Why Do Europeans Hate Us So Darned Much?
What with all the anti-war hysteria that's been gripping the planet lately (query: why are all the anti-war signs in places like Korea, France, Germany, and Jordan ALL IN ENGLISH? Who's paying for all those signs so neatly printed in English?), it's not unusual to run into anti-American sentiment on-line. I won't go so far as to point out that without Amurricans, there wouldn't BE an Internet to rant on, because that would tend to bring me down to the level of those attacking, and I'm not sure I want to wallow in that particular gutter. I'm just amused by some of the places I've found it. For example, I occasionally enjoy dropping by VolvoSpy.com to read the reviews and articles, and to occasionally pick up a maintenance pointer or two (yes, like Secretary of State Colin Powell, I love to work on old Volvos). Imagine my amazement to find the following lurking in one of the newsgroups:
This american arrogance makes me sick. And I see now why the americans reject the TOKYO agreement. They want to keep their right to drive over-polluting, fat, ugly, vans and SUVs. this discussion shows that american car pricing is way too low. Stating that nobody will buy the VR6 Touareg because it is too slow. I think this will be the only car europeans will afford due to the high price and high fuel costs. So on we can ask ourselves why the americans can keep the tax and fuel costs so low. With their tiny oil production? With no connection to middle east oil reserves? I'm sorry that I go this far with my post, but you, americans, have once again showed that the world is too small for you! I don't give a fuck what you drive, it's just a pity that such great european cars go to a such an asshole country. If I were bin Laden, I would smoke you out!!
My reply? Glad you asked:
Now obviously, this guy's a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Americans aren't arrogant, we're simply better than everybody else. We'll leave the grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling errors alone, as this is clearly not a native English speaker, and I'm sure my Swedish is no better than his English. However, we have to go over a few small points. First, there was no "TOKYO agreement." I recall a "Kyoto Agreement," in which several small, underdeveloped (read: European) nations attempted to hogtie American industrial production by limiting so-called "greenhouse gases," a politically motivated bit of self-interest intelligently rejected by any right-thinking human being (read: not European), but no "TOKYO agreement." What point the discussion of a Volkswagen product has in a Volvo discussion is beyond me, but that's part and parcel of a European viewpoint. He next asks how Americans can keep tax and fuel costs so low. Must be that non-Socialist government, bud. Works wonders. You might want to give it a try some time.
Tiny oil production? Hmm, seems somebody doesn't have their facts straight. We produce 65% of our usage domestically. That's hardly tiny. The only reason it's not 100% is purely economic. We can buy it from silly foreigners and run tankers to bring it over far more cheaply than we can produce it here. As for oil reserves, Texas and Oklahoma alone contain as much oil and natural gas as the entire Middle East. I can look out my bedroom window and see three actively producing oil wells here in California. And shall we discuss Alaska, which has more than all of 'em combined? Besides, doesn't it make more sense to consume others' supplies before starting on our own? That's why we will still be running those big, nasty, polluting SUVs and pickup trucks when Yurrop is sucking fumes. And dare I point out that, without the American market, there might not be a Volvo today? The U.S. has been Volvo's biggest market since the 70's, sport. As we say here, payback's a bitch.
And payback's just what you're going to get. Supporting bin Laden, are we? The Talibanis did that, and look where it got them. The Iraquis did, too. I think we see a pattern here. Or had you forgotten that, as free Americans, we have the right to be armed to the teeth? Come to visit some time, and I'll show you my gun collection. Secretly, every good American dreams of the day when he can bag a terrorist to hang on the wall in the den. Bring on the bin Ladens, and their apologists! Like President Bush said, you're either with us or against us, and you know what happens to those against us.
Of course, before I could post it, somebody beat me to it, with far fewer words, and with far better affect than I could have:
Europe's not having an easy time being irrelevant, is it?
Anyway, the first thing Europeans do when they move to the US is buy the biggest house and SUV they can afford...
