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This is simply not true. There are plenty of fat, obese and morbidly obese people in Europe. You must not have spent any significant amount of time there, and you must have only been places where only tourists travel to. You must have missed all the locals, not just the fat ones. If we can turn the original question around for a second, what shocked me most about the places I've traveled is the fact people are for the most part the same, no matter where you are, despite the stereotypes to the contrary.
I'm sure there are plenty of fat and obese people in Europe. However I have to admit I never saw any in Helsinki or Stockholm for the 2 weeks I was there.
It's especially noticeable with the kids. When my daughter first started kindergarten about 14 years ago, I hadn't been around a school or many kids in years, and I was shocked at how many fat kids there were.
Even now, I recently moved and I regularly see three little girls around 8 years old from the neighborhood playing with their dolls. Cute kids, but all three are fat.
GermanCiticen...America is a class society? America has always prided itself on being classless. We have no history of an aristocracy and most Americans are the descendants of poor immigrants. Yes, there is more divisions in American society, I am really concerned about the shrinking middle class. However, looking at the big picture, this certainly isn't someplace like Saudi Arabia or an extremely corrupt African country.
The issue of social integration...I fear much of this deals with issues of culture and race. Take the divisions in Washington DC. We can see the ethnic divisions most clearly between the haves and have-nots in this city. I shouldn't have to say more but I am afraid we are seeing social status on racial lines (with many exceptions of course). The correlation between higher socio-economic status and ethnicity is too great to ignore. But that leaves me with the question...Is this a racial issue or a class issue or both? How should we diffine these divisions. (Sorry if I am being too indirect, but it can be a touchy subject)
Fashionguy...First, it may appear that our infrastructure is deteriorating. Yes, many areas do have an unsatisfactory infrastructure system in this country. Compared to Japan or places in Western Europe it does appear that way. However, I have also traveled to a couple of countries in Africa that have almost a complete lack of any paved roads what-so-ever. I noticed a few paved roads in many cities...that's it. Most are dirt. Therefore, we need to put into perspective where our infrastructure is by international standards. I should say our infrastructure is "well developed" but not "very well-developed." Like others have said before, these standards vary by community. I live in a well-off exosuburb in which our infrastructure is quite good. However in other areas, I know it could be better. Buildings 100 years old are often falling apart, our passenger rail service is not impressive, too much graaffiti exists even in nice areas, etc. I believe too much is spent on the best infrastructure for our armed forces...but this is only part of the problem. Much of the rest has to do with the "excluded from mainstream" communities feelings of isolation from the rest of the country. (I will not debate why this is, just that it doesn't help with civic responsibility).
Backdrifter...You said that Americans tend to be workaholics...true, but only for the adults. There was a good recent article on how much schooling and homework our youths have versus our European counter-parts...You may want to look into the effects of this (just a suggestion).
I realize this is an old post, but America does have a history of an aristocracy. Especially in the first colonies and then the first states. Look at Bacon's Rebellion, look at the founding fathers (most of them were well off... upper class, the elite)
What shocks me is how LESS different the US is from Europe now than in the 70's where American only brands where for sale in stores. And no Japanese cars back them, only American brands like Buicks (save the VW beetles and vans of students and hippies). Two weeks ago I was in DFW airport and I saw the same "au bon pain" outlet we've got in the Paris subway!
Well I'm not a foreigner, but what I think shocks them the most is how much we know about them and how much we care what they think about us......BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
A few things that I've heard from people who visit the U.S.:
That our schools are safe. People in other countries heard about school shootings and thought people brought guns to schools.
People are poorly dressed. Met someone from France who could not believe that people wore sweat pants in public.
Everything is BIG! Big cars, big houses, big buildings, big country, big people...
People are more polite here. Someone told me once that Europeans are very direct and confrontational and are not shy about criticizing you if there is something they do not like about you. This may not be true for all parts of the country.
I have heard both that schools in America are much better than they thought and that schools here are not very good.
Also wanted to add that people have said clearly many Americans are not fat and there are overweight Europeans, but it is the size of some people that Europeans are not used to. Some Americans are so obese that they look round.
and yet our average life expectancy is comparable to europe's. so either we're not as fat and unhealthy of a population as everybody thinks or our health care is significantly better in that it can keep such a supposedly fat country alive for as long as europeans.
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