Why are Europeans so jealous of the USA?

[TurkeyWithaSunburn]

Please someone tell me that Americans aren't really like this?!....

The trolls are :frown1:

 

[B_VinylBoy]

Why is it that everyone hates the USA? We defend liberty, we stopped hitler, we saved the UK, and the rest of Europe. Without our entry into the war, sites like this would not be allowed and everyone over there would salute Hitler, this would be the Large Penis Nazi Socialist Group, no Jews, Gays, Mentally Disabled, or Russian Communists allowed.

God Bless the USA, and the liberty we preserve in the world, freedom is a great thing even when people destory themselves, at least they had a choice!

Excuse me while I go turn down the LPSG Stereo. Apparently someone left a Toby Keith song playing on infinite repeat at the maximum volume again. What's with all of these foam finger gloves on the floor? Looks like someone was using a lego figurine of the Washington Monument as a sex toy again. And for the love of God, who was snorting the white powder off the American flag using a rolled up Food Stamp?!

YAWN... hyper-patriots of any country bore me.

 

[JustAsking]

When you look at posts like the OP made in the light of the following statistics, you can see why the USA is the envy of no one except for a few third world nations.

US Healthcare ranking: #37
Preventable Deaths: #14
Life Expectancy: #14
Human Development Index: #12
Carbon Footprint per capita: #12
Murder Rate: #72
Most In Prison per Capita: #1
Child Well Being: #20
Freedom of the Press: #17

Source

 

[Gl3nn]

Lol, the OP is hilarious...so ignorant...

About every point you made has been corrected. Luckily enough not all americans are like this.

 

[798686]

Luckily enough not all americans are like this.

True enough! A lot of them are really great people. Great fun and a brilliant sense of humour - they're good to have around.

 

[B_Nick8]

We actually ARE grateful the US entered the war. No, we probably couldn't have won it without you - but you certainly didn't do it all by yourselves.

The UK doesn't hate you, but it is slightly annoying to be constantly asked about it.
However, I do think the US is suffering from a negative image around the world at the moment (obviously), for several reasons:

The attitude of people like Porter (arrogant, seemingly ignorant, and dismissive). Maybe due to insecurity about loss of prestige, much like Britain felt over loss of Empire.

Also, due to isolationism, and the fact that your prosperity and self-sufficiency meant you really didn't need to look beyond your borders much for a long time - and this produced a certain amount of arrogance, but not in all Americans, by any means. (Granted - during America's dominance - they did try and help out a lot of other nations, in terms of aid, plus helping to rebuild Europe after the war).

The fall-out after the invasion of Iraq, plus foreign policy blunders during the Bush years, turned public opinion in Europe against America. This, allied with natural resentment of the topdog, means that there's now an Anti-American knee-jerk reaction in Europe (less so in the UK), disproportionate to its actions...although this has reduced since Obama's election.

Finally - and this will be disputed by some - the EU does genuinely want to become a power to rival the US on the world scene. It launched the Euro to encourage a bi-polar world order in terms of currency dominance, and also hopes to become increasingly influential in terms of political world governance.

PS: Porter - if you genuinely wanted reassurance of whether the US is liked or not, you probably should've chosen a different way to go about it. Your first post seemed designed to provoke and piss people off. :/

PPS: I'm fortunate enough to know a fair few Americans personally - and find most of them genuinely likeable. Warm, friendly with a great deal of get up and go, and a great comedy foil for us Brits.

Thank you for this thoughtful post, Joll. Not only do I understand, I agree wholeheartedly.

Excuse me while I go turn down the LPSG Stereo. Apparently someone left a Toby Keith song playing on infinite repeat at the maximum volume again. What's with all of these foam finger gloves on the floor? Looks like someone was using a lego figurine of the Washington Monument as a sex toy again. And for the love of God, who was snorting the white powder off the American flag using a rolled up Food Stamp?!

YAWN... hyper-patriots of any country bore me.

Thank you for this thoughtful post, VB. Not only do I understand, etc. :biggrin1:

 

[B_VinylBoy]

Thank you for this thoughtful post, VB. Not only do I understand, etc. :biggrin1:

I was just being silly, as usual. You know I love my country... even some of the loons that live in it. I just couldn't resist the opportunity to comment.

You can spank me later. :wink:

 

[B_Nick8]

You can spank me later. :wink:

Please.

 

[Jason]

I think there are as many different European national reactions to the USA as there are nations. I really don't think there is any such thing as a European view.

The UK popular view is complicated. The 2ndWW generation saw the US as entering the war shockingly late having left Britain to fight alone at the Battle of Britain. Yes the US role was pivotal, but it would have been better and probably shortened the war if it has come in 1939 and not after Pearl Harbour. More recent generations have been exposed to countless hours of US films and television, and we get extensive coverage on US news. We do feel we know quite a bit about the US.

I think the most recent views of the UK about the US are being forged by people who actually visit. As we come out of recession UK tourism to the US is likely to take off. For example Florida is now a very popular destination for UK tourists, and a generation of Brits are buying second homes in Florida taking advantage of the unbelievably cheap real estate prices in Florida. There's a new trend for Brits to buy in Manhattan, taking advantage of frequent and cheap London - NY planes and again real estate prices which to us seem remarkably cheap.

