And just what is "culture"? Some piece of classical music that happen to have been written 300 years ago in Europe? Every society has its culture. It may not be like your culture, but it does exist separately, or intermixed with others. If the U.S. "culture" is so bad, then why does the rest of the World so readily borrow from it? When I would turn on the radio in Germany, it was largely music from the U.S. which was being played. When the National Football League recently played a Pro football game in Munich, the crowd was singing "Take Me Home Country Roads" and "Sweet Caroline". Oh, and the stadium was sold out! When I listen to German radio over the Internet, I am constantly taken back at how the German language has borrowed from American English. Not just techncal terms, but everyday verbs and nouns and just throws them into the German sentence. Is language not part of "culture"? Just musings of an 81 year old American who lived in Germany in the early sixties, had a German wife for 50 years, and has been traveled back there many times over the last 60 years. I have a perspective which evolved over many years and given me snap shots of Germany's changes. For sure, the Germany that I first knew, has changed greatly.
@@nejdro1 Yes exactly. I think this is what people either forget or say they dislike because their own music industry does not have the same kind of reach...
I would argue that music has become more international than a culture thing. You are off course right that English music (English in terms of language, not origin) is played to a very high degree in Germany, but let us be honest, the music "styles" are borrowed back and forth. The anthem of the US is classical music that evolved in Europe, Rock n Roll and the derived music styles like Heavy Metal etc are borrowed from the US. This is a thing to embrace, not to fight any culture war about. People like K pop. I personally don't, but it is a thing. In general I think that it is stupid fighting over cultural things. Every culture in the world has to offer something good, sometimes really awesome that I would like to know and try (especially when it comes to food). Personally I will not visit the US before some major issues are solved there, among them there is unregulated gun ownership, badly regulated food market and health care. If I should ever work in the US, my contract will include all the benefits I would get in a European country, because that is another issue that is handled very bad in the US. Having that said, my impression is that people want to make a change on these topics (especially the younger generation), so I still have hope. I think the US has so much to offer in kinds of locations to visit, so I would love to one day take a year to travel the country.
I think it's interesting and I had some of the thoughts already by myself. I would have added a part about the uneducated people that are very often shown on RU-vid and so on. Stupidity triggers people a lot. Therefore I was surprised you skipped this topic, but all in all, your video makes a lot of sense. 😊😊
Europe has no culture and soccer is boring. What has Europe invented recently? We have the best technology and my state has class. Europe lacks style and bbq
333 million Americans, I think it's more politics than people. Loud people get noticed quickly, so you're more likely to come across 'brash Yanks'....rather than Americans who are decent, quiet and less ethnocentric. The loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room....I have met both types, living in Lublin.
Seems you consider yourself to be a decent US citizen but apparently, it never crossed your mind how ethnocentric it is to call yourself "an American" and to mean by that to be a US citizen just as though nobody else living anywhere in North, Middle or South America was "an American".
@@JLDReactions Whatever you feel like as long as it distinguishes you from other Americans and does not somehow degrade them to "Americans of a somewhat lower status". Personally, I just stick with US citizens until someone comes up with something better.
This "Ami" does. During my years in Germany, I bent over backwards to not be that stereotypical American. I studied German immediately, and went on to get my degree in German. I dressed in the German style . I hung out with German students my age. I married a German girl and stayed with her for 50 years til her death.
@@nejdro1hehe, how did you dress German :D? To me, Germans don't seem particularly stylish (outside of bigger cities, perhaps). I'm German myself but it would be interesting to know what you picked up coming from the outside...
I have been lucky to spend a lot of time outside the US. I am a Army veteran. I signed up to defend this nation. Yet, this place is a mess and I am stuck here, as I am over 50. We could be so much better. I am quiet when I travel. I am not self centered, but I am not what you see in American media. Many are like me, but we don't get noticed. Hopefully, we grow up as a nation. And soon.
Yes I think part of it is the media and stereotypes. But as the research showed a lot of it is about politics, and although it shouldn’t be the case the way a countries leaders behave reflects what people think about the population as a whole
the left wing media has portrayed Americans as loud and obnoxious -- 100% bullshit. Do you really think loud mouth poor Americans travel to Paris or Prague? Utter nonsense
There certainly is a lot of terrible stuff happening in the US these days. But to say America has no culture is a joke especially since literally the world has been influenced by US culture post WW2. Everybody wears jeans which is a US invention, literally almost everybody in the world is exposed to US pop culture & to some extent influences your life too. And then the competitive culture of Silicon Valley, Wall Streers, the Coeboy culture, etc. To say the US has no culture is a joke. Every country has its own culture & identity. Plus, when people say Americans are self centered I mean it could be true but generally speaking every individual is self centered to a certain extent. I don't see Americans are anymore self centered than many other countries in the world. Americans are kinda ignorant because they don't know anything about the world outside of the US. But ignorant & self centered are not the same.
As an American who has spent much of the past 50 years living in Europe, I have a couple of things to say. One, as far as thinking they are the best in the world, the French take the cake. Two, what most Europeans have a hard time understanding, the U.S. is geographically a very big country and is not one culture. There are many parts of the country where I do not feel at home and attitudes of people in one area towards those in another area are much like, say, the attitudes of people in one European country towards those of another. Belgian jokes in France = West Virginia jokes in northern states, etc. It seems to be human nature to make sweeping generalizations and stereotype others and mock them if possible. The world would be a better place if we all just took each person as a representative only of themselves, but I don't see it happening.
Of course there are varied differences but is more worrying to me is that studies seem to show that there are very predictable patterns. And yes maybe it shouldn’t be the case but humans make snap judgements all the time and the country where you come from is a big part of your identity, whether you want it to be or not
No, I'm sorry. This is wishful thinking. The French may be arrogant, but they are the first to criticize their own state. Americans on the other hand - on average - can't stomach honest criticism of their country and are the number one most defensive people in the western world. "The US is not one culture" is another one of those vapid statements given that this is true for most European countries as well. You'll find more cultural, linguistic and even religious diversity in a country like Switzerland than in the entirety of the US. I find it also ironic that you criticize the tendency to make sweeping generalizations after your initial claim aobut the French: Americans are comfortable with generalizing over others. They aren't very comfortable with looking in the mirror when others generalize them. This is coming from a European who has spent many years in the US.
@@schtreg9140- Agree regarding the general defensiveness of Americans relative to people of other western countries. As for cultural diversity in Switzerland vs. the US, calling BS on that, though I’m happy to hear the argument for it. I’ve been to Switzerland and it is diverse as you say. But there is no equivalent there or anywhere in Europe to the differences between say Hilo, Hawai‘i; Hollywood; Alaska; and Appalachia.
I think some of the harshness in the criticism the US gets for their policies also results from disappointment. We expect more from people we like and somehow, maybe unconsciously, idealise. If they fail (in our eyes) they often get more criticism than someone we didn't think much of in the first place.
@@mmoretti Haha, another victim of the American education system and the belief in orange fake gods who tell you what to think. Good job, Donnie, she reads every lie from your lips as if it was the revelation of a new religion. Well, a cult, that is. A cult with a golden, err..., orange calf. And the stupid are dancing around it as they always do...
As an indigenous American with tribal citizenship, (that means am a dual citizen)I always found these view points about America having no culture so limited and quite frankly uninformed and ignorant. We have over 169 indigenous languages here that are actively spoken. Along with 326 sovereign nations with their own government to government relationships, constitutions, treaties, police force, tax policies, etc. there are currently 574 federally recognized tribes. We have HUNDREDS of rich living cultures within turtle island (United States). It has been my experience in Europe that they understand our native cultures are departed and reduced to folklore, which is largely propelled by media propaganda. We have our own philosophies, ways of life, culinary knowledge, ceremonies, name places, rights of passage, relationship to the land that many foreigners don’t know or care to seek out. Every time I travel to Western Europe I find myself schooling folks about our history that was here LONG before the doctrine of discovery was implemented. The first part of the American story and its laws is based upon us. Even our women’s suffrage came from the women of the consulting of the haudenosaunee women. Good Grief! Let’s do better !
When Europeans say America has no culture, they are talking hyperbolically about white America - which is a sentiment most often shared by non-white people in and outside the US when they mock things as being "so white" like bland cooking or boring music. The less informed and more ignorant minorities often think that this "white" regers to Europeans and they don't understand that Europeans mock white Americans for the same issues.
