I was born and educated in England (UK). When visiting USA a waitress asked why I did not speak English? I explained my background at which time a man at the next table said "You don't speak English, you speak a kind of English" How can a person be so arrogant to tell a native of another country they do not speak the language of their country of birth??
People from England speak English, sometimes with an accent depending where they live in England. Americans speak English but with an American accent, accent differs depending on where they live in America. You can't just say they speak "really weird english" Unless they're Scottish :D@@gastarbeiter8384
After the company I once worked for was sold by a German corporation to a US corporation, I had colleagues in the US for 10 years of my professional life. I have never again experienced so much stupidity and ignorance in working out and supervising business. The supervisor mentality is frightening. No one thinks processes through to the end, there is always someone in charge, who says what to do. I left the company because of the American way of doing business. It was unbearable for a European like me. Today, the company is pretty much on the verge of closing down. The Americans have managed to ruin a German company that was successful for 175 years before the takeover within 30 years. I don't judge every US-American to be stupid and ignorant, that would be unfair and stupid. As an employee of a US company, however, one could come to this judgment.
Ist das der Hersteller von Walzen für die Papierindustrie? Weltmarktführer aufgrund der hohen Qualität der Walzen? Ich habe da einen Bericht gesehen. Ich hätte heulen können, als ich das gesehen habe. Ich weiß leider den Namen der Firma nicht mehr, aber ich weiß noch, dass die Firma in einem relativ kleinen Ort angesiedelt war, Hauptarbeitsgeber sozusagen.
@@Dirk-Ulowetz Nein, ich habe bei einem mittelständischen Chemieproduzenten gearbeitet. Wir gehörten zu dem drittgrößten Chemiekonzern in Europa (weltweit Nummer 10) und der Vorstandsvorsitzende hatte Anfang der 90ger ein wenig herumexperimentiert. Das führte zum Zerfall des Konzerns und bedeutete für uns, dass der neue Eigentümer US-Amerikaner wurde. Das dickste Ding war ein Geschäft, das 200 Mio. USD Umsatz und rund 25% Ertrag gebracht hätte. Weil die US-Anwälte darauf bestanden, dass der Kunde einen 120 Seiten Vertrag (!!) unterschreibt, haben wir das Ding verloren.
Interesting…I work for an American company that was just bought by a German company. We’re hoping for better benefits, though my company wasn’t bad by American standards, the health insurance could be better. We’re all expecting good things from it; we’re just waiting to see what changes will happen come the new year. Right now, their people are studying our people and determining what will or will not change.
US corporate culture is transitioning from an old style hierarchic to everyone taking responsibility. Just remember where many US citizens came from originally and what social structures they brought with them.
I’m Swiss and moved to the US in 2019. I didn’t only move to a different continent, I shockingly time traveled 50-100 years backwards to the past. Now after 5 years I’m moving back to the present and back to civilized Europe. 😉
@@youremyuni_verse In most European countries the system is different. The public gets much more back from the taxes they pay. Like free or affordable healthcare, the level of education is higher in public schools, college and university are free of charge, infrastructure is well maintained and updated, strict gun laws, healthy food (most in the US processed foods are illegal in Europe due to the many unhealthy ingredients), abortions are not illegal, nobody has to be homeless, at least 4 weeks of paid vacation in most European countries and much more.
My biggest problem with some Americans is when they pretend the US is the greatest country in the world. Even if they admit that the US has massive problems, they refuse to look to other countries for solutions. Because in their minds, no other country can ever do anything better than the US.
This is because they are brainwashed from an early age. The national anthem on the most insignificant occasions, the ubiquitous flag, everywhere you go you hear how great America is. The greatest and most perfect of all possible countries. From the outside, however, I see a country struggling with itself. Only 2 parties to choose from, none of them progressive. Republicans in particular are very backward looking. The abortion laws, the gun ownership, the people who are faithful to the Bible or even evangelicals. I see the crime, the shootings, the drugs, the healthcare system, the rotten suburbs, the crowds of poor or even homeless people. In addition, I have the impression that the whole system there is geared towards the exploitation of workers. But politicians and the media keep drumming it into the people there that the USA is the greatest country on the planet.
They don't "pretend", they are convinced of it. They have it drummed into them from an early age. Their "Pledge of Allegiance to The Flag" at school has a lot to answer for in that regard.
@@Timbothruster-fh3cwlol subsidizing the world defense and economy huh.. Jesus.. All you fund is the defense of your empire with which your elites are extracting the resources of third world countries.. You're brainwashed Bud
Not just Europeans a lot of people from Asian countries and places like Australia and NZ feel the same, I like Americans just not the government. I lived in US for ages in my 20’s and they spoke a lot about US being the land of free but I actually felt a lot more free living in Europe and Australia and NZ
Same here. I’m Swiss, living in the US since 2019. I have much less freedom and much less freedom of speech here in the US. I’m moving back to Europe by the end of this year.
I love the everage americans who is put down and can not travel. They are usualy very sweet and sweet hearted like the eastern european were during the soviet time. I lived in australia and it is TRUE you are more free but now it is an economic push down the middle class. WANDER whos habbits is that and where is all this come from can you quess?
I am from Austria. So, I am from a country that bears the same guilt as Germany for WW2 and the holocaust. One of the main reasons why this evil was was possible was nationalism (in the extremest sense of the word). As a result, Germans and Austrians see nationalism quite differently. Of course we are proud of our respective countries but we also recognize that they are by far (!) not perfect. That is why I always feel very uncomfortable if someone tells me that America is the geartest country in the world. This is a purely emotional sentiment that has noting to do with reality. Emotions can easily be exploited (Trump) and that is exactly what happend in Germany and Austria in the 1930s. Jan 6 was only a question of time...
I am from Austria as well and I am glad I saw you're comment because I hadn't even thought of that, but I do think nationalism is a big reason I sometimes find Americans (only online, haven't been there yet) unlikable. I can't help but imediatly associate it with racism and thinking you're better than everyone else.
I am curious what you think of how I view things. So I am American and I do believe America is the best country on Earth, but not for those reasons. I believe it’s the best country because it’s mine. It’s my home, and I love my people and my home. I love when people tell me that Americans are boisterous and energetic, it makes me feel warm about my own people. Basically I believe it’s my best country, even if others do things much better than us. I know my country is very imperfect and has several major issues and problems. I do like to look at other countries for potential solutions or ideas, for example perhaps how Germany does healthcare might have some validity in America. What would you say of this viewpoint?
@@garabic8688 I absolutely agree with that. I want to clarify, that I'm not against nationalism in general, it depends on the type of nationalism. Like if you just love and appreciate the place you live in and the people around you, that's a very positive thing. But sometimes nationalism can lead to people making excuses for mistakes or problems inside their country or people thinking "people from my country are generally better than people from other countries, because my country is the best" or something along those line. Those are the types of nationalism that have lead to many wars and that we should be wary of and call out if we notice them. And as far as I understood, you don't even think the US is the best country in the world objectively, but just for you personally to live in, which I think, is completely fine and valid. Thanks for asking for my opinion by the way (I hope you were asking for mine, if not I'm sorry).
@@garabic8688 Bye the way, I've heard that Americans "pledge their allegiance to the flag" at schools. Maybe you can explain that to me, because as someone who is from a country, that was part of the NS regime not that long ago, that idea seems, to put it simply, horrifying.
@@inlandmango8282 Thanks for responding! It is interesting to hear your perspective. Yes, we do pledge allegiance to the flag, I've never personally felt a negative connotation to it. Here I'll list what the pledge says if you haven't seen it before: I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thats the entire pledge that is said at the start of the school day. I've never really felt any dangerous or negative connotations with these words, because I've always viewed it as a call to national unity and loyalty to the ideals of our constitution. As we have freedom of speech as a constitutional right, students are not forced to make this pledge. I knew many students who wouldn't stand for the pledge, either because they didn't care, and some who legitimately didn't want to. I personally always did say it because I found it to be respectful to my nation, and any problems that we do have I never felt were enough to protest by not reciting the pledge, because I saw that as a protest against the entire nation in a sense, similar to how I personally would never protest any issue I hold dear by not standing for our national anthem. However, that is just my personal standing and despite my disapproval of protesting by doing that, it's ridiculous when you have people saying its not allowed, it is most certainly allowed in the United States.
It's not that the Dutch are more critical, its just that they're more open and honest... They aren't hiding their opinion behind a fake smile to make you feel better about what you're hearing...
That's what I've said aswell, Americans tend to fake it way more and feel offended very easily, it seems tiresome to talk to one because you'd have to waste much of your time and put lots of effort into thinkin if they show their true face or their fake face while carefully filtering every single word to see if it could be offensive to them so you don't get a live drama performance. As a Belgian though, I do think that some Dutchies -even though they don't like to waste your time or their time being wasted- could do some teeny bit more effort to sayn what they think in a more polite way. I'm going to give an example which isn't the best one to say what I mean so don't take this too literally but you can say "You're fucking ugly and fat" or "You're looking unkempt & overweight, I think you'd look way better if you would (insert example of what could make them prettier) and went to a dietitian or the gym that you'd look way better". This isn't a great example because in the second scenario you'd have to really think how to pick your words but bottomline is that you can make your message clear without sounding borderline offensive or like a dick. Just the same as there's aggressiveness and assertiveness there's ways to speak your mind but let someone in their waarde (don't know how to say this in English lol).
The Dutch have always been open, honest and in some cases brutally to the point, but that comes with a very open society which i as a Brit really think is refreshing.
The Dutch are very Left-wing. So they would see Trump as a negative. When they say the USA is very polarised what they mean is that half of Americans don't think like them and therefore must be stupid (because the Dutch all think the same, neo-liberal, globalist, Woke, Green etc). The Dutch are a very arrogant race of people generally.
Oh Lord….that British girl saying ‘but we’re not in Europe because we left the EU’!! It’s a common misconception by lots of people and it drives me crazy. You can’t physically leave a continent only a club that sits in that continent. 😤
The "British Girl" it TOTALLY correct - Britain is an island NOT a continent nor is it part of a continent. Go and find out what a "continent" actually means - the meaning has been butchered enough in the last 60 years.
@@lemal0432 "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, simply known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland." The Isles around a continent also are part of the continent. They aren't their own continent and they aren't no-mans-land. And that's the case way longer than 60 years.
@@lemal0432 - Oh dear, it appears you may have gone to the same school as the girl in the film. We are not attached physically to ‘mainland Europe’ but the UK is 100% a country in Europe. And just to prove it to you as you are uneducated yourself (even though I can’t believe I am having to!) here is a direct quote for you… “While not attached to the mainland continent, the United Kingdom is part of Europe. To be specific, it is classified as belonging to the region of Western Europe.’ So if you want to nit pick then you are correct to say we are not physically attached to mainland continent of Europe but we are a country considered in Europe. Otherwise (in your world) where would you put the UK?….in The Arctic? North America or some made up place “Mid-Atlantica”! In this film the bloke was asking in the context of those girls being European and the girl on the right was correct - we are European but not in the EU - BUT we are still very much European! End of. No more discussion. 🙄🙄🙄🙄
Dutchie here! First of all, I'm sorry that was your experience with us - but I'm also not surprised at all, haha. The Dutch are *extremely* direct and our 'lines-not-to-cross' and filters are completely different (if not almost non-existent) from most other people. Trust me when I say that this is not us trying to be condescending or anything, it's just always been the Dutch way: no nonsense, and no fakeness. And as a very sensitive Dutchie, growing up here wasn't always easy lol. But at the same time we are the most open-minded bunch you can come across as well. Next time just tell people to fuck off with their criticism, they will 100% appreciate that form of directness, and next you'll be the best of friends haha. That being said, I do hope you know that we (or at least most of us) absolutely don't dislike Americans at all, not in *that* way anyway. If anything, I think it's kind of a feeling of "frustration" that we seem to share over here in Europe? It's like having this friend that you care about, who have a very strict background and kind of a one-sided believe system because they come from a long line of people who weren't really exposed to anything else outside of their little world - and who kinda seems to be trapped in their own world without realizing it. And you just want to "get them out of the house" for a little bit, and just show them "the rest of it"? But I feel like maybe that's kind of an arrogant way of looking at things as well. And I'm sure there's people looking at Europeans that way too. And those people will have others look at them that way.
Like when us Americans say , give me a call later, let's go out for a drink . It'd ment to be open ended for a reason, you want that person to decide what date is good for him or her to call and go for a drink. It's never to be flakey or rude , we give the 2nd person to decide , maybe he/she works till midnight on Friday and Saturday is better and we are having this conversation on a Monday. And if he/she didn't call right away maybe it's work? Family ? It's all good 👍
The US is still a great place. But also a land of extremes. Apart from the amazing stuff you have achieved that put you at where you are now...there is a lot of negative content out of there. Mass shootings all over the place, viggils with Teddy bears until the next one few days later. Government does nothing but bullshits its way out of the problem or instead of improving and changing your declining economy you prefer to bully and bring down the competition. Just look at your trade balance. The infrastructure...thats another story. Out of touch ,living in a self delusional bubble. Heads buried in the sand. Hope you're going to change until its not too late. 😊
I love Europe and Europeans for their croissants and their wine, but there are some things about them that just drive me crazy. From their identical gene pool to their efficient robots, Europe has some work to do before they can claim superiority over America. But until then, we'll just keep enjoying our fast food and our freedom of speech! Thank you and goodnight!
I was in Mexico once, and I explained to an American that I was Welsh and, as usual, had to explain that no Wales is not in England 🤦🏻♂️. I explained that in Wales, we also speak Welsh, which he thought was cool. He then followed on by saying that America has its own language too, to which he continued to say that he spoke American. I laughed and said, "No, you speak English." He frowned and insisted he spoke American. I asked, "Then how do I understand you as I speak English, not American" He became quite disgruntled and confused and he explained that Americans use words like "trash" and "dipers" to which I explained that they are just adaptations of words that already exist in the English language. He was not happy and walked away to my delight 😂
That just sounds like some douchebag prwtentious rich kid traveling with the laptop mommy baught him. This same guy, if he hears someone say they are American, he would respond with "But America consists of South America and North America too. So do you mean you are from the United States because you are not Canadian or Mexican or Venezuelen" etc etc
Sounds like you met a particular type of American .... one that the rest of us Americans quaintly refer to as "fucking idiots". When you see a fucking idiot it's best to observe them the same way you observe a chimpanzee at the zoo... just act excited and praise their basic intellect, and leave before they start flinging shit.
My granddaughter took a gap year at Univerrsity to be an Au Pair in Germany. We are Australian and she was enrolled in German school when she arrived. When the woman met her she bought her a new car and gave her complete control of the house and three children. She only worked Monday to Friday so she took her Hockey gear in case she could get a local game some weekends. When she went to the local club she found out she was already in three teams and she didn’t know how they knew she was coming. I did, she is from 5 Hockey Olympians on her fathers side. Same name and German people are not stupid. Some weekends she would go to Paris or somewhere else she wanted to see. She is just finishing her Masters Degree and Doctorate as a Research Scientist. One that has already been published last year for her work in cancer cures using chemicals from foods we eat. Australia will not fund her research but America and Canada have been waiting three years for her. She wanted Germany, she has taught third year Biology and Chemistry for the last three years to support herself. Plus got an extra Biology Degree and another Degree in German while she was there. In a few weeks she leaves for Germany for three months holiday, she loves Octoberfest. Six weeks ago Germany offered for her and my German friends say she sounds more German than they do. My youngest daughter finished two University Degrees at 20 and a week later she left to travel the world. When she goes to a non English speaking Country she always learns enough of their language to be polite and to be able to ask what she needs to know. The first time she went to Europe she could speak some of four languages. She is currently leaning Korean because that is where she was born and going next. Do you get where I am going with this very long post yet? We care enough to learn some of the language of where we are going. Did you? My two youngest grandchildren are Canadian and you do not sound Canadian. They are both fluent in four languages and in high school in Australia. We don’t like to stand out in other Countries. Just blend in and they know we are not from there. We have had to learn to say Australian in three other languages or they think we are from Austria.
I'm a French hotel clerk. I've been to the US as part of a highschool trip when I was 14, and a second time when I was 25, volunteering through my Social Work school to work for 6 months in Syracuse NY at an NGO purposed to house, educate and integrate immigrants. This was in 2019 full blown during the Trump era. I've met a few Americans at my hotel job, and the difference I would make is this : American standalone travelers I enjoy talking to a lot. They're generally here to make new experiences and better themselves, and it's a joy to see and talk to them. American FAMILIES though ?! What went wrong guys ? I have good memories with 2 families coming to visit. Out of dozens I've seen. More often than not I see provider dads with Karen wives and Tiktok kids, whose utmost priority is to make sure that the services I provide for their money fits their little dilusions of grandeur. "Is the water drinkable ? Is the food fresh and worth its price ? If I have you call a taxi for us how do I know you're not calling a friend to rip us off ?" are sadly things I've heard. All this being said ... I could make the same criticisms about Brits. These people have changed since Brexit. I don't know what kind of saltiness you guys are trying to wash off yourself in your treatment of me, but it's been noted and will be dealt with with the appropriate level of bakchanded jokes to your face. And seeing that in these particular nationalities doesn't keep me from seeing the biggotry in an Italian trophy wife or the infamously gluttonous German dads. And don't get me started on the bunch of cheapskates my fellow countrymen are. But that's enough xenophobia for one man. I'm just trying to highlight how everybody regardless of their origin gets entitled from time to time. Though it's got a different flair to it mostly depending on origin actually. The only thing I could add and agree to that most people interviewed in the original video pointed out is : I really didn't feel safe during my time in the US. "Don't fend for yourself too much around here, you never know who might have a gun and a temper" is a real everyday thought I carried with me. WHich brings up a real sense of injustice running the country from top to bottom. Anyways don't feel bad for being from some place or another. There're good people everywhere. And there're smartasses like me to tear new ones to whomever isn't.
