The serious truth is that I see it both ways. Yes, some peoples seem to have ingrained national habits, and are somewhat subject to their own traditions. My late friend Rocky was a firm believer in national typecasting. He gave me a lot of grief over being too "German" in my thought patterns, while loving the fact that his thinking was pure "Italian". Of course he made fun of himself over that, but I loved to remind him that his own mother came straight here from Germany, so he was more "German" than I was.

That said, I'm not sure I really believe it all that much, any more than I believe in Astrology, and I wonder if our national "habits" really go back more than two or three generations. On the one hand we talk about national characteristics and claim them when it suits us and deny them when it doesn't, but on the other hand international media of all sorts have made us look at each other's cultures and adapt them wholesale.

How many Japanese today even think about the old ways, other than to wax nostalgic just like the rest of us?

Jesus.
coming here after dropping a small smile last night, and august has turned his machinegun [US, texan made] on me.

some of you guys... make me wanna puke.
ah well, yankees.

I think there is a grain of truth in these national stereotypes. I would never exaggerate attributing such "typical" characteristics to an individual only because of his or her nationality. But some differences there are, and they both come from history and a tradition of lifestyle habits and clture as well as to some degree being genetically inherited. No human born ever ha sbeen a tabula rasa. Neither regarding his "gender", nor his mentality. They may try to deny today for PC reasons and extremist feminism that there are difference sbetween boys and girls, but that is BS. Theyx also may try in the eU today to deny that there are different indentites and mentalities in the people of Eurppean local regions. I think that is BS as well. It is the great socialist (not social but indeed socialist) making-everbody-euqal-and-featureless engineering game they play, becasue justice to them is not an issue about quality, but quantity, and so everybody must be made equal in material form. So there are no preset biological and psychological sexes anymore, but arbitrary gender-roles only that can be defined by political education in any way seen as opportune. And so , there are no grown historic identities of the various people in Europe, but in mrpiocniple they all are of the same thinking, tickiong, feeling, and desire. The Scandiniavian has the smae mentality like the Italian, and the Portuegese is as self-analytical as the German, and so on. No differences - we are all equal, wonderful!

Remember Orwell'S 1984, when the interrogator is not happy with the deliquent finally, after long torture, answering "five fingers" when the interrogator shows him four and wants him to admit it is five fingers? He explains he does not want the subject to just say "five" in order to escape the procedure and ease his suffering, he wants him to indeed be convinced and make himself be convinced beyond doubt, and he wants him to have a perception where he for real sees five fingers when being shown four.

That'S what PC and many other ideological modern schools do with us now, they show us four fingers and want us to make ourselves seeing five fingers. With PC, gender-engineers and the EUrocrats it is especially bad. I call it social-fascism now.

I told you your friendly very Christian slapdown had really hit him hard:03:

Bingo, although the British of 60 years ago would scant recognise the youth of todays Britain, such has been the radical change in attitudes in what is virtually a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of history. However there is still, in British society itself, some trace elements of the stereotypical Brit.
Talking to other people on the Underground is forbidden, mass displays of public hysteria come as a surprise (no-one would have predicted the outpouring of grief after the death of Princess Diana) and such slogans as 'Keep calm and carry on' become a sort of national meme.

However, in the context of this thread, what I found disturbing is Augusts rapidity to resort to national labels and stereotypes when, indeed, there was no call for it. Gustav did not, at any point during his post, call upon national stereotypes of either side of the Atlantic, nor indeed, in my opinion, make the sort of comment that warranted the reply that he received which slurred an entire continent. If one ever wanted to reinforce negative stereotypes, then this is indeed the way to do it. :nope:

Rapidity Oberon?

I've been reading European insults and diatribes against my country on this forum for years of which the topic of this 6 page thread is just the latest example.

So ??

Like Europe is not insulted, degraded, stereotyped, shown as a weak bunch of quareling socialist monarchies and used as an american doormat (due to the fault of our democratively elected goverments) on every turn by the americans and your media.

And you think this thread is insulting ??
Try being a Croat and listen to a Slovene and vice versa. You'd hide away in one of your tanks and sob for three days.

