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Nobody really "worships" nordics besides american white supremacists in prison.
The Economist always touts the nordic success story. It's true that the countries do rather well but the UK has always had a boner for viking romanticism.
Lumping in dutch, german and the UK with the "nordics" is misguided. They share some genes from history but their cultures and economies are very different.
That said, most americans couldn't tell you the difference between the danes and the dutch. I wonder if citizens of other countries are as geographically inept?
No, it doesn't. Over the years, it has had numerous articles discussing how the welfare state won't be able to hold up against globalization. The Economist is a conservative magazine.
And just by the way: Admiration towards Blonders is some sort of modern-day racism.
That is...there's no Auschwitz anymore, but there is an evolved, less-severe type of racism, such as:
"blond people are smarter", "i only date blond people", "white people commit less crime, see norway" etc.
It's interesting how many people think that Hitler admired the blond-blue eyed look. There's NO single place in Mein Kampf nor in Hitler's speeches where he mentions anything about blond/blue-eyed people being the "top" of the races. Yes, he liked white people but this doesn't mean nordic/blue eyed blonds. Most top nazi leaders weren't blond/blue eyed.
Here's quote from mein kampf (I've censored the n word for obvious reasons):
" The French people,
who are becoming more and more obsessed by ***** ideas, represent a threatening menace to
the existence of the white race in Europe, because they are bound up with the Jewish campaign
for world-domination. For the contamination caused by the influx of **** blood on the Rhine,
in the very heart of Europe, is in accord with the sadist and perverse lust for vengeance on the
part of the hereditary enemy of our people, just as it suits the purpose of the cool calculating Jew
who would use this means of introducing a process of bastardization in the very centre of the
European Continent and, by infecting the white race with the blood of an inferior stock, would
destroy the foundations of its independent existence."
"Once, as I was strolling through the Inner City, I suddenly encountered an apparition in a black
caftan and black hair locks. Is this a Jew? was my first thought.
For, to be sure, they had not looked like that in Linz. I observed the man furtively and
cautiously, but the longer I stared at this foreign face, scrutinizing feature for feature, the more
my first question assumed a new form:
Is this a German?"
No, it doesn't. Over the years, it has had numerous articles discussing how the welfare state won't be able to hold up against globalization. The Economist is a conservative magazine.
Maybe you need to renew your subscription since they've been publishing articles like this for the past five years:
And just by the way: Admiration towards Blonders is some sort of modern-day racism.
"blond people are smarter", "i only date blond people", "white people commit less crime, see norway" etc.
Really? I tend to see more denigration of blondes than anything else.
They are often popularly stereotyped as dumb (dumb blonde jokes) and racist because of the perhaps misguided assumption that the Nazis admired the trait. Very often in films with a northern European antagonist, he (or she) epitomizes the blond haired, blue eyed "Aryan" ideal.
I will absolutely concede that blonde hair on women is considered an attractive and admired quality, but sexually objectifying a physical feature like hair color isn't exactly respectful either.
Well why not? it's pretty easy to not be stupid. As an American, I disagree with the idea that most people here have a decent idea of the differences between European countries. Half of Americans think Europe is just one big country and could not locate it on a map... or could not even locate a map.
Half of Norwegians belives that the city New York is USA, that it stretches all over the country.
I don't think that people idealize Germanic countries more than Latin (except Romania) countries, or generally Western countries. This idealization follows the economical / social / military / scientifical achievements of the western countries in modern period, no big secret. In 19th-20th century, following the theories of Darwin and then hitler, was added the race element - the image of the blonde, blue-eyed northern men and women became the ideal of beauty both because ligther shades or complexions were associated in almost all cultures with purity and cleanliness and also with noble origin: is known that in European middle age lighter complexions were pursued by those wanting to show that they are noble, for the fact that a white skin was a sign that that person was not working (in the sun).
So this combination between economic / social success and perceived racial superiority (perception both among foreigners and western people themselves) has lead to an even more idealized statute of the West, especially the northern, blonde and technologically advanced nations.
It is easy to trace how this mythified image of the West was born. In early middle age, there was not much differnce between Western Europe and the then known world. Following the Renaissance emancipation, superior institutions, ideas etc appeared which, together with the work force of a very numerous population, created a very dynamic ideological and social environment, some (not all) the Western countries experiencing a considerable faster pace of evolution than the rest of the world. The discovery of the new continents, inhabited by primitive peoples, as well as the backwardess of the Islamic world and of the Eastern Christian (Orthodox) nations, all these started to build in the minds of the aware people the image of a Western civilisation that tops the humanity in every respect. From late middle age to modern era, the numerous discoveries, progress of science and technology, almost all happening only western countries, contributed even more to the phenomenon.
