Here an informative and extremely revealing documentary on European anti-Americanism that everyone should watch. The segment with the school children in part two is particularly frightening - because it demonstrates the attitudes of Europe's future citizens:
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This was fascinating. Thanks for posting it, Ray.
Posted by: LouMinatti | October 07, 2007 at 07:11 PM
I would like to start using the term UGLY EUROPEANS to describe these people.
Posted by: LouMinatti | October 07, 2007 at 09:14 PM
"Tony Judt, Historian" - at first I hoped, he'd only be quoted in the very beginning, but when his weary head appeared again I sadly had to end this (probably amazing) documentary, since I certainly don't need to listen to his voice, in order to inform myself about the anti-american fantasies of european gimps.
Posted by: Simon | October 07, 2007 at 09:20 PM
@ Simon,
I think it is a shame that you allowed the brief appearances of any one individual irritate you so as to prevent you from enjoying a documentary that is highly informative and revealing. This being YouTube, you can just skip ahead of the segments with Mr. Judt if he bothers you that much. I must say that I hardly noticed the guy.
Posted by: RayD | October 07, 2007 at 10:42 PM
I feel really bad that we don't treat the Polish better. It sucks that we're making them line up for visas. I hope the government changes this quickly. I think that hard-working Polish anti-communist catholics coming here on holiday are good visitors to have.
Posted by: LouMinatti | October 08, 2007 at 04:18 AM
Oh, the irony of the kid in Part 2 complaining about McDonalds, while wearing a GAP sweatshirt...
Posted by: Suzycreamcheese | October 09, 2007 at 01:48 PM
I'm on dial-up and have no speakers so I'm going to have to find another way other than my desktop to see this.
re: Tony Judt - I've read his books - is he anti American and anti-Semite? He's very careful but push comes to shove he's full of shit.
Europe vs America
Here is what I wrote on Jeorg's blog when this came up regarding Judt:
What I find ironic is the last line of a review of 3 books that primarily assert the superiority of the EU model over the U.S. model reads "The United States, trapped once again in what Tocqueville called its "perpetual utterance of self-applause"...
Trapped? We are? And again, even? Thank God somebody told us.
Granted, this review was written in 2005, but I'm still getting a good chuckle out of the fact that the man who writes of the U.S.'s widespread 'suspicion of dissent' is a citizen - oh, excuse me - subject of a country whose current PM is apparently so 'suspicious' of the dissenting outcome of a referendum on that treaty-cum-constitution that he won't have one.
And since I wrote that, Brown won't even call an election.
Tony Judt's perpetual posture is a self-satisfied sneer.
And you know what? Go over to Atlantic Review and read what Jeorg has posted about Joschka moaning that Germany may need Canada's help and because of Schoerder, no one will help Germany.
Do you know how utterly sick I am of Germany and Germans and the constant whining and refusal to distinguish right from wrong in order to maintain some semblance of moral authority that depends on being anti-American?
I am completely fed up.
And just to be blunt - my resources are meager but hard work has never been an intimidation.
I intend to lobby my gov't, my neighbors, and my places of worship to educate them about exactly what is going on in Germany vis a vis the U.S.
Oh yeah, that probably sets your hair on fire - 'places of worship'.
Go tell Joschka Fischer to run to Canada for help. Blame Gerhard when you don't get it.
BTW Putin's first name is Vlad.
Posted by: Pamela | October 10, 2007 at 03:21 AM
Die Polen ... sooo süüß ... ich habe Tränen gelacht :-D
Posted by: ex-blond | October 10, 2007 at 08:23 AM
That silly French woman in part II, the cook or waitress wearing a white coat. She and people who think like her are exactly the reason why I feel uneasy living in Europe. It’s that superiority thing, always present in the most casual of conversations.
Everybody believes their countries food is the best, that they have the best humor, the prettiest women, the most magnificent landscapes. So why can’t this lady just say that French food is delicious, one of the best in the world or even the best? Why can’t she just stop right there? No, she can’t, she has to let you know that she is superior. She doesn’t simply say that she doesn’t like American food or that it doesn’t taste good. No, she has to say it is worthless!
And I am sure she is saying behind the cameras that she really isn’t anti-American, that she is simply a professional, an expert, an observer making an informed comment, a fair critique. Or that she really didn’t mean to say what she obviously just said. Or that it was just a joke, ha-ha ha-ha! I’ve heard those excuses so many times.
