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| Europe |
| Hating America |
| 2004-06-29 |
| by Bruce Bawer, Hudson Review. Long multiple-book-review piece by an American expat living in Norway. Go read it all; Iâm excerpting just a bit here to get your enthusiasm worked up to a frenzy. Hat tip: Brothers Judd. I moved from the U.S. to Europe in 1998, and Iâve been drawing comparisons ever since. . . . I was tempted at one point to write a book lamenting Americansâ anti-intellectualismâtheir indifference to foreign languages, ignorance of history, indifference to academic achievement, susceptibility to vulgar religion and trash TV, and so forth. On point after point, I would argue, Europe had us beat. Yet as my weeks in the Old World stretched into months and then years, my perceptions shifted. Yes, many Europeans were book loversâbut which countryâs literature most engaged them? Many of them revered educationâbut to which countryâs universities did they most wish to send their children? (Answer: the same country that performs the majority of the worldâs scientific research and wins most of the Nobel Prizes.) Yes, American television was responsible for drivel like The Ricki Lake Showâbut Europeans, I learned, watched this stuff just as eagerly as Americans did (only to turn around, of course, and mock it as a reflection of American boorishness). No, Europeans werenât Bible-thumpersâbut the Continentâs ever-growing Muslim population, I had come to realize, represented even more of a threat to pluralist democracy than fundamentalist Christians did in the U.S. (Given that the "threat" posed to pluralist democracy by "fundamentalist Christians" is essentially zero, thatâs not exactly hard . . . okay, Iâll shut up now.) And yes, more Europeans were multilingualâbut then, if each of the fifty states had its own language, Americans would be multilingual, too. Iâd marveled at Norwegiansâ newspaper consumption; but what did they actually read in those newspapers? That this was, in fact, a crucial question was brought home to me when a travel piece I wrote for the New York Times about a weekend in rural Telemark received front-page coverage in Aftenposten, Norwayâs newspaper of record. Not that my articleâs contents were remotely newsworthy; its sole news value lay in the fact that Norway had been mentioned in the New York Times. "Look, Olaf, we are famous!" "Ach, Svend, that is nothing. Now Wall Street Journal âmiddle column,â that would be impressive." It was astonishing. And even more astonishing was what happened next: the owner of the farm hotel at which Iâd stayed, irked that Iâd made a point of his want of hospitality, got his revenge by telling reporters that Iâd demanded McDonaldâs hamburgers for dinner instead of that most Norwegian of delicacies, reindeer steak. Though this was a transparent fabrication (his establishment was located atop a remote mountain, far from the nearest golden arches), the press lapped it up. . . . For me, this startling episode raised a few questions. Why had the Norwegian press given such prominent attention in the first place to a mere travel article? Why had it then been so eager to repeat a cartoonish lie? Were these actions reflective of a society more serious, more thoughtful, than the one Iâd left? Or did they reveal a culture, or at least a media class, that was so awed by America as to be flattered by even its slightest attentions but that was also reflexively, irrationally belligerent toward it? This experience was only part of a larger process of edification. Living in Europe, I gradually came to appreciate American virtues Iâd always taken for granted, or even disdainedâamong them a lack of self-seriousness, a grasp of irony and self-deprecating humor, a friendly informality with strangers, an unashamed curiosity, an openness to new experience, an innate optimism, a willingness to think for oneself and speak oneâs mind and question the accepted way of doing things. (One reason why Europeans view Americans as ignorant is that when we donât know something, weâre more likely to admit it freely and ask questions.) While Americans, I saw, cherished liberty, Europeans tended to take it for granted or dismiss it as a naive or cynical, and somehow vaguely embarrassing, American fiction. I found myself toting up words that begin with i: individuality, imagination, initiative, inventiveness, independence of mind. Americans, it seemed to me, were more likely to think for themselves and trust their own judgments, and less easily cowed by authorities or bossed around by âexpertsâ; they believed in their own ability to make things better. No wonder so many smart, ambitious young Europeans look for inspiration to the United States, which has a dynamism their own countries lack, and which communicates the idea that life can be an adventure and that thereâs important, exciting work to be done. Reagan-style âmorning in Americaâ clichés may make some of us wince, (just as clichéd carping about "Reagan-style âmorning in Americaâ clichés" makes the rest of us wince) but they reflect something genuine and valuable in the American air. Europeans may or may not have more of a âsense of historyâ than Americans