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You seem to be 'blaming' this on the immigrants ( or you may not be but that's the impression that comes across) when there are other factors in play
Tourism has expanded in the last 20 years so now places are seeing lots more - e.g. there are now coach loads of Chinese tourists everywhere compared to 20 years ago, the world has become a smaller place.
And the locals are going to cash in and offer cheap made in China souvenirs to the Chinese tourists
Globalisation has also meant places look the same - maybe it's a bit ironic that an American complains about Europe losing it's character when it's the mega corps expanding and putting a McDonalds and Pizza Hut and Coca Cola signs everywhere.
I moved to the US a few years ago and have a huge list of places I want to see - but I do find it a bit depressing that wherever I go in the States it all looks the same, every town has the same stores, the out of town shopping park with it's Macy's and Sears and Target and Home Depot and Walmart and Dollar Store
You've seen so much of Europe already? Really? I could spend years just exploring England ( and I lived there for nearly 50 years! ) never mind the rest of Europe.
As for the original topic, I'm planning a trip to Italy next year with no worries at all.
I understand what you're saying and in fact, I agree with a lot of it.
I am not blaming all or even most of the changes in Europe on immigrants - that was the one smidgen that George (and apparently Bill too) latched on to out of all my various comments and of course he (or they) took that out of context and that is why I have been defending my thoughts on that particular aspect.
I mentioned other changes as well, but he (they?) of course didn't find those topics nearly as inflammatory so I haven't really been discussing them much.
And yes, I've seen a lot of Europe because I enjoy visiting there, and also because I LIVED there for three years. Have I seen everything I want to see? No. I could live in either the US or Europe for the rest of my life and never see all I want to see. My point was that since I've seen so much of it though, and since there are so many other interesting places in the world and in the US, and since there's unrest in Europe due mostly to the unfortunate situation with displaced people pouring over the borders, I'm going to give Europe a break for awhile.
Yes, I do think that Europe (like the US and other countries) is losing some of the individuality of each country, and I think that's a shame. When I travel, I am seeking out unique experiences, local flavor, regardless of where I am - whether I'm in Tennessee or the Czech Republic. I want to experience things there that I really can't experience elsewhere. That's the point of travel for me.
None of this means that I'm hating on immigrants (my gosh, I live in Texas and love it here - if I hated immigrants I sure wouldn't live in this state!), or hating on Europe, or living in fear or anything like that. All it means - ALL it means - is that I'm going to give travel to Europe a rest for awhile - probably a couple of years. Meanwhile, there are many places in my own huge country that interest me, and that I really would regret not going to see - and the whole adventure will cost less and be less hassle than international travel, which is also an appealing idea to me.
So there you have it. That's it. That's basically what I said in my first post and I'm still saying it, in spite of the spin that's been put on it by one (or two?) folks on this thread.
It's my prerogative, with my travel dollars, to travel where and when I want and spend money in countries and locations that actually offer something different, culturally.
Demographics don't lie. With birthrates going as they are for native Europeans vs. "migrants," within a couple of generations years there's going to be a vastly different Europe with a culture turning to resemble a Lebanon more than Luxembourg (While you're worrying about "cowards" why don't you read up on how the demographic change in that country turned the "Paris of the Middle East" into "the Middle East of the Middle East" within just a few decades. You so arrogant to think the allure of secular western lifestyle is sustainable and superior? Europe is no USA).
I will not spend money in countries that appear to want to hasten that process. Glad I went to Germany last year before the mess. I wouldn't go back and spend money there so long as they continue to let the trojan flying horses into Europe en masse. It's like that country just cannot help itself throwing Europe into turmoil every few decades.
I think this post sums things up perfectly, to suggest that Luxembourg is going to resemble Lebanon within a couple of generations is plain silly, I can only guess that scaremongering is coming at you from somewhere, Fox news? Donald Trump perhaps?
Just for the record, I can't stand that idiot Trump.
Are they trying? That can't be denied, are our secret services aware of who is and who isn't? I think so, in most cases they are closely monitoring the situation, the Italian secret services have issues a high number of arrests starting from Ouali, an Algeria linked to the Paris attacks which was the latest of several, there are 38 men in prison (more if you count those who have been charged for crimes related to terrorism, 259 only last year) due to terrorism (18 last year) according to this article that's unfortunately in Italian (which, amongst other things, talks about several manage not to get incriminated due to the fault of the court system which is something i do find a bit more worrying).
An American shouldn't be more worried about chances of a trip to Europe not ending well than an American is. You may not stand Trump but from the way you talk you will probably end up supporting someone who's as much of a fearmonger as he is (Cruz? Heard Texans like that fanatic Bible man, almost the Christian equivalent of Muslim Salafism)
Just for the record, I can't stand that idiot Trump.
