Aby The Liberal

33 Responses to “Europe vs USA - Lifestyle”

1. # mayank on 25 Jun 2007 at 1:33 pm

   Honestly speaking, I dislike the Americans because of their attitude!

2. # fire in the sky on 28 Jun 2007 at 6:21 pm

   America has the richest and most intelligent people in the world you did not mention this. We also have Harvard and Hollywood which Europeans are crazy about.

3. # Aaron on 29 Jun 2007 at 6:09 pm

   @fire in the sky - The most intelligent people were in Europe right from Aristotle to Stephen Hawkings. We have Oxford, LSE, Cambridge, INSEAD against Harvard. Hollywood is an American English film industry and there is nothing impressive about it, every European country has a film industry.

4. # Russophile on 04 Jul 2007 at 7:32 am

   mayank - you have never met me so how do you know my attitude enough to dislike me? Should I also dislike you because you don’t like Americans? Ridiculous! I can immediately see that your flag from India, which removes me from the ignorant and unworldly categories.

   -Aaron, Aristotle hardly has anything to do with the UK. If you can claim Aristotle so can America, since we largely came from your part of the world ages after Aristotle.

   Aby, you seem to be basing this on your perception rather than any hard facts. In fact, I don’t see a single link to any statistics anywhere in your article. These may be the reasons why people claim to dislike Americans but that does not make the statements factual.

   In the United States it is common for a hospital to refuse to treat a critically ill patient if they are not insured or are not US citizens. This is actually against the law in most states. There are some high profile cases where this has occurred, but you are making broad statements based on small samples rather evidence. Emergency care in most places cannot be denied regardless of ability to pay. Sure there are problems with the American medical system — ask Michael Moore — but we don’t have ridiculously long wait times if you can afford it. You may call it inhumane, but it does help keep the people healthy who pay the tax dollars, which in turn provides the money for subsidized programs such as Medicare and Medicade which are also absent from your “analysis.”

   Your diversity argument is also shallow. Have you been to Montana, New York, California, Idaho, etc? The cultures including the food, accents, way of life all vary greatly. As much, if not more than, Scotland and London. It is not uncommon for people who move across the United States to actually go through a period of culture shock. Maybe you are only looking at McDonalds, which, by the way, Europeans also eat in large quantities despite how much they claim to dislike it. As for Hollywood movies, the funny thing is that the worst movies, like Stallone’s, do much better outside the US than inside. Other countries claim to hate Hollywood’s crap but they purchase it everyday.

   Education also receives a bad reputation in the United States because, the United States does not filter its students. In many countries in Europe and Asia, the low performing students are put on a technical track and removed from the main system of education. Therefore their statistics do not include the low performing students while US statistics do include those students because no separate technical path is available in most places. (Personally, I think that we should have more technical options, but not having one is logically skewing the statistics.) Granted, there are some very low performing areas in the United States — Houston city schools come to mind — but the issues are more complex than “European Schools score better on tests.” Also, you fail to mention merit based scholarships when comparing the costs of Universities. In a fair comparison, one might note the huge drag on the German economy that the free universities have. Students can stay in school practically forever sucking up tax dollars and providing no economic value. In America, for the most part education is about giving someone enough knowledge to make a living and then putting that person to work. It is an entirely different mentality that you are not attempting to understand.

   In summary, you seem to be greatly oversimplifying all these issues with the intent of putting down the United States rather than trying to come to any sort of understanding. Of course there are problems with the US, especially its current short-sighted foreign policy, but it is not the straw man that you make it out to be.

5. # Aby on 04 Jul 2007 at 3:29 pm

   “Aby, you seem to be basing this on your perception rather than any hard facts. In fact, I don’t see a single link to any statistics anywhere in your article. ”

   My apologies, I must have overlooked resources for this article in my haste. I have updated this post now to include the books containing facts and figures which you might find interesting. This article may seem a bit biased and one sided to Americans but it reflects the actual experiences and views of a lot of people outside of USA, particularly in Europe and can help a lot of Europeans and Americana bridge the cultural and lifestyle differences.

   Of healthcare it is not only emergency care which suffers but also the doctor’s personal religious beliefs which overshadow medical ethics in several cases. A link for more details on such cases can be had here. Instead of rights to refusal, a doctor in here would have his license revoked.

