And just what is "culture"? Some piece of classical music that happen to have been written 300 years ago in Europe? Every society has its culture. It may not be like your culture, but it does exist separately, or intermixed with others. If the U.S. "culture" is so bad, then why does the rest of the World so readily borrow from it? When I would turn on the radio in Germany, it was largely music from the U.S. which was being played. When the National Football League recently played a Pro football game in Munich, the crowd was singing "Take Me Home Country Roads" and "Sweet Caroline". Oh, and the stadium was sold out! When I listen to German radio over the Internet, I am constantly taken back at how the German language has borrowed from American English. Not just techncal terms, but everyday verbs and nouns and just throws them into the German sentence. Is language not part of "culture"? Just musings of an 81 year old American who lived in Germany in the early sixties, had a German wife for 50 years, and has been traveled back there many times over the last 60 years. I have a perspective which evolved over many years and given me snap shots of Germany's changes. For sure, the Germany that I first knew, has changed greatly.
@@nejdro1 Yes exactly. I think this is what people either forget or say they dislike because their own music industry does not have the same kind of reach...
I would argue that music has become more international than a culture thing. You are off course right that English music (English in terms of language, not origin) is played to a very high degree in Germany, but let us be honest, the music "styles" are borrowed back and forth. The anthem of the US is classical music that evolved in Europe, Rock n Roll and the derived music styles like Heavy Metal etc are borrowed from the US. This is a thing to embrace, not to fight any culture war about. People like K pop. I personally don't, but it is a thing. In general I think that it is stupid fighting over cultural things. Every culture in the world has to offer something good, sometimes really awesome that I would like to know and try (especially when it comes to food). Personally I will not visit the US before some major issues are solved there, among them there is unregulated gun ownership, badly regulated food market and health care. If I should ever work in the US, my contract will include all the benefits I would get in a European country, because that is another issue that is handled very bad in the US. Having that said, my impression is that people want to make a change on these topics (especially the younger generation), so I still have hope. I think the US has so much to offer in kinds of locations to visit, so I would love to one day take a year to travel the country.
I think it's interesting and I had some of the thoughts already by myself. I would have added a part about the uneducated people that are very often shown on UA-cam and so on. Stupidity triggers people a lot. Therefore I was surprised you skipped this topic, but all in all, your video makes a lot of sense. 😊😊
This "Ami" does. During my years in Germany, I bent over backwards to not be that stereotypical American. I studied German immediately, and went on to get my degree in German. I dressed in the German style . I hung out with German students my age. I married a German girl and stayed with her for 50 years til her death.
@@nejdro1hehe, how did you dress German :D? To me, Germans don't seem particularly stylish (outside of bigger cities, perhaps). I'm German myself but it would be interesting to know what you picked up coming from the outside...
Europe has no culture and soccer is boring. What has Europe invented recently? We have the best technology and my state has class. Europe lacks style and bbq
As an American who has spent much of the past 50 years living in Europe, I have a couple of things to say. One, as far as thinking they are the best in the world, the French take the cake. Two, what most Europeans have a hard time understanding, the U.S. is geographically a very big country and is not one culture. There are many parts of the country where I do not feel at home and attitudes of people in one area towards those in another area are much like, say, the attitudes of people in one European country towards those of another. Belgian jokes in France = West Virginia jokes in northern states, etc. It seems to be human nature to make sweeping generalizations and stereotype others and mock them if possible. The world would be a better place if we all just took each person as a representative only of themselves, but I don't see it happening.
Of course there are varied differences but is more worrying to me is that studies seem to show that there are very predictable patterns. And yes maybe it shouldn’t be the case but humans make snap judgements all the time and the country where you come from is a big part of your identity, whether you want it to be or not
No, I'm sorry. This is wishful thinking. The French may be arrogant, but they are the first to criticize their own state. Americans on the other hand - on average - can't stomach honest criticism of their country and are the number one most defensive people in the western world. "The US is not one culture" is another one of those vapid statements given that this is true for most European countries as well. You'll find more cultural, linguistic and even religious diversity in a country like Switzerland than in the entirety of the US. I find it also ironic that you criticize the tendency to make sweeping generalizations after your initial claim aobut the French: Americans are comfortable with generalizing over others. They aren't very comfortable with looking in the mirror when others generalize them. This is coming from a European who has spent many years in the US.
@@schtreg9140- Agree regarding the general defensiveness of Americans relative to people of other western countries. As for cultural diversity in Switzerland vs. the US, calling BS on that, though I’m happy to hear the argument for it. I’ve been to Switzerland and it is diverse as you say. But there is no equivalent there or anywhere in Europe to the differences between say Hilo, Hawai‘i; Hollywood; Alaska; and Appalachia.
333 million Americans, I think it's more politics than people. Loud people get noticed quickly, so you're more likely to come across 'brash Yanks'....rather than Americans who are decent, quiet and less ethnocentric. The loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room....I have met both types, living in Lublin.
Seems you consider yourself to be a decent US citizen but apparently, it never crossed your mind how ethnocentric it is to call yourself "an American" and to mean by that to be a US citizen just as though nobody else living anywhere in North, Middle or South America was "an American".
@@JLDReactions Whatever you feel like as long as it distinguishes you from other Americans and does not somehow degrade them to "Americans of a somewhat lower status". Personally, I just stick with US citizens until someone comes up with something better.
I've worked with a lot of people internationally and I have to say, I don't really meet people from other countries who seem to dislike Americans in particular. Sure, I suppose they could keep it to themselves since I am American, but I usually try to discuss their country, their people, their history and also my own and the verdict tends to be that Americans are interesting, capable, and most of all friendly. I've actually been very surprised by the number of different cultures that have told me Americans are the friendliest people they've ever met (and in a good way, not uncomfortable way). From Brits to Persians to Chinese... I think your experience has been a selection bias. Just like there seem to be many extreme leftist opinions emanating from the US now, and they exist, but they're a vocal minority. I can't think of a place I'd rather live, honestly. We've got our flaws, no question, but I'm happy to be an American.
This is a lovely comment to read. I hope you have met some of our Kiwis in America. I have seen a podcast which showed a great bond between American guys and our Boys in the armed services. I even wondered if you worked in the military. I am very fond of Americans as I know they are friendly like us. The image I have is pretty good, based on Americans I have known, met, or seen and some of the friends I made in comment sections. Thanks, Bro.
Kia ora, and I meant to say that you an one individual have huge power to create a significant view of American people. I have made friends with people from France, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Bolivia, Tonga, Fiji and the Chech Republic. I have worked closely with people from India, the Filipines and other countries. I worked with one Japanese nurse who was so beautiful and funny that I, 100% did a u-turn on my old prejudice about the Japs. Another Japanese guy I met stayed at our house and he affirmed my beautiful image of the Japanese I have made friends with e Russians and they were also profoundly beautiful jn my eyes and experience. My love of France, the Netherlands, Tonga, Fiji, Russia, and of tangata phenua and the places they are from has grown exponentially due to my connections with one or more individuals. It is unfortunate that I assisted a person from Nigeria who I met on a bus has made me very wary of Nigerians. Similarly I picked up a hitchhiker from Peru. I also had friends from Peru and Iraq. These few people made me warey of men from those countries even though they were mostly very nice. I am writing all this, because I can't be the only one who gets to love certain countries because of their ambassadores. I have also come to love countries because of the past actions of their people during past wars. I have a strongly glorified view and regard for people of Russia Poland, Britain, America, Australia, France, India, The Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Greece, New Zealand, Vietnam and very, very many countries because of their strength, sacrifice, resistance unity, and actions of women and children in times of war of occupation. Kia ora Bro.
@@barbsmart7373 Thanks! No I did not work for the military but I was a combat sports coach, and strength and conditioning coach for professional athletes which did help to meet many international people. I live in a rural place in the mountains. Not many people from New Zealand come here, it would be like traveling across the world to visit a place like where you came from!
There is no general “European culture” just like there is no general “American culture”. As a German-born who has lived in New England and now the Deep South, I can assure you there is a wide variety of culture, well-known and not so well-known. And modern American culture has produced more than just Google, Apple and Tesla. The intersection of cultures, mostly European and American has dominated what the world has achieved over the last 150 years or so (building on what was before) - and yes, that includes setbacks. What would music and literature and art in general look like today without America? Just think about that alone. So let’s enjoy what is available and continue to learn from each other perhaps?
I have been lucky to spend a lot of time outside the US. I am a Army veteran. I signed up to defend this nation. Yet, this place is a mess and I am stuck here, as I am over 50. We could be so much better. I am quiet when I travel. I am not self centered, but I am not what you see in American media. Many are like me, but we don't get noticed. Hopefully, we grow up as a nation. And soon.
Yes I think part of it is the media and stereotypes. But as the research showed a lot of it is about politics, and although it shouldn’t be the case the way a countries leaders behave reflects what people think about the population as a whole
the left wing media has portrayed Americans as loud and obnoxious -- 100% bullshit. Do you really think loud mouth poor Americans travel to Paris or Prague? Utter nonsense
There certainly is a lot of terrible stuff happening in the US these days. But to say America has no culture is a joke especially since literally the world has been influenced by US culture post WW2. Everybody wears jeans which is a US invention, literally almost everybody in the world is exposed to US pop culture & to some extent influences your life too. And then the competitive culture of Silicon Valley, Wall Streers, the Coeboy culture, etc. To say the US has no culture is a joke. Every country has its own culture & identity. Plus, when people say Americans are self centered I mean it could be true but generally speaking every individual is self centered to a certain extent. I don't see Americans are anymore self centered than many other countries in the world. Americans are kinda ignorant because they don't know anything about the world outside of the US. But ignorant & self centered are not the same.
same here it sucks we are considered many of the worst stereotypes when traveling and yet there so many hypocritical foreigners who are just as rude if not worse than Americans. I actually find us to be pretty open minded when traveling albeit there are still a few stereotypical ones that ruin our image. There are so many stereotypes directed at Americans that were criticized regardless of what we do tbf and its just popular to critique us at any opportunity as if were responsible for our countries problems lol I think the only one im really guilty of is lack of knowledge of local customs but thats seriosuly an unfair criticism because everyone who is tourist to a location is going to be to some extent.
I think some of the harshness in the criticism the US gets for their policies also results from disappointment. We expect more from people we like and somehow, maybe unconsciously, idealise. If they fail (in our eyes) they often get more criticism than someone we didn't think much of in the first place.
@@mmoretti Haha, another victim of the American education system and the belief in orange fake gods who tell you what to think. Good job, Donnie, she reads every lie from your lips as if it was the revelation of a new religion. Well, a cult, that is. A cult with a golden, err..., orange calf. And the stupid are dancing around it as they always do...
who idealizes us because it seems more like dislike as most Europeans are always harping on how much better it is there than America even though many have never visited here and if they do outside of New York or other touristy major cities.
As an indigenous American with tribal citizenship, (that means am a dual citizen)I always found these view points about America having no culture so limited and quite frankly uninformed and ignorant. We have over 169 indigenous languages here that are actively spoken. Along with 326 sovereign nations with their own government to government relationships, constitutions, treaties, police force, tax policies, etc. there are currently 574 federally recognized tribes. We have HUNDREDS of rich living cultures within turtle island (United States). It has been my experience in Europe that they understand our native cultures are departed and reduced to folklore, which is largely propelled by media propaganda. We have our own philosophies, ways of life, culinary knowledge, ceremonies, name places, rights of passage, relationship to the land that many foreigners don’t know or care to seek out. Every time I travel to Western Europe I find myself schooling folks about our history that was here LONG before the doctrine of discovery was implemented. The first part of the American story and its laws is based upon us. Even our women’s suffrage came from the women of the consulting of the haudenosaunee women. Good Grief! Let’s do better !
When Europeans say America has no culture, they are talking hyperbolically about white America - which is a sentiment most often shared by non-white people in and outside the US when they mock things as being "so white" like bland cooking or boring music. The less informed and more ignorant minorities often think that this "white" regers to Europeans and they don't understand that Europeans mock white Americans for the same issues.
Please stop drinking the Marxist bong water thinking you are going to enjoy supremacy, your future if you get your way will be death or enslavement by your Marxist globalist overlords. Learn from history or be a speed bump. & spare us with the haudenosaunee aka Iroquois gave us women’s suffrage palaver. Iroquois women were in charge of planting maintaining and harvesting the crops and virtually all work. They didn’t own their land or even their dwellings, they had no vote or voice in governance. Don’t embroider on it. Frankly if you’re willing to lie about it, you sound as exploitative as a pretendian. I’m 25% American Indian, Abenaki, that is Algonquin. No American Indian is indigenous, our peoples crossed the Bering Sea from Siberia.
How many USA presidents were indigenous Americans? Are these 326 "sovereign" nations allowed to have bilateral relations with any country outside of the USA? Can they ask for independence? Do they have a say in USA's foreign policy? Native cultures ARE reduced to folklore, sadly.
@@Tukemuth The law would suggest otherwise. There are three governments in the US; Federal, State, and Tribal. The Americans inherited the treaties that were made with Native Amerricans with Britain, and they were later ratified, thus having to do with the first U.S. foreign policy. The Bureau of Indian Affairs used to be apart of the Department of War, now it is under the Department of the Interior. Tribal nations are considered to be domestic dependent nations, that were created from the Marshall Trilogy enforced by the Trust Doctrine and government to government relations. Tribal nations share their own constitutions, governance leadership, jurisdiction, criminal and civil law systems, constitutions, police force, human departments and commerce. The US constitution mentions Native Americans nations three times, one of them being the commerce clause. Within treaty rights, which vary from nation to nation, almost always contain usufructuary rights, which require government to government relations. Tribal leaders are Presidents, Executives, and formal leaders of their nations. Additionally, only tribal nations decide who their citizens are, like any political sovereignty, such as the United States or France. Tribal nations also send independent representation to places like the UN. There are several trade agreements within which tribal nations can operate independent of the US Government. Some tribal nations have their own passport. The Indian Child Welfare Act illustrates sovereignty, tribal court systems, wellness court systems, among many other policies and law. U.S.C code 25 contains the laws surrounding Native Law. Aboriginal title and treaties ARE LAW OF THE LAND. For further reading you can visit your nearest tribal governance center, interpretive center, tribal cultural center, or something similar like reading the history of federal Indian policy in the United States. Thanks for playin' - Have a nice day.
@@Aláyama-r2e "Tribal nations are considered to be domestic dependent nations" = reduced to folklore. In other words, they have freedom within the boundaries of their golden cage.
Hi, a thought provoking video once again.! Great. As to the outgoing, less shy americans you have met or encountered while traveling, or are now living abroad, it is the type of personality that eagerly WANTS to travel, see new things, experience new cultures, are aware of the differences, good and bad. While I lived in the USA -in my teen and young adult years-, only about 1% in high school and 2% in college who "dared" to take a year abroad / go on an exchange programme. Most of my school and college mates had no passport, or had only gone to Canada or Mexico if at all out of the USA. Most of my friends were, like me first generation born in America or had arrived as children. We lived a dual culture every day. The now more concentrated media landscape (only 5 major corporations now where it used to be over 200 3 decades ago) gives a false and skewed picture of the USA when we consume any media stemming from them. Much is aimed to a 12 year old level. (Alas!) I too am grateful for many innovations and technology out of USA.
Another interesting presentation. I look forward to your videos. As for today's topic, I'm an American who, like most Americans, has my roots from somewhere else. In my case, my entire ancestry comes from northern Germany and is not far removed. I knew my German grandparents. When in Germany, we visit old family areas where we blend in and appear not so much as tourists in that our 'Americanism' is not apparent. That interaction has shown us that average people living their day to day lives don't differ much between the U.S. and Germany. We experience things beneath the cloud of media representations of what 'life is like'. The U.S. is a place where citizens can make or let the country be whatever they act or choose not to act on. To some, that process is too slow and feel they need to 'escape' the current conditions. In closing, a thought entered my mind at the end of the video: "Americans, you can't live with them and you can't live without them."
Haha that’s a great ending quote. It sounds like you are still really connected to your German side. A lot of what we see (from the outside) is politics, culture wars and race baiting. I think if you take that away there’s still a lot of good stuff
As a half German, half American I have become more and more irritated by my European friends and family as well as the younger American generation. America is more than just McDonalds, and I find it ironic that Americans today join in on the cultural stigmatization of their own country. It's like in order not to be perceived as the "ignorant American", expat Americans embrace a European position of ignorance towards America. Everybody's ignorant; open up your minds and put your resentments aside.
Thanks for being partial. I can see plenty of issues when I visited Spain for a month, however I try not to think overtly negatively about any group of people or place and cant say I can make assumptions based on the short time there.But I think its just popular to hate on the US, since i would tell peolple I was from Canada and they would back off on the stereotypes or judgements. I was actually yelled at by a German worker at a kiosk for asking a question about flight times for being American lol. We tend to get blamed as individuals for Americas many problems which often are the result of our government policies like were are the ambassadors of our country or something. Were often taken less seriously and our opinions minimized too. All in all there are many similarities between Europeans and Americans, espeically young people if you switch the nationality there wouldn't be much of a difference in terms of personality between let say someone from Sevilla and someone from California except for a few quirks and exceptions . Europeans tend to be more informed globally and have a healthier lifestyle but there are many Americans who are also health conscious not all of us are overweight and some of us do care about international affairs.
If you would open up yourself, then you would see that about half of the US population isn't particularly likable, taking into account that they will cast a vote hurting many people, within their own country as well as the planet as a whole. In Europe, it's far less, but still far too much.
Thank you for this fair and even-handed assessment, which was very refreshing. As a US citizen, I can say that as a country we do have a sort of collective sense of inferiority, contrary to what people think and what our image portrays to the world. I have traveled extensively in Europe and S. America and the thing that frustrated me most was that so many people have stereotypical views of who Americans are -- both positive and negative. I understand why many Europeans feel negatively toward us, but many of them have never been to this country and don't understand that many of us do not fit their pre-conceived notions of who we are.
I just discovered your channel. You can tell I am an American, because I would describe it as, Awesome! LOL. A couple of things - Yeah, we suck. (sigh) Oh, brother, we got that out of the way. We live in 2024, but people forget context, and by that I mean history, and that is how each of us on this planet got to this very day, regardless of who is reading my comment on your video. Americans are people that are not defined by geography or ethnicity. Americans came to this continent as explorers, adventurers, slaves, indentured servants, fleeing political or religious persecution, searching for a better life, a second chance, or they were kicked out their home country. This trend continues to this day. Americans have very close ties to the home country of their heritage, whether real or imagined, as annoying as it may be to those still left in the "Old Country." This is why we became involved in two world wars, (remember who started them) and the Cold War, not to mention the bloodbath in Ukraine and the Middle East, and still have US military all over the world. Considering the conflicts of the last 110 years, would Europe and Asia want us to pack up our boys and girls and toys, and come back home? We don't spend $700 billion a year to protect the US, but to protect you. Yeah, we don't have culture, we are a bunch of rednecks, entitled loud obnoxious, fat ignoramuses. The United States is the oldest, oldest, continuous representative constitutional democracy in world history. Thank you, Britain, for your traditions and language in laying the foundation for this achievement. Yeah, we have a lot of conflict. Every day. Living in America is like constantly arguing with your wife, friends and family and being in court. Remember the American Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression, depending on where you are from - 650, 000 men Killed in Action, plus our best President, Abe Lincoln, assassinated. Eventually, we resolve our conflicts and come up with a solution and move on. Thank God and our forefathers for the Constitution and the rule of law. Our culture is a rich stew made up of all peoples from all over the world. American music, innovation in all fields and endeavors of science, engineering, art, are because of the talent of immigrants who became citizens, slaves who became free, and the world that celebrates the gifts these Americans gave us. And our culture bounces back across the world and comes back and is refined and improved and sent back out to the world. American music is the best example. Many Americans would state that The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are an American Band. Nothing more American. They are, of course, British, who were influenced by American Black blues, rockabilly and country, they made it their own, revolutionized and sent it back our way. So many examples of so many endeavors where this has happened. Something about America where this freedom of creativity can happen. I guess because people have the freedom to fail here and then find redemption. But, the real thing that is the unspoken or very difficult to express reason, that people all over the world do not like about Americans and The United States is this - You can move to France. You can move to China. You can move to Germany, or Egypt or any other country in the World. You can get a passport and be a legal citizen. You can be fluent in whatever language in your whatever adopted country. But, y'all, ain't ever gonna become a Frenchman, or Chinese, or German, or Egyptian, I don't care if you renounced your citizenship, or how well you blended in. However, you can be from India. You can be from Nigeria. You can be from Vietnam. You can be from Italy. You can be from El Salvador, or any other country or place on this planet. Hell, you can be from the UK, even- And you can become an American. An American, just as American as me - true American, an American as John Wayne, George Washington or Vivek Ramaswamy. That is what makes us different- We are not defined by geography or ethnicity.