Please stop drinking the Marxist bong water thinking you are going to enjoy supremacy, your future if you get your way will be death or enslavement by your Marxist globalist overlords. Learn from history or be a speed bump. & spare us with the haudenosaunee aka Iroquois gave us women’s suffrage palaver. Iroquois women were in charge of planting maintaining and harvesting the crops and virtually all work. They didn’t own their land or even their dwellings, they had no vote or voice in governance. Don’t embroider on it. Frankly if you’re willing to lie about it, you sound as exploitative as a pretendian. I’m 25% American Indian, Abenaki, that is Algonquin. No American Indian is indigenous, our peoples crossed the Bering Sea from Siberia.
How many USA presidents were indigenous Americans? Are these 326 "sovereign" nations allowed to have bilateral relations with any country outside of the USA? Can they ask for independence? Do they have a say in USA's foreign policy? Native cultures ARE reduced to folklore, sadly.
@@Tukemuth The law would suggest otherwise. There are three governments in the US; Federal, State, and Tribal. The Americans inherited the treaties that were made with Native Amerricans with Britain, and they were later ratified, thus having to do with the first U.S. foreign policy. The Bureau of Indian Affairs used to be apart of the Department of War, now it is under the Department of the Interior. Tribal nations are considered to be domestic dependent nations, that were created from the Marshall Trilogy enforced by the Trust Doctrine and government to government relations. Tribal nations share their own constitutions, governance leadership, jurisdiction, criminal and civil law systems, constitutions, police force, human departments and commerce. The US constitution mentions Native Americans nations three times, one of them being the commerce clause. Within treaty rights, which vary from nation to nation, almost always contain usufructuary rights, which require government to government relations. Tribal leaders are Presidents, Executives, and formal leaders of their nations. Additionally, only tribal nations decide who their citizens are, like any political sovereignty, such as the United States or France. Tribal nations also send independent representation to places like the UN. There are several trade agreements within which tribal nations can operate independent of the US Government. Some tribal nations have their own passport. The Indian Child Welfare Act illustrates sovereignty, tribal court systems, wellness court systems, among many other policies and law. U.S.C code 25 contains the laws surrounding Native Law. Aboriginal title and treaties ARE LAW OF THE LAND. For further reading you can visit your nearest tribal governance center, interpretive center, tribal cultural center, or something similar like reading the history of federal Indian policy in the United States. Thanks for playin' - Have a nice day.
@@user-fd9xw5lg3q "Tribal nations are considered to be domestic dependent nations" = reduced to folklore. In other words, they have freedom within the boundaries of their golden cage.
I've worked with a lot of people internationally and I have to say, I don't really meet people from other countries who seem to dislike Americans in particular. Sure, I suppose they could keep it to themselves since I am American, but I usually try to discuss their country, their people, their history and also my own and the verdict tends to be that Americans are interesting, capable, and most of all friendly. I've actually been very surprised by the number of different cultures that have told me Americans are the friendliest people they've ever met (and in a good way, not uncomfortable way). From Brits to Persians to Chinese... I think your experience has been a selection bias. Just like there seem to be many extreme leftist opinions emanating from the US now, and they exist, but they're a vocal minority. I can't think of a place I'd rather live, honestly. We've got our flaws, no question, but I'm happy to be an American.
As a half German, half American I have become more and more irritated by my European friends and family as well as the younger American generation. America is more than just McDonalds, and I find it ironic that Americans today join in on the cultural stigmatization of their own country. It's like in order not to be perceived as the "ignorant American", expat Americans embrace a European position of ignorance towards America. Everybody's ignorant; open up your minds and put your resentments aside.
I just discovered your channel. You can tell I am an American, because I would describe it as, Awesome! LOL. A couple of things - Yeah, we suck. (sigh) Oh, brother, we got that out of the way. We live in 2024, but people forget context, and by that I mean history, and that is how each of us on this planet got to this very day, regardless of who is reading my comment on your video. Americans are people that are not defined by geography or ethnicity. Americans came to this continent as explorers, adventurers, slaves, indentured servants, fleeing political or religious persecution, searching for a better life, a second chance, or they were kicked out their home country. This trend continues to this day. Americans have very close ties to the home country of their heritage, whether real or imagined, as annoying as it may be to those still left in the "Old Country." This is why we became involved in two world wars, (remember who started them) and the Cold War, not to mention the bloodbath in Ukraine and the Middle East, and still have US military all over the world. Considering the conflicts of the last 110 years, would Europe and Asia want us to pack up our boys and girls and toys, and come back home? We don't spend $700 billion a year to protect the US, but to protect you. Yeah, we don't have culture, we are a bunch of rednecks, entitled loud obnoxious, fat ignoramuses. The United States is the oldest, oldest, continuous representative constitutional democracy in world history. Thank you, Britain, for your traditions and language in laying the foundation for this achievement. Yeah, we have a lot of conflict. Every day. Living in America is like constantly arguing with your wife, friends and family and being in court. Remember the American Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression, depending on where you are from - 650, 000 men Killed in Action, plus our best President, Abe Lincoln, assassinated. Eventually, we resolve our conflicts and come up with a solution and move on. Thank God and our forefathers for the Constitution and the rule of law. Our culture is a rich stew made up of all peoples from all over the world. American music, innovation in all fields and endeavors of science, engineering, art, are because of the talent of immigrants who became citizens, slaves who became free, and the world that celebrates the gifts these Americans gave us. And our culture bounces back across the world and comes back and is refined and improved and sent back out to the world. American music is the best example. Many Americans would state that The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are an American Band. Nothing more American. They are, of course, British, who were influenced by American Black blues, rockabilly and country, they made it their own, revolutionized and sent it back our way. So many examples of so many endeavors where this has happened. Something about America where this freedom of creativity can happen. I guess because people have the freedom to fail here and then find redemption. But, the real thing that is the unspoken or very difficult to express reason, that people all over the world do not like about Americans and The United States is this - You can move to France. You can move to China. You can move to Germany, or Egypt or any other country in the World. You can get a passport and be a legal citizen. You can be fluent in whatever language in your whatever adopted country. But, y'all, ain't ever gonna become a Frenchman, or Chinese, or German, or Egyptian, I don't care if you renounced your citizenship, or how well you blended in. However, you can be from India. You can be from Nigeria. You can be from Vietnam. You can be from Italy. You can be from El Salvador, or any other country or place on this planet. Hell, you can be from the UK, even- And you can become an American. An American, just as American as me - true American, an American as John Wayne, George Washington or Vivek Ramaswamy. That is what makes us different- We are not defined by geography or ethnicity.
@@britingermany Please keep up the good work. I would love to travel the world and live in different places and enjoy the people, savor the culture. I live on a farm in the rural South, isolated and quiet. The internet and y'all RU-vidrs bring the world to me, truly bringing an experience with HD and surround sound that is illuminating and educational, given with good humor and sensitivity. I am glad I discovered your channel.
Another interesting presentation. I look forward to your videos. As for today's topic, I'm an American who, like most Americans, has my roots from somewhere else. In my case, my entire ancestry comes from northern Germany and is not far removed. I knew my German grandparents. When in Germany, we visit old family areas where we blend in and appear not so much as tourists in that our 'Americanism' is not apparent. That interaction has shown us that average people living their day to day lives don't differ much between the U.S. and Germany. We experience things beneath the cloud of media representations of what 'life is like'. The U.S. is a place where citizens can make or let the country be whatever they act or choose not to act on. To some, that process is too slow and feel they need to 'escape' the current conditions. In closing, a thought entered my mind at the end of the video: "Americans, you can't live with them and you can't live without them."
Haha that’s a great ending quote. It sounds like you are still really connected to your German side. A lot of what we see (from the outside) is politics, culture wars and race baiting. I think if you take that away there’s still a lot of good stuff
There is no general “European culture” just like there is no general “American culture”. As a German-born who has lived in New England and now the Deep South, I can assure you there is a wide variety of culture, well-known and not so well-known. And modern American culture has produced more than just Google, Apple and Tesla. The intersection of cultures, mostly European and American has dominated what the world has achieved over the last 150 years or so (building on what was before) - and yes, that includes setbacks. What would music and literature and art in general look like today without America? Just think about that alone. So let’s enjoy what is available and continue to learn from each other perhaps?
To answer you question in the video's title: in the 1960s, the marxist intelligencia decided that Americans were too fat and happy to have a proletarian revolution. So, our education system has slowly been subverted to emphasize self hatred to bring about a communist revolution.
