17 cultural reasons why this european never wants to live in the US (DMV, maintenance)
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I don't see where anybody has called him a moron. Also, if he doesn't care about what we say then why do you care so much?
We just simply pointed out the fact that he makes a lot of generalizations about Americans and does come off as close-minded. Now, if an American wrote a similar article about the U.K. are another European country, I imagine you would be the first person in line to call them a "typical, xenophobic, close-minded, ignorant American" simply because they pointed out some things about Europe that they didn't like. So why is it that when a European criticizes the U.S. it's "telling the truth and being honest", but when an American does the same to Europe it's considered "uncultured, ignorant, and close-minded". Nobody that has stood up for him has yet to answer that question.
I'm not a blindly patriotic person. But the double-standard here is blatant.
If no one called him a moron in the last 19 pages then I'm misremembering from a few days ago, my apologies. I assume he wouldn't even know he's being discussed on here, the reason I care is because when one person's opinions are shouted down as 'wrong' by a whole lot of people, it kind of annoys me.
I haven't read his points in a little while, but I'm pretty sure that whilst he certainly doesn't pull his punches, he is very careful not to make generalisations and his comments are entirely regarding his own experience. Again, if you noticed some that I didn't sorry about that. If I thought he was generalising, I too would be on his case about it, I try my best not to employ double standards. If an American did what I've seen this guy do, and made comments based only on their experience and didn't generalise either, I'd be fine with it.
Last edited by BruceTenmile; 04-18-2013 at 12:58 PM..
I thought it was an entertaining read, nothing more than that. Surely nobody thinks it's some sort of doctoral dissertation on the merits of US society...
Yeah, it means watch yourself and be real careful what you say and do next, you are clearly dealing with a lunatic
In my experience, Americans abroad vie for the position with the British. My god in heaven, can those poms complain.
No it won't, because you can't get a green card
Since I've got nothing better to do I'll try to contrast his statements with my own experience. I haven't been to as many places in the US but I did live in Texas for about a year and a half.
1. Americans are way too sensitive
- Or maybe you are a rude jerk. Just because it's ok to be mean to people where you come from doesn't mean it's ok everywhere else.
2. Everything is “awesome”!
That is a minor cultural issue, but easily dealt with. I remember one guy who asked me "How are you?" and got the details exactly how I felt that day. The look on the poor man's face! I wised up after that. Yes, when someone says they're "ok" and not "great," something IS the matter. Hasn't this guy ever had a girlfriend?
3. Smiles mean NOTHING
- See above. Seriously, just because someone smiles a lot doesn't make it mean nothing. People smile a lot in Thailand as well, apparently. Personally, I don't know about this whole thing. At the time, I didn't think people were smiling insincerely at me and instead thought that it was nice that people appeared happy to see me. Maybe I should have worried more?
4. Tipping
Terribly annoying to get decent service? That's what I call 1st world problems... My own biggest problem in this respect was to figure out how much to tip, but I did like being able to directly reward people who I thought provided superior service. I don't know where else this guy has been when he's talking about ":the rest of the world," but I'll take good service over bad service any day. I've been to enough restaurants where you have to leave your table and go find the waitstaff if you want anything.
5. False prices on everything
This didn't bother me once I got the hang of doing simple calculations in my head and knew what the state sales tax was. Maybe the Irish have poor math skills or something. On the other hand, imagine if price tags over on this side of the pond displayed what the store charges for the item, and then the (usually around 25%) sales tax gets added onto the total at the register. There would be riots! You could easily say that including the tax on the price tag is also lying, since that's hiding how much the gubmint makes from your purchase.
6. Cheesy in-your-face marketing
I didn't really notice this, except for some rather strange billboard ads for remaining a virgin until you're married - they were displaying some guy in a medieval suit of armor, and I remember thinking "that's gotta chafe". Anyway, this guy has clearly not watched a lot of European commercials when he complains about US ones.
This is a Norwegian commercial for lamb sausage, the captions are "Speed bump, Voss style" and "Cold cuts, Voss style"
I'm sorry but this is a global phenomenon and not exlusive to the US. Anywhere people have money to spend there will be crass commercials. Looks like he'll have to stay in a developing country if the absence of marketing is what makes him feel at peace.
7. Wasteful consumerism
Not sure about this, at any rate it's clearly not limited to the US so I don't understand why he makes it a specifically US issue. Sure, if you live in Uganda I'm sure there's going to be less "consumerism," but in my experience it's not something you're going to evade in any developed country. It's just that the goods or services being consumed are different, as in the example of a restaurant visit taking four hours and costing you half a week's pay in Europe as opposed to taking half an hour and costing the equivalent of maybe three to four hours of your salary.
But then you couldn't have bought your cheap second-hand iPad from him, could you? You'd have to fork out for a new one, probably much more than what it now costs, as if everyone did as you wish, goods would be considerably more expensive because fewer items would be sold.
8. Idiotic American stereotypes of other countries
Well, pot, kettle, and all that. I've lost count of how many times people in Britan or Ireland would regard me with the utmost suspicion upon hearing my accent, until they figured out I was not German but Norwegian... And the Irish do drink, much more than they should since they can't hold their drink very well.
Oh, come ON!
Anyway, sure there's stereotypes, but you're going to run into that anywhere in the world. The alternative is complete and utter ignorance that your country even exists, I don't know which is better. If you talk to a Japanese dude and tell him you're from Norway, he'll be sure to say something about salmon, as that's pretty much the only thing he's likely to know about us.
