|
and an unusual post like this one booms to 70+ replie
I will try to answer some of the questions (without having read the entire post yet, so i am sorry if i repeat) as best as i can (...tired..).
>But I know a lot of Europeans would feel offended by a white >American claimin' to be European. The majority of Europeans >go out of their way to disassociate from all things >American. > >The relationship between European countries and America is >similar to a parent-child relationship. So regardless of how >little respect Europeans have for Americans, their >connection is set in stone.
It's a complicated connection.. LexM used to have a quote from franz fanon: "Two centuries ago, a former European colony decided to catch up with Europe. It succeeded so well that the United States of America became a monster, in which the taints, the sickness, and the inhumanity of Europe have grown to appalling dimensions."
There are many sides to this (and that quote only focuses on america), but it is the most obvious truth to see from europe today. USA outgrew the _combined culture of many cultures_ that it originally came from, probably because USA went their own direction after the area became independent (on top of that, what would eventually become USA was a different culture even from the beginning of the colonization). So, USA soon became the largest world force, and after WWII it returned to its mother, Europe, and started the massive influencing (which brought the modernisation into the next phase, you can say, and really started up the partnership called THE WEST). That makes countries and cultures such as the culture of my country, a small north european ex-viking-middle-age-farming-and-fishing culture, end up swallowed in USA's culture.
That is the first reason- usa has a gross culture, and it becomes even grosser when it meets other cultures (even the european cultures). Many used to love it before, but as time went on it decreased ("like a fallen God, who proved to be no God at all, but the monster that caused most of the ills in the world today" -norwegian musician). Today, some love it (specially the young), most don't give a damn (because they have ignorant american mindsets without knowing it, perhaps?), and many others straight forward hate it (or.. they oppose it, to say it more nicely).
>To add, I'm always hearin' 'bout the popularity of wto and >anti-American protests in European countries and I gotta >ask, "Aren't they the ones who invented capitalism and white >supremacy in the first place?"
No, I wouldnt be surprised if that is american media who portrays it like that. I think (and it's my impression as an euro) that the majority of those who fight and oppose the WTO and have "anti-american protests" are very aware of how much their own country is tied into the actions. It would be likely that they focus on USA, if that is what they do, to show they don't want to be a part of that culture/movement, because they are aware of what it causes (they are aware that their own country has a hand in the corporate ills worldwide because of American influence, or them being a part of THE WEST).
Europeans fight what they see as the worst, so i'm trying to explain to you what, how and why they see as the worst. Today, luckily Europe isn't the monster it used to be, far from. It is a monster, but on a much smaller scale. America is now the definitive worst monster- To add on, I see ALOT more demonstrations and actions towards the actions of THE WEST (meaning: USA+Europe+Wannabes) than towards USA alone ---- so much that the anti-american demonstrations and actions that only focus on USA are outweighted.
The POTENTIAL unequally greater "hate" towards USA than towards Europe, that can be found for example in the anti-american demonstrations, is because europeans tend to be arrogant (for lack of better word). In fat american accent: "Hey, At Least They're Not As Arrogant As the Americans!". That is abit how it is, to me.
>American whites and European whites same 'o same 'o?...just >geographically disconnected?
Both nasty, one (Europe) with an unmatched (and hopefully never to be matched) nasty past but only somewhat nasty present compared to the other one (because of it being a part/founder/main contributor of THE WEST, which supports american political world dominance), the other one (USA) with a present so nasty that outweighs the current nastiness of the former (Europe).
Also, politically, many say that USA and Europe (the EU specially) are likely to turn their backs to eachother, or perhaps go even further than that, sometime in the future. Politically, one of the main reasons why Europe is following USA (except for both being a part of the modern movement called THE WEST) is because USA is the dominating force in the world today. There are different reasons for why they follow USA in different places in europe. One part of Europe wants to follow the steps of USA, hoping it can bask in the glory or perhaps even pretend (and dream about that) THEY are the world dominators (Blair). The other part follow the steps because of the benefits (after all, USA is the continuation of European culture and are the best alternative around), but are still careful not to get too attached (the EU).
If you want to go down to the personal level, you'll get even more and larger differences.. just let me say that there are large differences.
sorry i replied so long, and sorry for making it so that basically all paragraphs could have been an answer to each of your question (so read it all as one answer, not an answer to each question).
peace
░▒▓█▌¹♥▐█▓▒░
proud okayphotographer: http://www.okayplayer.com/okayphotographers/
"Most of our assumptions have outlived their uselessness." — Marshall McLuhan
|