   Medclaim and medicare come under insurance and I have taken the cases of uninsured patients so it does not really count.
    
   “As much, if not more than, Scotland and London. It is not uncommon for people who move across the United States to actually go through a period of culture shock.”

   Scotland and London would not really compare as much as Montana or Idaho. For one they speak languages which are alien to each other unless one knew both. Second they have a culture which is in stark contrast even to a foreigner. This applies all over Europe. While any state in USA would be much the same for an outsider, however different as you pointed it may look to Americans.
    
   “Other countries claim to hate Hollywood’s crap but they purchase it everyday.”

   But I have doubts other countries base their perception of the world and their beliefs in what is shown in Hollywood movies.
    
   “Maybe you are only looking at McDonalds, which, by the way, Europeans also eat in large quantities despite how much they claim to dislike it.”

   Europeans do not make McSomething their daily staple diet which is why less people over here are overweight than in USA. I know it sounds harsh, I am sorry if it offends you.
    
   “Also, you fail to mention merit based scholarships when comparing the costs of Universities.”

   No more than 1% of US university students actually get merit based scholarships to cover more than 50% of their huge tuition fees. And merit based scholarships exist in Europe too, I believe former American President Bill Clinton is the beneficiary of one such during his college years.
    
   “In America, for the most part education is about giving someone enough knowledge to make a living and then putting that person to work.”

   Then I pray you explain the high crime rates, rising unemployment rates, the downward spiralling of the dollar and US economy, the rising public debts….

6. # Russophile on 04 Jul 2007 at 8:05 pm

   Then I pray you explain the high crime rates, rising unemployment rates, the downward spiralling of the dollar and US economy, the rising public debts….

   Crime rate is high, but this is rather localized amongst some portions of the populations and locations. Of course that needs to be improved, butt there are some historical reasons that you must be aware of that have caused issues with that. In general, most places are actually safe. And crime has had an overall downward trend in recent years. Rising unemployment? We have very low unemployment now although not quite as low as it was a few years ago. And the economy is not doing badly. The problem with the dollar, as you likely know, is as a result of the large number of imports. Ask Bush about the debts. Places like Russia, Saudi Arabia, and others are simply lucky to have a sea of natural resources that are worth high prices.

   Scholarships - I know not many people receive them — I did, so I came out debt free, so I know that it is possible. Then I had my employer paid for my MS degree. (I also forgot to mention that there are also need-based scholarships, which are more common at the top universities than merit based.) The rising cost of universities is also of concern in the US because it is rising much faster than inflation. I mentioned Germany because I have several friends who have studied there who talked about the perpetual students who were simply on a path to study forever to postpone ever doing work because education was free. So free education should have its limits. What I think that the US needs is a program to pay down the debts for a person who goes to work in public service of some sort. There is no reason to make education cheap for a high-flying financier who is making $1M per year five years out of his MBA program.

   I applaud you for taking on uninsured patients, Medicare and Medicade do count because nearly anyone can get this insurance who is either poor enough or old enough to qualify. There are doctors here who do that as well, but back to the point about the high cost of education, some may not be able to afford to give away services. America has a very high rate of volunteerism and of making donations to private groups that cover some of these gaps that the government is not covering. Americans tend to distrust large bureaucracies and the state to take care of some problems.

   The service one can get with Medicare and Medicade may not be the best care, but most countries have developed a two tiered system of health care where it is legally allowed. Interestingly, the United States is even developing a third tier to the medical market for the very wealthy who are willing to pay an annual retainer fee to a doctor that allows the doctor to keep an extremely small list of patients.

   People are overweight here. As much as it is to do with McDonalds, it is also related to the “car culture.” One study I read recently was able to strongly correlate people’s weight to their commute time, so it is also caused by spiraling suburbia. For working professionals, it is also due to the large quantities of work expected and small vacations. This is where I think that the United States is most laking in quality of life compared to Europe. I have to work at a company 20 years to get the same vacation that a Norwegian would likely have the first year on the job.

   My overall point was that you seemed to be leaving off items like medicare, scholarships, etc to make your point easier, but that also lessened the impact of your argument. Europe certainly does some things better than America. I will go back and check out some of your links that you added since I am interested in what you posted. Thanks for taking the time to do that.

