Why are Europeans so jealous of the USA?

[mynameisnobody]

also the United Kingdom gave the world Parliamentary democracy,

Americans make few claims about Parliamentary democracy, which is perhaps fitting, as they'll have none of it.

But that's OK, I'm sure many Europeans hate England anyway.

 

[jumbo747jet]

Pardon a question from a moderator to the OP of this thread.

Did you intend to have this thread in the political section or in funny stuff ?

While it has received quite a few serious responses, I assume the thread was started with tongue in cheek, am I correct ?

 

[porter111]

ROFL !!!!!!! You guys are great! Like Dolfette doesnt needle anyone? Its give and take dustydo, why so angry, relax and live a little , don't be such a stuck up mean spirited bitch! I see you've been reading my posts as a secret admirer, get a life dude! Hmm heavy hitters on the LPSG, is that something to be proud of? Keep braggin killer!

 

[mynameisnobody]

But please tell me which war the US won after WWII and how and where they preserved liberty, maybe just South Korea. Vietnam was a desaster.

Rather short-sighted evaluations here. Don't confuse tactics with strategy.

The great disaster of the 20th century was the rise of the two destructive "isms," communism and fascism, and blocks of states devoted to their aggrandizement and extension. The large and dangerous fascist conspiracy was crushed in 1945. It was crushed so thoroughly that it has never arisen again as an organized block, despite the freedom with which the word "fascist" is tossed around nowadays. The communist conspiracy took longer to defeat. US policy post WW2 was devoted in major part to that defeat. Korea and Vietnam were small portions of the overall strategy - battles in the bigger war, if you prefer. Vietnam was marred by tactical errors, but not the ones people usually think.

The problem of postwar Europe was to keep the Soviet Union out, so far as was possible. To do that, a strong Germany was needed. But a strong Germany had twice been disastrous for Europe. So something was needed to keep a strong Germany in check. That something was France, unlikely as that seems - there were no other promising candidates. Part of the game then became the pretense that France was strong; and part of that was propping up the various French colonies and dependencies. A major one of those was French Indochina, or Vietnam. This was, in retrospect, an error; the Kennedy administration should have cut French Indochina loose when the opportunity presented itself. But it didn't, and the error was continued and compounded by Kennedy's successor, Johnson. Nixon realized that Indochina (and, for that matter, France) had long outlived its usefulness as a front in the anti-communist war, and abandoned it.

In short, US postwar policy was not without flaws, some of them quite serious, but ultimately it was spectacularly successful. Some might argue that it was too successful: the business of pacifying Europe may have been overdone. It seems that western Europe is currently suffering from a testosteronectomy, as it succumbs to, among other things, the current phase of the chronic Islamic invasion.

 

[superbot]

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!

The National Health Service enables ANYONE at ANYTIME and for ANY ILLNESS to be treated without the degredation of having to prove they can afford it.It's the mark of a civilized country,NO FLASHING OF CREDIT CARDS HERE!!!

 

[2322]

But please tell me which war the US won after WWII and how and where they preserved liberty, maybe just South Korea. Vietnam was a desaster.

Grenada! We sure did free Grenada from the ravages of Communism!

South Korea was an allied effort to some degree but we did well there too. Even if we didn't gain territory from the North, we certainly did push them back to their borders. Others may whine and complain, but I know for a certain fact that South Koreans are overwhelmingly happy not to be living under the Kim dynasty.

i hate america because your beer is flavourless over carbonated piss.

Our commercial beer is, yes. We have some very fine microbrews however and we're quite good at making wine.

Hating us for our beer though is like hating the UK for its use of offal in traditional cooking. Neither are ultimate expressions of national character

I'm stil young and i maybe don't know alot about the war and stuff but i have once been in America only for 1 week
with my boyfriend and what i saw there was that there were a lot of short sighted people (since you're talking about gays and stuff ) or maybe it's just the way new yorkers are

New Yorkers tend to be provincial despite living in a cosmopolitan city. Much of that is simply due to the circumstance of living in a city where nobody has time to pay attention to anything else going on around them. New York does have an enormously diverse immigrant population and loads of intellectuals to go along with their intellectual institutions, but the average New Yorker doesn't take advantage of them.

Now if you think New Yorkers are short-sighted, try visiting the rest of the country.

I believe in the tornado belt there are storm shelters, i think you would find yourself 'hiding' in basements.......

Oh stop. British shipping was taking phenomenal losses in the early stages of the war. Lend-Lease kept the UK afloat in the early days until the US could enter the war.

