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It is very interesting, given that the US is directly involved in Syria, whereas Denmark is not. It has much to do with how people integrated into Europe v Ame
by jomamaxx 10y ago
It is very interesting, given that the US is directly involved in Syria, whereas Denmark is not.
It has much to do with how people integrated into Europe v America.
Europe is very difficult to integrated into - they are ethnic groups. You can mostly 'become American' but it's almost impossible to 'become Danish' unless you are there from a very early age.
Americans in particular have a hard time with this, because they don't 'see' ethnicity, and often use the term 'race' which is the wrong term to describe groups. 'Race' is genetics, not particularly meaningful. Ethnicity is a set of values, behaviours, cultural norms, i.e. attitudes towards, family, government, education, religion, etc. etc..
Most nations outside the Americas are simply formalized governments of ethnic groups.
An American passport pretty much makes you American. A Danish passport makes you a Danish citizen, but not necessarily Danish.
Also - Europeans are more intellectually open minded, but more behaviourally cloistered, whereas Americans are sometimes a little less intellectually open (i.e. popular ideas, policies), but in practical reality, almost always more 'open'. Euros talk benevolence but hang out with their own kind. Americans sometimes talk anti-immigration, but they are pretty fluid in terms of social and business relationships.
- jacquesm 10y agoThere is a very strong kernel of truth in what you write. At the same time racism is alive and well in the United States, at a level that I've never seen here. Integration into an EU country is harder for another reason as well: America is founded on immigration, everybody - even if you may have to go back a few generations - is from somewhere else. In Europe that really isn't the case, people's origins are usually 'over the horizon', lost in the time before record keeping. So in America you don't easily stand out as a stranger. This is compounded by the fact that in America it is fairly normal to relocate for work, whereas in Europe that is much more rare (but becoming more normal). Ironically, that is one of the main drivers behind the whole 'brexit' thing.
- toomanybeersies 10y agoI don't think it's the ease of integration into the USA, but the fact that the Muslim immigrants to the USA tend to be better educated and more well off than the immigrants and refugees heading into Europe. There's the Atlantic Ocean between the USA and the Middle East/North Africa, so they can be a lot more picky about who they choose to let in.
- raverbashing 10y agoIt's very easy to blame Europeans for not rolling the carpet to a group associated with misogyny and anti secularism.
- return0 10y agoWhat you describe also affects the immigrants. In america, immigrants generally look to get in and probably settle down. Immigrants in europe are often shopping for jobs in different countries, maybe a year in country A , another year in country B, always looking to move north. In the meantime they don't grow roots any new country but keep hanging out with their kin or other immigrants. You 're right however, cultural barriers are high in europe, even for EU immigrants. Europe should have thought twice before carelessly declaring an open immigration policy.