Agree. You are a good person. I’m American. I love the French and the Brits because of this level of thought and sophistication. Saltiness, it’s a human trait.
I’m an American and I don’t feel safe around here. I rarely have. I’m just used to expecting bad things can happen and then hope they don’t. I had knife pulled on me when I was seven and I lived in a village. Yet, I look back and think, “Well, at least we didn’t have mass shootings everyday.” Sure, their was that whole mutually assured destruction scare with the USSR, but those were better days for sure….weellll, maybe for white people. I will acknowledge the privilege my glow-in-the-dark skin of very Western European heritage grants me in the world. I say world because there are countries that consider skin color darker than a light tan to be black.
Don't treat all British the same. I didn't want to be out of the EU, I loved the idea of being European and still do. Like the US has Trump fans, we had Boris fans.
I've noticed that Americans are always asking the question, do people like us? If you ask that question you are more likely to get a negative response rather than a positive one. When travelling the world as a Brit it's not something I think about. A good thing about yourself is you want to travel and experience other cultures. Most Americans don't seem to travel much. Travelling is a form of education which gives you a word view instead of blinked view.
Maybe if you are asking that question, you are also trying to get affirmation of what you may have been told or seen in the media whilst growing up, "We are the best, no one is better than us., we were the first". We dont tend to have that over here, we dont brag about who we are, what our worldwide achievements are, we dont "blow our own trumpet" as much.
I always say "US Americans" when clarifying 🤔 Like "A US American once asked me if we had beaches in my country....the reply that my country (Ireland) is literally an island did not prove to be a satisfactory response for her" 😂 No hate please. Just a funny anecdote. I am quite sure there's many foolish questions I have asked in my life 😘
I met an Irish dude who never heard of Serbia, my country of origin. It's the same continent, how is that even possible 😂 but those kind of people are everywhere, the US of A just seems to have a higher percentage of that people
@@adayinthelifeofanorthkorea 🤣 that's hilarious. I mean, my German Nan still calls it "Yugoslavia", but she is old old .... everyone younger than her should know 🫤
@@deires77 my mom i always saying czechoslovakia 😅 The irish dude was back then like: interesting, never heard of it. Is it in Europe? Hell yeah it's in Europe. It's basically between Croatia and Greece, both countries this guy visited in his summer vacations. Weird. I mean, I can't know everything, but the existence of a country which isn't a small island inhabited by 15k people somewhere in the pacific but in the very continent I live in should be normal common knowledge lol
@@adayinthelifeofanorthkorea I would expect Europeans interested in football to be familiar with the names of European countries since, at one time or another, we end up in the same group in the qualifying rounds of football championships.
I think it’s not the average Joe “ problem “ if you talk with a American or European it’s just normal. But if it’s comes political issues then you’re lost especially if you’re a US American … the most Americans give a shit about the world outside of the US. U just think the world is just spinning around u if there is nothing else there outside
Media , media , media , and those nationalistic Americans who think they are better than anyone see no wrong in there country , if you care about your country you criticize and see its faults too .its the only way to make changes .😊
I think everyone deserves to have pride in where they are from, that doesnt mean that they think they are better, or perfect. I love the US, but i dont think we are better than anyone else. I just refuse to let this narrative slide because its simply not true.
@@jetcox6760 yes be proud of where your from , but a few are at the extreme that's not to say it doesn't exist elsewhere other than the states , I suppose it's beacause the u.s. can come across as insular and not worldly , the one thing that really bugs me is the arrogance about the 2nd world war how the u.s. saved Europe from nazi Germany when it was a joint effort involving many nations ( not saying all think this way ) . Unfortunately it's platform's like this that the ignorant like to pipe up on . I've been to the u.s. 3 times and found the people friendly , helpful and positive .
One thing you must know about Dutch people. They say it like it is or what they think about it. For foreigners it seems rude. But you never have to question what they mean. They tell it like it is. Keep that in mind the next time you talk to Dutch people. It's not about being rude, it's about not wasting anybody's time!
I'm British and have been to the US a few times, Canada a couple of times and Europe many times. We have many similarities, but it's the differences that stand out and makes each more interesting. I have met many friendly people in each of those countries, but have found that it's social media and mainstream news that spins the negativity around.
And let's not forget about their art. They think they have the right to dictate what is considered beautiful in the world! But have you ever seen a painting by a European artist? It's like looking at a bunch of colors smeared together on a canvas! And don't even get me started on their music! It's like listening to a bunch of people yelling in a foreign language!
Exactly. And if you go to Europe or some other part of the world and ask a bunch of people what their impression of the US is, knowing all their information comes from MSM and social media, it's going to be negative, and highly slanted to the left. Case in point, how many Europeans look down on Americans for voting for Trump? Like it's really any of their business.
Brilliant! I’ve been whinging about this misconception on this feed for ages. It drives me mad when people think we have somehow left the continent of Europe when we left the EU. And that girl getting it so badly wrong highlights how some youngsters don’t understand!
I was brought up post-war and we used to refer to Western Europe as the Continent and Eastern Europe as the Soviet Bloc. We never thought of Great Britain as part of Europe.
Hi Joel! I found your comments about Dutch people, around 6:00 into the video, quite amusing, because it's a very common experience!😆 One of the most important things to understand about the Dutch is that they are FAMOUS for being very blunt, plain-speaking and direct in their manner, in a way that can come across as 'rude' to anyone who is not used to them. And it's not just Americans who think this, but EVERYONE who isn't Dutch. The fact is that the Dutch ARE blunt, plain-speaking and direct, but not because they are arrogant, combative or insensitive (they are actually quite the opposite of these things). The reasons for this can be found in their unique history as the first republic in Europe, with one of the largest international maritime trading empires (via the Dutch East India company in the 1600s), their strong tendency towards liberal and progressive politics and social values, their tolerance and egalitarianism, and their respect for honesty and truthfulness in all matters including personal interactions. The result of this is that THEY DON'T DO BULLSHIT; they don't deal it and they don't take it from others. There is no double-speak, euphemism or circumlocution with the Dutch; they say what they mean and mean what they say, and don't 'beat about the bush'. They like to keep everything on-the-level, straightforward and out in the open. This has the undeniable advantage of keeping things simple by avoiding any ambiguity or misunderstanding. I am a Brit (from London) who has been visiting the Netherlands regularly for over thirty years. Amsterdam is my favourite foreign city and virtually my second home. So I have interacted with countless native Dutch people, and I actually find this Dutch national characteristic of frank directness quite endearing. It is also very refreshing, particularly when compared to the often rather frustrating tendency of the British (and, to a lesser extent, Americans) to indulge in the exact opposite style of communication, where no one says what they mean or means what they say, for fear of causing offence or to avoid personal criticism. The Dutch can find this indirect form of communication confusing, insincere, evasive and even insulting. With an academic background in mathematics and physics, I value and have a deep respect for the truth, and the fact that the Dutch express the same mindset through their social interactions and speech is something I find both impressive and admirable. In summary, don't be offended by a Dutch person when they say something that comes across as blunt or rude. Most likely, they are not being intentionally insulting and don't mean to cause offence; they are just being true to their national stereotype as possibly the most reliably honest and truthful people in the world (and that's a good thing as far as I am concerned). See links below. BTW, now you've done Germany, can I recommend that you consider the Netherlands as your next European destination? I am certain that you will fall in love with both the country and its people, just as I did over 30 years ago. I am also confident that you will be blown-away by Amsterdam, which I think is one of the most picturesque, walkable, atmospheric, laid-back and just plain chilled-out cities on the planet (no, fuckit, THE most). Also, the Dutch people are, according to various surveys, some of the nicest and happiest people in the world in terms of standard measures of friendliness, social-mindness, quality of life and contentment. You will probably find this vibe rubbing off on you, as it did with me, which is why I find my trips to Amsterdam so profoundly relaxing and de-stressing (especially compared to my life in London!). So PLEASE do a travelogue of Amsterdam and NL! You won't regret it, and I think all your followers would love to share your experiences! Cheers, QS Links on Dutch directness: ruclips.net/video/wrEZwe1nbBU/видео.html ruclips.net/video/i580Y1taI_I/видео.html
I‘m German and I‘ve been thinking about why these reaction videos, especially American reactions, are sooo popular. I grew up thinking the US was the coolest place in the world. I was there as a young exchange student in 2001. I loved every minute, the people, the atmosphere, I never wanted to leave. However, I also felt very clearly that Americans couldn‘t really care less about me as a non-American. In every respect and beyond any doubt the US-way was the one way to go, I just felt it. No word about other countries in school, never on the news, never at the dinner table, especially not with my friends from High School. And this didn‘t change when I visited the US many more times as I got older. I started to feel a little taken aback. Most Americans didn‘t even look down on other countries, most Americans just did not care, they didn‘t even care enough to look down. When Trump started his „America First“ BS and we saw the images of millions cheering this man on - up until today, that changed something for many Europeans. I personally became disgusted. Now, officially, a majority of Americans openly confessed to what I had always suspected: the stupider, the more selfish the better, US first, ME first, my views and my views only. Of course I know that‘s not everybody in the US, I know that, but I will forever be shocked that Trump was actually elected and it could happen AGAIN… And now Joel and others come along and give us (Germans) the feeling that they care, that they want to learn, that they like Europe so much that I can hardly believe it because a lot of annoying stuff happens here, too, every day, there is so much to criticize. But, hey, there is an American who recognizes that we exist, and that we have cool stuff to contribute and are worth hanging out with and talking to. How much Europeans still crave American attention and recognition: Just look at your subscribers, why do you think they subscribe? Many want that recognition after decades of feeling ignored. Feels good to me, at least.
I don't think Europeans understand us as well as you all like to think you do. Unlike Europe which is in the Eurasian landmass and connected to most of the World's population, the US is tucked between two large bodies of water to the east and west; Canada to the north which culturally is not too much different from us and population wise significantly smaller; and Mexico to the south whom we embrace culturally and have great relations with. Latin America is a relatively peaceful region as far as international conflicts go, so outside of your typical drug war news, there's noting super exciting going on there. No civil wars much less wars between countries. On top of that, because we are a country of 300 million inhabitants with high purchasing power, we are independent when it comes to consumption of media and entertainment. We don't need to import much because we produce enough celebrities internally. The result is that we live in a bubble when it comes to geopolitical and entertainment news. As for when we say we're the best country in the world, you have to understand that this is the way we talk and it's more of a facetiously comment than a literal statement; like when you tell your mother she's the best mother in the world. Keep in mind you hear American rappers and athletes say "I am the best that ever was" all of the time. Americans understand this to mean "you're supposed to believe in yourself and think you're the best, if not, then why compete?" It's nothing personal but this is how we're wired. We're obsessed with "keeping a positive attitude" and "having a game-winning mindset". The average American consumes hours of self-improving/motivational and life coach books and videos a week so we act like this but don't mean any harm, and in most cases, didn't know it was hurting Europe's feelings. Lastly, America First is just a slogan. For populists on the right, it means making policies that better our people but not to hurt anyone else. For example, stopping Black Rock, State Street and Vanguard from buying every single home in the country (which they are doing now.) It means stop starting wars in other countries to profit our industrial military complex and invest that money domestically. It means stop letting Bill Gates buy all of the farm land in the Midwest and help rural families keep their land. It means stopping illegal immigration and protecting our manufacturing industry. It means ending intelligence agencies that spy on civilians and attack political rivals on both the right and the left. America First does not mean screw the world. ON the contrary, Trump helped broker peace between North and South Korea and he helped create the Abraham Accords to establish friendlier relations between Arab countries and Israel. Americans are by far some of the most generous people in the world. On a per capita basis, we're one of the people that most donates to international efforts and disaster relief funds. We're a charitable people unlike many European nations.
@@UserX-u8p Thanks for your long reply. I can see the truth in what you are saying and it is actually very helpful to me to try and see things from your perspective, too. I haven‘t had anyone explain it to me like that before.
I studied in the NL for a semester and it was amazing. People there were so open and although there are superficial ppl everywhere, I found them as a whole to be less so. We talked politics and all but I am Mexican. Also the NL is where the international court is, they are very pro human rights so ofc they might be more critical to the US, a country which doesn’t care for human rights, doesn’t believe or truly practices international law (which are more like a framework of norms to avoid countries being bullies and such) and yeah, all that. As for the 90’s thing. I agree, the internet was not super big. If it had been, ppl would have thought the same about the US with Clinton’s humanitarian wars and such. Always intervening. I know these international policies and such don’t represent all Americans and I’m sorry for generalizing, I feel for you guys cause there is not much you can do about it but exercise your rights as citizens and demand a better leader and stop consuming drugs and all that. Edit: I also think that because of all these policies and such you have with “helping other countries find the right way” (your way) and all the influence power you have, you don’t care to take responsibility. The waves the US creates have big consequences all over and it causes social disarray everywhere. Maybe I’m wrong but I remember the whole trump thing and how there was a Dutch guy running for elections that everyone was calling “the Dutch trump”, you had the French woman le pen or something aaaaand what is portrayed in the internet is that there are Americans that love this or there are Americans that don’t care about it and just make social media content while the rest of the Americans that care and such are simply hidden to the world. MAYBE. It’s just my thoughts anyway!
Hear hear, 👏👏👏 (not just my Dutch bias or pride - Peace Palace 🤟) People did think similar things in the 90's maybe a little less - but it was mostly about cigars and dresses with Clinton.
My experience is that (as everywhere in the world) it’s where your roots are. I visited the US quite a few times. I admit, East coast only but from the to to the bottom. It makes a huge difference if you talk (I mean really communicate) with people from the North-East, the middle of the East or the South of the East coast. Personally I experienced the best real communication in the Boston area. Although polarization is getting heavier here in Europe, the way it’s developing in the US is devastating. As we (in Europe) have an interactive heavy flu, in my opinion the US is getting quite close to the brink of civil war. If a country allows a criminal moron as Trump voted to there ‘citizen nr 1, it tells something from the country. I am a retired navy vet, worked and spend time with a lot of US navy colleagues. An eye opening experience. I could (and did) learn from them and they from me. Cultural side, huge difference. They were way more ‘into their group’ we were much more experienced with ‘being abroad’ and ‘culture differences’. E.g. although we are good neighbors with the Germans and Belgiums, we didn’t share a very close cultural similarity. We, the Dutch in general, tend to be quite direct and that can be very disturbing for others. Personally, I like it if somebody is honest and open in what somebody really means. I am hard to insult and ‘my toes are rather short’, in other words, you don’t step on the that easily. If somebody asks my opinion, they get my opinion, however I (really) try to do it in a civil manner (my lovely wife doesn’t always agrees 😊). There are more than 300M US citizens, I am convinced the vast majority are good people meaning wel, but a more realistic eye on what’s happening in he world would be very nice (and there are a lot of Dutch who should as well). Being open minded is an art, it should be a lifestyle.
The video you watched is full of intelligence and your reaction is nice to see. yes stereotypes are harsh and we all suffer from them one day, whether they are justified or not. The Internet has exacerbated the problem. what you can tell yourself is that the internet also allows you to become aware of it. When I look at you, I realize that you also represent a generation of young people from the USA who think, educate themselves, open their minds, question themselves. It feels good. What people think of you the first time they see you will probably not be the same after getting to know you personally. Continue like this. Hello from Belgium 🖐🏻
My dad is a retired engineer who used to travel around the world for business since the 1970s. I've heard quite some stories from his trips since I've been a baby and remember that I never wanted to go to the US because he had already told me about the (gun) crimes and being scared (he never dramatised his stories - just personal anecdotes and as jokes, he also made it clear that it wasn't like that in the whole US just in some parts and that the people he met there were really nice - so I was not traumatised or had a bad image of the citizens - just decided for myself that I never wanted to go there). So this has been a problem since way before the internet. I've been to Hawai'i and NY since. I LOVED it there. The people, the atmosphere etc. It felt like home in NY especially. I know they are not really representatives of the US but that's also why I think there is some truth to the stereotypes of the US. But that goes for any country in the world. They all have their own stereotypes which are never true for the whole country. That's just the nature of stereotypes. I still don't want to live in the US though because of the non existent health care, the (gun) crimes and other facts. I think most of the people who don't like the "Americans" don't actually mean the Americans but their government and some laws - and the people who agree with these laws. So if you are saying you don't agree with these things then you are not meant as their "target". If you want to you could say you are not THAT type of American whenever you hear someone say something negative about them after you've introduced yourself as one. But I personally don't think that's necessary because from then on it only becomes a me vs you conversation. You are still young and I can see your youth through some of your comments but I think you are very mature despite your age. And I admire your curiosity and the will to learn. Please don't let negative comments about your country get to you too closely. They are not meant against you personally. It's healthy to keep an open mind and to question a lot of things but it's not to take what other people have to say personally.
