[Steve27840]

What I really love about Y? Forum is occasionally a question or responses pierce through and cause me to look at myself differently. The responses to this question accomplished this, because just about everything said unfortunately had some element of truth. I can see how we Americans can be perceived as naive, insular and culturally immature. When I am in Europe, I do worry about the parts of American culture that seem to be be flourishing – fast food, action movies, material goods – and I am truly embarrassed. I actually wish European countries would protect against this a little better. I would much rather be known as the country that produced jazz, John Updike and half the total Nobel Prize winners – achievements that surely cannot be considered ‘shallow’ or ‘stupid.’

One particularly interesting aspect of the responses is criticism of the United States’ claim to having the most freedom. I do feel European cultures allow more tolerance of personal behavior. However, while we allow outlandish behavior here, we just don’t like to see it. Americans define freedom as a willingness to allow anyone to be an American. This is something we don’t see out of many other countries.

Finally, I also think that to judge the United States by its president is illustrating some of the very traits you dislike about Americans. Most Western European heads of state are actually found interesting by Americans – provided we can remember their names. Strangely, we actually like it when Europeans don’t like our president.

So, thanks for the insight, and I will surely leave my sneakers at home the next time over.

User Detail :  

Name : Steve27840, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 45, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Skyscraper Dweller/Not Afraidnd, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class, 

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