This is going to have an impact on UK views of the US, and I think this will change views mainly for the better.

 

[B_Nick8]

For example Florida is now a very popular destination for UK tourists, and a generation of Brits are buying second homes in Florida taking advantage of the unbelievably cheap real estate prices in Florida.

Please know, Jason, that Florida is not what I would call representative of the US. :wink:

 

[dong20]

The word you're searching for is envious, genius.

As a European I am surely envious of some aspects of life in the US; a few spring to mind offhand ... access to healthcare, quality of state education, environmental consideration and enlightened foreign policy ... no, wait!:biggrin1:

The above can of course be said of many nations, which is of course, rather my point.

In a nutshell; the US is but one nation among many, and like the other couple of hundred in this world has unarguably good and bad characteristics. Most everything inbetween falls into the realm of opinion. That's as it should be, yet in some cases (like the OP) - this is voiced in such a manner as to suggest a perverse sense of inadequacy.

 

[Bbucko]

Please know, Jason, that Florida is not what I would call representative of the US. :wink:

Maybe so, but I don't see any landrushes happening in Peoria.

 

[Freddie53]

True enough! A lot of them are really great people. Great fun and a brilliant sense of humour - they're good to have around.

Thanks for saying that. Many of us Americans are not pompous asses who believe that God has selected America as the New Israel to save the world. This concept has been preached from the pulpits of the right wing of the American churches now for decades.

I for one love my cousins in the UK. At least 90 % of my ancestors came from the UK. I adore the UK and respect very much how the British were able to transform the British Empire, the greatest and largest empire the world has ever known, to a modern nation. With as small a population and land area that the UK has, it is still the fourth or fifth largest economy of the world, depending on which statistics that are used. The great traditions of government, culture and religion have been able to adapt to the changing place we call the United Kingdom with no revolution and no complete collapse of any of its institutions. That is remarkable. I don't know of any other empire that has done this as well as the UK.

I also have Norman ancestors who crossed the English channel some 1000 years ago. A distant cousin from a branch I have never met,did all that research and my grandfather happened to get a copy of that book.

About the USA. We are still a young nation. In 1776, the British Empire was much like America is today. Give the USA another 200 years and I believe we will be a more mature nation. About a 100 years after the American revolution, the British Empire created Canada from several colonies. The British Empire was much different in 1876 as it was in 1776.

About World War II, the Europeans especially continental Europeans look at that war in a different way than we Americans do. The British Empire was the only true world power in 1939. The rest of the world were regional powers. True that Japan's military and German military were larger and more powerful than the British Empire, but both these nations were still regional powers as they weren't that involved in the world outside their sphere of influence.

That included the USA. We barely had an army. In 1939, we didn't need one. Like the UK, we had a defense system that couldn't easily be breached called the ocean. Canada to the north of the USA was a very good close neighbor. Mexico had that hot dry dessert between the main part of both countries.

America did not get into the European conflict by choice. America was attacked not in Europe but on American soil. Hawaii, a territory, in the US. Now a state) was attacked and the Pacific fleet was in ruins. Japan then begin to take military base after military base of the British Empire and the territories of the United States with the Philippines being the main one.

So most European nations view World War II from a European standpoint. It can be argued that the war was a continental war in the mainland of Europe. So the English speaking nations of the UK, Canada and the United States had to send troops into the mainland of Europe to restore democracy and to remove Hitler from power.

Margaret Thatcher had that view of Europe. Mom and Dad, the UK and the USA, had to keep the children, the continental Europe, in line and had to fromt time to time intercede to restore order on the mainland. After all, wasn't it Britain that came in to defeat Napoleon and then WWI and then WWII> Of course this philosophy was not popular anywhere except the US and the UK. Margaret Thatcher is still a hero to many Americans who are old enough to remember her time as prime minister.

The fact is the United States never was in real danger of being invaded by Hitler. However, the same can't be said about Japan. The Japanese bombed our own territory destroying most of our navy in the Pacific. The Japanese capture territory that was sovereign of the USA. There was a Japanese plan to invade the USA. Europeans may not know this, but there was that Battle of the Pacific, an air war much like the Battle of Britain. The USA won that air battle, but it was touch and go for a while.

In the end, technology and circumstance often win a war. The UK had a sea channel that did stop the German army. France's defense system did not stop the German army. There were no natural barriers to help France. That is the critical difference between the two nations in the war. Britain then pulled out of its hat a new technology, the radar. Britain used this to win the Battle of Britain. That battle which was won before Germany declared war on the USA, pretty much ended the Germans ability to invade Britain at least not with a long war of attrition. However, the British did not have the manpower or supplies to build an invasion army by itself that could invade the mainland and defeat the German army.

What would have happened if Japan had NOT attacked America and Hitler declared war on the USA? The USA was sending military supplies to both USSR and the UK along with anything else that was needed that the USA could send. With that help alone it is very possible that the USSR could have turned the tide and made it to Berlin on their own. Then we would have had a USSR that had a huge empire and the UK which was a empire scattered across the world. Mostly likely they would have agreed what was to be each and left a possible uneasy peace.