We could NOT enter the war in 1939. We didn't have any ability to defend ourselves. The US had a token standing army, a mothballed Atlantic navy, and was still flying biplanes! It takes time to ramp-up production, design and build new armaments, train personnel, and convince Americans (who were hotly isolationist given their experiences in WWI) to actually support going to war. One of the problems of democracy is that war is such a hot-button issue that it makes or breaks elections. Were Congress to unilaterally override American will, Americans would have overridden Congress and voted them all out and President Roosevelt too. I think you have very little idea of how opposed this country was to yet another involvement in Europe.

I will tell you that if you look back even as far as 1936, US industrialists, scholars, and the government itself were already planning for war. They knew it was coming. I have an issue of Forbes from 1937 which outlines all the infrastructure that this country needed to build just to be able to create modern military bases. Pearl Harbor, arguably the finest natural harbor in the Pacific, was little more than a bunch of wooden piers in 1936. There were no facilities to build warships, few people who knew how to design them, no way to transport parts for those ships, and no naval bases in which to build them. Everything we had in 1936 was obsolete by German or Japanese standards. The same is true for just about everything except aircraft. By 1939 we had made progress, but not enough. It really wasn't until 1939 that the US population had started to realize that war was inevitable and only a matter of time. Even then, most Americans had no desire to enter the war for any reason. Most Americans in those days did not live in cities but were rural agrarians with independent mindsets. It did not occur to them that Germany or Japan could ever attack the US mainland, much less invade it. So long as we could secure our coasts, Mexico, and Canada, we would be safe and why should we send our sons over there again to die for someone else's country?

We were just beginning to get out of the Depression, just beginning to get back on our feet and NOW, after years of poverty, Hoovervilles, bread lines, and, "No men wanted," we're going to war?? HELL NO!

No the world is NOT jealous of the USA.
That laughing you hear...we are laughing At you, not with you.

That's really quite rude and unfair but it does seem to be the norm and it was the same norm in 1939 when Europe considered America a backwater of uncultured immigrant farmers who were the dregs of European society. I have to ask, since Americans were acutely aware of such impressions held about them, why on earth would they want to go fight for people who thought such low things of them? Despising the people who you then criticize for not rushing to your aid when things get tough is disingenuous.

From personal experience noone in Eastern Eurpe is jealous of America. In fact we view America as culturally, morally and religiously inferior.

I am thankful that eastern Europe doesn't hate us nearly as much as western Europe does. Made my time there much easier.

I have this funny feeling it might have something to do with those of us who go around acting like the entire world has to kiss our asses until the end of time because of WWII, and the implication that we're somehow the only country on Earth who's ever done positive things for the world probably doesn't help either.

It's because we're taught in school from the very beginning that we saved the world twice. We're the greatest because we have a constitution, democracy, are a nation of immigrants, of unlimited freedoms and no social constraints (if you're white). We mythologize our recent history because we have no past history and nations need myths for cultural cohesion; something the US has greatly lacked through its entire history.

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

You tell this to Americans and they don't believe it. They will argue that such figures are obviously from some foreign source which is hell-bent on hating and destroying America because they hate freedom and are envious (not jealous -- Christ people! Learn your vocabulary!) of our unparalleled prosperity. America is the most avuncular nation in the world and we're beset by spiteful children who simply don't appreciate all we do for them.

We're not good at taking criticism.

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

Why thank you!

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.

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.

Florida is representative of the US, just not necessarily the best parts of it. I can't imagine why Brits would buy in Florida or Peoria because they will soon discover that Florida is the very center of everything most foreigners hate about America. Does nobody do their research? Florida is archly conservative, is crammed with WalMarts, has Disney World, a lot of crime, congested and unsustainable cities filled with the most uninspired architecture, is beastly hot and humid, filled with mosquitoes, alligators, and fire ants, and then every few years everything gets flattened by hurricanes. The population is largely old people who can barely drive and keep the education system impoverished by voting against school budgets, and if you want to see right-wing Christian megachurches, you'll find them all over the place.

A few places in Florida are not like that and certainly not all Floridians are. There are pockets of sense and sensibility here and there. It has a vibrant Cuban culture and great beaches and climate for much of the year.

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.

How good of you to swallow propaganda hook-line-and-sinker. I'm sure the corporate industrialists are thrilled that their investment in keeping you ignorant and uninformed and getting you to defend them while doing so is paying returns. Don't be an ignorant tool of powerful people.

[Some posts have been edited to stay within the 10,000 character limit]

 

[mynameisnobody]

The National Health Service enables ANYONE at ANYTIME and for ANY ILLNESS to be treated without the degredation of having to prove they can afford it.It's the mark of a civilized country,NO FLASHING OF CREDIT CARDS HERE!!!

Contrary to popular belief in some quarters, that's so in the US as well.