Posted by: marisa | October 10, 2007 at 10:57 PM
Anti-Americanism is vainly used by Europeans to mask the shame of their own self-caused and well deserved demise. Europe will soon burn again as the invaders already there at last establish themselves as the new masters and destroy every vestige of their tormentors. Some Europeans will flee to these shores and ask us why nothing was done to help Europe save itself, as we had done before. They will be told that few of us care much at all about Europe, and if it is once again a smoking ruin we will bid it a final "Good ridance."
Europeans believe their gleeful hatred of Americans is cost free, but they should know that the dues are piling up. We can hate too.
Posted by: Karl the Krud | October 11, 2007 at 06:12 AM
Please, please, please...can we kill NATO yet? Let it wither away, remove our assets from the organization and wave bye bye?
These days it does more harm than good.
Posted by: Ann | October 11, 2007 at 06:29 AM
"Europeans to mask the shame of their own self-caused and well deserved demise"
So far the only demise is that of the US Dollar. I hope you experience hyper-inflation soon, or that China will dump their Dollar reserves on the world market.
Posted by: Phil | October 11, 2007 at 11:06 AM
Phil: "I hope you experience hyper-inflation soon, or that China will dump their Dollar reserves on the world market".
Is this the quintessential troll, or what? No connection to the subject whatsoever, only brainless venom towards the object of hatred - America. Phil fits perfectly in this film.
Posted by: WhatDoIKnow | October 11, 2007 at 04:07 PM
Youtube is currently very slow with loading these videos. Thus let me ask you whether this is this the PBS documentary "The Anti-Americans" showing some Irish singers, a condescending Brit, then a French woman talking about obese Americans and then those charming Poles, who make country music, wear cowboy hats and wave American flags? In other words: The usual stereotypes about Brits, French and Poles. And the typical European dichotomy: The Anti-American Old Europe, and the US loving New Europe. Of course, they don't show one of the many German Western Dance clubs, cowboy fans or country music band.
I don't want to watch the usual stuff about Anti-Americanism. I know there is Anti-Americanism and don't need to read/watch the same examples more times.
Since you recommend the segment with school children: Which of the nine videos is it?
Posted by: JorgAtlanticReview | October 11, 2007 at 09:40 PM
At first, I was outraged. But, as I continued to watch, my feelings turned to pity. The biggest pity are the children who have become a product of their surroundings. On the other hand, there seems to be a ray of hope in that a FEW people with influence in Europe, writers and journalists, do recognize the problem.
I agree with Lou Minatti, the Polish shouldn't need a visa to visit the United States... or, in the very least, if they need one, so should everyone else.
Posted by: James W. | October 11, 2007 at 09:54 PM
Umm Jorg, Ray wrote that it is in the second segment...and, it's six videos not nine.
BTW, you might want to try Youtube again. I just watched and had no problem with the videos loading. Maybe it's a local problem.
Posted by: James W. | October 11, 2007 at 10:00 PM
PS to Jorg.
Maybe you are tired of watching the "usual stuff about Anti-Americanism", but maybe there are hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors to this website that are not aware.
As far as the German Western Dance clubs and cowboy fans, well I don't have any statistics in hand, but that number seems to be diminishing since I got here in 1987. Yeah, I still meet some every now and then. But, I get the feeling that the more American bases close, the fewer Germans wearing cowboy hats I see. In other words, all those cowboy soldiers that were here in larger numbers back then seemed to have a positive influence. Out of sight, out of mind...then it's back to anti-american business as usual.
Again, I don't have any numbers, but from where I live, Hanau (Frankfurt area), as the soldiers leave so does that positive influence.
Posted by: James W. | October 11, 2007 at 10:19 PM
Well, I hate America too and I'm American. Go figure, but I do agree that European press and atitudes are biased. Strangely so because they're in the same boat as America. I guess they don't like the fact that it's political and economic fortunes are so tied to America, they resent it. That's why I resent them and still hate America. I'm neither left or right, so don't try to figure me out. That's the problem with American mentality. It's not black or white.
Oh don't worry. Love it or leave it. I left already. Just came across this site because I was looking for some like minded individuals who thought Spiegel was biased. Well, I found some individuals. Like minded? Not a chance.
Posted by: Pavel5 | October 11, 2007 at 10:27 PM
Oh by the way, I don't want to see people western dancing wearing cowboy outfits even in America. What kind of stupid sh*t is that anyway? Positive influence?
Sorry just one last jab before I leave this God awful site.
Posted by: Pavel5 | October 11, 2007 at 10:37 PM
Pavel5, since America and Europe is in the same boat, did you at least leave the boat? Don't worry...somebody will probably throw you a lifesaver.