What Europeans get wrong about American culture is that it’s a culture that didn’t emerge from urban concentrations (citadels and towns) with their surpluses of wealth devoted to non-productive activies (such as arts and crafts) and religious patronage that built enormous cathedrals, but it’s a culture that emerged from capitalism, and specifically (and no surprisingly) entertainment. So it’s a culture that needs the market validation and it’s limited by it, and that gravitates around, heavily I’d say, imagery and spectacle, whether films, tv, musical shows, theme parks, etc. Even food in America is often portrayed (and sold) as a show, with 3 inches of cheese on pretty much everything and burgers the size of a lorry. Just saying that they are different cultures misses, in its self-evident rhetoric, a crucial element. Not only they are different, but their parameters and values system are in opposite axis. Europeans value their culture because that’s what they have been fed with, literally. But taking the same parameters in the absence of historical circumstances and judging other cultures in terms of their worth is ridiculous and frankly ignorant. The real question to me is whether we will be watching and admiring old American films, or any other visual artefact for that, in a century from now in the same way that we admire and rejoice on a centuries’ old cathedral, castle, and generally the architecture in Europe. I don’t have a crystal ball but that to me, the passage of time, is the only judge I’d listen to.
Interesting insight, thanks for sharing. I think the world of tec and entertainment is changing very rapidly…I believe you can find Walkmans and portable CD players in museums these days? 🤣time will tell
Nice view! You arguing how modern media and markets form US culture is an interesting argument. It explains the WHY behind the feeling I had that the media circus seems so important in the US. True, it is everywhere, but it explains the focus on it and how it even might crowd out local elements or traditions out of current culture. Again, happens everywhere, but explains yet again how US culture feels so fast and mercurial. Can you recommend a book on this?
There is another aspect that has to be taken in account in Europe, many people still live roughly in the same area as did their ancestors 50, 100, 150, 200 or even 300 years ago, and that is where most people will just lose track as the older records are rare for common people, in case of millers and other such vocations, you could be able to go back to some 14-15 hundreds. But then you will also lose track. On the other hand, when genetic analysis of skeletons from 500-1000 years ago is done, the researchers will often find living descendants of those people living just few miles away from the place where their distant ancestor was buried some 30 generations ago. And that also plays role in the culture as it is not only about fine arts, about paintings and theatres, gilded books and nobility and clergy that had lived in the cities, but also about all folk traditions, about the festivals, about vernacular architecture (you can spot the regional differences between old buildings), and all those things were slowly changed over time, slowly altered each year. So while the those festivals are held around the same time as were thousand years ago, they would be unrecognizable to those long dead people (If they would woke from their eternal slumber)
Hi, a thought provoking video once again.! Great. As to the outgoing, less shy americans you have met or encountered while traveling, or are now living abroad, it is the type of personality that eagerly WANTS to travel, see new things, experience new cultures, are aware of the differences, good and bad. While I lived in the USA -in my teen and young adult years-, only about 1% in high school and 2% in college who "dared" to take a year abroad / go on an exchange programme. Most of my school and college mates had no passport, or had only gone to Canada or Mexico if at all out of the USA. Most of my friends were, like me first generation born in America or had arrived as children. We lived a dual culture every day. The now more concentrated media landscape (only 5 major corporations now where it used to be over 200 3 decades ago) gives a false and skewed picture of the USA when we consume any media stemming from them. Much is aimed to a 12 year old level. (Alas!) I too am grateful for many innovations and technology out of USA.
Funny thing about the political leaning, for me as an American living in Germany, when I met my SPD-voting in-laws and extended family, at first they probed my politics to see if I was a Trumper, and they found out not and were initially relieved, but after a few more minutes of probing my politics they realized "oh, he's to the left of us... by a lot... by a lot a lot."
@@koschmx the above two US anti white Marxists are not representative of Germans or Europeans who want their people to live. This is why we need to get out of NATO and expell US occupation forces from Germany.
Biden just raised taxes again to bail out the students chanting "Genocide Joe" out of debt at the expense of the middle class already suffering under inflation so high that monthly grocery bills have nearly doubled. I feel like the Republicans must have infiltrated his campaign's team. xD
Culture, in the simplest definition, is way of life. To say that there's no culture is to say that there's no life. I think it's more on the perception that one's culture is dominant/better than the other. If you look at it in the lens of arts, music, traditions - they do exist in the US. In fact, it is often mimicked around the world. It's so easy to form stereotypes in a country that is heavily observed around the world. But if you go down to the nooks and crannies of it - there's so much of it that you don't know.
This is a thoughtful video, but I have to say, in shame, that Americans have been treated appallingly by Europeans in the past 50 years or so. Europeans do indeed think that their culture is superior, but just look what it had decayed into by 1939. Dictatorship was the continental norm in so many European states. American tourists in Europe are frequently ridiculed by pompous conceited Europeans to an extent that would be regarded as racist if it applied to people from other countries. I am absolutely no sympathiser with Trump, but chickens are starting to come home to roost. There is a genuine feeling growing in the U.S.A. that they have been wasting their money on the defence of Europe. Some are returning to the isolationist opinions that dominated U.S. politics before 1941. Meanwhile, Europe is starting to realise that they have run their armed forces into the ground and would be highly vulnerable if Putin decided to put N.A.T.O. to the test. Fear of this possibility could force Europeans, by necessity, into appeasement. The E.U. is starting to look increasingly absurd, as it is the first empire in human history that has been constructed without any concern for its defence. The worst culprit here is Germany. For such a successful and wealthy nation to ignore the possibility of external dangers is almost criminally negligent. I would like to think that 2022 woke up Europeans, but even on this thread of replies I notice a stupid comment blaming the Americans for the invasion of Ukraine. The pointless bigotry against the country paying the bills for European defence continues. Future historians will have the final word on this sorry tale.
Unfortunately, historians at university are taught to find ways that Americans can be blamed for something first and foremost. They do this with the English, other European imperial powers and Rome and Greece before them. Other then the blame game, the other primary focus is on how to argue that all Western achievements were either copied, inspired or made possible by “Eastern wisdom.” Future history books will write about how the glorious forces of socialism slayed the ugly American beast and united the world under “one global order.”
Thanks for your comment. I think the West lacks a sustainable strategy. Something that unites us and takes away the ground from populist forces. Loyalty could be a strength if it is based on trust and refraining from blaming one another. Appeasement (change through trade) and cooperation once worked very well in Europe. Unfortunately, the idea of transferring this to Russia had no lasting success. The only thing that comes to mind is the accusation of being dependent on Russia and how you can trade with Russia, it also works with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc. If you see three ways to ensure peace, then it is a) a strong army b) appeasement c) prosperity transfer. A strong army is not possible for us in Germany due to the 2+2 agreement. Nobody's shaking it here. A better idea? Complexity does not disappear through simplification.
@menschin2 Thanks for your kind reply. I believe that the current size of the German (full time) armed forces is around 185,000. The agreement you refer to states that the figure should not go beyond 345,000. So, there is plenty of scope to expand within the agreement. Nobody is arguing for armed forces beyond that strength, as we are talking about a purely defensive force. Britain and France need to follow the same course. The main problem for Germany (as for all European countries) is the quality and quantity of existing military equipment. Clearly, there is an urgent need for investment in new technology. Normally, I entirely agree with you about trade being the best way to relieve tensions. Despite all we knew of the structure and nature of the Russian regime, I would have gone along with this up to February 2022. Then Putin actually invaded Ukraine. Threats and boasts are one thing, but deeds are another. He certainly crossed the line in terms of Western comprehension of his character. The behaviour is unprecedented since WW2. Since that time, the statements issued by the Kremlin have got crazier and crazier. Frequent threats of nuclear war and mentions of countries that Russia would like to either dominate or occupy are banded about. This could all be B.S., but we have to ask ourselves what sort of person is willing to lose the lives of 100,000 of his fellow countrymen in just two years. I fear that we have to take this seriously, otherwise we risk negotiations with a regime which has no intention to keep to any agreements. Obviously, we all know that Europe has been in this situation before. Anyway, thanks for the video. Warm Regards.
There are particular reasons why Germany didn't invest in defence, one of them being that other countries didn't want them to because of history. But I agree with large parts of the comment and yes it's about time Europe invested properly in its defence. The British are less guilty than most European countries of just leaning on the US. But the UK military was run down under the Conservative Government in the last 14 years. Strangely the Conservatives always do this.
Without US interference there would be no conflict in Ukraine or any other part of Europe. This is a fact. And this is true for many other regions of the world as well. So I am definitely FOR an isolationist attitude meaning that the USA stay on their continent where they belong.