I grew up loving the US (through TV Shows). Then I learned about what it was really like there and the disappointment resulted in a very anti-US phase (you should never meet your heros, they say). Now it's mostly just disappointment and pity. In many ways the US is it's own worst enemy. There's this common theme through all media, public statments etc that the US is the best and greatest ("Land of the Free" etc). My personal opinion is that most USians are indoctrinated to believe that when they are young, and through exported media,TV etc. promoting the same views, so are many Europeans (certainly my own generation). The difference between the two is that Europeans grow up and have something (their own political, economic, social systems) to compare and contrast with the indoctrination. USians, unless like yourself they actively educate themselves and explore, never see outside that bubble.
I think that you really think you know how we think but your so far off its almost opposite. The only time I ever hear of the concept " Americans think they are better than everyone" its 100% of the time coming from Europeans who are telling people what we think, feel, say, do etc. No, we dont think we are better than anyone else, in fact thats why when something goes wrong in the world, we both as a people and with government driven efforts, try to do what we can to help, fully aware that we may not be able to do much. But we still try. Nice to know that litterally no one ever credits us with that, but we sure get the "Arrogant, Delusional, backwards, idiot" tags." Neat.
@@jetcox6760 It's an opinion formed from my own experiences. I'm also fairly sure that many USians share my opinion; that memorable scene from The Newsroom pilot episode suggests they do. Why then is this opinion so prevalent, enough so that it becomes the anchor on which to hook a TV series?
This is an anecdote of course but I once met an American in an Italian restaurant where they played O, Sole Mio and she proudly remarked that the song was a rip off of Elvis' it's Now Or Never.
Many years ago, I worked for an American multinational. I never forget that when I met the head of treasury at the HQ in DFW, he proudly told me that it took him over 30 years to convince the Irish government that he was an Irish descendant. I don't know how he did it but he said that when he finally got his Irish passport he cried. This was an old American grown up man, very successful at a very high level in the company but yet, he suffered from an identify insecurity. I've been in the US many times, mostly on business and I heard on many occasions that Americans told that they were actually Scottish, Irish or Italian etc. Clearly, some Americans want to be identified with where they originally came from.
I don't think Europeans dislike Americans. I think Americans confuse Europeans. Superficially, Americans are like Europeans and yet under the surface they're not. How can a country like the USA be so wealthy and in some ways advanced, yet be so societally backward and its people so uninformed? This is puzzling and almost contradictory. I'm always reminded of Oscar Wilde - " _Name me another country that has gone from barbarism to decadence without bothering to create a civilization in between_ ".
I am always amazed by all the Europeans and others who are posting who have been here in the States and have a friend/mother/father/grandmother/grandfather/aunt/uncle/cousin/coworker who lived here or know someone who has an opinion on how uneducated or unhealthy or any other negative opinion they may have about Americans. Let me just say we don't care to have you come and grace us with all your perfection. Americans too have friends and family and we don't care to talk about Europeans and Australians or anyone else, we have better things to do because you don't matter in our lives. Most of us don't visit you in Europe because we have a beautiful country and a big one and it would take us most of our lives to visit before we ever got to your little itsy bitsy countries with rude people your older/senior citizens aren't being honest or straight forward they are rude. So please from a proud American stay-at-home, we know the British speak English, in Denmark it's Danish, Belgium it's French Yada Yada Yada. We have every language spoken in the U.S. and it may not be perfect but we try.
Worked with a girl from Belgium for about a year, who was on a temporary assignment here in the States. She was so rude, to say the least. Being over here without family on Easter, I invited her to dinner. She accepted the invitation and then never showed up. We waited 2 solid hours, way more than she deserved, and finally realized she wasn’t coming. Upon seeing her the next day, she blew it off when I asked her about it. She apparently had the same opinion that Americans are dumb. Ok, most of us are, but she was also very condescending. Making veiled insults. I’d rather be considered dumb than to be so obviously rude and condescending. She certainly didn’t leave a very good impression of her country.
I think there are two elements here that resonated with me. I am English but grew up watching Hill Street Blues, Little House on the Prairie & many other American programs. That gave us a view of America that maybe due to the transparency of social media has been destroyed to some degree. However, I don't think the question is as simple as do we like Americans. I have many American friends and most of them come from metropolitan areas. These people seem to have a balanced view of the world as they are exposed to people from other cultures and countries. Then we see and hear people from the bible belt! The attitude around education, politics, and morals seems to conflict very much with the general European attitude towards the same things.
Social media has largely censored any view that are not progressive, it has been proven in recent congressional hearings. You are not getting a full or true picture of what goes on in the U.S., neither are we. How is the "Koran belt" and grooming gangs in jolly old England or are you still not allowed to talk about it? Did they ever release that government study? Because that greatly conflicts with our general morale attitude.
A lot of Americans dislike Americans too. I was an exchange student for 3 months in the US and I can totally understand why people use the word stupid. A girl said to me that Europe is a hoax invented by the Democrats. Her dad told her this and he’s smart and knows everything. Me as an Italian I was like what the hell?!? You also see this with tourists, how many times I thought by myself, how ignorant can you be. If someone doesn’t respect your culture you can be sure it’s an American. An American family addressed us in Milano asking doesn’t Europe have more modern cities, everything is so old here. I had to bite my tongue and pretended I didn’t spoke English. To call Italy or any other country Europe is disrespectful but to ask for modern cities in Italy? The problem is that if you meet several tourists like that a day people forget about the amazing Americans they met. Another thing I find super annoying and very disrespectful. Americans ask what your parents do for a living even before they asked your name. My friends across Europe don’t know what my parents do for a living. They never asked. We talk about our studies, things we want to do, sports, festivals we are going to do. I have several amazing American friends and they dislike Americans too, not all of course but those we don’t like in Europe either.
What many non-Americans always forget is that there’s such a huge variety of people here so it’s almost impossible to say that “Americans are like this or that”
No, the Dutch will not twist your words. Be very careful in phrasing it like that. We are very direct, even more so as the Germans. (I had some Germans, telling me so. And amongst others I speak fluent German.) Also keep in mind, America does not equal Americans. And there are enough bad things to say aboud the country without automatically reflecting on the people (except politicians). Say the debts occurred for education, healthcare and the like. The FDA considering things "Generally Safe for Consumption", where the rest of the world errs on the side of caution and calls thing dangerous for ones health. Or say a political system (no not going into political views here) that is pretty much a 2 party system, thus one can only vote for the least bad person. Gun laws. Tax that is not working for the people who pay it. Car centricity, that could be changed. A fair labor standards act, that obviously favours the employers, not the workers. (Think about minimum wage for waiters/waitresses being below the actual minimum wage, and tipping is required so they can hopefully get at least a minimum wage income.) As stated healthy food, like vegetables etc being overpriced, where fastfood is not. The reason the US is the most obese country in the world, is not because everybody can participate in "my 600lbs life", but that shows like this can exist because healthy food can be unattainable for lots of people. As another youtuber once said about this dumb pledge of allegiance, there is only 1 other country that did this, and only between '40-'45. Yet Americans call it patriotism, others would call it National Socialism. (Ohhh and the fact that many Americans seem to think that socialism is equal to social systems baffles me to this day.) I can go on for a bit, but see the whole point is stuff like this. However let me give you a final thought though, and feel free to find me an explanation that would make all people equal. When flying to the US from Europe, people need to be at least 1 hour earlier, sometimes even 2 hours earlier at the airport as for any other continental or intercontinental flight, and only TSA personel can do the check in. If we would apply the same to American Citizens, than the US would have a fit, because we are discriminating against them. Feel free to find me an explanation for that, seemingly some are more equal than others, are they not ??
i know im a little late to the party but id like to say for "since i expierenced some hate towards myself just of the basis of my nationality" - welcome to europe :D probably something about we fought against each other on and off for hundreds of years. So there is something engrained in our brains and the "certain negative undertones" is probably the best description i´ve heard so far lol
My general perception of Americans is that they grow up being told that they live in the greatest country in the world, and that the rest of the worlds idea of free healthcare, minimum of a month of paid vacation, up to a year or more of paid maternity leave etc is socialism/communism at work. They live in a fantasy land of the "Free", while being restricted by more rules, laws and regulations, have the biggest prison population in the world, the right to shoot and kill the gardener because he covered for a workmate who was ill. And most of those that can afford to travel abroad bring the elitist mentality with them from indoctrination by their society and the constant chasing of wealth to avoid being made one of the multitude of homeless. So they have it grained into them a feeling of being better than everyone else. The day that Americans wake up and realise that their society is nowhere near the best in the world is the day that the rest of the world will be more receptive to them
Or maybe world stops telling us how to live our lives we will actually start to care. We dont think we are the "Best" we just know we arent the worst. But again, please, tell me more about my country and my own thoughts. Then you can tell me more about how you know best and that i should just think and live like you and itll all be ok because obviously YOU have it all figured out. And "We" are the arrogant ones? Hmm.
I think that the bad point of view of Europeans upon the USA clearly popped up when the president (Bush if I remember well) decided to invade Iraq and allows torture and violation of human rights in awful structures such as Guantanamo. Further documents revealing atrocities, false allegations and other stuff outraged me in an unspeakable way. I also fully agree with the comments below, I fully think the same.
I think the issue is a combination of things: From the cradle Americans are taught how great their country is, as opposed to many others. You’re free. You can do anything you want to etc. These things could be true, and attainable, if it were true. Your country is amongst the richest and many parts are beautiful. The trouble comes because you’re all almost hypnotised into believing all this stuff, like allegiance to the flag every day etc. the truth is it has made many citizens super loud, over confident (bumptious), and with a big dollop of superiority towards every other country, when we can all see, that’s just not the truth of things: you’ve only got to look at your healthcare and also the long hours you have to put in, some people having two or three jobs. Materialism isn’t attractive, but it’s in abundance in the US. Then there’s your crazy gun laws … not the kind of freedom I desire. I worked in NJ back in the mid 60’s, and yes they had mega pride in their country, like many of us do, but I was not aware of the types of issues so prevalent today. I’ve said this several times over the last few years, but young people like you JP are helping your country to “grow and mature” ….❤
I don't know what to say other than I judge individuals and not races or countries. The leadership of any country seldom fully represents the individual view or behaviour, it can't. You have to be raised in a culture to even begin to understand it properly. Just be the best person you can and try to tolerate those who you disagree with.
Dieses rassen Ding gibt es so extrem nur bei euch in den USA ! Man muss nicht in einer Kultur aufgewachsen sein um diese zu verstehen.... vor allem, welche Kultur überhaupt? Die USA haben weder Kultur noch Geschichte sondern ein mischmasch von Europäern und afrikanern
10:48 You can group almost 400 million people under stupid stereotypes. I'm Italian I know how it works... so 60 million Italians are constantly grouped under stupid stereotypes. It happens all the time...
@@millyjames7891 Yeah, but you know what I'm speaking about. We're a bunch of Mario (From Mario bros) with black moustache, playing mandolin and singing in the streets, and every single meal is based on pizzza AND spaghetti for at least 3 hours... We're lazy and not productive (even if we're the second largest EU manifacturer economy and 7th in the world) and we dress like top models even to go out for groceries. Usual stuff like that
Just found this video. It's from a while ago, but anyway. There are a few remarks I would want to make: 1. There is no such thing like 'the Europeans' or 'the Americans'. You randomly pick a few people and take their views as kind of a general view. 2. There is a huge difference between how people view the American people in general as opposed to how they view the American politics. The latter is indeed not widely considered the friendliest in the world. 3. I personally believe that the 'normal' Americans are not disliked in general. There are always people who don't like other people, but that is true for any nation. Ask Poles what they think about Germans or Germans what they think about the Dutch. How someone is perceived very much depends upon how that person behaves. 4. I would put it this way: There are Europeans who dislike Americans and there are Americans who dislike Europeans. But after all an a*hole remains an a*hole, regardless of nationality and a likewise a kind and polite person is almost never disliked , regardless of nationality. Does that make sense?
Before the internet it was easier. In the past, the usa and its citizens were only known from books and newspapers, possibly from television, but there was hardly any connection to the people. The more these are now noticed, the more people are now realizing how big the difference is. This is clearly evident when it comes to topics such as education and political discussions (this is a big topic in Europe and is always and willingly discussed, less so in the USA).
Politics are considered impolite in social settings in the US. Trust me we are very divided politically. We have two choices of party, and you vote for a person, not a party.
@@marshsundeen Not quite correct. If you vote for a party, you want the candidate of this party to move to the White House. When we here in Germany vote for a party, we vote for the percentage in the federal parliament of this party. These people vote for the Bundeskanzler afterwards like your electors do. The difference is that the German constitution makes sure that the parliament has EXACTLY the same percentage between the parties the voters wanted. So it is not possible that one candidate gets more votes from the people and the other one gets the job.
When we first went to the States for a holiday we put our Tv on expecting to see some news about home that is Great Britain and we were astonished as the days went by there was nothing at all not a single mention. It was entirely about the USA. That was back in the 1980s. We loved the people but were astonished that some did not know where London was they could not understand our accents, both of us Londoners. We had no such problem with them. We did feel shocked that they had no clue at all about the rest of the world. Even just a few years ago we were on a cruise heavily populated by Americans and were asked if it was worth getting off the ship at Le Havre in France as they heard the bomb damage in the war had been bad, this was a good 50 years after the war they really had no clue at all. Sad to see just how behind the times they are.
One should not have prejudices about other people , but get to know them personally. When you travel through Europe and get to know many different countries you understand that there are friendly and not so friendly people in every country. And i think it`s the same in America.
Except Parisians, I am lowkey certain, that the French just moved all of their assholes there and only say it's their capital to mess with everyone else.
I agree you should not have prejudices about other PEOPLE but if you are asked your opinion on a country as a whole you have to stereotype and when you repeatedly hear or see "Americans" being stupid, self righteous or condescending it's hard to not label Americans as such. If you was to ask me what i thought about a specific American i knew, the answer would be different. We tend to remember negatives over positives. Plus the sheer number of Americans means that the % of them that are stupid appear much larger as they tend to be the ones that are remembered especially when they have superiority complexes and little knowledge of the outside world. The worst of them just come across as man-children; convinced of their opinion without doing much if any research and as stubborn as a rock. I'm not saying all Americans are like that but it only take a small % to sour peoples opinions.
You are true. Americans in Maine, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey or Pennsylvania are not the same like n Florida or Californa. And there are great differences between Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana or Washington. And Boston is not Los Angeles and New Orleans is not Chicago. The typical american does not exist. I am European but I realy like your personality and I can follow your feelings. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings. By the way we have enough bad politicans here in Europe too.
What Europeans have to realize is that the US is large and diverse so of course we have the best and worst. Our national identity is arrogant because with our ridiculously large armed force we are the most consequential countryside on the planet. Unfortunately the US is not infallible just like any other nation.
I just got back from Europe- Croatia to be exact. I think it’s a mistake for Americans to pretend they’re Canadians, because I think it will eventually catch up with you. If someone finds out that you’re lying, it’s definitely not cool. What I do is this: I dress in dark colors, I don’t wear any flags, I don’t talk loudly, I don’t complain about food- even when I don’t think it’s the best - I apologize kindly when I make a mistake, and I at least make an effort to speak a little of the language. Then if someone asks me where I’m from I just say simply- “US.” Nothing more or less. I find people generally are courteous when you can prove that you are a traveler who’s trying their best to blend in. If more Americans do that - I can guarantee that the tide will change. But you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone and give back a little bit. Then after that, if people still give you trouble for being American- then it’s their problem. At least you tried. I think that’s the way forward instead of pretending to be from another country.
The best thing people can do is to get a passport and travel, meet people, experience life and different cultures, step out of your comfort zone, live life and embrace change.
Me (German) have been many times to USA. Beautiful country and most people are very friendly and helpful. I have made many American friends. I get along with them better than with the people here. Superficial , stupid americans what some people say ? You have more fun with them than these serious, humorless people here who think everything through and only complain about everything
Italian woman here. I think that until the rise of the internet and social media, everyone had in mind the concept of the "American dream" and kinda believed in it, also because we all basically grew up with Hollywood movies and tv series and also music that contributed to this halo effect. Thanks to the internet now we're more exposed to the news, we can easily keep up with what's happening around the world and consume media from other countries as well. As a 90s kid, I dreamed of living in the US, like many other people did, I believe. But now I'm definitely glad I'm living in Europe (not in Italy tho, in fact I'm planning to move to a northern European country 😅).
As a European, on one hand I agree with you about the American Dream. But there are at least two things that we Europeans should still be inspired by, from the US. 1) The ambition. Not the ambition to over-consume, to be the richest and so on. But the ambition to at least try to build something better, to solve the problems. Apart from the young climate activists, I feel that many people in Europe just want "have a comfy life". Anything more is doomed to fail because it didn't go well in the recent past or because Europe was kind of evil while it was powerful. To me, it feels like an excuse. 2) The science spending. While it's too expensive to study in the US, the country (for now?) still understands that you need to put money in science if you want to be successful. How many researchers have to leave for the US to continue their careers?