To a degree, the West trully became efficient and has created some immortal works of art but on other hand this idealized perception is illusory and from an aesthetical point of view, this collective narcissism / admiration is of bad taste as it not sees the cause of the success of western countries, which is not the result of some intrinsic quality, superiority of western nations (as some of them apparently believe, including some members of this forum). The causes of the western success are objective: protected geopolitical position, temperate climate, good soil and vegetation / food, huge amount of coast, inheritance of the experience of ancient civilisations (Greek, Roman and older others) etc. Also, some Western nations, like the Scandinavian ones, were quite backward even up to early 20th century.
At the level of the individual, those suffering from an exceptionalist admiration / pride toward the West are rather superficial people, definitely without an education in the fields of ancient history and history of civilisation, as a person aware of the entire timeline of human history, will have a perspective that will not allow him / her to fall in distorted evaluations of cultural / social phenomena.
Why do so many people almost worship anything from the northern Germanic countries of Europe? Scandinavia especially, as well as the Netherlands, England, Germany and Switzerland. Reading many of these threads it sounds a lot like thinking from the early 1900's and comes to the same conclusion: People in the "nordic" and "Germanic" countries are the superior people of the world, and Eastern and Southern Europe are inferior. And they say the same things: that we are supposedly more "free", more "tolerant", smarter, more "equal", and so on. So do people truly believe that places like the Netherlands and Sweden are a utopian society? Because it isn't! I don't understand how Sweden as an example is superior to France. Does it ever occur that people in France have a different outlook on life? Different values? A different culture? So it is strange to me to hear that people think the Netherlands is a utopian place that is worshiped by someone who has never lived here but is looking at statistics online. Statistics can lie!
Most likely because those countries (Germanic ones) are prosperous and have have a high standard of living. Perhaps people are very envious. France is one of Western Europe oldest nation, perhaps only England might be older. France has a long and one of Europe richest history, tradition. The French, I don't think envy any Germanic country. [/quote]
Shortly put, the perceived western superiority is partly unrealistic on the side on non-western individuals who admire them and has lead to a delusional perception among the westerners themselves. And these delusions have aggravated the weakness of the West, which for centuries was isolated from interaction with other civilisations by the "barrier" of EE and thus developed a weak, "endogamic" culture, that can't compete with primitive but more vigurous cultures from other continents.
We see this debilitated condition of the West in the way their culture succumbs following the contact with Islamic and Black African cultures of the people that moved into the West, somehow like the Amerindians were physically succumbing at contact with the European explorers because of new diseases for which they haven't had built an immunity.
Really? I tend to see more denigration of blondes than anything else.
They are often popularly stereotyped as dumb (dumb blonde jokes) and racist because of the perhaps misguided assumption that the Nazis admired the trait. Very often in films with a northern European antagonist, he (or she) epitomizes the blond haired, blue eyed "Aryan" ideal.
I will absolutely concede that blonde hair on women is considered an attractive and admired quality, but sexually objectifying a physical feature like hair color isn't exactly respectful either.
Blonde hair on beautiful women, unfortunately most blonde girls in western Europe live in the area in which people cook with butter. Some Scandinavian women are beautiful, Danes, but Finnish are among the ugliest in the continent. Many Swede girls have that epicanthic fold I don't like.
Why do so many people almost worship anything from the northern Germanic countries of Europe? Scandinavia especially, as well as the Netherlands, England, Germany and Switzerland. Reading many of these threads it sounds a lot like thinking from the early 1900's and comes to the same conclusion: People in the "nordic" and "Germanic" countries are the superior people of the world, and Eastern and Southern Europe are inferior. And they say the same things: that we are supposedly more "free", more "tolerant", smarter, more "equal", and so on. So do people truly believe that places like the Netherlands and Sweden are a utopian society? Because it isn't! I don't understand how Sweden as an example is superior to France. Does it ever occur that people in France have a different outlook on life? Different values? A different culture? So it is strange to me to hear that people think the Netherlands is a utopian place that is worshiped by someone who has never lived here but is looking at statistics online. Statistics can lie!
Historically this sentiment traces back to the Reformation.
Before the Reformation Southern countries were perceived very positively. Defamation of Catholic countries has been a cornerstone of Protestant propaganda and left a strong track until today, that remains perhaps with greater intensity in the Anglo-Saxon countries.
The archetypes of a corrupt, dissolute and lazy South and an ethical, thrifty and industrious North stems from these ancient religious controversies, although by now everyone has forgotten the origin of these prejudices.
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