@@britingermany Please keep up the good work. I would love to travel the world and live in different places and enjoy the people, savor the culture. I live on a farm in the rural South, isolated and quiet. The internet and y'all UA-camrs bring the world to me, truly bringing an experience with HD and surround sound that is illuminating and educational, given with good humor and sensitivity. I am glad I discovered your channel.
Dude, I'm an American who's spent the last 30 years or so in Japan, so I've been on the outside looking in. I grew up believing our Constitution, our Three Branches of Government, the Separation of Church and State, etc., made our country special and unique. And they do. But unfortunately they are not absolutes. They only have meaning and power if Americans respect them and each other. And as we've painfully seen, especially over the last 8 years, that respect is crumbling rapidly. If everyone shared your opinions there wouldn't be a problem. But right now a frightening percentage of Americans, including members or soon-to-be members of all 3 Branches of Government, probably wouldn't agree with you that anyone can become an American, or even that current American citizens all deserve the same rights. This could be because of race, religion, economic status, gender/sexual identity, reproductive choices, or even other reasons that I'm not aware of. The Founding Fathers may have wanted to avoid it, but many, many modern Americans strongly identify being American by their ethnicity and/or religion. If this many people believe that the "American Dream" doesn't exist for everyone then it doesn't exist for anyone. Except for those with the right amount of social or economic privilege...
What Europeans get wrong about American culture is that it’s a culture that didn’t emerge from urban concentrations (citadels and towns) with their surpluses of wealth devoted to non-productive activies (such as arts and crafts) and religious patronage that built enormous cathedrals, but it’s a culture that emerged from capitalism, and specifically (and no surprisingly) entertainment. So it’s a culture that needs the market validation and it’s limited by it, and that gravitates around, heavily I’d say, imagery and spectacle, whether films, tv, musical shows, theme parks, etc. Even food in America is often portrayed (and sold) as a show, with 3 inches of cheese on pretty much everything and burgers the size of a lorry. Just saying that they are different cultures misses, in its self-evident rhetoric, a crucial element. Not only they are different, but their parameters and values system are in opposite axis. Europeans value their culture because that’s what they have been fed with, literally. But taking the same parameters in the absence of historical circumstances and judging other cultures in terms of their worth is ridiculous and frankly ignorant. The real question to me is whether we will be watching and admiring old American films, or any other visual artefact for that, in a century from now in the same way that we admire and rejoice on a centuries’ old cathedral, castle, and generally the architecture in Europe. I don’t have a crystal ball but that to me, the passage of time, is the only judge I’d listen to.
Interesting insight, thanks for sharing. I think the world of tec and entertainment is changing very rapidly…I believe you can find Walkmans and portable CD players in museums these days? 🤣time will tell
Nice view! You arguing how modern media and markets form US culture is an interesting argument. It explains the WHY behind the feeling I had that the media circus seems so important in the US. True, it is everywhere, but it explains the focus on it and how it even might crowd out local elements or traditions out of current culture. Again, happens everywhere, but explains yet again how US culture feels so fast and mercurial. Can you recommend a book on this?
There is another aspect that has to be taken in account in Europe, many people still live roughly in the same area as did their ancestors 50, 100, 150, 200 or even 300 years ago, and that is where most people will just lose track as the older records are rare for common people, in case of millers and other such vocations, you could be able to go back to some 14-15 hundreds. But then you will also lose track. On the other hand, when genetic analysis of skeletons from 500-1000 years ago is done, the researchers will often find living descendants of those people living just few miles away from the place where their distant ancestor was buried some 30 generations ago. And that also plays role in the culture as it is not only about fine arts, about paintings and theatres, gilded books and nobility and clergy that had lived in the cities, but also about all folk traditions, about the festivals, about vernacular architecture (you can spot the regional differences between old buildings), and all those things were slowly changed over time, slowly altered each year. So while the those festivals are held around the same time as were thousand years ago, they would be unrecognizable to those long dead people (If they would woke from their eternal slumber)
Why is it that when people compare American culture to European culture, they always take current American culture, or American culture since the 1950s, and compare it to European culture from hundreds of years ago? Believe it or not, American culture did exist before the 1950s. I am a student of American culture in the 1800s, and when someone mentions American culture, I think of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the short stories and poems of Edgar Allen Poe, the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the songs of Stephen Foster, the songs of the Civil War, the speeches of Abraham Lincoln, the poems of Walt Whitman, the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, etc. These products of American culture are worthy of great respect, esteem, and study. So, when I hear Europeans say America has no culture, I want to bring up these and other cultural works of the 1800s, not McDonald's or Walmart or recent television shows.
Hello dear. I'm working at the airport Frankfurt. Here is what I observed in the past two years: In 2022 the overall impression and experience I made was that the majority of American visitors seemed to have forgotten how to behave as a guest in a foreign country. All stereotype were checked marked on a daily bases, when I interacted with them. Last year it got a lot better. Just here and there you had to take a deep breathe, if you know what I mean. Now this year so far, I can tell that American visitors seem to have done some research before they travel and it has been a pleasure to host them. I can still spot them a mile away (clothing for example), but the other stereotypes, such as being loud, obnoxious, etc. aren't really present. Thanks you for your great videos. Always enjoy them.
The Germans are always behaving themselves while on vacation? I am sure the people in Spain will have a very different and strong view point of the Germans who hit the Spanish beaches, get hammered, and start fights. Many Germans I have met during my travels seem to forget their famous rules once they jump on a plane.
I'm American & worked in a tourism related industry until 2022. My wife still works in tourism. I think there was a certain segment of American population that lost its danged mind during the pandemic and went feral. When travel restrictions eased, they went wild. It was a problem domestically, so I'm not surprised to hear that it was a problem overseas, too. They're still out there, and they're still crazy, but I think they're back to traveling mostly within the US or not traveling at all, so they spend most of their time driving like maniacs (see stats on US auto crashes & fatalities) and being general nuisances at home. I don't know why it's been so specifically bad with Americans, beyond our culture's base-line malignant narcissism that has really been stoked by the political discourse here over the last 8 years. Bottling that up for a year or two seems to have made it ferment and get explosive.
Biden just raised taxes again to bail out the students chanting "Genocide Joe" out of debt at the expense of the middle class already suffering under inflation so high that monthly grocery bills have nearly doubled. I feel like the Republicans must have infiltrated his campaign's team. xD
Funny thing about the political leaning, for me as an American living in Germany, when I met my SPD-voting in-laws and extended family, at first they probed my politics to see if I was a Trumper, and they found out not and were initially relieved, but after a few more minutes of probing my politics they realized "oh, he's to the left of us... by a lot... by a lot a lot."
@@koschmx the above two US anti white Marxists are not representative of Germans or Europeans who want their people to live. This is why we need to get out of NATO and expell US occupation forces from Germany.
USA still has the best social mobility for foreigners, you can come as nobody, from a country nobody knows, and if you have good ideas, are hard working and talented, you can "make it big" in a short time. Nobody cares even about your age. The eternal American optimism is envied by the whole world. I myself love American culture too, the big beautiful cars of the 50s, the music, movies, I even prefer a diner somewhere in the desert of Nevada to an overpriced, crowded southern European tourist destination.😂
Culture, in the simplest definition, is way of life. To say that there's no culture is to say that there's no life. I think it's more on the perception that one's culture is dominant/better than the other. If you look at it in the lens of arts, music, traditions - they do exist in the US. In fact, it is often mimicked around the world. It's so easy to form stereotypes in a country that is heavily observed around the world. But if you go down to the nooks and crannies of it - there's so much of it that you don't know.
I guess because most other countries only see the superficial, consumerist world culture America exports, Europeans think America has no culture. The US actually has very diverse subcultures, and the culture varies significantly by region. The demographics are different, and even the way people speak or what they eat.
A huge issue is that perceptions of the USA are formed based on coverage of the Northeast US and the West Coast as what the US is like. The entirety of the middle of the US is ignored in news, and popular culture, other than to paint those of us in the South or the middle of the country as rubes.
That feeling you had in Australia of awkwardness, wasn't awkwardness but humility and self-awareness. It's so important to remember that you're not the center of attention in the new country. I love my American friends, but it's always quite tiring seeing an American immigrant in Europe, bringing that "I'm special" aura about them. I know several Americans at work, and I actively avoid them when I can, that toxic positivity is nauseating, along with ingrained brown-nosing of higher ups.
American Work place attitude is a problem, I agree. Maybe not so much with people in lower positions, but definitely with people higher up. I worked with a contractor in the US and we made specific rules for them how to write and layout the manuals they should produce, because there was a worldwide corporate identity given to us in how to do this stuff. And we asked the contractor if we can assist them in doing what they had to, providing templates, text modules and more. They told us, they knew how to work with the tools we wanted them to use. After we got the first drafts, and later along the line, we found out that 1) they didn't know how to correctly use the tools, 2) they didn't use our templates or modules and 3) they didn't follow the CI. We are talking about a contractor here that should be able to follow orders. But with the American attitude of thinking they had to know better, because they were special or whatever the reasoning behind that was, we would always have fights with these people. I blame it on the indoctrination US citizens get all their lives, like being special because they are part of the greatest nation in the world in God's favourite country. Wake up, guys, you are no better than anybody else and there is no country favoured by God. There isn't a best country either, every country and every nation has to offer something that is pretty cool.
Hello. Well you need to remember that the U.S is a giant country with over 330 million people. Attitudes and culture vary greatly by region. People from the Northeast and West Coast tend to be a bit more like what you described, but there are plenty of people not like that. Southerners and Midwesterners value humility and politeness. You can't throw us all in one basket. We vary greatly!
In my opinion, Europe has a great many left leaning people. But, having said that, what I saw in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, France, Spain is that Left leaning and Far Right believers converge in many aspects. One is the love for Russia, another is the hate for Americans. Also, most Europeans believe themselves to be the pinnacle of human civilization and above reproach. I was in Germany when Trump was there in 2018 (if I'm not mistaken) and torpedoed Angela Merkel over buying 65% of Germany's energy needs from Russia and that NATO allies were spending too little on defense (less than 2%). I was never a Trump fan but I thought he had hit the mark there. I discussed that with many friends in Germany and the UK. They all ridiculed Trump and Americans in general. Now, after Brexit and the Ukrainian war in full swing, the mood is different. But it is still easy to find the pro-Russians ...
In american measures, you are right. But they simply have an exaggerated view on how bad socialism or communism is, it's kind of a brain wash starting with world war II and the McCarthy era. When Obama toured Europe during his campaign in 2007 or 2008, there was a fictional election/survey in Germany, coming out 95% of people would vote for him. This is unfortunatly on decline right now, since the Trump-style got some fanboys also. The deep split we can see in USA, has started in Europe beginning around 2010. I think social media has a big role to that.
I am an indigenous American, as in having pre-Columbian roots here, and I always cringe a bit when people describe America as young and having only a shallow, short-lived culture. We've been here since prehistoric times. Furthermore, modern American culture owes a lot to us, including much that we have exported to the rest of the world. The engineering principles behind suspension bridges and other structures that rely on tension rather than gravity alone? That was us. Supercrops that other people still can't figure out how we bred them, such as corn and potatoes? Also us. Even the modern concept of democracy, that enfranchised people who didn't own land, we did that (granted, the Scandinavians had something similar, but lost it to feudalism. Greek democracy and the Magna Carta didn't even come close to shedding the concept of hierarchy. We invented real democracy.) Quite a few subtle attitudes that distinguish Americans from the rest of the world come from us. And we are ancient.
Exactly how I feel! I’m an Indian American whose lived my whole life in the US, and people will quickly bring up “The US exists on stolen land” but also say “the US has no culture” Well that’s a bit contradictory isn’t it? While the government has been awful to the natives, America has always been a land of changing demographics and fluid culture. That just doesn’t happen to fit the homogenous European confines of culture.
I wouldn't be so hasty to call corn and potatos 'super crops'. No, they're just crops, similar to all other crops that humans were breeding and growing all over the planet. When you say "We invented real democracy" are you simply ignoring all the other tribal societys the world over (including European ones)? They still had tribal chiefs and elders anyway (i.e hierarchy). Lastly, everyone is ancient. Everyone has ancient ancestors in prehistory.
We're all extremely aware of Germany and it's fascist past. In spite of that, why is it that their current regime literally wants to ban a political party, AfD, that is fully supported by half of it's voting public. Doing so would deprive 50% of the people their right to vote for whoever they'd like to pick. I guess that it's just a case of old habits being difficult to break.
@@geraldvelez597 Your comment shows that you have no idea of the history of Germany, nor of the current situation, government, courts, elections etc. etc.!!!! Zero
Its not just europeans, most people dislike intolerant people who look down on other cultures, Americans are wired to think this way of other ways of living. So naturally people from other countries dislike them.
Yes but on very different levels. Some people dislike people who are against abortion, but others say Americans want to conquere the entire world and make them their slaves. None of the both topics has a natural answer.
There is no single American culture. American cultures vary depending on what part of the country is being examined. Cultures in the US are an amalgam of indigenous cultures and the cultures brought by people who came from Europe, Africa, Asia and other parts of the world. Many of the imported cultures evolved further in the new nation from their original forms.
There is American culture based on our founding values, that is distinct from the various ethnic etc cultures various peoples have. The US by it’s very being shall never be defined as multicultural because various ethnic, racial cultures do not define the constitutional republic that is the United States of America
Nothing much has changed basically. I left the US in 1977. Everything that has happened there since and everything I've experienced here since, has only confirmed, that I made the proper personal choice for me at the time. No regrets.
No, a lot of us can take criticism. It's just the majority giving it are down right rude. "We aren't stupid like Americans!" "At least we don't have to worry about our children being shot, dumb Americans!" "America sucks!" "You have no culture!" "Your only cuisine is hamburgers and french fries!" "Black Americans aren't really Americans though" These tend to be the majority of "valid criticism" that we get. Of course we are defensive when people have no tact and make hasty generalizations. Even your statement is just another silly generalization.
@@Crackalacking_Z Most countries don’t have the credentials to back up such a statement. And most do enjoy talking about their countries when they were at the height of their power and the greatest contributions made by their countrymen to the rest of the world. Honestly, I feel this is a good thing. We should all be proud of our countries’ heritage while also not being blind to its flaws.
Interesting take, America isn't loved by many Americans. Many of us still love the land and people and aspects of the many cultures here and we have so many reasons for critiquing ourselves. Some of us need more exposure to the world, but many people in the USA just need to appreciate what we have and make it better rather than allowing radicals to destroy and manipulate us from the inside out. We've fallen for the BS and love to hate eachother and punish eachother for our different beliefs. We've got a lot of culture though. Culturally, the South is different in dialects, food and bahavior than the West or North. The homogenous aspect is on the surface and tends to be very blunt, but there's more to us than that. We are asking to be disliked, however.
I think you're right. The world generally just knows NY and LA because that's what is constantly projected out through Hollywood and the media. I think the US has a lot to be grateful for and it does seem like it's descended into self loathing
America probably isn’t loved by Americans like you but true patriots still love their country even though a certain segment of the population can only ever seem to go on about how the country needs to be destroyed and remade.
I’ve found also as bourne out in the vid that the more Liberal left-leaning people are, the less they like Americans..I agree it’s a lot to do with their own self-loathing, Scots and Irish have a similar hatred of the English.. it’s the same of modern migration in the US and Europe, those coming with their ‘hand out’ don’t like Americans and Brits. Which is odd! I like American self-confidence, but I also like the modesty of Western Europeans. I find Eastern Europeans a bit brash and vulgar.
@@petermartin8756 as a Scot I can't agree that on the whole we hate the English. It's a complicated relationship. The Irish more or less despise the Scots because we never claimed our independence and because we're viewed as being complicit in some of the worst crimes against the Irish historically. We're hopelessly muddled up in summary. A few small islands and so much animosity and anger.
It’s interesting. As a descendant of non-European immigrants to the US, I see the US, a bit from the outside looking in, as an extension of the historical European particularly British push to be number one on a global stage. “The sun never sets on the British Empire” is now “USA! USA! USA!” When I talk to South Asians / Indians who live here, most talk more fondly about Americans than the British (disdain for Churchill, colonialism, less overt classicism in the US vs. in England [or in India for that matter] etc.). When I talk to Native Americans, they understand that white Americans furthered their colonial European ancestors’ agendas e.g. regarding Manifest Destiny. When Europeans see Americans, they literally are looking at an extension of themselves and the realization of the value systems they propagated for the past several centuries. The rather non-interventionist and pacifistic mindset prevalent now in western Europe is more of a modern anomaly than the historical norm. I see the US, as a young country, continuing to mature and improve given its economic and geopolitical advantages. A lot of what started in post-US Civil War Reconstruction and carried over to the Civil Rights era (which is still going on) is being turned up in heat by modern social media. That’s fine. I expect the technology is shaving decades if not centuries off of the process needed to reach equilibrium. So yes, I’m an American who’s optimistic about the country now and going forward (even factoring in some kind of massive correction in cost of living vs. earning power that’s already long overdue and will impact the whole developed world). Now if I can just get my kids to be boisterous highly interpersonally interactive Americans and get off their social media!
I think it's positive that more Americans are critically examining their role in the world, politics, and society. They are breaking through the propaganda of "American Exceptionalism", realizing that there may be better ways to live, and have a new openness to learning from others. For instance, most educated Americans are now able to see that other countries do better on healthcare, gun control, education, military intervention, historical injustice, and poverty (to name a few). This self-reflection and critical thinking just might save America from its current decline. It's also funny to hear a Brit say that there is "nothing constructive" about this sort of introspection. The Brits may need more of it.
One of the reasons Europeans dislike Americans (not all of us dislike them) is envy, The American continent took Europe's diaspora and turned it into the best and freest most influential country in the world in 250 years, while we Europeans fought with each other for the past 100 in two massive fratricidal wars that the US had to help us twice in less than 50 years, then we tried the American idea of a Union of states that is essentially a failure due to our natural diversity planned and ruled over by proto Marxists. We are a continent of Nations states not one state. The last 30 years has seen a decline in both continents in the 'culture wars' undertaking by the left, Europe is finished but there is still a chance for the US.
Who is "we" ? It sounds like "USA - best country in the world" again. A Nation is not a natural thing, it's man made and unnessary. To divide german speakers in Austria and Germany, and not in just one country, or in 3 countries, like Germany, Bavaria and Austria, is completly arbirtrary without any good reason. Now take the language borders away, and you can ask the same question for entire Europe.