do (in fact, in a recent study comparing studentsâ historical knowledge, the results were pretty much a draw), but America has something else that mattersâa belief in the future. Over time, then, these things came into focus for me. Then came September 11. Briefly, Western European hostility toward the U.S. yielded to sincere, if shallow, solidarity ("We are all Americans"). But the enmity soon re-established itself (a fact confirmed for me daily on the websites of the many Western European newspapers I had begun reading online). With the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, it intensified. Yet the endlessly reiterated claim that George W. Bush "squandered" Western Europeâs post-9/11 sympathy is nonsense. The sympathy was a blip; the anti-Americanism is chronic. . . . He goes on to review anti-American writings from both sides of the pond, as well as a few counter-examples (such as Jean-François Revel), and to spend a fair bit of time discussing the historical animosity of Euro-elites to the very idea of America. Iâve got my quibbles with a sentence or two, but overall it is an excellent article. I am especially curious to hear reactions from our European contingent (JFM, TGA, Aris, and all). The comment box is all yours, gentlemen! |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #8 Lutefisk Well... let's not push it. :) Seriously I guess that is THE most quintessentially Norwegian food there is. I'll eat it on Christmas Eve because my fiance'e is actually 100% Norwegian. Other than that, I wouldn't go out of my way. (The article itself is quite good. I read the whole thing this afternoon. I wonder how LOML will react. She reads Aftenpost regularly...) |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-06-29 7:08:51 PM |
| #7 Misses the story completely. The big story is how similar the comments and views are between the looney Left and Zarqawi, OBL and their merry band of terrorists -- strikingly similiar. |
| Posted by: Capt America 2004-06-29 5:40:52 PM |
| #6 I am not a Euro but I spent a couple of years there during the Reagan Administration (talk about hate!) so my info may be dated. Well I too first bonded then had a falling out with the 'Euro-Mystique.' When I was first stationed in Greece I wanted all things Greek or European. I drank Mataxa (5-star), learned some Greek, and always ceded to Euro political values. After my initial culture bath, I began to notice some strange things about my European cousins (first in Germany then in Greece). A person who was lecturing me on how bad America was on a bus, got out at one stop and walked right into McDonalds. I noticed in Greece that they broadcast many shows IN ENGLISH with Greek subtitles. I watched MASH, Star Trek, and Dukes of Hazard in Greece long before cable or satellite came into play. Allthe while these shows were deemed âto offensiveâ to show on AFRTS. My Greek friends were always asking if I could get them American items (Booze, Cigarettes, coffee, radios, you name it). Ands while I was stationed in what is called the Birthplace of Democracy, I met many Commies and their like. Of course they would never gain a significant political foothold, but they were an oxymoron to the country. Finally, the cultured and ever so holier-than-thou British cousin showed that they were every bit as perverted and depraved when vacationing. They may have coined the phrase âWhat happens on holiday, stays on holiday.â Also a lot of those European women loved being around Americans! They may hate us but they love/hate us at the same time and you know what? I love/hate them right back. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-06-29 4:22:56 PM |
| #5 Don't forget the lutefisk. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2004-06-29 4:13:37 PM |
| #4 Don't forget the lutefisk. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2004-06-29 4:13:13 PM |
| #3 They have cold-water shrimp in Norway? Dang, I gotta go there now. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-06-29 3:21:45 PM |
| #2 oh, uff da, again. :) Reindeer steak... Shrimp and salmon are more quintessentially Norsk to me, but then my ancestors were from the coastal regions. Hard to beat shrimp that was just swimming in deep, cold water just a few minutes before; add a little garlic-mayo, a few thin slices of cucumber on some fresh bread... now that's a sammich. Well, okay, an appetizer, anyway. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-06-29 3:07:16 PM |
| #1 American virtues Iâd always taken for granted, or even disdainedâamong them a lack of self-seriousness, a grasp of irony and self-deprecating humor, a friendly informality with strangers, an unashamed curiosity, an openness to new experience, an innate optimism, a willingness to think for oneself and speak oneâs mind and question the accepted way of doing things. (One reason why Europeans view Americans as ignorant is that when we donât know something, weâre more likely to admit it freely and ask questions.) That mirrors my experience in the educational arena in Europe. Appearing to not know is something greatly feared. Topic of the day... |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-06-29 1:36:59 PM |