Posted by: James W. | October 11, 2007 at 10:42 PM
"Sorry just one last jab before I leave this God awful site."
Don't let the door hit you in the ass.
Posted by: James W. | October 11, 2007 at 10:43 PM
Maybe someone could help the poor chap ... http://member.syl.com/Pavel5 ... out of his misery.
Posted by: Karl the Krud | October 11, 2007 at 11:29 PM
@Phil
Read it and weep, the headline says, "Falling Dollar Pushes Exports to Record Levels and Helps Lower Trade Deficit". As to the Chinese, they're not foolish enough to damage their best customer, only a stupidly venal European would do that.
Posted by: Karl the Krud | October 11, 2007 at 11:46 PM
James, thank you very much. Youtube is now loading fast.
I apologize for my stupid mistakes, Ray.
Posted by: JorgAtlanticReview | October 12, 2007 at 12:20 PM
James, I don't have statistics, but I come across German cowboys quite often. And if you google, you find plenty of clubs. A few examples of Cowboy Clubs just in Berlin:
1. http://www.cowboyberlin.de/
2. The Bassy Cowboy Club Berlin http://www.bassy-club.de
It's "philosophy":
ein cowboy gibt nicht auf.
ein cowboy wird erschossen.
ein cowboy wird von einer frau besiegt.
ein cowboy zieht einfach weiter.
ein cowboy wird vom goldrausch gepackt.
oder vom diamantenfieber.
ein cowboy findet sein glück.
ein cowboy verspielt sein glück.
ein cowboy ist immer einsam.
3. http://www.old-texas.de/
4. Or take the "1st Cowboy Shooting Club Berlin" http://www.1-cscberlin.de/ which was founded in 2001, i.e. is new. Okay, it is a pretty small club.
Posted by: JorgAtlanticReview | October 12, 2007 at 12:30 PM
@ James
"As far as the German Western Dance clubs and cowboy fans, well I don't have any statistics in hand, but that number seems to be diminishing since I got here in 1987."
According to the search function at http://www.western-dance-clubs.de/ there are three clubs in Hanau:
HANAU GOLDEN SQUARES e.V., PETTICOAT FLIPPERS E.V. HANAU, and WILLI'S RAILWAY TWIRLERS.
Isn't that quite a lot for a small town like Hanau?
And there are four more clubs in Frankfurt.
Hey, last but not least: Don't miss the 4th German Championship in Country and Western Dance THIS WEEKEND:
4. Deutsche Meisterschaft Country- & Westerntanz, 12. bis 14. Oktober 2007, in der "Stadthalle" - Kapellenstr. 1 - 65439 Flörsheim am Main
http://www.gcwda.org/
That is close to where you live, I assume?
PBS show film these championships for a follow-up documentary rather than only attributing these sort of things to the lovely New Europeans.
Posted by: JorgAtlanticReview | October 12, 2007 at 12:41 PM
Hi Jorg,
Hanau and Frankfurt are pretty close together. I can be in downtown Frankfurt in 20-40 minutes depending on traffic. Now, it's important to remember that this area was full of soldiers about ten+ years ago. If you look at many of the photos on the web sites from the dance clubs, they're not the youngest group of people. I know this is all a bit anecdotal, but, check out for example the HANAU GOLDEN SQUARES student party photos from 2003 and 2006. It seems to be much of the same crowd...admittedly a bit hard to tell with the low resolution pics. Furthermore, the club is 20 years old. I think your 1st Cowboy Shooting Club Berlin is the exception and not the rule. Cool website by the way. But again, look at the pics. Sorry, about being so pessimistic (coming from a normally optimistic guy), but I have to call it like I see it.
http://www.bembel-swingers.de/clubinfo_foto.html
In fact, check out this listing for Hessen square dance clubs, most near Frankfurt. I went through randomly and checked out several of the sites. Again, I see a child or teenager now and then, but I see a whole lot of grey and balding heads. All the clubs were founded 10 or more years ago, which would seem to coincide with the drawdown of soldiers in Germany--yes, anecdotal.
http://www.sdinfo.de/hessen.htm
The point is, and I think we can agree, is that the future lies with the children. Where are they in the pics? Oh boy, it almost sounds like I'm trying say the problem of anti-americanism is gonna be solved with the existance of more country and western dance clubs. :-) But anyway...