I think it’s a case of perspective. As the research shows what the US perhaps sees as “helping” other countries is viewed as interventionism by the international community…
@@britingermany ,The United States gives the most foreign aid far above the rest, around $300 billion dollars yearly, seeing that it is seen as interventionism the people of the USA should reflect on making changes and t start caring for its own people.
@@teribendt94 what you dont understand is if the US doesnt have these connections especially with europe it would eventually be left behind its like a child losing commections with its elders and parents
@@THEPRESSTV , The child is an adult who has and still gives much to it's ungrateful and greedy parents.The people of the USA and their tax money are not Europe's personal piggy bank.
@@THEPRESSTV, The people of the USA in places like North Carolina,Tennessee,Georgia and Florida could use some help from Europe right now,where are all of You when they need help? ua-cam.com/video/w8egGyYZdJ4/v-deo.htmlsi=9c9ypgSJs4Glbvwe
Intriguing video, I especially liked your final question about Americans' perspective on themselves. I'm a bit like an American version of you, I was lucky to have been able to spend a great deal of time in Europe, and have befitted from being exposed to many different cultures. I often ponder on how cultures remain intrinsically connected to their beginnings and whether course corrections are even possible. Early on, this country was comprised of courageous souls who left all they knew to cross vast distances on rickety ships in the hopes of creating a new, better life. There were also those who held what many would term fanatical religious views that were basically forced out of Europe. Another group were wealthy entrepreneurs who sought to exploit the abundance of natural resources here, and tragically utilized enslaved peoples to do so. To this day, the USA both benefits and is plagued by elements of these origins: a bold, pioneering spirit, radical religious groups that frequently deny science, and a form of capitalism that is tainted by an immoral, profit/win by any means mentality. I think the same examination can be applied to any nation, we are all a mix of good and bad. What I would like to see is that all of us learn by our history, acknowledge and celebrate the good, while striving to transcend and correct the bad tendencies that we have inherited. That's my hope, the jury is still out as to whether it's possible or not.
As young man I saw the US as the good guy. Then I grew wiser and learnt what they have done to divide Europe with orchestration of the war in Ukraine. Than they blew up nordstream and now I dislike the country I was once born in.
What has changed? The USA has changed, especially very drastically since 9/11...and then very drastically again since the political appearance of Trump and his MAGA Cult as well. Just my personal time witness view of the last 4 to 5 decades
I have been working in a company which was part of several US corporations and had to comply with export and trade regulations of the US. I find that Germans and to that degree Europeans make a point of not knowing how intertwined with the US their own history actually is. E.g. the Ottoman empire had pirates who regularly raided ships in the Mediterranean to enslave people and European countries merely paid tribute to them to keep seaways safe. It was the US who put an end to this by dispatching troops to Northern Africa and and completely raiding a pirate city at a time when European countries considered such an action inconceivable. Or did you know that Kaizen is not a Japanese management technique but a US American one introduced to Japan to enable Japan after WW2 to recover and meet the productivity expectations of the US? As to different mindsets: "Asterix and Obelix" was a hugely successful comic series not just in France but throughout Europe. In the US it failed. When researching why it was found that US readers identified themselves not with the heroes of the story i.e. the Gauls but with the Romans who are made fun of in that series.
Hello Ben, another really though provoking video from you. You're tempting me to write a seriously long comment -- but this time I have to keep myself a bit more under control. Just a few remarks: Unless someone appears to be excessively opinionated I assume that people critisize what they love. I would regard that as a part of exercising the right of free speech - one of the fundamental rights respected in what's considered the west. Considering myself as a moderate left I'm always a bit disappointed if people assume they would have to emphasize their credibility as a "lefty" by critisizing the USA along the lines of some pretty stereotypical patterns - regarding the USA as a kind of self-appointed policeman of the world being one of them. Of course the USA provides reasons for critisism from time to time. On the other hand people like to sweep critisism of Europe from the USA aside too easily sometimes. That point of view that the USA wouldn't have culture irks me quite a bit. Music is an obvious example. I grew up with as much Beethoven, Händel, Bach, Mozart, etc. as with Glen Miller, Duke Ellington, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Sammy Davis Jr., B.B.King, etc. And then art designers like Milton Glaser, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock, Man Ray, Edward Hopper, Keith Haring, etc. Cinema: Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Barry Levinson, Jim Jarmush (Down By Law, Night on Earth, ...) I really have to stop now before I'm loosing control...
The irony is some Europeans don’t like us but they do enjoy American products from Apple gadgets to American movies and shows on Netflix/Amazon Prime/Disney+/Max/Apple TV to shopping on Amazon and spending time on UA-cam.
Sure, but they dont like them because theyre american. They like them despite of it. When a hollywood movie comes out, "its not too american" is a thing that is remarked positively about it.
@@ForzaMilan-di2zd ,The prototype for the Internet as we know it today came into being in the United States more than 50 years ago as a government weapon during the Cold War, when scientists and researchers used it to share data and communicate between themselves.
To answer you question in the video's title: in the 1960s, the marxist intelligencia decided that Americans were too fat and happy to have a proletarian revolution. So, our education system has slowly been subverted to emphasize self hatred to bring about a communist revolution.
I guess you’ve seen the Type Ashton channel? It’s very well researched and considered. I wonder if you could collaborate. Would be very interesting to explore US and UK ideas re Germany.
Although you present some important insights here, I saw no acknowledgment in this video of the extraordinary polarization currently gripping the U.S. There is a lot of criticism flying around from Americans, ourselves, but with the exception perhaps of our expats, the criticisms are generally not so much a blanket condemnation of our homeland as they are expressed frustrations with specific social forces (and their influence) with which we personally feel deeply at odds. That dynamic is probably common in most countries. I just see the deepening polarization in the U.S. as raising the visibility of that dynamic. We are a society at war with ourselves right now.
Foreign policy is always for the better of your own country. You may want to be painting it as giving democracy, better living, freedom or whatsoever but at the end it is to strengthen your own country’s position, influence and strength. Is it as I wish it was or I think it should be? Absolutely not!!! But we live in the world we have and changes take place slowly, very slowly only. Is the USA the hero it saw itself and still sees itself today? Sometimes they try to do good and if it fits their own interest the more likely they are going to do it. Do I disagree or even hate them for things they do? Yes! There are things that they did which I hate from the bottom of my heart. Especially when they lie and abuse others to put them to pull their carriage to achieve their goals. Do I like them for things they do? Absolutely! I admire them for their “We can” attitude for example. For their attitude to see failure just as a part of the learning process. Do I not understand them at all for their religion hardliners, their anti-social attitude and everyone for himself attitude? Yes. And I fell sorry for them to not understanding the concept of social welfare to, at least try, to give a baseline support and hopefully enabling those that had fallen into poverty for whatever reason to return to a status where they can be a helpful part of society. Btw: I did not use the often preferred “productive part of society” description because it implies usually working for money and excludes any work or engagement you are not receiving money for.
For what it's worth, I would like to go back in history a bit. In Germany of the 50s and 60s, the US were usually seen as the saviour of civilisition, mainly because they had stopped the USSR from moving further west and guaranteed the iron curtain. Any possible animosity stemming from WW2 was gone; at the latest after the Berlin airlift operation and the Marshall plan. But this also led to an enormous dependency on the US, which not everyone felt good about. No German governmet ever dared to critisize the US and their demands were always fulfilled until 2003, i.e. the Iraq invasion. Personally, living just 20 miles from the iron curtain, I did not feel terribly secure from American nuclear missiles directed at the East of West Germany (yes, this was the official strategy to deter an attack from the USSR), but most people saw this as necessary to deter "the evil Russian". I guess this ambivalence continues to this day; perhaps even refreshed by Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Old German here. Living in the Western part all my life. I had a very positive attitude towards America / USA in general for at least 40 years, maybe without criticism at all. The last 30 years my view has become more specific. I do look more critical on US politics and politicians, especially their attitude towards war and military conflicts. I do differentiate much more, trying to take into account individuals and their personal view in much greater regard. Though I do know there are many great and good people in the US, I also loathe those who are willing to start wars and bring havoc even on their own fellow citizen.
Interesting video with good perspectives on current perceptions on how the perceptions of some Europeans disliking America tend to be just as (or even more sometimes) a reflection Americans who dislike the country. I think this is an issue within the USA that is often not covered or is handwaved by different people. The issue I feel is not that Americans shouldn't have or be allowed to talk about what they dislike within the USA, we aren't and have never been a perfect country, but often there is this overly cynical outlook by people in the US, something I would argue stretches across political isles, that feels like their is absolutely nothing Americans should feel proud of or is unique about their country. Whether that is actually how the majority of Americans feel or if it is a loud majority amplified by various forms of media I can't say, but it often feels like the majority of Americans now a days feel this way. It seems almost like this attitude is necessary to adopt in some sort of way if you want to be taken seriously in a conversation. People seem to dismiss you as a "flag worshiper" if you otherwise don't, at least in the communities I've found myself in. One thing on the subject of "The US has no culture" part of the video I wanted to say though, I tend to believe that consumerism and convenience are not reflective of any countries culture since it can be found across countries. Sure, their is something to be stated about how widespread or extensive consumerism is in the USA when compared to many other countries, consumerism tends to cross cultural boundaries and take on various forms which makes me view it as disconnected from culture. Its like whenever people bring up the picture of the large amounts of fast food restaurants all huddled together next to a highway in the US and state that it somehow reflects our greater society/culture. In Japan, they have vending machines spread out everywhere, sometimes even small "restaurants" consisting of them where you buy something and sit down to it eat inside. from my understanding, most Japanese would not consider this a reflection of their society, some show of how consumerism has become apart of their culture or anything. their just vending machines, built to offer a quick service to one demographic or another that is on the move and needs a drink, food, etc. real quick and at most as a cultural reflection sell goods familiar and liked by the society. Similarly fast food restaurants as I and many others I know do not represent "American cuisine" beyond the fact they serve a popular, convenient, and well recognized food in society. There a place you go when your craving a taco and don't have the money to buy or make the good stuff, or your hungry from a long trip but its the middle of the night and 24/7 joints are the only open option. Consumerism can take on different flavors from country to country, depending on the demographics, but I personally cannot see how it is meant to reflect culture when as a concept it is meant to be so indifferent and disconnected from culture. Sorry for the long comment and maybe I'm just talking to the wind, but I bring up that last point because on consumerism because I am honestly interested in your thoughts. Maybe I don't know what I am talking about relative to consumerism, or have some misunderstanding. Do you in your experiences believe that consumerism in Germany or the UK accurately depicts the cultures? Is it just a surface level aspect of society that we shouldn't view as representative of places or people as a whole? I would love to get answers from anyone else reading as well.
I've been to Europe a lot over the last 20 years and I'm headed there again in 3 weeks, if I wasn't interested I wouldn't go. But over the years, especially the last 10 years or so, I've gotten the distinct impression that a lot of Europeans get mad when you don't bend the knee to their culture. As an American, I'm interested in different European cultures, but I'm not obsessed with it. I don't think it's better than my own culture. A lot of Europeans can't handle that. I think that there's also a bit of angst in Europe about how internationally ineffectual their countries have become. That's not the fault of the US. It's just a matter of different priorities. You can make any value judgment you want about that, but that's the reality of it. And I've always found it interesting. How Europeans latch on to some of the trashiest elements of us culture and then blame it on Americans. McDonald's isn't all over Paris because there are so many American tourists who can't do without McDonald's. It's full of McDonald's because Parisians love it. We do have great, homegrown, American food but that's not what Europeans are buying. They're buying the garbage and then they're blaming it on us. There's plenty to critique about us culture and politics. But that's not what you usually wind up hearing from people. I've met a lot of incredibly rude people on trains, restaurants, bars, parks- all over Europe. People hear you having a private conversation (not a loud one) And feel entitled to give you their misinformed opinions on us culture and politics as if they're experts. Yeah, a lot of the Lefty," I hate America" crowd Is annoying but at least they have a leg to stand on and skin in the game. I don't need to hear a German tell me about our healthcare system or maternity leave.
Yes, modern technology has offered us many benefits and things we didn't even dream of when we grew up but there is a big misconception in the minds of most of us: Contrary to what most people believe, computers have NOT increased productivity. Economist Robert Solow famously said in 1987 that "the computer age was everywhere except for the productivity statistics." and this has not changed until this day despite of the hype generated about machine learning which many falsely refer to as "AI".
mmmm I'm not sure how that's being measured as the economy has been changed drastically since the introduction of computers...it's also developed a LOT since 1987...
@@britingermany There are numerous studies on the topic since then and various books as well. You may start by reading a short forbes article from August 2021 called "Why Computers Didn’t Improve Productivity" and an quartz article from 2014 called "Toyota is becoming more efficient by replacing robots with humans" followed by several other articles, e.g. one in fastcompany called "At Toyota, The Automation is Human-Powered". In short, yes, the paradox is still true even if people still believe otherwise.
I do not appreciate US politics, but concerning culture, i.e. music, arts, literature there have been very interesting and innovative things coming out of the USA and still are. It is just that most Europeans do not know them and I am afraid most Americans neither.
It's not possible to have no culture. People eat, they have theatres, they dress. Hence there is culture. "Russian from Russia" is more like an American expression, nothing a russian would ever use.
Europeans should stop thinking of the U.S. as (1) a singular entity and as (2) an extension of Europe. I say that as an American who has spent most of the last two decades in Europe.
In all honesty: the story of the greatest country of all is one i never believed. All the other achievements are pretty impressive. But as a PolScience Student, why would someone hold someone else accountable for the laters government?
It's maybe counterintuitive but I think we often equate the actions of a countries government with the will of the people (that is in theory what it should be)
I’m a patriotic American who agrees with a lot of the criticism from Europeans. I would prefer an America with mixed-use development, public transportation that would displace the automobile and socialized healthcare. I’m patriotic because America is at the vanguard of government by consent. None of the problems and contradictions of the country are insurmountable by democracy. If you take the longer historical view, you see the inexorable progress towards liberty and justice for all. My shoulder is at that wheel. We’re at an inflection point where the traditional powers of patriarchy and white supremacy are having their death throes. We all adopt frames that emphasize some points and diminish others.
Here's what almost nobody knows about the US: 1. Compulsory public schooling was instituted in the late 19th century to assimilate non-Protestant immigrants but was soon commandeered by industrialists and social scientists to stratify the members of society into managers and armies of incurious workers who are never exposed in all those years of education to the necessary knowledge and skills of participating in republican government as the Constitution of the United States ('We The People...') requires. 2. Evangelical, liberal theology, post -millennialist Protestants, mostly members of the northeastern Protestant Ascendency (America's upper class) succeeded finally in subduing the country by recasting their faith as civic action and gov't policy after heavy doses of Prussian statist takes on German Idealism. When they did this, government became essentially a church with science remade into a moral justification for government policy. Sounds too fantastic to be true? That's why nobody can accept the facts even though we all agree that 'truth is stranger than fiction. References: John Taylor Gatto: A Short Angry History of Modern Schooling (UA-cam) 'Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics, and American Economics in the Progressive Era' by Thomas C. Leonard (2016)
Government schooling is not mandatory in most places in the US. In Texas you can educate your own child at home, as long as they are taught to read and write and do arithmetic and no tests are required. They can learn to read by reading the Bible if that is the parents choice. "A child is not a mere ward of the state".
This is a thoughtful video, but I have to say, in shame, that Americans have been treated appallingly by Europeans in the past 50 years or so. Europeans do indeed think that their culture is superior, but just look what it had decayed into by 1939. Dictatorship was the continental norm in so many European states. American tourists in Europe are frequently ridiculed by pompous conceited Europeans to an extent that would be regarded as racist if it applied to people from other countries. I am absolutely no sympathiser with Trump, but chickens are starting to come home to roost. There is a genuine feeling growing in the U.S.A. that they have been wasting their money on the defence of Europe. Some are returning to the isolationist opinions that dominated U.S. politics before 1941. Meanwhile, Europe is starting to realise that they have run their armed forces into the ground and would be highly vulnerable if Putin decided to put N.A.T.O. to the test. Fear of this possibility could force Europeans, by necessity, into appeasement. The E.U. is starting to look increasingly absurd, as it is the first empire in human history that has been constructed without any concern for its defence. The worst culprit here is Germany. For such a successful and wealthy nation to ignore the possibility of external dangers is almost criminally negligent. I would like to think that 2022 woke up Europeans, but even on this thread of replies I notice a stupid comment blaming the Americans for the invasion of Ukraine. The pointless bigotry against the country paying the bills for European defence continues. Future historians will have the final word on this sorry tale.
Unfortunately, historians at university are taught to find ways that Americans can be blamed for something first and foremost. They do this with the English, other European imperial powers and Rome and Greece before them. Other then the blame game, the other primary focus is on how to argue that all Western achievements were either copied, inspired or made possible by “Eastern wisdom.” Future history books will write about how the glorious forces of socialism slayed the ugly American beast and united the world under “one global order.”
Thanks for your comment. I think the West lacks a sustainable strategy. Something that unites us and takes away the ground from populist forces. Loyalty could be a strength if it is based on trust and refraining from blaming one another. Appeasement (change through trade) and cooperation once worked very well in Europe. Unfortunately, the idea of transferring this to Russia had no lasting success. The only thing that comes to mind is the accusation of being dependent on Russia and how you can trade with Russia, it also works with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc. If you see three ways to ensure peace, then it is a) a strong army b) appeasement c) prosperity transfer. A strong army is not possible for us in Germany due to the 2+2 agreement. Nobody's shaking it here. A better idea? Complexity does not disappear through simplification.
@menschin2 Thanks for your kind reply. I believe that the current size of the German (full time) armed forces is around 185,000. The agreement you refer to states that the figure should not go beyond 345,000. So, there is plenty of scope to expand within the agreement. Nobody is arguing for armed forces beyond that strength, as we are talking about a purely defensive force. Britain and France need to follow the same course. The main problem for Germany (as for all European countries) is the quality and quantity of existing military equipment. Clearly, there is an urgent need for investment in new technology. Normally, I entirely agree with you about trade being the best way to relieve tensions. Despite all we knew of the structure and nature of the Russian regime, I would have gone along with this up to February 2022. Then Putin actually invaded Ukraine. Threats and boasts are one thing, but deeds are another. He certainly crossed the line in terms of Western comprehension of his character. The behaviour is unprecedented since WW2. Since that time, the statements issued by the Kremlin have got crazier and crazier. Frequent threats of nuclear war and mentions of countries that Russia would like to either dominate or occupy are banded about. This could all be B.S., but we have to ask ourselves what sort of person is willing to lose the lives of 100,000 of his fellow countrymen in just two years. I fear that we have to take this seriously, otherwise we risk negotiations with a regime which has no intention to keep to any agreements. Obviously, we all know that Europe has been in this situation before. Anyway, thanks for the video. Warm Regards.
There are particular reasons why Germany didn't invest in defence, one of them being that other countries didn't want them to because of history. But I agree with large parts of the comment and yes it's about time Europe invested properly in its defence. The British are less guilty than most European countries of just leaning on the US. But the UK military was run down under the Conservative Government in the last 14 years. Strangely the Conservatives always do this.
Without US interference there would be no conflict in Ukraine or any other part of Europe. This is a fact. And this is true for many other regions of the world as well. So I am definitely FOR an isolationist attitude meaning that the USA stay on their continent where they belong.
...and, why would Amwrica be thought of as stupid when so many Nobel prizes are awarded to Americans, and why so many of their universities and research institutions are global draws?
