Europe a shining example of a continent that learned from its mistakes!

Submitted by Melvias Dreyfus Harken (United Kingdom), Sep 11, 2004 at 22:00

I'm a European and very proud of it. There is no other place I would rather live than Europe because I love its liberalism, its great history, its people and its cultures.

In my opinion the main reason that many Europeans dislike Americans is because of many Americans' complete lack of respect or knowledge for other people's cultures and history. Over here it is considered very important to learn about other people's cultures and history. Most European school children can at least tell you something of another European country and indeed even America.

I can of course understand that at the same time, on shouldnt lose sight of one's own culture. But America has just gone to war with Iraq (which I bet most American students couldn't point out on a map) .

I also think it makes perfect political sense for Europe to distance itself from the Iraq war. On the world stage you may think it cowardly but we to have to look after and protect our citizens. America may presume it has an ally in Europe in the form of the U.K. , however for those of you who believe this are misled.

Although at the moment Britain seems close to America, this is only due to Tony Blair and only on the issue of Iraq. Most Britons are not of the same opinion. In fact, in a recent poll it was discovered that nearly 70% of Britons dislike America and its policies. While of course we Europeans will forever be indebted to the Americans for their help during WW2, this does not mean we have no right to criticise your country.

I therefore conclude that what it boils down to is that most Europeans and European countries who by the way have gone through this stage that America is going through right now dislike America because the average American has virtually no knowledge of any other country except that of his motherland; they lack respect for certain cultures and tend to resort to war when things don't go their way or they don't understand it.

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