I guess a better barometer for me is what I and my wife experience daily at work and in private life, and what my children experience in the German schools. It's not pretty. The things my 12 year old son hears from other kids are unfortunately a direct reflection of their parents and the German media. My 16 year old daughter has had not-so-nice discussions with her Politics and Economics teacher about Bush and the USA. In fact, it's come to the point to where I've been invited to the classroom to debate my point of view. I'll need to take a day off from work, but I think I'll take the invite...I just hope my German is sufficient to articulate and that the audience is not too hostile. I do respect the teacher for giving me the opportunity. We'll see... To be honest, I am a bit nervous about it. I'm not the public speaking type.
Thanks for the tip on the dance championship. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it, already have plans.
Posted by: James W. | October 12, 2007 at 03:53 PM
You know the most ironic thing about this at all: that it played on SBS, the most vilely anti-American channel in the world. To me it looks more like Dostoevysky's hero's conundrums than any honest attempt to deal with Anti-Americanism: commit the crime and analyse to death why you are doing it.
Posted by: promachus | October 12, 2007 at 05:04 PM
Right on target, SZ comes in with an article playing to all the stereotypes of the "American diet"
link
Posted by: Ted S., Catskills, NY | October 12, 2007 at 08:26 PM
@ James
Yes, school kids have some ugly stuff to stay. Big Kudos for being willing to speak to that class. I am very interested in it. So if you want to share your experiences and impressions afterwards, you could email me privately or write a guest blog post on Atlantic Review.
Well, I guess it is inappropriate to do soliciting on another blog. Besides, I am sure that Ray would be interested in such a report as well. So what I am saying is: If you publish it on Davids Medienkritik, I will link as well. If Medienkritik is not interested, then you are invited to post on Atlantic Review.
Re the age of the Western Dancers: It is not a terribly cool sport for younger folks, I believe. Are the folks in US Western Dance clubs much younger than those in Germany?
German teenagers and twens are more into hip hop moves and break dancing, which are coming from the US. German kids watch and learn from the US stars...
Hm, break dancing was big in the 80s, but now... Hm, I am sure there are still some...
Posted by: JorgAtlanticReview | October 12, 2007 at 11:31 PM
@ James
"The point is, and I think we can agree, is that the future lies with the children. Where are they in the pics?"
http://www.bembel-swingers.de/fotos/graduation_2005/bild_05.html
http://www.bembel-swingers.de/fotos/studentparty_2006/bild_07.html
Posted by: JorgAtlanticReview | October 12, 2007 at 11:39 PM
Actually there are more and more prominent Americans who are critical of the US, like Noam Chomsky (linguist), Howard Zinn (historian), Bob Avakian (politician), Johnny Depp (actor) etc.
Posted by: Phil | October 13, 2007 at 07:26 AM
@Jorg -
It is not a terribly cool sport for younger folks, I believe. Are the folks in US Western Dance clubs much younger than those in Germany?
The last time I was in one, there were probably just under 200 people there, and I was one of 5 that was over the age of 30. The other four were in my group.
The last time before that I was under 30 too, and I really don't remember much about that night.
Posted by: Doug | October 13, 2007 at 03:08 PM
Well, hell, Phil, I can only think of one or two Hollywood actors (and Depp qualifies even though he resides in France as Hollywood gives him his paychecks) that DON'T express anti-American sentiments. Hollywood produces left wing anti-American propoganda as fast as it can be filmed. Notice that almost weekly the past month another anti-Iraq war or anti-American foreign policy film debuts in our theaters.
As for the three other individuals you mention, they are all spokespersons for the American political far left. Even if you come up with many more names, it won't cut any ice with the normal American voter. These guys occupy the political left fringe.
Posted by: jane m | October 14, 2007 at 06:00 AM
Hollywood writers, directors, actors, producers and the lot stand arm-in-arm with their fellow European US haters. Fortunately, most Americans don't vote the way Hollywood dictates.
Posted by: jane m | October 14, 2007 at 06:03 AM
@Jorg,
I've been planning to take a couple of days off around Thanksgiving. The family would like to have a typical American turkey dinner, so I'm the cook. The kids are in school, and I'll see if I can get a date to visit the classroom on one of those days. My daughter just hit me on the shoulder and said,"You see, now you have to do it." I feel like I'm back in school getting ready to give a speech before the class. I hated it! I'm more the math and science freak.
I had written a much longer reply, but my hand accidently came across the "back" button on my mouse. Lost everything. Uuuuugh!
I'll try to hit some of the main points, I've got limited time:
"Yes, school kids have some ugly stuff to stay." Agreed, but what they're saying about their thoughts and beliefs of America and Americans isn't coming from the playground. It's mostly a carbon copy of the media rhetoric and popular stereotypes, of course not quite as polished and sophisticated.