There are two United States of America. There are American citizens, ordinary people, who may or may not be "confident"or "proud." Then, on the world stage there is the "America" that you speak of, which is actually the government/military/industrial monolith that continuously drags the American people into wars and disturbances. It is not the children of the politicians, generals and corporate CEO's that die in those foreign conflicts and we wish they would FIRST send their own children.
well thats not an easy question while its an easy answer at the same time.i do like americans as in american people even they are a bit shallow and good weather friends they are fun to have around..but politically i dont like america at all . first ... the americans were never a political friend of germany and even ww2 was ages ago we are still a slightly american occupied country and lets be honest...american politics are slowly getting insane and america turned into the bully of the world
Pretty easy question to answer, don't dance around the truth they have a president an elderly old man and really can't string a sentence together. The whole culture is based upon race racism. Half of them don't even know where Europe is they probably can't even name half the countries in Europe, let alone the states in their own country. The place is an absolute mess
No, of course the US is not asking to be disliked. It is just that it is so self-referential, inwardly focused, navel-gazing and powerful that it doesn't have to consider the situations of others if it doesn't choose to and "soft" power is not a substitute for real power in a competitive world.
No, the US isn’t “self referential”, we were and remain though with legitimate concerns, confident about who and what we are.. which ticks off the pretentious twits of Europe. Europe preened after the US saved it, twice in the last century, picked up the pieces and even paid to get you back on your feet. We paid the lion’s share of your defenses but instead of appreciating it and striving to take back those obligations once things stabilized they even refused to pay the pittance they had agreed to. Europe is a delusional slave of the neobolshevik bakers and oligarchs, angry and enraged that the US citizenry refuses to continue making it easy for them. Your EU is falling apart and their own people despise them
Regarding how Europeans perceive Americans, in my own experience: The UK: Neutral. Germany: Friendly. Finland: No more or less cold to Americans than anyone else, but they like American culture. Spain: Neutral. France: They really do hate us. Kosovo: They love the fuck out of us for reasons I can't even begin to understand.
I like Americans as an Australian but sometimes find them somewhat naive to world affairs. Having said that most I’ve met have impeccable manners & that goes a long way in life if genuine.
You compare a place, Europe, that was first settled in the Bronze Age 5000 years ago, to North America, a place that was a virtual wilderness 200 years ago, and you notice that Europe has more history, more distinct cultures, and a better food culture? That's an amazing discovery.
Why Europeans are so overly critical and harsh towards the US in their criticisms? 1. "US number one" - We know what the sentiment inside US is about itself and we think it's super annoying. It's even more annoying when some Americans display that same attitude outside their own borders. 2. We're constantly being bombarded with everything American, including it's values, which most Europeans find troubling to say the least. 3. We feel we've been betrayed. Many people at some point believed in American media, which portrayed American life in s very unrealistic manner, showing only the prosperous and good sides of the country, and exaggarating how well ordinary people live. 4. American military operations all over the world with quite flimsy excuses. 5. Inferiority complex - despite many people believe genuinely that their lives are better where they are now, there's still this feeling that Europe is in the shadow of the US, and Europeans feel that the US needs to be taken down a bit. For some reason we bark all the time at the Americans, even those who are objectively very nice, if the context is cultural differences. This is the behaviour of people who have an inferiority complex and thus a great need to prove themselves. The unfriendliness of Europeans at times towards the US can be amazingly harsh, even when the US person never said anything offensive at all.
I think it's a stereotype. I think let's of Europeans adore Americans. Just like many Americans adore Europeans. I mean, it's where America originated from, Europe.
Why this "dislike" or "adorement" ? Let's just say they are equal, that would be enough. And it sounds a bit like white racist, that America originated from Europe .There were native people, they took slaves from Africa, then came descendents of the Inka from south. You proof it's not a stereotype about Americans. What came from EUrope is the way of administrating a country.
“Is the U.S. asking to be disliked?” I am an American who lived in the UK in my youth. I have travelled extensively throughout Europe over the years. I am almost 60 years old. In my view, there is an arrogant entitlement that is characteristic among many Americans. I think your question is important for Americans to consider. I say this because too many of us are like a bull in a china shop and don’t care. I think the answer to your question is borne of indifference. I am open to persuasion regarding alternatives to that. I think the US needs an extended period of social isolationism. The world needs a break from us as we self examine. My political orientation is on the right.
@@mmoretti Maybe you don't know much about living in Europe? I'm Dutch and I know nobody that want's to live in US. On the other hand I know many people that explicitly say they would not want to live in America. May be you can watch some vids of Americans living in Europe.
I know plenty about living in the UK and in Europe and interacting with and living amongst Brits and Europeans in the US. I also know European history and I know quite a lot about Dutch history of colonization in Asia, the Caribbean etc…and it’s cruelty and excesses. For all your moaning there are many of you with your hands out looking for our money, it was bad enough the Netherlands mooched $ $1.127 billion in US Marshall Plan money, any plans to pay it back? How about how you avoiding paying even your 2% gdp to NATO? There are many Europeans traveling and seeking employment here, UA-cam is filled with UK and Europeans trying to mooch off generous Americans. It wasn’t that long ago a Dutch doctor in the ER at Children’s Hospital in Boston was exposed as countering a specialist from Tufts & engineering the kidnapping of a child by attacking the diagnosis of mitochondrial disease so he could use her as a Guinea pig in a drug testing experiment ultimately reducing an otherwise healthy girl to being wheelchair bound and stealing 3-4 of her life. Frankly no Americans I know of want you here or care to move to your collective sewers and we are fed up with your expectation that we pay for your defense.
Quite complicated due to many levels you can touch or ignore. You always will miss one cause you simply was not aware. Best example: you say the USA had invaded Somalia and had been totally defeated and needed to retreat fully. Guess how upset they will be: WE NEVER INVADED SOMALIA ! HOW CAN YOU .... And then you have to remind them nicely with HOLLYWOOD. It really needs Hollywood to make them think twice (at least most of them): BLACK HAWK DOWN Blockbuster title to remind them that US forces had been in Africa and that this operation is the symbol for a total defeat cause if you invade you have to accept the way the domestic citizens will fight. But the american public could not bear the news nor pictures and the USA hat do retreat, therefore a total defeat. Just one example how bad the education is and the awareness about foreign policy at least. Americans tend to convince and have a message - where the europeans can assume that it is not for their benefit. USA warns Europe about gas while the americans later sold their gas as LNG not for cheap, quite the opposite. They usually believe they can easily fight the russians and have no clue that they are like the roman empire beyond peak already. Too fat, too slow and weak and torn society , in the population and in the whole party / congress mess. The americans would get an even far more bloodier nose in the Ukraine than the Ukrainians. Why ? Cause their society can not deal with huge losses of lives, they never really could and the will for sacrifices is in russia 10x bigger than in the USA cause we call all the american adventures or rather invasions total defeats when they had to retreat. If you have to retreat after a single Helicopter crash and the following fights (be aware that people now believe in the pictures Hollywood had brought into their homes, but back then, when it had happened, there was not so much footage) then Ukraine is not the battlefield where americans could achieve anything better fighting the russians. Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan were total defeats and ended in retreats where the Americans had destroyed whole cities and societies cause Iraq had not violated the UN sanctions, they had no biiological or chemical weapons as the US had said as the reason to invade a country and destroy it at the end. There are just a few successfull people that are travelling the world and aware of all the issues.
I agree with everything except the part where you claimed that only the majority of leftist hates the US online; whereas I find that it is generally the case if the politically left-leaning EU countries get highly conflicted supporters to the US. And the countries that I think can be somewhat viewed as more centered or right, examples like Germany (cuz they are under watch for being 'extremist' Nazis) and Poland, respectively, would be at least objective or mixed in their support of the matter of affairs in the states. So overall, I think that the internet really basically gave minority of people a larger platform to spread their voice of displeasure and that's exasperated by media to become pervasively present in our interaction daily with the world online. Also, I think the data about Germany looks weird, at least from anecodte experiences - they really don't give a fk that much about US, mostly the only EU countries that can also speak English enough to comment or reports on US have from what've noticed been just England and Sweden. Or any EU country that the US reports on would be involved in some of the publicized discussions, with small majority of leftist there to do what they do. However, maybe there's a bit of leftist thinking left in the people as well here commenting online.
As a Brit abroad (Mexico). I meet many Americans who are vibrant yet dull, I put it down to an innate self confidence and an indifference to that beyond their own borders.
The Brits are so very cramped in their little island. It's of no wonder why you ran away. Of course, you've made a foolish comparison. But, when you talk of outside of our borders, you're talking about over 3000 miles in distance.
@@sararichardson737 oh yes - most certainly! When my innate and extreme curiosity begins to dim, having run out of places here, within my vast country - larger than Europe, then I'll begin to look at other places. It's so very varied and extraordinarily fascinating here, I believe that will be after a long long time.
@@sararichardson737 ??? Well, all that I know, and, as far as I'm concerned, I'm most assuredly, not embarrassed. There's no reason I should be either - of course. Just keep walking with your head slung low.
Of course, "The Americans have no culture" is nonsense! What we Middle European insiders usually like about US Americans is a spontaneous, friendly openness, often combined with great hospitality, while dislikes often have to do with these points: superficiality, ignorance, lack of education, small, talk, fake harmony, unreliability, overestimating themselves, a primitive sense of hierarchy ... No, these keywords don't represent prejudices, but are based on experiences. Once upon a time I showed Americans around in the Lübecker Altstadt and told them it belonged to the UNESCO world heritage, but this didn't impress them for they didn't know what the UNESCO was. Benjamin; as you can imagine I wish you a delightful start of the new week!
So, who would Europeans prefer was "the policeman of the world"? Somebody will self appoint themselves to this role if the USA abdicates and Europeans clearly aren't prepared to do this themselves, as their relatively low defence expenditure shows.
UA-cam has a number of sites of interviews of Europeans, who have visited the United States, reporting what they liked and disliked. Virtually without exception, Europeans are surprised how friendly nice and helpful Americans are. Many are puzzled why Americans are friendly with strangers they made on the street and why are they smile for no apparent reason. I think you would have a hard time finding anyone who says Americans in general are arrogant. The suggestion that America has no culture is absurd in the stream. American movies, television and music are dominant all over the world. We produce more of everything cultural than any other country, including new classical music. I can’t say much for art, but it doesn’t amount to much in other countries as well. Photography in effect brought art to an end. Nowart is judged only by originality without regard to is beauty For the skill or lack there, of by which it was reduced.
Benjamin, you had mentioned that you are half British. What is your other parent's nationality of origin? Just curious. As you already know, I love your all your other presentations.
6:47 "The largest platforms in the US tend to be left-leaning" - I'm not sure about that one. The US right critizes the US MSM as being leftwing, but it's not exactly true. The US MSM is in reality center-to center right, especially from a European perspective.
The only thing I really don't like are the wars after 45, at least half of them weren't necessary. Personally, I was once acquainted or almost friends with a American woman. We gave birth at the same time. Actually, it could have been a deeper friendship, but she always brought gifts that were far too expensive. I couldn't afford that and didn't think it was appropriate. It felt like I was being bought. She brought gifts even though I specifically said she didn't have to. That's what I meant. That's why I ended it. Now, with more life experience, I would say she was very insecure herself.
I've spent a lot of time in the US and I recall very well the first time I went there back in 1986 when we were told in our "welcoming speech" we should not be confused if people asked us where we came from and they would not understand the answer, so we should rather say "where all the Mercedes, Audi and Porsche come from than to say "from Germany" and we should not be confused because 80% of US citizens would not find the US on a world map. When travelling the country, I found this to be the case again and again - and I've been to almost all states. As someone put it so nicely: Many wars could have been prevented if it was mandatory that the president who wants to start that war would have to find the country he wants to attack on a world map first.
Most Americans cannot afford to travel our own country let alone the world. Besides why would you want to go somewhere you are hated. No thanks. Then we are told many countries do not like if you do not speak their language so why in the hell would you want to learn a language for a one- time visit?
@@Alltagundso I met all kinds of people from really well educated ones who enjoyed a conversation on nearly every topic to morons who called me a N**i just for being German and without having any clue of what the word actually means or where it comes from historically.
There is a saying: 'Being Unknown makes being unloved.'. However, my personal experience gives me in to have evolved this into: 'The more I got to know America, the more it repulses me and make me despise it'. In my case, I could hardly be called 'a Lefty'. Coming from a staunch Calvinist protestant background with a firm belief in thrift, honesty and diligence to be constructive to wealth and ethical growth as well as personal achievement, but I have become more nuanced and in some ways leftist thinking by being exposed to life in the US. When confronted with the shallowness of commerciality and the raw and uncaring, damned be the consequences, ultra capitalism, coupled with the slavish compliance to the violations that the financial services places on the average US inhabitant, I felt I had no ther choice than be repulsed by it. The overarching celebration of ignorance, rejection of knowledge and avoidance of deeper thinking revolts me to my core. I loathe the mindless flag-waving and ridiculous indoctrinatory practices that serve as a very obvious fig-leaf for jingoism, class-stratification and racial-discrimination in that society. I am annoyed by the US unjustly taking credit for achievements made by others, where foreign knowledge, art and academic achievements are purchased or more often purloined and inculcated into the National achievements with no mention or sometimes downright denial, of its origins. I loathe the 'Might makes Right' and the adoration of violence and death, indiscriminate harm-doing and destruction under the guise of rules and laws that are purported to be equal for all, but in reality are NOT. Wealth will invariably buy you the freedom from justice. The unnaturalness and the repressive enforcement of such under the guise of biblical but entirely counter to Christian morals in what are by their nature to be joyful and free relations and life-choices, appals me in its hypocrisy and the harm and damage it visits upon the individual and his/her presumed freedom and liberty. By now It instinctively makes me choose the path of 'resistance and reduction by subversion.' The average US inhabitant appears to be inexorably geared towards choosing against his/her self-interest or even self-preservation. I lived there for 22 years and yearningly bided my time until my kids would become adults, so that I could honourably return to where I came from. I did so and happiness and contentment returned to my life. I have absolutely no desire to ever re-visit the US under any circumstance, even if my life would depend on it. I would rather die with dignity and in freedom than be what I see US inhabitants be reduced to.
One major reason is that Europeans do the same thing everyday, a routine. As many people do in the world and the U.S., the difference with the United States is that we will break our routine to sleep, have fun, do whatever.
There is nothing the American public would like more than for Europe to help out more with the world policing. It's very expensive and difficult, and it benefits Europe (and others) as much as the US, whether individuals recognize it or not. AFAIK the UK helps out the most, followed by France. Germans though, even my close German friend, seem to agree with our enemies that the US should have just let the USSR and China conquer Korea, Vietnam, and anyplace else the US has fought in since WW2. Then the Germans say the US should do more for Ukraine, because it's close Europe and concerns them. It doesn't only matter if it's close to you. Before anyone comments, I do fully recognize that greedy military contractors are a problem, and the US government has been involved in some shady stuff, especially during Vietnam. However, the overall premise of 'global policing' helps everyone and everything the US did kept the USSR from being a much bigger threat to the world than it already was. My German friend even said no good came out of the Korean War recently. I was like, "What do you call South Korea?!" to which he replied that it doesn't matter. I was flabbergasted. To me, that's the same as saying, "Who cares about humans over there?". Hey, I'm fine with discussing corruption, but just saying the US shouldn't have done anything anywhere is handing places like Russia and others carte blanche to do whatever they want, and becoming a stronger threat in the process. BTW, I am a poliitical "lefty" and that does not change my perception on this.
Hi there. Do you find this accurate or would you disagree?
And just what is "culture"? Some piece of classical music that happen to have been written 300 years ago in Europe? Every society has its culture. It may not be like your culture, but it does exist separately, or intermixed with others. If the U.S. "culture" is so bad, then why does the rest of the World so readily borrow from it? When I would turn on the radio in Germany, it was largely music from the U.S. which was being played. When the National Football League recently played a Pro football game in Munich, the crowd was singing "Take Me Home Country Roads" and "Sweet Caroline". Oh, and the stadium was sold out!
When I listen to German radio over the Internet, I am constantly taken back at how the German language has borrowed from American English. Not just techncal terms, but everyday verbs and nouns and just throws them into the German sentence. Is language not part of "culture"?
Just musings of an 81 year old American who lived in Germany in the early sixties, had a German wife for 50 years, and has been traveled back there many times over the last 60 years. I have a perspective which evolved over many years and given me snap shots of Germany's changes. For sure, the Germany that I first knew, has changed greatly.
@@nejdro1 Yes exactly. I think this is what people either forget or say they dislike because their own music industry does not have the same kind of reach...
I would argue that music has become more international than a culture thing. You are off course right that English music (English in terms of language, not origin) is played to a very high degree in Germany, but let us be honest, the music "styles" are borrowed back and forth. The anthem of the US is classical music that evolved in Europe, Rock n Roll and the derived music styles like Heavy Metal etc are borrowed from the US. This is a thing to embrace, not to fight any culture war about. People like K pop. I personally don't, but it is a thing.
In general I think that it is stupid fighting over cultural things. Every culture in the world has to offer something good, sometimes really awesome that I would like to know and try (especially when it comes to food).
Personally I will not visit the US before some major issues are solved there, among them there is unregulated gun ownership, badly regulated food market and health care. If I should ever work in the US, my contract will include all the benefits I would get in a European country, because that is another issue that is handled very bad in the US.
Having that said, my impression is that people want to make a change on these topics (especially the younger generation), so I still have hope. I think the US has so much to offer in kinds of locations to visit, so I would love to one day take a year to travel the country.
I think it's interesting and I had some of the thoughts already by myself. I would have added a part about the uneducated people that are very often shown on UA-cam and so on. Stupidity triggers people a lot. Therefore I was surprised you skipped this topic, but all in all, your video makes a lot of sense. 😊😊
Yes it’s pretty accurate, you confirm my conclusions, sure it’s a bit sweeping but there’s truth in there.
Good Morning ! I don’t think Americans care if they are disliked. :)
I hope so for them...but it didn't seem like that from all the videos and articles I have been suggested.
This "Ami" does. During my years in Germany, I bent over backwards to not be that stereotypical American. I studied German immediately, and went on to get my degree in German. I dressed in the German style . I hung out with German students my age. I married a German girl and stayed with her for 50 years til her death.
I don't think, that others care, if Americans care whether they are disliked. 😂
@@nejdro1hehe, how did you dress German :D? To me, Germans don't seem particularly stylish (outside of bigger cities, perhaps). I'm German myself but it would be interesting to know what you picked up coming from the outside...
Only if a valid argument is made.
Europe is not just Germany and France
Thank god for that.
True. It is also many places that got conquered by Germany or France or the UK or Spain or Russia at one time or another.
Yes, Europe is so versatile. 100 sentences are not enough to describe it.
Tell that to still fascist Germany and France who have been determined to impose the Marxist plantation slavery state twice in the last century
Europe has no culture and soccer is boring. What has Europe invented recently? We have the best technology and my state has class. Europe lacks style and bbq
As an American who has spent much of the past 50 years living in Europe, I have a couple of things to say. One, as far as thinking they are the best in the world, the French take the cake. Two, what most Europeans have a hard time understanding, the U.S. is geographically a very big country and is not one culture. There are many parts of the country where I do not feel at home and attitudes of people in one area towards those in another area are much like, say, the attitudes of people in one European country towards those of another. Belgian jokes in France = West Virginia jokes in northern states, etc. It seems to be human nature to make sweeping generalizations and stereotype others and mock them if possible. The world would be a better place if we all just took each person as a representative only of themselves, but I don't see it happening.
Of course there are varied differences but is more worrying to me is that studies seem to show that there are very predictable patterns. And yes maybe it shouldn’t be the case but humans make snap judgements all the time and the country where you come from is a big part of your identity, whether you want it to be or not
Well said.
No, I'm sorry. This is wishful thinking. The French may be arrogant, but they are the first to criticize their own state. Americans on the other hand - on average - can't stomach honest criticism of their country and are the number one most defensive people in the western world.