I know a person of extraordinary education and skill who suffered the misfortune of having both his health and his business tank, and seriously, at the same time. He is now penniless, but he tells me that he gets far better health care now than he ever did when he was paying for it. It seems to me to be a pretty good system. Unfortunately Congress is intent on "improving" it. My friend is, not surprisingly, concerned, as to him Congress's slapdash and amateurish dabbling could be a matter of life and death.

 

[superbot]

Americans make few claims about Parliamentary democracy, which is perhaps fitting, as they'll have none of it.

But that's OK, I'm sure many Europeans hate England anyway.

The UK is justifiably proud of being the world's oldest democracy and rightly imitated around the world as is our judicial system.As for you comments about other Europeans hating us;take a walk around London in the autumn sunshine,as I myself did today and there are more Europeans in the capital then you can shake a proverbial stick at!

 

[TurkeyWithaSunburn]

http://www.lpsg.org/129997-girls-long-thin-cock-also.html#post2307964

Personally ,

I think praying mantas is just an ignorant biT$$ , maybe we should cut off her genitals, yeah I think we should. This site is a complete waste of bandwith, filled with pathetic sorry ass people who are sex addicts. Probably can't get any in real life so they flock to the internet and show off and whine and complain... How do you like that for free speech?

Gee why are you here again?


http://www.lpsg.org/91885-people-say-usa-sucks-rant-7.html#post1550110

Veteran,

I'm 24 and proud to be american, we saved europe from hitler, my grandpa was a part of that, we are heroes we should be proud. We've given millions in aid to africa and poorer countries and done a lot for the rest of the world. Yes I do think our system of capitalism is out of control greed, some of our american companies put money before people and that isn't healthy. I also think going into iraq was a mistake, its apparent bush and his administration hyped intelligence, his own guy mcellelan came out and admitted this. That was a mistake and we shoulda kept our big fat noses out of it. But at the end of the day we are a great country, and have a lot of great people here, the europeans shouldn't bash us so much, even if they disagree with our policies, afterall without us they would be under rule of hitler and the nazis, our good in the world outweights our bad, if you take out iraq.

porter

Uhm you started this thread with the same thing you said many moons ago.

:reporter:
:shot:
:banned:
:usa:
I say you're a recycled troll.

 

[2322]

The UK is justifiably proud of being the world's oldest democracy and rightly imitated around the world as is our judicial system.As for you comments about other Europeans hating us;take a walk around London in the autumn sunshine,as I myself did today and there are more Europeans in the capital then you can shake a proverbial stick at!

Ummm... it's not the world's oldest democracy. Man, Iceland, The Faeroes, and San Marino all have better claims.

 

[Sergeant_Torpedo]

History is being re-written here. No European I have ever met has not been grateful to the people in the US during WWII who made the ultimate sacrifice. Many Americans made no sacrifice, they made profit. Usually you hear these zenophobic rants from people who just resent independent minds, and wouldn't dare stand up to real bullies. Can you imagine how offended the real heroes are when Hollywood re-writes history. Seeing secret servicemen trampling over war graves in France so no one gets too close to a Bush is sickening. I talked to an American veteran who had been bayonetted by Germans in Normandy and had crawled over a km to get to safety and he "apologised" to me for the bad manners of his countrymen treading over sacred soil; I thanked him for his contribution to true freedom and his remarkable response was to say it was of no matter to him now because the same bullies were still getting away with government sponsored judicial murder. He is mu hero, not some sanctimonious flag waver. When people start waving flags don't look at the banners, take a good hard look at the person waving the flag. God save all good people.

 

[798686]

Lovely post Freddie53 - very informative and great to read!

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!

LOL - you're like that kid at school who gets beat up in a fight, and then walks off saying "I've won!!!".

 

[Sergeant_Torpedo]

P.S. Jason - democracy is an Helenistic concept. The Scandinavian kingdoms were not true democracies, only nobles and land owners participated. Poor farmers, servants, slaves, women, were not included. There is only one dictatorship left in western Europe, and it is probably the safest and most equitable: Leichtenstein.

 

[porter111]

"LOL - you're like that kid at school who gets beat up in a fight, and then walks off saying "I've won!!!". "

Joll- Poor analogy man, your like the guy who shows up with a group of 30 people to fight one dude and than touts yourself as a hero (-;

 

[798686]

LMAO - touche, dude.

 

[mitchymo]

Ummm... it's not the world's oldest democracy. Man, Iceland, The Faeroes, and San Marino all have better claims.

Iceland has definately got the oldest democracy in Europe.