7. # Aby on 04 Jul 2007 at 9:25 pm

   Free education is not the only alternative to a corporate high cost education. The fees could be subsidised by the government so that they do not financially burden the students like UK, France or Russia. I had a friend who wanted to do medicine from Harvard and couldn’t manage a scholarship which would cover her tuition fees. Her family was unable to bear the burden of living in Massachusetts and pay the tuiton fees of $40000 so she ended up coming to Glasgow for her studies as it is much cheaper and affordable there. There is nothing like real life experience…wouldn’t you agree?

    
    
   “My overall point was that you seemed to be leaving off items like medicare, scholarships, etc to make your point easier..”

   I do understand your point but it has no relevance to my arguments above. Scholarship is not representative as 1) it is received by only a small section by some ‘contest’ criteria or affirmative action 2) scholarship often does not cover a significant portion of tuition fees even if we ignore living expenses. Mediclaim is irrelevant as it is a domain of the poor/elderly US Citizens. It does not apply the unregistered immigrants, humans dubbed as ‘aliens’ who would be denied healthcare unless they prove their immigration status. It does not also explain the legality of doctors who are allowed to practice despite violation of medical ethics like refusal of prescription based on religious beliefs and preferential treatments because of race or religion.

8. # Emmanuel on 08 Jul 2007 at 8:13 pm

   Everything you said about USA it’s true, unfortunately only Americans who have the chance to live abroad see the dismal differences. I agree that many people in this country are very smart, but all of them are foreign born who later became us citizens. I would feel very embarrased to mention Hollywood as an icon of pride.

9. # Arnold on 09 Jul 2007 at 11:54 am

   @Russophile - “There is no reason to make education cheap for a high-flying financier who is making $1M per year five years out of his MBA program.”

   There is no reason aspiring teachers should pay $80000 for university education. They can no longer afford to be teachers then, teaching could no longer cover their cost of education. No wonder there are such crappy teachers in here, the good ones can’t afford to be teachers.

10. # nathan on 09 Jul 2007 at 3:21 pm

    I like what this article is saying. It is not true that Europe is some promise land though. It’s hard to get a job there and you need a lot of connections. I know, I lived there for a year. I want to live in Europe after college because I really do feel that the quality of like is higher that. I ask though, what’s the solution to America? We do have culture though. The crack about food is wrong. If you eat at a chain restraunt, the food will always be the same. But if you go to a city, you see real culture. I live in Chicago and we have tons of foods and variations that can only be found in chicago. (Deep dish pizza, Italian Beef, GYRO, Chicago Hotdog) Then you go to Michigan and you have fish fries everywhere. There is culture in the US, you just need to look for it a little harder. Americans don’t judge as much as Europeans either. If an american goes to study in Europe everyone talks about what they know about america and they like to debate. If a european comes here, we don’t say anything, not out of respect, but out of stupidity because we honestly don’t know much about their country.

11. # Russophile on 14 Jul 2007 at 7:28 am

    Arnold, I am not disagreeing that the price of education can be very high, especially for some professions, but we don’t need to socialize education either. Education does have a monetary value. If you know that you want to become an educator, please do not study at an elite private institution on loans. If you are smart enough to teach, you should know the outcome of that math equation.

12. # Aby on 14 Jul 2007 at 10:19 am

    Arnold has a point here. Generally the better universities in US are more expensive than the second or third rung ones. Now if I were to be a teacher, should you expect me to study in a second rung institute because my finances wouldn’t cover the costs? This will have an influence on education itself as a vicious cycle of poorly educated teachers leading to students doing worse in schools.

13. # Zara on 14 Jul 2007 at 11:49 pm

    As someone who was born in England, moved to America, and recently returned to England and has travelled extensively around Europe, I can only say one thing: the quality of life is much higher than in the States. Much, much, much higher. In America you can eat cheaply, but it buys poor quality food, stuffed with calories and ingredients that are awful for you, but, for instance, when I visit Spain, Italy, France, I can buy a three course meal for around $9 that tastes fantastic and is good for you to boot. In America, that would pay for your local deep fat fried food at your local buffet house. The standard of education is so much higher in the UK too, the children are much more astute and intelligent. Even eleven year olds are much more aware of what’s going on outside their country or their continent than a hell of a lot of American adults I’ve met. You’re not left to die in Europe if you’ve got something wrong with you, and while the health care standard in England is poor unless you’ve got something very serious wrong with you, in most Western European countries it’s excellent.