Sometimes, less is more.
What with all the anti-war hysteria that's been gripping the planet lately (query: why are all the anti-war signs in places like Korea, France, Germany, and Jordan ALL IN ENGLISH? Who's paying for all those signs so neatly printed in English?), it's not unusual to run into anti-American sentiment on-line. I won't go so far as to point out that without Amurricans, there wouldn't BE an Internet to rant on, because that would tend to bring me down to the level of those attacking, and I'm not sure I want to wallow in that particular gutter. I'm just amused by some of the places I've found it. For example, I occasionally enjoy dropping by VolvoSpy.com to read the reviews and articles, and to occasionally pick up a maintenance pointer or two (yes, like Secretary of State Colin Powell, I love to work on old Volvos). Imagine my amazement to find the following lurking in one of the newsgroups:
This american arrogance makes me sick. And I see now why the americans reject the TOKYO agreement. They want to keep their right to drive over-polluting, fat, ugly, vans and SUVs. this discussion shows that american car pricing is way too low. Stating that nobody will buy the VR6 Touareg because it is too slow. I think this will be the only car europeans will afford due to the high price and high fuel costs. So on we can ask ourselves why the americans can keep the tax and fuel costs so low. With their tiny oil production? With no connection to middle east oil reserves? I'm sorry that I go this far with my post, but you, americans, have once again showed that the world is too small for you! I don't give a fuck what you drive, it's just a pity that such great european cars go to a such an asshole country. If I were bin Laden, I would smoke you out!!
My reply? Glad you asked:
Now obviously, this guy's a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Americans aren't arrogant, we're simply better than everybody else. We'll leave the grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling errors alone, as this is clearly not a native English speaker, and I'm sure my Swedish is no better than his English. However, we have to go over a few small points. First, there was no "TOKYO agreement." I recall a "Kyoto Agreement," in which several small, underdeveloped (read: European) nations attempted to hogtie American industrial production by limiting so-called "greenhouse gases," a politically motivated bit of self-interest intelligently rejected by any right-thinking human being (read: not European), but no "TOKYO agreement." What point the discussion of a Volkswagen product has in a Volvo discussion is beyond me, but that's part and parcel of a European viewpoint. He next asks how Americans can keep tax and fuel costs so low. Must be that non-Socialist government, bud. Works wonders. You might want to give it a try some time.
Tiny oil production? Hmm, seems somebody doesn't have their facts straight. We produce 65% of our usage domestically. That's hardly tiny. The only reason it's not 100% is purely economic. We can buy it from silly foreigners and run tankers to bring it over far more cheaply than we can produce it here. As for oil reserves, Texas and Oklahoma alone contain as much oil and natural gas as the entire Middle East. I can look out my bedroom window and see three actively producing oil wells here in California. And shall we discuss Alaska, which has more than all of 'em combined? Besides, doesn't it make more sense to consume others' supplies before starting on our own? That's why we will still be running those big, nasty, polluting SUVs and pickup trucks when Yurrop is sucking fumes. And dare I point out that, without the American market, there might not be a Volvo today? The U.S. has been Volvo's biggest market since the 70's, sport. As we say here, payback's a bitch.
And payback's just what you're going to get. Supporting bin Laden, are we? The Talibanis did that, and look where it got them. The Iraquis did, too. I think we see a pattern here. Or had you forgotten that, as free Americans, we have the right to be armed to the teeth? Come to visit some time, and I'll show you my gun collection. Secretly, every good American dreams of the day when he can bag a terrorist to hang on the wall in the den. Bring on the bin Ladens, and their apologists! Like President Bush said, you're either with us or against us, and you know what happens to those against us.
Of course, before I could post it, somebody beat me to it, with far fewer words, and with far better affect than I could have:
Europe's not having an easy time being irrelevant, is it?
Anyway, the first thing Europeans do when they move to the US is buy the biggest house and SUV they can afford...
Sometimes, less is more.