In response to your other post, maybe America was not best equipped to have entered WW2 but that did'nt mean they were powerless. Though i do not know the name of the company, one of the businesses in the US were making a sweet fortune selling fuel to the germans and thus aided their aerial bombardments on the UK. Surely the US knows what it is exporting and to whom? I am in no doubt that it was more than a security issue that held back the government but a financial benefit which would have been great for an emerging superpower at a time when other powers were caught up in a very costly battle.

 

[mitchymo]

"LOL - you're like that kid at school who gets beat up in a fight, and then walks off saying "I've won!!!". "

Joll- Poor analogy man, your like the guy who shows up with a group of 30 people to fight one dude and than touts yourself as a hero (-;

You silly man, Joll doesn't need to fight anyone, he is already a hero!

 

[andrexx]

Excuse me? Hahahahahahaha, trends?

High school shootings maybe.

You did not invent democracy, you did not invent christianity, you live by the same tools given to you by other nations, you are behind the times where the death penalty is concerned, you were not the first to legalise prostitution, you were not the first to decriminalise homosexuality, you do not have legal euthanasia across the nation.

You hardly play soccer or cricket or traditional rugby.

Your success at the olympics means nothing when at the same time you areone of the most obese countries in the world.

Your attitude stinks, you fail to read posts properly, blinded by your own world view. Nobody is jealous of you because we are proud of ourselves, that applies to all nations.

While I agree that the OP is a bit crazy and too expectant of praise for the USA, I am taken aback by your absolute rudeness towards the United States. As a whole, we are a good nation with good intentions. That doesn't mean our government always reflects that, but please forgive us...democracy can be janky at times.

Your insult about our "creating a trend" in school shootings is insensitive at best.

It would be impossible for us to have invented democracy. But then again, neither did the UK...though we are, to this day, the longest surviving constitutional republic.

Again, your point that we didn't create Christianity is odd, though also noted that it is a religion that is almost 2000 years old, so once again, of course we didn't. Also, last I checked, Christianity wasn't a "trend", except in the Bible Belt.

The death penalty is NOT nation-wide (my state hasn't had an execution since the early 1900s) and because it was not stated in the Constitution as a power given to the federal government, it is up for the states to decide when to abolish it.

Prostitution is something I don't really care about. And it isn't a trend, once again.

We definitely weren't the first to decriminalize homosexuality, though hopefully that can be patched up. It is a sad that still to this day many nations (in Europe included) still lack basic rights for gays).

Euthanasia is another topic that will have to go back to the states as it is there right, per the 10th Amendment. Some states do have it, though.

Your point about us lacking three sports that are popular in Europe (and admittedly, many parts of the world) is seemingly pointless. It could also be argued the other way around. The UK lacks a solid hockey, American football, and baseball team.

The American obesity problem is an extremely complex issue, but it does come down to the fact that we like food and Americans tend to live far "busier" lives, making fast food SEEM more convenient and easy. I was shocked to go to Europe and see entire families come home for lunch (during the school year no less) and eat and relax, then go back to classes. America is not structured this way and to an extent it has helped us, but it has also hurt us. However, to insult our Olympics team simply because we have fat people is just plain stupid and childish.

While I agree, once again, that the OP is looking for love in all the wrong places, it does NOT mean that we need people to take the complete, opposite approach and flat out insult us. A VERY large amount of Americans are educated, well-rounded, thin, healthy, and eager to get out in the world and MEET people like Europeans and learn about their culture. Europe in some cases, has unfortunately generalized American into fat, uneducated slobs. ONCE AGAIN, in many cases, THIS IS NOT SO.

So please, bring down the OP all you want, but don't insult the many Americans who are the "world citizens" you seem to think don't exist.

 

[B_Mister Buildington]

:reporter: This just in, America #1!

:unitedstates::unitedstates::unitedstates: :unitedstates::unitedstates::unitedstates:
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:usa: If tomooooorrow all the things were gone,
​

I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.
I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away. :usa1:
And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA!!!

:headbang::fest30::laola::usa2::usaribbon:​

 

[dong20]

The UK is justifiably proud of being the world's oldest democracy and rightly imitated around the world as is our judicial system.

Not even close to the oldest.

Ummm... it's not the world's oldest democracy. Man, Iceland, The Faeroes, and San Marino all have better claims.

Indeed, although I believe Kalinga may trump all the above in that sense. That being said, the oldest Parliament is Tynwald (Isle of Man) at over 1000 years.

More relevant perhaps is how one defines Democracy. In any true sense Id argue there isn't a true democacy in existence today - perhaps the six nations, or maybe Switzerland, sort of?

The UK has only had any justifiable claim to being democratic for 80 years. Still, it's done better than some in that respect. There's too much misconception around the term.