Here is the basic attitude, which really shined after the Sept 11th attack.
General attitude was::
1. It was terrible act BUT you Americans deserved it because of your policies (Some Italians in the pub actually stood up and "high fived" after one of the buildings collapsed). There is always the qualified BUT here.
2. They, Europeans and liberal Brits, do not like US Government. In fact, it is always popular here to go against US. Its the Politically correct thing to do. They hate Bush for a) being a moron b) anti-kyoto env pact c) missle defense d) pervasive American culture e) many other things. Meanwhile, they watch loads of American TV programs, movies, music, and even visit McDonalds over here.
I suppose they would rather have China be the superpower...who knows. They took sides with afghans in popular opinion.
(To be fair, there are a lot of Brits who were right there for us and tony blair was fantastic-i'm talking the liberal general populous which is more pervasive than one thinks)
3. While they do not like the US Government for its "policies", they also stuff the same old moron stereotypes down our throats like Americans are a) too fat (true) but look at the Brits b) too loud c) too stupid about anything outside US (i.e. the world at large) d) geographical or historical knowledge e) too patriotic-(which we are). They think they are intellectually superior to Americans in many ways. Many have not even been to the States at all or for limited time. This "expert" info comes from the media they watch here.
Meanwhile, in Europe, they cant get their act together with euros, nato, eu, un, etc. For example, Germany, Italy and France all debated on when, how to support military action (when it was politically convienent). It almost toppled German government on this issue. By the time they decide what actions to take, the Afghan situation is mostly resolved in phase 1. All they do here is debate. No courage, little leadership.
In general, europeans make excellent armchair critics and pundits. It always easy to critise when you dont take the lead on your convictions and follow instead.....
I have to listen to a lot of crap all the time and get insulted. it makes me sick. when i live over here, i quietly listened to what people had to say but now i cannot take it anymore. it makes more happy to be American now for even with our bad qualities our good ones really shine through.
If you are American and read the UK Gaurdian, you are a glutten(sic) for punishment.
Did you guys knew New York was previously named Nieuw Amsterdam, don't you know that a lot of areas are named after dutch cities like Harlem, dutch city Haarlem etc etc...
Interestlingly enough, did you know that the Dutch sold/traded new york(new amsterdam) to the british in early 1600's. Want to know what the Dutch traded NY for? a tiny little island not far off from East Timor. It had nutmeg which was a popular spice for the Dutch East Indies company which was at near war with the Brits English East India Company. En route, the brits colonized india and Dutch, south africa. Now, that was the worst trade ever as the Dutch, who "discovered" new york/new amsterdam with a British sailor named Hudson (hence hudson river, etc), could have clonized the US. The USA could have become part of Holland.
In that time, the dutch were the most brutal colonialist, more so than the english, spanish, etc.
Comments
Here is the basic attitude, which really shined after the Sept 11th attack.
General attitude was::
1. It was terrible act BUT you Americans deserved it because of your policies (Some Italians in the pub actually stood up and "high fived" after one of the buildings collapsed). There is always the qualified BUT here.
2. They, Europeans and liberal Brits, do not like US Government. In fact, it is always popular here to go against US. Its the Politically correct thing to do. They hate Bush for a) being a moron b) anti-kyoto env pact c) missle defense d) pervasive American culture e) many other things. Meanwhile, they watch loads of American TV programs, movies, music, and even visit McDonalds over here.
I suppose they would rather have China be the superpower...who knows. They took sides with afghans in popular opinion.
(To be fair, there are a lot of Brits who were right there for us and tony blair was fantastic-i'm talking the liberal general populous which is more pervasive than one thinks)
3. While they do not like the US Government for its "policies", they also stuff the same old moron stereotypes down our throats like Americans are a) too fat (true) but look at the Brits b) too loud c) too stupid about anything outside US (i.e. the world at large) d) geographical or historical knowledge e) too patriotic-(which we are). They think they are intellectually superior to Americans in many ways. Many have not even been to the States at all or for limited time. This "expert" info comes from the media they watch here.
Meanwhile, in Europe, they cant get their act together with euros, nato, eu, un, etc. For example, Germany, Italy and France all debated on when, how to support military action (when it was politically convienent). It almost toppled German government on this issue. By the time they decide what actions to take, the Afghan situation is mostly resolved in phase 1. All they do here is debate. No courage, little leadership.
In general, europeans make excellent armchair critics and pundits. It always easy to critise when you dont take the lead on your convictions and follow instead.....
I have to listen to a lot of crap all the time and get insulted. it makes me sick. when i live over here, i quietly listened to what people had to say but now i cannot take it anymore. it makes more happy to be American now for even with our bad qualities our good ones really shine through.
If you are American and read the UK Gaurdian, you are a glutten(sic) for punishment.
Did you guys knew New York was previously named Nieuw Amsterdam, don't you know that a lot of areas are named after dutch cities like Harlem, dutch city Haarlem etc etc...
Interestlingly enough, did you know that the Dutch sold/traded new york(new amsterdam) to the british in early 1600's. Want to know what the Dutch traded NY for? a tiny little island not far off from East Timor. It had nutmeg which was a popular spice for the Dutch East Indies company which was at near war with the Brits English East India Company. En route, the brits colonized india and Dutch, south africa. Now, that was the worst trade ever as the Dutch, who "discovered" new york/new amsterdam with a British sailor named Hudson (hence hudson river, etc), could have clonized the US. The USA could have become part of Holland.
In that time, the dutch were the most brutal colonialist, more so than the english, spanish, etc.
from an american here in london....