I am an indigenous American, as in having pre-Columbian roots here, and I always cringe a bit when people describe America as young and having only a shallow, short-lived culture. We've been here since prehistoric times. Furthermore, modern American culture owes a lot to us, including much that we have exported to the rest of the world. The engineering principles behind suspension bridges and other structures that rely on tension rather than gravity alone? That was us. Supercrops that other people still can't figure out how we bred them, such as corn and potatoes? Also us. Even the modern concept of democracy, that enfranchised people who didn't own land, we did that (granted, the Scandinavians had something similar, but lost it to feudalism. Greek democracy and the Magna Carta didn't even come close to shedding the concept of hierarchy. We invented real democracy.) Quite a few subtle attitudes that distinguish Americans from the rest of the world come from us. And we are ancient.
Exactly how I feel! I’m an Indian American whose lived my whole life in the US, and people will quickly bring up “The US exists on stolen land” but also say “the US has no culture” Well that’s a bit contradictory isn’t it? While the government has been awful to the natives, America has always been a land of changing demographics and fluid culture. That just doesn’t happen to fit the homogenous European confines of culture.
I wouldn't be so hasty to call corn and potatos 'super crops'. No, they're just crops, similar to all other crops that humans were breeding and growing all over the planet. When you say "We invented real democracy" are you simply ignoring all the other tribal societys the world over (including European ones)? They still had tribal chiefs and elders anyway (i.e hierarchy). Lastly, everyone is ancient. Everyone has ancient ancestors in prehistory.
Why is it that when people compare American culture to European culture, they always take current American culture, or American culture since the 1950s, and compare it to European culture from hundreds of years ago? Believe it or not, American culture did exist before the 1950s. I am a student of American culture in the 1800s, and when someone mentions American culture, I think of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the short stories and poems of Edgar Allen Poe, the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the songs of Stephen Foster, the songs of the Civil War, the speeches of Abraham Lincoln, the poems of Walt Whitman, the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, etc. These products of American culture are worthy of great respect, esteem, and study. So, when I hear Europeans say America has no culture, I want to bring up these and other cultural works of the 1800s, not McDonald's or Walmart or recent television shows.
As young man I saw the US as the good guy. Then I grew wiser and learnt what they have done to divide Europe with orchestration of the war in Ukraine. Than they blew up nordstream and now I dislike the country I was once born in.
Hello dear. I'm working at the airport Frankfurt. Here is what I observed in the past two years: In 2022 the overall impression and experience I made was that the majority of American visitors seemed to have forgotten how to behave as a guest in a foreign country. All stereotype were checked marked on a daily bases, when I interacted with them. Last year it got a lot better. Just here and there you had to take a deep breathe, if you know what I mean. Now this year so far, I can tell that American visitors seem to have done some research before they travel and it has been a pleasure to host them. I can still spot them a mile away (clothing for example), but the other stereotypes, such as being loud, obnoxious, etc. aren't really present. Thanks you for your great videos. Always enjoy them.
The Germans are always behaving themselves while on vacation? I am sure the people in Spain will have a very different and strong view point of the Germans who hit the Spanish beaches, get hammered, and start fights. Many Germans I have met during my travels seem to forget their famous rules once they jump on a plane.
The irony is some Europeans don’t like us but they do enjoy American products from Apple gadgets to American movies and shows on Netflix/Amazon Prime/Disney+/Max/Apple TV to shopping on Amazon and spending time on RU-vid.
Sure, but they dont like them because theyre american. They like them despite of it. When a hollywood movie comes out, "its not too american" is a thing that is remarked positively about it.
There is no single American culture. American cultures vary depending on what part of the country is being examined. Cultures in the US are an amalgam of indigenous cultures and the cultures brought by people who came from Europe, Africa, Asia and other parts of the world. Many of the imported cultures evolved further in the new nation from their original forms.
There is American culture based on our founding values, that is distinct from the various ethnic etc cultures various peoples have. The US by it’s very being shall never be defined as multicultural because various ethnic, racial cultures do not define the constitutional republic that is the United States of America
Interesting take, America isn't loved by many Americans. Many of us still love the land and people and aspects of the many cultures here and we have so many reasons for critiquing ourselves. Some of us need more exposure to the world, but many people in the USA just need to appreciate what we have and make it better rather than allowing radicals to destroy and manipulate us from the inside out. We've fallen for the BS and love to hate eachother and punish eachother for our different beliefs. We've got a lot of culture though. Culturally, the South is different in dialects, food and bahavior than the West or North. The homogenous aspect is on the surface and tends to be very blunt, but there's more to us than that. We are asking to be disliked, however.
I think you're right. The world generally just knows NY and LA because that's what is constantly projected out through Hollywood and the media. I think the US has a lot to be grateful for and it does seem like it's descended into self loathing
America probably isn’t loved by Americans like you but true patriots still love their country even though a certain segment of the population can only ever seem to go on about how the country needs to be destroyed and remade.
A huge issue is that perceptions of the USA are formed based on coverage of the Northeast US and the West Coast as what the US is like. The entirety of the middle of the US is ignored in news, and popular culture, other than to paint those of us in the South or the middle of the country as rubes.
I think it’s a case of perspective. As the research shows what the US perhaps sees as “helping” other countries is viewed as interventionism by the international community…
Thank you for this fair and even-handed assessment, which was very refreshing. As a US citizen, I can say that as a country we do have a sort of collective sense of inferiority, contrary to what people think and what our image portrays to the world. I have traveled extensively in Europe and S. America and the thing that frustrated me most was that so many people have stereotypical views of who Americans are -- both positive and negative. I understand why many Europeans feel negatively toward us, but many of them have never been to this country and don't understand that many of us do not fit their pre-conceived notions of who we are.
...and, why would Amwrica be thought of as stupid when so many Nobel prizes are awarded to Americans, and why so many of their universities and research institutions are global draws?
@@JT-rx1eo The opinions that Europeans hold are directed toward the general American population, not the Nobel Prize winners. The stereotype that Americans are stupid most likely stems from the objectively poor American education system.
I guess because most other countries only see the superficial, consumerist world culture America exports, Europeans think America has no culture. The US actually has very diverse subcultures, and the culture varies significantly by region. The demographics are different, and even the way people speak or what they eat.
I’ve found also as bourne out in the vid that the more Liberal left-leaning people are, the less they like Americans..I agree it’s a lot to do with their own self-loathing, Scots and Irish have a similar hatred of the English.. it’s the same of modern migration in the US and Europe, those coming with their ‘hand out’ don’t like Americans and Brits. Which is odd! I like American self-confidence, but I also like the modesty of Western Europeans. I find Eastern Europeans a bit brash and vulgar.
@@petermartin8756 as a Scot I can't agree that on the whole we hate the English. It's a complicated relationship. The Irish more or less despise the Scots because we never claimed our independence and because we're viewed as being complicit in some of the worst crimes against the Irish historically. We're hopelessly muddled up in summary. A few small islands and so much animosity and anger.
I have been working in a company which was part of several US corporations and had to comply with export and trade regulations of the US. I find that Germans and to that degree Europeans make a point of not knowing how intertwined with the US their own history actually is. E.g. the Ottoman empire had pirates who regularly raided ships in the Mediterranean to enslave people and European countries merely paid tribute to them to keep seaways safe. It was the US who put an end to this by dispatching troops to Northern Africa and and completely raiding a pirate city at a time when European countries considered such an action inconceivable. Or did you know that Kaizen is not a Japanese management technique but a US American one introduced to Japan to enable Japan after WW2 to recover and meet the productivity expectations of the US? As to different mindsets: "Asterix and Obelix" was a hugely successful comic series not just in France but throughout Europe. In the US it failed. When researching why it was found that US readers identified themselves not with the heroes of the story i.e. the Gauls but with the Romans who are made fun of in that series.
Its not just europeans, most people dislike intolerant people who look down on other cultures, Americans are wired to think this way of other ways of living. So naturally people from other countries dislike them.
I lived in Canada for a while so was used to a lot of criticism of the US. I would not live in the US due to 3 main factors; healthcare is not universal, too many guns on the streets and the use of capital punishment.
That seems fair enough. The argument for guns is to protect oneself from (in the extreme) the state itself. I wonder if Canada feels more restricted and repressed than the US? I'm only basing this off the compelled speech laws and the fact that they froze bank accounts during the truckers protest...
