How can America handle the bad and sad but very strong anti-americanism especially in Germany and Europe?
At first, please excuse my bad grammar, I´m living in germany since more than three decades as US-citizen in Northern Germany and I lost a lot of my homespeech, but didn´t lost the binding to the United States, my relatives and my roots.
As a little boy I felt the the aversion against me or other Americans in Germany, but they never handled it on a direct way or didn´t speaking loud to the afflicted persons.
Okay, every foreigner in a foreign country will make the same experiences, but my opinion is, the most of the germans didn´t changed their character , only their exterior or outfit for a little while.
It changed complete after the fall of the Berlin wall and not with the administration of Pres W Bush´s crew.
They started open and direct campaigns not alone against the USA politics and americans, every day is it to read for everybody in german newspapers, to see at their tv channels or to hear on radio stations in the large german multimedia landscape or themselve to hear from the germans .
It grown-up to a big dangerous abscess, let me say, it is a special german subculture, it´s hip to bash americans.
If you need in germany the agreement of other people, starting your statement or discussion with phrases of anti-americanism or bashing with hate campaigns against america, after them you´ll have the most people behind you.
Do you know this in America?
Sometimes but not very often I saw several articles in US-newspapers about this problems, but it seems to me, the main problem is much more bigger as the americans at home believe.
What can we do and what shall Americas politicians do?
sorry for my bad grammar and thank you for sharing
Mike
Hmmmmmmmmm.. I will think about this and answer a bit later. and I am sure Kjell ( being from Europe ..Norway.. might have something to say also.)
Thanks for posting Mike.. and your grammar is just fine! :)
Mike, I am so glad you are on here telling us things from your area of the world. I like to hear what people are thinking and feeling, even if I wish it were different.
You know? I have read and reread your post..and once again.. I just sometimes feel so lost..as I am sure most good Americans and people of other origins must feel.
I don't know what can be done.. and I hate to sound negative ..but I am afraid that we have slid so far down and we are heading downhill so fast, that it is just too far gone to stop it.
:'(
Not si fast! I have always heard the younger Germans
I WILL TRY AGAIN! i HAVE ALWAY HEARD THAT THE YOUNGER germans dont have much of aclue of what happened before WW2 , during or right after the war ended! I HAVE A HARD TIME TRUSTING germany myself!
Mike, I am curious as to how you stayed in Germany.
I was stationed for three years at Heidelberg in the sixties. Although your situation appears different, I recall there was a number of American male federal civilian employees working for the military who had been there since the end of the war. They married a German, lived on the economy (vs in American villages), spoke fluent German, their kids went to German schools, etc. They were happy and most did not intend returning home when they retired.
They brought their wives to US military social functions and everyone had a good time. No one faulted them for their decision. Rules have since changed, perhaps in the eighties, and federal employees are no longer allowed to homestead in a foreign country. They have to go back home after five years or so.
a foreign country is bashing Ameria - so what's new??? ::)
Perhaps Mike can answer this too. I know it is "fashionable" to be anti American in some countries, but a great many people speak English and like American TV. Is it us they don't care for, or is it American politics? I meet foreign exchange students quite often and they don't sound so anti American. But then again, they are here.
What an interesting aspect to our American life --- I personally will look forward to future posts on this subject. I makes my heart ache just knowing that people hate people ---distrust is one thing...Hate is hard for me to handle.
Here's another one to chew on. Last June, an illegal woman, who has been here for about three years, J-walked against a traffic light, (dark, nowhere near a cross walk), across US 40 about 10 miles from here. She and her two little kids were hit by a truck. Her injuries weren't too bad, the baby in the stroller was killed outright and the slightly older daughter survived, with terrible head and spinal injuries. She has been in the A.I. du Pont Hospital for children ever since. (No charge if you can't pay.) The mom was arrested on a number of charges and is scheduled for deportation soon. The Docs have asked that her deportation be delayed for now, because the little girl has many months of rehab. ahead of her. They don't think separating the mother from the child is in the child's best interests right now. This all hit the papers and has resulted in some interesting reactions from the public. A decision has not yet been made. What do you think?
Since you threw the question out there.. What do YOU think?