Ah! seems it is the news outlets doing the scaremongering, not coming to Europe because of a terrorist attack is like not going to the US because of a mass shooting, nobody thinks that either scenario is a good thing obviously but they are both still so rare that you really have more chance of getting hurt in an 'accident' in both places. Europe is not a country its many countries, for example not going to Manchester because of a bomb in Paris would be like not going to Dallas because of a shootout in Mexico City, in the case of the UK terrorist attacks are actually rarer now than they were in the 1970's - 1980's when the IRA were active.
Are they trying? That can't be denied, are our secret services aware of who is and who isn't? I don't think so, in most cases they are closely monitoring the situation, the Italian secret services have issues a high number of arrests starting from Ouali, an Algeria linked to the Paris attacks
which was the latest of several, there are 38 men arrested due to terrorism according to this article that's unfortunately in Italian (which, amongst other things, talks about several manage not to get incriminated due to the fault of the court system which is something i do find worrying).
Right.
The Frontex Report, released yesterday, claims that nearly TWO MILLION migrants entered the EU ILLEGALLY in 2015. OK, so one million were processed through the system in Germany alone in 2015. Nearly double that number did not go through the system, but did enter the EU illegally during the same time period.
Now - I can't say that I blame them. Their countries are in turmoil. Heck, if my family was in danger or had already lost everything, you can bet I'd take them to the safest place I could find as quickly as I could get there, borders and laws be damned. But the fact of the matter is that by the end of 2016 there will be millions and millions of migrants in Europe - in fact, several million entered the EU in 2015 alone and the pace is only increasing.
To deny that this is a pressing problem and one that is growing is to deny reality. Others can choose to do so, but personally that's not my style.
Ah! seems it is the news outlets doing the scaremongering, not coming to Europe because of a terrorist attack is like not going to the US because of a mass shooting, nobody thinks that either scenario is a good thing obviously but they are both still so rare that you really have more chance of getting hurt in an 'accident' in both places. Europe is not a country its many countries, for example not going to Manchester because of a bomb in Paris would be like not going to Dallas because of a shootout in Mexico City, in the case of the UK terrorist attacks are actually rarer now than they were in the 1970's - 1980's when the IRA were active.
I never said I wasn't going to travel in Europe because of a terrorist attack. I get what you're saying and other than the part about the sources I quoted "scaremongering," I agree with you. In fact, I've stated several times on this thread that any of us stand more of a chance of being killed in a commuting accident on the way to work than being involved in a terrorist attack.
I never said I wasn't going to travel in Europe because of a terrorist attack. I get what you're saying and other than the part about the sources I quoted "scaremongering," I agree with you. In fact, I've stated several times on this thread that any of us stand more of a chance of being killed in a commuting accident on the way to work than being involved in a terrorist attack.
Just clarifying.
Kathryn it is scaremongering, there is a problem with migrants yes but the effect it is having on everyday Europe is minimal, millions of Europeans are going about their daily business the way they have for decades. There are people on here claiming that Europe will be 'Islamic' in a generation or two! Despite the despicable animals that are 'ISIS' a VAST majority of Muslims in Europe are not hell bent on changing Europe into an Islamic state, not all Muslims are murderous terrorists! The percentage that are is tiny. Don't think for one moment that ISIS is only targeting Europe when it comes to terrorism, the USA is not immune, yes ISIS want to target Paris or Berlin but they want to target New York or Washington too, if European culture is changing its only because (like every other country on earth including the US) it is becoming more globalised, due to modern technology the world is a smaller place.
The Frontex Report, released yesterday, claims that nearly TWO MILLION migrants entered the EU ILLEGALLY in 2015. OK, so one million were processed through the system in Germany alone in 2015. Nearly double that number did not go through the system, but did enter the EU illegally during the same time period.
Now - I can't say that I blame them. Their countries are in turmoil. Heck, if my family was in danger or had already lost everything, you can bet I'd take them to the safest place I could find as quickly as I could get there, borders and laws be damned. But the fact of the matter is that by the end of 2016 there will be millions and millions of migrants in Europe - in fact, several million entered the EU in 2015 alone and the pace is only increasing.
To deny that this is a pressing problem and one that is growing is to deny reality. Others can choose to do so, but personally that's not my style.
There's a problem, no one's denying it but is terrorism the problem? No, it just simply isn't, the problem is the pace at which they are coming and the lack of a common immigration policy in the EU, in fact if they were distributed properly, it wouldn't be a problem. The problem arises only when certain cities and countries have to face a noticeable increase of immigrants and can't integrate them properly. If they aren't integrated, we might very well witness the birth of more neighbourhoods such as Molenbeek.
Aside from this, i want to point out that the number of legal immigrants wasn't 1 million because Germany wasn't the only country to accept immigrants (by the way, we don't know, for instance, Italy accepted 150k of them. The number of legal immigrants far outweights the one of illegal ones, most of which are asylum seekers. By the way, the number is forecast to dwindle to one million this year. Another last thing i want to point out is that not all immigrants are Muslims and that with the new Turkey-Greece agreement and an eventual peace in Syria, things should go back to normal starting from 2017-2018
Read my edit of the previous comment by the way.
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