     

    I’ve found that European’s are a lot more liberal too, and when I walk around in London I see gay people holding hands and kissing. I was in a bar the other day and two guys were kissing and no one said anything. If that happened in San Diego they’d be beaten up. The best thing about Europe overall though, is how you can never get bored of it. It’s so diverse, has such a vast history, and has so many landscapes and different weathertypes you could find something to match your taste anywhere you go.

14. # mdvp on 15 Jul 2007 at 7:24 pm

    Hello, Aby. I noticed that you linked to my blog, so decided to see what this was all about. While I was using that article in the context of conservatism criticism of it, you are welcome to use it all the same. I must say, most of the information here is certainly relative. For example, I find no lack of diversity in the culture and food of America. Take a trip to New York and then Louisiana, for an extreme example. We have, I suppose, the rest of the world as well as ourselves to thank for that. Language is another thing, but if I were to pick two locations in France, it is highly likely that the inhabitants of both would speak French, because it is the same country. Likewise, the United States is only one country with one historical heritage and it is unfair to criticize it like that. If you were to take a trip encompassing the US, Mexico, Brazil, and Quebec, for example, the equivalent to going to several European countries. There will be no lack of diversity in that trip. Education fails simply because it is biased, PC, and the students do not care to learn at all, let alone make the effort to better their education outside the classroom. To force a doctor to do something that a mainstream religion would think is immoral is the real crime, let alone it involving infanticide. America has no lack of healthy foods either. It depends on where you look. Your diversity will likely be your destruction. Sorry, but it’s true. No one will care about Europe’s rich heritage or anything else when the population has shifted to Muslims and other Arabic/African people who will build a new heritage for themselves.

15. # Erwin on 23 Jul 2007 at 5:15 pm

    Hi @ all.

    I didn’t read all comments of this website now, but I have to admit that both countries, EU and USA (I personally consider the EU as one country ), offer benefits in different ways. But what makes me a little bit sad is that many (of course not all) people in the USA (i have lived there for one year) think that their nation is better than Europe or the rest of the world and when you ask them why they told me about things which are also common in Europe and sometimes even better. Many Americans don’t know how life in Europe is. They think it’s an old-fashioned continent with no perspectives. But that’s of course not true. If I would be an Alien and would analyze all the data (health care, criminal rates, obesity, diversity, taxes, laws,) from USA and EU than I would surely think that the USA is (in some aspects) the old-fashioned country where life can be as hard as in stoneage. But many americans don’t realize that. They see their flag and say: “God bless America!”.

16. # Dmitri on 28 Jul 2007 at 4:33 pm

    @ Erwin - Well said. It is their isolationist policy which hurts their national security and lifestyle, the real reason they have these problems. Unfortunately Americans are looking out to blowing Iraq to stone age as a quick fix solution to their problems.

17. # droid on 30 Jul 2007 at 8:43 am

    i find this debate very entertaining. its good to see where people from both countries stand on certain things, im from Pa and at my young age of 21 (in 2 months) have seen a lot of the country and experiences life has to offer. schooling here sucks donky dick ya heard! im from the middle class if that exists anymore, we are fucking poor. i cant afford to go to college. i used to sell drugs to support myself, now i have a felony. Impossible to find a job to support an apartment, car, food, and entertainment, without proper schooling and training. i went to prison for selling pot, crazy in my eyes but laws are laws in this country. all in all, im coming home to the motherland in 3 yrs when im a free free man. fuck americas “freedumb”. fuck george bush.

18. # Bea on 22 Oct 2007 at 6:54 am

    As a person who was born and raised in Central Europe then has lived past 8 years in USA and now is considering moving back to Europe I must say that I can agree with the article at approx. 80%. Healthcare is horrible, I know because I am a healthcare professional and I was unable to treat or provide care to patients due to limitations from healthcare insurance and the lack of funds directly from patients, and I am talking about couple of patients a month. Also, the fact that I have a health insurance doesn’t mean I don’t pay major medical expenses - on top of paying monthly over $400 for family health insurance I have to pay “out-of-packet” expenses which are around $3000 a year per family member/maximum $6000 per family with additional deductibles and such.
    Basic family care - how can the richest country in the world have such a horrible lack of family support when it comes to babies and toddlers - almost total lack of maternity leave, no job security for pregnant and new mothers,… I am speaking from my own experience also…As far as I know every country in Europe provides at least 4-6 months of maternal leave with guaranteed return to job for young mothers…(on the other hand, here more jobs are readily available so even though you loose a job you may found a better one afterwards), …