Personally, I would like to see the mom stay until the rehab is completed and the child has recovered as much as she can. After that, they go back to Mexico. She won't be paying any medical bills anyway so its not a matter of money. She has been staying at the Ronald Mc Donald House across the road from the hospital. People have raised money for them. When it is safe to discharge the little girl from the hospital, send them back.
Isn't that what the law requires? I always thought that illegal immigrants were supposed to be deported back to their country by law.
If the doctors hadn't begged for an appeal, the Mom would have been deported very soon, separated from her daughter, who wouldn't go for medical reasons. The little girl would be here in rehab. for many months alone, without her mom. The mom has already served some time in jail.
So as soon as the child is able they will be deported?
"Mike, I am curious as to how you stayed in Germany."
...pure destiny, not more not less.
My mom immigrated into the States in the year 1958 and married my father in Denver/Colorado two years later.
The relationship between my parents was very difficult and they were divorced in L.A./CA in 1965.
She went back to germany with me , because my dad threatened her, to make a life everywhere in the US impossible.
We never lost the bindings to family members or friends in the USA, but she never started a new try for living in the States.
There was never for me the question - Europe or USA, just the question: " When I´m coming back and where is the ideal place for an American without greater life experiences in the USA?" :)
Okay, California is my regular Homestate and I love it, but I´m not a millionaire. ;D
"I was stationed for three years at Heidelberg in the sixties. Although your situation appears different, I recall there was a number of American male federal civilian employees working for the military who had been there since the end of the war. They married a German, lived on the economy (vs in American villages), spoke fluent German, their kids went to German schools, etc. They were happy and most did not intend returning home when they retired."
To this time - Germany was dependant on a high degree from the USA .
The German was much friendlier to Americans as today, but behind closed housedoors they had and have an other face.
I´m sure, the most of them went back to the USA after a couple of years with their german family members,
the situation changed completely.
"They brought their wives to US military social functions and everyone had a good time. No one faulted them for their decision. Rules have since changed, perhaps in the eighties, and federal employees are no longer allowed to homestead in a foreign country. They have to go back home after five years or so."
Yep, they have other rules in germany for private persons and I´m the husband of a german wife. ;)
Quote from: Roma Jean Turner on November 20, 2007, 10:21:56 PM
Mike, I am so glad you are on here telling us things from your area of the world. I like to hear what people are thinking and feeling, even if I wish it were different.
Yep, it´s a really difficult situation and it seems to me it´s getting harder and harder for america.
The german chancellor Mrs. Merkel is the leader of the conservative party CDU, but she is the head of a great coalition administration between left and right wing.
It´s easy to get along with her for the the US-Administration but the political basics didn´t change in Germany.
Just friendly small talk... ::)
She isn´t "anti-american" and not an "old fashioned socialist" like chancellor Schroeder but she is also not a big USA-friend or a friend of the Pres W Bush Administration or the Republicans.
They call it in Germany "reality politician"!
Bill Clinton will be a poll driven president during his time, some day Mrs. Merkel will be a chancellor driven by profits of the german economy.
Keep smiling for Dollars...you wanna Mercedes, BMW or Porsche?
Quote from: Jody on November 29, 2007, 01:38:26 PM
I WILL TRY AGAIN! i HAVE ALWAY HEARD THAT THE YOUNGER germans dont have much of aclue of what happened before WW2 , during or right after the war ended! I HAVE A HARD TIME TRUSTING germany myself!
If German kids talking about WW2, they talking about: "Terror by american bombardments against Dresden or Hamburg; Terror against german prisoners of war in sibirian gulags ; Terror against Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Terror by soviets against german refugees etc."
Nationalism, Holocaust, dictatorship, War made by the Germans or Japanese...that is not the main problem in germany.
The fault of the Americans, the Alliance or something else is much more important!
Unbelievable...
...and if they (kids and adults) talk about americans in iraq, they talking about american terrorism, that´s not a joke.
Not Saddam and his Clan was the problem in this region, America is the problem.
The same problem as in Germany for six decades ago, but now they haven´t in the USA the alliance of the other europeans like during WW2.
malicious glee...nastiness...but not to loud, that´s not good for the business.
unbelievable...