"The US is not one culture" is another one of those vapid statements given that this is true for most European countries as well. You'll find more cultural, linguistic and even religious diversity in a country like Switzerland than in the entirety of the US.
I find it also ironic that you criticize the tendency to make sweeping generalizations after your initial claim aobut the French: Americans are comfortable with generalizing over others. They aren't very comfortable with looking in the mirror when others generalize them.
This is coming from a European who has spent many years in the US.
@@schtreg9140- Agree regarding the general defensiveness of Americans relative to people of other western countries. As for cultural diversity in Switzerland vs. the US, calling BS on that, though I’m happy to hear the argument for it. I’ve been to Switzerland and it is diverse as you say. But there is no equivalent there or anywhere in Europe to the differences between say Hilo, Hawai‘i; Hollywood; Alaska; and Appalachia.
@@24X7CARZ yes Switzerland was a very odd choice in making that point.
333 million Americans, I think it's more politics than people. Loud people get noticed quickly, so you're more likely to come across 'brash Yanks'....rather than Americans who are decent, quiet and less ethnocentric. The loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room....I have met both types, living in Lublin.
I think you're right. People from the outside are only exposed to politics and the extroverted so it's a very one sided picture.
Seems you consider yourself to be a decent US citizen but apparently, it never crossed your mind how ethnocentric it is to call yourself "an American" and to mean by that to be a US citizen just as though nobody else living anywhere in North, Middle or South America was "an American".
This!!
(And I miss Lublin 😊)
@@PEdulis I somewhat agree. So what should we call ourselves? United Statesians?
@@JLDReactions Whatever you feel like as long as it distinguishes you from other Americans and does not somehow degrade them to "Americans of a somewhat lower status". Personally, I just stick with US citizens until someone comes up with something better.
I've worked with a lot of people internationally and I have to say, I don't really meet people from other countries who seem to dislike Americans in particular. Sure, I suppose they could keep it to themselves since I am American, but I usually try to discuss their country, their people, their history and also my own and the verdict tends to be that Americans are interesting, capable, and most of all friendly. I've actually been very surprised by the number of different cultures that have told me Americans are the friendliest people they've ever met (and in a good way, not uncomfortable way). From Brits to Persians to Chinese...
I think your experience has been a selection bias. Just like there seem to be many extreme leftist opinions emanating from the US now, and they exist, but they're a vocal minority.
I can't think of a place I'd rather live, honestly. We've got our flaws, no question, but I'm happy to be an American.
This is a lovely comment to read. I hope you have met some of our Kiwis in America.
I have seen a podcast which showed a great bond between American guys and our Boys in the armed services.
I even wondered if you worked in the military.
I am very fond of Americans as I know they are friendly like us.
The image I have is pretty good, based on Americans I have known, met, or seen and some of the friends I made in comment sections.
Thanks, Bro.
Kia ora, and I meant to say that you an one individual have huge power to create a significant view of American people.
I have made friends with people from France, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Bolivia, Tonga, Fiji and the Chech Republic.
I have worked closely with people from India, the Filipines and other countries.
I worked with one Japanese nurse who was so beautiful and funny that I, 100% did a u-turn on my old prejudice about the Japs. Another Japanese guy I met stayed at our house and he affirmed my beautiful image of the Japanese
I have made friends with e Russians and they were also profoundly beautiful jn my eyes and experience.
My love of France, the Netherlands, Tonga, Fiji, Russia, and of tangata phenua and the places they are from has grown exponentially due to my connections with one or more individuals.
It is unfortunate that I assisted a person from Nigeria who I met on a bus has made me very wary of Nigerians. Similarly I picked up a hitchhiker from Peru. I also had friends from Peru and Iraq. These few people made me warey of men from those countries even though they were mostly very nice.
I am writing all this, because I can't be the only one who gets to love certain countries because of their ambassadores.
I have also come to love countries because of the past actions of their people during past wars.
I have a strongly glorified view and regard for people of Russia Poland, Britain, America, Australia, France, India, The Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Greece, New Zealand, Vietnam and very, very many countries because of their strength, sacrifice, resistance unity, and actions of women and children in times of war of occupation.
Kia ora Bro.
@@barbsmart7373 Thanks! No I did not work for the military but I was a combat sports coach, and strength and conditioning coach for professional athletes which did help to meet many international people.
I live in a rural place in the mountains. Not many people from New Zealand come here, it would be like traveling across the world to visit a place like where you came from!
There is no general “European culture” just like there is no general “American culture”. As a German-born who has lived in New England and now the Deep South, I can assure you there is a wide variety of culture, well-known and not so well-known. And modern American culture has produced more than just Google, Apple and Tesla. The intersection of cultures, mostly European and American has dominated what the world has achieved over the last 150 years or so (building on what was before) - and yes, that includes setbacks. What would music and literature and art in general look like today without America? Just think about that alone. So let’s enjoy what is available and continue to learn from each other perhaps?
I have been lucky to spend a lot of time outside the US. I am a Army veteran. I signed up to defend this nation. Yet, this place is a mess and I am stuck here, as I am over 50. We could be so much better. I am quiet when I travel. I am not self centered, but I am not what you see in American media. Many are like me, but we don't get noticed. Hopefully, we grow up as a nation. And soon.
Yes I think part of it is the media and stereotypes. But as the research showed a lot of it is about politics, and although it shouldn’t be the case the way a countries leaders behave reflects what people think about the population as a whole
the left wing media has portrayed Americans as loud and obnoxious -- 100% bullshit. Do you really think loud mouth poor Americans travel to Paris or Prague? Utter nonsense
There certainly is a lot of terrible stuff happening in the US these days. But to say America has no culture is a joke especially since literally the world has been influenced by US culture post WW2. Everybody wears jeans which is a US invention, literally almost everybody in the world is exposed to US pop culture & to some extent influences your life too. And then the competitive culture of Silicon Valley, Wall Streers, the Coeboy culture, etc. To say the US has no culture is a joke. Every country has its own culture & identity. Plus, when people say Americans are self centered I mean it could be true but generally speaking every individual is self centered to a certain extent. I don't see Americans are anymore self centered than many other countries in the world. Americans are kinda ignorant because they don't know anything about the world outside of the US. But ignorant & self centered are not the same.
You are correct. We need to spend our resources building up ourselves, and not other people.
same here it sucks we are considered many of the worst stereotypes when traveling and yet there so many hypocritical foreigners who are just as rude if not worse than Americans. I actually find us to be pretty open minded when traveling albeit there are still a few stereotypical ones that ruin our image. There are so many stereotypes directed at Americans that were criticized regardless of what we do tbf and its just popular to critique us at any opportunity as if were responsible for our countries problems lol I think the only one im really guilty of is lack of knowledge of local customs but thats seriosuly an unfair criticism because everyone who is tourist to a location is going to be to some extent.
I think some of the harshness in the criticism the US gets for their policies also results from disappointment. We expect more from people we like and somehow, maybe unconsciously, idealise.
If they fail (in our eyes) they often get more criticism than someone we didn't think much of in the first place.
Interesting insight. Could well be the case
Good comment!
Translates to, you expect to be able to freeload more and resent being told to pay your own way
@@mmoretti Haha, another victim of the American education system and the belief in orange fake gods who tell you what to think.
Good job, Donnie, she reads every lie from your lips as if it was the revelation of a new religion. Well, a cult, that is. A cult with a golden, err..., orange calf. And the stupid are dancing around it as they always do...
who idealizes us because it seems more like dislike as most Europeans are always harping on how much better it is there than America even though many have never visited here and if they do outside of New York or other touristy major cities.
As an indigenous American with tribal citizenship, (that means am a dual citizen)I always found these view points about America having no culture so limited and quite frankly uninformed and ignorant. We have over 169 indigenous languages here that are actively spoken. Along with 326 sovereign nations with their own government to government relationships, constitutions, treaties, police force, tax policies, etc. there are currently 574 federally recognized tribes. We have HUNDREDS of rich living cultures within turtle island (United States).
It has been my experience in Europe that they understand our native cultures are departed and reduced to folklore, which is largely propelled by media propaganda. We have our own philosophies, ways of life, culinary knowledge, ceremonies, name places, rights of passage, relationship to the land that many foreigners don’t know or care to seek out.
Every time I travel to Western Europe I find myself schooling folks about our history that was here LONG before the doctrine of discovery was implemented.
The first part of the American story and its laws is based upon us.
Even our women’s suffrage came from the women of the consulting of the haudenosaunee women.
Good Grief! Let’s do better !
When Europeans say America has no culture, they are talking hyperbolically about white America - which is a sentiment most often shared by non-white people in and outside the US when they mock things as being "so white" like bland cooking or boring music.
The less informed and more ignorant minorities often think that this "white" regers to Europeans and they don't understand that Europeans mock white Americans for the same issues.
Please stop drinking the Marxist bong water thinking you are going to enjoy supremacy, your future if you get your way will be death or enslavement by your Marxist globalist overlords. Learn from history or be a speed bump. & spare us with the haudenosaunee aka Iroquois gave us women’s suffrage palaver. Iroquois women were in charge of planting maintaining and harvesting the crops and virtually all work. They didn’t own their land or even their dwellings, they had no vote or voice in governance. Don’t embroider on it. Frankly if you’re willing to lie about it, you sound as exploitative as a pretendian. I’m 25% American Indian, Abenaki, that is Algonquin. No American Indian is indigenous, our peoples crossed the Bering Sea from Siberia.
How many USA presidents were indigenous Americans? Are these 326 "sovereign" nations allowed to have bilateral relations with any country outside of the USA? Can they ask for independence? Do they have a say in USA's foreign policy?
Native cultures ARE reduced to folklore, sadly.
@@Tukemuth The law would suggest otherwise. There are three governments in the US; Federal, State, and Tribal. The Americans inherited the treaties that were made with Native Amerricans with Britain, and they were later ratified, thus having to do with the first U.S. foreign policy. The Bureau of Indian Affairs used to be apart of the Department of War, now it is under the Department of the Interior. Tribal nations are considered to be domestic dependent nations, that were created from the Marshall Trilogy enforced by the Trust Doctrine and government to government relations. Tribal nations share their own constitutions, governance leadership, jurisdiction, criminal and civil law systems, constitutions, police force, human departments and commerce. The US constitution mentions Native Americans nations three times, one of them being the commerce clause. Within treaty rights, which vary from nation to nation, almost always contain usufructuary rights, which require government to government relations. Tribal leaders are Presidents, Executives, and formal leaders of their nations. Additionally, only tribal nations decide who their citizens are, like any political sovereignty, such as the United States or France. Tribal nations also send independent representation to places like the UN. There are several trade agreements within which tribal nations can operate independent of the US Government. Some tribal nations have their own passport. The Indian Child Welfare Act illustrates sovereignty, tribal court systems, wellness court systems, among many other policies and law. U.S.C code 25 contains the laws surrounding Native Law. Aboriginal title and treaties ARE LAW OF THE LAND. For further reading you can visit your nearest tribal governance center, interpretive center, tribal cultural center, or something similar like reading the history of federal Indian policy in the United States.
Thanks for playin' - Have a nice day.
@@Aláyama-r2e "Tribal nations are considered to be domestic dependent nations" = reduced to folklore. In other words, they have freedom within the boundaries of their golden cage.
Hi, a thought provoking video once again.! Great.
As to the outgoing, less shy americans you have met or encountered while traveling, or are now living abroad, it is the type of personality that eagerly WANTS to travel, see new things, experience new cultures, are aware of the differences, good and bad.
While I lived in the USA -in my teen and young adult years-, only about 1% in high school and 2% in college who "dared" to take a year abroad / go on an exchange programme.
Most of my school and college mates had no passport, or had only gone to Canada or Mexico if at all out of the USA. Most of my friends were, like me first generation born in America or had arrived as children. We lived a dual culture every day.
The now more concentrated media landscape (only 5 major corporations now where it used to be over 200 3 decades ago) gives a false and skewed picture of the USA when we consume any media stemming from them. Much is aimed to a 12 year old level. (Alas!)
I too am grateful for many innovations and technology out of USA.
True and I'm grateful for all the high quality UA-cam channels from the USA. 😊
Thanks Connie. I didn't realise you lived there for a while. That's great
Another interesting presentation. I look forward to your videos. As for today's topic, I'm an American who, like most Americans, has my roots from somewhere else. In my case, my entire ancestry comes from northern Germany and is not far removed. I knew my German grandparents. When in Germany, we visit old family areas where we blend in and appear not so much as tourists in that our 'Americanism' is not apparent. That interaction has shown us that average people living their day to day lives don't differ much between the U.S. and Germany. We experience things beneath the cloud of media representations of what 'life is like'. The U.S. is a place where citizens can make or let the country be whatever they act or choose not to act on. To some, that process is too slow and feel they need to 'escape' the current conditions. In closing, a thought entered my mind at the end of the video: "Americans, you can't live with them and you can't live without them."
Haha that’s a great ending quote. It sounds like you are still really connected to your German side. A lot of what we see (from the outside) is politics, culture wars and race baiting. I think if you take that away there’s still a lot of good stuff
As a half German, half American I have become more and more irritated by my European friends and family as well as the younger American generation. America is more than just McDonalds, and I find it ironic that Americans today join in on the cultural stigmatization of their own country. It's like in order not to be perceived as the "ignorant American", expat Americans embrace a European position of ignorance towards America. Everybody's ignorant; open up your minds and put your resentments aside.
I think it’s in a way normal for young generations to question the status quo. It’s just sad when they don’t offer an alternate vision for the future
I pretty much concur with you...another half-German/American. Lots of ignorance out there...especially Americans about their own country
Thanks for being partial. I can see plenty of issues when I visited Spain for a month, however I try not to think overtly negatively about any group of people or place and cant say I can make assumptions based on the short time there.But I think its just popular to hate on the US, since i would tell peolple I was from Canada and they would back off on the stereotypes or judgements. I was actually yelled at by a German worker at a kiosk for asking a question about flight times for being American lol. We tend to get blamed as individuals for Americas many problems which often are the result of our government policies like were are the ambassadors of our country or something. Were often taken less seriously and our opinions minimized too.
All in all there are many similarities between Europeans and Americans, espeically young people if you switch the nationality there wouldn't be much of a difference in terms of personality between let say someone from Sevilla and someone from California except for a few quirks and exceptions . Europeans tend to be more informed globally and have a healthier lifestyle but there are many Americans who are also health conscious not all of us are overweight and some of us do care about international affairs.
If you would open up yourself, then you would see that about half of the US population isn't particularly likable, taking into account that they will cast a vote hurting many people, within their own country as well as the planet as a whole. In Europe, it's far less, but still far too much.
Thank you for this fair and even-handed assessment, which was very refreshing. As a US citizen, I can say that as a country we do have a sort of collective sense of inferiority, contrary to what people think and what our image portrays to the world. I have traveled extensively in Europe and S. America and the thing that frustrated me most was that so many people have stereotypical views of who Americans are -- both positive and negative. I understand why many Europeans feel negatively toward us, but many of them have never been to this country and don't understand that many of us do not fit their pre-conceived notions of who we are.
I just discovered your channel.
You can tell I am an American, because I would describe it as, Awesome! LOL.
A couple of things -
Yeah, we suck. (sigh) Oh, brother, we got that out of the way.
We live in 2024, but people forget context, and by that I mean history, and that is how each of us on this planet got to this very day, regardless of who is reading my comment on your video.
Americans are people that are not defined by geography or ethnicity. Americans came to this continent as explorers, adventurers, slaves, indentured servants, fleeing political or religious persecution, searching for a better life, a second chance, or they were kicked out their home country. This trend continues to this day.
Americans have very close ties to the home country of their heritage, whether real or imagined, as annoying as it may be to those still left in the "Old Country." This is why we became involved in two world wars, (remember who started them) and the Cold War, not to mention the bloodbath in Ukraine and the Middle East, and still have US military all over the world. Considering the conflicts of the last 110 years, would Europe and Asia want us to pack up our boys and girls and toys, and come back home? We don't spend $700 billion a year to protect the US, but to protect you.
Yeah, we don't have culture, we are a bunch of rednecks, entitled loud obnoxious, fat ignoramuses.
The United States is the oldest, oldest, continuous representative constitutional democracy in world history.
Thank you, Britain, for your traditions and language in laying the foundation for this achievement.
Yeah, we have a lot of conflict. Every day. Living in America is like constantly arguing with your wife, friends and family and being in court. Remember the American Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression, depending on where you are from - 650, 000 men Killed in Action, plus our best President, Abe Lincoln, assassinated. Eventually, we resolve our conflicts and come up with a solution and move on. Thank God and our forefathers for the Constitution and the rule of law.
Our culture is a rich stew made up of all peoples from all over the world. American music, innovation in all fields and endeavors of science, engineering, art, are because of the talent of immigrants who became citizens, slaves who became free, and the world that celebrates the gifts these Americans gave us. And our culture bounces back across the world and comes back and is refined and improved and sent back out to the world. American music is the best example. Many Americans would state that The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are an American Band. Nothing more American. They are, of course, British, who were influenced by American Black blues, rockabilly and country, they made it their own, revolutionized and sent it back our way. So many examples of so many endeavors where this has happened. Something about America where this freedom of creativity can happen. I guess because people have the freedom to fail here and then find redemption.
But, the real thing that is the unspoken or very difficult to express reason, that people all over the world do not like about Americans and The United States is this -
You can move to France. You can move to China. You can move to Germany, or Egypt or any other country in the World. You can get a passport and be a legal citizen. You can be fluent in whatever language in your whatever adopted country. But, y'all, ain't ever gonna become a Frenchman, or Chinese, or German, or Egyptian, I don't care if you renounced your citizenship, or how well you blended in.
However, you can be from India. You can be from Nigeria. You can be from Vietnam. You can be from Italy. You can be from El Salvador, or any other country or place on this planet. Hell, you can be from the UK, even-
And you can become an American.
An American, just as American as me - true American, an American as John Wayne, George Washington or Vivek Ramaswamy.
That is what makes us different-
We are not defined by geography or ethnicity.
Thanks a lot for commenting and sorry I can’t write anything more detailed. I failing miserably to reply to everyone here
@@britingermany Please keep up the good work. I would love to travel the world and live in different places and enjoy the people, savor the culture. I live on a farm in the rural South, isolated and quiet. The internet and y'all UA-camrs bring the world to me, truly bringing an experience with HD and surround sound that is illuminating and educational, given with good humor and sensitivity. I am glad I discovered your channel.
The isle of mann has the oldest democracy..their parliament was established over a thousand years ago.Iceland is almost as old.
@@pwood6532 Cool. When things go south here, I know where to migrate to.
Dude, I'm an American who's spent the last 30 years or so in Japan, so I've been on the outside looking in. I grew up believing our Constitution, our Three Branches of Government, the Separation of Church and State, etc., made our country special and unique. And they do. But unfortunately they are not absolutes. They only have meaning and power if Americans respect them and each other. And as we've painfully seen, especially over the last 8 years, that respect is crumbling rapidly.
If everyone shared your opinions there wouldn't be a problem. But right now a frightening percentage of Americans, including members or soon-to-be members of all 3 Branches of Government, probably wouldn't agree with you that anyone can become an American, or even that current American citizens all deserve the same rights. This could be because of race, religion, economic status, gender/sexual identity, reproductive choices, or even other reasons that I'm not aware of. The Founding Fathers may have wanted to avoid it, but many, many modern Americans strongly identify being American by their ethnicity and/or religion. If this many people believe that the "American Dream" doesn't exist for everyone then it doesn't exist for anyone. Except for those with the right amount of social or economic privilege...
What Europeans get wrong about American culture is that it’s a culture that didn’t emerge from urban concentrations (citadels and towns) with their surpluses of wealth devoted to non-productive activies (such as arts and crafts) and religious patronage that built enormous cathedrals, but it’s a culture that emerged from capitalism, and specifically (and no surprisingly) entertainment.