You may want to revisit this. Just because you're connected to the internet doesn't mean you're more connected to the news, you may have more news, but that doesn't make it any less bullcrap. All news coming out of the US has a political slant to it one way or another. Whether you lean left, or lean right, it's propaganda, this permeates into social media. Thinking what you read online is an accurate picture is the fastest way to draw an inaccurate, and frankly, completely wrong image. I hate to be the one telling you this, but you've been exposed to more propaganda, not more news.
@@79BlackRose Why don't we always say "people from Germany" instead of germans? Ah yes because it sounds stupid and is unnecessarily long. You put zero thought into this
I grew up in the North of the UK (Manchester then Middlesborough.) and i didn't ever hear anyone saying we are Europeans, always British as we are an island not connected to Europe. Then in my 20s i went to London and that's the first time i heard it. So for people saying the Brit girl is an idiot (14:05) is not knowing how a lot of Brits see themselves.
In Germany we have a saying: „Those who are friends with the Americans do not need enemies any more!“. First time I heard that was from my grandpa who died 30+ years ago.
The way we see Americans didnt change compared to 90s. I am 42 years old and i remember the olders when they wanted to call someone "stupid" they were calling him "American "....😂 Its not the internet. It was always your mentality
My posts keep disappearing!? AGAIN! I'm from Scotland. I've never heard anybody here say that they dislike Americans as a population. We've said (myself included) that It's the Gung-Ho attitude that they CAN have...(Here we cooome to saaave the daaay!...An altered Mighty Mouse theme tune. Lol) Also, the "Our Country is the best in the world" attitude that they CAN have that CAN get on our nerves. We say "NAW it's NO the best Country in the world...it's just a Country!" It's quite insulting. BUT, I've never known/heard of an American tourist or somebody who's moved here to have been mistreated or targeted.
I imagine that the European Union thinks the same about the UK since Brexit, and to be honest I don't blame them.....we have slapped our neighbours in the face and now we are back with begging bowls........ please sir can we have a better trade deal....serves us right.
honestly I am from germany and I never understood the whole Brexit thing - did anyone ever think of the consequences BEFORE voting to leave the EU? How can anyone not being totally drunk vote for that?
@@MrFreezeYo That's because your being run by Unelected Officials making your rules, We have Parliament to make our rules & Laws who are Elected by the people, The EU didn't care for British rules.
Back in the 80ies and 90ies, when I was a kid, USA seemed so advanced and progressive, all the music, movies basically the whole pop culture came from there. But what happened since then is that Europe has advanced so much in terms of equality, woman rights, social security, solidarity, environmentalism and so on, while the U.S. seems to have stopped or even declined in all these areas. So today in Europe we look back at the USA almost like some medieval backwards country where society is based on values that seem to be from another era. And when someone like Trump gets elected president, I suppose that was kind of the last straw for many people here.
Mid 1980's I was friends with a lovely girl called Bettie from USA. Bettie had already lived in Europe for a few years and she had a degree in philosophy. Needless to say Bettie was not stupid. She did say, however, (and remember the Cold War was still ongoing) that she had learnt more from Europeans about USA foreign policy in South America ie she had no idea that the CIA were involved in the overthrow of democratically elected President Allende of Chile in 1973. The dictator General Pinochet came to power with the help of the USA. And hey, guess the date? That's right, 11th September 1973. Cuba has been punished for decades by the USA by trade embargoes. Any ship, from any country in the world, that engaged in trade with Cuba was not allowed to trade in the USA. You can guess the consequences for Cuba. Under President Obama this has begun to change (although I'm not sure what "The Donald" (I can't call him a president) did about Cuba when he came to power). What I'm trying to say is that there is so much history, and negative history, involving the rest of the world of which so many USA citizens are ignorant. There were so many things that were done in your name, as a citizen of the USA. And it still goes on. Hey, I'm English. My mother was brought up on maps of the world showing The Empire. When I was at school we never learned about the British Empire. Things have changed, kids are now being taught the good, the bad and the ugly of Empire. For myself, I learned so much more after leaving school. I have travelled and lived in a few countries since leaving school. Sometimes finding out about British history is hard to swallow but it so often turns out to be more complex and often damaging than I could ever have thought. It was painful at first but I am learning to come to terms with it. And let's not forget the Germans or the Japanese. They don't always have it easy when it comes to history and other peoples expectations of them but both countries teach their own more recent histories in school including why it happened and the consequences that followed so much better than Britain or USA has ever done. In short until USA schoolchildren are taught about their own international relations with other countries and become more interested in the world beyond North Americas borders nothing will change and European disdain will remain. Keep up the good work; keep travelling and learning and appreciating and you will be loved in return. Lastly, you will have felt the love from your followers because of what you are already doing and your openness to it. (I'd leave a heart emoji if I knew how).
@MoreJps I’m European (90s kid) and feel kinda bad hearing this. One thing is definitely the cultural difference, meaning: I think they expected you to reciprocate in some kind of way. You could have turned the tables for example, if your opinion was different than theirs and you had argued a counter point. That would have gotten you respect, I think, in this situation. Another thing is: Me, and many others in my generation I think, loved the US growing up. Watching MTV and stuff. Then some problems started to trickle over and then, suddenly, the biggest thorn in my eye: Trump was elected. I was really sad, I couldn’t believe what I had heard. Now, I was really upset with America. Letting the frustration out on an individual American as they visit, now that is really over the line, and really unfair, but I see how it would come this today. You do kinda have 1/500,000,000th of the responsibility, and Europeans are quick to check if someone is performing what they think is their civil duty, because they rightly feel like having a world we all wanna live in is everybody’s responsibility. Getting to know what everybody wants takes discourse. It’s ok to feel differently, it’s ok to disagree, it’s not that ok to pull out and watch the world go to shit. Sorry, got a little personal again myself… Edit: You can see in the comments that people even feel like they should bash America now, even if they don’t know exactly why. They’ll pick up something that annoys them about Americans and write something like: This is what p…. me off about Americans the most:…
It is not how Dutch people look at Americans in general. It is about our directness towards anyone, no matter were you are from. We do not like small talk, we prefer to say what comes to our mind. If you do not like it, we see that as your problem.
I'n Italian and I do like Americans. Never been to your country but according to my experiences you're smart, dynamic, think big and positive. Europe needs more American view of the things. Obviously there are downsides but will not focus on them here.
Next time, just say that you're Canadian! It's the best way to avoid talking politics, as we knownothing about Canadian politiks 🤣 I work in a pub, and had a couple of guests from, from the US I assume, but I ask: "We're from Canada!" I couldn't stop the little laugh that came out when I said. "Funny, 'cause to me you sound more like a someone from Texas 😂 but I get it 😉
I'm Dutch and American, one parent from both countries. And I get both ends of the stick. In Europe people ask me if I've survived school shootings and I have to watch the fear and disappointment and pity in their eyes when I say yes, yes I have survived a school shooting. 2 of them. And an attempted bombing. In 2 different states in 3 different schools. And in the US, I have to say I'm from Amsterdam bc I still haven't met a single American who knows where The Netherlands is. When I try to say it's between Germany and France they look even more confused. So, saying the American school system isn't a failure is either ignorance or denial on your part, I'm sorry, but it is. I love Americans and how kind most people are, but I have to agree with the Dutch half of my family that it is difficult to feel empathy or respect for a population who ENDURE mass shootings and the death of their children instead of stopping it. Americans have this attitude towards South America and the Middle East but become upset when it is directed at them and at this point, with active ptsd from living there, it's just difficult for me to feel apologetic or empathetic. I want the best for Americans but it seems to many Europeans that Americans don't want the best for themselves, they just want to appear the best. It's difficult to respect.
After the US and Canada freed us from the Nazi's, we were introduced to American products. Then later on the American culture of having stuff took over in the 80s and clothes, music, food, furniture, all those things were adopted in our countries, more or less. So we went from adoration to overcompensation. And we had the cold war. So after the cold war, I think we were able to look more critically at the US and also in the 90s the extreme capitalism of the States made us realise this is not our culture or belief. Together with America's zero selfcriticism and growing up with this huge patriotism, America never respected borders or boundaries. The 'war on terror' was I think the definite push towards negative views. Also the commercialisation of everything, including politics. We are now at a point where we still embrace American things we have grown accustomed to (those girls complaining about MacDonalds, probably go there as well) while rejecting the bigger idea. I do feel sorry for those Americans who come to live in Europe, because they are not the ones who deserve bad treatment and usually are not the ones oblivious to other cultures. It would however be wise for Americans to be taught much more about Europe and other cultures in schools and to tone down on the 'America nr 1' BS. Only Americans believe that nonsense. America has not been nr1 in many areas for decades.
What you botht didn't touch is that envy that we have of you growing in a big house, driving cars from 15 years old age and just ruling the world basically... It is a huge factor to be honest. We know you better than you know us and that makes us feel less significant.
I personally had very few interactions with Americans face to face - just due to the fact that I live in a very rural part of Germany - the ones I have met tho were very kind people so I try not to judge but sometimes on social media I can‘t help shaking my head .. there is a lot of people in this video talking about polarization - which feels true when you only see the videos that go viral. Still if someone on the internet talks about „the Germans“ I feel a little offended often times - so why would it be fair to judge all Americans if I also don‘t like to just be labeled as German. Your nationality only plays a small part in who you are as person. Be kind to each other 🤗
I'm European and I have to say my best buddy is American, not a better person in the world ! But even most Americans will accept that a lot of Americans really represent you badly when travelling, lets start there, then there's the "greatest country in the world" statements, then there's gun laws .. I can go on .. I think a lot of the world think your attitude and arrogance is ridiculous in general, but to say you are hated is wrong. I've met so many beautiful people from the states, people that I adore and have changed my life.
I worked both with american and english people yeard ago in a Nato base and I daresay that they are both different fro us italians but we are more tolerant and friendly woth americans on spite of their whims.
I do NOT dislike americans as people. I DO dislike some systems or gouvernment forms. That is a big difference you have to understand. Its nothing personal !
I (European) do not hate Americans. However, I think a lot of Americans are deluded when it comes to the USA. When I was younger (10-15 years old) I wanted to move to the USA, because I believed that everything there was great. Now that I am older and have more information, I am so thankful that I grew up in Europe (Netherlands). Before the internet was accessible as it is now, our information on what living in the USA was (mostly) catered by Hollywood, hence 'the American dream'. The accessibility to information that the internet provides has changed the view of people living outside of the USA on what it is actually like to live there and (no hate but) the low standard of life compared to here. While the internet can enlarge issues and problems, I believe that the USA is disfunctional. Just to name a few: healthcare, gun control, work/life balance and the polarization of politics are problems that the USA has to change to do well by their citizens. I'm sorry for the long comment. For example, In a country as small as the Netherlands we have more than 15 political parties which represent our society. While personally I do think that's a lot😅 especially for such a small country, it is representative of what the people value. A country like the USA having only two parties (Republican or Conservative) seems crazy. Especially because politics influences everything in life.
For me as a German it was interesting to watch your video. I used to spend much time abroad and always felt the urgency to show, that not all of the Germans are Nazis, uptight, unfriendly or that we don't have a sense of humor. One of my best friends is American and she has been living in Germany for more than 5 years. We are talking a lot about the cultural differences all the time. I used to spend 5 months in the US and I experienced stuff with Americans which I didn't like. But Europeans are not better - especially when it comes to their political elections in the last 10 years. Thus prejudices on any side are stupid all together.
Obviously when we give our opinion about a nation, it is taken for granted that one thing is the individual, and another thing is the individual being part of that unit. The idea that we have of the inhabitants of the United States is hard earned. Because of his violent foreign policy, because of his statements regarding that policy "we defend our interests." Because of its very bad internal policy, lack of all kinds of rights, based on individualism, the exploitation of man by man. After they go out into the world and believe that everything is owed to them, it is a pure anecdote.
As a European I feel sorry that you made this experience when you have been in Europe. There is no simple good and bad - most people simply do not know enough to behave like you mentioned. Every nation is different and you have to be open to get into it. You are a good guy.
The internet often seems negative, because the negative stuff is being constantly pushed in your face. While at the same time, you have to actively look for the positive stuff to even find it. And when you do take the time to look for it, you'll find that there are lots of videos about the good in humanity and every country/culture.
Well, I think what you say about the dutch people might be true. But also take in account that we dutch people, have a culture of directness. In our country many people just speak their minds, it isn't intended to be mean, it is just a culture we have. Most dutch people are not really aware of their own cultural directness and how this is different in (most) other cultures. Plus dutch in general are very well educated about american culture, and what goes on there.... but they don't realize that what they have learned is pretty one sided and that there is more nuance to it. Combine all this I can imagine you might have had some explosive or otherwise memorable interactions 🙂 I myself am married to someone from another continent. It has confronted me a lot with my own directness.... But also with how uneasy it is for me when other people don't speak their mind. I think dutch people in general will be suspicious of foreign politeness and make it out for something different than it is intended to be.
I think that europeans are vying for loving america so much,that everytime we are disappointed with America we get frustrated. But most of us love you guys
I was born and educated in England (UK). When visiting USA a waitress asked why I did not speak English? I explained my background at which time a man at the next table said "You don't speak English, you speak a kind of English"
How can a person be so arrogant to tell a native of another country they do not speak the language of their country of birth??
To be fair tho i dont understand people from the uk too. Y’all speak really wierd english😂 i understand americans a lot better
Not surprising at all. Americans like revelling in their stupidity confusing it for knowledge.
@@gastarbeiter8384it's not weird English. It's actual English. It's our language. Americans use a retarded version of it.
People from England speak English, sometimes with an accent depending where they live in England.
Americans speak English but with an American accent, accent differs depending on where they live in America.
You can't just say they speak "really weird english"
Unless they're Scottish :D@@gastarbeiter8384
@@gastarbeiter8384they speak ACTUAL english. I mean, England = English.
After the company I once worked for was sold by a German corporation to a US corporation, I had colleagues in the US for 10 years of my professional life. I have never again experienced so much stupidity and ignorance in working out and supervising business. The supervisor mentality is frightening. No one thinks processes through to the end, there is always someone in charge, who says what to do. I left the company because of the American way of doing business. It was unbearable for a European like me. Today, the company is pretty much on the verge of closing down. The Americans have managed to ruin a German company that was successful for 175 years before the takeover within 30 years. I don't judge every US-American to be stupid and ignorant, that would be unfair and stupid. As an employee of a US company, however, one could come to this judgment.
Sort of what happened to SAAB too..With GM wanting them to build american cars for Europe. Like traveling back in time to us,,,
Ist das der Hersteller von Walzen für die Papierindustrie? Weltmarktführer aufgrund der hohen Qualität der Walzen? Ich habe da einen Bericht gesehen. Ich hätte heulen können, als ich das gesehen habe. Ich weiß leider den Namen der Firma nicht mehr, aber ich weiß noch, dass die Firma in einem relativ kleinen Ort angesiedelt war, Hauptarbeitsgeber sozusagen.
@@Dirk-Ulowetz Nein, ich habe bei einem mittelständischen Chemieproduzenten gearbeitet. Wir gehörten zu dem drittgrößten Chemiekonzern in Europa (weltweit Nummer 10) und der Vorstandsvorsitzende hatte Anfang der 90ger ein wenig herumexperimentiert. Das führte zum Zerfall des Konzerns und bedeutete für uns, dass der neue Eigentümer US-Amerikaner wurde. Das dickste Ding war ein Geschäft, das 200 Mio. USD Umsatz und rund 25% Ertrag gebracht hätte. Weil die US-Anwälte darauf bestanden, dass der Kunde einen 120 Seiten Vertrag (!!) unterschreibt, haben wir das Ding verloren.
Interesting…I work for an American company that was just bought by a German company. We’re hoping for better benefits, though my company wasn’t bad by American standards, the health insurance could be better. We’re all expecting good things from it; we’re just waiting to see what changes will happen come the new year. Right now, their people are studying our people and determining what will or will not change.
US corporate culture is transitioning from an old style hierarchic to everyone taking responsibility. Just remember where many US citizens came from originally and what social structures they brought with them.
I’m Swiss and moved to the US in 2019. I didn’t only move to a different continent, I shockingly time traveled 50-100 years backwards to the past. Now after 5 years I’m moving back to the present and back to civilized Europe. 😉
what exactly is this supposed to mean? America isn't 50-100 years behind Europe...
True Swiss mentality right there
@@youremyuni_verse In many things it is.
@@MissRed92837 Like what things? I'm actually curious at this point
@@youremyuni_verse In most European countries the system is different. The public gets much more back from the taxes they pay. Like free or affordable healthcare, the level of education is higher in public schools, college and university are free of charge, infrastructure is well maintained and updated, strict gun laws, healthy food (most in the US processed foods are illegal in Europe due to the many unhealthy ingredients), abortions are not illegal, nobody has to be homeless, at least 4 weeks of paid vacation in most European countries and much more.