Now do it like Neal and Steve and suck it up and stop giving us reasons to think that the US stereotypes are real.

Likewise we have read American insults in return over the years, however, if you look at this 6 page thread, you'll find that 4 pages of it are Americans and Europeans alike completely dismissing the theory of the OP as either irrelevant or unlikely. Furthermore, the post that you resorted to using European stereotypes against did not even contain a directed insult against America as a whole, or indeed any stereotypes.

Besides, as I have stated before, America is the primary superpower at this time, you're going to be hated and loved equally by the world for your actions and beliefs, just as European nations were back when the US was in its infancy, you just have to develop a thick skin and ignore it, responding in kind is exactly what people want you to do, so they can just use it as an example of a 'typical overreacting American'.
If the internet had been around in 1840 then I dare say I would be fending insults and scrutiny from around the world too.

Target of the week. I like that. :sunny:

A good example of 'Nation bashing' is the huge American animosity towards France after they refused to support our incursion into Iraq in 2003. This is where all the "Cheese-eating surrender monkey" jokes and insults started. It's interesting that there aren't that many jokes about Germany in this regard, and virtually none at all aimed at Canada or New Zealand, who also opposed the invasion.

Yeah, Us Yanks are a handful, but who else would you want in your corner in a tight spot?

In time you will gain a masochistic tendency and actually enjoy Augusts machine gun. I ate it a few times myself, it's fun, fire back, he kinda likes it :O:

I hope I am not one of the ones who makes you puke. I hold no malice towards any other nation really. It can just be disheartening to see so much malice towards mine at times, and for what?



Oh well, someone has to be the villain. It keeps the focus off the Euro Cartel, and it's attempts to save a dying currency.

Sure we suck, but I am willing to bet you all have sucky things too.

No society is exempt from sucking. My first law of suckyness.

QFT :up:

In Europe itself there are little bits of animosity between nations from conflicts of a hundred years ago or more, the Netherlands looks at Belgium and wants the northern part of it back, France looks a Belgium and sees it as a nuisance, the Brits mutter under their breath at the French and Germans, the Dutch have football anger at the Germans, and hide their bicycles whenever the Germans are around, everyone thinks that the Spanish are lazy, and the Spanish think that everyone else should just stop sticking their noses in where its not wanted...and nobody will let Germany forget about World War Two, the Russians about the Soviet Union, or France about Napoleon.
And that's not even beginning to talk about how Poland feels about Germany and Russia... :03:

Still trying to tell us how to act I see.

Good then I won't disappoint them and it'll give some more controversy for the forum to feed upon. That's what this whole thread is about ain't it?

It turns out that bad sig may be a nuisance when people really care.:haha:


oooooooo

If you want to take the bait, feel free to do so. :yeah:

That was friendly advice, not an order, and he was talking about his own country as much as anybody else's.

You have a real talent for overreacting and taking things personally when they weren't even remotely meant that way.

And you have a real talent as a mother hen. Oberons a big boy he can talk for himself.

In all fairness, my previous post smashed the Euro, and no one complained.

I think Augusts gripe, (IMHO) is how it is popular to hold America as the universal villain for all the worlds woes. While others put themselves on a pedestal, above the problems. Problems we all perpetuated, not just America and its citizens.

Considering how long Europe has been around, and how much superior you hold yourselves above us, why have you all not opposed our system, rather than subscribing to them?

Perhaps some inward looking is in order, American currency may be in chaos, but it is still way more stable than most.

This has turned into a thread "blaming" America for the global recession, yet no one holds their own accountable. American bankers did not crash the PIIGS, the PIIGS did. (edit guns don't kill people, people kill people) Two political statements in one post, overload overload! *explodes*
Why is Europe so absorbed with us, I find it funny most of you know who our president is, yet most Americans do not know or care who runs your country..

Seriously, time to look inward for your problems.

Unless this is your way of asking for a handout from Americas taxpayers?

Smashed the Euro ???

Please, we throw cobblestones into our bankers because of the euro and you're ''smashing'' it with some words :O:

Where?

Our reputations both speak for themselves.