So it’s a culture that needs the market validation and it’s limited by it, and that gravitates around, heavily I’d say, imagery and spectacle, whether films, tv, musical shows, theme parks, etc. Even food in America is often portrayed (and sold) as a show, with 3 inches of cheese on pretty much everything and burgers the size of a lorry.
Just saying that they are different cultures misses, in its self-evident rhetoric, a crucial element. Not only they are different, but their parameters and values system are in opposite axis. Europeans value their culture because that’s what they have been fed with, literally. But taking the same parameters in the absence of historical circumstances and judging other cultures in terms of their worth is ridiculous and frankly ignorant.
The real question to me is whether we will be watching and admiring old American films, or any other visual artefact for that, in a century from now in the same way that we admire and rejoice on a centuries’ old cathedral, castle, and generally the architecture in Europe. I don’t have a crystal ball but that to me, the passage of time, is the only judge I’d listen to.
Interesting insight, thanks for sharing. I think the world of tec and entertainment is changing very rapidly…I believe you can find Walkmans and portable CD players in museums these days? 🤣time will tell
Nice view! You arguing how modern media and markets form US culture is an interesting argument. It explains the WHY behind the feeling I had that the media circus seems so important in the US. True, it is everywhere, but it explains the focus on it and how it even might crowd out local elements or traditions out of current culture. Again, happens everywhere, but explains yet again how US culture feels so fast and mercurial. Can you recommend a book on this?
There is another aspect that has to be taken in account in Europe, many people still live roughly in the same area as did their ancestors 50, 100, 150, 200 or even 300 years ago, and that is where most people will just lose track as the older records are rare for common people, in case of millers and other such vocations, you could be able to go back to some 14-15 hundreds. But then you will also lose track. On the other hand, when genetic analysis of skeletons from 500-1000 years ago is done, the researchers will often find living descendants of those people living just few miles away from the place where their distant ancestor was buried some 30 generations ago.
And that also plays role in the culture as it is not only about fine arts, about paintings and theatres, gilded books and nobility and clergy that had lived in the cities, but also about all folk traditions, about the festivals, about vernacular architecture (you can spot the regional differences between old buildings), and all those things were slowly changed over time, slowly altered each year. So while the those festivals are held around the same time as were thousand years ago, they would be unrecognizable to those long dead people (If they would woke from their eternal slumber)
Why is it that when people compare American culture to European culture, they always take current American culture, or American culture since the 1950s, and compare it to European culture from hundreds of years ago? Believe it or not, American culture did exist before the 1950s. I am a student of American culture in the 1800s, and when someone mentions American culture, I think of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the short stories and poems of Edgar Allen Poe, the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the songs of Stephen Foster, the songs of the Civil War, the speeches of Abraham Lincoln, the poems of Walt Whitman, the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson, etc. These products of American culture are worthy of great respect, esteem, and study. So, when I hear Europeans say America has no culture, I want to bring up these and other cultural works of the 1800s, not McDonald's or Walmart or recent television shows.
Hello dear.
I'm working at the airport Frankfurt.
Here is what I observed in the past two years:
In 2022 the overall impression and experience I made was that the majority of American visitors seemed to have forgotten how to behave as a guest in a foreign country. All stereotype were checked marked on a daily bases, when I interacted with them.
Last year it got a lot better. Just here and there you had to take a deep breathe, if you know what I mean.
Now this year so far, I can tell that American visitors seem to have done some research before they travel and it has been a pleasure to host them. I can still spot them a mile away (clothing for example), but the other stereotypes, such as being loud, obnoxious, etc. aren't really present.
Thanks you for your great videos. Always enjoy them.
Hi there. That is really interesting thanks for sharing. I wonder why that is?
The Germans are always behaving themselves while on vacation? I am sure the people in Spain will have a very different and strong view point of the Germans who hit the Spanish beaches, get hammered, and start fights. Many Germans I have met during my travels seem to forget their famous rules once they jump on a plane.
I'm American & worked in a tourism related industry until 2022. My wife still works in tourism. I think there was a certain segment of American population that lost its danged mind during the pandemic and went feral. When travel restrictions eased, they went wild. It was a problem domestically, so I'm not surprised to hear that it was a problem overseas, too.
They're still out there, and they're still crazy, but I think they're back to traveling mostly within the US or not traveling at all, so they spend most of their time driving like maniacs (see stats on US auto crashes & fatalities) and being general nuisances at home.
I don't know why it's been so specifically bad with Americans, beyond our culture's base-line malignant narcissism that has really been stoked by the political discourse here over the last 8 years. Bottling that up for a year or two seems to have made it ferment and get explosive.
At the moment, with a view to November, it is perhaps more fear than dislike.
Biden just raised taxes again to bail out the students chanting "Genocide Joe" out of debt at the expense of the middle class already suffering under inflation so high that monthly grocery bills have nearly doubled. I feel like the Republicans must have infiltrated his campaign's team. xD
Possibly…I guess things will really heat up in the next few months and I don’t envy Americans for that
you mean excitement at a new beginning with a real leader
A "Führer"?
Funny thing about the political leaning, for me as an American living in Germany, when I met my SPD-voting in-laws and extended family, at first they probed my politics to see if I was a Trumper, and they found out not and were initially relieved, but after a few more minutes of probing my politics they realized "oh, he's to the left of us... by a lot... by a lot a lot."
well there you go
@summerwest3099you must be swimming in a Marxist sewer because most Germans are sick of being replaced and support AFD.
@@koschmx the above two US anti white Marxists are not representative of Germans or Europeans who want their people to live. This is why we need to get out of NATO and expell US occupation forces from Germany.
USA still has the best social mobility for foreigners, you can come as nobody, from a country nobody knows, and if you have good ideas, are hard working and talented, you can "make it big" in a short time. Nobody cares even about your age. The eternal American optimism is envied by the whole world. I myself love American culture too, the big beautiful cars of the 50s, the music, movies, I even prefer a diner somewhere in the desert of Nevada to an overpriced, crowded southern European tourist destination.😂
It's the richest kids with the most options that are most upset.
Culture, in the simplest definition, is way of life. To say that there's no culture is to say that there's no life. I think it's more on the perception that one's culture is dominant/better than the other. If you look at it in the lens of arts, music, traditions - they do exist in the US. In fact, it is often mimicked around the world. It's so easy to form stereotypes in a country that is heavily observed around the world. But if you go down to the nooks and crannies of it - there's so much of it that you don't know.
I guess because most other countries only see the superficial, consumerist world culture America exports, Europeans think America has no culture. The US actually has very diverse subcultures, and the culture varies significantly by region. The demographics are different, and even the way people speak or what they eat.
A huge issue is that perceptions of the USA are formed based on coverage of the Northeast US and the West Coast as what the US is like. The entirety of the middle of the US is ignored in news, and popular culture, other than to paint those of us in the South or the middle of the country as rubes.
It doesn't ever get mentioned, but this is 100% the truth.
I think this was a great comment. Completely agree.
I’d go even further and say 4 cities form the basis of Europeans entire opinions, NYC, LA, Chicago and San Fran 😂
@@diffizzle8630 But those are the cities Europeans typically admire.
That feeling you had in Australia of awkwardness, wasn't awkwardness but humility and self-awareness. It's so important to remember that you're not the center of attention in the new country. I love my American friends, but it's always quite tiring seeing an American immigrant in Europe, bringing that "I'm special" aura about them. I know several Americans at work, and I actively avoid them when I can, that toxic positivity is nauseating, along with ingrained brown-nosing of higher ups.
Interesting take, thank you for sharing
American Work place attitude is a problem, I agree. Maybe not so much with people in lower positions, but definitely with people higher up. I worked with a contractor in the US and we made specific rules for them how to write and layout the manuals they should produce, because there was a worldwide corporate identity given to us in how to do this stuff. And we asked the contractor if we can assist them in doing what they had to, providing templates, text modules and more. They told us, they knew how to work with the tools we wanted them to use. After we got the first drafts, and later along the line, we found out that 1) they didn't know how to correctly use the tools, 2) they didn't use our templates or modules and 3) they didn't follow the CI.
We are talking about a contractor here that should be able to follow orders. But with the American attitude of thinking they had to know better, because they were special or whatever the reasoning behind that was, we would always have fights with these people. I blame it on the indoctrination US citizens get all their lives, like being special because they are part of the greatest nation in the world in God's favourite country. Wake up, guys, you are no better than anybody else and there is no country favoured by God. There isn't a best country either, every country and every nation has to offer something that is pretty cool.
@@TheL4WI am American and I apologize for the know-it-alls. We are no longer a great nation and haven't been for a while.
@@gokaren420 You’re going to apologize to Europeans for US coming off as know it alls? Lol.
Hello. Well you need to remember that the U.S is a giant country with over 330 million people. Attitudes and culture vary greatly by region. People from the Northeast and West Coast tend to be a bit more like what you described, but there are plenty of people not like that. Southerners and Midwesterners value humility and politeness. You can't throw us all in one basket. We vary greatly!
In my opinion, Europe has a great many left leaning people. But, having said that, what I saw in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, France, Spain is that Left leaning and Far Right believers converge in many aspects. One is the love for Russia, another is the hate for Americans. Also, most Europeans believe themselves to be the pinnacle of human civilization and above reproach. I was in Germany when Trump was there in 2018 (if I'm not mistaken) and torpedoed Angela Merkel over buying 65% of Germany's energy needs from Russia and that NATO allies were spending too little on defense (less than 2%). I was never a Trump fan but I thought he had hit the mark there. I discussed that with many friends in Germany and the UK. They all ridiculed Trump and Americans in general. Now, after Brexit and the Ukrainian war in full swing, the mood is different. But it is still easy to find the pro-Russians ...
In american measures, you are right. But they simply have an exaggerated view on how bad socialism or communism is, it's kind of a brain wash starting with world war II and the McCarthy era. When Obama toured Europe during his campaign in 2007 or 2008, there was a fictional election/survey in Germany, coming out 95% of people would vote for him.
This is unfortunatly on decline right now, since the Trump-style got some fanboys also. The deep split we can see in USA, has started in Europe beginning around 2010.
I think social media has a big role to that.
I am an indigenous American, as in having pre-Columbian roots here, and I always cringe a bit when people describe America as young and having only a shallow, short-lived culture. We've been here since prehistoric times.
Furthermore, modern American culture owes a lot to us, including much that we have exported to the rest of the world. The engineering principles behind suspension bridges and other structures that rely on tension rather than gravity alone? That was us. Supercrops that other people still can't figure out how we bred them, such as corn and potatoes? Also us. Even the modern concept of democracy, that enfranchised people who didn't own land, we did that (granted, the Scandinavians had something similar, but lost it to feudalism. Greek democracy and the Magna Carta didn't even come close to shedding the concept of hierarchy. We invented real democracy.) Quite a few subtle attitudes that distinguish Americans from the rest of the world come from us. And we are ancient.
Exactly how I feel! I’m an Indian American whose lived my whole life in the US, and people will quickly bring up “The US exists on stolen land” but also say “the US has no culture”
Well that’s a bit contradictory isn’t it? While the government has been awful to the natives, America has always been a land of changing demographics and fluid culture. That just doesn’t happen to fit the homogenous European confines of culture.
I wouldn't be so hasty to call corn and potatos 'super crops'. No, they're just crops, similar to all other crops that humans were breeding and growing all over the planet. When you say "We invented real democracy" are you simply ignoring all the other tribal societys the world over (including European ones)? They still had tribal chiefs and elders anyway (i.e hierarchy). Lastly, everyone is ancient. Everyone has ancient ancestors in prehistory.
@@hardywatkins7737 The book "The dawn of everything" might be an interesting read on this.
@@chicagotypewriter2094 Some people understand what culture is, and some people don't, and neither has anything to do with being European.
@@kimwit1307 I probably won't be reading it. From the summarys i've just read it doesn't appear to be saying anything we didn't already know.
Have a good Sunday, Ben and everyone else!
The real reason the US wants to ban TikTok, in my opinion!
Thank you Arno. Same to you :)
All American IT companies are banned in China. So why America can’t ban? It’s not fair. And Tik Tok easily can be replaced
Apparently China banned all American IT companies. Why the U.S. can’t?
We're all extremely aware of Germany and it's fascist past. In spite of that, why is it that their current regime literally wants to ban a political party, AfD, that is fully supported by half of it's voting public. Doing so would deprive 50% of the people their right to vote for whoever they'd like to pick. I guess that it's just a case of old habits being difficult to break.
@@geraldvelez597 Your comment shows that you have no idea of the history of Germany, nor of the current situation, government, courts, elections etc. etc.!!!! Zero
Its not just europeans, most people dislike intolerant people who look down on other cultures, Americans are wired to think this way of other ways of living. So naturally people from other countries dislike them.
Yes but on very different levels. Some people dislike people who are against abortion, but others say Americans want to conquere the entire world and make them their slaves.
None of the both topics has a natural answer.
There is no single American culture. American cultures vary depending on what part of the country is being examined. Cultures in the US are an amalgam of indigenous cultures and the cultures brought by people who came from Europe, Africa, Asia and other parts of the world. Many of the imported cultures evolved further in the new nation from their original forms.
Of course, as is Europe and the seperate countries within it...and yet generalisations still have their place....
There is American culture based on our founding values, that is distinct from the various ethnic etc cultures various peoples have. The US by it’s very being shall never be defined as multicultural because various ethnic, racial cultures do not define the constitutional republic that is the United States of America
Nothing much has changed basically. I left the US in 1977. Everything that has happened there since and everything I've experienced here since, has only confirmed, that I made the proper personal choice for me at the time. No regrets.
American exceptionalism meets any form of valid criticism and reads it as dislike ;)
This is the reaction of the vast majority of humanity when confronted with criticism about their country.
No, a lot of us can take criticism. It's just the majority giving it are down right rude. "We aren't stupid like Americans!" "At least we don't have to worry about our children being shot, dumb Americans!" "America sucks!" "You have no culture!" "Your only cuisine is hamburgers and french fries!" "Black Americans aren't really Americans though" These tend to be the majority of "valid criticism" that we get. Of course we are defensive when people have no tact and make hasty generalizations. Even your statement is just another silly generalization.
@@williamhenning4700 Most countries don't tell all other countries constantly that they are the "greatest nation on earth" tho ;)
@@Crackalacking_Z Most countries don’t have the credentials to back up such a statement. And most do enjoy talking about their countries when they were at the height of their power and the greatest contributions made by their countrymen to the rest of the world. Honestly, I feel this is a good thing. We should all be proud of our countries’ heritage while also not being blind to its flaws.
Interesting take, America isn't loved by many Americans. Many of us still love the land and people and aspects of the many cultures here and we have so many reasons for critiquing ourselves. Some of us need more exposure to the world, but many people in the USA just need to appreciate what we have and make it better rather than allowing radicals to destroy and manipulate us from the inside out. We've fallen for the BS and love to hate eachother and punish eachother for our different beliefs. We've got a lot of culture though. Culturally, the South is different in dialects, food and bahavior than the West or North. The homogenous aspect is on the surface and tends to be very blunt, but there's more to us than that. We are asking to be disliked, however.
I think you're right. The world generally just knows NY and LA because that's what is constantly projected out through Hollywood and the media. I think the US has a lot to be grateful for and it does seem like it's descended into self loathing
America probably isn’t loved by Americans like you but true patriots still love their country even though a certain segment of the population can only ever seem to go on about how the country needs to be destroyed and remade.
I’ve found also as bourne out in the vid that the more Liberal left-leaning people are, the less they like Americans..I agree it’s a lot to do with their own self-loathing, Scots and Irish have a similar hatred of the English.. it’s the same of modern migration in the US and Europe, those coming with their ‘hand out’ don’t like Americans and Brits. Which is odd! I like American self-confidence, but I also like the modesty of Western Europeans. I find Eastern Europeans a bit brash and vulgar.
Love Eastern Europeans. So real.
@@williamhenning4700
Fair enough William, we must take as we find. As with sweeping statements, there are exceptions.
@@petermartin8756 Always. There are very few things ( if any ) you'll find that have 100% consistency.
Self-loathing? What a strange thing to say. Completely unwarranted in my view.
@@petermartin8756 as a Scot I can't agree that on the whole we hate the English. It's a complicated relationship. The Irish more or less despise the Scots because we never claimed our independence and because we're viewed as being complicit in some of the worst crimes against the Irish historically. We're hopelessly muddled up in summary. A few small islands and so much animosity and anger.
It’s interesting. As a descendant of non-European immigrants to the US, I see the US, a bit from the outside looking in, as an extension of the historical European particularly British push to be number one on a global stage. “The sun never sets on the British Empire” is now “USA! USA! USA!” When I talk to South Asians / Indians who live here, most talk more fondly about Americans than the British (disdain for Churchill, colonialism, less overt classicism in the US vs. in England [or in India for that matter] etc.). When I talk to Native Americans, they understand that white Americans furthered their colonial European ancestors’ agendas e.g. regarding Manifest Destiny. When Europeans see Americans, they literally are looking at an extension of themselves and the realization of the value systems they propagated for the past several centuries. The rather non-interventionist and pacifistic mindset prevalent now in western Europe is more of a modern anomaly than the historical norm.
I see the US, as a young country, continuing to mature and improve given its economic and geopolitical advantages. A lot of what started in post-US Civil War Reconstruction and carried over to the Civil Rights era (which is still going on) is being turned up in heat by modern social media. That’s fine. I expect the technology is shaving decades if not centuries off of the process needed to reach equilibrium. So yes, I’m an American who’s optimistic about the country now and going forward (even factoring in some kind of massive correction in cost of living vs. earning power that’s already long overdue and will impact the whole developed world).
Now if I can just get my kids to be boisterous highly interpersonally interactive Americans and get off their social media!
Thanks for sharing you view. Refreshingly balanced 😀
@@britingermany - You’re welcome. I enjoyed your video and _your_ balanced approach to this topic.
I think it's positive that more Americans are critically examining their role in the world, politics, and society. They are breaking through the propaganda of "American Exceptionalism", realizing that there may be better ways to live, and have a new openness to learning from others. For instance, most educated Americans are now able to see that other countries do better on healthcare, gun control, education, military intervention, historical injustice, and poverty (to name a few). This self-reflection and critical thinking just might save America from its current decline. It's also funny to hear a Brit say that there is "nothing constructive" about this sort of introspection. The Brits may need more of it.
One of the reasons Europeans dislike Americans (not all of us dislike them) is envy, The American continent took Europe's diaspora and turned it into the best and freest most influential country in the world in 250 years, while we Europeans fought with each other for the past 100 in two massive fratricidal wars that the US had to help us twice in less than 50 years, then we tried the American idea of a Union of states that is essentially a failure due to our natural diversity planned and ruled over by proto Marxists. We are a continent of Nations states not one state. The last 30 years has seen a decline in both continents in the 'culture wars' undertaking by the left, Europe is finished but there is still a chance for the US.
So very true.
Who is "we" ? It sounds like "USA - best country in the world" again. A Nation is not a natural thing, it's man made and unnessary. To divide german speakers in Austria and Germany, and not in just one country, or in 3 countries, like Germany, Bavaria and Austria, is completly arbirtrary without any good reason.
Now take the language borders away, and you can ask the same question for entire Europe.
Amazing video, hits the nail quite well!
Greetings from Germany :)
Thank you Peter. Greetings to you
@@britingermany You're welcome, thx!
I think my country should have a pause on helping other countries. We are damned if we do and damned if we don't.
