I’m fucking sick and tired of these smallminded European dorks who watch an episode of “Dallas” and an episode of “The Dukes of Hazzard” and then think they understand Americans.
Based on that, I now believe all Europeans are easily influenced dolts who only care about wine, cheese, trains and socialism. Whatta bunch of maroons. And you know who’s fault it is? George Bush’s fault. For not invading them, killing their leaders, and converting them to christianity.
Well, isn’t it nice that it turns out that Americans are much like you? We also like to have happy, close families and friends. The American Dream is not “get as rich as possible”–it’s to be independent and to work hard to achieve a decent life.
I used to live in Northern Europe, and my experience is that Americans and Europeans are extremely similar in their levels of materialism, selfishness, and general character, though individuals may put emphasis on different specific things. As the poet said, “People are people, so why should it be that you and I should get along so awfully?” 
TV is not reality. No matter what the media shows, even the news, it usually isn’t anything remotely close to what ordinary people are up to. Come and visit and see if America isn’t just a teeny bit different from what you’re thinking.
Hell, he can’t even manage to cop a feel off Merkel.
The problem is that these people, no matter how nice they personally are, make some very bad politics that screws up a lot of other nations. Oftentimes by simply not caring about (or even knowing about) what happens in the rest of the world as result of their actions.
Oh wonderful. The old “go over there” response, back when we still had communism, and everybody who criticized was told to go East.
In an open, democratic, educated, rational society, cricitism is important to change things. Complacency because everybody is convinced that the US is the greatest country on Earth won’t change anything, only continue the bad things.
This might seem offensive, but did the Netherlands choose to stop meddling in other countries or did it just lose the ability to do so in any significant fashion? I sometimes sense a “sour grapes” attitude among some Europeans. Most Europeans didn’t seem to have any problems with colonization and empires when they were doing it.
Where did I say that? I was talking about respect for people who don’t have high-paying jobs.
It was a half-joke, because many Americans seem to have never left the suburbs and don’t know how the poor and minorities in their own country live, let alone people in other countries.
So her success is monetary - she owns her own home. Not that she finished college.
BTW, just rising up or going to school is something you can do in any European country, too. What makes it so specially “American”? Here, people are sucessful, but they don’t call it a dream. Unless you mean “Dream” because the meme that everybody can get rich ignores the fact that many people can’t (and not because they are lazy, but because the tables are stacked against them. Like the working poor, who have two full-time jobs, but can’t afford health insurance. That’s part of the American Dream, but not part of Europe, where health insurance is often state-sponsored and often there is minimum wage.)
See, our “dreams” are that everybody can possible live in dignity and at affordable level, not that some people can get insanely rich and the rest can end up in the street.
Nobody said they were. I haven’t seen more than snippets of them.
You don’t have this quite right. The American Dream is opportunity. Anyone, regardless of background, can get an education, go to college, and earn a good living. That’s not true in all countries.
Then you dislike me, because I voted for Bush. That’s what you get in a free society…people can argue, disagree, and debate and not get arrested for it.
Then you also must dislike China, because they’re doing the same thing. Although I defy anyone to drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Smoky Mountains and claim we’re destroying the environment.
Americans aren’t a bad bunch. Can you name something you like about us? C’mon…there must be something 
Your goddamn persistent.
Not to mention you defend your country to death (literally for soldiers), which is admirable.
I must chime in and say I find this rich. Someone who has never met any Americans and who gets 100% of his impressions of Americans from TV and movies is accusing Americans born and raised in America of not knowing many Americans.
How typically German. I bet you don’t even know any Germans! Me, on the other hand – I’ve seen Hogan’s Heros.
I’ve been an American all my life and we have a word for people who measure others by their income…“asshole snob.”
We defend other countries too. 
Please, do visit. I think you’ll be surprised.
NOW can we complain about biased media??
Because the Germans have a spotless record on that score, uh huh.
So, tell me: where is this mythical country that has massive power, yet always uses it to help other nations, taking no benefits for itself, and always perfectly judges the effects of its actions? Would that be (selling-nuclear-technology-to-Libya-and-Iran) France and Germany? Would that be (selling-nuclear technology-to-Pakistan-and-maybe-sold-some-nuclear-weapons) Russia? How about (quietly-encouraging-North-Korea) China?
Do you really think European aid doesn’t go out without string attached? Do you think Europe sends aid out without thinking about which countries they wish to foster influence in and expand markets in?
It’s the way the world works. It’s the way your country works. It’s the way all countries work. Denigrating Americans because they do they same things you do, just better and more of it, seems hypocritical.
I just might, I’m a college student at the moment. So no real money to travel towards america.
And yeah biased media did put me on this small sidetrack regarding america.
I think its partially because every action that America takes is talked about in the media to great lengths. Selling-nuclear technology is not really talked about at all in the media, getting much less exposure.
I think we’ve opened your eyes a bit. There’s more to learning about a culture than watching its television programs. We don’t all live in New York or LA and we don’t all have trendy apartments and friends that drop in unannounced.
RickJay Yes Europe pulled out of Africa but to say we left famine and tryranny in our wake is stupid.
The umpteen African nations that suffered famine did so because of failed rainfall, a thing we have no control over (as yet)
Tryranny arose because the Nations themselves were guilty of allowing tin pot despots to take over their countries: what’s more they still have at least one in the shape of Mugabe.
Not our fault matey.
I’ll be around about 6.30 OK?
Have the pie and fresh coffee on the table.
From what source did you get this very odd notion?
Ummmm…cite? Where on earth are you even getting this stuff?
What the fuck do you want, a medal? You’re better and more humanitarian than us jerkface, selfish Americans. Excuse me, I’ve got to go get into my SUV and drive to my McMansion where I will consume massive amounts of food…
OH WAIT, I’m a volunteer aid worker in Bulgaria. Never mind!
What’s a ‘typical American’? Is it a guy who was born and raised in NYC, or a gal who was born and raised in Glasgow, Montana? Is the ‘typical American’ white, black, asian, hispanic, or another ethnicity or even multiethnic? How many generations has the 'typical American’s family lived here? Are they a farm, factory, or service industry worker? Are they Republican or Democrat, Protestant or Catholic, Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, or none of the above?
Perhaps when we know what a ‘typical American’ is, we can maybe begin to understand people’s irrational dislike of us ‘typical Americans’.
Sure did, I won’t be judging a culture this fast again.
I don’t know where I got it from, but that was the idea I had before I started this thread as well.
Remember, also, the same is true about most motion picture comedies featuring a middle class family. Movies featuring supposedly typical families often show them living in huge houses full of spare rooms and designer furnishings, older offspring away at expensive, private colleges, and nary ever a worry about meeting expenses. This trend has become more extreme in recent years, but mainly for lighthearted romances and comedies and not so much for serious dramas.
For the vast majority of Americans, life isn’t anything like that.