    Education
    College level education in USA is comparable to high school education in Europe - speaking about general education. Once you choose your professional carrier you are going to enjoy USA college a lot…great labs, plenty of available books, of course depending on a college, but as a person who studied in both places I have to say that I enjoyed USA College more - speaking on one case basis just from my own experience…

    Diversity - no comparison, Europe is veeeeeryyyy diverse, however, USA has great parks, natural wonders, beautiful mountains and beaches and lots of good people to meet on the road (although you are better off staying away from metropolitan areas to find friendly and ready to share Americans). Stores and restaurants are mostly the same across all States. Unfortunately Europe has very expensive cars (usually the price is twice as hight in Europe as compared to States), the cars are smaller, which is a good thing, expensive gas in Europe.

    Food - it all depends on a family, Europeans mostly don’t eat as much junk food, they look for non-processed foods, they spend more time together as a family - which means more homemade meals, more home grown vegetables and SMALLER portions…why do restaurants in USA serve such humangas portions??? As soon as you cross the border and get to Canada the portions shrink by at least 25%.

    What I love about USA - plenty of jobs, cheaper cars, lots of stores, garage sales, plenty of sports, arts and crafts for kids,… and you can have a Russian living next to German, African-American, Asian and Indian all living in one apartment complex, Jews living on the same street as Muslims and they seem to tolerate each other just fine…

    Media - if you look for it you can find quality news in USA, for instance National Public Radio, but if you don’t look, you will listen to the news which is very limited, self-centered on USA and preferres to announce what celebrities are doing instead of what is happening currently in Africa or South America…

    And the bottom line is - there are cultural differences between USA and Europe and it is very hard to compare them all. As I am contemplating the move back to Europe simply because I am tired of working 50 weeks in a year with 2 weeks of vacation which I cannot even take when I want, but when the corporation will let me…and because I want to have more kids without paying $6000 out-of-pocket expense for childbirth for me and the baby and then I want to stay home with the baby for 6 months…and I want my children to have the same cultural heritage as I have had, I must say that I prefer Europe but at the same time, when I am in Europe I will miss States… being devided forever between the two continents, different life styles and different economic opportunities…

19. # mkap on 30 Mar 2008 at 5:48 pm

    i am from India.

    i hardly know about USA or Europe.

    the quality of the people in Europe and their descendants - so called son of the soil(Americans) have nothing in common than to wipe those who they hate and live.

    some instances

    Europeans came to India and wiped our wealth

    Americans went to Iraq and robbed their oil and other natural resources

    both these achievements were done in the name of spreading some stupid culture (like idiotic adult relations which are banned in India, illegal relations between humans) and

    the result they got what they needed,
    throwing Indian religions,wiping us out of my nation’s resources , except Russia and some exceptions, a long time friend of India .

    there are some seeds called terminator seeds which are a curse for Indian farmers from (USA of course) the big brother.

    the us calls itself India’s pal, have you ever seen any nation imposing a economic blow to India
    when we tested nukes,

    (no one imposed a ban on them when they tested their nukes on japan)

    and admiring taj mahal and does all senseles activities like

    selling candy to a shop and selling medicines to opposite shop keeper telling about the demerits of consuming candy

    these us and eu are different thieves in attractive flavours

    a rise in globe with a fall in humanity is worth

    killing all living things in a place and searching for new living things in the same place.

    beware of all these

20. # Ari on 11 May 2008 at 11:26 pm

    listen mkap… this “stupid culture”, as you so eloquently put it allows you to escape the confines of autocratic tyranny after a transition period, which is often-times rough to say the least. the “stupid culture” you speak of allows a poor man to steal a loaf of bread to feed his family members who are being starved by monarchs dwelling in opulence without having his hand chopped off. the “stupid culture” affords women the same rights as men. women are still people aren’t they mkap? get a clue. stopping jumping on the bandwagon people. and that comment at the top about virginia being the same as new jersey from the perspective of a visitor. spoken like someone who has never been to the states. but wait… maybe if you lived in a democracy then your wages wouldn’t be so under par that you could actually afford a plane ticket over here to check things out for yourself.
    peace