I did mention that I saw teens and children in the pics; however, as a percentage of the larger group I don't see a significant number.
As far as hip-hop, techno, punk etc. go, I don't believe they promote a healthy trans-atlantic relationship. I consider myself, as a 40+ year old guy, "in" with the younger crowd. I've visited some of these clubs in recent years. One in particular, located in Frankfurt with the nickname "The U" was full of older teens and young men and women in their early twenties. Many were on speed, cocaine, and xtc. I was particularly shocked how open the drug use was. The employees knew exactly what was going on, and considering how popular the place is, I can't imagine that the police are ignorant of it either. It seems to be tolerated. Maybe the motto is "better there than on the streets". Needless to say, the people there weren't very warm to me as an American...which wasn't a problem with me. I didn't stay long anyway. Btw, the text of many of the songs, the ones that have text, don't paint a pretty picture of America either...country music often does.
I've had much more positive experiences at Harley-Davidson rallies that I've been invited to. They tend to be, surprising to me, family orientated...at least until the adult fun and games start in the late evening. There is a healthy mix of Germans and Americans too. My son loves them. Unfortunately, I don't think this is a microcosm that epitomises the bigger picture.
Doug, that's cool that you've had that positive experience. I hope that my experiences are not a reflection of the bigger picture. But, what I hear on a daily basis on the news, from Germans and other Europeans, and my own kids, doesn't lead me to believe that the problem is a figment of my imagination. Believe me...I would love to be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.
But anyway, I've got to go. I'll do my best to prepare for the class. If my experiences are worthy of a guest posting...? We'll see.
Posted by: James W. | October 14, 2007 at 02:53 PM
Sorry, JamesW, I think that I didn't make clear that this was a club in the US. I just wanted to point out that if it isn't cool sport for young Germans, it clearly is for young Americans.
Good luck with the pihran- I mean, kids.
Posted by: Doug | October 14, 2007 at 06:20 PM
Aaah, now it makes sense to me. Thanks for the clarification, Doug. In fact, I think you've answered one of Jorg's questions for me:
"Are the folks in US Western Dance clubs much younger than those in Germany?"
I haven't been to a club stateside in the better half of a decade.
Ooops, halftime is over. Back to the game!
Posted by: James W. | October 14, 2007 at 08:40 PM
Anti-Americanism is on the rise in Germany and there's no end in sight: Today the documentary "Jesus Camp" was broadcasted by the state owned television station "WDR". "Jesus Camp" shows how young American kids are indoctrinated by anti-democratic radical Evangelists to become members of "god's army" which, one day, will hopefully be led to victory by President Bush.
I can't believe that our tax money is wasted for spreading this kind of anti-American propaganda. When watching the documentary one could really get the impression that 80 million American Evangelists, including President Bush, are just waiting to turn their children into brainless war machines. To the sometimes ill-informed German public, however, it might not be entirely clear that not all Evangelists are anti-democratic religious fundamentalists as shown in the documentary.
Can you imagine what kind of fear this might induce in such a war-ridden country as Germany?
Posted by: logicaudio | October 15, 2007 at 11:45 PM
Thanks Ray... took the time to view the links. Actually had a pint in the pub in the first link back in 2000. Will never drink there again.
@ loqicaudio
"When watching the documentary one could really get the impression that 80 million American Evangelists, including President Bush, are just waiting to turn their children into brainless war machines."
Funny, most American christians would probably despise that documentary as well, but socialist ideogoly has a secular human agenda to push on european state owned media.
Posted by: Buckeye Abroad | October 16, 2007 at 12:57 AM
Can you imagine what kind of fear this might induce in such a war-ridden country as Germany?
I think you'll find that the majority of Americans on this site are here precisely because they don't have to imagine. Your insights are clear.
Posted by: Doug | October 16, 2007 at 01:28 AM
"european gimps"
"Europe will soon burn again"
"can we kill NATO yet?"
"As to the Chinese, they're not foolish enough to damage their best customer, only a stupidly venal European would do that."
Hold on, what was the subject of this discussion? Anti-americanism?
Posted by: soipeutgy | October 24, 2007 at 12:03 AM
No Pasarán posted some telling extracts (including "French children on America") a few months ago…
http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2007/06/are-opinions-of-11-year-olds-evidence.html
Are the "Opinions" of 11-Year-Olds Evidence of Their Own (Freely-Arrived-At) Anti-Americanism or of That of French Adults Coupled with Indoctrination?
Posted by: Erik S | October 24, 2007 at 01:00 PM