@@britingermany I'm an immigrant canadian. Living next to america is equivalent to sleeping next to an elephant. It could squash you and never care less. Restricted or repressed? Canada has swallowed the american poison pill of woke, DEI, political correctness, mass immigration, WEF and Davos global view, and every social identity you could imagine. I identify as a tree. There is no push back against this because we are so meek. US culture and media has taken over. The truckers were never real truckers. They were sovereign citizens made up of ex-police and ex-military who don't recognize any government. Real truckers were at work. Canadians are in awe, envious and disgusted by america. We look to them to validate us.
@@britingermany I do not think Canadians are repressed at all. What an unusual comment to make. If anything US people are repressed with their anti abortion laws, lack of healthcare that is affordable and whole swathes of the country outside of the cities where folk are living in extreme poverty and lack of education. That to me is more repressive than living in Canada where the opposite is true. Also the Massacres in schools do not exactly tell me that people are protected due to guns being available.
No, a lot of us can take criticism. It's just the majority giving it are down right rude. "We aren't stupid like Americans!" "At least we don't have to worry about our children being shot, dumb Americans!" "America sucks!" "You have no culture!" "Your only cuisine is hamburgers and french fries!" "Black Americans aren't really Americans though" These tend to be the majority of "valid criticism" that we get. Of course we are defensive when people have no tact and make hasty generalizations. Even your statement is just another silly generalization.
@@Crackalacking_Z Most countries don’t have the credentials to back up such a statement. And most do enjoy talking about their countries when they were at the height of their power and the greatest contributions made by their countrymen to the rest of the world. Honestly, I feel this is a good thing. We should all be proud of our countries’ heritage while also not being blind to its flaws.
As a Brit abroad (Mexico). I meet many Americans who are vibrant yet dull, I put it down to an innate self confidence and an indifference to that beyond their own borders.
The Brits are so very cramped in their little island. It's of no wonder why you ran away. Of course, you've made a foolish comparison. But, when you talk of outside of our borders, you're talking about over 3000 miles in distance.
@@sararichardson737 oh yes - most certainly! When my innate and extreme curiosity begins to dim, having run out of places here, within my vast country - larger than Europe, then I'll begin to look at other places. It's so very varied and extraordinarily fascinating here, I believe that will be after a long long time.
@@sararichardson737 ??? Well, all that I know, and, as far as I'm concerned, I'm most assuredly, not embarrassed. There's no reason I should be either - of course. Just keep walking with your head slung low.
That feeling you had in Australia of awkwardness, wasn't awkwardness but humility and self-awareness. It's so important to remember that you're not the center of attention in the new country. I love my American friends, but it's always quite tiring seeing an American immigrant in Europe, bringing that "I'm special" aura about them. I know several Americans at work, and I actively avoid them when I can, that toxic positivity is nauseating, along with ingrained brown-nosing of higher ups.
American Work place attitude is a problem, I agree. Maybe not so much with people in lower positions, but definitely with people higher up. I worked with a contractor in the US and we made specific rules for them how to write and layout the manuals they should produce, because there was a worldwide corporate identity given to us in how to do this stuff. And we asked the contractor if we can assist them in doing what they had to, providing templates, text modules and more. They told us, they knew how to work with the tools we wanted them to use. After we got the first drafts, and later along the line, we found out that 1) they didn't know how to correctly use the tools, 2) they didn't use our templates or modules and 3) they didn't follow the CI. We are talking about a contractor here that should be able to follow orders. But with the American attitude of thinking they had to know better, because they were special or whatever the reasoning behind that was, we would always have fights with these people. I blame it on the indoctrination US citizens get all their lives, like being special because they are part of the greatest nation in the world in God's favourite country. Wake up, guys, you are no better than anybody else and there is no country favoured by God. There isn't a best country either, every country and every nation has to offer something that is pretty cool.
Hello. Well you need to remember that the U.S is a giant country with over 330 million people. Attitudes and culture vary greatly by region. People from the Northeast and West Coast tend to be a bit more like what you described, but there are plenty of people not like that. Southerners and Midwesterners value humility and politeness. You can't throw us all in one basket. We vary greatly!
@@mmoretti Maybe you don't know much about living in Europe? I'm Dutch and I know nobody that want's to live in US. On the other hand I know many people that explicitly say they would not want to live in America. May be you can watch some vids of Americans living in Europe.
I know plenty about living in the UK and in Europe and interacting with and living amongst Brits and Europeans in the US. I also know European history and I know quite a lot about Dutch history of colonization in Asia, the Caribbean etc…and it’s cruelty and excesses. For all your moaning there are many of you with your hands out looking for our money, it was bad enough the Netherlands mooched $ $1.127 billion in US Marshall Plan money, any plans to pay it back? How about how you avoiding paying even your 2% gdp to NATO? There are many Europeans traveling and seeking employment here, RU-vid is filled with UK and Europeans trying to mooch off generous Americans. It wasn’t that long ago a Dutch doctor in the ER at Children’s Hospital in Boston was exposed as countering a specialist from Tufts & engineering the kidnapping of a child by attacking the diagnosis of mitochondrial disease so he could use her as a Guinea pig in a drug testing experiment ultimately reducing an otherwise healthy girl to being wheelchair bound and stealing 3-4 of her life. Frankly no Americans I know of want you here or care to move to your collective sewers and we are fed up with your expectation that we pay for your defense.
well thats not an easy question while its an easy answer at the same time.i do like americans as in american people even they are a bit shallow and good weather friends they are fun to have around..but politically i dont like america at all . first ... the americans were never a political friend of germany and even ww2 was ages ago we are still a slightly american occupied country and lets be honest...american politics are slowly getting insane and america turned into the bully of the world
Pretty easy question to answer, don't dance around the truth they have a president an elderly old man and really can't string a sentence together. The whole culture is based upon race racism. Half of them don't even know where Europe is they probably can't even name half the countries in Europe, let alone the states in their own country. The place is an absolute mess
Nothing much has changed basically. I left the US in 1977. Everything that has happened there since and everything I've experienced here since, has only confirmed, that I made the proper personal choice for me at the time. No regrets.
@@britingermany Who knows if they would exist without skype. The Fraunhofer Institute developed the compression mp3 > MPEG, without which YT might not exist! Many Americans today think they invented everything!
Foreign policy is always for the better of your own country. You may want to be painting it as giving democracy, better living, freedom or whatsoever but at the end it is to strengthen your own country’s position, influence and strength. Is it as I wish it was or I think it should be? Absolutely not!!! But we live in the world we have and changes take place slowly, very slowly only. Is the USA the hero it saw itself and still sees itself today? Sometimes they try to do good and if it fits their own interest the more likely they are going to do it. Do I disagree or even hate them for things they do? Yes! There are things that they did which I hate from the bottom of my heart. Especially when they lie and abuse others to put them to pull their carriage to achieve their goals. Do I like them for things they do? Absolutely! I admire them for their “We can” attitude for example. For their attitude to see failure just as a part of the learning process. Do I not understand them at all for their religion hardliners, their anti-social attitude and everyone for himself attitude? Yes. And I fell sorry for them to not understanding the concept of social welfare to, at least try, to give a baseline support and hopefully enabling those that had fallen into poverty for whatever reason to return to a status where they can be a helpful part of society. Btw: I did not use the often preferred “productive part of society” description because it implies usually working for money and excludes any work or engagement you are not receiving money for.
I've been to Europe a lot over the last 20 years and I'm headed there again in 3 weeks, if I wasn't interested I wouldn't go. But over the years, especially the last 10 years or so, I've gotten the distinct impression that a lot of Europeans get mad when you don't bend the knee to their culture. As an American, I'm interested in different European cultures, but I'm not obsessed with it. I don't think it's better than my own culture. A lot of Europeans can't handle that. I think that there's also a bit of angst in Europe about how internationally ineffectual their countries have become. That's not the fault of the US. It's just a matter of different priorities. You can make any value judgment you want about that, but that's the reality of it. And I've always found it interesting. How Europeans latch on to some of the trashiest elements of us culture and then blame it on Americans. McDonald's isn't all over Paris because there are so many American tourists who can't do without McDonald's. It's full of McDonald's because Parisians love it. We do have great, homegrown, American food but that's not what Europeans are buying. They're buying the garbage and then they're blaming it on us. There's plenty to critique about us culture and politics. But that's not what you usually wind up hearing from people. I've met a lot of incredibly rude people on trains, restaurants, bars, parks- all over Europe. People hear you having a private conversation (not a loud one) And feel entitled to give you their misinformed opinions on us culture and politics as if they're experts. Yeah, a lot of the Lefty," I hate America" crowd Is annoying but at least they have a leg to stand on and skin in the game. I don't need to hear a German tell me about our healthcare system or maternity leave.
