Why can't Americans be as great as Europeans????

reply to post by BODYBAGxPAT


Do you really have any idea about football (not soccer) hooligans in the UK or is that just the standard trot out line? Not such a big deal for a long time over here...........

reply to post by Mijamija

I never said that Europe was the only part of the world that had socialist systems. I know my social studies.

I’m sorry if I made you feel defensive. Perhaps I misunderstood your comments about European’s « socialist/collective/group systems" to be a reference to the widely spread false belief that many countries in Europe are Socialist, which one can see expressed often on these boards. Many people are surprised when they find out there isn’t one Socialist country in Europe !
I also tend to write more with all the readers of the thread in mind rather than limited to the individual I am responding to (like the people reading this exchange that may hold that false belief ).

« I get the feeling you think I am picking on Europe, »

No, I didn’t. But like I said, I wasn’t focusing perhaps enough on you, individually. I wasn't thinking personal.

« ....are you even American??? How on earth could you say that??? Any American knows we have many regional cultural differences.....southerners eat fried chicken and drink iced tea, Yankees go to the shore and complain about tollbooth fees, Cali folks and Texas people are a whole other world entirely. We have tons of cultural differences!!! «

Yes, I am american. I admit though that I am not real familiar with these ideas.Are Californians Yankees ?(I did go to the beach often, though never had any tollbooths to complain about ) I was not exposed to stereotypes about other parts of the country, I think it was considered "bad" to do so in my environment.
I grew up around people who were obsessed with being different, not having "herd mentality", not being a sheople..... « be yourself », think for yourself, and develop your individuality were the mantras repeated constantly around me from the time I was a baby to an adult, from media, from my public schools, from all my entourage ! It was called the base of individual freedom that is American.

Perhaps we have different experiences because we are from different parts of the country . That sounds very possible. But this difference in experience is not enough for me to then question whether you are American. I continue to see two Americans with a different view.....why do you have the automatic response of eliminating me from your countrymen and women?

As far as Americans only bonding over religion or politics, again......are you sure you are American??
Have you even looked on tv lately? OWS.
Americans are out in the streets right now protesting all kinds of different political and social issues and they all have different messages, Americans are on this forum arguing with each other over all kinds of political issues.....trust me Americans do not bond over politics or religion at all.

YES, again, I am american. And I see that for a very long time, communities split along the lines of whether you go to that church or the other one, that is part of how you are identified. Then secondly whether you are a Republican or Democrat, as important part of identification. Whether you are from this or that region isn’t often mentioned because people move around so much (part of the « do whatever you must for work » ethics).-Do people in the South stay in one area more and think of themselves as "from" a certain region?

I see that some are TRYING to change this and bond together under this OWS movement... but since it attempts to bond together under certain ethics it is not going to have an overall effect of bringing all americans together- there is a large part of the population that doesn’t agree with this and are slowly becoming outright hostile against them ! It’s just another split in the country.
I see that someone who expresses a certain political or religious belief on this board has those that share it support and bond with them against those who don’t.

« I still do not think you understand why I called this a paradox. It is this exact paradox that is the only thing that makes the USA a great nation... »

Yes, I see what you mean and agree it is a paradox- I was explaining why I also call it "ironic". I used to have the same point of view you are expressing. I simply disagree now about it being « great »- I currently think it is self contradictory, hypocritical, and self destructive in the long run. That is my opinion.

(cont.)

« Ummmm.....if ya think that a taboo against sex causes a huge porn industry in the USA, you need to travel more......porn is universal, anywhere there is a man with a functioning penis, you will find porn, sex sells across the globe not just us sex crazed Americans.....Europeans love their porn too. «

The biggest porn industry in the world is produced in the USA, which in itself is not extraordinary- only when considered in the light that sex is a taboo subject in the USA at the same time !
Another example- breast enlargement is practiced there more than anywhere else- not extraordinary.....until you consider that the breast is taboo and not to be shown in the media, and breastfeeding is considered something to hide. !

The big hypocrisy here is the widespread judgement in America that porn is "bad". The Europeans openly accept it as "good", so their interest is less surprising and hypocritical.

There’s been enough study of the taboo dynamic that you can research it- it is pretty well established that making something hidden attracts attention to it, and the draw of the forbidden is a subconscious and extremely powerful force ! Make it forbidden to look at a nipple and the urge to do so becomes uncontrollable ! Make it forbidden to be in a club or group and the draw to do so becomes uncontrollable.

« Yes, there is middle ground, it is called tolerance......respecting each others differences, knowing it is our differences that make us unique And still uniting for a greater good. »

Exactly..... uniting with a Republican when you are Democrat, uniting with a Catholic when you are Baptist, supporting a strike or protest, even if you do not agree with the reasons for it, just in the name of defending « our » rights to do so, whatever the reason, and because that person with a different opinion is of the same nation !

This is what I found in Europe.
That is being collective minded ! That is solidarity. You said-

I do not think Americans will every come around to this concept of solidarity or brotherhood.

Maybe you are right. But I still leave a window of hope open in my mind.

USA sux
Europe sux

The best is those who dont even need to "occupy".
If you need to "occupy", you know your country got the sh**.