My biggest problem with some Americans is when they pretend the US is the greatest country in the world. Even if they admit that the US has massive problems, they refuse to look to other countries for solutions. Because in their minds, no other country can ever do anything better than the US.
This is because they are brainwashed from an early age. The national anthem on the most insignificant occasions, the ubiquitous flag, everywhere you go you hear how great America is. The greatest and most perfect of all possible countries. From the outside, however, I see a country struggling with itself. Only 2 parties to choose from, none of them progressive. Republicans in particular are very backward looking. The abortion laws, the gun ownership, the people who are faithful to the Bible or even evangelicals. I see the crime, the shootings, the drugs, the healthcare system, the rotten suburbs, the crowds of poor or even homeless people. In addition, I have the impression that the whole system there is geared towards the exploitation of workers. But politicians and the media keep drumming it into the people there that the USA is the greatest country on the planet.
It's because of the subsidizing of the world's defense & economy, otherwise, we wouldn't have that view.
@@Timbothruster-fh3cw Thank you for proving my point
They don't "pretend", they are convinced of it. They have it drummed into them from an early age. Their "Pledge of Allegiance to The Flag" at school has a lot to answer for in that regard.
@@Timbothruster-fh3cwlol subsidizing the world defense and economy huh.. Jesus.. All you fund is the defense of your empire with which your elites are extracting the resources of third world countries.. You're brainwashed Bud
Not just Europeans a lot of people from Asian countries and places like Australia and NZ feel the same, I like Americans just not the government. I lived in US for ages in my 20’s and they spoke a lot about US being the land of free but I actually felt a lot more free living in Europe and Australia and NZ
Same here. I’m Swiss, living in the US since 2019. I have much less freedom and much less freedom of speech here in the US. I’m moving back to Europe by the end of this year.
@@MissRed92837I wish you a safe journey home, much love from the netherlands ❤
@@anahill2366 Thank you! 💗
I love the everage americans who is put down and can not travel. They are usualy very sweet and sweet hearted like the eastern european were during the soviet time.
I lived in australia and it is TRUE you are more free but now it is an economic push down the middle class.
WANDER whos habbits is that and where is all this come from can you quess?
I am from Austria. So, I am from a country that bears the same guilt as Germany for WW2 and the holocaust. One of the main reasons why this evil was was possible was nationalism (in the extremest sense of the word). As a result, Germans and Austrians see nationalism quite differently. Of course we are proud of our respective countries but we also recognize that they are by far (!) not perfect. That is why I always feel very uncomfortable if someone tells me that America is the geartest country in the world. This is a purely emotional sentiment that has noting to do with reality. Emotions can easily be exploited (Trump) and that is exactly what happend in Germany and Austria in the 1930s. Jan 6 was only a question of time...
I am from Austria as well and I am glad I saw you're comment because I hadn't even thought of that, but I do think nationalism is a big reason I sometimes find Americans (only online, haven't been there yet) unlikable. I can't help but imediatly associate it with racism and thinking you're better than everyone else.
I am curious what you think of how I view things. So I am American and I do believe America is the best country on Earth, but not for those reasons. I believe it’s the best country because it’s mine. It’s my home, and I love my people and my home. I love when people tell me that Americans are boisterous and energetic, it makes me feel warm about my own people. Basically I believe it’s my best country, even if others do things much better than us. I know my country is very imperfect and has several major issues and problems. I do like to look at other countries for potential solutions or ideas, for example perhaps how Germany does healthcare might have some validity in America.
What would you say of this viewpoint?
@@garabic8688 I absolutely agree with that. I want to clarify, that I'm not against nationalism in general, it depends on the type of nationalism. Like if you just love and appreciate the place you live in and the people around you, that's a very positive thing. But sometimes nationalism can lead to people making excuses for mistakes or problems inside their country or people thinking "people from my country are generally better than people from other countries, because my country is the best" or something along those line. Those are the types of nationalism that have lead to many wars and that we should be wary of and call out if we notice them. And as far as I understood, you don't even think the US is the best country in the world objectively, but just for you personally to live in, which I think, is completely fine and valid. Thanks for asking for my opinion by the way (I hope you were asking for mine, if not I'm sorry).
@@garabic8688 Bye the way, I've heard that Americans "pledge their allegiance to the flag" at schools. Maybe you can explain that to me, because as someone who is from a country, that was part of the NS regime not that long ago, that idea seems, to put it simply, horrifying.
@@inlandmango8282 Thanks for responding! It is interesting to hear your perspective. Yes, we do pledge allegiance to the flag, I've never personally felt a negative connotation to it. Here I'll list what the pledge says if you haven't seen it before:
I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thats the entire pledge that is said at the start of the school day. I've never really felt any dangerous or negative connotations with these words, because I've always viewed it as a call to national unity and loyalty to the ideals of our constitution. As we have freedom of speech as a constitutional right, students are not forced to make this pledge. I knew many students who wouldn't stand for the pledge, either because they didn't care, and some who legitimately didn't want to. I personally always did say it because I found it to be respectful to my nation, and any problems that we do have I never felt were enough to protest by not reciting the pledge, because I saw that as a protest against the entire nation in a sense, similar to how I personally would never protest any issue I hold dear by not standing for our national anthem. However, that is just my personal standing and despite my disapproval of protesting by doing that, it's ridiculous when you have people saying its not allowed, it is most certainly allowed in the United States.
It's not that the Dutch are more critical, its just that they're more open and honest... They aren't hiding their opinion behind a fake smile to make you feel better about what you're hearing...
That is true Dave , greetings from the Netherlands .
That's what I've said aswell, Americans tend to fake it way more and feel offended very easily, it seems tiresome to talk to one because you'd have to waste much of your time and put lots of effort into thinkin if they show their true face or their fake face while carefully filtering every single word to see if it could be offensive to them so you don't get a live drama performance.
As a Belgian though, I do think that some Dutchies -even though they don't like to waste your time or their time being wasted- could do some teeny bit more effort to sayn what they think in a more polite way. I'm going to give an example which isn't the best one to say what I mean so don't take this too literally but you can say "You're fucking ugly and fat" or "You're looking unkempt & overweight, I think you'd look way better if you would (insert example of what could make them prettier) and went to a dietitian or the gym that you'd look way better". This isn't a great example because in the second scenario you'd have to really think how to pick your words but bottomline is that you can make your message clear without sounding borderline offensive or like a dick. Just the same as there's aggressiveness and assertiveness there's ways to speak your mind but let someone in their waarde (don't know how to say this in English lol).
The Dutch have always been open, honest and in some cases brutally to the point, but that comes with a very open society which i as a Brit really think is refreshing.
forgot they be speaking german if it not was for us .think on that ? im from england ....trouble is people have short memorys ...
The Dutch are very Left-wing. So they would see Trump as a negative. When they say the USA is very polarised what they mean is that half of Americans don't think like them and therefore must be stupid (because the Dutch all think the same, neo-liberal, globalist, Woke, Green etc). The Dutch are a very arrogant race of people generally.
Oh Lord….that British girl saying ‘but we’re not in Europe because we left the EU’!! It’s a common misconception by lots of people and it drives me crazy. You can’t physically leave a continent only a club that sits in that continent. 😤
The "British Girl" it TOTALLY correct - Britain is an island NOT a continent nor is it part of a continent. Go and find out what a "continent" actually means - the meaning has been butchered enough in the last 60 years.
@@lemal0432 "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, simply known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland."
The Isles around a continent also are part of the continent. They aren't their own continent and they aren't no-mans-land. And that's the case way longer than 60 years.
@@CalmoOmlac Absolute Rubbish
@@lemal0432 - Oh dear, it appears you may have gone to the same school as the girl in the film. We are not attached physically to ‘mainland Europe’ but the UK is 100% a country in Europe. And just to prove it to you as you are uneducated yourself (even though I can’t believe I am having to!) here is a direct quote for you…
“While not attached to the mainland continent, the United Kingdom is part of Europe. To be specific, it is classified as belonging to the region of Western Europe.’
So if you want to nit pick then you are correct to say we are not physically attached to mainland continent of Europe but we are a country considered in Europe. Otherwise (in your world) where would you put the UK?….in The Arctic? North America or some made up place “Mid-Atlantica”!
In this film the bloke was asking in the context of those girls being European and the girl on the right was correct - we are European but not in the EU - BUT we are still very much European! End of. No more discussion. 🙄🙄🙄🙄
@@lemal0432 It's facts. Like it or not.
Dutchie here! First of all, I'm sorry that was your experience with us - but I'm also not surprised at all, haha. The Dutch are *extremely* direct and our 'lines-not-to-cross' and filters are completely different (if not almost non-existent) from most other people. Trust me when I say that this is not us trying to be condescending or anything, it's just always been the Dutch way: no nonsense, and no fakeness. And as a very sensitive Dutchie, growing up here wasn't always easy lol. But at the same time we are the most open-minded bunch you can come across as well. Next time just tell people to fuck off with their criticism, they will 100% appreciate that form of directness, and next you'll be the best of friends haha.
That being said, I do hope you know that we (or at least most of us) absolutely don't dislike Americans at all, not in *that* way anyway. If anything, I think it's kind of a feeling of "frustration" that we seem to share over here in Europe? It's like having this friend that you care about, who have a very strict background and kind of a one-sided believe system because they come from a long line of people who weren't really exposed to anything else outside of their little world - and who kinda seems to be trapped in their own world without realizing it. And you just want to "get them out of the house" for a little bit, and just show them "the rest of it"?
But I feel like maybe that's kind of an arrogant way of looking at things as well. And I'm sure there's people looking at Europeans that way too. And those people will have others look at them that way.
I think that's exactly it? The frustration bit I mean. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it any other way.
Very well said
Like when us Americans say , give me a call later, let's go out for a drink . It'd ment to be open ended for a reason, you want that person to decide what date is good for him or her to call and go for a drink. It's never to be flakey or rude , we give the 2nd person to decide , maybe he/she works till midnight on Friday and Saturday is better and we are having this conversation on a Monday. And if he/she didn't call right away maybe it's work? Family ? It's all good 👍
The US is still a great place. But also a land of extremes. Apart from the amazing stuff you have achieved that put you at where you are now...there is a lot of negative content out of there. Mass shootings all over the place, viggils with Teddy bears until the next one few days later. Government does nothing but bullshits its way out of the problem or instead of improving and changing your declining economy you prefer to bully and bring down the competition. Just look at your trade balance. The infrastructure...thats another story. Out of touch ,living in a self delusional bubble. Heads buried in the sand. Hope you're going to change until its not too late. 😊
I love Europe and Europeans for their croissants and their wine, but there are some things about them that just drive me crazy. From their identical gene pool to their efficient robots, Europe has some work to do before they can claim superiority over America. But until then, we'll just keep enjoying our fast food and our freedom of speech! Thank you and goodnight!
I was in Mexico once, and I explained to an American that I was Welsh and, as usual, had to explain that no Wales is not in England 🤦🏻♂️. I explained that in Wales, we also speak Welsh, which he thought was cool. He then followed on by saying that America has its own language too, to which he continued to say that he spoke American. I laughed and said, "No, you speak English." He frowned and insisted he spoke American. I asked, "Then how do I understand you as I speak English, not American" He became quite disgruntled and confused and he explained that Americans use words like "trash" and "dipers" to which I explained that they are just adaptations of words that already exist in the English language. He was not happy and walked away to my delight 😂
That just sounds like some douchebag prwtentious rich kid traveling with the laptop mommy baught him.
This same guy, if he hears someone say they are American, he would respond with "But America consists of South America and North America too. So do you mean you are from the United States because you are not Canadian or Mexican or Venezuelen" etc etc
Wow Americans are not the sharpest tool in the shed. 🤣
Ya, Im going to have to say this story is made up or at the very least embellished to make it sound funny.
Sounds like you met a particular type of American .... one that the rest of us Americans quaintly refer to as "fucking idiots". When you see a fucking idiot it's best to observe them the same way you observe a chimpanzee at the zoo... just act excited and praise their basic intellect, and leave before they start flinging shit.
@willcarey Nope! 100% true story. Why would anyone make up a story like that 😂
My granddaughter took a gap year at Univerrsity to be an Au Pair in Germany. We are Australian and she was enrolled in German school when she arrived. When the woman met her she bought her a new car and gave her complete control of the house and three children. She only worked Monday to Friday so she took her Hockey gear in case she could get a local game some weekends. When she went to the local club she found out she was already in three teams and she didn’t know how they knew she was coming. I did, she is from 5 Hockey Olympians on her fathers side. Same name and German people are not stupid. Some weekends she would go to Paris or somewhere else she wanted to see.
She is just finishing her Masters Degree and Doctorate as a Research Scientist. One that has already been published last year for her work in cancer cures using chemicals from foods we eat. Australia will not fund her research but America and Canada have been waiting three years for her. She wanted Germany, she has taught third year Biology and Chemistry for the last three years to support herself. Plus got an extra Biology Degree and another Degree in German while she was there. In a few weeks she leaves for Germany for three months holiday, she loves Octoberfest. Six weeks ago Germany offered for her and my German friends say she sounds more German than they do.
My youngest daughter finished two University Degrees at 20 and a week later she left to travel the world. When she goes to a non English speaking Country she always learns enough of their language to be polite and to be able to ask what she needs to know. The first time she went to Europe she could speak some of four languages. She is currently leaning Korean because that is where she was born and going next.
Do you get where I am going with this very long post yet? We care enough to learn some of the language of where we are going. Did you? My two youngest grandchildren are Canadian and you do not sound Canadian. They are both fluent in four languages and in high school in Australia.
We don’t like to stand out in other Countries. Just blend in and they know we are not from there. We have had to learn to say Australian in three other languages or they think we are from Austria.
I'm a French hotel clerk. I've been to the US as part of a highschool trip when I was 14, and a second time when I was 25, volunteering through my Social Work school to work for 6 months in Syracuse NY at an NGO purposed to house, educate and integrate immigrants. This was in 2019 full blown during the Trump era.
I've met a few Americans at my hotel job, and the difference I would make is this : American standalone travelers I enjoy talking to a lot. They're generally here to make new experiences and better themselves, and it's a joy to see and talk to them.
American FAMILIES though ?! What went wrong guys ? I have good memories with 2 families coming to visit. Out of dozens I've seen. More often than not I see provider dads with Karen wives and Tiktok kids, whose utmost priority is to make sure that the services I provide for their money fits their little dilusions of grandeur. "Is the water drinkable ? Is the food fresh and worth its price ? If I have you call a taxi for us how do I know you're not calling a friend to rip us off ?" are sadly things I've heard.
All this being said ... I could make the same criticisms about Brits. These people have changed since Brexit. I don't know what kind of saltiness you guys are trying to wash off yourself in your treatment of me, but it's been noted and will be dealt with with the appropriate level of bakchanded jokes to your face.
And seeing that in these particular nationalities doesn't keep me from seeing the biggotry in an Italian trophy wife or the infamously gluttonous German dads. And don't get me started on the bunch of cheapskates my fellow countrymen are.
But that's enough xenophobia for one man. I'm just trying to highlight how everybody regardless of their origin gets entitled from time to time. Though it's got a different flair to it mostly depending on origin actually.
The only thing I could add and agree to that most people interviewed in the original video pointed out is : I really didn't feel safe during my time in the US. "Don't fend for yourself too much around here, you never know who might have a gun and a temper" is a real everyday thought I carried with me. WHich brings up a real sense of injustice running the country from top to bottom.
Anyways don't feel bad for being from some place or another. There're good people everywhere. And there're smartasses like me to tear new ones to whomever isn't.
The only person salty over brexit is clearly you. We didn’t want unelected fools telling us what to! Why is that so hard to understand?
Agree. You are a good person. I’m American. I love the French and the Brits because of this level of thought and sophistication. Saltiness, it’s a human trait.
I’m an American and I don’t feel safe around here. I rarely have. I’m just used to expecting bad things can happen and then hope they don’t. I had knife pulled on me when I was seven and I lived in a village. Yet, I look back and think, “Well, at least we didn’t have mass shootings everyday.” Sure, their was that whole mutually assured destruction scare with the USSR, but those were better days for sure….weellll, maybe for white people. I will acknowledge the privilege my glow-in-the-dark skin of very Western European heritage grants me in the world. I say world because there are countries that consider skin color darker than a light tan to be black.
Don't treat all British the same. I didn't want to be out of the EU, I loved the idea of being European and still do. Like the US has Trump fans, we had Boris fans.
@@iaincphotography6051 don't worry mate ! I'm always nice to everyone. I only adjust my attitude depending on what people give back =)
I went to school with 2 Americans. Their father was serving with NATO in the UK. They were great friends and really good people. Speak as you find.
I've noticed that Americans are always asking the question, do people like us? If you ask that question you are more likely to get a negative response rather than a positive one.
When travelling the world as a Brit it's not something I think about.
A good thing about yourself is you want to travel and experience other cultures. Most Americans don't seem to travel much.
Travelling is a form of education which gives you a word view instead of blinked view.
