP of US $ 29,635, which is almost three times that of Poland ($11,288) and 12 times richer than the poorest country in Europe, Georgia ($2,448). Of the 44 countries in Europe proper, Greece has the 17th highest per capita GDP, which hardly qualifies it as the “least successful” in Europe if economic indicators are taken into account. Surprisingly enough, the Greeks don’t resent the richest countries of Europe like Switzerland or Norway, which should have given it a bigger inferiority complex than the US. I wonder what Mr. JM aka itinerantsoul meant when he talked of Greece as being the “least successful”. Perhaps he referred to culture…
Well then, lets talk culture. When we look at it, no other culture has been more influental in shaping the present day world than the Greek culture. From the words of the English language to mega-sporting events like Olympics, Greek influence is omnipresent. The Greek culture is the most constructive influence in the present day world, including but not limited to - philosophical thinking, scientific method, democracy, sexual pragmatism and medical ethics.
On the other hand, the scope and influence of American pop culture has been rather narrow, limited only to those countries that are allied to and maintain close ties with the United States. Even then, it has not been a good influence. American pop-culture, especially music and movies glorify sexual promiscuity, drug use, wanton violence and sociopathic behaviours. The McDonald’s inspired fast food culture has been responsible for high obesity rates in its closest allies - the United Kingdom and Australia. In fact, the obesity rates of traditionally slim countries like Poland and Czech Republic have shown a dramatic growth, following their open-armed adoption of the US culture since the late 90s.
So now that JM’s presumptions of a “least successful” Greece falls flat on its face, what are the actual reasons that some Greeks dislike the United States? The actual issues are US support of Turkey during Greco-Turkish conflicts, the US led military junta that ruled Greece between 1967 to 1974 and more recently, a general European opposition to the invasion of Iraq (More discussions on that later). Not some pop-psychology “inferiority complex” rubbish by a jingoist who can’t come to terms that foreigners might have a genuine reason to dislike his country. With ignorance sprouted with such authority, no wonder Americans get the reputation of being stupid.
P.S.: Please note the the statement on Greece being the “least successful country” was made by JM in 2008 and hence, has no reference to the debt crisis of 2010. In any case, the debt crisis of 2010 is a good example of why the Greeks have a good reason to oppose the American economic and political models.
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