21. # Johannes on 19 Jun 2008 at 2:07 am

    we had a visit from exchange students from the US and its a sad fact that they don’t know a thing about europe or germany. one exchange student asked me, already landed in frankfurt, “How is the life with the Fuhrer?” this was a hard affront for me. or “do you have internet here” - i just said “interwhat???over there is a smokesignal-station” and synced my pda on a hotspot.
    thats the main deficit: most peaple in the US don’t even try to see a world beyond their borders.

    concerning american politics, my theory is, that they never had a “modern” war in their own country, and hopefully never will have. europe had to suffer agonies caused by hitlers reich, we in europe know what war means. war is not just sending soldiers out, war means loosing your children, wife, husband relations.
    thatswhy europe had no understanding for some agression against the so called “old europe” after the beginning of gulf war II.
    I hope that the EU becomes a real union and speaks with a strong voice. not to do an affront against the US, just because we are the better diplomatics. thats a fact, proven often enough. there are a lot of problems coming up, and if america takes leadership in climate problems (doing nothing?!) or clash of cultures (killing everyone who’s not christian?) the humand kind is history soon…not joking.

22. # Dub on 14 Aug 2008 at 5:00 pm

    Agreed on the Education. There is room for improvement. Many foreign students that I’ve come across claim to come here only because the fact that they were “Educated in America” will get them a job easily (as well as to check out the US culture).

    Still, I love my country and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

23. # Internationalist on 16 Aug 2008 at 8:57 pm

    @ Ari

    India is the world’s largest democracy. That, in some respects, concludes the point that Aby is making. That is, Americans are largely unaware of the going-ons of the world, ignorant and misguided.

24. # Kenneth R. Zuniga on 29 Sep 2008 at 7:07 pm

    I grew up in the United States and relocated to Europe (Spain) a couple of years ago. Let me start by saying that only those who have lived in both sides can give a better opinion. I’m tired of listening europeans that criticize the US when they’ve never lived there… and I said LIVED, not travel, which is very different. Same on the opposite side, it’s very sad to hear an american say… we’re the best of the very best, when he has NEVER LIVED in Europe.

    My dear friends, the true is that both places are rich in very different aspects; but let me just focus to the ones discussed on this post:

    1)HEALTHCARE: I AGREE

    Unfortunately the US is more interested in having state of the art military equipment than a health care program that can cover every single citizen no matter what social status. Yes, you do have some Medicaid programs but only if you have very low incomes…but how about the middle class? I think if they pay their taxes they should also have access to a free health plan.

    I’d also like to say that some of the opinions above like “in US we’ve got the best hospitals”… that is such of immature comment, we’re not discussing whether who’s got the best hospitals, what matters here is if citizens from all social classes are getting free access to those hospitals. I’m afraid they don’t. So what’s good about having great hospitals if american citizens have died because they couldn’t get the money for an expensive treatment.

    Here in Europe I get free access to all treatments I may need, and guess what? if I travel to the US and for some reasons I get hospitalized, when I get that bill and come to Spain and my social security pays them.

    Let me end by saying that there’s an official international health care rank that places US bellow countries like Colombia or even Cuba when it comes to Health Care.

    2) DIVERSITY: I DON’T AGREE

    They’re so many great things to do and to visit in both places. Europe has a lot of history, art and incomparable culinary level. But the US has more geographic diversity than country in Europe, you have sunny states in Florida and California, you can advanced cities like New York and Los Angeles, you have deserts, you have islands, you have lots of ice in Alaska, you also have the biggest mixture of cultures living all together under the same flag.

    On the contrary in UK all I find is rain, rain and rain that’s why British relocate to Spain. The Nordic countries got a great life style but their weather is a bit boring. Spain has great weather and food but their mentality is a bit close for me and I think that is because of the religious (catholic) background they have.

    3) EDUCATION: RELATIVE

    This is a very relative point since not all the Europeans countries have the same education system. The Nordics like Finland, Sweden, Denmark, etc. they have what I consider one of the best education systems but on the contrary Spain, Portugal, Greece or Italy are way behind the US when it comes to education.