There are two United States of America. There are American citizens, ordinary people, who may or may not be "confident"or "proud." Then, on the world stage there is the "America" that you speak of, which is actually the government/military/industrial monolith that continuously drags the American people into wars and disturbances. It is not the children of the politicians, generals and corporate CEO's that die in those foreign conflicts and we wish they would FIRST send their own children.
It’s interesting. As a descendant of non-European immigrants to the US, I see the US, a bit from the outside looking in, as an extension of the historical European particularly British push to be number one on a global stage. “The sun never sets on the British Empire” is now “USA! USA! USA!” When I talk to South Asians / Indians who live here, most talk more fondly about Americans than the British (disdain for Churchill, colonialism, less overt classicism in the US vs. in England [or in India for that matter] etc.). When I talk to Native Americans, they understand that white Americans furthered their colonial European ancestors’ agendas e.g. regarding Manifest Destiny. When Europeans see Americans, they literally are looking at an extension of themselves and the realization of the value systems they propagated for the past several centuries. The rather non-interventionist and pacifistic mindset prevalent now in western Europe is more of a modern anomaly than the historical norm. I see the US, as a young country, continuing to mature and improve given its economic and geopolitical advantages. A lot of what started in post-US Civil War Reconstruction and carried over to the Civil Rights era (which is still going on) is being turned up in heat by modern social media. That’s fine. I expect the technology is shaving decades if not centuries off of the process needed to reach equilibrium. So yes, I’m an American who’s optimistic about the country now and going forward (even factoring in some kind of massive correction in cost of living vs. earning power that’s already long overdue and will impact the whole developed world). Now if I can just get my kids to be boisterous highly interpersonally interactive Americans and get off their social media!
We're all extremely aware of Germany and it's fascist past. In spite of that, why is it that their current regime literally wants to ban a political party, AfD, that is fully supported by half of it's voting public. Doing so would deprive 50% of the people their right to vote for whoever they'd like to pick. I guess that it's just a case of old habits being difficult to break.
@@geraldvelez597 Your comment shows that you have no idea of the history of Germany, nor of the current situation, government, courts, elections etc. etc.!!!! Zero
In my opinion, Europe has a great many left leaning people. But, having said that, what I saw in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, France, Spain is that Left leaning and Far Right believers converge in many aspects. One is the love for Russia, another is the hate for Americans. Also, most Europeans believe themselves to be the pinnacle of human civilization and above reproach. I was in Germany when Trump was there in 2018 (if I'm not mistaken) and torpedoed Angela Merkel over buying 65% of Germany's energy needs from Russia and that NATO allies were spending too little on defense (less than 2%). I was never a Trump fan but I thought he had hit the mark there. I discussed that with many friends in Germany and the UK. They all ridiculed Trump and Americans in general. Now, after Brexit and the Ukrainian war in full swing, the mood is different. But it is still easy to find the pro-Russians ...
@@britingermany I am mostly thinking domestically. As an example, you could loan to the car and house, and few years later it was paid. The middle-class were “rich”. Working in a car plant in Detroit made you a lot of money, it really the good life for the middle class. The system has “screwed” the middle-class. No wonder many vote Orange. It started before the Orange, but the time when everybody wanted to live in the US is over.
Quite complicated due to many levels you can touch or ignore. You always will miss one cause you simply was not aware. Best example: you say the USA had invaded Somalia and had been totally defeated and needed to retreat fully. Guess how upset they will be: WE NEVER INVADED SOMALIA ! HOW CAN YOU .... And then you have to remind them nicely with HOLLYWOOD. It really needs Hollywood to make them think twice (at least most of them): BLACK HAWK DOWN Blockbuster title to remind them that US forces had been in Africa and that this operation is the symbol for a total defeat cause if you invade you have to accept the way the domestic citizens will fight. But the american public could not bear the news nor pictures and the USA hat do retreat, therefore a total defeat. Just one example how bad the education is and the awareness about foreign policy at least. Americans tend to convince and have a message - where the europeans can assume that it is not for their benefit. USA warns Europe about gas while the americans later sold their gas as LNG not for cheap, quite the opposite. They usually believe they can easily fight the russians and have no clue that they are like the roman empire beyond peak already. Too fat, too slow and weak and torn society , in the population and in the whole party / congress mess. The americans would get an even far more bloodier nose in the Ukraine than the Ukrainians. Why ? Cause their society can not deal with huge losses of lives, they never really could and the will for sacrifices is in russia 10x bigger than in the USA cause we call all the american adventures or rather invasions total defeats when they had to retreat. If you have to retreat after a single Helicopter crash and the following fights (be aware that people now believe in the pictures Hollywood had brought into their homes, but back then, when it had happened, there was not so much footage) then Ukraine is not the battlefield where americans could achieve anything better fighting the russians. Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan were total defeats and ended in retreats where the Americans had destroyed whole cities and societies cause Iraq had not violated the UN sanctions, they had no biiological or chemical weapons as the US had said as the reason to invade a country and destroy it at the end. There are just a few successfull people that are travelling the world and aware of all the issues.
I've spent a lot of time in the US and I recall very well the first time I went there back in 1986 when we were told in our "welcoming speech" we should not be confused if people asked us where we came from and they would not understand the answer, so we should rather say "where all the Mercedes, Audi and Porsche come from than to say "from Germany" and we should not be confused because 80% of US citizens would not find the US on a world map. When travelling the country, I found this to be the case again and again - and I've been to almost all states. As someone put it so nicely: Many wars could have been prevented if it was mandatory that the president who wants to start that war would have to find the country he wants to attack on a world map first.
Most Americans cannot afford to travel our own country let alone the world. Besides why would you want to go somewhere you are hated. No thanks. Then we are told many countries do not like if you do not speak their language so why in the hell would you want to learn a language for a one- time visit?
@@Alltagundso I met all kinds of people from really well educated ones who enjoyed a conversation on nearly every topic to morons who called me a N**i just for being German and without having any clue of what the word actually means or where it comes from historically.
Old German here. Living in the Western part all my life. I had a very positive attitude towards America / USA in general for at least 40 years, maybe without criticism at all. The last 30 years my view has become more specific. I do look more critical on US politics and politicians, especially their attitude towards war and military conflicts. I do differentiate much more, trying to take into account individuals and their personal view in much greater regard. Though I do know there are many great and good people in the US, I also loathe those who are willing to start wars and bring havoc even on their own fellow citizen.
Skype is from Estonia and the Web was invented at Cern in Europe. Key technical and scientific leads are often from abroad, since to few Americans can pay the qualifications. what they have is a culture of risking business opportunities.
The original internet was invented at UCLA and the University of Utah. Without that, there never would’ve been the web that was invented at CERN. You do realize this comment proves the entire point of this video, right?
Here's what almost nobody knows about the US: 1. Compulsory public schooling was instituted in the late 19th century to assimilate non-Protestant immigrants but was soon commandeered by industrialists and social scientists to stratify the members of society into managers and armies of incurious workers who are never exposed in all those years of education to the necessary knowledge and skills of participating in republican government as the Constitution of the United States ('We The People...') requires. 2. Evangelical, liberal theology, post -millennialist Protestants, mostly members of the northeastern Protestant Ascendency (America's upper class) succeeded finally in subduing the country by recasting their faith as civic action and gov't policy after heavy doses of Prussian statist takes on German Idealism. When they did this, government became essentially a church with science remade into a moral justification for government policy. Sounds too fantastic to be true? That's why nobody can accept the facts even though we all agree that 'truth is stranger than fiction. References: John Taylor Gatto: A Short Angry History of Modern Schooling (RU-vid) 'Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics, and American Economics in the Progressive Era' by Thomas C. Leonard (2016)
Government schooling is not mandatory in most places in the US. In Texas you can educate your own child at home, as long as they are taught to read and write and do arithmetic and no tests are required. They can learn to read by reading the Bible if that is the parents choice. "A child is not a mere ward of the state".
I think it's a stereotype. I think let's of Europeans adore Americans. Just like many Americans adore Europeans. I mean, it's where America originated from, Europe.