I'm speculating here. The truth is, no one knows or will never know how the war would have turned out had the USA stayed out of it. In time Hitler would die. In time as the economic conditions of the mainland improved, people would have become less interested in building empires. The German Empire would most likely have mellowed by this time. How would history have been written by people of today?

There is an old saying that the victors write the history books. A lot of truth in that.

I would love to read about World War II using history books for students from ages 11-15 used in schools in different nations. I would love to read the version from every nation's perspective. I think it would be an eye opener.

I believe that a college course doing something like this should be a requirement to get a degree in history. It is the only way to really understand that history is written by the people who lived it and usually by the people who won. There is no way better for a person to really come to terms with the concept that history is often opinion, not facts. The opinions are based on factual information. Sentences like, no other nation had to......! This was the first nation to....! etc are based on real facts, but there is a hint and sometimes propaganda thrown in in writing the history book. What is even more interesting is that text book publishers will use a previous book for that age to get its information. No use of primary sources etc. Only secondary sources.

The USA at the end of World War II was in the best shape. The USA had by far the least collateral damage from the war. However, as time progress other nations have attained the status of having a higher standard of living than we have in the United States. That is, a family of four in some European nations have more spendable money that an family of four in the USA. The USA is big because of its size in territory and population.

Last point. The best thing that can happen to the USA is for the European Union to succeed and become a real world power that is reckoned with just like the USA is. Why? The USA can not dominate the world. I don't think it should. We do want to maintain our heritage, religious beliefs, family values etc. The best bet for the USA is a strong and united Europe that shares most of this tradition with us. In short our distant cousins.

The majority of Americans are from UK or German ancestry. Many from UK ancestry don't know who their ancestors are as many from English ancestry have lived here for 400 years.

The USA with the exception of Louisiana (French) use English common law. Our entire judicial system is based on English law. Many court cases use precedents from the English medieval period to determine the outcome of a case.

The entire New World which is North and South America is very much an extension of Europe in culture, ancestry, government, religion, and family life. Just like Europe America has had other nationalities immigrate here. But this is this foundation of most nations of North and South America.

 

[B_Stronzo]

Why are Europeans so jealous of the USA?

I know my share of Europeans. I've yet to meet one who's "jealous" or wishes to be American.

 

[porter111]

I'm so jealous of the UK healthcare system, long wait lines and all, thats why the FLOODS of americans go there for healthcare year in and year out.

LOL you guys are cracking me up! Envy and Jealousy at its best. My point has been proven and I've now won the bet, thanks for helping me guys, good day!

 

[D_Jared Padalicki]

Why is it that everyone hates the USA? We defend liberty, we stopped hitler, we saved the UK, and the rest of Europe. Without our entry into the war, sites like this would not be allowed and everyone over there would salute Hitler, this would be the Large Penis Nazi Socialist Group, no Jews, Gays, Mentally Disabled, or Russian Communists allowed.

God Bless the USA, and the liberty we preserve in the world, freedom is a great thing even when people destory themselves, at least they had a choice!

First time I heard that Europe is jealous of the USA hahahaha, so funny. Maybe it is because you guys think that you all saved us from Hitler and his gang... Don't forget the contribution of the UK, Russia, ...
So silly to believe we are jealous hahahaha

 

[B_VinylBoy]

I'm so jealous of the UK healthcare system, long wait lines and all, thats why the FLOODS of americans go there for healthcare year in and year out.

LOL you guys are cracking me up! Envy and Jealousy at its best. My point has been proven and I've now won the bet, thanks for helping me guys, good day!

We're happy that we could help you further confirm your idiocy. Feel free to return anytime you need help in looking dumb. We're available 24 hours a day!! Take care now, y'hear?

 

[SilverTrain]

I'm so jealous of the UK healthcare system, long wait lines and all, thats why the FLOODS of americans go there for healthcare year in and year out.

LOL you guys are cracking me up! Envy and Jealousy at its best. My point has been proven and I've now won the bet, thanks for helping me guys, good day!

You're so obviously seeking negative attention that your gambit falls short of the mark. When one tries to be obnoxious, it's at least slightly less offensive than the inherent variety.

 

[mitchymo]

Wait...you work?

Oi, you cheeky fecker, what did you think?

I'm so jealous of the UK healthcare system, long wait lines and all, thats why the FLOODS of americans go there for healthcare year in and year out.

LOL you guys are cracking me up! Envy and Jealousy at its best. My point has been proven and I've now won the bet, thanks for helping me guys, good day!

My bet is that you have multiple personalities and are arguing with yourself over the validity of the OP.

The more extroverted personality bothered to make a thread and now the introverted one is declaring a win.

I think you are a confused little baby.

(would explain the avatar)

 

[B_Dustydo]

Attention whore more likes.
Before this time he spent his time between needling Dolfette and the circumcision threads.
Obviously this has lost it's novelty value and the light weight has decided to step down into a place where the heavy hitters are.
Tragic little man.