You are right, Paul, as a Brit, I just assume they don't like us and go from there
Maybe if you are asking that question, you are also trying to get affirmation of what you may have been told or seen in the media whilst growing up, "We are the best, no one is better than us., we were the first". We dont tend to have that over here, we dont brag about who we are, what our worldwide achievements are, we dont "blow our own trumpet" as much.
Americans love to travel to Walmart, Starbucks, and the all-you-can-eat buffet.
I knew some Londoners that constantly talked about how much better they were than us.
Isn't the US the developed country with the least amount of passports per capita?
I always say "US Americans" when clarifying 🤔
Like "A US American once asked me if we had beaches in my country....the reply that my country (Ireland) is literally an island did not prove to be a satisfactory response for her" 😂
No hate please. Just a funny anecdote. I am quite sure there's many foolish questions I have asked in my life 😘
I met an Irish dude who never heard of Serbia, my country of origin. It's the same continent, how is that even possible 😂 but those kind of people are everywhere, the US of A just seems to have a higher percentage of that people
@@adayinthelifeofanorthkorea 🤣 that's hilarious.
I mean, my German Nan still calls it "Yugoslavia", but she is old old .... everyone younger than her should know 🫤
@@deires77 my mom i always saying czechoslovakia 😅
The irish dude was back then like: interesting, never heard of it. Is it in Europe?
Hell yeah it's in Europe. It's basically between Croatia and Greece, both countries this guy visited in his summer vacations. Weird. I mean, I can't know everything, but the existence of a country which isn't a small island inhabited by 15k people somewhere in the pacific but in the very continent I live in should be normal common knowledge lol
Yes, i also always use the term US American
@@adayinthelifeofanorthkorea I would expect Europeans interested in football to be familiar with the names of European countries since, at one time or another, we end up in the same group in the qualifying rounds of football championships.
It takes more humble Americans like you to show up on the net. It's as simple as that.
I think it’s not the average Joe “ problem “ if you talk with a American or European it’s just normal. But if it’s comes political issues then you’re lost especially if you’re a US American … the most Americans give a shit about the world outside of the US. U just think the world is just spinning around u if there is nothing else there outside
Media , media , media , and those nationalistic Americans who think they are better than anyone see no wrong in there country , if you care about your country you criticize and see its faults too .its the only way to make changes .😊
I think everyone deserves to have pride in where they are from, that doesnt mean that they think they are better, or perfect. I love the US, but i dont think we are better than anyone else. I just refuse to let this narrative slide because its simply not true.
@@jetcox6760 yes be proud of where your from , but a few are at the extreme that's not to say it doesn't exist elsewhere other than the states , I suppose it's beacause the u.s. can come across as insular and not worldly , the one thing that really bugs me is the arrogance about the 2nd world war how the u.s. saved Europe from nazi Germany when it was a joint effort involving many nations ( not saying all think this way ) . Unfortunately it's platform's like this that the ignorant like to pipe up on . I've been to the u.s. 3 times and found the people friendly , helpful and positive .
One thing you must know about Dutch people. They say it like it is or what they think about it. For foreigners it seems rude. But you never have to question what they mean. They tell it like it is. Keep that in mind the next time you talk to Dutch people. It's not about being rude, it's about not wasting anybody's time!
I'm British and have been to the US a few times, Canada a couple of times and Europe many times. We have many similarities, but it's the differences that stand out and makes each more interesting.
I have met many friendly people in each of those countries, but have found that it's social media and mainstream news that spins the negativity around.
Do you mean mainland Europe, because if you live in the UK you're in Europe.
@@lifeofanarchaeologistEurope is just a synonym for Spain, Italy, France and Portugal 😂
And let's not forget about their art. They think they have the right to dictate what is considered beautiful in the world! But have you ever seen a painting by a European artist? It's like looking at a bunch of colors smeared together on a canvas! And don't even get me started on their music! It's like listening to a bunch of people yelling in a foreign language!
Exactly. And if you go to Europe or some other part of the world and ask a bunch of people what their impression of the US is, knowing all their information comes from MSM and social media, it's going to be negative, and highly slanted to the left. Case in point, how many Europeans look down on Americans for voting for Trump? Like it's really any of their business.
That British woman who said she wasn't European because "we left the E.U.", sort of blew the whole "Americans are a bit thick" argument to bits.
You said it yourself "British" its the americans of europe
That's why the Europeans have us down as thick too in Britain x
She thinks we placed an outboard motor on Brightons coast and sailed UK away from EU. (We pretended to forget Ireland).
Brilliant! I’ve been whinging about this misconception on this feed for ages. It drives me mad when people think we have somehow left the continent of Europe when we left the EU. And that girl getting it so badly wrong highlights how some youngsters don’t understand!
I was brought up post-war and we used to refer to Western Europe as the Continent and Eastern Europe as the Soviet Bloc. We never thought of Great Britain as part of Europe.
Hi Joel!
I found your comments about Dutch people, around 6:00 into the video, quite amusing, because it's a very common experience!😆
One of the most important things to understand about the Dutch is that they are FAMOUS for being very blunt, plain-speaking and direct in their manner, in a way that can come across as 'rude' to anyone who is not used to them. And it's not just Americans who think this, but EVERYONE who isn't Dutch.
The fact is that the Dutch ARE blunt, plain-speaking and direct, but not because they are arrogant, combative or insensitive (they are actually quite the opposite of these things). The reasons for this can be found in their unique history as the first republic in Europe, with one of the largest international maritime trading empires (via the Dutch East India company in the 1600s), their strong tendency towards liberal and progressive politics and social values, their tolerance and egalitarianism, and their respect for honesty and truthfulness in all matters including personal interactions. The result of this is that THEY DON'T DO BULLSHIT; they don't deal it and they don't take it from others. There is no double-speak, euphemism or circumlocution with the Dutch; they say what they mean and mean what they say, and don't 'beat about the bush'. They like to keep everything on-the-level, straightforward and out in the open. This has the undeniable advantage of keeping things simple by avoiding any ambiguity or misunderstanding.
I am a Brit (from London) who has been visiting the Netherlands regularly for over thirty years. Amsterdam is my favourite foreign city and virtually my second home. So I have interacted with countless native Dutch people, and I actually find this Dutch national characteristic of frank directness quite endearing. It is also very refreshing, particularly when compared to the often rather frustrating tendency of the British (and, to a lesser extent, Americans) to indulge in the exact opposite style of communication, where no one says what they mean or means what they say, for fear of causing offence or to avoid personal criticism. The Dutch can find this indirect form of communication confusing, insincere, evasive and even insulting. With an academic background in mathematics and physics, I value and have a deep respect for the truth, and the fact that the Dutch express the same mindset through their social interactions and speech is something I find both impressive and admirable.
In summary, don't be offended by a Dutch person when they say something that comes across as blunt or rude. Most likely, they are not being intentionally insulting and don't mean to cause offence; they are just being true to their national stereotype as possibly the most reliably honest and truthful people in the world (and that's a good thing as far as I am concerned). See links below.
BTW, now you've done Germany, can I recommend that you consider the Netherlands as your next European destination? I am certain that you will fall in love with both the country and its people, just as I did over 30 years ago. I am also confident that you will be blown-away by Amsterdam, which I think is one of the most picturesque, walkable, atmospheric, laid-back and just plain chilled-out cities on the planet (no, fuckit, THE most). Also, the Dutch people are, according to various surveys, some of the nicest and happiest people in the world in terms of standard measures of friendliness, social-mindness, quality of life and contentment. You will probably find this vibe rubbing off on you, as it did with me, which is why I find my trips to Amsterdam so profoundly relaxing and de-stressing (especially compared to my life in London!).
So PLEASE do a travelogue of Amsterdam and NL! You won't regret it, and I think all your followers would love to share your experiences!
Cheers,
QS
Links on Dutch directness:
ruclips.net/video/wrEZwe1nbBU/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/i580Y1taI_I/видео.html
You are a good example for an open minded american young man. I like your view .
I‘m German and I‘ve been thinking about why these reaction videos, especially American reactions, are sooo popular. I grew up thinking the US was the coolest place in the world. I was there as a young exchange student in 2001. I loved every minute, the people, the atmosphere, I never wanted to leave. However, I also felt very clearly that Americans couldn‘t really care less about me as a non-American. In every respect and beyond any doubt the US-way was the one way to go, I just felt it. No word about other countries in school, never on the news, never at the dinner table, especially not with my friends from High School. And this didn‘t change when I visited the US many more times as I got older. I started to feel a little taken aback. Most Americans didn‘t even look down on other countries, most Americans just did not care, they didn‘t even care enough to look down. When Trump started his „America First“ BS and we saw the images of millions cheering this man on - up until today, that changed something for many Europeans. I personally became disgusted. Now, officially, a majority of Americans openly confessed to what I had always suspected: the stupider, the more selfish the better, US first, ME first, my views and my views only. Of course I know that‘s not everybody in the US, I know that, but I will forever be shocked that Trump was actually elected and it could happen AGAIN… And now Joel and others come along and give us (Germans) the feeling that they care, that they want to learn, that they like Europe so much that I can hardly believe it because a lot of annoying stuff happens here, too, every day, there is so much to criticize. But, hey, there is an American who recognizes that we exist, and that we have cool stuff to contribute and are worth hanging out with and talking to. How much Europeans still crave American attention and recognition: Just look at your subscribers, why do you think they subscribe? Many want that recognition after decades of feeling ignored. Feels good to me, at least.
I don't think Europeans understand us as well as you all like to think you do. Unlike Europe which is in the Eurasian landmass and connected to most of the World's population, the US is tucked between two large bodies of water to the east and west; Canada to the north which culturally is not too much different from us and population wise significantly smaller; and Mexico to the south whom we embrace culturally and have great relations with. Latin America is a relatively peaceful region as far as international conflicts go, so outside of your typical drug war news, there's noting super exciting going on there. No civil wars much less wars between countries. On top of that, because we are a country of 300 million inhabitants with high purchasing power, we are independent when it comes to consumption of media and entertainment. We don't need to import much because we produce enough celebrities internally. The result is that we live in a bubble when it comes to geopolitical and entertainment news.
As for when we say we're the best country in the world, you have to understand that this is the way we talk and it's more of a facetiously comment than a literal statement; like when you tell your mother she's the best mother in the world. Keep in mind you hear American rappers and athletes say "I am the best that ever was" all of the time. Americans understand this to mean "you're supposed to believe in yourself and think you're the best, if not, then why compete?" It's nothing personal but this is how we're wired. We're obsessed with "keeping a positive attitude" and "having a game-winning mindset". The average American consumes hours of self-improving/motivational and life coach books and videos a week so we act like this but don't mean any harm, and in most cases, didn't know it was hurting Europe's feelings.
Lastly, America First is just a slogan. For populists on the right, it means making policies that better our people but not to hurt anyone else. For example, stopping Black Rock, State Street and Vanguard from buying every single home in the country (which they are doing now.) It means stop starting wars in other countries to profit our industrial military complex and invest that money domestically. It means stop letting Bill Gates buy all of the farm land in the Midwest and help rural families keep their land. It means stopping illegal immigration and protecting our manufacturing industry. It means ending intelligence agencies that spy on civilians and attack political rivals on both the right and the left.
America First does not mean screw the world. ON the contrary, Trump helped broker peace between North and South Korea and he helped create the Abraham Accords to establish friendlier relations between Arab countries and Israel.
Americans are by far some of the most generous people in the world. On a per capita basis, we're one of the people that most donates to international efforts and disaster relief funds. We're a charitable people unlike many European nations.
@@UserX-u8p Thanks for your long reply. I can see the truth in what you are saying and it is actually very helpful to me to try and see things from your perspective, too. I haven‘t had anyone explain it to me like that before.
@@chriselis77 I sensed honesty in your posted and wanted to add some perspective. hopefully you're now one less European that hates our guts.
I studied in the NL for a semester and it was amazing. People there were so open and although there are superficial ppl everywhere, I found them as a whole to be less so. We talked politics and all but I am Mexican. Also the NL is where the international court is, they are very pro human rights so ofc they might be more critical to the US, a country which doesn’t care for human rights, doesn’t believe or truly practices international law (which are more like a framework of norms to avoid countries being bullies and such) and yeah, all that.
As for the 90’s thing. I agree, the internet was not super big. If it had been, ppl would have thought the same about the US with Clinton’s humanitarian wars and such. Always intervening.
I know these international policies and such don’t represent all Americans and I’m sorry for generalizing, I feel for you guys cause there is not much you can do about it but exercise your rights as citizens and demand a better leader and stop consuming drugs and all that.
Edit: I also think that because of all these policies and such you have with “helping other countries find the right way” (your way) and all the influence power you have, you don’t care to take responsibility. The waves the US creates have big consequences all over and it causes social disarray everywhere. Maybe I’m wrong but I remember the whole trump thing and how there was a Dutch guy running for elections that everyone was calling “the Dutch trump”, you had the French woman le pen or something aaaaand what is portrayed in the internet is that there are Americans that love this or there are Americans that don’t care about it and just make social media content while the rest of the Americans that care and such are simply hidden to the world. MAYBE. It’s just my thoughts anyway!
Hear hear, 👏👏👏 (not just my Dutch bias or pride - Peace Palace 🤟)
People did think similar things in the 90's maybe a little less - but it was mostly about cigars and dresses with Clinton.
My experience is that (as everywhere in the world) it’s where your roots are. I visited the US quite a few times. I admit, East coast only but from the to to the bottom. It makes a huge difference if you talk (I mean really communicate) with people from the North-East, the middle of the East or the South of the East coast. Personally I experienced the best real communication in the Boston area. Although polarization is getting heavier here in Europe, the way it’s developing in the US is devastating. As we (in Europe) have an interactive heavy flu, in my opinion the US is getting quite close to the brink of civil war. If a country allows a criminal moron as Trump voted to there ‘citizen nr 1, it tells something from the country.
I am a retired navy vet, worked and spend time with a lot of US navy colleagues. An eye opening experience. I could (and did) learn from them and they from me. Cultural side, huge difference. They were way more ‘into their group’ we were much more experienced with ‘being abroad’ and ‘culture differences’. E.g. although we are good neighbors with the Germans and Belgiums, we didn’t share a very close cultural similarity. We, the Dutch in general, tend to be quite direct and that can be very disturbing for others. Personally, I like it if somebody is honest and open in what somebody really means. I am hard to insult and ‘my toes are rather short’, in other words, you don’t step on the that easily. If somebody asks my opinion, they get my opinion, however I (really) try to do it in a civil manner (my lovely wife doesn’t always agrees 😊). There are more than 300M US citizens, I am convinced the vast majority are good people meaning wel, but a more realistic eye on what’s happening in he world would be very nice (and there are a lot of Dutch who should as well). Being open minded is an art, it should be a lifestyle.
I'm from Australia and I think it's the same for us. There's those who mess it up for the rest and behave badly
In my long British life I've never met an Australian I didn't like. Maybe you only export the nice ones!
It would be interesting to ask us Aussies what we think of Americans!
The video you watched is full of intelligence and your reaction is nice to see. yes stereotypes are harsh and we all suffer from them one day, whether they are justified or not. The Internet has exacerbated the problem. what you can tell yourself is that the internet also allows you to become aware of it. When I look at you, I realize that you also represent a generation of young people from the USA who think, educate themselves, open their minds, question themselves. It feels good. What people think of you the first time they see you will probably not be the same after getting to know you personally. Continue like this.
Hello from Belgium 🖐🏻
My dad is a retired engineer who used to travel around the world for business since the 1970s. I've heard quite some stories from his trips since I've been a baby and remember that I never wanted to go to the US because he had already told me about the (gun) crimes and being scared (he never dramatised his stories - just personal anecdotes and as jokes, he also made it clear that it wasn't like that in the whole US just in some parts and that the people he met there were really nice - so I was not traumatised or had a bad image of the citizens - just decided for myself that I never wanted to go there). So this has been a problem since way before the internet.
I've been to Hawai'i and NY since. I LOVED it there. The people, the atmosphere etc. It felt like home in NY especially. I know they are not really representatives of the US but that's also why I think there is some truth to the stereotypes of the US. But that goes for any country in the world. They all have their own stereotypes which are never true for the whole country. That's just the nature of stereotypes. I still don't want to live in the US though because of the non existent health care, the (gun) crimes and other facts.
I think most of the people who don't like the "Americans" don't actually mean the Americans but their government and some laws - and the people who agree with these laws. So if you are saying you don't agree with these things then you are not meant as their "target". If you want to you could say you are not THAT type of American whenever you hear someone say something negative about them after you've introduced yourself as one. But I personally don't think that's necessary because from then on it only becomes a me vs you conversation.
You are still young and I can see your youth through some of your comments but I think you are very mature despite your age. And I admire your curiosity and the will to learn. Please don't let negative comments about your country get to you too closely. They are not meant against you personally. It's healthy to keep an open mind and to question a lot of things but it's not to take what other people have to say personally.
I don ´t dislike Americans. I dislike american Politics There is a difference, but than I dislike the german Politics too
I grew up loving the US (through TV Shows). Then I learned about what it was really like there and the disappointment resulted in a very anti-US phase (you should never meet your heros, they say). Now it's mostly just disappointment and pity. In many ways the US is it's own worst enemy.