Sounds like he wouldn't recognize a joke if it jumped up and bit him in the behind.
Northern Ireland is part of the UK. And Ireland was
9. Heritage
I didn't experience this as a problem and I'm uncertain why the author thinks it is. People are trying to make conversation and establish common ground.
10. ID checks & stupid drinking laws
It's not stupid. Once again he fails to realize differences between (most) of the US and (most) of Yurp. Given that you have to drive almost everywhere, and the propensity for 18-21 year olds to get in to all sorts of trouble while even slightly inebriated, it makes a lot of sense to restrict access to alcohol for this age group. Even with this restriction about 75,000 deaths are linked to alcohol each year in the US. The number of DUI fatalities in the 18-21 age group has been positively affected by raising the minimum age.
I do agree with the carding to a degree, once you're going bald you shouldn't get carded anymore. On the other hand - what's the big deal?
11. Religious Americans
Ya, sure. At least the Americans have mostly, with a very few and limited exceptions, stopped killing each other over religious issues. Can't say I'm seeing the same in Europe, not to mention some other parts of the world.
12. Corporations win all the time, not small businesses
I disagree, there are and were many small businesses in the US that are successful. What he thinks of as small businesses are probably small stores which are parts of corporations.
13. A country designed for cars, not humans
The towns and cities might be designed for cars (with humans in them, of course), but unless you subscribe to one of those distasteful Christian affiliations you find so objectionable, the country wasn't designed with anything specific in mind
Sure - it's hard to get around without a car, but a) cars are inexpensive and b) gas is relatively inexpensive. Going to the US and not driving is like going to Nepal and not climbing a mountain.
14. Always in a hurry
!
AAAAGH! The humanity! Maybe this guy is a masochist or something. Something about what he said made me think about this classic:
And then he complains about people "cutting to the chase too quickly." I thought Americans were not direct enough?
At any rate, in my experience nobody was particularly hurried in the US. Maybe I lived in the wrong state?
15. Obsession with money
I don't see how this is exclusive to the US. You'll find people obsessed with money all over the planet. He's just envious because the "celtic tiger" has been poached and sold to the Chinese as an aphrodisiac and he can no longer make a mint on his superior technological knowledge.
16. Unhealthy portions
... You don't want to live somewhere because there's too much food? 'k.
I thought the portions were just right, but then I was doing a man's work at the time Maybe that's the author's problem?
I do recall being somewhat disappointed in Mississippi plates compared to Texas plates, but then I discovered Ryan's Family Steakhouse
17. Thinking America is the best
Well, I liked it. I won't go into the author's irrational fear of guns, but it's interesting to note that he feels safer in a herd.
Here is your typical American wannabe with small country complex. I bet he drives a General Lee replica back in Stavanger or wherever he lives. He doesn't go along with the herd, you see.
Interesting. I've lived and traveled all over the world all my life, and based on my own first hand observations, I don't think that Americans are any more ignorant or irritating than any other nationality I've interacted with. I found the list to be about 20 percent accurate - the other 80 percent was nothing more than the rantings of an inflexible, closed minded person.
You can't deny that less Americans step outside their nations borders than citizens overseas. You can't deny that less Americans speak a foreign language. Most Europeans travel to a neighboring country in the summer. Most Americans travel to a neighboring state.
This is a large reason why Americans are so nationalistic. By remaining in their little bubble they are never forced to self reflect. Eventually they grow a fear of life off the island and that's when war mongering becomes acceptable.
The less the US public knows about the outside world, the more likely they'll believe outrage claims like Saddam and Bin Laden are working together. Or Iran is an unstable nation with a violent past. None of this has happened by mistake.
I had a good chuckle reading the 17 reasons by this guy. Some are good such as the sensitivity part. The only thing I fail to see is the smiling part. People should smile more overseas (that dour glum look doesn't do anything for a face). I'm glad at least we can put on a face overhere that isn't so sad looking.
I think is the put on a face part that makes some people cringe. It gives you the impression of being surrounded by pod people, and it comes across as a bit dishonest, like faking orgasm.
Last edited by Perfect Stranger; 04-21-2013 at 04:37 AM..
Ah, young people always complain about anything having to do with cars. But I'm sure that the majority of people would HATE a world without cars. Love it or believe that you hate them, the fact of the matter is, they're convenient. I'm sure that once these young people hit their 40s, they'll retire the idea of going grocery shopping and bringing those bags home without a car.
My father grew up in Europe and he HATES being forced to own an automobile here.
Endless sitting in traffic, changing lanes, being cutoff. Endless insurance payments, DMV costs, oil changes, maintenance on brakes, maintenance on the engine, tire rotation. Oh and filling up gas. That's convenience?
Convenience is having a subway, train and bus drive you around. While you drink a beer legally in public no less. I hate needing to get in my money pit whenever I want to engage with society. That's depression. The car is one of the biggest scams in America and there are a lot. But it's freedom they brainwashed you into thinking
EDIT: He hit on another issue with the grocery store. Overseas you have little shops selling fresh produce with competitive prices (Big corporation always win, not small) . You don't have to travel to a supermarket and purchase food for the whole week. That feeling of waking up overseas and walking down the street to get fresh bread, meat, and cheese. You don't understand until you've done it. No going to McDonald's or some breakfast joint.
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