    4) MEDIA: I DON’T AGREE

    Yes, it’s true that the US has a very particular way to manage the media and make their audience feel they live in the most secure and most advance place on earth, as an American I accept this fact. But what’s also true is that Europeans favorite sport is to criticize Americans. You can feel that as well when you come to Europe, their comments, their jokes… everything has a subliminal message that says: “Americans are so wrong”.

    But what’s also true is that during the last eight years the US have taken bad decisions that have affected their international relations.

25. # Capt Sasha on 01 Oct 2008 at 2:33 pm

    @ Kenneth R. Zuniga
     

    2) You got to be kidding, comparing continental United States with single constituent countries of European Union. How much geographic diversity can you possibly have in a country the size of Arkansas? As a European, you can enjoy far more cultural, geographical and political diversity without a passport than an American can with a passport. The cultural diversity of Europe is homegrown and local, unlike the United States where its a predominant WASP majority, with miniscule immigrant minorities.

     

    4) As an American living in Spain, you’re seem to have experienced only one side of the coin. How Europeans treat Americans is far more mild and in good humour compared to how Americans treat Arab or Indian immigrants/visitors. The worse that an American might come across in EU is being the butt of jokes. Whereas, the worse an Iranian might face in US is to have a bullet into his skull by a gang of American neo-Nazi nationalists.

     

    And please, don’t be so short sighted to assume that the last 8 years of Bush has anything to do with the general attitude of Americans. It will be quite an insult to American intellect to assume that Americans are robotic agents of their government, incapable of independant and rational thought. I understand that it can look unfair sometimes, but it is the American people who make a joke of themselves by their intolerant jingoism and loud ignorance.

26. # Jacques on 11 Oct 2008 at 11:13 pm

    I have visited the States several times, and frankly, I am not attracted at all in living there.

    First and foremost, I do not like the American mentality that put materialism at the forefront of everything. I found America to be a cultural desert, and on that subject way down the line compared to Europe and Russia.

    One of my sons even went to live in America for a while, head-hunted by a Californian company after he finished his second university here in England. He spent 4 years in the USA, and decided to abandon a well-paid job to move back to Europe. He never liked the American way of life and never befriended Americans. Several of his acquaintances also came back from the States after a while.

    Americans are obsessed by wealth and appearances, and forget completely quality of life (which they equate with the size of their bank account). As for the country itself, I found it so brash and superficial in every sphere of their lives, that I wouldn’t even consider spending long time there. I think it’s because life in the States is so superficial that many people resort to religion to fill the void in their life. There is also a lack of knowledge of the outside world which is gripping. It could also be a factor behind the high divorce rates, single parenthood and violent crimes.

27. # Denis on 19 Oct 2008 at 6:36 am

    What culture please? America has nothing to do with culture, I have been here for 4 years, its all about money. You will miss to talk with a person that have read at least a classic writer, besides the stupidy of thier new york time bestsellers.

28. # Paul on 20 Oct 2008 at 12:38 pm

    Let’s not try to bring America down here shall we? Europeans have problems of their own, like a huge amount of bureaucracy and the total absence of political unity (the EU government and parliament is struggeling for meaningfullness). Also, for an American, it is hard to notice, let alone understand, the profound cultural and political differences between EU countries and how individual Europeans feel different about such differences and European internal affairs.

    Some examples of such internal issues might include the poor position european farmers are in due to EU continental and international export regulations, that Belgium hasn’t had a real government for almost year now due to internal conflicts, that the Nordic countries don’t give a damn about the EU, that although (north)western EU countries tend to be ruled by what Americans would consider leftist and social governments and have an open mind towards multiculturalism, the eastern and central EU countries (still) have a stronger sentiment for hardcore rightwing politics and the fact that immigrants and homosexuals etc face excessive and violent discrimination in those countries as opposed to the western part of the union. As some US states, some EU countries are doing quite well culturally, politically, economically, but some don’t. It is the unification of these completely different countries that presents a big problem to EU politics.