I think it’s a case of perspective. As the research shows what the US perhaps sees as “helping” other countries is viewed as interventionism by the international community…
@@britingermany ,The United States gives the most foreign aid far above the rest, around $300 billion dollars yearly, seeing that it is seen as interventionism the people of the USA should reflect on making changes and t start caring for its own people.
@@teribendt94 what you dont understand is if the US doesnt have these connections especially with europe it would eventually be left behind its like a child losing commections with its elders and parents
@@THEPRESSTV , The child is an adult who has and still gives much to it's ungrateful and greedy parents.The people of the USA and their tax money are not Europe's personal piggy bank.
@@THEPRESSTV, The people of the USA in places like North Carolina,Tennessee,Georgia and Florida could use some help from Europe right now,where are all of You when they need help? ua-cam.com/video/w8egGyYZdJ4/v-deo.htmlsi=9c9ypgSJs4Glbvwe
Intriguing video, I especially liked your final question about Americans' perspective on themselves.
I'm a bit like an American version of you, I was lucky to have been able to spend a great deal of time in Europe, and have befitted from being exposed to many different cultures. I often ponder on how cultures remain intrinsically connected to their beginnings and whether course corrections are even possible.
Early on, this country was comprised of courageous souls who left all they knew to cross vast distances on rickety ships in the hopes of creating a new, better life. There were also those who held what many would term fanatical religious views that were basically forced out of Europe. Another group were wealthy entrepreneurs who sought to exploit the abundance of natural resources here, and tragically utilized enslaved peoples to do so.
To this day, the USA both benefits and is plagued by elements of these origins: a bold, pioneering spirit, radical religious groups that frequently deny science, and a form of capitalism that is tainted by an immoral, profit/win by any means mentality.
I think the same examination can be applied to any nation, we are all a mix of good and bad. What I would like to see is that all of us learn by our history, acknowledge and celebrate the good, while striving to transcend and correct the bad tendencies that we have inherited. That's my hope, the jury is still out as to whether it's possible or not.
As young man I saw the US as the good guy. Then I grew wiser and learnt what they have done to divide Europe with orchestration of the war in Ukraine. Than they blew up nordstream and now I dislike the country I was once born in.
Are you living abroad now?
@@britingermany I live in Mannheim, but I was born in Fresno/USA
😂😂😂😂
Disinterested = impartial, unbiased, neutral; Uninterested = having no interest in.
Both are applicable in this context
What has changed?
The USA has changed, especially very drastically since 9/11...and then very drastically again since the political appearance of Trump and his MAGA Cult as well.
Just my personal time witness view of the last 4 to 5 decades
I have been working in a company which was part of several US corporations and had to comply with export and trade regulations of the US. I find that Germans and to that degree Europeans make a point of not knowing how intertwined with the US their own history actually is. E.g. the Ottoman empire had pirates who regularly raided ships in the Mediterranean to enslave people and European countries merely paid tribute to them to keep seaways safe. It was the US who put an end to this by dispatching troops to Northern Africa and and completely raiding a pirate city at a time when European countries considered such an action inconceivable. Or did you know that Kaizen is not a Japanese management technique but a US American one introduced to Japan to enable Japan after WW2 to recover and meet the productivity expectations of the US? As to different mindsets: "Asterix and Obelix" was a hugely successful comic series not just in France but throughout Europe. In the US it failed. When researching why it was found that US readers identified themselves not with the heroes of the story i.e. the Gauls but with the Romans who are made fun of in that series.
Hello Ben, another really though provoking video from you. You're tempting me to write a seriously long comment -- but this time I have to keep myself a bit more under control.
Just a few remarks:
Unless someone appears to be excessively opinionated I assume that people critisize what they love. I would regard that as a part of exercising the right of free speech - one of the fundamental rights respected in what's considered the west.
Considering myself as a moderate left I'm always a bit disappointed if people assume they would have to emphasize their credibility as a "lefty" by critisizing the USA along the lines of some pretty stereotypical patterns - regarding the USA as a kind of self-appointed policeman of the world being one of them. Of course the USA provides reasons for critisism from time to time. On the other hand people like to sweep critisism of Europe from the USA aside too easily sometimes.
That point of view that the USA wouldn't have culture irks me quite a bit. Music is an obvious example. I grew up with as much Beethoven, Händel, Bach, Mozart, etc. as with Glen Miller, Duke Ellington, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Sammy Davis Jr., B.B.King, etc. And then art designers like Milton Glaser, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock, Man Ray, Edward Hopper, Keith Haring, etc.
Cinema: Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Barry Levinson, Jim Jarmush (Down By Law, Night on Earth, ...)
I really have to stop now before I'm loosing control...
The irony is some Europeans don’t like us but they do enjoy American products from Apple gadgets to American movies and shows on Netflix/Amazon Prime/Disney+/Max/Apple TV to shopping on Amazon and spending time on UA-cam.
But you'd using none of these products without the internet. Who created the Internet, British did
Sure, but they dont like them because theyre american. They like them despite of it. When a hollywood movie comes out, "its not too american" is a thing that is remarked positively about it.
No people are being forced to use this corporate products due to globalisation.
@@ForzaMilan-di2zdThe internet was invented in the USA
@@ForzaMilan-di2zd ,The prototype for the Internet as we know it today came into being in the United States more than 50 years ago as a government weapon during the Cold War, when scientists and researchers used it to share data and communicate between themselves.
Spoiler alert: we dont care and will try to carry on without you
To answer you question in the video's title: in the 1960s, the marxist intelligencia decided that Americans were too fat and happy to have a proletarian revolution. So, our education system has slowly been subverted to emphasize self hatred to bring about a communist revolution.
Well good luck with that…that’s going to be a struggle in the US
I guess you’ve seen the Type Ashton channel? It’s very well researched and considered. I wonder if you could collaborate. Would be very interesting to explore US and UK ideas re Germany.
Although you present some important insights here, I saw no acknowledgment in this video of the extraordinary polarization currently gripping the U.S. There is a lot of criticism flying around from Americans, ourselves, but with the exception perhaps of our expats, the criticisms are generally not so much a blanket condemnation of our homeland as they are expressed frustrations with specific social forces (and their influence) with which we personally feel deeply at odds.
That dynamic is probably common in most countries. I just see the deepening polarization in the U.S. as raising the visibility of that dynamic. We are a society at war with ourselves right now.
Foreign policy is always for the better of your own country. You may want to be painting it as giving democracy, better living, freedom or whatsoever but at the end it is to strengthen your own country’s position, influence and strength.
Is it as I wish it was or I think it should be? Absolutely not!!!
But we live in the world we have and changes take place slowly, very slowly only.
Is the USA the hero it saw itself and still sees itself today? Sometimes they try to do good and if it fits their own interest the more likely they are going to do it.
Do I disagree or even hate them for things they do? Yes! There are things that they did which I hate from the bottom of my heart. Especially when they lie and abuse others to put them to pull their carriage to achieve their goals.
Do I like them for things they do? Absolutely! I admire them for their “We can” attitude for example. For their attitude to see failure just as a part of the learning process.
Do I not understand them at all for their religion hardliners, their anti-social attitude and everyone for himself attitude? Yes. And I fell sorry for them to not understanding the concept of social welfare to, at least try, to give a baseline support and hopefully enabling those that had fallen into poverty for whatever reason to return to a status where they can be a helpful part of society.
Btw: I did not use the often preferred “productive part of society” description because it implies usually working for money and excludes any work or engagement you are not receiving money for.
Well said. There's always many sides to look at with this. Politics tends to dominate but there are many other things to take into account
07:00 very subjective and moot point.
They just have a different culture.....claiming otherwise would just be arrogant
For what it's worth, I would like to go back in history a bit. In Germany of the 50s and 60s, the US were usually seen as the saviour of civilisition, mainly because they had stopped the USSR from moving further west and guaranteed the iron curtain. Any possible animosity stemming from WW2 was gone; at the latest after the Berlin airlift operation and the Marshall plan. But this also led to an enormous dependency on the US, which not everyone felt good about. No German governmet ever dared to critisize the US and their demands were always fulfilled until 2003, i.e. the Iraq invasion. Personally, living just 20 miles from the iron curtain, I did not feel terribly secure from American nuclear missiles directed at the East of West Germany (yes, this was the official strategy to deter an attack from the USSR), but most people saw this as necessary to deter "the evil Russian". I guess this ambivalence continues to this day; perhaps even refreshed by Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Old German here. Living in the Western part all my life. I had a very positive attitude towards America / USA in general for at least 40 years, maybe without criticism at all. The last 30 years my view has become more specific. I do look more critical on US politics and politicians, especially their attitude towards war and military conflicts. I do differentiate much more, trying to take into account individuals and their personal view in much greater regard. Though I do know there are many great and good people in the US, I also loathe those who are willing to start wars and bring havoc even on their own fellow citizen.
Interesting video with good perspectives on current perceptions on how the perceptions of some Europeans disliking America tend to be just as (or even more sometimes) a reflection Americans who dislike the country. I think this is an issue within the USA that is often not covered or is handwaved by different people. The issue I feel is not that Americans shouldn't have or be allowed to talk about what they dislike within the USA, we aren't and have never been a perfect country, but often there is this overly cynical outlook by people in the US, something I would argue stretches across political isles, that feels like their is absolutely nothing Americans should feel proud of or is unique about their country.
Whether that is actually how the majority of Americans feel or if it is a loud majority amplified by various forms of media I can't say, but it often feels like the majority of Americans now a days feel this way. It seems almost like this attitude is necessary to adopt in some sort of way if you want to be taken seriously in a conversation. People seem to dismiss you as a "flag worshiper" if you otherwise don't, at least in the communities I've found myself in.
One thing on the subject of "The US has no culture" part of the video I wanted to say though, I tend to believe that consumerism and convenience are not reflective of any countries culture since it can be found across countries. Sure, their is something to be stated about how widespread or extensive consumerism is in the USA when compared to many other countries, consumerism tends to cross cultural boundaries and take on various forms which makes me view it as disconnected from culture. Its like whenever people bring up the picture of the large amounts of fast food restaurants all huddled together next to a highway in the US and state that it somehow reflects our greater society/culture.
In Japan, they have vending machines spread out everywhere, sometimes even small "restaurants" consisting of them where you buy something and sit down to it eat inside. from my understanding, most Japanese would not consider this a reflection of their society, some show of how consumerism has become apart of their culture or anything. their just vending machines, built to offer a quick service to one demographic or another that is on the move and needs a drink, food, etc. real quick and at most as a cultural reflection sell goods familiar and liked by the society. Similarly fast food restaurants as I and many others I know do not represent "American cuisine" beyond the fact they serve a popular, convenient, and well recognized food in society. There a place you go when your craving a taco and don't have the money to buy or make the good stuff, or your hungry from a long trip but its the middle of the night and 24/7 joints are the only open option.
Consumerism can take on different flavors from country to country, depending on the demographics, but I personally cannot see how it is meant to reflect culture when as a concept it is meant to be so indifferent and disconnected from culture.
Sorry for the long comment and maybe I'm just talking to the wind, but I bring up that last point because on consumerism because I am honestly interested in your thoughts. Maybe I don't know what I am talking about relative to consumerism, or have some misunderstanding. Do you in your experiences believe that consumerism in Germany or the UK accurately depicts the cultures? Is it just a surface level aspect of society that we shouldn't view as representative of places or people as a whole?
I would love to get answers from anyone else reading as well.
you asked "what has changed?". To paraphrase Clinton...."'its the internet, stupid".
Ironic since so many American traditions are German in origin.
I've been to Europe a lot over the last 20 years and I'm headed there again in 3 weeks, if I wasn't interested I wouldn't go. But over the years, especially the last 10 years or so, I've gotten the distinct impression that a lot of Europeans get mad when you don't bend the knee to their culture. As an American, I'm interested in different European cultures, but I'm not obsessed with it. I don't think it's better than my own culture. A lot of Europeans can't handle that. I think that there's also a bit of angst in Europe about how internationally ineffectual their countries have become. That's not the fault of the US. It's just a matter of different priorities. You can make any value judgment you want about that, but that's the reality of it. And I've always found it interesting. How Europeans latch on to some of the trashiest elements of us culture and then blame it on Americans. McDonald's isn't all over Paris because there are so many American tourists who can't do without McDonald's. It's full of McDonald's because Parisians love it. We do have great, homegrown, American food but that's not what Europeans are buying. They're buying the garbage and then they're blaming it on us.
There's plenty to critique about us culture and politics. But that's not what you usually wind up hearing from people. I've met a lot of incredibly rude people on trains, restaurants, bars, parks- all over Europe. People hear you having a private conversation (not a loud one) And feel entitled to give you their misinformed opinions on us culture and politics as if they're experts. Yeah, a lot of the Lefty," I hate America" crowd Is annoying but at least they have a leg to stand on and skin in the game. I don't need to hear a German tell me about our healthcare system or maternity leave.
You are correct.
And I have to laugh at the thought of German thinking the American even cares what she thinks.
I couldn’t have said it better myself 💯💯
Yes, modern technology has offered us many benefits and things we didn't even dream of when we grew up but there is a big misconception in the minds of most of us: Contrary to what most people believe, computers have NOT increased productivity. Economist Robert Solow famously said in 1987 that "the computer age was everywhere except for the productivity statistics." and this has not changed until this day despite of the hype generated about machine learning which many falsely refer to as "AI".
mmmm I'm not sure how that's being measured as the economy has been changed drastically since the introduction of computers...it's also developed a LOT since 1987...
@@britingermany There are numerous studies on the topic since then and various books as well. You may start by reading a short forbes article from August 2021 called "Why Computers Didn’t Improve Productivity" and an quartz article from 2014 called "Toyota is becoming more efficient by replacing robots with humans" followed by several other articles, e.g. one in fastcompany called "At Toyota, The Automation is Human-Powered".
In short, yes, the paradox is still true even if people still believe otherwise.
@@britingermany Amen
I do not appreciate US politics, but concerning culture, i.e. music, arts, literature there have been very interesting and innovative things coming out of the USA and still are. It is just that most Europeans do not know them and I am afraid most Americans neither.
Yes, it is true that the USA has no culture. I saw American films in 90s years and I have got to this conclusion.
I am a Russian from Russia.
It's not possible to have no culture. People eat, they have theatres, they dress. Hence there is culture.
"Russian from Russia" is more like an American expression, nothing a russian would ever use.
Europeans should stop thinking of the U.S. as (1) a singular entity and as (2) an extension of Europe. I say that as an American who has spent most of the last two decades in Europe.
GOT NATO ?
In all honesty: the story of the greatest country of all is one i never believed. All the other achievements are pretty impressive. But as a PolScience Student, why would someone hold someone else accountable for the laters government?
It's maybe counterintuitive but I think we often equate the actions of a countries government with the will of the people (that is in theory what it should be)
@@britingermany What it should be but unfortunately it isn’t. Our politicians are owned by the billionaires and vote the way they’re directed to.
My comment got deleted. So much for democracy and freedom of speech on a US platform.
Try it on a European one. I believe the UK, as well as France, will charge a person criminally if they say the "wrong" thing online.
@@koschmx It's always very funny hearing a European go off on 'democracy' and freedom of speech, when they have no experience of either.
It was Biden himself that deleted your comment 😂😂
I’m a patriotic American who agrees with a lot of the criticism from Europeans. I would prefer an America with mixed-use development, public transportation that would displace the automobile and socialized healthcare. I’m patriotic because America is at the vanguard of government by consent. None of the problems and contradictions of the country are insurmountable by democracy. If you take the longer historical view, you see the inexorable progress towards liberty and justice for all. My shoulder is at that wheel. We’re at an inflection point where the traditional powers of patriarchy and white supremacy are having their death throes. We all adopt frames that emphasize some points and diminish others.
You can emigrate to Europe then parasite
LOL
Here's what almost nobody knows about the US:
1. Compulsory public schooling was instituted in the late 19th century to assimilate non-Protestant immigrants but was soon commandeered by industrialists and social scientists to stratify the members of society into managers and armies of incurious workers who are never exposed in all those years of education to the necessary knowledge and skills of participating in republican government as the Constitution of the United States ('We The People...') requires.
2. Evangelical, liberal theology, post -millennialist Protestants, mostly members of the northeastern Protestant Ascendency (America's upper class) succeeded finally in subduing the country by recasting their faith as civic action and gov't policy after heavy doses of Prussian statist takes on German Idealism. When they did this, government became essentially a church with science remade into a moral justification for government policy. Sounds too fantastic to be true? That's why nobody can accept the facts even though we all agree that 'truth is stranger than fiction.
References:
John Taylor Gatto: A Short Angry History of Modern Schooling (UA-cam)
'Illiberal Reformers: Race, Eugenics, and American Economics in the Progressive Era' by Thomas C. Leonard (2016)
Government schooling is not mandatory in most places in the US. In Texas you can educate your own child at home, as long as they are taught to read and write and do arithmetic and no tests are required. They can learn to read by reading the Bible if that is the parents choice. "A child is not a mere ward of the state".
This is a thoughtful video, but I have to say, in shame, that Americans have been treated appallingly by Europeans in the past 50 years or so. Europeans do indeed think that their culture is superior, but just look what it had decayed into by 1939. Dictatorship was the continental norm in so many European states. American tourists in Europe are frequently ridiculed by pompous conceited Europeans to an extent that would be regarded as racist if it applied to people from other countries. I am absolutely no sympathiser with Trump, but chickens are starting to come home to roost. There is a genuine feeling growing in the U.S.A. that they have been wasting their money on the defence of Europe. Some are returning to the isolationist opinions that dominated U.S. politics before 1941. Meanwhile, Europe is starting to realise that they have run their armed forces into the ground and would be highly vulnerable if Putin decided to put N.A.T.O. to the test. Fear of this possibility could force Europeans, by necessity, into appeasement. The E.U. is starting to look increasingly absurd, as it is the first empire in human history that has been constructed without any concern for its defence. The worst culprit here is Germany. For such a successful and wealthy nation to ignore the possibility of external dangers is almost criminally negligent. I would like to think that 2022 woke up Europeans, but even on this thread of replies I notice a stupid comment blaming the Americans for the invasion of Ukraine. The pointless bigotry against the country paying the bills for European defence continues. Future historians will have the final word on this sorry tale.
Unfortunately, historians at university are taught to find ways that Americans can be blamed for something first and foremost. They do this with the English, other European imperial powers and Rome and Greece before them. Other then the blame game, the other primary focus is on how to argue that all Western achievements were either copied, inspired or made possible by “Eastern wisdom.” Future history books will write about how the glorious forces of socialism slayed the ugly American beast and united the world under “one global order.”
Thanks for your comment.
I think the West lacks a sustainable strategy. Something that unites us and takes away the ground from populist forces. Loyalty could be a strength if it is based on trust and refraining from blaming one another.
Appeasement (change through trade) and cooperation once worked very well in Europe. Unfortunately, the idea of transferring this to Russia had no lasting success. The only thing that comes to mind is the accusation of being dependent on Russia and how you can trade with Russia, it also works with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc.
If you see three ways to ensure peace, then it is a) a strong army b) appeasement c) prosperity transfer.
A strong army is not possible for us in Germany due to the 2+2 agreement. Nobody's shaking it here. A better idea? Complexity does not disappear through simplification.
