Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailor Steve
 That is the one thing that still sets America apart from some European nations, and the one thing that many Europeans, and many Americans, still don't understand. We are a nation of immigrants, and we all came from somewhere else. As Bill Murray said in Stripes, "Never forget that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent nation on Earth!" |
It's not difficult to undestand: the natives the settlers met, got wiped out, so you never had to base on the same ground like us Europeans: you never had to deal with an arrangement of historically long-grown cultural traditions and felt national identities. The USD were founded by peoploe willing to leave their old identity behind. The forming of the American nation seen that way grounded on a fundament of "nationlessness".
Now try that in Europe!
This difference between the Amerian and the European environment cannot be stresse doften enough. It is the reason why the recipes working ion America must not work in Europe, or the other way around.
Also, I wonder if it really works so well in the melting pot. Racism is still there, and ethnic riots. Statistics show clear links between ethnicity, and social status, wealth (and the many sub-factors that includes), and crime. To us Europeans, the US looks more like a place of extremes than any other Western nation. My personal opinion on the claimed success of the "melting pot", is a split one, cautiously said.
In general, the starting conditions by which the race to establish the USA, were much much easier (since simplier in complexity), than it was for us Europeans.