Wow. If the German people could speak to us as candidly as you are, what would they say to us? It's obvious they would want to do business with us, but would they prefer we just close our bases in Europe and the mid East and stay totally out of it all? Do they feel they have a good relationship with the mid East? Thanks for letting me pick your brain.
Quote from: Roma Jean Turner on December 04, 2007, 12:11:46 PM
Wow. If the German people could speak to us as candidly as you are, what would they say to us? It's obvious they would want to do business with us, but would they prefer we just close our bases in Europe and the mid East and stay totally out of it all? Do they feel they have a good relationship with the mid East? Thanks for letting me pick your brain.
The businessmen in directly neighborhood to US-bases prefer the money.
Sorry, but the most Germans don´t like US-bases in Germany or Europe, they are talking about american imperialism and not about american protection.
Their opinion is - it´s more dangerous to live a life in neighborhood to us-weapons as in neighborhood with islamic fundamentalists.
...and Muslims can buy also a Mercedes, a BMW or a Porsche.
Germany, Italy, France or Russia are big trading partner of the mid East, before...during and after Saddam´s rule.
...show germany´s tradingpartner in the mid East.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
...and the war in iraq canceled a wonderful german profit in this area.
irans greatest tradingpartners/Imports - partners:
Germany 12%, China 10.5%, UAE 9.4%, France 5.6%, Italy 5.4%, South Korea 5.4%, Russia 4.5% (2006)
syrias greatest tradingspartners/Imports - partners:
Saudi Arabia 12.3%, China 7.9%, Egypt .2%, UAE 6%, Italy 4.9%, Ukraine 4.8%, Germany 4.7%, Iran 4.5% (2006)
turkey Imports - partners:
Russia 12.8%, Germany 10.6%, China 6.9%, Italy 6.2%, France 5.2%, US 4.5%, Iran 4% (2006)
afghanistan imports-partners:
Pakistan 37.5%, US 11.9%, Germany 7.1%, India 5.1% (2006)
united arab emirates/Imports - partners:
US 11.5%, China 11%, India 9.9%, Germany 6.2%, Japan 5.8%, UK 5.6%, France 4.1%, Italy 4% (2006)
jordan/Imports - partners:
Saudi Arabia 23.2%, Germany 8.2%, China 8%, US 5.3% (2006)
saudia/Imports - partners:
US 12.3%, Germany 8.6%, China 8%, Japan 7.3%, UK 4.9%, Italy 4.8%, South Korea 4.1% (2006)
Wilma, if the appeal is accepted, the mother and child will be sent home to Mexico as soon as the little girl is finished her rehab. If the appeal fails, the mother will be deported very soon, without the daughter. Then the daughter will be sent home when she is medically safe to travel and her rehab. is complete
Quote from: flo on November 29, 2007, 02:13:08 PM
a foreign country is bashing Ameria - so what's new??? ::)
...that´s not new- especially for europeans.
New is the fact, to lead a happy and absolutely comfortable life with Uncle Sam´s Dollars and Uncle Sam´s protection and fighting against American principles to the same time.
Quote from: Diane Amberg on November 30, 2007, 06:20:30 PM
Perhaps Mike can answer this too. I know it is "fashionable" to be anti American in some countries, but a great many people speak English and like American TV. Is it us they don't care for, or is it American politics? I meet foreign exchange students quite often and they don't sound so anti American. But then again, they are here.
English is the most important language in the world, also for the economy- since hundreds of years ago.
I guess that students are not very stupid persons - they know very well the rules of a nice conversation in a foreign country.
...easy fishing for compliments.
It´s cheaper to buy american soap operas instead to produce their own in germany.
American politics is just a piece of the german anti-americanism cake, but it´s the piece with the whipped cream.
Quote from: Teresa on December 03, 2007, 10:18:06 AM
Since you threw the question out there.. What do YOU think?
Europe or better the European Union is grown up to a strong and powerful region.
Some day they will have the european constitution , european laws, the european police department like FBI, the european secret service, the european military and the european president.
...and the strongest and most powerful voters in this community may be the states with the strongest anti-americanism, like france, germany, italy etc..
Today they are not stronger as the voting of a small country like Malta, Luxembourg or economical weaker regions like Poland or Sweden, but they have the power to change that soon as possible.
Money makes the world go ´round...