@menschin2 Thanks for your kind reply. I believe that the current size of the German (full time) armed forces is around 185,000. The agreement you refer to states that the figure should not go beyond 345,000. So, there is plenty of scope to expand within the agreement. Nobody is arguing for armed forces beyond that strength, as we are talking about a purely defensive force. Britain and France need to follow the same course. The main problem for Germany (as for all European countries) is the quality and quantity of existing military equipment. Clearly, there is an urgent need for investment in new technology. Normally, I entirely agree with you about trade being the best way to relieve tensions. Despite all we knew of the structure and nature of the Russian regime, I would have gone along with this up to February 2022. Then Putin actually invaded Ukraine. Threats and boasts are one thing, but deeds are another. He certainly crossed the line in terms of Western comprehension of his character. The behaviour is unprecedented since WW2. Since that time, the statements issued by the Kremlin have got crazier and crazier. Frequent threats of nuclear war and mentions of countries that Russia would like to either dominate or occupy are banded about. This could all be B.S., but we have to ask ourselves what sort of person is willing to lose the lives of 100,000 of his fellow countrymen in just two years. I fear that we have to take this seriously, otherwise we risk negotiations with a regime which has no intention to keep to any agreements. Obviously, we all know that Europe has been in this situation before. Anyway, thanks for the video. Warm Regards.
There are particular reasons why Germany didn't invest in defence, one of them being that other countries didn't want them to because of history. But I agree with large parts of the comment and yes it's about time Europe invested properly in its defence. The British are less guilty than most European countries of just leaning on the US. But the UK military was run down under the Conservative Government in the last 14 years. Strangely the Conservatives always do this.
Without US interference there would be no conflict in Ukraine or any other part of Europe. This is a fact. And this is true for many other regions of the world as well. So I am definitely FOR an isolationist attitude meaning that the USA stay on their continent where they belong.
I don’t, and I think people who think “Americans” are stupid aren’t the brightest bulb in the socket either
To be honest, those are easy statements to claim.
We're not stupid. We passed them technologically like a train passing a bicycle.
...and, why would Amwrica be thought of as stupid when so many Nobel prizes are awarded to Americans, and why so many of their universities and research institutions are global draws?
@@JT-rx1eo Europeans need to be taught that envy is a pitiful emotion.
It doesn't matter what they think
There are two United States of America. There are American citizens, ordinary people, who may or may not be "confident"or "proud." Then, on the world stage there is the "America" that you speak of, which is actually the government/military/industrial monolith that continuously drags the American people into wars and disturbances. It is not the children of the politicians, generals and corporate CEO's that die in those foreign conflicts and we wish they would FIRST send their own children.
@ScottiAngelWing 100% Agree!!!!!!!!!!
well thats not an easy question while its an easy answer at the same time.i do like americans as in american people even they are a bit shallow and good weather friends they are fun to have around..but politically i dont like america at all . first ... the americans were never a political friend of germany and even ww2 was ages ago we are still a slightly american occupied country and lets be honest...american politics are slowly getting insane and america turned into the bully of the world
I think that is the crux of the matter. It’s difficult to separate politics from culture. Politics does have a big effect on the “brand” of a country
Wow, A typical "run on" sentence translated into English! :)
Pretty easy question to answer, don't dance around the truth they have a president an elderly old man and really can't string a sentence together. The whole culture is based upon race racism. Half of them don't even know where Europe is they probably can't even name half the countries in Europe, let alone the states in their own country. The place is an absolute mess
yeah like i sayed i do like most americans as people but i dont like america as world wide bully
well ... hows your german? im mooving in another language here and i think im not doing thaaat bad
No, of course the US is not asking to be disliked. It is just that it is so self-referential, inwardly focused, navel-gazing and powerful that it doesn't have to consider the situations of others if it doesn't choose to and "soft" power is not a substitute for real power in a competitive world.
No, the US isn’t “self referential”, we were and remain though with legitimate concerns, confident about who and what we are.. which ticks off the pretentious twits of Europe. Europe preened after the US saved it, twice in the last century, picked up the pieces and even paid to get you back on your feet. We paid the lion’s share of your defenses but instead of appreciating it and striving to take back those obligations once things stabilized they even refused to pay the pittance they had agreed to. Europe is a delusional slave of the neobolshevik bakers and oligarchs, angry and enraged that the US citizenry refuses to continue making it easy for them. Your EU is falling apart and their own people despise them
Regarding how Europeans perceive Americans, in my own experience: The UK: Neutral. Germany: Friendly. Finland: No more or less cold to Americans than anyone else, but they like American culture. Spain: Neutral. France: They really do hate us. Kosovo: They love the fuck out of us for reasons I can't even begin to understand.
Feels like Germans hate us the most honestly.
I feel like France hates everybody though to be fair, sometimes even including themselves. 😂
The German-American relationship seems to be strong than the UK-American relationship at the moment
You don’t understand that the American military saved Kosovo from destruction? That was recently. And they don’t hate us in Normandy either.
@@milliedragon4418In Paris you get the big city treatment. No need to take it personally.
Fair take. Honest approach, i appreciate it.
Thank you
I like Americans as an Australian but sometimes find them somewhat naive to world affairs. Having said that most I’ve met have impeccable manners & that goes a long way in life if genuine.
You compare a place, Europe, that was first settled in the Bronze Age 5000 years ago, to North America, a place that was a virtual wilderness 200 years ago, and you notice that Europe has more history, more distinct cultures, and a better food culture? That's an amazing discovery.
Why Europeans are so overly critical and harsh towards the US in their criticisms?
1. "US number one" - We know what the sentiment inside US is about itself and we think it's super annoying. It's even more annoying when some Americans display that same attitude outside their own borders.
2. We're constantly being bombarded with everything American, including it's values, which most Europeans find troubling to say the least.
3. We feel we've been betrayed. Many people at some point believed in American media, which portrayed American life in s very unrealistic manner, showing only the prosperous and good sides of the country, and exaggarating how well ordinary people live.
4. American military operations all over the world with quite flimsy excuses.
5. Inferiority complex - despite many people believe genuinely that their lives are better where they are now, there's still this feeling that Europe is in the shadow of the US, and Europeans feel that the US needs to be taken down a bit. For some reason we bark all the time at the Americans, even those who are objectively very nice, if the context is cultural differences. This is the behaviour of people who have an inferiority complex and thus a great need to prove themselves. The unfriendliness of Europeans at times towards the US can be amazingly harsh, even when the US person never said anything offensive at all.
Well made and valid points. Thank you👍🏻
I think it's a stereotype. I think let's of Europeans adore Americans. Just like many Americans adore Europeans. I mean, it's where America originated from, Europe.
Why this "dislike" or "adorement" ? Let's just say they are equal, that would be enough.
And it sounds a bit like white racist, that America originated from Europe .There were native people, they took slaves from Africa, then came descendents of the Inka from south.
You proof it's not a stereotype about Americans. What came from EUrope is the way of administrating a country.
“Is the U.S. asking to be disliked?”
I am an American who lived in the UK in my youth. I have travelled extensively throughout Europe over the years. I am almost 60 years old.
In my view, there is an arrogant entitlement that is characteristic among many Americans.
I think your question is important for Americans to consider. I say this because too many of us are like a bull in a china shop and don’t care. I think the answer to your question is borne of indifference. I am open to persuasion regarding alternatives to that. I think the US needs an extended period of social isolationism. The world needs a break from us as we self examine.
My political orientation is on the right.
The right wing lunatics start the invasion of Iraq and produced havoc around the world and negative perception of the USA.
European are critical on the US because they care.
Other countries, we couldn't care less.
They're just mad because they don't influence the world like us anymore.
No, they are jealous
@@mmoretti Maybe you don't know much about living in Europe? I'm Dutch and I know nobody that want's to live in US. On the other hand I know many people that explicitly say they would not want to live in America. May be you can watch some vids of Americans living in Europe.
I know plenty about living in the UK and in Europe and interacting with and living amongst Brits and Europeans in the US. I also know European history and I know quite a lot about Dutch history of colonization in Asia, the Caribbean etc…and it’s cruelty and excesses. For all your moaning there are many of you with your hands out looking for our money, it was bad enough the Netherlands mooched $ $1.127 billion in US Marshall Plan money, any plans to pay it back? How about how you avoiding paying even your 2% gdp to NATO? There are many Europeans traveling and seeking employment here, UA-cam is filled with UK and Europeans trying to mooch off generous Americans. It wasn’t that long ago a Dutch doctor in the ER at Children’s Hospital in Boston was exposed as countering a specialist from Tufts & engineering the kidnapping of a child by attacking the diagnosis of mitochondrial disease so he could use her as a Guinea pig in a drug testing experiment ultimately reducing an otherwise healthy girl to being wheelchair bound and stealing 3-4 of her life. Frankly no Americans I know of want you here or care to move to your collective sewers and we are fed up with your expectation that we pay for your defense.
Quite complicated due to many levels you can touch or ignore. You always will miss one cause you simply was not aware.
Best example: you say the USA had invaded Somalia and had been totally defeated and needed to retreat fully.
Guess how upset they will be: WE NEVER INVADED SOMALIA ! HOW CAN YOU ....
And then you have to remind them nicely with HOLLYWOOD. It really needs Hollywood to make them think twice (at least most of them):
BLACK HAWK DOWN
Blockbuster title to remind them that US forces had been in Africa and that this operation is the symbol for a total defeat cause if you invade you have to accept the way the domestic citizens will fight. But the american public could not bear the news nor pictures and the USA hat do retreat, therefore a total defeat.
Just one example how bad the education is and the awareness about foreign policy at least.
Americans tend to convince and have a message - where the europeans can assume that it is not for their benefit.
USA warns Europe about gas while the americans later sold their gas as LNG not for cheap, quite the opposite.
They usually believe they can easily fight the russians and have no clue that they are like the roman empire beyond peak already. Too fat, too slow and weak and torn society , in the population and in the whole party / congress mess.
The americans would get an even far more bloodier nose in the Ukraine than the Ukrainians.
Why ?
Cause their society can not deal with huge losses of lives, they never really could and the will for sacrifices is in russia 10x bigger than in the USA cause we call all the american adventures or rather invasions total defeats when they had to retreat.
If you have to retreat after a single Helicopter crash and the following fights (be aware that people now believe in the pictures Hollywood had brought into their homes, but back then, when it had happened, there was not so much footage) then Ukraine is not the battlefield where americans could achieve anything better fighting the russians.
Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan were total defeats and ended in retreats where the Americans had destroyed whole cities and societies cause Iraq had not violated the UN sanctions, they had no biiological or chemical weapons as the US had said as the reason to invade a country and destroy it at the end.
There are just a few successfull people that are travelling the world and aware of all the issues.
I agree with everything except the part where you claimed that only the majority of leftist hates the US online; whereas I find that it is generally the case if the politically left-leaning EU countries get highly conflicted supporters to the US. And the countries that I think can be somewhat viewed as more centered or right, examples like Germany (cuz they are under watch for being 'extremist' Nazis) and Poland, respectively, would be at least objective or mixed in their support of the matter of affairs in the states. So overall, I think that the internet really basically gave minority of people a larger platform to spread their voice of displeasure and that's exasperated by media to become pervasively present in our interaction daily with the world online. Also, I think the data about Germany looks weird, at least from anecodte experiences - they really don't give a fk that much about US, mostly the only EU countries that can also speak English enough to comment or reports on US have from what've noticed been just England and Sweden. Or any EU country that the US reports on would be involved in some of the publicized discussions, with small majority of leftist there to do what they do. However, maybe there's a bit of leftist thinking left in the people as well here commenting online.
Europe is more than France, UK, Germany, Belgium or Netherlands.
From a European perspective, I find the US very very interesting and so many levels
As a Brit abroad (Mexico). I meet many Americans who are vibrant yet dull, I put it down to an innate self confidence and an indifference to that beyond their own borders.
The Brits are so very cramped in their little island. It's of no wonder why you ran away. Of course, you've made a foolish comparison. But, when you talk of outside of our borders, you're talking about over 3000 miles in distance.
@@HoppityHooper2 real curiosity is limitless and does not stop at borders
@@sararichardson737 oh yes - most certainly! When my innate and extreme curiosity begins to dim, having run out of places here, within my vast country - larger than Europe, then I'll begin to look at other places. It's so very varied and extraordinarily fascinating here, I believe that will be after a long long time.
@@HoppityHooper2 indeed; an embarrassment of riches.
@@sararichardson737 ??? Well, all that I know, and, as far as I'm concerned, I'm most assuredly, not embarrassed. There's no reason I should be either - of course. Just keep walking with your head slung low.
Of course, "The Americans have no culture" is nonsense! What we Middle European insiders usually like about US Americans is a spontaneous, friendly openness, often combined with great hospitality, while dislikes often have to do with these points: superficiality, ignorance, lack of education, small, talk, fake harmony, unreliability, overestimating themselves, a primitive sense of hierarchy ... No, these keywords don't represent prejudices, but are based on experiences.
Once upon a time I showed Americans around in the Lübecker Altstadt and told them it belonged to the UNESCO world heritage, but this didn't impress them for they didn't know what the UNESCO was.
Benjamin; as you can imagine I wish you a delightful start of the new week!
So, who would Europeans prefer was "the policeman of the world"? Somebody will self appoint themselves to this role if the USA abdicates and Europeans clearly aren't prepared to do this themselves, as their relatively low defence expenditure shows.
UA-cam has a number of sites of interviews of Europeans, who have visited the United States, reporting what they liked and disliked. Virtually without exception, Europeans are surprised how friendly nice and helpful Americans are. Many are puzzled why Americans are friendly with strangers they made on the street and why are they smile for no apparent reason. I think you would have a hard time finding anyone who says Americans in general are arrogant. The suggestion that America has no culture is absurd in the stream. American movies, television and music are dominant all over the world. We produce more of everything cultural than any other country, including new classical music. I can’t say much for art, but it doesn’t amount to much in other countries as well. Photography in effect brought art to an end. Nowart is judged only by originality without regard to is beauty For the skill or lack there, of by which it was reduced.
3:42 "DISINTERESTED" You mean neutral and unbiased one way or the other? Or do you mean 'UNINTERESTED'?
no I mean having no interest
Benjamin, you had mentioned that you are half British. What is your other parent's nationality of origin? Just curious. As you already know, I love your all your other presentations.
Hi Steve (or will). I’m half Swiss. From the French speaking side
@@britingermany Thanks, Benjamin! (do you prefer Benjamin or Ben?) I had been wondering about your other half.
@@SWExplore my friends call me many names😂. Benjamin or Benjie is fine.
@@britingermany Thanks Benjamin. Btw, I'm Steve and Will is my dear friend. 😃
@@SWExplore well nice to meet you
6:47 "The largest platforms in the US tend to be left-leaning" - I'm not sure about that one. The US right critizes the US MSM as being leftwing, but it's not exactly true. The US MSM is in reality center-to center right, especially from a European perspective.
I would say that google, meta, apple are left leaning...
@@britingermany Maybe on social issues, but certainly not economic issues.
The only thing I really don't like are the wars after 45, at least half of them weren't necessary.
Personally, I was once acquainted or almost friends with a American woman. We gave birth at the same time. Actually, it could have been a deeper friendship, but she always brought gifts that were far too expensive. I couldn't afford that and didn't think it was appropriate. It felt like I was being bought. She brought gifts even though I specifically said she didn't have to. That's what I meant. That's why I ended it. Now, with more life experience, I would say she was very insecure herself.
I've spent a lot of time in the US and I recall very well the first time I went there back in 1986 when we were told in our "welcoming speech" we should not be confused if people asked us where we came from and they would not understand the answer, so we should rather say "where all the Mercedes, Audi and Porsche come from than to say "from Germany" and we should not be confused because 80% of US citizens would not find the US on a world map. When travelling the country, I found this to be the case again and again - and I've been to almost all states.
As someone put it so nicely: Many wars could have been prevented if it was mandatory that the president who wants to start that war would have to find the country he wants to attack on a world map first.
Well, I met someone that thought Germany is poor and Volkswagen, BMW and Porsche are US brands.
Most Americans cannot afford to travel our own country let alone the world. Besides why would you want to go somewhere you are hated. No thanks. Then we are told many countries do not like if you do not speak their language so why in the hell would you want to learn a language for a one- time visit?
@@Alltagundso I met all kinds of people from really well educated ones who enjoyed a conversation on nearly every topic to morons who called me a N**i just for being German and without having any clue of what the word actually means or where it comes from historically.
There is a saying: 'Being Unknown makes being unloved.'. However, my personal experience gives me in to have evolved this into: 'The more I got to know America, the more it repulses me and make me despise it'.
In my case, I could hardly be called 'a Lefty'.
Coming from a staunch Calvinist protestant background with a firm belief in thrift, honesty and diligence to be constructive to wealth and ethical growth as well as personal achievement, but I have become more nuanced and in some ways leftist thinking by being exposed to life in the US.
When confronted with the shallowness of commerciality and the raw and uncaring, damned be the consequences, ultra capitalism, coupled with the slavish compliance to the violations that the financial services places on the average US inhabitant, I felt I had no ther choice than be repulsed by it.
The overarching celebration of ignorance, rejection of knowledge and avoidance of deeper thinking revolts me to my core.
I loathe the mindless flag-waving and ridiculous indoctrinatory practices that serve as a very obvious fig-leaf for jingoism, class-stratification and racial-discrimination in that society. I am annoyed by the US unjustly taking credit for achievements made by others, where foreign knowledge, art and academic achievements are purchased or more often purloined and inculcated into the National achievements with no mention or sometimes downright denial, of its origins.
I loathe the 'Might makes Right' and the adoration of violence and death, indiscriminate harm-doing and destruction under the guise of rules and laws that are purported to be equal for all, but in reality are NOT. Wealth will invariably buy you the freedom from justice.
The unnaturalness and the repressive enforcement of such under the guise of biblical but entirely counter to Christian morals in what are by their nature to be joyful and free relations and life-choices, appals me in its hypocrisy and the harm and damage it visits upon the individual and his/her presumed freedom and liberty. By now It instinctively makes me choose the path of 'resistance and reduction by subversion.'
The average US inhabitant appears to be inexorably geared towards choosing against his/her self-interest or even self-preservation.
I lived there for 22 years and yearningly bided my time until my kids would become adults, so that I could honourably return to where I came from.
I did so and happiness and contentment returned to my life.
I have absolutely no desire to ever re-visit the US under any circumstance, even if my life would depend on it.
I would rather die with dignity and in freedom than be what I see US inhabitants be reduced to.
Leave, parasite
Sounds like you're a perfect candidate for socialism or communism - Cuba would love to have you.
Because we do
Native Americans live on reservations and rarely travel outside the United States 🤔
The Native American reservations are now deemed literal independent nations - free of any US laws, taxations etc. They are doing very well.
One major reason is that Europeans do the same thing everyday, a routine. As many people do in the world and the U.S., the difference with the United States is that we will break our routine to sleep, have fun, do whatever.
I heard a New Zealander characterize Australians as "unsubtle." That goes double for Americans. And triple for Texans.
There is nothing the American public would like more than for Europe to help out more with the world policing. It's very expensive and difficult, and it benefits Europe (and others) as much as the US, whether individuals recognize it or not.
AFAIK the UK helps out the most, followed by France. Germans though, even my close German friend, seem to agree with our enemies that the US should have just let the USSR and China conquer Korea, Vietnam, and anyplace else the US has fought in since WW2. Then the Germans say the US should do more for Ukraine, because it's close Europe and concerns them. It doesn't only matter if it's close to you. Before anyone comments, I do fully recognize that greedy military contractors are a problem, and the US government has been involved in some shady stuff, especially during Vietnam. However, the overall premise of 'global policing' helps everyone and everything the US did kept the USSR from being a much bigger threat to the world than it already was.
My German friend even said no good came out of the Korean War recently. I was like, "What do you call South Korea?!" to which he replied that it doesn't matter. I was flabbergasted. To me, that's the same as saying, "Who cares about humans over there?". Hey, I'm fine with discussing corruption, but just saying the US shouldn't have done anything anywhere is handing places like Russia and others carte blanche to do whatever they want, and becoming a stronger threat in the process.
BTW, I am a poliitical "lefty" and that does not change my perception on this.