There is a saying: 'Being Unknown makes being unloved.'. However, my personal experience gives me in to have evolved this into: 'The more I got to know America, the more it repulses me and make me despise it'. In my case, I could hardly be called 'a Lefty'. Coming from a staunch Calvinist protestant background with a firm belief in thrift, honesty and diligence to be constructive to wealth and ethical growth as well as personal achievement, but I have become more nuanced and in some ways leftist thinking by being exposed to life in the US. When confronted with the shallowness of commerciality and the raw and uncaring, damned be the consequences, ultra capitalism, coupled with the slavish compliance to the violations that the financial services places on the average US inhabitant, I felt I had no ther choice than be repulsed by it. The overarching celebration of ignorance, rejection of knowledge and avoidance of deeper thinking revolts me to my core. I loathe the mindless flag-waving and ridiculous indoctrinatory practices that serve as a very obvious fig-leaf for jingoism, class-stratification and racial-discrimination in that society. I am annoyed by the US unjustly taking credit for achievements made by others, where foreign knowledge, art and academic achievements are purchased or more often purloined and inculcated into the National achievements with no mention or sometimes downright denial, of its origins. I loathe the 'Might makes Right' and the adoration of violence and death, indiscriminate harm-doing and destruction under the guise of rules and laws that are purported to be equal for all, but in reality are NOT. Wealth will invariably buy you the freedom from justice. The unnaturalness and the repressive enforcement of such under the guise of biblical but entirely counter to Christian morals in what are by their nature to be joyful and free relations and life-choices, appals me in its hypocrisy and the harm and damage it visits upon the individual and his/her presumed freedom and liberty. By now It instinctively makes me choose the path of 'resistance and reduction by subversion.' The average US inhabitant appears to be inexorably geared towards choosing against his/her self-interest or even self-preservation. I lived there for 22 years and yearningly bided my time until my kids would become adults, so that I could honourably return to where I came from. I did so and happiness and contentment returned to my life. I have absolutely no desire to ever re-visit the US under any circumstance, even if my life would depend on it. I would rather die with dignity and in freedom than be what I see US inhabitants be reduced to.
For what it's worth, I would like to go back in history a bit. In Germany of the 50s and 60s, the US were usually seen as the saviour of civilisition, mainly because they had stopped the USSR from moving further west and guaranteed the iron curtain. Any possible animosity stemming from WW2 was gone; at the latest after the Berlin airlift operation and the Marshall plan. But this also led to an enormous dependency on the US, which not everyone felt good about. No German governmet ever dared to critisize the US and their demands were always fulfilled until 2003, i.e. the Iraq invasion. Personally, living just 20 miles from the iron curtain, I did not feel terribly secure from American nuclear missiles directed at the East of West Germany (yes, this was the official strategy to deter an attack from the USSR), but most people saw this as necessary to deter "the evil Russian". I guess this ambivalence continues to this day; perhaps even refreshed by Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Hello Ben, another really though provoking video from you. You're tempting me to write a seriously long comment -- but this time I have to keep myself a bit more under control. Just a few remarks: Unless someone appears to be excessively opinionated I assume that people critisize what they love. I would regard that as a part of exercising the right of free speech - one of the fundamental rights respected in what's considered the west. Considering myself as a moderate left I'm always a bit disappointed if people assume they would have to emphasize their credibility as a "lefty" by critisizing the USA along the lines of some pretty stereotypical patterns - regarding the USA as a kind of self-appointed policeman of the world being one of them. Of course the USA provides reasons for critisism from time to time. On the other hand people like to sweep critisism of Europe from the USA aside too easily sometimes. That point of view that the USA wouldn't have culture irks me quite a bit. Music is an obvious example. I grew up with as much Beethoven, Händel, Bach, Mozart, etc. as with Glen Miller, Duke Ellington, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Sammy Davis Jr., B.B.King, etc. And then art designers like Milton Glaser, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock, Man Ray, Edward Hopper, Keith Haring, etc. Cinema: Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Barry Levinson, Jim Jarmush (Down By Law, Night on Earth, ...) I really have to stop now before I'm loosing control...
Why Europeans are so overly critical and harsh towards the US in their criticisms? 1. "US number one" - We know what the sentiment inside US is about itself and we think it's super annoying. It's even more annoying when some Americans display that same attitude outside their own borders. 2. We're constantly being bombarded with everything American, including it's values, which most Europeans find troubling to say the least. 3. We feel we've been betrayed. Many people at some point believed in American media, which portrayed American life in s very unrealistic manner, showing only the prosperous and good sides of the country, and exaggarating how well ordinary people live. 4. American military operations all over the world with quite flimsy excuses. 5. Inferiority complex - despite many people believe genuinely that their lives are better where they are now, there's still this feeling that Europe is in the shadow of the US, and Europeans feel that the US needs to be taken down a bit. For some reason we bark all the time at the Americans, even those who are objectively very nice, if the context is cultural differences. This is the behaviour of people who have an inferiority complex and thus a great need to prove themselves. The unfriendliness of Europeans at times towards the US can be amazingly harsh, even when the US person never said anything offensive at all.
6:47 "The largest platforms in the US tend to be left-leaning" - I'm not sure about that one. The US right critizes the US MSM as being leftwing, but it's not exactly true. The US MSM is in reality center-to center right, especially from a European perspective.
Interesting video with good perspectives on current perceptions on how the perceptions of some Europeans disliking America tend to be just as (or even more sometimes) a reflection Americans who dislike the country. I think this is an issue within the USA that is often not covered or is handwaved by different people. The issue I feel is not that Americans shouldn't have or be allowed to talk about what they dislike within the USA, we aren't and have never been a perfect country, but often there is this overly cynical outlook by people in the US, something I would argue stretches across political isles, that feels like their is absolutely nothing Americans should feel proud of or is unique about their country. Whether that is actually how the majority of Americans feel or if it is a loud majority amplified by various forms of media I can't say, but it often feels like the majority of Americans now a days feel this way. It seems almost like this attitude is necessary to adopt in some sort of way if you want to be taken seriously in a conversation. People seem to dismiss you as a "flag worshiper" if you otherwise don't, at least in the communities I've found myself in. One thing on the subject of "The US has no culture" part of the video I wanted to say though, I tend to believe that consumerism and convenience are not reflective of any countries culture since it can be found across countries. Sure, their is something to be stated about how widespread or extensive consumerism is in the USA when compared to many other countries, consumerism tends to cross cultural boundaries and take on various forms which makes me view it as disconnected from culture. Its like whenever people bring up the picture of the large amounts of fast food restaurants all huddled together next to a highway in the US and state that it somehow reflects our greater society/culture. In Japan, they have vending machines spread out everywhere, sometimes even small "restaurants" consisting of them where you buy something and sit down to it eat inside. from my understanding, most Japanese would not consider this a reflection of their society, some show of how consumerism has become apart of their culture or anything. their just vending machines, built to offer a quick service to one demographic or another that is on the move and needs a drink, food, etc. real quick and at most as a cultural reflection sell goods familiar and liked by the society. Similarly fast food restaurants as I and many others I know do not represent "American cuisine" beyond the fact they serve a popular, convenient, and well recognized food in society. There a place you go when your craving a taco and don't have the money to buy or make the good stuff, or your hungry from a long trip but its the middle of the night and 24/7 joints are the only open option. Consumerism can take on different flavors from country to country, depending on the demographics, but I personally cannot see how it is meant to reflect culture when as a concept it is meant to be so indifferent and disconnected from culture. Sorry for the long comment and maybe I'm just talking to the wind, but I bring up that last point because on consumerism because I am honestly interested in your thoughts. Maybe I don't know what I am talking about relative to consumerism, or have some misunderstanding. Do you in your experiences believe that consumerism in Germany or the UK accurately depicts the cultures? Is it just a surface level aspect of society that we shouldn't view as representative of places or people as a whole? I would love to get answers from anyone else reading as well.
Europeans should stop thinking of the U.S. as (1) a singular entity and as (2) an extension of Europe. I say that as an American who has spent most of the last two decades in Europe.
What has changed? The USA has changed, especially very drastically since 9/11...and then very drastically again since the political appearance of Trump and his MAGA Cult as well. Just my personal time witness view of the last 4 to 5 decades
I do not appreciate US politics, but concerning culture, i.e. music, arts, literature there have been very interesting and innovative things coming out of the USA and still are. It is just that most Europeans do not know them and I am afraid most Americans neither.