There's this common theme through all media, public statments etc that the US is the best and greatest ("Land of the Free" etc).
My personal opinion is that most USians are indoctrinated to believe that when they are young, and through exported media,TV etc. promoting the same views, so are many Europeans (certainly my own generation). The difference between the two is that Europeans grow up and have something (their own political, economic, social systems) to compare and contrast with the indoctrination. USians, unless like yourself they actively educate themselves and explore, never see outside that bubble.
I think that you really think you know how we think but your so far off its almost opposite. The only time I ever hear of the concept " Americans think they are better than everyone" its 100% of the time coming from Europeans who are telling people what we think, feel, say, do etc. No, we dont think we are better than anyone else, in fact thats why when something goes wrong in the world, we both as a people and with government driven efforts, try to do what we can to help, fully aware that we may not be able to do much. But we still try. Nice to know that litterally no one ever credits us with that, but we sure get the "Arrogant, Delusional, backwards, idiot" tags." Neat.
@@jetcox6760 It's an opinion formed from my own experiences. I'm also fairly sure that many USians share my opinion; that memorable scene from The Newsroom pilot episode suggests they do. Why then is this opinion so prevalent, enough so that it becomes the anchor on which to hook a TV series?
This is an anecdote of course but I once met an American in an Italian restaurant where they played O, Sole Mio and she proudly remarked that the song was a rip off of Elvis' it's Now Or Never.
16:46 The US was not nice to Latin America for years.
Exactly. The US has meddled in Latin American affairs for over 150 years.
@@alicemilne1444because they are afraid of Communism creeping into America as it is in South America.
Many years ago, I worked for an American multinational. I never forget that when I met the head of treasury at the HQ in DFW, he proudly told me that it took him over 30 years to convince the Irish government that he was an Irish descendant. I don't know how he did it but he said that when he finally got his Irish passport he cried. This was an old American grown up man, very successful at a very high level in the company but yet, he suffered from an identify insecurity. I've been in the US many times, mostly on business and I heard on many occasions that Americans told that they were actually Scottish, Irish or Italian etc. Clearly, some Americans want to be identified with where they originally came from.
I was shocked hearing the English girl saying we are not Eu ropeans, because we
left the EU ! We have a saying here, " as thick as two short planks"!
We're not Europeans, we're English, Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish.
The Referendum was in 2016, its been 7 years. Get over it!
Europe is a continent that the UK is part of. The UK has left EU. Two different things!
@@English.not.BritishWell said, these remoaners will still be crying about Brexit in 30 years 😂😂😂 Absolutely pathetic
@@MattyEnglandshut up, we’re still part of the European continent whether you like it or not.
I don't think Europeans dislike Americans. I think Americans confuse Europeans. Superficially, Americans are like Europeans and yet under the surface they're not. How can a country like the USA be so wealthy and in some ways advanced, yet be so societally backward and its people so uninformed? This is puzzling and almost contradictory. I'm always reminded of Oscar Wilde - " _Name me another country that has gone from barbarism to decadence without bothering to create a civilization in between_ ".
@@HeadOffLL
And I dislike your random usage of double spacing your sentences.
I am always amazed by all the Europeans and others who are posting who have been here in the States and have a friend/mother/father/grandmother/grandfather/aunt/uncle/cousin/coworker who lived here or know someone who has an opinion on how uneducated or unhealthy or any other negative opinion they may have about Americans. Let me just say we don't care to have you come and grace us with all your perfection. Americans too have friends and family and we don't care to talk about Europeans and Australians or anyone else, we have better things to do because you don't matter in our lives. Most of us don't visit you in Europe because we have a beautiful country and a big one and it would take us most of our lives to visit before we ever got to your little itsy bitsy countries with rude people your older/senior citizens aren't being honest or straight forward they are rude. So please from a proud American stay-at-home, we know the British speak English, in Denmark it's Danish, Belgium it's French Yada Yada Yada. We have every language spoken in the U.S. and it may not be perfect but we try.
Worked with a girl from Belgium for about a year, who was on a temporary assignment here in the States. She was so rude, to say the least. Being over here without family on Easter, I invited her to dinner. She accepted the invitation and then never showed up. We waited 2 solid hours, way more than she deserved, and finally realized she wasn’t coming. Upon seeing her the next day, she blew it off when I asked her about it. She apparently had the same opinion that Americans are dumb. Ok, most of us are, but she was also very condescending. Making veiled insults. I’d rather be considered dumb than to be so obviously rude and condescending. She certainly didn’t leave a very good impression of her country.
I'm sorry for you. She was very rude behavior. Hope you have other experiences in the future.
I think there are two elements here that resonated with me. I am English but grew up watching Hill Street Blues, Little House on the Prairie & many other American programs. That gave us a view of America that maybe due to the transparency of social media has been destroyed to some degree. However, I don't think the question is as simple as do we like Americans. I have many American friends and most of them come from metropolitan areas. These people seem to have a balanced view of the world as they are exposed to people from other cultures and countries. Then we see and hear people from the bible belt! The attitude around education, politics, and morals seems to conflict very much with the general European attitude towards the same things.
Social media has largely censored any view that are not progressive, it has been proven in recent congressional hearings. You are not getting a full or true picture of what goes on in the U.S., neither are we. How is the "Koran belt" and grooming gangs in jolly old England or are you still not allowed to talk about it? Did they ever release that government study? Because that greatly conflicts with our general morale attitude.
A lot of Americans dislike Americans too. I was an exchange student for 3 months in the US and I can totally understand why people use the word stupid. A girl said to me that Europe is a hoax invented by the Democrats. Her dad told her this and he’s smart and knows everything. Me as an Italian I was like what the hell?!?
You also see this with tourists, how many times I thought by myself, how ignorant can you be. If someone doesn’t respect your culture you can be sure it’s an American. An American family addressed us in Milano asking doesn’t Europe have more modern cities, everything is so old here. I had to bite my tongue and pretended I didn’t spoke English. To call Italy or any other country Europe is disrespectful but to ask for modern cities in Italy? The problem is that if you meet several tourists like that a day people forget about the amazing Americans they met. Another thing I find super annoying and very disrespectful. Americans ask what your parents do for a living even before they asked your name. My friends across Europe don’t know what my parents do for a living. They never asked. We talk about our studies, things we want to do, sports, festivals we are going to do. I have several amazing American friends and they dislike Americans too, not all of course but those we don’t like in Europe either.
What many non-Americans always forget is that there’s such a huge variety of people here so it’s almost impossible to say that “Americans are like this or that”
No, the Dutch will not twist your words. Be very careful in phrasing it like that. We are very direct, even more so as the Germans. (I had some Germans, telling me so. And amongst others I speak fluent German.) Also keep in mind, America does not equal Americans. And there are enough bad things to say aboud the country without automatically reflecting on the people (except politicians). Say the debts occurred for education, healthcare and the like. The FDA considering things "Generally Safe for Consumption", where the rest of the world errs on the side of caution and calls thing dangerous for ones health. Or say a political system (no not going into political views here) that is pretty much a 2 party system, thus one can only vote for the least bad person. Gun laws. Tax that is not working for the people who pay it. Car centricity, that could be changed. A fair labor standards act, that obviously favours the employers, not the workers. (Think about minimum wage for waiters/waitresses being below the actual minimum wage, and tipping is required so they can hopefully get at least a minimum wage income.)
As stated healthy food, like vegetables etc being overpriced, where fastfood is not. The reason the US is the most obese country in the world, is not because everybody can participate in "my 600lbs life", but that shows like this can exist because healthy food can be unattainable for lots of people.
As another youtuber once said about this dumb pledge of allegiance, there is only 1 other country that did this, and only between '40-'45. Yet Americans call it patriotism, others would call it National Socialism. (Ohhh and the fact that many Americans seem to think that socialism is equal to social systems baffles me to this day.)
I can go on for a bit, but see the whole point is stuff like this.
However let me give you a final thought though, and feel free to find me an explanation that would make all people equal. When flying to the US from Europe, people need to be at least 1 hour earlier, sometimes even 2 hours earlier at the airport as for any other continental or intercontinental flight, and only TSA personel can do the check in. If we would apply the same to American Citizens, than the US would have a fit, because we are discriminating against them. Feel free to find me an explanation for that, seemingly some are more equal than others, are they not ??
i know im a little late to the party but id like to say for "since i expierenced some hate towards myself just of the basis of my nationality" - welcome to europe :D probably something about we fought against each other on and off for hundreds of years. So there is something engrained in our brains and the "certain negative undertones" is probably the best description i´ve heard so far lol
My general perception of Americans is that they grow up being told that they live in the greatest country in the world, and that the rest of the worlds idea of free healthcare, minimum of a month of paid vacation, up to a year or more of paid maternity leave etc is socialism/communism at work. They live in a fantasy land of the "Free", while being restricted by more rules, laws and regulations, have the biggest prison population in the world, the right to shoot and kill the gardener because he covered for a workmate who was ill. And most of those that can afford to travel abroad bring the elitist mentality with them from indoctrination by their society and the constant chasing of wealth to avoid being made one of the multitude of homeless. So they have it grained into them a feeling of being better than everyone else. The day that Americans wake up and realise that their society is nowhere near the best in the world is the day that the rest of the world will be more receptive to them
Or maybe world stops telling us how to live our lives we will actually start to care. We dont think we are the "Best" we just know we arent the worst. But again, please, tell me more about my country and my own thoughts. Then you can tell me more about how you know best and that i should just think and live like you and itll all be ok because obviously YOU have it all figured out.
And "We" are the arrogant ones? Hmm.
I think that the bad point of view of Europeans upon the USA clearly popped up when the president (Bush if I remember well) decided to invade Iraq and allows torture and violation of human rights in awful structures such as Guantanamo. Further documents revealing atrocities, false allegations and other stuff outraged me in an unspeakable way. I also fully agree with the comments below, I fully think the same.
I think the issue is a combination of things:
From the cradle Americans are taught how great their country is, as opposed to many others. You’re free. You can do anything you want to etc. These things could be true, and attainable, if it were true. Your country is amongst the richest and many parts are beautiful. The trouble comes because you’re all almost hypnotised into believing all this stuff, like allegiance to the flag every day etc. the truth is it has made many citizens super loud, over confident (bumptious), and with a big dollop of superiority towards every other country, when we can all see, that’s just not the truth of things: you’ve only got to look at your healthcare and also the long hours you have to put in, some people having two or three jobs. Materialism isn’t attractive, but it’s in abundance in the US. Then there’s your crazy gun laws … not the kind of freedom I desire.
I worked in NJ back in the mid 60’s, and yes they had mega pride in their country, like many of us do, but I was not aware of the types of issues so prevalent today. I’ve said this several times over the last few years, but young people like you JP are helping your country to “grow and mature” ….❤
I don't know what to say other than I judge individuals and not races or countries. The leadership of any country seldom fully represents the individual view or behaviour, it can't. You have to be raised in a culture to even begin to understand it properly. Just be the best person you can and try to tolerate those who you disagree with.
Well said. An adult in amongst brainwashed children
Dieses rassen Ding gibt es so extrem nur bei euch in den USA !
Man muss nicht in einer Kultur aufgewachsen sein um diese zu verstehen.... vor allem, welche Kultur überhaupt?
Die USA haben weder Kultur noch Geschichte sondern ein mischmasch von Europäern und afrikanern
10:48 You can group almost 400 million people under stupid stereotypes. I'm Italian I know how it works... so 60 million Italians are constantly grouped under stupid stereotypes. It happens all the time...
Great Pasta!
@@millyjames7891 yep, this is a matter of fact though....
@@Alby_Torino Amalfi Coast - smells of fresh lemons everywhere. Verona - Best city to walk through. Rome - Astonishing. Yes, very stereotypical.
@@millyjames7891 Yeah, but you know what I'm speaking about. We're a bunch of Mario (From Mario bros) with black moustache, playing mandolin and singing in the streets, and every single meal is based on pizzza AND spaghetti for at least 3 hours... We're lazy and not productive (even if we're the second largest EU manifacturer economy and 7th in the world) and we dress like top models even to go out for groceries. Usual stuff like that
Just found this video. It's from a while ago, but anyway. There are a few remarks I would want to make:
1. There is no such thing like 'the Europeans' or 'the Americans'. You randomly pick a few people and take their views as kind of a general view.
2. There is a huge difference between how people view the American people in general as opposed to how they view the American politics. The latter is indeed not widely considered the friendliest in the world.
3. I personally believe that the 'normal' Americans are not disliked in general. There are always people who don't like other people, but that is true for any nation. Ask Poles what they think about Germans or Germans what they think about the Dutch. How someone is perceived very much depends upon how that person behaves.
4. I would put it this way: There are Europeans who dislike Americans and there are Americans who dislike Europeans. But after all an a*hole remains an a*hole, regardless of nationality and a likewise a kind and polite person is almost never disliked , regardless of nationality.
Does that make sense?
Before the internet it was easier. In the past, the usa and its citizens were only known from books and newspapers, possibly from television, but there was hardly any connection to the people.
The more these are now noticed, the more people are now realizing how big the difference is. This is clearly evident when it comes to topics such as education and political discussions (this is a big topic in Europe and is always and willingly discussed, less so in the USA).
Politics are considered impolite in social settings in the US. Trust me we are very divided politically. We have two choices of party, and you vote for a person, not a party.
@@marshsundeenBut in reality, we don't elect anyone, the deep state does.
@@marshsundeen Not quite correct. If you vote for a party, you want the candidate of this party to move to the White House.
When we here in Germany vote for a party, we vote for the percentage in the federal parliament of this party. These people vote for the Bundeskanzler afterwards like your electors do.
The difference is that the German constitution makes sure that the parliament has EXACTLY the same percentage between the parties the voters wanted. So it is not possible that one candidate gets more votes from the people and the other one gets the job.
@@Timbothruster-fh3cw sort of. We vote to get the state's electors.
@@marshsundeen Yes, that we do!👍
When we first went to the States for a holiday we put our Tv on expecting to see some news about home that is Great Britain and we were astonished as the days went by there was nothing at all not a single mention. It was entirely about the USA. That was back in the 1980s. We loved the people but were astonished that some did not know where London was they could not understand our accents, both of us Londoners. We had no such problem with them. We did feel shocked that they had no clue at all about the rest of the world. Even just a few years ago we were on a cruise heavily populated by Americans and were asked if it was worth getting off the ship at Le Havre in France as they heard the bomb damage in the war had been bad, this was a good 50 years after the war they really had no clue at all. Sad to see just how behind the times they are.
As a black woman in America.....this is some SERIOUS irony. Smh
One should not have prejudices about other people , but get to know them personally. When you travel through Europe and get to know many different countries you understand that there are friendly and not so friendly people in every country. And i think it`s the same in America.
Except Parisians, I am lowkey certain, that the French just moved all of their assholes there and only say it's their capital to mess with everyone else.
I agree you should not have prejudices about other PEOPLE but if you are asked your opinion on a country as a whole you have to stereotype and when you repeatedly hear or see "Americans" being stupid, self righteous or condescending it's hard to not label Americans as such. If you was to ask me what i thought about a specific American i knew, the answer would be different. We tend to remember negatives over positives.
Plus the sheer number of Americans means that the % of them that are stupid appear much larger as they tend to be the ones that are remembered especially when they have superiority complexes and little knowledge of the outside world. The worst of them just come across as man-children; convinced of their opinion without doing much if any research and as stubborn as a rock.
I'm not saying all Americans are like that but it only take a small % to sour peoples opinions.
You are true. Americans in Maine, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey or Pennsylvania are not the same like n Florida or Californa. And there are great differences between Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana or Washington. And Boston is not Los Angeles and New Orleans is not Chicago. The typical american does not exist. I am European but I realy like your personality and I can follow your feelings. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings. By the way we have enough bad politicans here in Europe too.
What Europeans have to realize is that the US is large and diverse so of course we have the best and worst. Our national identity is arrogant because with our ridiculously large armed force we are the most consequential countryside on the planet. Unfortunately the US is not infallible just like any other nation.
I just got back from Europe- Croatia to be exact. I think it’s a mistake for Americans to pretend they’re Canadians, because I think it will eventually catch up with you. If someone finds out that you’re lying, it’s definitely not cool.
What I do is this: I dress in dark colors, I don’t wear any flags, I don’t talk loudly, I don’t complain about food- even when I don’t think it’s the best - I apologize kindly when I make a mistake, and I at least make an effort to speak a little of the language.
Then if someone asks me where I’m from I just say simply- “US.” Nothing more or less.
I find people generally are courteous when you can prove that you are a traveler who’s trying their best to blend in.
If more Americans do that - I can guarantee that the tide will change. But you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone and give back a little bit.
Then after that, if people still give you trouble for being American- then it’s their problem. At least you tried.
I think that’s the way forward instead of pretending to be from another country.
The best thing people can do is to get a passport and travel, meet people, experience life and different cultures, step out of your comfort zone, live life and embrace change.
I have been twice in America. For me, the stupidest thing was that I had to keep repeating: ``I`m from Croatia. No, Croatia is not in Russia!!``
Would you have the same level of knowledge about Nebraska, for example?
