Comments on: Europe vs America - Culture

By: robert helmis

robert helmis — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:08:55 +0000

My father is from Europe. I grew up in America. I have traveled to 24 countries and have seen half the countries in Europe over the course of several trips. It’s true that Americans eat like pigs. Our food is so much better and most of the food in Europe is plain with less complexity and flavor. Greece is an exception, they have the best food anywhere. I agree that American are more loud in public. We are more enthused and excited about our world. Our percepion of things are more enlightened and we are more free when it comes to our behaviour. Europeans are more conditioned to behave a certain way and dress less casual because they are far less secure in the way they appear to others. While in most countries in Europe I noticed that people appear and are dressed respectively they are not social as we are. You cannot have a casual conversation with someone in a train easily in Europe but in the U.S.A. people are much more friendly. I agree that there are many uneducated people in America. There is a huge labor market and many jobs which don’t require a highly educated population. We have allot more going on and have the largest economy in the world and these people live quite well on their labor salary. Entertainment, fun and quality of life is what most of Americans are concentrated on. Theres also many highly educated people. Not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer. Knock America if it pleases you but I think we are doing much better than most Europeans, have much more fun and eat much better food than Europe.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:12:17 +0000

Excellent article. Americans are tired and grey. Working till you die and nothing to show for all that hard work, work, work. Very few benefits, no health insurance, no pension, yet they still work, work, work. Clueless, most do not even have a passporte, and those that do, many do not use that pass porte. Good riddance.

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:41:12 +0000

I would agree with you on a lot. Except there are some towns and areas that buck this trend. Ann Arbor for example where I live is very educated, has a laid back attitude on marajuana (its not uncommon for people to just light up outside in plain view and the police don’t care), and alcohol, and the best part is less than 1/4th of the population is Christian and for the most part those that are are liberal, so you will rarely if ever see anything having to do with religion other than a church and there are not that many here. Health food stores are popular and its rare that you see anyone overweight, and people here for the most part hate materialists. Plus there is art gallories, museums, coffee shops, concerts, poetry readings, theater and this town sells the most book per capita in the USA.

Not all of America fits your stereotype but too much of it does, thats why I will never live outside a “progressive liberal” area Oh and people like AJ are part of the problem.
Peace

By: Aj

Aj — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 06:13:47 +0000

Are you motherfucking kidding with this stupid bullshit article?. First of all, you are an ignorant fool. Secondly, you are a very poor writerand need lessons.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:01:48 +0000

i haven’t read all comments, but I wanted to ask you lot, why the americans first learn to drive (with 16) and then are allowed to drink alcohol(21). I’m 18 and live in Switzerland and we are allowed to drink with 16 and drive with 18…(in EU, to buy the alcohole you have to be 18) I was just wondering, what they were thinking, as they set that law. In EU they start at least at the same age, but 3 years…… Before I start driving, I have to know how much alcohol I’m allowed to drink, that I still can drive the car. And what’s with the lawyers and laws?? How do you manage, to put your dog into the microwave till it dies, and even get money for it, because there’s no sing on the microwave that says “don’t put you dog into the microwave, it could die”. What is wrong with the americans… ?!? I hope someone can explain that to me, because i get very enoyed about the american stupidity

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 07:39:11 +0000

Nothing can be of negative presence in the world than the US, with a little exception to Nuclear Bomb and other weapon of mass destruction. McDonald came from your proud American culture and most of the world’s unhealthiness came from Americans way of unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. I guess Americans are bored with no work during the summer because they do not know how to work for charities without monthly pay, I can think of thousands of things i could do during my summer, IF I have the time. Spending time reading about Asia-Pacific is a good thing, but it would be better if you choose a president that do not wish to mess with other nations problem while you still have your healthcare problem to take care of. Some of the Americans Teachers I met here just came to thorw bibles at our students and praise our King whom you read about only on WIKIPEDIA, my King has more than that!
And yes I have met many nice Americans and I have plenty of friends in the US and they all understand that the US requires many excellent president and a new era of minding their own business.