Although you present some important insights here, I saw no acknowledgment in this video of the extraordinary polarization currently gripping the U.S. There is a lot of criticism flying around from Americans, ourselves, but with the exception perhaps of our expats, the criticisms are generally not so much a blanket condemnation of our homeland as they are expressed frustrations with specific social forces (and their influence) with which we personally feel deeply at odds. That dynamic is probably common in most countries. I just see the deepening polarization in the U.S. as raising the visibility of that dynamic. We are a society at war with ourselves right now.
No, of course the US is not asking to be disliked. It is just that it is so self-referential, inwardly focused, navel-gazing and powerful that it doesn't have to consider the situations of others if it doesn't choose to and "soft" power is not a substitute for real power in a competitive world.
No, the US isn’t “self referential”, we were and remain though with legitimate concerns, confident about who and what we are.. which ticks off the pretentious twits of Europe. Europe preened after the US saved it, twice in the last century, picked up the pieces and even paid to get you back on your feet. We paid the lion’s share of your defenses but instead of appreciating it and striving to take back those obligations once things stabilized they even refused to pay the pittance they had agreed to. Europe is a delusional slave of the neobolshevik bakers and oligarchs, angry and enraged that the US citizenry refuses to continue making it easy for them. Your EU is falling apart and their own people despise them
In all honesty: the story of the greatest country of all is one i never believed. All the other achievements are pretty impressive. But as a PolScience Student, why would someone hold someone else accountable for the laters government?
It's maybe counterintuitive but I think we often equate the actions of a countries government with the will of the people (that is in theory what it should be)
Regarding how Europeans perceive Americans, in my own experience: The UK: Neutral. Germany: Friendly. Finland: No more or less cold to Americans than anyone else, but they like American culture. Spain: Neutral. France: They really do hate us. Kosovo: They love the fuck out of us for reasons I can't even begin to understand.
“Is the U.S. asking to be disliked?” I am an American who lived in the UK in my youth. I have travelled extensively throughout Europe over the years. I am almost 60 years old. In my view, there is an arrogant entitlement that is characteristic among many Americans. I think your question is important for Americans to consider. I say this because too many of us are like a bull in a china shop and don’t care. I think the answer to your question is borne of indifference. I am open to persuasion regarding alternatives to that. I think the US needs an extended period of social isolationism. The world needs a break from us as we self examine. My political orientation is on the right.
USA still has the best social mobility for foreigners, you can come as nobody, from a country nobody knows, and if you have good ideas, are hard working and talented, you can "make it big" in a short time. Nobody cares even about your age. The eternal American optimism is envied by the whole world. I myself love American culture too, the big beautiful cars of the 50s, the music, movies, I even prefer a diner somewhere in the desert of Nevada to an overpriced, crowded southern European tourist destination.😂
So, who would Europeans prefer was "the policeman of the world"? Somebody will self appoint themselves to this role if the USA abdicates and Europeans clearly aren't prepared to do this themselves, as their relatively low defence expenditure shows.
You compare a place, Europe, that was first settled in the Bronze Age 5000 years ago, to North America, a place that was a virtual wilderness 200 years ago, and you notice that Europe has more history, more distinct cultures, and a better food culture? That's an amazing discovery.
Since I began (as an American) to travel in and live in Europe since 1967, what I found was a mixture of admiration and obvious envy disguised as contempt
@@britingermany They're essentially alternative realities to the real world where the *companies* govern the speech laws ( and thus thought formation of its user base ) with many having hundreds of millions/billions of users. Terrifying.
No, John is correct. I’ve met many condescending Brits who’ve traveled here and when they get a look at the length and breadth of the country you see the wheels turning and the resentment that they don’t and can’t leech off it.
Yes, modern technology has offered us many benefits and things we didn't even dream of when we grew up but there is a big misconception in the minds of most of us: Contrary to what most people believe, computers have NOT increased productivity. Economist Robert Solow famously said in 1987 that "the computer age was everywhere except for the productivity statistics." and this has not changed until this day despite of the hype generated about machine learning which many falsely refer to as "AI".
mmmm I'm not sure how that's being measured as the economy has been changed drastically since the introduction of computers...it's also developed a LOT since 1987...
@@britingermany There are numerous studies on the topic since then and various books as well. You may start by reading a short forbes article from August 2021 called "Why Computers Didn’t Improve Productivity" and an quartz article from 2014 called "Toyota is becoming more efficient by replacing robots with humans" followed by several other articles, e.g. one in fastcompany called "At Toyota, The Automation is Human-Powered". In short, yes, the paradox is still true even if people still believe otherwise.
I’m a patriotic American who agrees with a lot of the criticism from Europeans. I would prefer an America with mixed-use development, public transportation that would displace the automobile and socialized healthcare. I’m patriotic because America is at the vanguard of government by consent. None of the problems and contradictions of the country are insurmountable by democracy. If you take the longer historical view, you see the inexorable progress towards liberty and justice for all. My shoulder is at that wheel. We’re at an inflection point where the traditional powers of patriarchy and white supremacy are having their death throes. We all adopt frames that emphasize some points and diminish others.
I agree with everything except the part where you claimed that only the majority of leftist hates the US online; whereas I find that it is generally the case if the politically left-leaning EU countries get highly conflicted supporters to the US. And the countries that I think can be somewhat viewed as more centered or right, examples like Germany (cuz they are under watch for being 'extremist' Nazis) and Poland, respectively, would be at least objective or mixed in their support of the matter of affairs in the states. So overall, I think that the internet really basically gave minority of people a larger platform to spread their voice of displeasure and that's exasperated by media to become pervasively present in our interaction daily with the world online. Also, I think the data about Germany looks weird, at least from anecodte experiences - they really don't give a fk that much about US, mostly the only EU countries that can also speak English enough to comment or reports on US have from what've noticed been just England and Sweden. Or any EU country that the US reports on would be involved in some of the publicized discussions, with small majority of leftist there to do what they do. However, maybe there's a bit of leftist thinking left in the people as well here commenting online.
I am a lefty and I love my country with all it's problems and political devision. As far as culture is concerned, we have a very diverse regional culture. Anyone who has truly traveled around the USA can appreciate. The USA is an amazing country of beauty that has defended many of our allies time and again. What if we
At least they are thinking about us. Someone should inform them we do not think about them. Why in the hell would we want to go where we are hated? Then you hear that if you do not speak the language, they are offended. Why go to the effort to learn a language that you will use one time in your life. Hell we cannot afford to see all of out own country so we sure as hell cannot afford to see theirs. They need to understand just how big the USA is. and it is not like other countries where things are the same everywhere in that country. The US is like 50 small countries with different foods customs and even the english used is different.
"it is not like other countries where things are the same everywhere in that country" thinking America is special for having diverse cultures is one way to say you've never been abroad before. Even a country as small as Taiwan or the Netherlands has distinctive languages therein. Meanwhile if you move from Arizona to Ohio there's hardly any cultural differences.
I'm American here I don't care what anyone says about our country I really don't they don't affect my everyday living as simple as that who cares if we are overly positive it doesn't even really even matter and if they're trying to bring Wars into this most of us being against Wars if anything else and if other people dislike us well then that's just too bad get on the hate train and be like the other ones and pretty much life will just go on it doesn't matter if you treat us with respect we're going to treat you with respect as simple as that and if anyone in the comment section who has a problem with that all I'm going to do is just ignore you that is it
We’ll much do the content that I have seen is from Americans who a left the US or who travel a lot and so I guess they are confronted with this everyday. Anyway I hope you watched the video and didn’t just comment on the title…the situation is way more nuanced than most would have you believe
You looking for a real culture and very friendly people in America! Then go to the over hundred Red deer scent native American indigenous tribal Indian reservations in the entire USA. In every us state there are many very great Indian reservations there. My great inspiring wisdom for today. Have a great fabulous wonderful day.😀
American Indians are not indigenous their origins are Siberia, their ancestors crossed the Bering Sea. As to Their view of Europeans, while they got on well with the Pilgrims, they didn’t get on well with the Dutch and their banker owners in what was only New Amsterdam for a short time, who avariciously kept trying to defraud them. The same is true with their experience of the French in Canada who used them as pawns, even teaching them to scalp as the French paid them per English settler killed and they wanted proof of the body count.
Sure ancient European caveman. Later in your life you would comb your hair back words like a back words Mohawk. The boldness will eventually comes in. Then it will take over the top of your entire head! Have a great fabulous wonderful day.😀
So......no culture here???? We have the same history & culture as the Brits until 1776, and we merged with many cultures like Mexican, French, Italian, German etc plus cultures like th e Navajo that have been here thousands of years.