    On the other hand, yes, Europeans are higher educated, have a much larger sense and appreciation for national AND international culture, arts, humanitarian needs etc. Also, Europeans have a sense of international politics and history (due to the historical AND present diversity in the union) that makes Americans look like total idiots. This is also why Europeans disslike the American international attitude:

    You see, there’s allways been a large influx of American culture into the European culture, while we don’t need that. We have a culture of our own, you have a culture of your own, don’t hassle us. We don’t give a damn about Hollywood filth-movies or Harvard; it’s not a question of who has the BEST university, we’ve got some very good universities of our own, they’re all very cheap and all internationally oriented in contrast to most US universities. It’s very fine you are trying to sell your culture, your hollywood, your harvard, your economy to us, it’s your good right and in fact, we’re trying to sell you our culture as well in a way. But a lot of Americans seem to think that they can tech us ‘a thing or two’ in all those aspects, and it is there that Americans are wrong and that’s what annoys europeans.

29. # Jason on 09 Nov 2008 at 12:17 am

    Well I’m living in the U.S. and I have to say that I am not proud of my country. Wish I could say other wise but I honestly can not. The majority of Americans could care less about how educated they are and it shows. In order to see something worth hearing on the news I have to put on the BBCA. Tune in to an american station and your bound to see a store about a new amazing study that shows orange juice may now kill you followed by a study the next week that says its great for you ha ha. That being said I am now learning french and may possibly leave the country at some point. By the way americans do have an attitude problem and always have to have the biggest and best. Only morons that have to drive a tank to work and could care less about the environment.

30. # Milano4life on 10 Nov 2008 at 9:43 pm

    I live in USA too in New York,Ii think the mentality in USA to live the life is just absurd, Europeans people have more piece of mind they know how to enjoy life and even the system is way to different , USA life is made only for work, no wonder 70% of population here are depressed.I think I’m going back in EU making less money but at last have a piece of mind and enjoy life.

31. # Andy on 03 Dec 2008 at 8:52 am

    I am a person who lived in 3 continents. Asia, Europe (UK), and now in the USA. I still consider UK is my home. I love UK and if required, I never hesitate to fight for its freedom.

    We all should agree that NO WHERE IS PERFECT: Each party can argue that their side is greatest. I want to be honest here.!

    Healthcare:- Yes America has an excellent service. But only if you are rich they are much reachable.
    Europe has more socialistic approach and everyone can benefit from it. Therefore, I value it more than American system.

    Diversity:- Europe has a different diversity than American system. Europe is diverse in their food and language etc. But they are not united. They don’t have one voice.

    America is truly diverse and multicultural. They are increasingly open minded on that. otherwise, Obama would never be the President. Europe cannot beat this.!

    Education: - I agree that America has a problem below the University level. They are bit ignorant about the outer world. But we must understand that America is a huge country very many things happening here. Therefore, it is natural to loose out interests or time for stuffs in the outer circle. I think the media also has the same problem.

    America also has many great Universities which have given birth to great scientists and philosophers etc.

    Conclusion.:

    In 232 years history, America has done it with a Bang.! And in a style!

    Created a fantastic constitution,

    Build the infrastructure from the scratch. ( Europe had most of it for over 1000+ years )

    Gave some of the greatest people to the world

    Sent the first man to the moon.

    Built the “greatest economy by one country” and the most sophisticated military world has ever seen.

    All this could be done because,

    50 states together they have united and one Voice, therefore they can focus on challenges more effectively. (25 EU has 25 different opinions and mostly disagree)

    As a Larger country, it could bring huge resources together more effectively.

    For 232 years what else could you ask for?
    In contras, what Europe did most for 1000+ years was fighting and killing each other for superiority.!

    I know Europe has given some of the greatest minds and other stuffs to the world. But they could never do much in 232 years.

    Only thing I don’t like in America is some of the fools obsessed with the God far too much.

32. # Aaron on 16 Dec 2008 at 6:05 pm

    Just one thing….if you show up in the E.R. and are sick or dieing or been shot or stabbed or what ever they will treat you! That is a blatant lie that you won’t be treated with out health insurance. The reason you need health insurance is for private doctors once again another article with great potential down the drain due to lack of research. If you wanna write an America bashing article go ahead you can do what ever you want to we all have the right to our own point of view, however there is no need for blatant bias or making up facts and/or lack of research. I admit there are plenty of things wrong with this country…so there is no reason to make things up, or repeat rumor that you heard some where.

33. # arnis on 27 Dec 2008 at 4:25 am

    Hello

    Many of you have made several excellent points. I think the conversation here should turn to WHY the United States and Europe have their respective shortcomings.
    Let’s hear it.

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