By: John Galt

John Galt — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:28:19 +0000

Yes, I do believe Americans work far more than many other people of differing nationalities, but is the really such a bad thing? At least, every summer vacation I am extremely bored, with no work.

Anyway, Americans are just as capable of sitting down to a nice dinner as Europeans and Europeans are just as capable to eating unhealthily as Americans. Thanks for stereotyping, though.

And I wish people would stop calling most Americans xenophobic. I’m just one example of many, but half my free time is spent on BBC’s Asia-Pacific tab or on TSR. Yes, we do seem to send our most culturally insensitive people out into the world, and when I figure out how to stop that I’ll let you now, but trust me, most Americans are intelligent, thoughtful, and caring people.

I love my country and I really do believe we are a positive presence in the world.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:40:51 +0000

Hello,

I enjoyed reading this article quite a bit.
I am young- still a teenager and I live in America. When I attend college I plan on study anthropology, for the very reason I was reading this article (was that comma unnecessary?). I see the beauty in every culture; each day I find myself appreciating it all.

There are flaws in every society and culture, but it’s not about that. It’s about how you personally choose to live. I want to get an education to become a journalist, or just seriously delve into anthropology. Through my years of studying each culture and opening opportunities where I need, I’ll be capable of, hopefully, finding a way to become a citizen where I choose. I do take pride in America, but I am not too arrogant to ignore the fact that another country may provide me with a better lifestyle.

I adore learning about my country and others. I can’t wait to some day visit Europe (I am going to Greece & Italy next summer myself); if I immerse myself well enough, I may find that, for what I want to get out of in life, Europe is where I need to be.

Until then, thanks for sharing a viable view on each…culture.

By the way, I must agree- to an extent, Americans DO work to live. It’s busy, busy, busy, and loads of parents around me sighing: “I can’t do that because of my job, sweetheart”. Even my home is high stress due to work, which is saddening. I would bet that in most of Europe, the conversations do not illustrate how your job is thriving or how much money you’re making, but that is not the case in the US. Many conversations here do revolve around such topics. I don’t know if it is because we feel the need to share the stress, or if it is lack of social skills. Maybe through all the work it’s been building our country to where it’s established, we’ve forgotten the traditional European family/home lifestyle…

I’m glad I’ve got God in my heart, because he is surely having fun leading me through the chaos of the world. I love it.

By: Mikayla

Mikayla — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:50:41 +0000

Interesting article. I’d heard that European attitudes toward work and career were more laid back than those of the typical American. One of the execs in my company mentioned that the IT dev center in which I work is very likely to stay in the US rather than moving to Europe (though the bulk of work we do will be for Europe in the near future) in part because European workers were not as “dedicated,” which I interpreted as saying they are not as obsessed with their jobs over there as we tend to be in America. From what I’ve seen, collecting money and stuff is not the way to happiness–seeking positive relationships and enjoying music and travel and such is a much better way to be happy. I’d gladly take a lower paying or part time job if it allowed me to go kayaking more.

By: nonentity

nonentity — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:12:11 +0000

Having lived on four continents, and currently living in DC, I have to say that America is schizophrenic. you can’t judge it as a whole, because there are so many different cultures in its regions. The west is laid-back, open, more secular, liberal. The northeast is hectic, cold (in more ways than one), and never sleeps. The midwest is traditional, old, and not as worldly.

However, Europe has problems far greater than the US. The US’s problems are in the limelight, but Europeans hide their problems. For example: US has had to deal with racism for its whole history. yet, the most racist countries on the planet, are the European ones. Racist not out of ignorance, like it is in the US, but out of arrogance. And let’s not forget the Holocaust, Inquistiion, crusades…some history you guys gush about.

Again, having lived all over, I have to say the one country that has it right, is Canada. Even though most other canadians will say it is not representative of Canada, Toronto is the best city in the world to live in, in the best country in the world. I absolutely love the city. What’s not to love? Multicultural, peaceful, open. You can find anything you want there. Its a nicer, smaller, version of NYC.

And to all you Europhiles, just to remind you…Toronto is in North America.