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Originally Posted by apocalipstic
They do pick up dog poop in London!  and yes, it is easy to visit a ton of other countries when they are 2 hours away.
I agree with the rest except one point! They do think we are arrogant and we are. We are taught that we are better than everyone else, but so are the Japanese, the Chinese, the Argentines and a lot of other countries.
I think it is dangerous that we are so arrogant that we assume that the rest of the world finds us superior. They don't. I always end up apologizing a lot or pretending not to be from the US when I travel.
The point I do not agree with is the one where we handle our diversity better. I don't see it. Not with the militias building up, the views on recent immigrants, the mess New Orleans still is in and the blatant racism. Yes, those things go on in Europe too, but I don't see us being better at it. (I could however, be watching too much news and reading too much Mother Jones ) |
Oh, I am not being Pollyanna about our racism issues. I see it in many forms -- African-Americans, Native Americans, Middle Eastern immigrants, etc. I am fascinated by the political problems in Western Europe, Holland in particular, stemming from their growing intolerance for Muslim immigrants. The most popular politician in Holland right now is a guy named Geert Wilders. He supports things such as, making head scarves and burkas illegal. He supports keeping all Muslims in certain parts of the cities. He is wildly popular with the native Dutch, who are tired, frankly, of paying for the social services for these immigrants. When I was there last May, some crazy guy ran his car through a barricade toward a float type thing carrying the Dutch royal family in a Queen's Day parade. The news media initially reported that the driver was Muslim and that it must be a terrorist attack. The next wave of news reports corrected the situation, saying he was a Dutch man who was known to have mental health issues.
When I would discuss this Geert Wilders guy with my girlfriend, who kind of supported some of his stances, I would say, "But don't you think he sort of sounds like Hitler?" He is zeroing in on just one segment of the population and making them the root of every problem because they are so different religiously, politically, etc. I read a lot about Western European politics, and many countries are having these same issues over there regarding the crush of Muslim immigrants. In Holland in particular, a country that prides itself so much on being a tolerant society, this is really tearing at one of their long-standing values. Fascinating to a political communications "expert" like me.
Jake