@@IRONWEED_ I Bet a Croatian wouldn't ask if Nebraska was in Russia.
just ask them if america is part of Texas... :)
You got it realy well, when I 1st arive in US , I said that I am from Europe, then people ask where is Europe in USA or off USA.
Me (German) have been many times to USA. Beautiful country and most people are very friendly and helpful. I have made many American friends. I get along with them better than with the people here. Superficial , stupid americans what some people say ? You have more fun with them than these serious, humorless people here who think everything through and only complain about everything
Italian woman here. I think that until the rise of the internet and social media, everyone had in mind the concept of the "American dream" and kinda believed in it, also because we all basically grew up with Hollywood movies and tv series and also music that contributed to this halo effect. Thanks to the internet now we're more exposed to the news, we can easily keep up with what's happening around the world and consume media from other countries as well. As a 90s kid, I dreamed of living in the US, like many other people did, I believe. But now I'm definitely glad I'm living in Europe (not in Italy tho, in fact I'm planning to move to a northern European country 😅).
As a European, on one hand I agree with you about the American Dream. But there are at least two things that we Europeans should still be inspired by, from the US.
1) The ambition. Not the ambition to over-consume, to be the richest and so on. But the ambition to at least try to build something better, to solve the problems. Apart from the young climate activists, I feel that many people in Europe just want "have a comfy life". Anything more is doomed to fail because it didn't go well in the recent past or because Europe was kind of evil while it was powerful. To me, it feels like an excuse.
2) The science spending. While it's too expensive to study in the US, the country (for now?) still understands that you need to put money in science if you want to be successful. How many researchers have to leave for the US to continue their careers?
Ciao come to the Netherlands 🇳🇱 ❤🇮🇹
You may want to revisit this. Just because you're connected to the internet doesn't mean you're more connected to the news, you may have more news, but that doesn't make it any less bullcrap. All news coming out of the US has a political slant to it one way or another. Whether you lean left, or lean right, it's propaganda, this permeates into social media. Thinking what you read online is an accurate picture is the fastest way to draw an inaccurate, and frankly, completely wrong image. I hate to be the one telling you this, but you've been exposed to more propaganda, not more news.
@@fagiolification11 our continent is the best part of the world, actually.
There is a difference between dislike and hate. Most people don’t hate people from USA but they dislike how they act
Instead of referring to his country as America, call it what it is: the US or USA. Even say it out in full - the United States of America.
Don't impose the way you speak on others. What's your authority to patronize people like that?
@@jeboshifru Chill. The guy said he used the word Americans because there was no alternative. I was pointing out there are alternatives.
He was referring to speaking about the people who live there and not the country so your tip just isn't that helpful. USAians just isn't a word
@@aaron5809 He could say "People from the US". Simples.
@@79BlackRose Why don't we always say "people from Germany" instead of germans? Ah yes because it sounds stupid and is unnecessarily long. You put zero thought into this
I'm from Iceland and in Icelandic we say Bandaríkjamaður, which translates to person from the United States.
I grew up in the North of the UK (Manchester then Middlesborough.) and i didn't ever hear anyone saying we are Europeans, always British as we are an island not connected to Europe. Then in my 20s i went to London and that's the first time i heard it. So for people saying the Brit girl is an idiot (14:05) is not knowing how a lot of Brits see themselves.
In Germany we have a saying: „Those who are friends with the Americans do not need enemies any more!“. First time I heard that was from my grandpa who died 30+ years ago.
You should replace the word America with the word Israel.
@@MattyEnglandFashist !
@@maritaschweizer1117 If hating Israel makes me a "Fachist", then yeah, I'm proud to be a "Fachist" 🙄
@@MattyEngland Nope
@@MattyEngland Nobody should be proud of hating anyone. But it seems you are a tiny troll. Go home and play with your toes!
The way we see Americans didnt change compared to 90s.
I am 42 years old and i remember the olders when they wanted to call someone "stupid" they were calling him "American "....😂
Its not the internet. It was always your mentality
I live in uk and I love American people I was in s small town where I meet to ladies I was In my glory listen to them 😊😊
My posts keep disappearing!? AGAIN! I'm from Scotland. I've never heard anybody here say that they dislike Americans as a population. We've said (myself included) that It's the Gung-Ho attitude that they CAN have...(Here we cooome to saaave the daaay!...An altered Mighty Mouse theme tune. Lol) Also, the "Our Country is the best in the world" attitude that they CAN have that CAN get on our nerves. We say "NAW it's NO the best Country in the world...it's just a Country!" It's quite insulting. BUT, I've never known/heard of an American tourist or somebody who's moved here to have been mistreated or targeted.
We are next door neighbours with USA. Here in Canada, we know US history, politics, etc. Americans know bunkas about us.
I imagine that the European Union thinks the same about the UK since Brexit, and to be honest I don't blame them.....we have slapped our neighbours in the face and now we are back with begging bowls........ please sir can we have a better trade deal....serves us right.
honestly I am from germany and I never understood the whole Brexit thing - did anyone ever think of the consequences BEFORE voting to leave the EU? How can anyone not being totally drunk vote for that?
Get over it, we aren't begging for anything, we haven't abandoned Europeans, leaving was the best decision.
@@mosthaunted2 bless
@@MrFreezeYoThere are no consequences, life here is exactly the same as before we left.
@@MrFreezeYo That's because your being run by Unelected Officials making your rules, We have Parliament to make our rules & Laws who are Elected by the people, The EU didn't care for British rules.
Europeans are very self critical too- its part of our education to learn to see historical, present events very critical.
Back in the 80ies and 90ies, when I was a kid, USA seemed so advanced and progressive, all the music, movies basically the whole pop culture came from there. But what happened since then is that Europe has advanced so much in terms of equality, woman rights, social security, solidarity, environmentalism and so on, while the U.S. seems to have stopped or even declined in all these areas. So today in Europe we look back at the USA almost like some medieval backwards country where society is based on values that seem to be from another era. And when someone like Trump gets elected president, I suppose that was kind of the last straw for many people here.
Mid 1980's I was friends with a lovely girl called Bettie from USA. Bettie had already lived in Europe for a few years and she had a degree in philosophy. Needless to say Bettie was not stupid. She did say, however, (and remember the Cold War was still ongoing) that she had learnt more from Europeans about USA foreign policy in South America ie she had no idea that the CIA were involved in the overthrow of democratically elected President Allende of Chile in 1973. The dictator General Pinochet came to power with the help of the USA. And hey, guess the date? That's right, 11th September 1973.
Cuba has been punished for decades by the USA by trade embargoes. Any ship, from any country in the world, that engaged in trade with Cuba was not allowed to trade in the USA. You can guess the consequences for Cuba. Under President Obama this has begun to change (although I'm not sure what "The Donald" (I can't call him a president) did about Cuba when he came to power).
What I'm trying to say is that there is so much history, and negative history, involving the rest of the world of which so many USA citizens are ignorant. There were so many things that were done in your name, as a citizen of the USA. And it still goes on.
Hey, I'm English. My mother was brought up on maps of the world showing The Empire. When I was at school we never learned about the British Empire. Things have changed, kids are now being taught the good, the bad and the ugly of Empire. For myself, I learned so much more after leaving school.
I have travelled and lived in a few countries since leaving school. Sometimes finding out about British history is hard to swallow but it so often turns out to be more complex and often damaging than I could ever have thought. It was painful at first but I am learning to come to terms with it.
And let's not forget the Germans or the Japanese. They don't always have it easy when it comes to history and other peoples expectations of them but both countries teach their own more recent histories in school including why it happened and the consequences that followed so much better than Britain or USA has ever done.
In short until USA schoolchildren are taught about their own international relations with other countries and become more interested in the world beyond North Americas borders nothing will change and European disdain will remain. Keep up the good work; keep travelling and learning and appreciating and you will be loved in return. Lastly, you will have felt the love from your followers because of what you are already doing and your openness to it. (I'd leave a heart emoji if I knew how).
@MoreJps I’m European (90s kid) and feel kinda bad hearing this.
One thing is definitely the cultural difference, meaning: I think they expected you to reciprocate in some kind of way. You could have turned the tables for example, if your opinion was different than theirs and you had argued a counter point. That would have gotten you respect, I think, in this situation.
Another thing is: Me, and many others in my generation I think, loved the US growing up. Watching MTV and stuff. Then some problems started to trickle over and then, suddenly, the biggest thorn in my eye: Trump was elected.
I was really sad, I couldn’t believe what I had heard.
Now, I was really upset with America.
Letting the frustration out on an individual American as they visit, now that is really over the line, and really unfair, but I see how it would come this today.
You do kinda have 1/500,000,000th of the responsibility, and Europeans are quick to check if someone is performing what they think is their civil duty, because they rightly feel like having a world we all wanna live in is everybody’s responsibility. Getting to know what everybody wants takes discourse. It’s ok to feel differently, it’s ok to disagree, it’s not that ok to pull out and watch the world go to shit.
Sorry, got a little personal again myself…
Edit: You can see in the comments that people even feel like they should bash America now, even if they don’t know exactly why. They’ll pick up something that annoys them about Americans and write something like: This is what p…. me off about Americans the most:…
It is not how Dutch people look at Americans in general.
It is about our directness towards anyone, no matter were you are from.
We do not like small talk, we prefer to say what comes to our mind.
If you do not like it, we see that as your problem.
I'n Italian and I do like Americans. Never been to your country but according to my experiences you're smart, dynamic, think big and positive. Europe needs more American view of the things. Obviously there are downsides but will not focus on them here.
Next time, just say that you're Canadian!
It's the best way to avoid talking politics, as we knownothing about Canadian politiks 🤣
I work in a pub, and had a couple of guests from, from the US I assume, but I ask:
"We're from Canada!"
I couldn't stop the little laugh that came out when I said. "Funny, 'cause to me you sound more like a someone from Texas 😂 but I get it 😉
Just a note to say a lot of Canadians hate that "just say you're Canadian" stuff when you're not.
Canadians liberated the Netherlands in 1945 that is why we still love them..
In spanish we do have a word =estadounidenses.
But if they ask in english the only answer we can give is Americans(incorrectly used word)
I'm Dutch and American, one parent from both countries. And I get both ends of the stick. In Europe people ask me if I've survived school shootings and I have to watch the fear and disappointment and pity in their eyes when I say yes, yes I have survived a school shooting. 2 of them. And an attempted bombing. In 2 different states in 3 different schools. And in the US, I have to say I'm from Amsterdam bc I still haven't met a single American who knows where The Netherlands is. When I try to say it's between Germany and France they look even more confused. So, saying the American school system isn't a failure is either ignorance or denial on your part, I'm sorry, but it is. I love Americans and how kind most people are, but I have to agree with the Dutch half of my family that it is difficult to feel empathy or respect for a population who ENDURE mass shootings and the death of their children instead of stopping it. Americans have this attitude towards South America and the Middle East but become upset when it is directed at them and at this point, with active ptsd from living there, it's just difficult for me to feel apologetic or empathetic. I want the best for Americans but it seems to many Europeans that Americans don't want the best for themselves, they just want to appear the best. It's difficult to respect.
After the US and Canada freed us from the Nazi's, we were introduced to American products. Then later on the American culture of having stuff took over in the 80s and clothes, music, food, furniture, all those things were adopted in our countries, more or less. So we went from adoration to overcompensation. And we had the cold war. So after the cold war, I think we were able to look more critically at the US and also in the 90s the extreme capitalism of the States made us realise this is not our culture or belief. Together with America's zero selfcriticism and growing up with this huge patriotism, America never respected borders or boundaries. The 'war on terror' was I think the definite push towards negative views. Also the commercialisation of everything, including politics. We are now at a point where we still embrace American things we have grown accustomed to (those girls complaining about MacDonalds, probably go there as well) while rejecting the bigger idea. I do feel sorry for those Americans who come to live in Europe, because they are not the ones who deserve bad treatment and usually are not the ones oblivious to other cultures. It would however be wise for Americans to be taught much more about Europe and other cultures in schools and to tone down on the 'America nr 1' BS. Only Americans believe that nonsense. America has not been nr1 in many areas for decades.
What you botht didn't touch is that envy that we have of you growing in a big house, driving cars from 15 years old age and just ruling the world basically... It is a huge factor to be honest. We know you better than you know us and that makes us feel less significant.
I personally had very few interactions with Americans face to face - just due to the fact that I live in a very rural part of Germany - the ones I have met tho were very kind people so I try not to judge but sometimes on social media I can‘t help shaking my head .. there is a lot of people in this video talking about polarization - which feels true when you only see the videos that go viral. Still if someone on the internet talks about „the Germans“ I feel a little offended often times - so why would it be fair to judge all Americans if I also don‘t like to just be labeled as German. Your nationality only plays a small part in who you are as person. Be kind to each other 🤗
I would say we don't dislike the people, we dislike the way of living in the US and how things work.
I'm European and I have to say my best buddy is American, not a better person in the world ! But even most Americans will accept that a lot of Americans really represent you badly when travelling, lets start there, then there's the "greatest country in the world" statements, then there's gun laws .. I can go on .. I think a lot of the world think your attitude and arrogance is ridiculous in general, but to say you are hated is wrong. I've met so many beautiful people from the states, people that I adore and have changed my life.
I think treating everyone as an individual, could bring us all together.
The girl that thinks UK is not European is herself with heritage from the colonies, and is not a true European. She has only British citizenship.
I worked both with american and english people yeard ago in a Nato base and I daresay that they are both different fro us italians but we are more tolerant and friendly woth americans on spite of their whims.
What an eloquent guy. Beautifully put
I do NOT dislike americans as people.
I DO dislike some systems or gouvernment forms.
That is a big difference you have to understand. Its nothing personal !
I (European) do not hate Americans. However, I think a lot of Americans are deluded when it comes to the USA. When I was younger (10-15 years old) I wanted to move to the USA, because I believed that everything there was great. Now that I am older and have more information, I am so thankful that I grew up in Europe (Netherlands). Before the internet was accessible as it is now, our information on what living in the USA was (mostly) catered by Hollywood, hence 'the American dream'. The accessibility to information that the internet provides has changed the view of people living outside of the USA on what it is actually like to live there and (no hate but) the low standard of life compared to here. While the internet can enlarge issues and problems, I believe that the USA is disfunctional. Just to name a few: healthcare, gun control, work/life balance and the polarization of politics are problems that the USA has to change to do well by their citizens.
I'm sorry for the long comment.
For example, In a country as small as the Netherlands we have more than 15 political parties which represent our society. While personally I do think that's a lot😅 especially for such a small country, it is representative of what the people value. A country like the USA having only two parties (Republican or Conservative) seems crazy. Especially because politics influences everything in life.
For me as a German it was interesting to watch your video. I used to spend much time abroad and always felt the urgency to show, that not all of the Germans are Nazis, uptight, unfriendly or that we don't have a sense of humor.
One of my best friends is American and she has been living in Germany for more than 5 years. We are talking a lot about the cultural differences all the time. I used to spend 5 months in the US and I experienced stuff with Americans which I didn't like. But Europeans are not better - especially when it comes to their political elections in the last 10 years. Thus prejudices on any side are stupid all together.
Ich weiß es zu schätzen, daß du das gesagt hast. Es war sehr nett und gut ausgedrückt. Grüße aus Kalifornien.
I love the American accent. My Grandson loves America he has many friends there he visits two or three times a year.
To be honest you're not an average american citizen. You're well educated in geopolitics and stuff. Not many americans are able to be that.
Obviously when we give our opinion about a nation, it is taken for granted that one thing is the individual, and another thing is the individual being part of that unit. The idea that we have of the inhabitants of the United States is hard earned. Because of his violent foreign policy, because of his statements regarding that policy "we defend our interests."
Because of its very bad internal policy, lack of all kinds of rights, based on individualism, the exploitation of man by man. After they go out into the world and believe that everything is owed to them, it is a pure anecdote.
As a European I feel sorry that you made this experience when you have been in Europe. There is no simple good and bad - most people simply do not know enough to behave like you mentioned. Every nation is different and you have to be open to get into it. You are a good guy.
Another thing if your going to use someone's video have the respect to watch the adverts you expect us to watch unskip ads.
The internet often seems negative, because the negative stuff is being constantly pushed in your face.
While at the same time, you have to actively look for the positive stuff to even find it.
And when you do take the time to look for it, you'll find that there are lots of videos about the good in humanity and every country/culture.
As most Countries are all different
Well, I think what you say about the dutch people might be true. But also take in account that we dutch people, have a culture of directness. In our country many people just speak their minds, it isn't intended to be mean, it is just a culture we have. Most dutch people are not really aware of their own cultural directness and how this is different in (most) other cultures. Plus dutch in general are very well educated about american culture, and what goes on there.... but they don't realize that what they have learned is pretty one sided and that there is more nuance to it. Combine all this I can imagine you might have had some explosive or otherwise memorable interactions 🙂
I myself am married to someone from another continent. It has confronted me a lot with my own directness.... But also with how uneasy it is for me when other people don't speak their mind. I think dutch people in general will be suspicious of foreign politeness and make it out for something different than it is intended to be.
I think that europeans are vying for loving america so much,that everytime we are disappointed with America we get frustrated. But most of us love you guys