How do Americans view Europeans?

[guids]

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Europeans have bad hygiene

also

Black ppl are lazy
Chinese ppl play poker
White ppl are goofy
Spanish ppl are dirty
"Rednecks" are rapists
Cops are racist
Teachers are liberal
Politicians are greedy
Middle easterns are evil
Americans are superior
Tom Brady is a robot

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rednecks are rapists?

[wtfsvi]

I don't think that anyone should claim someone else's way to think about work/vacation is inferior. That's incredibly arrogant. It's different, but you can't say it's better or worse. This is a bit like saying Europeans have worse taste in food. It's just retarded.

As for political system, here it makes more sense to think your own country is superior (or inferior for that matter). Everyone else in the world thinks their own system is superior too, though. And yes, this obviously includes Europeans. And definitely Norwegians.

This thread seems to attract Norwegians like flies to whatever you foreign people say attract flies. I wonder why.

[ZeTurd]

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I can only go by my native Norway, and Norwegians are way way more fixated on celebrities than the average (at least mid-west) American. The Americans I meet are usually indifferent to celebrities, while Norwegians tend to be pretty fascinated and interrested in them. When it comes to being superficial Norwegians care a lot more about what people wear, never have I seen people in the US judge other people or care much about the way they dress the way that we do in Norway.

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Poo on you for shooting down my overly broad generalizations to stir up some heated discussion by being all sensible! You're right of course. Norwegian tabloids and gossip mags (Se&Hør) are filled to the brim with stuff about Norwegian Idol, the royal family, and various other run-of-the-mill celebrities on a daily basis. It's not much different in Sweden, Denmark, and the UK and Germany is perhaps even worse. I'm not sure if it's any better in the US though. Lindsey Lohan, Brittney Spears, Paris Hilton et al seem to occupy a lot of real estate in American MSM...

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Its pretty embarrassing that we can be exposed to so much American media in Norway and still the Norwegians have a totally wrong understanding of the US. Americans are more likely to admit that they lack knowledge about other countries and cultures, and do not have that "I know this so much better than you"-attitude that you usually find in Norway.

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I agree with the first part, and "kinda" agree about the second part. I've spent my fair share of virtual ink to talk sense into my fellow countrymen about their misconceptions of the US. I believe our media has to take a big part of the blame; unlike the US which have great diversity in the media market, Norwegian media is very homogeneous, and stories about fat, lazy and stupid Americans and their dumbass, warmongering president are currently in vogue, so it's not exactly surprising that a lot of Norwegians have a very lopsided view of America.

I also agree that many Norwegians tend to have a very arrogant outlook on the world, whether they know what they're talking about or not, where it might be more common for an American to profess ignorance since he really doesn't care that much about what goes on outside the US. But they make up for with it with arrogant views in other fields! In that way, I actually kinda think Norway and the US are kind of similar. Despite our small size, Norway has played a role (albeit overstated) as arbiters in various international conflicts, and we've grown rich from oil and various other natural resources. Even though we're only a speck on the radar for most other nations, Norwegians seem to think we're the center of the universe and the envy of all other nations. It's kinda cute really. And a little sad.

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Americans are superior to the Brits, Dutch, Germans, Polaks, Bulgarians and so on. Fake tiits are by no means limited to the US, pretty common in Norway and the rest of Europe to.

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I respectfully disagree. Eastern European chicks are the [censored] imo. But yeah, the Brits are dragging us down!

[guids]

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I don't think that anyone should claim someone else's way to think about work/vacation is inferior. That's incredibly arrogant. It's different. This is a bit like saying Europeans have worse taste in food. It's just retarded.

As for political system, it makes more sense to think your own system is superior. Everyone else in the world thinks their own system is superior too, though. And yes, this obviously includes Europeans. And definitely Norwegians.

This thread seems to attract Norwegians like flies to whatever you foreign people say attract flies. I wonder why.

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Ive noticed this too. I have never even met a Norwegian, but the ones that post on this board seem to be all mainly self-serving, self-righteous, pieces of [censored], who's values and viewpoints are that of 6 year old children being spoonfed by a bunch of commies. Why is that? Norway seems like a cool country, but for christs sake, we have a lot of morons from there posting here. penis envy?

[BombayBadboy]

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Americans are very humble.

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More humble than you, that's for damn sure.

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My dear sir, where did I come across as arrogant, or not humble?

[W brad]

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Europeans have bad hygiene

also

Black ppl are lazy
Chinese ppl play poker
White ppl are goofy
Spanish ppl are dirty
"Rednecks" are rapists
Cops are racist
Teachers are liberal
Politicians are greedy
Middle easterns are evil
Americans are superior
Tom Brady is a robot

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rednecks are rapists?

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only those with house slaves

[wtfsvi]

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Ive noticed this too. I have never even met a Norwegian, but the ones that post on this board seem to be all mainly self-serving, self-righteous, pieces of [censored], who's values and viewpoints are that of 6 year old children being spoonfed by a bunch of commies. Why is that? Norway seems like a cool country, but for christs sake, we have a lot of morons from there posting here. penis envy?

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Self-rightiousness is the heart if the Norwegian culture. I hate it a lot.

That being said, I'm probably the Norwegian person you remember arguing with [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[ZeTurd]

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I don't think that anyone should claim someone else's way to think about work/vacation is inferior. That's incredibly arrogant. It's different, but you can't say it's better or worse. This is a bit like saying Europeans have worse taste in food. It's just retarded.

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Not quite. Having a system with low levels of production and a highly subsidized work force, might have very adverse effects for society as a whole. Sure, you might value free time over money, and that's a personal value judgment, but if you have a system that's not sustainable (it's tempting to point to France here) you're eventually going to run into trouble...

[Case Closed]

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I think there are European countries with a far greater style of government than we have here. I don't see how anyone would see the US as politically superior to Europe in general.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proport...representation
Winner takes all elections are the reason for our two party system IMO.

As far as other stereotypes, you guys seem lazier that us. But that is just because of propaganda that is forced down our throats from day one.

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forced down our throats? why dont you look up some productivity/hours/gnp/vacation stats, and let me know if its "propaganda".


sometimes I just am at a loss at why people cant distinguish between facts, and their pre-conceived bias about all things political. sad.

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Just because one group of people puts in more hours at work does not mean they are harder working. The problem I have with the situation is that people draw conclusions from that data and repeat it like it is fact. Stating that US citizens are harder working that other peoples is a political statement and can't be proven by any means because it's a vague concept.

[wtfsvi]

This unsustainable system you're talking about must be political. If an individual decides to work less and spend more, he carries the consequences of that on himself. What right do I have to have other people work hard so "society as a whole" can do well, anyway? Political systems can be judged, indivudals' views on work and vacation can't.