Contradictions ???
http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/:Antiamerikanismus-Sch%E4mt-Deutsche-Amerikaner!/585740.html
Antiamerikanismus
Schämt euch, Deutsche und Amerikaner!
© SHAWN THEW/DPA Ihn und seine Regierung halten viele Deutsche für gefährlicher als den Iran: US-Präsident Bush
Ein Kommentar von Katja Gloger, Washington
Eine Mehrheit der Deutschen hat größere Angst vor den USA als vor dem Iran. Dies ist erschreckend, aber nicht überraschend. Und diese Haltung wird sich nicht mehr ändern, solange Präsident Bush im Amt ist. Aber schämen müssen sich beide - Deutsche und Amerikaner.
Erinnern Sie sich noch? Damals, im Februar 2005, eine Ewigkeit ist es her. Da reiste der kurz zuvor durchaus demokratisch wiedergewählte US-Präsident George W. Bush nach Europa. Machte brav Aufwartung in Brüssel. Traf sich im weiträumig von Normalbürgern abgesperrten grau-kalten Mainz sogar mit dem von ihm so verachteten Kanzler Schröder und beschwor Gemeinsamkeiten. Gemeinsame Werte, gemeinsame Herausforderungen, na ja, Sie wissen schon...
Article in Stern Magazin Mar 2007 about poll results :
For the most Germans is the USA more dangerous than the Iran.
...but they are not scared enough to make a good business deal in the USA:
http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/0,1518,477007,00.html
http://www.handelsblatt.com/News/Unternehmen/Industrie/_pv/grid_id/1356618/_p/200038/_t/ft/_b/1276032/default.aspx/wonnemonat-mai-fuer-deutsche-autos.html
Not excellent but good business results for german automotive producer in the USA in spring 2007.
...you can find hundreds of thousands german blogs, websites, newspaper articles and something else above the stupid Americans, their criminal economy, their death penalty, their conspiracies and much more.
...but there is no problem in Germany to hold strong bands of friendship and Trading-Partnership between China, Iran or Russia. :)
Germany´s ex-chancellor Gerd Schroeder was very angry during his chancellorship about the activities and the engagement of the Bush-family or their crew members like Mr. Cheney in several American Oil Companies, today he is one of the leading Top-Manager for the Russian Gasprom Company, his chief is Mr. Putin. :)
Contradictions?
You mentioned above that California was your home state and it seems you want to come back but have no American experience and you are not a millionaire.
What if you won the German Lotto tomorrow?
Then you announce you are moving your family to California.
What would your wife say to you?
>>What if you won the German Lotto tomorrow?<<
Pretty nice tought, but only with three right numbers (estimate 15.- Euros) the possibilities are a little bit restricted.:-)
>>Then you announce you are moving your family to California.
What would your wife say to you?<<
My wife and my kids are loving California, Arizona and Nevada - these states we have visited during several vacancies.
It´s planned from me and my wifes side - since a long time ago - to move some day to the USA.
The main problem is - to make my dream come true within the next 24 h :) - she owns a good running tax advisior bureau.
I don´t like the idea, that I have to wait with my plans if she is staying in retirement. :)
I like to buy a house in the States as second residence and to stay there saisonal...at first.
my family ? ...they love this plan too...but they are not stupid...if daddy owns a house in the states, he´s staying not longer in germany as necessary :D
Quote from: Teresa on December 03, 2007, 10:18:06 AM
Since you threw the question out there.. What do YOU think?
Mmmhhh that´s heavy stuff :angel:, it´s not a big problem for me to accept, that every citizen on this planet can express his own opinion, indifferent from his ideology and his personal position to the United States.
...but this is pure fiction, we haven´t a planet with the right of free and independent mind for everyone.
I´m getting this right additional with other rights by birth in sixth generation and it´s much more as a nice present from my ancestors.
I can´t understand that the most people in Germany are tired from their own democracy.
... that was a poll result for a few months ago.
http://www.netzeitung.de/deutschland/450609.html
But I know also - that´s Germany´s problem and it´s their right too...to be tired from everything...okay :)
...and everyone must have the right to believe his own propaganda, prejudices and lies.
My opinion is, You and You and You and You (me too :( )are paying and protecting this bad stream against your own principles.