How can some Europeans be so hypocritical about the U.S.?

Question

While I agree that it is anyone's right to state their opinion, isn't comparing the U.S. to an Islamist regime intellectually lazy?

I understand that the secret CIA prison issue raises serious concerns (if not about Europe's cooperation as well) and that the Iraq war is highly unpopular — but where does disagreement simply turn to mindless rhetoric?

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,474636,00.html

Answer 1

There are some parallels. The US and fundamentalist Muslims consistently vote together in the UN to block $ for birth control in Africa and Asia. Both types of countries are fighting to ensure more religious control of their governments.

Answer 2

You absolutely hit the nail on the head with the term, "intellectually lazy".

In the modern age, everyone arrogantly believes they are experts in areas in which they have no truly well-rounded knowledge. Barbra Streisand believes she is a global warming expert. She doesn't for one moment realize that the scientists analyzing this phenomena are intelligent and knowledgeable in ways she could never hope to be. Still, without taking the time to really become an expert, she just gets watered down, pre-digested bits of information that she can use to appear at least semi-literate at press ops.

How about the rap/hip-hop generation? That is the most worrisome development in intellectual laziness. Those rappers have practically no vocabulary, so they regurgitate the same tired old phrases a thousand times. They don't even write their own music; it is "sampled" from real musicians. And the music videos used to package these phony "musicians" are made by other people too.

I cringe when I go to foreign countries and see kids mimicking the skateboarder, rapper crowd. It's so pathetic. How can some kid in Croatia think he's some Detroit gangsta?

Doesn't McDonalds exist primarily because people are so mentally lazy that they don't even take a minute to check where they could get something better to eat?

Europeans have this strange attitude nowadays I call "anti-patriotism". Even my personal trainer here in Prague (Czech Republic) talks about how he doesn't want to be thought of as a Czech, but as a member of the International community. Flying the Czech flag at your home would cause gasps and stares. Passers by would think you were some ultra-nationalist nutcase.

I think Europeans are falling back into that tired, discredited "moral equivalency" trap that Reagan shook us out of. When it looked grim for the West, our media started what I think was a secret campaign to get us ready for some eventual "surrender" of sorts in a Communist dominated world. I noticed a lot of these discomforting messages during the Jimmy Carter administration.

So, when Europeans compare the U.S., who ironically guaranteed their freedom all throughout the Cold War, compare us to an Islamist regime, they are being as intellectually lazy as dumb American college Libs who compare every military conflict to Vietnam (the only war they know of, apparently).

Read the article from Spiegel shown below. It will brighten your day!

Answer 3

Much of Continental Europe is still trying to bask in the warmth of faded glory. They are bitter that their once proud empires have fallen and that they were forced to spend the last half of the 20th Century relying on the good old USA to protect them from the big bad Soviets. Their primacy is over. They have become a historic theme park for foreign tourists. France actually has laws forcing French radio stations to play a certain amount of French music. European movie stars dream of making it in America (where the real money is).

The European Union, which was meant to revive European power is beholden to Russia, who may cut off their fuel supply if provoked. Continental Europe is the past, like a bunch of old men complaining about "these kids today." Ignore them. The rest of the world does.

Answer 4

Europeans have been spoon fed anti-americanism for decades. You can't expect people indoctrinated with daily garbage to believe anything different. The politics in Europe is also well off the American counterparts. By this I mean take a so-called center-right politician like France's Chirac. In America he couldn't even get elected as a left wing Democrat - he is so far to left of that. Yet in France he is considered conservative.
Try to find a conservative in America that wants socialized medicine, welfare for all, and strong unions.

Answer 5

The international standing of the US is so poor because of its links to Israel, a land which only exists in a book and then only until the end of the world. In a hurried attempt by the Israeli Government to facilitate this dream they fire cluster bombs onto innocent towns increasing the hatred that their forced evictions created in the first place.

The UK people were against the war in Iraq and the UK people despair of the cretinous behaviour of our politicians who have missed the key issues, Iran and Iraq have different views, these differences have led to wars in the past between these two countries and until disputes are resolved there can be no peace, there are ethnic issues too but I don't want to trouble you with details of the power vacuum left by the invasion and occupation of Iraq by UK and US forces.

Answer 6

Quite the contrary, I would argue that it is intellectually enlightened.

When you examine rhetoric you will discover that it's sole purpose is to discredit the "enemy" and justify the "cause".

The reason we have conflict is because each race considers itself superior to all others. In order to reinforce their superiority each must demonstrate that the other is inferior.

Each race adopts it's own religion and it's own set of values, or culture, based on the chosen religion. Then they set about destroying each other, firstly with words in the form of rhetorical speeches and assertions and then with weapons, tanks and guns and bombs.

Each of the chosen religions warns of evil and devils and false gods, and each will claim to act in the name of, and with the blessing of, the one true god. Obviously both religions cannot represent the one true god so one or other must be acting in the name of a false god and must therefore represent evil.

The purpose of rhetoric is then to reinforce in the minds of each race that they are the superior race because god chose them and not the other race.

The reason religion has become the catalyst for war and conflict is because god is perpetual. God can never die, he will always be there through generation after generation after generation, he simply cannot die. Empires will appear and disappear, political parties will come and go and leaders will live and die, but god and religions will exist forever and so therefore, will the struggle between good and evil and by the same virtue so too will human conflict.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Point taken, but, as someone who is from this country and lives here I don't share your point of view. You must live a closeted existence or are voluntarily unaware of what is going on here coast to coast. Point not being siding with Europeans or any group here. There is a manifest wave of evil at all levels both in and out of what passes for a government well nigh onto thirteen years at an easy count. Government's peccadelloes serve only as a device of official distraction from the fact.

Answer 9

It is very easy, because the Americans are Greedy Idiots, as were the Europeans at one point. they used to believe if you were not out robbing, committing genocide, then there was just no point in exsisting. The Majority of people in power in America are decendants of the same Idiots that wanted to conquer the world through Genocide and theft. Americans are just to stupid to realize that this is the 21st centruy and now the natives have gun powder too, and a cause.

Answer 10

People and groups that cannot present facts and logical arguments often resort to rhetoric to justify their opinion. You see it in American politics all the time, along with a convenient ignoring of the facts. Its easy for some European countries to criticize the US - afterall, they refused to make decisions finding it easier to yell, ".... the sky is falling".